That Was The Weekend That Was

Clearing out the Mental In-Box on a Sunday evening....

• Who out there remembers the political satire show from the '60's, "That Was The Week That Was"?
• Extra points if you can name the blonde singer who sang the theme song each week. (I'm counting on Jim Haller to get this one!)
• Weekend began with the First (we hope) Annual Game Room Olympics, hosted by John Frissora. Sixteen players competing in Pool, Darts, Table Hockey, Texas Hold 'em, and Slot Car Racing. It was terrific day. Lots of fun throughout, and I even managed to take home some hardware - trophies for finishing third in Texas Hold 'em and Slot Car Racing. Am looking forward to the second Friday in August, 2011 to do it all again.
• Kudos and a million THANK YOUS to John for dreaming up and hosting this event.
• Enjoyed seeing a lot of old Highmark friends and co-workers at the GRO.
• The Steelers kicked off the exhibition (yawn) season last night. I never usually make it to the second half of this game each year, and that rain delay assured that I saw even less of the game this year.
• Heard many breathless callers to The Fan this morning clamoring for Dennis Dixon to be the QB this season. So it begins.
• I did hear enough of the game to become convinced that no bigger homer exists in local sports broadcasting than Bob Pompeani. Guys in the Steelers PR Department couldn't be more gung-ho than this guy. He makes Bob Prince's Pirates broadcasts appear to be the epitome of objective broadcasting.
• The Pirates drop three to the Astros this weekend. That concludes an 0-6 road trip. The Saturday game featured 17 Bucs going down on strikes. Just when you think that have bottomed out, it gets worse.
• Reports are that the Pirates are "close" to signing their #1 and #2 draft picks, high school pitchers Jameson Taillon and Stetson Allie, by tomorrow's midnight deadline. Let's hope that this is the case. Failure to sign these two will cause any credibility that this team might still have to completely disappear.
• You all know that the odds of high school pitchers making it big are long, but I sure hope that Stetson Allie makes it BIG. That is one terrific name, don't you think?
• Big news on the home front on Saturday was the delivery of our new sofa. After three weeks in the new abode, we can finally watch TV comfortably in our Living Room.
• While watching the PGA Championship on CBS this weekend, saw several commercials for CBS "new" series this fall, the revival of "Hawaii Five-O." Can't wait to renew acquaintances with 21st century versions of Steve McGarrett, Danny Williams, Chin-Ho Kelly, Kono, and Che Fong. Here's hoping the famous catch phrases of "Book 'em, Danno," "What have you got for me, Che?", and "Be here. Aloha," will still be a part of the show.
• Will Wo Fat also be reprised?
• Now a confession: in recent months, I have been watching a DVD box set of Season One of the original "Hawaii Five-O." I loved this show back in the late 60's/early 70's, but I've got to tell you, these DVD's are great as an example of high camp and bad over-acting. We laugh our way through every episode of Jack Lord chewing the scenery!
• Golfed this morning with some old Highmark buddies - Fred Shugars, John Coley, and Duane Lukitch. A fun morning.
• Tomorrow, August 16, marks the 62nd anniversary of the death of Babe Ruth and the 33rd anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley. Observe these occasions by going out and grabbing yourself a-hunk, a-hunk of burning love.

Hope everyone has a great week!!