That Was The Weekend That Was

(Just how many of you will "get" the small pop cultural 1960's reference contained in the title of this post?)

This past weekend was primarily a sports weekend what with the NFL Divisional Round Playoffs being contested, but before that, I must write of what we did on Saturday afternoon at the Benedum Center in dahntahn Pittsburgh.

Yep, Linda and I, along with Sarah and Nick, took in the touring production of "Wicked".   It was the first time for Nick, the third time for Linda and Sarah, and the second time that I have seen this absolutely terrific stage musical.  Of course, while "Wicked" still rolls merrily along on Broadway in New York, millions of folks have been exposed to the show over the last two years by the movie version, a movie which, while quite entertaining, turned into a five hour, two part (released over two years), vanity project for director John M.Chu.  Yep, a play that lasts two hours and forty minutes, was made into a five hour movie that you had to wait two years to see in its entirety, but I digress.  Stage productions and theatrical movies are two different art forms and should be judged separately and on their own merits, but I will tell you that in this case, the stage production of "Wicked" is definitely better than the movie.

The current production, which runs through February 15 here in Pittsburgh, was simply spectacular.   Staging, costumes, the music, and the performances by the lead actors playing Elphaba and Glinda, Jesse Davidson and Zoe Jensen, were show stopping.  If you love musical theater and have the opportunity, please see this.

If you are interested, here is the FOUR STAR GRANDSTANDER WRITE-UP that I published back in January 2018, almost eight years to the day of seeing it this time.  You will see that I ended it by saying "Can't wait to see it again."  I'm so glad that the opportunity arose all these years later.

********

Now for the football.

• Broncos 33 - Bills 30 in overtime.   The fact that this went into OT tells you what a close and terrific game it was, with multiple lead changes in the fourth quarter. Josh Allen did all that he could do in his Superman cape, but he also turned the ball over four times, including an interception in overtime.  Denver, no doubt, is a good and solid team, and there was a reason that they were the number one seed in the AFC.  While I am not a fan, especially of their bounty-hunting head coach, I feel badly for them that QB Bo Nix got injured on the next to last play of the game and will now miss the remainder of the playoffs.  For a team, any team, to come that far and get so close to winning it all only to have that happen is a damned shame.  And the Bills top it all off by firing their HC, Sean McDermott.  Considering that he got his team, which consisted of Josh Allen and a bunch of other guys, this far, that seems pretty severe to me.
• Seahawks 41 - 49'ers 6.  Okay, not all the games were good, and this one was a "Bob gets to bed early" game.  The Seahawks look very, very good.  I make them my pick to win the Super Bowl in three weeks.
• Patriots 28 - Texans 16.  When I watched the games last weekend, I said to Linda, the Pats looked like a Super Bowl team to me.  Their strong defense thoroughly throttled the CJ Stroud and the Texans.  This sets up an AFC title game in Denver between the Patriots and the Broncos, who, as noted, will be without their starting quarterback.  
• Rams 20 - Bears 17 in overtime. Another terrific game that featured an absolutely jaw dropping TD pass from Caleb Williams with time running out while he was being chased by about a million Rams defenders that tied the game and sent into OT.  Williams is terrific, but, like Allen the day before, he threw an interception in OT that led to the Rams win.

So, back on December, following an amazing Thursday night game that saw Seattle beat the Rams 38-37 on overtime, I made this post on Facebook:

How about that, sports fans?

One of my favorite sports days of the year is the Sunday of the AFC and NFC Championship games, and this year promises to be yet another great afternoon of viewing.  I reserve the right to change my mind as Sunday approaches, but right now, I think that Seattle and New England will win and set up a rematch of the Super Bowl of a few years back.  The one where New England won because Seattle chose NOT to give the ball to Marshawn Lynch on the one yard line to secure the win.

Oh, and we are back to seeing shots of Bob Kraft in the owner's box again.  At least he's abandoned those blue dress shirts with the white collars for a pretty cool jacket.

********

And the Football Weekend isn't over yet, either.  Tonight Indiana goes for an improbable undefeated season and the College Football Playoff Championship when they face Miami.

We all know the story of Indiana's incredible season, and I can't imagine anyone who is not a Miami alumnus or a resident of south Florida not rooting for the Hoosiers tonight.  I know that both my wallet and I will be decked out in red cheering IU tonight, in spite of the dourness of HC Curt Cignetti.

********

Finally, a bit of football nostalgia for all of us Steelers fans.  Last week marked the twentieth anniversary of this play:

It may well be one of Ben Roethlisberger's greatest plays ever, certainly among the Top Five or Ten of Big Ben's Greatest Hits, and it didn't involve him throwing a pass.

If you know, you know.

 

One Last Visit From Janus

 

Before closing the book on 2025, I thought that I would call on the ancient Roman god, Janus, one more time in order to look at the year that was.

In many ways, 2025 was a most unsettling year due to the political situation in which we find ourselves these days.  I'm personally quite upset with what our country has become, and I struggle with, as the great cartoon from the New Yorker puts it, the "desire to be well-informed with the desire to remain sane."

However, I will choose not to address THOSE issues in this monograph today.  This blog was never intended to be one to address such weighty and divisive issues.  I will resolve, however, to try to be a kinder person in the year(s) ahead and do what I can to help those who need it.

I will also continue on in The Grandstander with my thoughts on movies and television shows that I have seen, books that I have read, games that I have attended, bets that I have won (and lost), and trips that we have taken.  And celebrity obituaries.  And endless screeds about the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Grandstander blog, by the way, turned 16 years old on January 8.  This post will be the 2,876th on this site.

On the topic of trips, Linda and I spent forty nights in 2025 where we were not at  home sleeping in our own bed.  These ranged from little one night getaways in downtown Pittsburgh and other western Pennsylvania spots, to our wonderful extended stays in Hilton Head, SC, Cooperstown, NY, and Nashville, TN, and the highlight of the year, our Viking cruise through Canada and the eastern seaboard.  We realize how fortunate we are to be able to have made these trips, and we take none of it for granted.  We made wonderful memories, made new friends, and saw some unforgettable sights.  We were, indeed, blessed in this regard.

Looking ahead, the only thing on our calendar is what we are hoping will become an annual trip to Hilton Head.  Maybe a trip to New York City at some point, but nothing is booked yet.

In the world of sports, I have three specific events that will stand out for me from 2025.  The first was our trip to Nashville to see the great Lionel Messi play for Inter Miami of Major League Soccer.  In an analogy that I have used many times, when you get a chance to see Willie Mays play, you take it.  Messi delivered for us by scoring three goals and assisting on two others that night.  Second, was our trip to Boston to see the Steelers play the Patriots in Foxboro with our new friends from our cruise, Patti and Barry Rowe.  Third, was the run of the Robert Morris University men's basketball team to both the Horizon League's regular season and conference tournament championships and a earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament.  And I'll throw in one more:  having Aaron Rodgers play a season at quarterback for the Steelers.  It didn't end up the way we had hoped, but we did get to see one of the all-time greats close out his career in Black and Gold.

I saw twenty-five movies in 2025.  I count among these some older movies that I had never seen before.  If it was a first for me, it goes on the list.  Here are my top five:

1. Nuremberg
2. September 5 (2024 release)
3. Song Sung Blue
4. Billy Joel And So It Goes (HBO Max)
5. Ninotchka (1939)

Of the twenty-five movies that I saw, only seven of them were in an honest-to-God movie theater.  The rest were seen via streaming or DVD in the comfort of my home.   We also saw two classic movies in theaters this year (Casablanca and Sunset Boulevard), so that means we made only nine visits to a movie theater.  Convenience, home comforts, and 65 inch HD flatscreens are great, but they come at the cost of us losing the "theater experience".  It is a slippery slope, as they say.

I read thirty-seven books in 2025.  If I had to give you a best list, I would say that the best non-fiction book I read was "Charlie Hustle", a biography of Pete Rose by Keith O'Brien, and the best fiction book was "Sunburn" by Laura Lippman.  As you can see, I've linked my original write-ups of these books in this post.  My goal for 2026 is to read thirty books.  I am already on my third book here in January.

Sadly, I only played 13 rounds of golf in 2025.  There were reasons and excuses for that, of course.  It is my sincere hope that I play more than that in this coming year.  Setting twenty rounds as my goal for 2026.

And, of course, I close out by thanking all of you Loyal Readers out there for sticking with this.  Please keep reading and commenting and tell your friends about The Grandstander.

I lost my Executive Assistant this year.

How we miss her. 😢

Mike Tomlin Steps Down

 

Do not count The Grandstander as being among the hordes of football fans who all think that they are as smart as, if not smarter than, Vince Lombardi, gasbag sports radio talk show hosts, and sportswriters who love to fire coaches.  I have always been and will always remain a big fan of Mike Tomlin who yesterday stepped down as the Steelers head coach after 19 seasons at the helm.   This was not a firing (the Steelers have not fired a head coach since 1968).   This was Mike Tomlin's decision, and I am glad of that.  No man who has served an organization so well for so long should be fired.  This editorial in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says it far better than I.

Having said that, I can't say that this isn't a good thing to be happening at this point in Steelers history.  After nineteen years, the message may get old and the ears in the room just might stop listening.   

Tomlin took the Steelers to the Super Bowl twice in his first four years with the team, winning it once, but simple arithmetic then tells you that the team hasn't been to the Super Bowl for the last fifteen seasons.  That is not "the Standard" that Tomlin himself had always set for his teams.  As we all know, Tomlin had never had a losing season in his 19 years at the helm.  As Art Rooney II said in his statement yesterday, that is an accomplishment that may never be duplicated.  However, nine seasons that have featured an 0-7 record in the playoffs, with none of the losses being close ones, is not a small sample size, so perhaps it is time for new look for the Black and Gold.  

On the topic of that non-losing seasons streak, let me point out that since Ben Roethlisberger retired, the Steelers have competed with these guys at quarterback, the most important position in the game: Mitch Trubisky, Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph, Russell Wilson, Justin Fields, and Aaron Rodgers.  Trubisky and Rudolph are capable back-ups, Pickett was a terrific college QB at Pitt, but a busted first round draft pick who is now playing on his fourth team in four years, the jury may still be out on Fields, and while both Wilson and Rodgers are future Hall of Famers, they were pretty much washed up when they got to Pittsburgh.  If the Steelers could put up winning records and make the playoffs with those guys at QB, surely Mike Tomlin deserves some of the credit for that.

So now the search begins for a new head coach.   In his press conference today, Rooney made it clear that no one on the current staff is a candidate for the job.  The Post-Gazette floated a number of names this morning of guys who would be interesting candidates.  I am not qualified say who the right guy might be, but I hope that it will be a younger guy with some innovative ideas, much in the vein of what Sean McVey brought to and is still delivering to the Rams here in this decade.  One of the names in the PG this morning that was interesting to me was former Steelers player (and Super Bowl hero) Antwaan Randle El, now the assistant head coach and wide receivers coach for the Bears.  If nothing else, Randle El could teach the knucklehead wide receivers that the Steelers have been attracting how to act. 

As we all know, the Steelers have had only three head coaches in 57 seasons.  All of those hires, Chuck Noll in 1969, Bill Cowher in 1992, and Tomlin in 2007 produced Super Bowl victories, and all of them were made under the supervision of Dan Rooney.  Well, Dan left this world in 2017, and Steelers fans can only hope that Art II will have the same magic touch when it comes to selection the Next Guy.  Oh, and it will really help a whole lot if the team could somehow find that quarterback who will be the "next Terry" or the "next Big Ben".

As for Mike Tomlin, reports are that he has no interest in coaching in 2026, so perhaps he wants to recharge for a year before returning to the sidelines.  Or perhaps he might want to do a television gig,  The networks will fall all over themselves to sign him up to deliver his patented "Tomlinisms" every week.  Whatever he does, I'll be watching and wishing him well, and will always be grateful for what he brought to the Steelers for these past nineteen seasons.

Farewell, Coach.

Super Bowl XLIII 

Victory Parade

2009

Bring Down The (Steel) Curtain

NOTE:  As I clicked on my desktop iMac to write this post, the news arrived that Mike Tomlin has elected to step down as Steelers Head Coach after 19 seasons on the job. Obviously, The Grandstander will need to comment on this in depth, but I will need to ruminate on it before writing it, so I will proceed with writing what I had been planning all morning - the end of the Steelers season at the hands of the Texans, and the first weekend of the NFL playoffs.

The Steelers season - and 

 Aaron Rodgers' career? - comes to an end.

It was with a great deal of disappointment, although perhaps it was also not a big surprise, to watch the Steelers lose 30-6 to the Houston Texans last night.  Houston had won nine games in a row, and had the best statistical defense in the NFL this season, and they showed it last night.  The Steelers were spotty throughout the season, had some bright moments, but when they came up against a really good team (Seattle, Chicago, Green Bay, Buffalo) they were on the wrong side of the scale.  The 10-7 regular season mark was, technically, a "winning" one, and that AFC North title is a legit one, but they were never destined to go far in the Playoffs, although I will say that the magnitude and the thoroughness of the Texans' win last night was a bit of a surprise.

We also certainly saw Aaron Rodgers' last game as a Steeler, and probably the last game of his Hall of Fame career.  As I stated on here a few days ago, the Rodgers of Pittsburgh was not the Rodgers of Green Bay, but he gave us some thrilling moments, and I, for one, will savor that fourth quarter performance against Baltimore in Week 18 as a memory of what a great quarterback is supposed to be.  

In his column in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette this morning, Joe Starkey said it best:

It’s also time for Aaron Rodgers to move on. He was better than expected this season and deserves credit for that. He served this city and this team well. But it’s better to leave a year too early than a year too late.

The Steelers should not even make an offer. They have to find their next quarterback. If they don’t have that guy next season, they should use Mason Rudolph as the bridge quarterback and give Will Howard a shot.

So the Steelers move on, and now they will be doing so without Mike Tomlin.  As stated above, The Grandstander will have his reflections on that particular development in the next day or two.

********

Okay, so that Steelers game was a stinker (unless you live in Houston) any way you look at it, but how about the other five playoff games this past weekend?

Rams over Panthers, Bears over Packers, Bills over Jaguars, and 49ers over Eagles, three of which were won by the visiting team, were all terrific games that weren't decided until the last minutes of each game.  The fifth game, Patriots 16-Chargers 3, was not an edge-of-your-seat game like the others were, but it showcased, to me at least, a very good New England Patriots team, one that I predict will represent the AFC in the Super Bowl next month.

I can't wait for the for games this coming weekend, which I believe will go as follows:

• Broncos over Bills (FanDuel betting line Bills -1.5)
• Seahawks over 49ers (Seahawks -7.0)
• Patriots over Texans (Patriots -3.0)
• Bears over Rams (Rams -3.5)

My prediction are just on who I think will win the game outright.  When it comes time to place my wagers, if the spreads remain as they are, I believe that I would bet on Denver, Seattle, New England, and Chicago, but that could change as kickoffs approach.

One final note on New England.  Wasn't it great seeing TV shots of Bob Kraft in the Pats' owners' box on Sunday?  Haven't you missed those ever since Tom and Bill left the team?  I guess that we'll be in for more of them as the weeks go on.

********

Again, watch this space in the  days ahead for The Grandstander's thoughts on Mike Tomlin's decision of today and for what this means for the future of the Steelers.

To Absent Friends - Dave Giusti

Dave Giusti

1939 - 2025

Dave Giusti, a veteran of fifteen major league seasons spent with five different teams, died yesterday at the age of 86.   Giusti was one of a breed that is becoming increasingly rare: A living member of a Pittsburgh Pirates World Series winning team.  By my own unofficial count, there are now only 31 such people still with us on this earth.

Giusti came to Pittsburgh from St. Louis in 1970 in one of these amazing trades that GM Joe L. Brown always seemed to pull off with regularity.  A starting pitcher, Danny Murtaugh was forced to use Giusti in an emergency relief appearance  early in the season when starting pitcher Dock Ellis was injured in a game, and the fortunes of both Giusti and the Pirates were changed for good.  

Dave Giusti went on to be one of the best relievers in major league baseball during the seasons that he played and certainly one of the best in all of Pirates history.  In his years with the Pirates, 1970-76, Giusti appeared in 410 games and compiled a record of 47-28 with 133 saves and an ERA of 2.94.  More importantly, in the 1971 post season, both NLCS and World Series, Giusti pitched in 7 games, had three saves (including the LCS clincher against the Giants) and an ERA of 0.00.  In that 1970 championship season, he led the National League with 30 saves.

Would any team in the majors be interested in guy like that for their bullpen here in 2026?

He left the Pirates prior to the 1977 season as part of a nine player trade that brought Phil Garner, who became a key member of the 1979 World Series winning team, to the Pirates.  So, even when he left the team, one could say that he served the Pirates well.

On a personal note, I had two encounters with Dave Giusti over the years.  One was at a charity dinner and another time at a golf outing.  Everyone will tell you what a great guy he was, so I guess that in my interactions with him, I must have caught him on two times when he was having a bad day, so my memories of him will be as a terrific Pirates pitcher.

RIP Dave Giusti.

With the Death of Dave Giusti, only 13 member of that 1971 World Series roster are still with us:

	1971
Pitchers	Steve Blass
	Nelson Briles
	Dock Ellis
	Dave Guisti
	Bob Johnson
	Bruce Kison
	Bob Miller
	Bob Moose
	Bob Veale
	Luke Walker
Catchers	Manny Sanguillen
	Milt May
	Charlie Sands
Infielders	Gene Alley
	Dave Cash
	Jackie Hernandez
	Bill Mazeroski
	Jose Pagan
	Richie Hebner
	Bob Robertson
Outfielders	Roberto Clemente
	Gene Clines
	Vic Davalillo
	Al Oliver
	Willie Stargell
Manager	Danny Murtaugh
	Deceased	13
	Still With Us	13

 

A Football Week

 

Almost a week has passed since the Steelers amazing 26-24 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night clinched the AFC North for Pittsburgh and secured a home game for them in the first round of the NFL Playoffs.   I know that the Ravens kicker went wide right on a field goal attempt as the clock ran out that would have given the Ravens the win, but I lay the credit for this win squarely at the feet - or more likely, the arm and brain -  of QB Aaron Rodgers.  

With the Steelers trailing 13-17 deep into the fourth quarter, Rodgers calmly led the team on a 60 yard drive that resulted in a two yard TD run by Kenneth Gainwell.  Then, after the Ravens scored in only three plays (terrible lapse in the Steelers secondary), Rodgers did it again.  This time it was a six play, 65 yard drive that culminated in a Rodgers to Calvin Austin 26 yard TD pass.  Chris Boswell then missed the extra point (!!), which set up the excruciating last 55 seconds of the game,  wherein Lamar Jackson brought the Ravens downfield to set up a 44 yard FG with :02 remaining, but......WIDE RIGHT!

Rodgers leading not one but two fourth quarter comeback drives to win the game with time running out can be said to be truly heroic in the sporting sense of the word, but equally heroic was  the Ravens Lamar Jackson, who did the same thing: led two fourth quarter comeback drives that to win the game, but for the missed FG.

It was truly one of the great Steelers games ever, and for Rodgers his best game as a Steeler: 31-for-47, 294 yards, 1 TD, 0 Int.  As Mike Tomlin said, it was for games like this that the Steelers brought him to Pittsburgh. 

Oh, and lest anyone remind me, here is something I wrote in this space a mere 12 days ago:

• The Steelers desperately need a quarterback.....it sure isn't....42 year old Aaron Rodgers, and I say that with all due respect to Rodgers, who has played heroically at times this season.  The team took a shot to go all in with Rodgers for the season, and at times it looked like it was going to work, but in the end, it just isn't going to work out as everybody had hoped.

I now take those words back, and I will stick to them, regardless of the outcome of the game with the Texans on Monday night. And I will summarize Aaron Rodgers-as-a-Steeler with the words of singer Toby Keith:

"I ain't as good as I once was, but I'm as good once

As I ever was"

********

Elsewhere in football, the semi-finals of the College Football Playoffs took place with a positively thrilling 31-27 win by Miami over Mississippi on Thursday, and a simply overwhelming 56-22 win by Indiana over Oregon.

It is hard to imagine that Indiana will not win the championship come Monday night, and it is hard to imagine that Hoosiers QB Fernando Mendoza will not be the number one pick in the NFL Draft in April.

Yes, these were his numbers against Oregon last night. in fact, in his two CFP games, he has thrown more TD passes than he has thrown incomplete passes.

********

It is Wild Card Weekend in the NFL playoffs, and just for $hit$ and giggles, I'm predicting the following:

• Rams over Panthers
• Bears over Packers
• Jaguars over Bills
• Eagles over 49ers
• Patriots over Chargers
• Steelers over Texans

I've already bet on Rams -10.5 and Bears +1.5 for today, and yes, I know that ten and a half points is an awful lot of points to be laying in a Playoff game.

A Visit From Janus and A Salute To The Absent Friends of 2025

 

Pictured to my left is the ancient Roman god, Janus, for whom the month January is named, because, as you can see, Janus looked both backward and forward.  He was the "god of beginnings and ends, entrances and exits, change, transition, gateways, doorways, and arches" (per Google). Those Romans were good when it came to naming the months of the year.  The Grandstander does a lot of looking forward and backward at this time of the year, so the next several posts will be looks both back and ahead as we have now close out 2025 and kick-start 2026.

Let's start with a popular Grandstander feature, and give one final salute to the Absent Friends of 2025.  In all, I recognized 37 such Friends this past year, which brings to a total of 556 Absent Friends of whom I have written in this blog over the past 16 years.  (Yes, 2026 will mark the seventeenth year of The Grandstander.)  If you would like to read what I wrote of these Friends at the time they left us, just type their names into the search box that appears at the top of this page.

Jimmy Carter

Bob Uecker

John Lisak

Herb Soltman

Tony Roberts

Mike Lange

Clinton Hill

Gene Hackman

Craig Wolfley

Joh Feinstein

George Foreman

Zelda Fitzgerald Sproule (how we miss our furry friend)

Pope Francis

Ruth Buzzi

George Wendt

Charles Strouse

Loretta Swit

Brian Wilson

Frederick Forsyth

Martha Shanley

Chuck Spatafore

Dave Parker

Bobby Sherman

Connie Francis

Ozzy Osbourne

Hulk Hogan

Jum Lovell

Ron Turcotte

Joan Anderson

Robert Redford

Bob Oldis

Diane Keaton

John Cleary

Rob Reiner

Michele Reiner

Brigitte Bardot

Jumbo Ozaki

Rest in Peace, one and all.

As a bonus, please enjoy this bonus feature from one of these Absent Friends - "Seems Like Old Times", sung by Diane Keaton in "Annie Hall".  A fitting way to remember all these folks (and one wonderful little doggie).