Curling Queen
PittGirl takes to the ice in search of Olympic glory in the sport of curling. See the dramatic photos, and witness the video of her inspiring skill and grace.
The Man Who Wasn’t There: A.O. Gets K.O.’ed
The shocking exit of Alex Ovechkin’s Washington Capitals from the Stanley Cup playoffs is just another reason to appreciate the league’s one true elite superstar, Sidney Crosby.
Spielbergs-in-Waiting
On Earth Day, a trio of Pittsburgh organizations hosts the C.A.U.S.E. Challenge High School Film Festival, where young filmmakers turn their eyes—and camera lenses—to focus on the environment.
On Earth Day, a trio of Pittsburgh organizations host the C.A.U.S.E. Challenge High School Film Festival, where young filmmakers turn their eyes—and camera lenses—to focus on the environment. Read the reactions of the grand prize winner, and watch all five of the award-winning videos.
Randy Pausch: 2008 Pittsburgher of the Year
Randy Pausch: His "Last Lecture" Lives On
CMU professor Randy Pausch’s last lecture, titled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” was a YouTube phenomenon that captivated the world. His book, based on the same principles, became a runaway best-seller. Pausch died last July of pancreatic cancer at age 47. He lived an extraordinary life, and in dying he inspired others on how to live.
Pen is Mightier
Why Crosby > Ovechkin. For now.
After this Olympiad, let there be no doubt: Alex Ovechkin is living in the shadow of Sidney Crosby.
Snow My Gosh: Pittsburgh Urban Skiing
How seven friends from Mt. Lebanon conquered Mt. Washington.
Get the inside story (and video) on how seven friends from Mt. Lebanon conquered Snowmageddon and skied Mt. Washington.
The Everyday Extraordinary
Here’s the thing. I can’t even be sure this memory is real. I called my mother and father and they said, “It’s plausible.” I called my sisters and they said, “I don’t recall,” and “That doesn’t ring a bell,” and “I can’t remember what I had for breakfast, let alone what happened 25 years ago, girl” and “THE BABY IS…
Grading the Penguins and Making Fun of Small Children
True story: I was a little brainiac as a kid. Thing is, I never read books. I could only stomach the painstaking alliterations of Dr. Seuss if it was read aloud to me. In fact, I was not intelligent in any measurable, traditional sense. Instead, I was “blue-collar Catholic smart.” I absorbed all knowledge through countless hours of television and…
A Eulogy for the 2009 Pittsburgh Steelers
I know that feeling you were feeling. All of Steelers Nation felt it. What feeling, you ask? The feeling I am referring to is the twinge of incalculable pain and immeasurable sadness that you, fine Pittsburgher, felt this past Sunday as you watched the Baltimore Ravens trample over the carcass of the New England Patriots’ dynasty, then proceed to characteristically…
How to Debunk a Misguided Yinzer Yapper, or: What's Really Wrong With the Steelers
Pittsburgh is atwitter with allegations of ineptitude following Sunday’s mildly surprising loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, who, with all apologies to the late Mr. Cope, no longer appear to be bungling anything.Steeler Nation quickly raced to their telephones to drown their sorrows in an all-day talk radio Blame Game party that wasn’t broken up until a whambulance had to be…
A Lesson From Mad Man Jack
Steelers Hall of Fame linebacker Jack Lambert once sat dourly at his locker before a game wearing a Johnny Cash Stetson and a matching black t-shirt that said, succinctly, in cartoonish orange bubble letters: I’m a F—–‘ Maniac. It wasn’t irony. It was a warning. Toothless. Mustached. Menacing. Before being drafted by the Steelers in 1974, the scouting report on…
Elvis' Encore: Pittsburgh Says Goodbye to the Igloo
Editor’s Note: Leave your favorite memories or stories of Mellon Arena in the comments section below. The best anecdotes may appear in an upcoming issue of Pittsburgh Magazine.It’s impossible to walk down Penn Avenue or through the South Side and not think about how rapidly the city of Pittsburgh is changing. Where there once was a humming, smoking, cork-cutting factory,…
Steelers Hangover Week 1: 13 Real Points, 0 Style Points, and a Win
Welcome to the premier edition of the Steelers Hangover. Have a seat, take an aspirin, and let’s quietly reflect on the Sunday Thursday that was in the NFL. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has a thing for catch phrases. Throughout the pre-season, Tomlin preached a minimalist philosophy. “We don’t care about style points,” he kept telling the media. Boy, I’ll…
You Stay Classy, Pitt Fans
This season’s marketing slogan for Pitt football is “My City. My Panthers.” Someone must have forgot to tell the boo birds at Heinz Field this past weekend to have a little parochial pride. The fans weren’t booing the team, who routed The Sisters of the Poor, I mean Youngstown State 38-3 in the season opener. Large pockets of haters in…
Steelers Season Preview Part Two: Pittsburgh Fast to Forget About Willie
Pittsburgh, for all its rich history and culture, is quick to proclaim “new eras.” As the upcoming G-20 Summit is evidence of, the innate ability of Pittsburghers to embrace change has helped the city escape the choke of mill soot and Iron City hangovers of yore for a blue sky future of service economy nerdery and Hofbrauhaus happy hours. …
How We Screwed Up Little League Baseball, and How We Can Fix It
Ever since Mike Tomlin took the reigns as head coach of the Steelers in 2007, he has deflected post-game criticisms with the same simple mantra: For this team, it’s not just about the destination, it’s about the journey. We learn from both our wins and losses. Tomlin’s calm, composed on-and-off the field decorum is a huge departure from the brusque…
Penguins Begin Quest to Repeat on a Tight Budget
Editor’s Note: This article contains an all new episode of The Burgh Show podcast at the bottom of the page. The Penguins will be partying with the Cup all summer long (some will be carousing down by the river), but General Manager Ray Shero has his work cut out for him this off-season. The Penguins are entering the July 1 free agency…
The Stanley Cup Hangover Blog of Near Speechlessness
“For one of the first times in my life, I’m speechless.” — Bill Guerin at the Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup victory parade. Billy, I know how you feel. It’s hard to put into words what the Penguins’ scintillating, dramatic, too-nervous-to-sit-on-the-couch Game 7 Stanley Cup win means to an entire generation of Pittsburgh hockey fans, myself included. Like so many other…
One From the Heart: The Game 7 Blog of Stanley Cup Champions
Game 7. Friday. You haven’t been this excited since you got that Nintendo 64 for Christmas. There’s no way to cope with the anxiety of the next 24 hours. Short of taking enough purple pills to put down Paula Abdul, the wait for Game 7 is going to be excruciating. The fact that this game falls on a Friday is…
Thirteen Years After Jets’ Demise, White Out Lives On
Fifteen-thousand people, all clad in white. Grandmothers furiously shaking white pompoms. Babies dressed in white Onesies. College students wearing ashen facepaint and sporting powdered wigs. All screaming at the top of their lungs, petitioning the referee to just drop the puck already! Think you’re on the corner of Center Avenue and Mario Lemieux Place in Pittsburgh? Think again. Pens fans,…
From the Bottom Up, Pens Winning From the Heart
After the Penguins were called for a questionable penalty late in the second period of Game 2, the Mellon Arena AV crew came up with a real gem. With the crowd hissing and booing the call, a sweaty, disheveled man in a tan overcoat appeared on the Jumbotron. His eyes darted frantically and his hands flailed. He was manic. He…
Penguins-Hurricanes: Game 1 Pep Talk
Penguins. Hurricanes. Eastern Conference Finals. Tonight. If your leg wasn’t impatiently shaking under your desk at work today like it was fourth grade Science class all over again, you truly have no soul. We don’t need to break down this series. It all comes down to three words. Marc. Andre. Fleury. He will be facing off against Cam Ward, the…
What’s So Special About Crosby?
“What’s so special about Crosby? I don’t see anything special there.” Thus spoke Alexander Semin of the Washington Capitals in October 2008, just weeks into the NHL season. Semin told Yahoo! Sports that Sidney Crosby “skates well, has a good head, good pass, but there’s nothing else.” Crosby’s two goal performance in Wednesday night’s Game 7 – the NHL’s marquee…
Does Alexander the Great Have the Blues?
One-of-a-kind hockey analysis usually doesn’t come from a dude in cut-off sweatpants and a girl wearing Jimmy Choo flip flops. But on Saturday night, after the Penguins shocked the Capitals 4-3 in overtime, a pair of unlikely experts blew my mind. While flipping through the channels with my girlfriend, I stumbled upon Alexander Ovechkin’s post-game interview. I tried to explain…
