Blog 'n' Gold : terrible towel

One in every crowd

Dan Gigler — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:25:00 GMT

In the once-again-going-to-the-Comedy Central well department (see yesterday's third item), John Oliver of the Daily Show was in town during the G-20 summit to do mock interviews with protestors and explored why they aren't as successful as the tea bag crowd. Naturally, this being Pittsburgh -- a Steelers fan wasn't far away:

I'd like to think that this guy on the right, as well as the guy who screamed Let's Go Pens! at a news camera during the summit have been walking the streets waving Terrible Towels and Stanley Cups in euphoric hazes since Feb. 1 and June 12 respectively, and they just figured that all the other people were joining in the party again. Though to be fair, he could be representing the Steelers' new defensive philosophy -- once stingy robber barons, lately they like to give points away to the downtrodden at crucial times.

Not shocking that a protestor -- or anyone -- would have a Steelers jersey on, at any given moment. Apparently, they sell a lot of them. Who knew?

It feels so wrong

Dan Gigler — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:20:00 GMT

Yeah, yeah, I know it's for a great cause. But, as the dear Cope would say, it's just kinda Feh! After hearing about it, I finally spied one at Honus Wagner's Sports Downtown today:

Pink Towel = cognitive dissonance

As mentioned, it benefits a very worthy cause, as the Towel always does, but c'mon -- it just looks kinda funny. Nonetheless, the Steelers will be selling pink-themed merchandise this weekend to raise money for breast cancer charities, and Steelers Deshea Townsend, Max Starks, Tony Hills and Dennis Dixon -- all of whom have had a family member battle breast cancer -- will participate in an event Friday at Magee Women's Hospital with hospital staff to promote nutrition "demonstrate the preparation of healthy fare, stressing the importance of good nutrition in cancer survival."

Other Stuff ...

Lord Stanley's Cup and the Vince Lombardi trophy were on display today in the City-County Building -- in honor of their current Pittsburgh residency, we'll call them Stush & Vinnie -- and I'm imagining a dialogue between the two:

1. Vinnie: I kinda like it here ... Stush: Agreed. Let's visit annually.

2. Vinnie: ... I don't wanna hear it. Have YOU had to look at Chris Kemoeatu in a sweaty jock? Stush: Yeah, but have YOU ever smelled a hockey locker room? The Russians are ripe to begin with. I rest my case.

3. Vinnie: You believe that Ravenstahl during my parade? Stush: Geek.

What are your suggestions? Drop a line in the comments section ...

Fans of the Colbert Report know that show's makes liberal use of excellent puns in it's on-screen graphics, especially during the show's introduction and during "The Word" segment. Last night was no different -- during the show's lede-in, a Steelers-flavored pun was used in reference to an environmental story later in the show:

And finally, this photo, alleged to be real and from a Chik-Fil-A in Northeastern Ohio, sent in by my longtime, long-suffering-Browns-fan-friend Don:

Scouting the Titans

Dan Gigler — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 23:23:00 GMT

Everything you wanted to know about the Tennessee Titans but were afraid to ask ...

Running the football, great defense ... the Titans are a lot like the Steelers except in stupid unifoms. Read previews on Thursday night's opponent: ESPN, FanHouse, Bleacher Report,
An unrepentant LenDale White says that not only is he not sorry for stomping on the Shroud of Tur-- err, Terrible Towel -- last season, but that he'd likely do it again if given the opportunity. White, who's tequila intake likely rivaled that of El Guapo, is asking for it.
Titans captain Donne Nickey plays the role of Troy Polamalu for the Tennessee scout team, replete with a long-haired wig in his helmet. Recent Steelers signee Tuff Harris held the duties last year.
Chris Hope is excited to return to Pittsburgh and had some kind words for his former coach Dick LeBeau as well as the brand of football his former mates play: stick-your-face-in-the-fan football (last item, scroll down)
Former Steeler Nate Washington unlikely to play Thursday night
Tennessee's defensive coordinator, Chuck Cecil, makes his sideline debut with that job title. Cecil was the Jack Tatum of the early 90's, a hitter so fierce that Sports Illustrated once asked if he was too violent for the NFL.
Future Hall-of-Fame center Kevin Mawae, who got hurt against the Steelers last season, will play
Comparing the Steelers & Titans final 2008 regular season stats
Big Ben best beware of Michael Griffin
Tennessee Titans stock report
It's been a decade of missed opportunities for the Titans.

Stuff:

The Steelers are a highly-evolved species
Troy Polmalu's Head & Shoulders commercial. Saw this for the first time during last night's excellent Miami-FSU game.
China Jack is back
Anthony Smith cut by Green Bay
Kendall Simmons now a Patriot
The Post-Gazette sports staff, thousands of pounds and a whole lotta hair ago

No corner left unturned ...

Dan Gigler — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 04:34:00 GMT

It's been mentioned in the past in this space, that the Steelers have essentially conquered the entire earth and the galaxy, so we'll add a few more places to the list.

Today we got some pix sent from our friend Giovanni -- he of the Roman Steeler bar -- and apparently now Steeler Nation (a nation with no boundaries, mind you) is trying to conquer ancient history and world religion as well. Take a look:

Home of the original gladiators ... methinks Silverback would fit right in ...

... and here, at the Vatican, where Giovanni reports there are "no Cardinals!" ... good line!

... and with Catholocism wrapped up, the Nation moves on to Buddhism ...

This shot is sent to us from Matthew Geppert and Dr. Lawrence Ng who are showing their Steeler pride in front of the Potala Palace, in Lhasa, Tibet. The two are there as part of a winter screening for children with congenital heart defects in Tibet. An Oakmont organization, SEAPC, has been searching for kids with CHD in Tibet for the past ten years through their Touching Hearts Project that has Dr. Brad Keller from Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh as its medical director.

Touching Hearts is a partnership between SEAPC and Peoples Regional Hospital of Tibet, PRC. The program is designed to screen children for heart defects and then provide the much needed medical treatment free of charge. Major benchmarks for the project include the regions first ASD closure, screening of over 12000 children, treatment for over 300, and the recent installation of Tibet's first pediatric cardio care facility.

With all of the projects strenuous tasks in front of them, Dr. Lawrence and Matt still manage to take time to expand the Steeler Nation internationally.

Great work over there guys!

OH NO HE DIDN'T!

Dan Gigler — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 02:29:00 GMT

Arizona is doomed now. Myron and God prepare to rain Thunderbolts from the sky. Don’t these people ever learn?

The voice of Danny Cope

Timothy McNulty — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:21:00 GMT

Timothy McNulty

A remarkable story from today's NYT on the Terrible Towel, and what it means for Myron Cope's disabled son Danny:

"It's actually been really hard for me, with the Steelers going to the Super Bowl," the 38-year-old Elizabeth Cope said. "Because I have to see the Terrible Towels everywhere. It's great. But it hurts."

The towels are a swirling reminder of her father, Myron Cope, a longtime Pittsburgh broadcaster credited with creating the Terrible Towel in 1975. Before he died last February at age 79, Elizabeth Cope watched last year's Super Bowl with him in his hospital room. She draped his coffin with a quilt that a fan had made out of Terrible Towels.

But the great part comes from what each of those towels does for people like Danny Cope, Myron's son and Elizabeth's older brother.

Myron Cope left behind something far more personal than a legacy of terrycloth, a battle flag for a city and its team. In 1996, he handed over the trademark to the Terrible Towel to the Allegheny Valley School. It is a network of campuses and group homes across Pennsylvania for people with severe intellectual and developmental disabilities. It receives almost all the profits from sales of the towels. Danny Cope is one of the roughly 900 people the school serves. He has been a resident since 1982, when he was a teenager. He was diagnosed with severe mental retardation when he was 2. He is now 41.

"He's never spoken," Elizabeth Cope said. "Which is kind of funny, because Dad is known for his voice. It's almost like the Terrible Towel is Danny's silent voice."

Terrible Towel tat & links 'n@

Dan Gigler — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 03:23:00 GMT

Buncha stuff submitted for your approval that will prevent you from getting any work done today ...

FOOTBALL STUFF

How the Cards turned it around so fast.
Matchups: The Irresistable Force vs. Immovable Object; and Inconsistent O vs. Pushover D
Kurt Warner's stats outside of Phoenix.
Defense wins championships.
The holding of Harrison.
The Cardinals are a disgrace.
Reason has gone out the window in this game.
Is there anything better than being a Steelers fan?
Because it never gets old ... we've watched replays of Polamalu's pick a zillion times already on the NFL Network, but this is a perfect shot from a cell phone cam, that so perfectly captures the explosion of excitement in Heinz Field:

FUN STUFF

Our pal Giovanni from Italy -- he of the Steelers bar in Rome -- was interviewed Monday morning on KDKA radio. Take a listen.
Steelers welcoming committee.
Tampa bar census: SEVEN Steelers bars, one Cards bar
We've gotten a ton of great photos sent to our online gallery we've been running on post-gazette.com; so many in fact that we've had to add a second gallery just to keep up (and keep 'em coming!) and for some reason, the one below is among my favorites. I've seen more than a few Steelers tattoos in my day, but this one has a unique twist on the theme:

The owner of the above arm would be a shoe-in to participate in the world's largest Terrible Towel Wave, which has been under way since Sunday. Brought to you by the folks who created the 2006 Ben's Beard no-shaving-til-the-Super Bowl petition, the aim is to have Terrible Towels waving across the world at all times this week. You can sign up for a five-minute Towel waving session online.
Pittsburgh vs. Phoenix: Tale of the tape!
Some bitingly funny bits from The Onion on Mike Tomlin, Ken Whisenhunt's revenge, Kurt Warner's age, the Cardinals history, Willis McGahee's concussion, T.J. Houshmanzadeh's background, and even Mr. Rooney's slight build, proving nothing is sacred to these guys.
Ben Roethlisberger not the only Steeler with a sandwich named after him.
Who would be in the cast of "Super Bowl XLIII: The Movie"? Mondesi's House has it figured out in hilarious detail.
Steelers fans have taken a beating on some blogs for the number of parody fight songs they've churned out, but the cheeseballs in this Arizona Cardinals rap video prove tackiness knows no bounds, nor is it exclusive to any one fan base. Also, these are the only 4 Cardinals fans known to exist in the Western world:

Cope.

Dan Gigler — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 02:55:00 GMT

Pittsburgh artist Chris Preksta sent us his black & gold take on the Obama campaign poster:

We imagine that up in heaven Myron will be enjoying the game next Sunday with a smoke in one hand and a toddy in the other.

Check out Chris's other excellent work.

Pep Rally Friday & Towels for Troops

Dan Gigler — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 01:28:00 GMT

The Steelers will host a Super Bowl Pep Rally Friday at Heinz Field in anticipation for the team’s trip to Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa.

Admission is free. Gates A&B will open at 5 p.m. Hosted by KDKA-TV’s Bob Pompeani and Ken Rice, along with Steelers’ Radio Network talent Tunch Ilkin and Craig Wolfley the event will include Steelers’ players and local dignitaries, season highlights on the Jumbotron and the rally will include performances by the Pittsburgh Poison All-Stars Dance Team, the South Fayette Marching Band, rock group The Clarks, and country performer Dusty Drake.
Parking will be available at Stadium lots and Carnegie Science Center lots for $5, after 3 p.m.

Also, FedEx Ground representatives will collect Terrible Towels during the pep rally for Western Pennsylvania military troops stationed overseas and will deliver them to the FedEx Express facility at Pittsburgh International Airport on Monday for flights to overseas locations.

Steelers Universe. Literally.

Dan Gigler — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 21:41:00 GMT

Space. The final frontier. And the Steelers have conquered it. Neil Armstrong planted a flag on the moon and now, Cmdr. Mike Fincke, a Pittsburgh native and the head of the International Space Station has waved the Terrible Towel in the heavens. Watch video of him giving the Steelers a special good luck wish from the stars ...