All Aboard the Caravan

Hey everyone,

This weekend is PirateFest weekend and that means only one thing... The Annual Pirates Caravan will be held this week. Members of the Pirates Roster and Staff will travel around the Tri-State area greeting fans, signing autographs and talking about the upcoming season.

The stops lead up to Friday when PirateFest, the big indoor fan fest takes place all weekend at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. If you are a Pirates fan it is the place to go for autographs, giveaways, merchandise and much more for all ages.

The team usually makes an appearance at the Johnstown Galleria attracting fans from around the area. They will do so tomorrow night. Last year I attended and the line was the longest it has ever been. Andrew McCutchen   was in town last year which brought out a big crowd.

It is great to have the Pirates come out to this area and other areas where for some fans this is the only chance they get to see their favorite team in person.

I encourage everyone to go out to the stop closest to you, visit with the players and staff, show your Pirates Pride.

For the complete caravan schedule

http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/pit/community/caravan.jsp

On A Side Note: 

- The Johnstown Tomahawks have a busy weekend ahead with the Hanson Brothers coming on Friday and Penguins Chris Kunitz and Matt Cooke along with the Stanley Cup on Saturday. The team is coming off a successful road trip so if you can come out for one or both games, they would appreciate it as they take on Division Leading Jamestown.

Ed

-The Flood City Sports Fan

Big Win for the Panthers

A win over a team that came in with a 3-8 record and a 1-6 conference record. This may not normally be seen as a big win but for the Pitt Panthers, it meant so much for a team who has had so many issues in the past year. The biggest reward of the win is becoming bowl eligible. Not only does the team get to play in a bowl game, but they also get the reward of some extra practices to work to prepare and improve for next year.

The 27-3 win was a good one as the Panthers stepped up and dominated both sides of the ball. It was great to see Tino Sunseri get to 3,000 yards passing and Ray Graham get to 1,000 yards rushing. Both have had their ups and downs but they always come out fighting.

Now the waiting game begins. The Panthers are going to a bowl game but there are no guarantees about which one. There are projections of the Beef O'Bradys Bowl, the Pinstripe Bowl (vs WVU) or dare I say it the BBVA Compass bowl for the 3rd straight year. Guess we will have to wait and see.

Ed
- The Flood City Sports Fan

Trip to Nashville

Hey Everyone,

This will be the first post of two tonight. I will be posting a Pitt Game Recap later. I have made it to the beautiful city of Nashville, TN. I will be attending the Baseball Job Fair this week but I will also be checking out the city. As part of the Job Fair, I get to attend the Baseball Trade Show as well.

The trip down was fun for me. Being a sports fan it is cool to see all these different stadiums and venues. It started in Cincinnati, OH where I got an up close look at U.S. Bank Arena, Paul Brown Stadium, and Great American Ballpark. All three are nice venues and I liked how the arena and the ballpark were connected by the walkway over the roadway below.

Next, as we made our way through I was able to get a glance of Champion Window field in Florence, KY. For those not familiar with the importance of this, you would have to know the history of the Independent Baseball team known as the Johnstown Johnnies. The Johnnies moved to this stadium and became known as the Florence Freedom.

The next place we went past was Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, KY. I was amazed that you could see it so well from the road. The additional parking lots added after the issues at the track in 2011 were also visible from the highway.

As I made my way into Louisville, I was able to see Louisville Slugger Field and Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. Both looked like nice facilities and I wish I had time to stop and visit them.

Finally we arrived in Nashville and one of the first buildings you can see is LP Field, home of the Tennessee Titans. I was impressed by the two large scoreboards on each side of the stadium

 

Finally, we decided to visit the Country Music Hall of Fame in downtown Nashville. The museum itself was very interesting and had a lot of cool memorabilia and artist momentos. The museum was also located across from Bridgestone Arena, Home of the Nashville Predators.

I hope to post in the next few days with updates of things I see here in Nashville and any cool experiences I have and I make my way through the PEBO Job Fair and the Baseball Winter Meetings.

Ed

-The Flood City Sports Fan

It's Been A While!!!

Good Afternoon,

It has been a while since I last posted, but after this action packed weekend of sports, I figured it would be a good time to do so.

The Steelers played well on Sunday night, but in the end Peyton Manning's return allowed the Broncos to defeat the Steelers 31-19. Manning looked good in his return and should help lead the Broncos to a good season this year. It will be nice for fans in Denver to have a QB who actually throws the ball.

Overall, I gave the officiating this weekend a D+. While not every game had bad officiating, several did including several calls that could have cost teams games. The two that come to mind are the timeout call in the Seattle/Arizona game where the Seahawks were given a fourth timeout and the Steeler game with the challenge flag controversy. Let's hope the regular officials are brought back soon.


This weekend is a big game for the Pitt Panthers as they host #13 Virginia Tech this Saturday. The Panthers have not looked good in two games this year, but I expect this weekend to help turn their season around. This will be the first matchup between these two teams since 2003, but expect to see these two teams battling each season in the ACC starting next year. My prediction: PITT 24-17

- The Flood City Sports Fan

Pocono Race Weekend and AAABA!!!

Good Morning,

As I write this I am currently making the trek on the Auto Train from Virginia to Florida for vacation. I decided that one of the activities I would do while on the train is make a blog post. This post will focus on my experiences in the recent Pennsylvania 400 race weekend at Pocono Raceway. Before I get into that, I wanted to make note of another successful AAABA tournament that came to an end this past Saturday when the team from New Brunswick, NJ won their first AAABA title and according to the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat, the first by a team other than Washington, Detroit, Baltimore, and New Orleans since 1994. It was a great tournament with plenty of exciting baseball.

On to the race weekend. This year I was lucky enough to work for Pocono Raceway during the Pennsylvania 400 race weekend along with some of the prep work and cleanup. The experience I had that weekend was one of the most interesting I have had. Not only was I able to be part of putting together a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race weekend, but I got to see the hard work that goes into a race weekend by a large staff of various people. Some work in foodservice, some work in marketing, but they all work together and do whatever is needed to make the race weekend a huge success. Even the upper level management pitched in to clean chairs and setup tables. That is something you would not see in most organizations, but it was noticeable throughout the entire weekend.

The weekend was a lot of fun and I got to see many parts of the track off limits to the general public including Victory Lane and the Race Control center while helping to make the race fun for thousands of people. There was only one issue that came up during the race weekend and that occurred when a line of strong thunderstorms hit the racetrack during the Sprint Cup Series Race on Sunday. I can honestly say this was one of the strongest storms I have ever experienced and unfortunately 10 people were struck by the vivid lightning during the storm. One of these people, Brian Zimmerman was killed by the lightning while returning to his vehicle. My thoughts and prayers along with millions of others are with the families.

In the end, I left Pocono Raceway with some great experiences and memories. I also know how special this place truly is. This track is unlike any other in the Sprint Cup series because of the staff and their hospitality, respect, and the belief  told to me by one of the summer interns  that “we work for the fans and we want them to have a great experience here.” These words are so true.

I will be in Florida this week and I am planning on checking out Daytona International Speedway and if Possible Bright House Networks Stadium and Jackie Robinson Stadium.

-          The Flood City Sports Fan

A Star"ling" is born!

Good Morning,

If you are a Pirates fan, last night was a special game to watch as Starling Marte made his MLB debut and he did not disappoint going 2 for 4 with an RBI, helping the Pirates take game one of the four game series in Houston 5-3. The biggest swing of the game for Marte came on the first pitch of the game when he connected on a pitch by Astros Starting Pitcher Dallas Keuchel and drove it deep to Left Field to give the Pirates an early 1-0 lead. Last night was an exciting moment not only for Marte and the Pirates but for all Pirates fans, especially those of us who were lucky enough to watch him work his way from Altoona to Indianapolis to Pittsburgh and I hope the next time I head to People's Natural Gas Park in Altoona that Starling Marte's Name will be added to the Road to the Majors Display I have pictured above.

Here is a link to the Home Run Video if you have not seen it yet.
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?c_id=mlb&content_id=23364783&topic_id=17807232

Along with the great start by Marte, A.J. Burnett continued his successful season by recording his 12th win and Joel Hanrahan took over the NL. Lead in Saves with his 30th.

The other big Pirates News concerned Wandy Rodriguez who will make his first start as a Pirate against his former team the Astros Saturday Night. Should be an interesting game.


AAABA Update: With the severe weather that hit the Johnstown area last night, game 1 of the AAABA Championship literally floated away. The field took on so much water it began flooding and one photo from Twitter shows how bad it was. Game 1 is now scheduled to be played tonight at the Point.

Source: [Twitter]

-The Flood City Sports Fan

AAABA, Penn State, Curve, and Much More

Good Evening,

Since the last time I posted, a lot has happened in the world of sports. The biggest story has been the Penn State sanctions handed down by the NCAA. These sanctions do hurt the current football players on the team and future players, but as many people have said, they were needed. I think these sanctions help to deal with the cult mentality that has overtaken the University over the past few decades. From former players to students, to fans there have been some comments about the Sanctions, the NCAA, and others that have been over the line the past few days, but one took the cake for me. In a video posted on the 96.1 Kiss Website (See it Here), one fan actually compared the sanctions to the planes hitting the towers on September 11th.  I understand fans of the team being upset because quite frankly had these sanctions been handed down to Pitt for something similar, I would probably have been as disgusted and upset as there fans are. However, to compare these sanctions to one of the biggest tragedies in the history of our nation is disgusting and futher proves the grip of the cult mentality in Nittany Nation.

OTHER NOTES:

Altoona Curve: After winning the rare 2 Doubleheaders in 2 days over the weekend, the Altoona Curve are currently in the midst of a 6 game winning streak that has them back near the .500 mark and also out of the cellar in the Eastern League Western Division. If that is not interesting enough, they sit in 4th place but they are down less than 3 games from second place so with a few more wins they could be right back in the playoff picture. Lets hope this roller coaster keeps going up.

AAABA: The AAABA Championship has been set and we know who the two teams will be that will represent Johnstown in the National Tournament. Regular Season Champion Berkley Hills Renegades and Martella's Pharmacy will now play a best of 5 series to see who will be the league champion and more importantly who will get the often sold out night games during the tournament.  This should be a good series matching two talented teams  MY PREDICTION: Renegades in 4 Games

NASCAR: The countdown is on until the second Pocono Race of the season and this one matters even more than the other considering only a handful of races remain until the Chase begins. The President of the Raceway is offering a unique promotion for the race: If Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins, a fan at the race wins $100K. Click Here for more info on this

- The Flood City Sports Fan