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

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.”

This weekend marked a celebration  of the Immaculate Reception hitting the middle age of 40. It was a rollicking time, with Frenchy Fuqua in his I’ll Never Tell T-shirt and Franco Harris posing and a conspiracy theory from a playful Raiders’ Phil Villapiano (whom the Steelers almost drafted instead of Jack Ham, as the “Steelers Encyclopedia” relates). Our friend Sharon Levosky, who helped to name football’s most famous play, received special attention from Franco Friday and got her turn at the mic at Saturday’s Immaculate Reception Memories event at the Heinz History Center.

Frenchy Fuqua Saturday, Dec. 22, just before showing the back of his "I'll Never Tell" 12-22-72 T-shirt

That memories event was followed by the monument unveiling Saturday afternoon and a live-TV party that night at Stage A&E.  Sunday, they had a halftime ceremony, a Terry Bradshaw video tribute and Terry’s daughter Rachel singing the national anthem. Outside of a forced re-enactment with Frenchy and Franco, it was a memorable weekend.

So now whaddya do for the 50th?

The sad moment: the death of former Steelers center and longtime coach Chuck Cherundolo, a fixture for a generation from 1941 on.

According to his daughter, Pat, Chuck passed Saturday in the Lakeland, Fla., where they lived. He was 96. . . and still a hoot.

Chuck gave the book a Buck O’Neil feel, an oldtimer with great tales to tell — though not containing the same social ramifications as O’Neil.Not many people can tell you colorful stories about “Bullet” Bill Dudley, of whom he said: “I was faster.” He was integral to the book, and a beloved teammate/coach — folks from Art Rooney Jr. to Hall of Famer Jack Butler couldn’t wait to get back in touch with Chuck.

I visited him in September and gave him two copies of the book, and had him sign one of mine. He had grown a beard since last I saw him, much to the chagrin of his daughter. He lived a grand, long life. But I’ll still miss him. As will many.

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.

Just in time for the holidays, eh?

Yes, you may see a Steelers Encyclopedia advertisement here or there over the next month, possibly even catch a glimpse in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s ads for its own PG Store, yet another place where the book’s available. But the standard is the standard, and it is what it is, and you can call this present is holiday-capable: a pretty good gift for the black-and-gold faithful.

Mail it to our P.O. box, and we'll send it wherever you need -- inscribed!

Take the word of Steelers fan after Steelers fan last weekend at Mike Feinberg Co. in the Strip District: Each leafed through, bought a copy (or up to four!), and had it inscribed as ha oliday gift. From Florida to Toronto, from Germany to London to, yes, London, Ontario. From West Virginia to far west California.That was the aim of this book: to inform, to entertain, to make every Steelers fan say, “Wow, I didn’t know that” — thanks to the nearly 100 different voices of Steelers players, coaches, scouts, trainers and more, thanks to the 180-plus photos and 340-plus pages including the Steelers’ statistics from every NFL season.

(If you think you know everything Steelers, check out Jack Ham‘s move to middle linebacker, Jack Lambert‘s intelligence more than his fury, John Stallworth vs. Lynn Swann, Gene Keady, Johnny Unitas, Len Dawson over Jim Brown, Ingots, cheerleaders, the polka writer, Immaculate Reception tales, Hall of Famers you never knew and the ones you knew from Johnny “Blood” McNally to Jack Butler/Dermontti Dawson, the Chief and the Hall of Fame, behind the scenes Rooney tales, the Steelers station wagon, the importance of the horse-racing business and other Steelers-business/sale insights, the legacy of centers from Chuck Cherundolo to Bill Walsh to Ray Mansfield to Mike Webster to Dawson, Notre Dame stealing players, Joe Greene‘s maturity and support of Terry Bradshaw, Gabe Rivera as the next Joe Greene, draft-room tales of Stallworth over Lambert and others over Ham and more, . . . and on and on.)

Here’s the deal: For you folks so far-flung that book signings might be difficult, send your orders to our P.O. Box and we’ll inscribe those books personally.

Steelers Encyclopedia

P.O. Box 13379

Pittsburgh, PA  15243

Love that black-and-gold box enumeration: Steelers No. 1, born ’33 (remember the Rolling Rock bottle?) and ’79 for the final Super Bowl of Chuck Noll and the Super Steelers of the ’70s.

Anyway, drop a note inside the books, or send an email to Chuck@ChuckFinder.com with details.

And, most of all, happy holidays.

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. . . .

So I looked up telephone numbers, and began cold-calling.

Dame Fortune, some 28 years after shining on the Steelers, offered up Sharon Levosky. Who, at my urging, made one call to find her old boss, boyfriend and co-namer of America’s most famous sports-moment moniker. Then she called him, Michael Ord.

Ever since, it has been a rewarding friendship for me, and a reunion for them that lasted.

Michael Ord and Sharon Levosky, even more handsome (and minus the leisure suit!) today. Photo courtesy of Sharon.

That chilly Dec. 2000 night at the Common Pleas bar, not far from the Interlude where their appellation all began, was their first time together in a generation. It was like they never parted. They finished each other’s thoughts, each other’s sentences. They laughed. Tales flowed. It wasn’t like I tried to play matchmaker and get them back together as a couple. But they were the parents of immortality and, hang it, they should remain proud. . . together.

I walked out the bar that night, and later wrote the original column, hoping that they struck a chord together and their story might endure somewhere in the Steelers’ tapestry.

Their tale tops the Post-Gazette Sunday Sports this Nov. 11 day, nearly 40 years to the day they named the Immaculate Reception.

And here’s the 2000 column.

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!

Gotham City, D.C., Charlotte and more are among the forays deep into Steelers Nation. Some of the local stops ahead include Downtown Pittsburgh for Light Up Night, the Strip District, Robinson to help Latitude 4o open its doors, Aspinwall, all over.

This week:

* Mystery Lovers Bookshop, Oakmont, at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 1. Map.

Clever, literate folks at the MLB are calling this a “Tale-Gate Party.” Of course there will be food and brew!

Mystery Lovers Bookshop hosts its first free Tale-Gate, Talk and Book Signing from 7 – 8 PM, including samples from Oakmont Deli and a local brewery.

* Heinz History Center and Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum, Gridiron Glory Happy Hour, 5:30-8 p.m., Friday, Nov. 2. Map.

Tickets are on sale at ShowClix.com and at the museum, ranging from $15-$25. It’s a great opportunity to see the wonderful, Western Pa.-themed exhibit from the Pro Football Hall of Fame: from Johnny Lujack to Johnny Unitas to Joe Montana to Dan Marino to Ben Roethlisberger, and much more (especially Steelers Super Bowls and Hall of Fame busts). And we’ll play Steelers Encyclopedia/Hall trivia for prizes, thanks to the Museum folks!

* Public House New York City, Grand Central Station area, 4 p.m.-??, Sunday, Nov. 4. Map.

While the Steelers play the defending Super Bowl champion Giants in the Swamplands, we’ll take Manhattan with a bunch of black-and-gold Nation citizens.

Busy week, eh?

5:30-8 p.m. Friday at the Heinz!

starting 6 p.m. Sunday at Sharky’s Cafe, Route 30, Latrobe

watch Steelers-Bungles, enjoy food and libations, play trivia…and books!

The book