So close . . .

http://davethequietobserver.blogspot.com/2007/09/word-from-delphi-is.html

I'm telling you, if yesterday's game had really meant something to the Steelers, I would have been right on the money. Oh, well.

No predictions for the playoffs from me, I'm afraid. I don't know what the heck this team is going to do. Special teams, a porous defense, and no Willie Parker are likely to put much of the burden on the shoulders of Ben Roethlisberger. I think he is capable of leading them to victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars next week. Whether or not it will happen, however, I really don't know. I expect a good game. Hopefully, the Steelers will find a way to win it.

The Friday after Christmas . . .

Jim: I'm bored. Go out and quietly observe something so I can read about it on your blog.

Dave: I'm pretty bored myself. Other than Christmas, this has got to be the biggest week of nothing of the year. The time leading up to Christmas is always frenetic, Christmas comes and goes so quickly, and then blam! Nothing. And we're too old to get all tweaked up about New Year's Eve. Plus, you have kids, so no late night fun for you. And then January comes and it's dark and dreary until hints of spring start showing up in March. Life in our part of the country, I guess. It's freaking beautiful in Florida. Maybe I should move there.

While you were being joyous and full of good cheer . . .

For those of you who might have missed this little news item during your holiday revelry, the final cost for the completion of the "Big Dig" (the nation's most complex and costliest highway project) in Boston came in at $14.8 billion. When the project began, the cost was expected to be $2.6 billion. That's a modest cost overrun of almost 470%. Four hundred and seventy percent.

Meanwhile, back here at home, the "Little Dig" is underway to bore the first of two holes below the Allegheny River between downtown and the North Shore at a projected cost of $435 million.

The meter's running.

Those Spears girls sure are fertile . . .

What are Jamie Lynn Spears's plans for her future baby? Well, she says she plans to raise the baby in her home state of Louisiana - "so it can have a normal family life."

Yeah. Uh, good luck with that.

Nothing worse than a cold wiener . . .

Did you hear about this . . . ?

So, the much ballyhooed Mitchell Report on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball came out yesterday. The report included a list of players allegedly linked to the drugs. There were names of Yankees and Red Sox and Dodgers and Phillies. But there were no names of Pirates on the list.

It's as if they're not even trying.

Your mother was right . . .

Never take candy from a stranger.

Where are the headphones . . . ?

I don't mind losing, but . . .

The Patriots are a great football team. Maybe the best ever. But I would be hard-pressed to call them humble or classy. Starting with the smug coach and his gameday sweatsuits. Cheating asshole.

I was just thinking . . .

Sausage is weird.


But very tasty.

But they're still digging that big hole under the river . . .

From today's Post-Gazette:

After long and heated debate, Allegheny County Council yesterday adopted a $727.5 million county budget for next year that includes a new 10 percent tax on poured alcoholic drinks and a new $2-a-day levy on car rentals.

Revenue from the new taxes is earmarked for public transit.

County Chief Executive Dan Onorato, who included the new taxes in his budget proposal to council, had vowed to veto any budget with a property tax increase.

Mr. Onorato last night called the budget "a victory for all property owners in Allegheny County," noting that it was the fourth consecutive year without an increase in the . . . property tax rate.


Well, it's a gamble for the County Chief Executive. He raised the price of poured drinks (which Pittsburghers love) in a continuing effort to not raise property taxes (taxes which Pittsburghers don't love). So, the question is, is all of this enough to pave the road to the governor's mansion for Danny Boy? And will he take public transportation there or rent a car?

Slip an extra Barbie on the barbie . . .

After being part of PNC Park since it opened in 2001, the Outback Steakhouse has closed. The Pirates say, "We're creating a new concept that will be open to all fans before, during and after all games." My suggestion: stop catering to the little kiddies and put a strip club in that space. Build it and they will come.