As mentioned before, I recently took a trip to Pittsburgh to watch Louisville play Pitt and the 
Steelers against the Colts. All the traveling has made it tough for me to keep up with the blog. Even though both teams lost, only one of them pissed me off. At least the Steelers played a good game. Louisville didn't do squat. Kind of reminds of the entire Louisville season. Still, the trip was fun. Pittsburgh is an interesting city, especially if you like hills and traffic problems. You know you have hills when your trolley runs up and down. Half the buildings are built on hillsides and seem to be about to fall off. I 
realize that a city its age with so many hills would have traffic problems, but I've never seen a place like this. If they had traffic engineers, those guys were on crack. Intersections were rarely perpendicular. They'd go off in odd directions. Streets would be one way until they became one way going the other way. Sometimes it'd be one way with a side lane going the other way, but only for buses. Or you'd be on a four lane interstate that had four exits at one time, but since another interstate is feeding into it, you have everyone in a Chinese fire drill trying to get into the proper lane. Even better were three way intersections that I ran into on side streets. The main road had the two stops signs. Alleys turning onto that road didn't. So, you have to stop if you're driving straight, but people making hard right turns got to go whenever they wanted. Interesting concept.
The Steeler game was a lot better. They did lose in the end because their quarterback didn't want to protect the ball. But the atmosphere was much better. Granted, the fact that I was rooting for the home team in this one certainly made a difference. The Louisville section wasn't
too happy for most of that game. Scoring seven points will do that. Steelers' fans were happy most of their game. Probably has to do with leading most of it. And the fact that most were drunk. The fans were pumped up though especially when the defense was on the field. They were loud and the towels were waving. Yet, they had an odd musical tradition too. They had a montage of defensive hits with the Styx song "Renegade" playing behind it. They went apeshit for it. Now, that's not a bad song. It's the only good Styx song (and no I did not forget "Mr Roboto) which means it came from Tommy Shaw. Still, just seems something wrong with using Styx to pump up the crowd.
Steelers against the Colts. All the traveling has made it tough for me to keep up with the blog. Even though both teams lost, only one of them pissed me off. At least the Steelers played a good game. Louisville didn't do squat. Kind of reminds of the entire Louisville season. Still, the trip was fun. Pittsburgh is an interesting city, especially if you like hills and traffic problems. You know you have hills when your trolley runs up and down. Half the buildings are built on hillsides and seem to be about to fall off. I 
realize that a city its age with so many hills would have traffic problems, but I've never seen a place like this. If they had traffic engineers, those guys were on crack. Intersections were rarely perpendicular. They'd go off in odd directions. Streets would be one way until they became one way going the other way. Sometimes it'd be one way with a side lane going the other way, but only for buses. Or you'd be on a four lane interstate that had four exits at one time, but since another interstate is feeding into it, you have everyone in a Chinese fire drill trying to get into the proper lane. Even better were three way intersections that I ran into on side streets. The main road had the two stops signs. Alleys turning onto that road didn't. So, you have to stop if you're driving straight, but people making hard right turns got to go whenever they wanted. Interesting concept.Now, in one way, the traffic patterns were fine. I got out of the stadium really easy for both 
games. Even with a full house for the Steelers, I was on the highway out of town 10 minutes after getting to my car. I did ask the guy next to me if it'd be a problem. He said I'd be fine since I was on the other side of the river. He said Steelers were good about knowing where to go after the game. The only problem 
being they're all drunk. That was the good part about where the stadium was. It was right on the river so you park on the other side and walk across a foot bridge to it. Except the bridge moved while people were on it. A lot. Now, there was a problem with the stadium being right on the river. It didn't matter how cold it was. The wind off the river made it colder. The air temperature wasn't that cold at either game. However, when the wind starts cutting through you, it becomes a bit uncomfortable. When you're losing, it really sucks.
games. Even with a full house for the Steelers, I was on the highway out of town 10 minutes after getting to my car. I did ask the guy next to me if it'd be a problem. He said I'd be fine since I was on the other side of the river. He said Steelers were good about knowing where to go after the game. The only problem 
being they're all drunk. That was the good part about where the stadium was. It was right on the river so you park on the other side and walk across a foot bridge to it. Except the bridge moved while people were on it. A lot. Now, there was a problem with the stadium being right on the river. It didn't matter how cold it was. The wind off the river made it colder. The air temperature wasn't that cold at either game. However, when the wind starts cutting through you, it becomes a bit uncomfortable. When you're losing, it really sucks.The Louisville game was notable for one reason. Not that they quit when faced with a little adversity. I've seen that quite a bit this season. I was in one of the end zone sections and wanted 
to get a picture of UL's offense in scoring position. I had to settle for the one at the right because they only got into scoring position once. At the other end of the field. No, what got me was the most unnerving thing I've ever seen at a college football game. Keep in mind I have been to a game in Morgantown WV, but what Pitt fans did defied all logic and reason. Between the third and fourth quarter, their entire fanbase stood up and sang along to Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline". They even had the words on the jumbotron. I'm still not sure why they began doing it this year. Diamond isn't from Pittsburgh. The song has nothing to do with Pittsburgh or football. Still, they're going to their first bowl game in years. Maybe they're onto something. Maybe "Kentucky Woman" can be sung at UL games. Sure, some hardcore UK fans might object, but they can use "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon" as long as they think it's about their sister.
to get a picture of UL's offense in scoring position. I had to settle for the one at the right because they only got into scoring position once. At the other end of the field. No, what got me was the most unnerving thing I've ever seen at a college football game. Keep in mind I have been to a game in Morgantown WV, but what Pitt fans did defied all logic and reason. Between the third and fourth quarter, their entire fanbase stood up and sang along to Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline". They even had the words on the jumbotron. I'm still not sure why they began doing it this year. Diamond isn't from Pittsburgh. The song has nothing to do with Pittsburgh or football. Still, they're going to their first bowl game in years. Maybe they're onto something. Maybe "Kentucky Woman" can be sung at UL games. Sure, some hardcore UK fans might object, but they can use "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon" as long as they think it's about their sister.The Steeler game was a lot better. They did lose in the end because their quarterback didn't want to protect the ball. But the atmosphere was much better. Granted, the fact that I was rooting for the home team in this one certainly made a difference. The Louisville section wasn't
too happy for most of that game. Scoring seven points will do that. Steelers' fans were happy most of their game. Probably has to do with leading most of it. And the fact that most were drunk. The fans were pumped up though especially when the defense was on the field. They were loud and the towels were waving. Yet, they had an odd musical tradition too. They had a montage of defensive hits with the Styx song "Renegade" playing behind it. They went apeshit for it. Now, that's not a bad song. It's the only good Styx song (and no I did not forget "Mr Roboto) which means it came from Tommy Shaw. Still, just seems something wrong with using Styx to pump up the crowd.But it wasn't all a pleasure trip. I also saw some educational sights. Like the Hooters in Huntington. Just kidding. No way do I stop in West Virginia. But I did go visit Fort Pitt which was right next to the stadium and was open on Sunday so I could tour it before the Steelers game. Fort Pitt was a military installation established by the French (then called Fort Duquesne) to protect the fur trade until the British captured it from the dirty Frenchman and renamed it. It had a nice demonstration on the fur trade and then I got to explain to a Belgian woman what all the people dressed in black and gold were there for. On the way back, I also stopped at Fort 
Necessity which was built byGeorge Washington while serving in the British army on an expedition that helped start the French and Indian War after his men shot a bunch of dirty Frenchmen. The fort has been rebuilt which was obviously needed after you look at it. My boy scout troop could have built something like this so it wasn't going to last over 250 years. It was rebuilt in a field that you had to walk from the visitor's center through a forest to get to. I was about a half mile from my car taking a picture from the far side of it when I realized I was wearing a light pullover, no hat or gloves and it was snowing. You begin to realize why most historical sightseeing is done in the summer.
Necessity which was built byGeorge Washington while serving in the British army on an expedition that helped start the French and Indian War after his men shot a bunch of dirty Frenchmen. The fort has been rebuilt which was obviously needed after you look at it. My boy scout troop could have built something like this so it wasn't going to last over 250 years. It was rebuilt in a field that you had to walk from the visitor's center through a forest to get to. I was about a half mile from my car taking a picture from the far side of it when I realized I was wearing a light pullover, no hat or gloves and it was snowing. You begin to realize why most historical sightseeing is done in the summer.
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