Every April, the Pittsburgh Pirates pack their bags and leave Bradenton, FL for the friendly confines of PNC Park.  A new season always brings hope for the fans, much like myself, who have suffered through 19 consecutive losing seasons.  Manager Clint Hurdle, all-star outfielder Andrew McCutchen, and our beloved Buccos began their quest for 81 wins and beyond on April 5th.  A record crowd of nearly 40,000 watched the cross-state rival Philadelphia Phillies defeat the Pirates, 1-0.  However, the Pirates took the next two games to win the series, both in dramatic fashion!

PNC Park (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After a tough road trip out west (to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Arizona), the team returned home to host the 2011 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals and Hurdle’s former team, the Colorado Rockies.  The Rockies are led currently by former Pirates manager Jim Tracy.  After losing two of three to St. Louis over the weekend, the first game of the series with Colorado was rained out for Monday evening.  After a Tuesday win, the ensuing doubleheader was split, resulting in a big home series win for Pittsburgh.

The Pirates finished April with a four-game series split in Atlanta and entered May on the road in St. Louis.  They set a major league record…one that is a tribute to the pitching staff and the defense, but perhaps a detriment to the offense.  For the first 18 games of the season, they did not allow more than five runs and, subsequently, did not score more than five runs…in any game!  It was the longest streak of its kind in baseball history.

The Pirates are currently 10-14 and in fifth place in the NL Central division.

March Madness kicks off right here in Pittsburgh this year with some of the games being held at the Consol Energy Center.  Tickets for these games are sold out but you can watch online.  Wednesday practices are free to attend.  A detailed schedule of practices and parking info is available here.

Round 2: Thursday, March 15 @ Consol Energy Center

Session 1, Game 1 – 12:40 PM: (truTV)
#8 K-State vs. #9 Southern Miss

Session 1, Game 2 – 30 mins following Game 1: (truTV)
#1 Syracuse vs. #16 UNC Asheville

Session 2, Game 1 – 7:20 PM: (TNT)
#7 Gonzaga vs. #10 West Virginia

Session 2, Game 2 – 30 mins following Game 1: (TNT)
#2 Ohio State vs. #15 Loyola (MD)

Click here to enter your bracket in the IheartPGH Challenge 

• all brackets must be submitted by tip-off on Thursday, March 15, 2012
• you may enter up to 3 brackets
• if you want to tweet about it – please include your twitter name in your bracket

There is room for argument that March 4th, 2012 was the best day to be a Pittsburgh Pirates fan since October 13th, 1992. That amazing night the Pirates beat the Atlanta Braves 13-4 to tie the series at 3 games all for the right to go to the World Series. The Pirates, lead that night by a 2nd inning home run by Barry Bonds had all the momentum until the next night in the bottom of the 9th inning. From October 14th, 1992 until the present day the Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball Club have been a losing franchise. I stand on my Emotional soap box and say regardless of record in this coming season, the Pirates of the last 19 years are no more.

The very impressive 6 year, $51.5 Million contract the Pirates extended their young superstar Andrew McCutchen changes everything for the franchise going forward. Rob Biertempfel reports on twitter  the $ amount for the 7th year option at $14.75 Million, which would seem an obvious buy given McCutchen’s pedigree and advancement in his short time in the majors.

#Pirates pay McCutchen 2012: $500k, 13:$4.5m, 14: $7.25m, 15: $10m, 16: $13m, 17: $14m. Option$14.75 or $1m buyout

— Rob Biertempfel (@BiertempfelTrib) March 5, 2012

So, we should celebrate here in Pittsburgh today and for the next 7 years. The Pirates have one of the most affable young superstars in baseball and they have him at a team friendly deal that Neal Huntington and Frank Coonelly should be applauded for finalizing in such a quiet and quick manor.

McCutchen passes every test modern baseball has for a young player, SABRmetrically, personality, and for us season ticket holders, the all important eye ball test. His fielding UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating) improved dramatically last year. While a helpful tool, UZR is widely debated due to year to year fluctuation. (Ex. Michael Bourn 2010 +20.6, 2011 -6.2). I think most of us in Pittsburgh know McCutchen’s only fielding limit is his arm. He is strong, but he will fly a cut off man from time to time and be off target. McCutchen’s OBP was a stellar .364 due to a great walk rate and despite an unlucky .291 BABIP (Batting Average of Ball in Play). A comparable outfielder in home runs, plate appearances, and WAR (Wins above Replacement) last year was Alex Gordon. He had a .358 BABIP. There are always abnormalities in these stats, but I bet this .291 figure will be McCutchen’s lowest for the foreseeable future. While I don’t think anyone can hope he is as lucky as Gordon or Matt Kemp (.380 BABIP) last year, I think we can routinely expect him to be around .320. This coupled with his an acceptable strikeout rate, I believe his stat lines in the next few years of service should be in the .280/.380/.480 with 25 home runs and 30 steals. And while last year McCutchen was a top 20 WAR player in all of baseball according to Fangraphs.com this advance stat line would secure that and probably consistently place him in the top 15 in all of baseball. And, while all of these stats are very important to baseball nerds like myself the most important thing that Andrew bring to the PNC ball park is what you can see when he is flying around the base paths after a hit to the left-center field gap, hair flowing after his helmet pops off, sliding easily into 3rd for what Greg Brown may call a trip-trip-triple. He stands up, smiles, wipes himself off, and you can tell he is having fun out there. That is something that had been alien to many a Pirates fan over the last 19 years. Well, no longer, for we have Area 51.5 for the next 6 years and beyond.

The Pittsburgh Steelers Basketball team will be challenging the faculty of Perry and Oliver High Schools this evening, Wednesday, March 7, 2012 for Perry/Oliver Unity Day.

Tickets are 7 dollars each, and they can be purchased by calling Oliver at 412.323.3250 or Perry at 412.323.3400. The Steelers will be taking pictures and signing autographs at halftime.

Proceeds raised from the game will support cost associated with transition activities planned for students including, field trips, community events and grade level meetings.

Pittsburgh City Council has declared March 7, 2012 Pittsburgh Perry/Oliver Unity Day.

Steelers Basketball Team vs. Perry/Oliver Faculty
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
8:00 pm
Perry High School, 3875 Perrysville Avenue, Pittsbrugh PA, 15214

Saturday, January 21 is a Corporate Hockey (Day and) Night in Pittsburgh.  Corporate hockey teams will be competing in a tournament to raise money for the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation and United Way. Donations can also be accepted at: https://www.formstack.com/forms/?1151244-Rbed2tOEJf

Hockey games will be played from 2pm until 10:30pm

GOLD DIVISION
Heritage Valley Health System v McGuireWoods – 2:00-2:50 p.m.
McGuireWoods v BladeRunners – 3:05-3:55 p.m.
BladeRunners v Heritage Valley Health System – 4:10-5:00 p.m.
Gold Championship Game – 5:15-6:05 p.m.

BLACK DIVISION
Reed Smith v Federated – 6:20-7:10 p.m.
Federated v PNC – 7:25-8:15 p.m.
PNC v Reed Smith – 8:30-9:20 p.m.
Black Championship Game – 9:35-10:25 p.m.

Penguins Corporate Charity Cup
CONSOL Energy Center
Saturday, January 21, 2012 2pm
Free Admission & Free Parking in the in the East arena lot, just above Lemieux Place off Center Avenue

Photo by jdanvers

Have you ever dreamed of celebrating Christmas Eve with the Steelers? If so, this year you might be able to make that dream a reality. Longstanding high-end Downtown retailer Larrimor‘s is giving away two tickets to the December 24th game against the St. Louis Rams!

To enter, all you have to do is visit Larrimor’s on Facebook, become a fan, and leave a comment on their wall answering the following question: In a dream world, what one person would you bring with you to the game and why? Larrimor’s will provide the tickets, but can’t guarantee your dream guest. Fans are already dreaming up the perfect game next to their best friends, military husbands and in one case Johnny Depp. The winner will be selected at random, but why not be creative with your answer? There’s no harm in dreaming!

Entries will be accepted until Wednesday, December 14th at noon. The winner will be announced on Thursday, December 15th on Larrimor’s Facebook page. Good luck!

Check out some other local coverage of this event, like PittGirl Virginia Montanez’  interview with Jim Shearer or this article in the PittNews.

ps.  I’ll admit that right after I moved here in 2002 my roommate and I didn’t have cable but got MTV2.  So I started crushing on Jim Shearer the same time I started falling for Pittsburgh.

UPDATE – I know there has been some issues with being able to sign up for the pool.

1. Register at CBSSports - http://www.cbssports.com/registration

2. Then go to the IheartPGH group - http://iheartpgh.mayhem.cbssports.com

Here is what CBSsports reccomends:

Yes, the system will require each member to have his/her own unique and password in order to access your pool. Make sure they create IDs before accessing the invitation link and using the pool password
Here is a link to the CBSSports.com registration page:

http://www.cbssports.com/registration

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You have until Noon on Thursday to enter your bracket.  Once again we are putting together a NCAA bracket competition.  We are using the CBS sports bracket manager.  It is pretty easy to set up an account and enter your bracket.

IheartPGH Bracket Challenge Website:  http://iheartpgh.mayhem.cbssports.com

Pool Password: iheartpgh

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Detailed Sign Up Instructions:

1.  Visit http://iheartpgh.mayhem.cbssports.com

If you already have a CBS account login. If not click the register link.

2. Once you are logged in.  You will need to enter the pool password.  The pool password is: iheartpgh.

3. Fill out your bracket

4. Watch basketball and discuss.  Feel free to leave comments here on the blog or on twitter use the hashtag #pghmadness

Are any other Pittsburgh blogs putting together a bracket challenge this year?

Image by Kevin H. via Flickr

Yes, football season has ended … but, just in time for Roller Derby season.

The Steel City Derby Demons kick of the 2011 season with a double header this Saturday night at Romp and Roll.

• Steel Hurtin’ vs. Queen City All Stars (Buffalo, NY)
• Blitzburgh Bombers vs. Little Steel Roller Girls (Youngstown, OH)

SCDD 2011 Season Opener - http://www.steelcityderbydemons.com/home/event-schedule/
Saturday, February 19, 2011
7pm
Romp and Roll – 1661 East Sutter Road
Tickets – $10 in advance, $15 at the door
A portion of the proceeds will benefit Animal Friends of Western, PA.

Read more about roller derbies around the country…

• ‘Brutal Beauty: Tales of the Rose City Rollers’: a lively look at Portland’s roller-derby league (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Throw some elbows with Des Moines Roller Derby! (desmoinesisnotboring.com)
• 2010 National Roller Derby Championships (PHOTOS) (huffingtonpost.com)
• Hell on wheels: ‘Rat City’ rolls into 2011 season (seattlepi.com)

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Envirobowl 2011 – PennFuture is competing against Clean Wisconsin in Enviro Bowl 2011. The challenge is to see which environmental group can raise the most donations by Noon CST on Super Bowl Sunday. The stakes are high: “The losing organization must change its Facebook page to reflect support of the winning organization’s home team during the Super Bowl, and that organization’s leader must video tape a message to the other’s supporters, while dressed in the other’s team swag.”   Click here to donate.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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CokeCheers – upload a photo of you with a Coke and Coke will donate $1 to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.  When Pittsburgh hits 10,000 “cheers” – Coke will donate an extra $25,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs of America.  It is easy – just upload a photo at CokeCheers.com

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The Regenerative Medicine Super Bowl Fan Challenge – Pitt vs. U of Wisconsin – well here is a unique and about as niche as it gets for a Super Bowl challenge the Pitt/UMPC McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine has challenged the University of Wisconsin Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Research Center to a Facebook fan battle.  Which every research center gets the most new fans by kickoff gets to post a picture of the other Institute’s director decked out in opposing teams colors! So just be a fan of the McGowan Institute here to make sure that Wisconsin doesn’t win this one.

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And finally, this challenge really only benefits your waist line and possibly your living room if you can eat enough burritos.

The Burrito Bowl – Pittsburgh vs. Green Bay Burrito Eating Contest.  On Saturday, February 5, 2011 4pm @ the South Side Qdoba on Carson Street.  You must preregister by stopping by the South Side Qdoba and paying a $5 registration fee.   The contest is only open to the first 50 registrants.

Here is a video from the Pittsburgh franchisee about the challenge

Click here to view the embedded video.