Thoughts at Summer's End

With the unofficial ending of summer on Labor Day Weekend, it's time to clean out the Mental In-Box.

• Nice to see that "Mr. Positive" Ron Cook of the Post-Gazette has decided that the Steelers have "no chance" of winning their season opener this Sunday with Dennis Dixon starting at QB. Thanks, Ron. That will save me the time and trouble of having to actually, you know, watch the game.


• How nice was it to have some cooler temperatures this past weekend? We'll all be complaining about cold weather soon enough, but after all of the 90+ temp days we have had this summer, it was nice to wear long pants for a change.


• I see that Bristol Palin will be a contestant on Dancing With the Stars this Fall. Not sure what the reaction has been amongst the Tea Party Crowd to this news, but I wonder what Rush, Glenn, and Bill O. would have said had, say, Chelsea Clinton elected this particular career path.


• Nostalgia ran rampant among Pirates fans this weekend with the dedication of the Bill Mazeroski statue at PNC Park on Sunday. I plan to get my first close look at this when I attend the game on Wednesday night.


• Speaking of Maz, I worked the event on Monday at the Heinz History Center when a new exhibit, "Beat 'em Bucs: The Story of the 1960 Pirates" opened. Maz and his lovely wife, Milene, were there to unveil a life figure of himself (see above) and to sign copies of a new children's book, "Maz, You're Up" written by his daughter-in-law, Kelly. It's a great exhibit, and a cute book. Stop by at the Heinz History Center to check it out.


• The Heinz Center will also be exhibiting all six Steelers Lombardi Trophies from Wednesday of this week through Tuesday of next week. This would be a good photo op for you. I will be working there this Friday morning from 9:30 to 1:30. Among my responsibilities will be "line control." Word is that Sheriff Andy will let me take my bullet out of my shirt pocket to enforce such control. Stop on down.


• It took them awhile to get around to it, but it's nice to see that the Pirates are wearing a patch commemorating the late Joe L. Brown on their uniforms.


• It seems that Neil Walker is getting some attention around baseball and is a candidate for Rookie-of-the-Year. Not bad for a guy projected to be a utility guy in Spring Training.


• On a purely personal note, I very much enjoyed a reunion of sorts this past weekend with an old friend who is also a very Loyal Reader of The Grandstander. Seldom have I enjoyed an Eat 'n Park breakfast more!


• The 11th Annual Sproule Invitational Golf Outing (SIGO) tees it up this Saturday. Looks like a line-up of 15 golfers covering three generations will be on hand. The weather forecast is a good one, but keep your fingers crossed that this be the case.


• Marilyn and I took a walk around the Stonebrook grounds this morning and actually saw a few leaves starting to turn colors. Fall is here.