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Posted on February 10, 2013 - by ChuckFinder

My Bo Jackson experience

Watching this ESPN “30 for 30″ for the second time, it sent me back to the archives….

On Oct. 22, 1985, the Post-Gazette published a story after my visit to Auburn, Ala., about Bo possibly being a No. 1 pick in both football and baseball, where — of course — the Pirates owned that first pick. (Jeff King, anyone?)

Now, remember, I came home to Pittsburgh after spending two years in the South covering Georgia and Alabama football. I had seen Bo Jackson play SEC football. I had seen Bo play SEC baseball. I knew Bo and Bo’s peeps. Heck, I still remember the baseball game at Alabama where some hecklers brought a beer truck and sat in folding chairs atop the truck, jeering the Tigers outfielder from some 450-475 feet away beyond the fence in right center-field.

I know Bo, all right.

So when I visited him the next October as a reporter from Pittsburgh instead of Birmingham. . . well, it’s fun today to read about the Vincent Edward Jackson mythology, the dual-sports legend in the making.

Ah, Bo-stalgia: Oct. 22, 1985 Post-Gazette story

Posted on January 10, 2013 - by ChuckFinder

Short leashes, and other Steelers tidbits

When the Steelers appeared so unSteelers-like last April in picking up Mike Adams and Chris Rainey and their baggage, people wondered.

When fellow rookie Alameda Ta’amu was arrested early in the season on a dozen charges related to drunk driving, eyebrows raised.

The actions of Thursday proved one thing: The Steelers accept only so much baggage on their plane.

The club ridded itself of Rainey Thursday after he was charged in Gainesville, Fla., with battery against a woman — the second such arrest for Rainey in two years’ time. Upon drafting him last April, after checking with the same Maurkice Pouncey who lived with Rainey for a time, the Steelers talked about second chances and examining closely a player’s behavior, personality and makeup. On Thursday, Steelers General Manager Kevin Colbert was quoted in a news release: “Chris Rainey’s actions this morning were extremely disappointing. Under the circumstances and due to this conduct, Chris will no longer be a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.”

Adams, who personally begged the Steelers for forgiveness for testing for marijuana at last February’s NFL Combine, got an opportunity with them — although he had to meet unspecified “conditions.”

Ta’amu got a second chance after his arrest and wound up on the practice squad, though he never played a 2012 game. However, it was his second DUI arrest since 2009, the other coming while at the University of Washington.

Rainey’s second arrest — this on simple battery — cost him his Steelers place. No matter his 1,035 yards in kickoff returns and opportunity to move into a larger 2013 role if, as expected, Rashard Mendenhall isn’t re-signed.

The Steelers will have to make qualifying offers to leading rusher Jonathan Dwyer and Isaac Redman, and figure to do so with both restricted free agents. Expect them to locate another back, though perhaps not expending a high draft pick on one. They played most of last season almost exclusively with that pair, a sixth-round pick and an undrafted free-agent.

Most important, though, is the off-the-field standard: Second, or third, chances end at violence, or even the arrest/charge for it. Leash lengths may vary, but they don’t seem long, do they?

* If the Jets nab Omar Khan as general manager, man, it’s a bad time to be $10 million-plus over the Steelers’ cap. He made their abacus hum, their calculators smoke. . . and the pieces fit.

* If Todd Haley gets the Arizona Cardinals head coaching job, and interesting how his Kansas City term increasingly looks better in hindsight, here’s an interesting name as a possible offensive-coordinator replacement: No, not Ken Whisenhunt. . . not sure that would work with Ben Roethlisberger and even Mike Tomlin. (Good for Wiz if he gets the Browns job.) Rather, how about. . . Mike Mularkey? He’s a onetime Steelers player, a former tight ends coach and still one of the best offensive coordinators (2001-03) the club has employed in the past generation. In fact, Wiz admitted he learned a bunch from Mularkey, fired Thursday after one season as Jacksonville’s head coach.

* Dan Rooney will lose the “emertius” title and return to his chairmanship with the Steelers, the Post-Gazette reported. Sounds as if he’s ready to go back to work.

* Sad to say, CBSSports.com’s venture with Rapid Reports came to a close last Friday, so you will no longer see this byline there. It was a blast while it lasted.

Posted on December 1, 2012 - by ChuckFinder

Pour House in D.C. Sunday for Steelers-Ravens

Steelers Nation members in the Baltimore, D.C. and NoVa areas, come on down to the Pour House and join us for trivia, Steelers talk and books starting at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2.

It’s the start of another busy Steelers Encyclopedia week (that actually started today, 12-1-12, at the Heinz History Center Book Fair with Andy Russell, Steve Blass of the Pirates and others:

* Thursday, Dec. 6: South Hills Village Barnes and Noble, 6-8 p.m. Coffee’s on me!

* Sunday, Dec. 9: Public House in Manhattan for the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut Nation.

* Sunday, Dec. 16: Fitzgerald’s Irish Pub in Charlotte. (Sorry, Dallas fans. . . but we figured most of the Steelers folks in the Metro area would get into Jerry Jones’ edifice to see the game themselves).

More to come.

Look for ads on KDKA.com, on The Fan 93.7 FM and on Patch.com, among other places.

Posted on November 13, 2012 - by ChuckFinder

Latitude 40 opening night, Light Up Night at Dahntahn Macy’s…a busy Steelers trivia/book-signing week

And so the Pittsburgh-centric tour picks up pace.

We’re all over the local map Nov. 13-17, so join us anywhere. . . everywhere!

Tuesday night, we’ll be playing Steelers (and Immaculate Reception) trivia in earnest on the upstairs stage normally reserved for bands and DJs at the swanky new bowling-arcade-restaurant-bar-placetobe, Latitude 40. After a preview Friday night, I can tell you: It’ll be a place for families during the day, for folks looking for a more active/energetic restaurant/bar time during the night. Check out KDKA-TV’s piece on it, from the same Friday when Jerome Bettis and Charlie Batch stopped by.

Friday for Light Up Night, we’re appearing at the Macy’s Downtown along with Rick Sebak, Jim O’Brien and more!

Saturday, we’re at Mike Feinberg Company in the Strip District from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and the Waterworks Mall Barnes and Noble from 3-5 p.m. — when and where we’re hoping to have a special, Immaculate Reception guest (see first link, above!).

Thanks! And please spread the Steelers Encyclopedia word. . . .

Posted on November 4, 2012 - by ChuckFinder

Good luck, NY/NJ…see ya next month!

Postponed tour stop in NYC’s Public House to Dec. 9 from Sunday — and we reached that decision before the NY Marathon opted to cancel around dinnertime Friday!

Meanwhile, we had a ball Thursday night chatting with folks and fellow author David Shribman of Post-Gazette at Oakmont’s nifty keen Mystery Lovers Bookshop…which carries a ton more books than mysteries. (And has the coolest restroom!)

The trivia contest was fun Friday night at the Heinz History Center’s Gridiron Glory Happy Hour. Loved that the father-in-law of a former Steelers assistant tried stumping him with my questions!

UPCOMING CALENDAR:

Lots more football events at the Heinz: Play 60 program for kids Nov. 11, a panel discussion with ex-Steelers and authors/experts (including yours truly) Nov. 17, and a 40th anniversary party Dec. 22. Steelers Encyclopedias are available, and prominently displayed, at the Heinz gift shop, by the way!

The middle of November is rife with tour stops, trivia contests and book signings all over Pittsburgh and, in December, the East Coast.

More details forthcoming…

The British are coming, the British are coming...Gordon Dedmon, who shared a few of his Towel-meets-the-world photos with The Steelers Encyclopedia, and some of the UK Steelers Club are coming in mid-November for a visit!