Stoops Ferry to Keystone Metals

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12/20/12 238# 38MA great ride, 38 miles in 50F, mostly in rain, from Stoops Ferry at the north end of Moon Township to Keystone Metals by Sandcastle.

Started riding at the Neville Island ice skating rink, because that's where I needed to be at the end of my liberty to pick my daughter up. Rode toward the city on Neville Island, and a southeast ride almost always has a tailwind around here but today the wind was quite strong out of the southeast, so I did the work going out and had the benefit coming home.

Much the same route as yesterday, Neville Island to the mainland, McKees Rocks, Route 51 to Station Square and the trails complex, to South Side. At South Side I stopped at REI because I have a REI cash card for $20 that expires in two weeks. I purchased a pack of hand- and feet-warmers, and some chocolate-sesame snack bars.

I was very pleased to encounter Sara outside REI, "just" bicycling over from Oakland to do some shopping. That's very proto-nu-Pittsburgh, she's a very nice lady and sort of a live demo of what could be in a Pittsburgh 3.0 that embraces 2.0 wheels.

Continued down to Keystone Metals. Saw lots of activities and some very big men at the Steelers training facility. There was a satellite downlink truck and a reporter doing what reporters do while trying to stay mostly out of the rain.

No sign of much progress on the Keystone Metals portion of the trail. Got all blinkied up for the return leg and turned north. I was only a little wet over most of the body, but my socks and shoes were soaked.

With the tailwind behind me I got back to the car much earlier than I expected, so I continued further to Stoops Ferry and then rode back to the ice hockey rink. 38 miles, a very nice ride. I could have used a few towels to dry off after the ride.

Cold Weather Rivet Dancing

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12/12/22




(explanation: "on the rivet" Covering the Tour de France, Paul Sherwin used the phrase "on the rivet" to describe one of the guys struggling mightily in the Pyrennees today...
'If you're going as hard as you can, you're "on the rivet," an ancient phrase meaning sitting on the rivet at the front of your Brooks saddle.'

Dec 22, 2012 this week: 94 miles

238#

4th Qtr 1677 miles 20.4 mi/day4QTD

2012: 6988 miles

7 Seconds, 1 Mile, LOTD

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12/23/12 11M 238#First of all, lest I seem unappreciative, today brought +07 seconds more daylight than yesterday (Saturday) and I am very glad for that.

Today's 11-mile ride in 37F brings my annual mileage to 6999, 1 mile short of my this year's goal mileage, and I don't believe any of that Zeno's Paradox stuff about being unable to move to a concrete number.

Link of the day: Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Turtle Creek from today's New York Times, for a few reasons.

• it's provides the basis for a review of group dynamics and decision making
  
• it applies to group bike rides just as much as ski trips
  
• it's a very well-told story, without judgement or over-analysis or blame
  
• it really represents what a web presentation is supposed to be, it's extremely well done
  
• it's an example of what a big newspaper can do on the internet that nobody else can
  
• less seriously, because it provides an excellent demo of the new backpack airbags skiers carry for avalanches, and as I pedal around Point State Park to the Convention Center I've been thinking about getting a pair.

But for me, the reason I've found it most interesting is I've needed to focus on my own bike-decision-making lately, and this is an article that provides an example of good, experienced people who got swept up in event-inertia and seemed to (mostly) suspend judgement.

Goal Met, Soupaneur 4, Moss and Ice at the Koi Pond

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12/24/12 22M 238#
Met S. at the Bastille at 1000 and rode south along the Ohio River. After one mile I'd achieved my mileage goal for the year, which is great and I'd like to thank all my riding buddies for helping me get there.

Continued around the stadia and out to the 40th Street Bridge, then turned to the STrip District and went to Kelly O's for Soupaneuring Stop Number Four. S had wedding soup and I had turkey pot pie soup. Mine was excellent- thick, hearty, hot, you actually could stand a spoon up in it for a little while. Excellent hot soup on a cold day, it was about 28F outside at this point.



Back on the bikes, Ft. Pitt Bridge to the Southside Trail, stopped at REI to use their floor pump, Hot Metal Bridge, Jail Trail, Ft. Duquesne Bridge, and a happy surprise as we met Marko riding on the Northside. Rode the Chateau Trail, stopped at the Dockmaster's House for this photo of the koi pond:



Back to the Bastille. 22 miles and my mileage goal made, hot soup on a cold day, it was a very good ride. Ten minutes after I drove away it started raining, timing was sweet today.

Soupaneur 5, Glenwood Bridge

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12/28/12 23MSoupaneur Five at Graham Central in Cranberry, S had "loaded potato soup" and I had tomato basil soup.


The tomato basil soup was surprisingly good, generously supplied with sweet tomato chunks and contrasting little spicy tastes and some green leafy things and it was very good, although perhaps a bit lukewarm rather than hot. We rode 4 miles around Cranberry and that sort of exhausted the nearby housing development.

On the way home I stopped at the Bastille to see what conditions were like in the city. The Chateau Trail, from the Bastille to the Casino, was snow covered and not easily ridden so I used Beaver Street to ride down to the Ft. Duquesne Bridge.

The Ft. Duquesne walkway was cleared and dry, so I rode over to Point State Park and took Blvd of the Allies where I saw the cyclist who was photographed in yesterday's newspaper, shown riding with a cigarette casually dangling from his mouth.

Continued to Grant Street and joined the Jail Trail. The northern half-mile of the Jail Trail was quite snowy but south of the Jail itself it was clear and dry and really a pleasure to ride on.

I took the Swinburne St. Trailhead and Second Avenue south to the Glenwood Bridge, and it seemed like the sun had come out and there was a bit of blue-sky time. It made for a very nice ride.

The reverse was much the same. Very few people out on bicycles, those that were out mostly had a goofy grin on their faces. The route from the Ft. Duquesne Bridge back to the Bastille was inelegant and consisted mostly of riding the wrong way on one-way streets, I'll have to plot that out.

It was a nice day to get out and ride a bike.

Growing Pains in the Suburbs

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From 1951, A remarkable Pittsburgh Press series on growth and change within Allegheny County.

Each worth reading in itself and ever more interesting now as history. The question is, what would a comparable series like this cover today?


1              May 7    Growing Pains in the Suburbs  - "flash towns shoot up on good roads"    
3              May 8    Penn Township  - ".. with plenty of jobs available, high school students are dropping out"             
4              May 9    Churchill Patton Plum - "virtually a golfing heaven"       
5              May 10 White Oak  - "one of the major ailments is that old debbil politics"          
6              May 11 West Mifflin - "Homestead loses most"  also "Transportation bugaboo"    
7              May 12 Pleasant Hills   - "Rural area and borough still feud"
8              May 13 Baldwin and Whitehall   - "Township officials missed the zero hour for filing their annexation petition..."
9              May 14 Bethel Borough               
10           May 15 Green Tree and Scott    
11           May 16 Mount Lebanon              
12           May 17 Reserve Shaler Hampton             
13           May 18 Dorseyville Middle Road              
14           May 19 North Hills Ross Richland              
15           May 20 Moon Robinson Kennedy          
16           May 21 Metropolitan Area Needs Master Plan  

Retro news

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I get confused.  Why is this news now in December?  PG: Pittsburgh properties reassessed higher than those in suburbs.  Note in their graphic of the latest iteration of county numbers it is also true that only part of Trafford is in Allegheny County.

Anyways.....  I am pretty sure we knew the patterns or property value changes within the county literally a year ago if not before. See here from January: Anger, Angst, Assessment.

and again, for those Allegheny County public officials (including school districts, municipalities, and the county itself) looking for advice on setting revenue-neutral tax rates.  I refer you to Professor Strauss' calculations, or at the very least his methodology. I am sure someone will at some point go back and compare what tax rates are finally set to this type of benchmark.  His data, that has also been up there some time, is also a big data point that there is nothing new in any of this. 

The real article worth reading in the PG today

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So yes, you may think I would most want to self reference this piece in the PG today:  For Pittsburgh a future not reliant on steel was unthinkable ... and unavoidable

But no, the more important thing to read is on the "Next Page" and the idea of bringing rapid transit to Cranberry. See: Go North. Light Rail.   Who would've thunk that? Crazy idea bringing transit to the fastest growing part of the region and all. 

Of course, this has been a theme here in the past.  I mentioned the idea of "Rapid transit to Cranberry" even this last just in October in: Pod or Bust for me.  (or as far back as 2008 in: G20 Thoughts and More).  Seriously, the idea is self-evident except I suppose to those who want to see transit wither into oblivion. 

Oh.. yes.  I know.  Silly to divert resources even thinking about something that will never happen when there are so many other pressing transit issues in town. Must be why the bureaucracies supported Maglev for so long. Something the public knew full well was never going to happen.  Support, mind you, that lasted right up until the virtually undeniable end that only came early this year.

You know..  we really do maintain a certain economic motif here. 

and just for the record. For those who continue to read ink these days, I have absolutely nothing to do with the placement of advertisements near my piece today on the inside page.

Does Santa have a GTFS feed?

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First off, sic semper diaspora.  There would be no Santa Tracker if not for Bessemer, Lawrence County native, Westminster College alum, and retired Air Force Colonel Harry Shoup.



But yes, many know that because of some sort of spat between NORAD and Google, there is now the tracker being run by Google as well.  What happens if Santa and anti-Santa collide while crisscrossing the globe?  

Actually my real question is:  Does Santa have a GTFS feed?

Help still wanted

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Some may have read the article today in the PG on women in Pittsburgh's labor force.   It references a report we did some years ago on gender wage differences in the Pittsburgh region. Note the story today does not mention the third author Susan Hansen as well for the record.   No matter how you parse it, I have been saying for some time (page 3 of this* for example) that the trend in female labor force participation is one of the keys to understanding economic transformation in Pittsburgh. 


So how bad was it for women working in Pittsburgh in the past.  Earlier in the week I quoted a sentence from a 1946 study that said Pittsburgh would.... "slowly decline unless new industries employing women and those engaged in the production of consumer goods are attracted to the area."

Think about that date for a minute.  1946 was not a period when there was a lot of thought given to gender issues in the labor force.  The women who had entered the workforce to fill crucial shortages during the war were being laid off en masse as men returned from service.  Things must have been acutely different here for that thought to even come to mind.  Labor force participation for women, particularly married women and even more so married women with children were all far below what was typical elsewhere in the nation and would remain so for decades to come.

But play forward several decades.  So much that the media went to court to keep segregating job ads by gender long after most of the country has ceased the practice.  In Pittsburgh Press Co. v. Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations (1973), the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a local ordinance that prohibited publishing job advertisements that sorted positions into "Help Wanted: Male" and "Help Wanted: Female."  Think about it.  1973 is not the stone age, yet the Pittsburgh Press at the time was willing to spend money to appeal the ruling against them all the way to the supreme court to advertise some jobs for women and others for men. Only in the last couple of years would they even concede the minimal disclaimer I pasted in the image above.... and I will bet you that was only put into print on the advice of their attorneys. 

Plenty of folks working today had entered the labor force by then.   Was the training and education system here set up for women to compete with men?  It was worse than that.  It was well into the 20th century that a lot of large employers in the Pittsburgh region would not as policy employ married women with children. 

* Note also the sentence of population trends for the region turning positive in 10-15 years. That was early in 2002, which means my forecasts were really from 2001.   I think we may have hit that window pretty closely.

Who I like, Baltimore version part II

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Let's get straight to the point: I don't expect the Steelers to win this game.

In fact, it's likely that nobody does.

But that doesn't mean it's not important in some way.

The Steelers outplayed the Ravens a couple of weeks ago at home, but lost, 13-10, when they allowed a punt return for a touchdown.

The Byron Leftwich-led offense could only muster 10 points.

Charlie Batch will make his second start this week after Leftwich suffered fractured ribs early in that loss, but played through the injury.

Since I fully expect that this will be the first of three meetings between the Steelers and Ravens, Pittsburgh has to send a message in this one.

Sure, Joe Flacco plays better at home - the Ravens average 36 points per game at home, 16 on the road (how's that for a home-road difference) - which is why they won't be going to the Super Bowl.

So what the Steelers need to show in this one is that they can hold Baltimore's much-better home offense in check and not allow another big play - like Jacoby Jones' 63-yard punt return for a score - in this one.

Troy Polamalu and Antonio Brown are back this week, which should help. And the Steelers will get Ben Roethlisberger back next week. At least that is the plan at this point.

Baltimore is now an 8-point favorite to win this one and I expect that the Ravens will cover that spread, but it won't be easy.

Take Baltimore, 24-14.

Breaking New Tuesday

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The Steelers have suspended running back Rashard Mendenhall for one game for conduct detrimental to the team after he failed to show up for last Sunday's 34-24 loss to San Diego after being told he would not be active.

Though Mendenhall's future with the Steelers was highly in doubt, there was a chance the team might re-sign him as a free agent following this season if he didn't draw a lot of interest elsewhere.

That is likely out the window.

The Steelers activated running back Baron Batch from their practice squad to fill Mendenhall's roster spot this week.

@ Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said that guard Willie Colon had surgery Monday to repair his injured left knee.

The Steelers have not yet placed Colon on the disabled list. They are waiting for the swelling to go down in order to see the severity of the injury and length of recovery time.

As expected, with Colon out, the Steelers are going to take a look at moving Ramon Foster to left guard and inserting rookie David DeCastro at right guard.

DeCastro wasn't quite ready a couple of weeks ago when he was activated from injured reserve, but has built up some strength in his knee, which he injured in the team's third preseason game.

@ Colon's injury wasn't the only big one announced by Tomlin Tuesday.

Corner Cortez Allen, who started in place of Ike Taylor last week, has a hip flexor injury, as does fellow starter Keenan Lewis.

Allen's injury is more serious than the one to Lewis, though both will be limited in practice early in the week.

Lewis is expected to play Sunday, while the Steelers are unsure about Allen.

That could leave Curtis Brown, Josh Victorian and DeMarcus Van Dyke playing bigger roles in Dallas this weekend.

@ I spoke with Taylor after Sundays loss to San Diego. He's planning on trying to come back against Cincinnati, but that might be pushing things.

@ Tomlin said he has no plans to change the running back rotation, meaning Rashard Mendenhall will continue to be inactive.

Post-Cowboys thoughts

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A lot is going to be made of a statement Ben Roethlisberger made following this 27-24 overtime loss.

After saying that he blamed himself for this loss, Roethlisberger said when asked why tight end Heath Miller wasn't a bigger part of the game plan in the second half, "I don't think we called the right plays to get him the ball."

Notice that Roethlisberger said WE. He didn't say the coaches. He didn't say the offensive coordinator. He said WE.

That is because Roethlisberger was probably as responsible for the playcalling in the second half as offensive coordinator Todd Haley.

Let's take a look at the second half.

The Steelers' first series was two Jonathan Dwyer runs and an incompletion to Dwyer in the flat on which Roethlisberger bounced the ball to Dwyer for what would have been at least a 10-yard gain.

On their second possession, they again ran three plays, but this time one of those plays was a 60-yard gain to Mike Wallace. No chance to throw to Miller there.

Their next series again ended with a touchdown, so did it matter that they threw no passes to Miller?

After that, it was pretty much Roethlisberger calling plays until the overtime period, when his first pass went to Miller.

So was Roethlisberger blaming Haley, himself or both?

Look for Roethlisberger to clarify that statement on Wednesday.

@ I thought there was a lot to like about this game for the Steelers. They went into Dallas - which owns one of the top passing attacks in the NFL to go along with a solid pass rush - and while the Cowboys had some success throwing the ball and rushing Roethlisberger, neither of those things was the deciding factor in this game.

@ While Roethlisberger blamed himself for this loss, so, too, did Antonio Brown.

Brown made three critical errors in this game.

The fumbled punt was the biggest one, as it completely changed the momentum.

But he also failed to field a punt with less than two minutes remaining that cost the Steelers at least 15 yards in field position, then ran out of bounds on third-and-26, rather than staying in bounds and forcing Dallas to use another timeout.

Neither of those last two miscues cost the Steelers this game, but both could have easily been the difference.

@ Will the people calling for Mike Tomlin's head just chill out? He's not going to be fired, nor should he be fired.

This team has dealt with a number of crippling injuries, such as the aforementioned ones heading into this game.

And yet if they win their final two games, they will be in the playoffs. In fact, there's a good chance that if they win their final two games, they could win the division.

Here's how: If the Steelers finish in a three-way tie with Baltimore and Cincinnati at 9-7, they win the AFC North based on a better head-to-head record, 3-1, against those teams.

Sure, the Steelers have struggled of late, but it's nothing getting some players back healthy wouldn't fix.

Mike Adams should be back to play right tackle this week, and the running game could certainly use his presence.

There's also a chance that Ike Taylor could be back as well - though I'd put that at around 50-50 right now.

Don't know

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Yesterday I was trusted with a two-year old for five hours. I can't change a diaper and I have no experience but I got to hang out with the girl for the afternoon. I took her to a place in Pittsburgh has animals roaming around some buffalo a few caged animals in a big pond. There was a family there with a child who is probably my age who was a little bit physically handicapped and mentally slow. He couldn't speak the tried communicating with us and it seem like other kids were afraid of them as he was very social so I just told my little friend to talk to him. I think it made his day. A little while later we saw him again and his mom gave us five dollars for a pony ride for my little friend. I think it may have made her day seeing her son socialize somebody who just treated him normally.

Friends.. life's stories

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When I was 19 or so I went to my dad's townhouse in the burbs to do laundry. I had been gone for about two years and probably went back three per times year, despite living about ten miles away.

I talked to a friend who was also at his parents' house doing similar stuff. He lived a few blocks from me and we both went to Pitt. We had a few classes together. We had been friends since we were 8 or 9 years old. I would say best friends since 11 or 12 years old. By that time I was racing a ton of bmx and he started getting into it as well. Within a year of racing, he was winning the 12 year old expert field. He ended up two year streak as age group expert PA stat champion...

We hit our teenage years and dated girls who were also best friends. Lots of double dates, lots of "coupling." We continued riding together, however he was way better than me at dirt jumping. He could do BIG 360's and pretty much had no fear. I had no shortage of fear. I remember once when we were about twenty, upon meeting him a kid went "whoah... I had a photo of you on my wall growing up..." He was good.

Anyway, so we are in the burbs doing laundry and decide to go to the restaurant where we both worked as teenagers with two other good friends. Yeah we even had the same job. It was closing,so we went to a local diner, Eat n Park. The first one that we went to was SUPER crowded with teenagers on a Friday night. We left to go to another one like three miles away. Upon leaving, we were going through a traffic circle and had a weird interaction with another car. The tough guys in the car halted us by pulling in front of us and asked if we, and me in particular, had a problem. I was laughing at the situation and told the driver that yes, I had a tetanus shot the day before and I was really sore. That was my biggest problem... Ive been not funny for a long time.

So we pull out and talk about how weird that was, and how those dudes were dicks. We realized that they were following us after a couple of minutes. We continued on to the less crowded diner. Looking bag, we should have just gone to a police station, or somewhere else, but what could possibly happen.. right?

We pulled into a spot, and they pulled right up to our bumper, parking us in. We kind of collectively decided to fight them. We got out of the car and this big dude gets in my face. I remember the trial where the prosecutor asked him how much he weighed and it was something like 225 and 6'4". I was like 145 at the time. Dude is in my face and pushing me. I just kept saying "dude I am not going to fight you" like it was a mantra. I think this just made him madder. I knew this dude. He was two years younger than me in high school. The other dude in the car lived on my high school girlfriend's street.

So when the giant starts pushing me, my best friend steps between us. He was pretty strong and took the push without moving. Then the giant's friend pushes the giant away and just starts tearing at my best friend with a pretty big knife.

I dont really remember watching him getting stabbed. I do remember watching the big guy pull the stabber off. This probably saved my best friend's life. They jumped in their car and took off. My best friend was dumping blood everywhere. Like fucking everywhere. He had new shoes on and took them off, cause he didnt want to get blood on them. I dont think that he realized that he was maybe going to die. I guess he was in shock. Im not sure where everybody else in the car was at this point. My memories are super tunnel vision. We laid my best friend down and ran to find a phone... remember when there were not cell phones everywhere?

Anyway, when the paramedics said casually "we should get the helicopter"... I knew things were really bad. Anyway, this is going nowhere and is too long already, sorry. My best friend had both lungs punctured, his liver punctured and his stomach punctured. Bile went into his body and made him go septic. Like people are always like so and so "almost died" or "it was on the verge of death" ... but yeah I think he was. He lived. He spent a month or so in the hospital. He had to drop out of college, etc. There was a long shitty trial where the kid delayed the inevitable by like a year with bullshit lawyer stuff.

Like I said, this isnt really going anywhere, but was something I have been thinking about lately. I remember going home and staring at my ceiling until I passed out. I remember sitting on my living room floor calling the hospital to see if he was alive the next morning. I remember thanking him when he came to in the hospital. There is no doubt that I would have fucking died. My friend totally punched the stabber a few times and was limiting the damage as it happened. I am weak. I would have been dead. My friend told me "I would do it again" while he was in the hospital. man

There are not many people like this. Even best friends.

4th grade.

My Wedding 20 years later

Who I like, Dallas version

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This might be the toughest Steelers game to pick all season - not that I've exactly been nailing it with this team this season.

The line has moved all over on this game, which means Las Vegas has struggled with it as well.

The Steelers and Cowboys have had almost identical up-and-down seasons.

Both teams play good defense and have the potential for explosiveness on offense, but have been inconsistent.

The biggest differences are that Dallas is better rushing the passer, while the Steelers are better at quarterback.

Both teams are also banged up - Dallas up the middle of its defense, the Steelers at cornerback and on the offensive line (the Cowboys' line has been bad all season).

And both teams are 7-6 and fighting for a playoff spot - though the Cowboys certainly need this game more than the Steelers.

A loss by the Cowboys would pretty much end their playoff hopes. It's doubtful anyone is making the playoffs in the NFC at 9-7.

While the Steelers can lose to the Cowboys, win their final two games - both at home - and reach the postseason. They don't necessarily want to take that route, but it's certainly possible.

The Steelers are 1-point favorites in this game in this game, but with their offensive line injuries - and more importantly, secondary issues - I see the Cowboys pulling this one out.

Take Dallas, 26-23.

Don't know

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Yesterday I was trusted with a two-year old for five hours. I can't change a diaper and I have no experience but I got to hang out with the girl for the afternoon. I took her to a place in Pittsburgh has animals roaming around some buffalo a few caged animals in a big pond. There was a family there with a child who is probably my age who was a little bit physically handicapped and mentally slow. He couldn't speak the tried communicating with us and it seem like other kids were afraid of them as he was very social so I just told my little friend to talk to him. I think it made his day. A little while later we saw him again and his mom gave us five dollars for a pony ride for my little friend. I think it may have made her day seeing her son socialize somebody who just treated him normally.

Friends.. life's stories

To contact us Click HERE
When I was 19 or so I went to my dad's townhouse in the burbs to do laundry. I had been gone for about two years and probably went back three per times year, despite living about ten miles away.

I talked to a friend who was also at his parents' house doing similar stuff. He lived a few blocks from me and we both went to Pitt. We had a few classes together. We had been friends since we were 8 or 9 years old. I would say best friends since 11 or 12 years old. By that time I was racing a ton of bmx and he started getting into it as well. Within a year of racing, he was winning the 12 year old expert field. He ended up two year streak as age group expert PA stat champion...

We hit our teenage years and dated girls who were also best friends. Lots of double dates, lots of "coupling." We continued riding together, however he was way better than me at dirt jumping. He could do BIG 360's and pretty much had no fear. I had no shortage of fear. I remember once when we were about twenty, upon meeting him a kid went "whoah... I had a photo of you on my wall growing up..." He was good.

Anyway, so we are in the burbs doing laundry and decide to go to the restaurant where we both worked as teenagers with two other good friends. Yeah we even had the same job. It was closing,so we went to a local diner, Eat n Park. The first one that we went to was SUPER crowded with teenagers on a Friday night. We left to go to another one like three miles away. Upon leaving, we were going through a traffic circle and had a weird interaction with another car. The tough guys in the car halted us by pulling in front of us and asked if we, and me in particular, had a problem. I was laughing at the situation and told the driver that yes, I had a tetanus shot the day before and I was really sore. That was my biggest problem... Ive been not funny for a long time.

So we pull out and talk about how weird that was, and how those dudes were dicks. We realized that they were following us after a couple of minutes. We continued on to the less crowded diner. Looking bag, we should have just gone to a police station, or somewhere else, but what could possibly happen.. right?

We pulled into a spot, and they pulled right up to our bumper, parking us in. We kind of collectively decided to fight them. We got out of the car and this big dude gets in my face. I remember the trial where the prosecutor asked him how much he weighed and it was something like 225 and 6'4". I was like 145 at the time. Dude is in my face and pushing me. I just kept saying "dude I am not going to fight you" like it was a mantra. I think this just made him madder. I knew this dude. He was two years younger than me in high school. The other dude in the car lived on my high school girlfriend's street.

So when the giant starts pushing me, my best friend steps between us. He was pretty strong and took the push without moving. Then the giant's friend pushes the giant away and just starts tearing at my best friend with a pretty big knife.

I dont really remember watching him getting stabbed. I do remember watching the big guy pull the stabber off. This probably saved my best friend's life. They jumped in their car and took off. My best friend was dumping blood everywhere. Like fucking everywhere. He had new shoes on and took them off, cause he didnt want to get blood on them. I dont think that he realized that he was maybe going to die. I guess he was in shock. Im not sure where everybody else in the car was at this point. My memories are super tunnel vision. We laid my best friend down and ran to find a phone... remember when there were not cell phones everywhere?

Anyway, when the paramedics said casually "we should get the helicopter"... I knew things were really bad. Anyway, this is going nowhere and is too long already, sorry. My best friend had both lungs punctured, his liver punctured and his stomach punctured. Bile went into his body and made him go septic. Like people are always like so and so "almost died" or "it was on the verge of death" ... but yeah I think he was. He lived. He spent a month or so in the hospital. He had to drop out of college, etc. There was a long shitty trial where the kid delayed the inevitable by like a year with bullshit lawyer stuff.

Like I said, this isnt really going anywhere, but was something I have been thinking about lately. I remember going home and staring at my ceiling until I passed out. I remember sitting on my living room floor calling the hospital to see if he was alive the next morning. I remember thanking him when he came to in the hospital. There is no doubt that I would have fucking died. My friend totally punched the stabber a few times and was limiting the damage as it happened. I am weak. I would have been dead. My friend told me "I would do it again" while he was in the hospital. man

There are not many people like this. Even best friends.

4th grade.

My Wedding 20 years later

1920's HSR PROPOSAL PRR

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In the Spring 1999 of a periodical called THE KEYSTONE published by the Pennsylvania Railroad Historical and Technical Society an article appeared describing the "Samuel Rea Line." Samuel Rea retired from being the President of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1925. His most famous engineering achievement was the construction of the Penn Station and tunnels at New York City completed in 1910. The article indicated that preliminary surveys for a railroad capable of 90 mph were supervised by Samuel Rea for the PRR Board in 1926. The dedicated passenger line was to leave the existing 90 mph mainline at Fort Wayne, Indiana and be built across Ohio and Pennsylvania connecting with the PRR mainline at Lewistown, Pennsylvania. It would have lessened the PRR distance from Chicago to New York City by 100 miles.

In an attempt to learn more about the basis for the article, an attempt was made to contact its author without success. Contact with the Hagley Museum at Wilmington, Delaware, and the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, Strasburg, Pennsylvania; major repositories for Pennsylvania Railroad archives, came up empty. The absence of more information about the basis for the article is probably due to a a fire at Philadelphia's Broad Street Station in 1943. Substantial volumes of PRR records stored there were destroyed in the fire.

The route across Pennsylvania would have required 22 tunnels. The longest tunnel would have been north of Altoona and south of Tyrone. That west to east tunnel would have been 29,400 feet or 5.57 miles long. Steam locomotives would have had their fires banked and the passenger trains hauled through the long tunnel by electric locomotives. It would have taken a civil engineer of the caliber of the Samuel Rea to have have supervised such a preliminary survey.

 The yellow line represents the proposed Samuel Rea Line noted as SRL. The PRR mainline is shown in blue. The Conemaugh line from the Northside of Pittsburgh to Bolivar, Pennsylvania is shown in dark red / brown. Northwest of Pittsburgh, near Rochester, Pennsylvania a dotted line shows a new connection from the mainline to a place called Ogle for a connection with the Samuel Rea Line. Northeast of Pittsburgh near Kiski Junction across the Allegheny River from Freeport a dotted line shows where a proposed connection with the Connemaugh Division would have been made at a place called Godfrey, Pennsylvania. All tunnel locations have their length in feet indicated.
Was the equipment operated by the PRR in 1926 capable of 90 mph operation? Yes. Was their larger passenger locomotive, the K4 type, capable of sustained 90 mph operation? Yes. Was the smaller PRR passenger locomotive, the E6 type, capable of faster operation? Yes - 115 mph.
 The Samuel Rea Line is shown in yellow.  The Allegheny summit would have been attained to the west of a large 14,750 foot tunnel that would have been built between Alburn and St. Lawrence, Pennsylvania. The mainline is in blue. The Conemaugh division is in dark red / brown. The west portal of the 5.57 mile tunnel proposed for the Samuel Rea Line in yellow would have been near Frugality, Pennsylvania. Connection with the PRR mainline would have been made at the west portal of the 9200 foot tunnel through Brush mountain between Tyrone to the north and Altoona to the south. Other connections to the PRR mainline would have been made in the vicinity of Spruce Creek, Pennsylvania.
Had the Samuel Rea Line been built, it would not have had a grade exceeding 0.6 per cent. It would likely have been easily upgraded for 125 mph operation either by diesel locomotives or electric locomotives. 
The proposed Samuel Rea line demonstrates that an actual High Speed Rail HSR across the Alleghenies would and require a substantial number of tunnels.
 

California High Speed Rail and WHY It's Important for the Nation

To contact us Click HERE

The "Sacramento Bee" newspaper on 8/13/12 reported about a podcast addressing the importance of high speed rail. See the link below to access the podcast. Set aside an hour for the podcast. It is worth the time.

"California High-Speed Rail and Why It's Important for the Nation"
presented by Rod Diridon, Sr.

By Mineta Transportation Institute
Published: Monday, Aug. 13, 2012 - 11:53 am

SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) will present a free podcast on Wednesday, August 15, as part of its monthly Transportation Innovation Series. The program will feature Rod Diridon, Sr., presenting a series of slides on "California High-Speed Rail and Why It's Important for the Nation." The free program will be podcast from 1-2pm Eastern, and 10-11am Pacific. Access at http://mediasite.yorkcast.com/webcast/Viewer/?peid=7b7cc7961ffc4fa9bdbf47f6c530578f1d

Mr. Diridon is executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) at San Jose (Calif.) State University. MTI is the lead organization for the Mineta National Transit Research Consortium (MNTRC), a collaboration of nine university transportation centers across the U.S.
His presentation will explain why California's high-speed rail will benefit the U.S. and our environment, and why the state's $68 billion project is an important part of the national plan.
In mid-July, California's legislature gave final approval to sell the Proposition 1A high-speed rail bonds, and it approved the revised business plan. Mr. Diridon will explain the schedule for the first $6 billion in contracts and the related Requests for Proposals (RFPs) now in circulation. He also will explain the differences between true high-speed rail and the incremental upgrades, how HSR will integrate with feeder systems, and how it will create long-term economic benefits..
DISCLAIMER: The views of the presenter do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

ABOUT ROD DIRIDON, SR.
Rod Diridon, Sr., has served as executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) since 1995, four years after its creation by Congress. Mr. Diridon has chaired more than 100 international, national, state and local programs, most related to transit and the environment. He frequently provides legislative testimony on sustainable transportation issues and is regarded by many as the "father" of modern transit service in Silicon Valley. He was appointed by Governors Davis and Schwarzenegger, in 2001 and 2006, respectively, to the California High-Speed Rail Authority Board, of which he is chair emeritus. He helped found, and is chair emeritus of, the High-Speed and Intercity Rail Committee and the National High-Speed Rail Corridors Coalition of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). He also served as president of the national Council of University Transportation Centers.

ABOUT RITA The Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) coordinates the U.S. Department of Transportation's research and education programs, and is working to bring advanced technologies into the transportation system. RITA also offers vital transportation statistics and analysis, and supports national efforts to improve education and training in transportation-related fields. RITA works to ensure that the nation's transportation research investments produce results for the American people. Visit www.rita.dot.gov

ABOUT THE MINETA TRANSPORTATION INSTITUTE The Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) conducts research, education, and information and technology transfer, focusing on multimodal surface transportation policy and management issues, especially as they relate to transit. MTI was established by Congress in 1991 as part of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) and was reauthorized under TEA-21 and again under SAFETEA-LU. The Institute has been funded by Congress through the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Research and Innovative Technology Administration, by the California Legislature through the Department of Transportation (Caltrans), and by other public and private grants and donations, including grants from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. DOT selected MTI as a National Center of Excellence following competitions in 2002 and 2006. The internationally respected members of the MTI Board of Trustees represent all major surface transportation modes. MTI's focus on policy and management resulted from the Board's assessment of the transportation industry's unmet needs. That led directly to choosing the San Jose State University College of Business as the Institute's home. Visit transweb.sjsu.edu

Friends.. life's stories

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When I was 19 or so I went to my dad's townhouse in the burbs to do laundry. I had been gone for about two years and probably went back three per times year, despite living about ten miles away.

I talked to a friend who was also at his parents' house doing similar stuff. He lived a few blocks from me and we both went to Pitt. We had a few classes together. We had been friends since we were 8 or 9 years old. I would say best friends since 11 or 12 years old. By that time I was racing a ton of bmx and he started getting into it as well. Within a year of racing, he was winning the 12 year old expert field. He ended up two year streak as age group expert PA stat champion...

We hit our teenage years and dated girls who were also best friends. Lots of double dates, lots of "coupling." We continued riding together, however he was way better than me at dirt jumping. He could do BIG 360's and pretty much had no fear. I had no shortage of fear. I remember once when we were about twenty, upon meeting him a kid went "whoah... I had a photo of you on my wall growing up..." He was good.

Anyway, so we are in the burbs doing laundry and decide to go to the restaurant where we both worked as teenagers with two other good friends. Yeah we even had the same job. It was closing,so we went to a local diner, Eat n Park. The first one that we went to was SUPER crowded with teenagers on a Friday night. We left to go to another one like three miles away. Upon leaving, we were going through a traffic circle and had a weird interaction with another car. The tough guys in the car halted us by pulling in front of us and asked if we, and me in particular, had a problem. I was laughing at the situation and told the driver that yes, I had a tetanus shot the day before and I was really sore. That was my biggest problem... Ive been not funny for a long time.

So we pull out and talk about how weird that was, and how those dudes were dicks. We realized that they were following us after a couple of minutes. We continued on to the less crowded diner. Looking bag, we should have just gone to a police station, or somewhere else, but what could possibly happen.. right?

We pulled into a spot, and they pulled right up to our bumper, parking us in. We kind of collectively decided to fight them. We got out of the car and this big dude gets in my face. I remember the trial where the prosecutor asked him how much he weighed and it was something like 225 and 6'4". I was like 145 at the time. Dude is in my face and pushing me. I just kept saying "dude I am not going to fight you" like it was a mantra. I think this just made him madder. I knew this dude. He was two years younger than me in high school. The other dude in the car lived on my high school girlfriend's street.

So when the giant starts pushing me, my best friend steps between us. He was pretty strong and took the push without moving. Then the giant's friend pushes the giant away and just starts tearing at my best friend with a pretty big knife.

I dont really remember watching him getting stabbed. I do remember watching the big guy pull the stabber off. This probably saved my best friend's life. They jumped in their car and took off. My best friend was dumping blood everywhere. Like fucking everywhere. He had new shoes on and took them off, cause he didnt want to get blood on them. I dont think that he realized that he was maybe going to die. I guess he was in shock. Im not sure where everybody else in the car was at this point. My memories are super tunnel vision. We laid my best friend down and ran to find a phone... remember when there were not cell phones everywhere?

Anyway, when the paramedics said casually "we should get the helicopter"... I knew things were really bad. Anyway, this is going nowhere and is too long already, sorry. My best friend had both lungs punctured, his liver punctured and his stomach punctured. Bile went into his body and made him go septic. Like people are always like so and so "almost died" or "it was on the verge of death" ... but yeah I think he was. He lived. He spent a month or so in the hospital. He had to drop out of college, etc. There was a long shitty trial where the kid delayed the inevitable by like a year with bullshit lawyer stuff.

Like I said, this isnt really going anywhere, but was something I have been thinking about lately. I remember going home and staring at my ceiling until I passed out. I remember sitting on my living room floor calling the hospital to see if he was alive the next morning. I remember thanking him when he came to in the hospital. There is no doubt that I would have fucking died. My friend totally punched the stabber a few times and was limiting the damage as it happened. I am weak. I would have been dead. My friend told me "I would do it again" while he was in the hospital. man

There are not many people like this. Even best friends.

4th grade.

My Wedding 20 years later

PA State Championship... BMX vs. CX

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This past Sunday was the PA state Cyclocross championship. Mostly the Western PA state cyclocross championship, as in the "Elite field" there were only a handful of guys not from Western PA/WV.
I managed to keep my bike upright for MOST of the time,and won my first state championship in 20 years. 21 in cyclocross years. Im old.
This is my medal.
When I raced bmx, if you won something you could run it on your front plate the following year. I rocked the 1PA for two years straight as a kid. Kind of a cool idea.
I told a friend of mine who runs a a real cycling website to watch the first turn, as it kept raining and the conditions changed before our first lap. A change in conditions is not a big deal when you have the skills that I obviously do below.

Pittsburgh bicycle racing. Past and Present. Limestone at the Kiln

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During the 1980's, Pittsburgh was a powerhouse as far as cycling went. There were great racers from here; The Chew brothers, Matt Eaton, Ron Lutz... Davis Phinney lived in the Chew house off and on. Pittsburgh had good bike racers...

We have had our stars come and shine for sure. Mike Friedman and Sinead Miller both represented us proudly...

This past weekend was the final MAC cyclocross race, Limestone at the Kiln. Looking at the results, it makes me proud to be from Pittsburgh.

It looks like around 10 people drove the 4:45 each way to race a cyclocross race. Pittsburgh walked away with: Elite Men Win and 7th, B Men 1/2 and overall jersey, Elite masters 2nd... On top of this, plenty of other results to be proud of. It is really awesome how many people are traveling out east and making a showing for our city. Personally it was also very awesome to have friends from home yelling at me during my race, and hopefully vice versa. Hopefully this trend continues next year.

Here is a video Keith Hower shot of his weekend.

2012 Limestone at the Kiln Cyclocross MAC #8 from Keith Hower on Vimeo.

1920's HSR PROPOSAL PRR

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In the Spring 1999 of a periodical called THE KEYSTONE published by the Pennsylvania Railroad Historical and Technical Society an article appeared describing the "Samuel Rea Line." Samuel Rea retired from being the President of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1925. His most famous engineering achievement was the construction of the Penn Station and tunnels at New York City completed in 1910. The article indicated that preliminary surveys for a railroad capable of 90 mph were supervised by Samuel Rea for the PRR Board in 1926. The dedicated passenger line was to leave the existing 90 mph mainline at Fort Wayne, Indiana and be built across Ohio and Pennsylvania connecting with the PRR mainline at Lewistown, Pennsylvania. It would have lessened the PRR distance from Chicago to New York City by 100 miles.

In an attempt to learn more about the basis for the article, an attempt was made to contact its author without success. Contact with the Hagley Museum at Wilmington, Delaware, and the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, Strasburg, Pennsylvania; major repositories for Pennsylvania Railroad archives, came up empty. The absence of more information about the basis for the article is probably due to a a fire at Philadelphia's Broad Street Station in 1943. Substantial volumes of PRR records stored there were destroyed in the fire.

The route across Pennsylvania would have required 22 tunnels. The longest tunnel would have been north of Altoona and south of Tyrone. That west to east tunnel would have been 29,400 feet or 5.57 miles long. Steam locomotives would have had their fires banked and the passenger trains hauled through the long tunnel by electric locomotives. It would have taken a civil engineer of the caliber of the Samuel Rea to have have supervised such a preliminary survey.

 The yellow line represents the proposed Samuel Rea Line noted as SRL. The PRR mainline is shown in blue. The Conemaugh line from the Northside of Pittsburgh to Bolivar, Pennsylvania is shown in dark red / brown. Northwest of Pittsburgh, near Rochester, Pennsylvania a dotted line shows a new connection from the mainline to a place called Ogle for a connection with the Samuel Rea Line. Northeast of Pittsburgh near Kiski Junction across the Allegheny River from Freeport a dotted line shows where a proposed connection with the Connemaugh Division would have been made at a place called Godfrey, Pennsylvania. All tunnel locations have their length in feet indicated.
Was the equipment operated by the PRR in 1926 capable of 90 mph operation? Yes. Was their larger passenger locomotive, the K4 type, capable of sustained 90 mph operation? Yes. Was the smaller PRR passenger locomotive, the E6 type, capable of faster operation? Yes - 115 mph.
 The Samuel Rea Line is shown in yellow.  The Allegheny summit would have been attained to the west of a large 14,750 foot tunnel that would have been built between Alburn and St. Lawrence, Pennsylvania. The mainline is in blue. The Conemaugh division is in dark red / brown. The west portal of the 5.57 mile tunnel proposed for the Samuel Rea Line in yellow would have been near Frugality, Pennsylvania. Connection with the PRR mainline would have been made at the west portal of the 9200 foot tunnel through Brush mountain between Tyrone to the north and Altoona to the south. Other connections to the PRR mainline would have been made in the vicinity of Spruce Creek, Pennsylvania.
Had the Samuel Rea Line been built, it would not have had a grade exceeding 0.6 per cent. It would likely have been easily upgraded for 125 mph operation either by diesel locomotives or electric locomotives. 
The proposed Samuel Rea line demonstrates that an actual High Speed Rail HSR across the Alleghenies would and require a substantial number of tunnels.
 

California High Speed Rail and WHY It's Important for the Nation

To contact us Click HERE

The "Sacramento Bee" newspaper on 8/13/12 reported about a podcast addressing the importance of high speed rail. See the link below to access the podcast. Set aside an hour for the podcast. It is worth the time.

"California High-Speed Rail and Why It's Important for the Nation"
presented by Rod Diridon, Sr.

By Mineta Transportation Institute
Published: Monday, Aug. 13, 2012 - 11:53 am

SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) will present a free podcast on Wednesday, August 15, as part of its monthly Transportation Innovation Series. The program will feature Rod Diridon, Sr., presenting a series of slides on "California High-Speed Rail and Why It's Important for the Nation." The free program will be podcast from 1-2pm Eastern, and 10-11am Pacific. Access at http://mediasite.yorkcast.com/webcast/Viewer/?peid=7b7cc7961ffc4fa9bdbf47f6c530578f1d

Mr. Diridon is executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) at San Jose (Calif.) State University. MTI is the lead organization for the Mineta National Transit Research Consortium (MNTRC), a collaboration of nine university transportation centers across the U.S.
His presentation will explain why California's high-speed rail will benefit the U.S. and our environment, and why the state's $68 billion project is an important part of the national plan.
In mid-July, California's legislature gave final approval to sell the Proposition 1A high-speed rail bonds, and it approved the revised business plan. Mr. Diridon will explain the schedule for the first $6 billion in contracts and the related Requests for Proposals (RFPs) now in circulation. He also will explain the differences between true high-speed rail and the incremental upgrades, how HSR will integrate with feeder systems, and how it will create long-term economic benefits..
DISCLAIMER: The views of the presenter do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

ABOUT ROD DIRIDON, SR.
Rod Diridon, Sr., has served as executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) since 1995, four years after its creation by Congress. Mr. Diridon has chaired more than 100 international, national, state and local programs, most related to transit and the environment. He frequently provides legislative testimony on sustainable transportation issues and is regarded by many as the "father" of modern transit service in Silicon Valley. He was appointed by Governors Davis and Schwarzenegger, in 2001 and 2006, respectively, to the California High-Speed Rail Authority Board, of which he is chair emeritus. He helped found, and is chair emeritus of, the High-Speed and Intercity Rail Committee and the National High-Speed Rail Corridors Coalition of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). He also served as president of the national Council of University Transportation Centers.

ABOUT RITA The Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) coordinates the U.S. Department of Transportation's research and education programs, and is working to bring advanced technologies into the transportation system. RITA also offers vital transportation statistics and analysis, and supports national efforts to improve education and training in transportation-related fields. RITA works to ensure that the nation's transportation research investments produce results for the American people. Visit www.rita.dot.gov

ABOUT THE MINETA TRANSPORTATION INSTITUTE The Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) conducts research, education, and information and technology transfer, focusing on multimodal surface transportation policy and management issues, especially as they relate to transit. MTI was established by Congress in 1991 as part of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) and was reauthorized under TEA-21 and again under SAFETEA-LU. The Institute has been funded by Congress through the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Research and Innovative Technology Administration, by the California Legislature through the Department of Transportation (Caltrans), and by other public and private grants and donations, including grants from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. DOT selected MTI as a National Center of Excellence following competitions in 2002 and 2006. The internationally respected members of the MTI Board of Trustees represent all major surface transportation modes. MTI's focus on policy and management resulted from the Board's assessment of the transportation industry's unmet needs. That led directly to choosing the San Jose State University College of Business as the Institute's home. Visit transweb.sjsu.edu

Post-Ravens thoughts Part II

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I have believed all season that the Steelers are one of the best three teams in the AFC, but I had to admit that confidence was shaken the past two weeks.

It was beginning to look like this team didn't have the chops to win without Ben Roethlisberger.

But the Steelers not only did that Sunday against the Ravens, they did so with an effort that was a throwback to four or five years ago.

There was Troy Polamalu looking like Troy Polamalu.

There was James Harrison looking like James Harrison.

Heck, even Charlie Batch looked like the Charlie Batch of five years ago.

It's a promising outcome for these Steelers, who have four very winnable games down the stretch once they get Roethlisberger back.

Losing Ike Taylor for what looks like at least a couple of weeks will hurt, but Taylor played just the first two snaps of this one before going out with what is being called a fibula injury.

And the Ravens threw for 177 yards.

It wasn't for lack of trying the deep throw. But with constant pressure in his face and the young Steelers corners plastering themselves to the receivers, it just didn't work.

@ While the Steelers ran for just 96 yards, they were an effective 96 yards. And Jonathan Dwyer and Isaac Redman were running like they were carrying precious cargo.

It didn't stop them from running with passion and looking for contact, but they were definitely cognizant that they needed to hold onto the ball.

Looks like Mike Tomlin's tough love with his running backs worked.

@ The Steelers were giving Kelvin Beachum plenty of help early in the game. By the end, they were leaving him one-on-one to fend for himself.

He played that well.

Beachum had a tough start this preseason, but when you watch his athleticism, you see why the Steelers were so high on him after the coaching sessions and mini-camp.

@ The Steelers won the rematch with the Ravens, but it says here there will be a rubber match in Baltimore in January.

From what I saw Sunday and in the first meeting with the Ravens, the Steelers, with Roethlisberger, will win that game by two touchdowns.

@ Sunday marked Tomlin's 100th game with the Steelers. He's now 67-33.

I'm no math whiz, but I think that works out to Tomlin winning two out of every three games.

@ I'm still scratching my head as to why the Ravens ran the ball just 20 times and Ray Rice had just 12 of those carries.

@ The Pittsburgh pass rush was ferocious in this game. Sure, they had just three sacks and was credited with three hurries, but it seemed to me that they had guys in Joe Flacco's face all day.

Flacco completed just 10 of 27 pass attempts to his receivers and tight ends, badly missing on a lot of throws.

@ I wrote a couple of weeks ago how this season could take on the look of 2005. And then the Steelers went out and lost to Cleveland.

Now, it's possible for the Steelers to win their final five games heading into the playoffs - and they might need all five.

I don't think that will be the case, but given the way this team responded Sunday, it has the look of a very dangerous playoff team.

Roethlisberger looking ready

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Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that he needed to see Ben Roethlisberger make all the necessary throws in practice on Wednesday.

After practice Wednesday, Tomlin said Roethlisberger made all of the necessary throws.

So at this point, it appears Roethlisberger will return for the Steelers this weekend against San Diego.

@ The Steelers had a myriad of players sitting out of practice on Wednesday, most of who are expected to return to practice Thursday.

We'll know more about those injuries Thursday, but I expect the team to have everyone except Mike Adams and Ike Taylor available against the Chargers.

@ It will be interesting to see what the line on the game is once Las Vegas realized Roethlisberger is playing.

I'm guessing the Steelers will be favored by about a touchdown, but we'll see.

Game Day thread

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The teams have just finished warm ups and headed back to the locker room.

Ben Roethlisberger looked good again throwing the ball around, so that shouldn't be an issue.

Inactive for the Steelers are Leftwich, Taylor, Mendenhall, Woodley, Malecki, Woods and Adams.

For San Diego, Royal, Donald Butler, Jeromey Clary, Tyronne Green, Antonio Garay, Mike Harris and Lardarius Green are down.

There are no surprise lineup changes for the Steelers. Beachum starts at RT; Allen at CB; and Worilds at OLB.

For San Diego, Kevin Haslam and Reggie Wells will start at tackle for the Chargers in place of Harris and Clary, while Rex Hadnot will start for Green.
Demorrio Williams will start at LB in place of Butler.

Post San Diego thoughts

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I saw a Steelers team Sunday that seemed relieved that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was back.

So relieved, in fact, that it came into a game against the San Diego Chargers thinking it could just rely on Roethlisberger to get the job done.

The Steelers talked about being backup quarterback friendly in the games in which Byron Leftwich and Charlie Batch started when Roethlisberger was out.

But they did very little to help Roethlisberger out in the first 40 minutes Sunday, dropping passes, failing to open holes in the running game, and doing little with the running lanes that were there.

The defense didn't help much either, seemingly allowing the Chargers to drive to at least midfield even when they didn't score, to pin the offense deep in their own territory.

The Steelers' starting position in the first half was their own 20, 8, 21, 9, 7, 11, 38 and 10.

 Now, certainly, the Steelers could have helped themselves with a couple of first downs, but offensive coordinators tend to get a little conservative with their play calling in when starting inside their own 11 five times.

We saw why in the third quarter, when Roethlisberger threw a WR screen at his own 8 that bounced off of David Paulsen's behind and into the end zone, where it was recovered by Quinton Jammer for a touchdown.

@ Lost in the win last week at Baltimore was the fact the Steelers running game wasn't over productive.

It was even less so on Sunday, as Jonathan Dwyer and Isaac Redman combined for 10 carries for 32 yards.

Both were stuffed on short-yardage plays from the Pittsburgh 47 when they appeared to line up somewhere between the jumbotron and bank of the Allegheny River in an attempt to pick up the yardage.

It begs the question, is Rashard Mendenhall so far in the doghouse that he can't get a shot at playing ahead of one of these two guys?

I know Mendenhall isn't the most popular guy with some Steelers fans, but he's still their most talented running back right now.

And who cares if he's not on the roster next year. This team is built to win now.

@ I'm not even going to get into playoff scenarios at this point any more. All you need to know is that the Jets at 6-7 are now back in the conversation.

@ The Chargers played with three backup linemen and the Steelers managed one sack, that being a play where Ziggy Hood ran Philip Rivers out of bounds at the line of scrimmage.

Then again, you have to credit Rivers there. He threw away more balls on Sunday than Steve Sax in his prime.

What Colon injury means

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With Willie Colon likely headed to injured reserve with yet another injury, the Steelers have to ask themselves some serious questions moving forward about the offensive lineman.

Colon will cost $6.45 million against the Steelers' salary cap in 2013, so the easy answer would be to cut him, re-sign impending free agent Ramon Foster, who has done a good job at right guard, and move forward with Foster and David DeCastro as the starting guards.

But that might not work.

Cutting Colon would save the Steelers just $1.2 million in cap space in 2013, money that could be used to re-sign Foster. But considering the awful state of offensive lines around the league and the other free agents the Steelers will want to bring back - Keenan Lewis and their restricted players - that won't be enough.

Then again, if the Steelers decide to slide Foster over to left guard and insert DeCastro down the stretch with Colon out, and that duo performs well, it could change plans.

But for now, plan on having Colon as part of this team in 2013.

Who I like, San Diego version

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The time is now for the Steelers.

Coming off of last weekend's 23-20 win at Baltimore, the Steelers head into the home stretch of the season in good shape to at least earn a wildcard spot in the playoffs.
 
But they could be looking at more.

Baltimore travels to Washington Sunday, then hosts Denver and the Giants in back-to-back weeks before finishing the season at Cincinnati.

A loss by the Ravens - they are two-point underdogs - and wins by the Steelers and Bengals, who host Dallas, would certainly make for an interesting finish.

But I digress.

First up for the Steelers are the Chargers, who are 1-7 in  their past eight games.

San Diego's offensive line, which was already struggling,  has injury issues across the board. For a group that has allowed 36 sacks, that's not a good thing.

And the Steelers are starting to hit their stride in terms of their pass rush.

Ben Roethlisberger also returns for the Steelers and has looked good in practice this week.

The Steelers are 8-point favorites in this game and given that they are allowing 12 points per game at home, they should be in good shape to cover that.

Take the Steelers, 24-13

Apotheosis of the Yunzer

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From the rarely active Nullspace A&E desk, I requested a review of City Theater's South Side Stories currently in production.

All I got in reply was: "The Ultimate Yunzer Apotheosis"

Kind of short, but I guess that covers it.... and yes, there is obligatory mention of parking chairs.  I will add that everyone will enjoy it, but if you have ever lived between 5th and 27th you will appreciate the sublime a bit more.