My blog n'at

But not in July. I took a well deserved break from the interwebs and focused on work and my family.

August 2011
I sat down with Pitt Girl… err Jane Pitt… err Ginny and gave her a quick education on craft beer while we mocked each other for 2 hours at Bocktown. It appeared in her August column in Pittsburgh Magazine.

September 2011
I drank a box of Franzia. I provided, served the beer and attended Podcamp Pittsburgh 6 briefly and made the most out of the after party in true SIDT fashion which included tailgating the party. The Teaspoon Project took shape and also forced me to buy a new digital camera. Craft Pittsburgh had a nice spot of us in their latest issue. I had Dave’s Hot n Juicy in my mouth. Yes, I’m still giggling over it.

October 2011
I planned and executed the perfect homecoming concert with the help of 76F weather and Scott Blasey playing a standing room only show. Hockey season started which lead me to eating a $12.50 burger. The infamous (That means more than famous, Dusty) Jim Lokay said farewell and left Pittsburgh for Bawwwstun. Yinzer traffic hasnt been the same since and Beantown got classy. Kadhafi was finally held accountable for Doc Brown’s death while his people shoved many things up his ass. I really don’t understand my kids some days.

November 2011
I finally learned how to home brew. I’m proud to say that as I’m typing this that my stash is just about gone. Google Plus proved it’s absolutely insane.  My ongoing battle with a root canal started and still isn’t  finished.

December 2011
Chris Cornell played one of the best solo shows of any artist in the history of music. I fell in love with LuLu’s Noodles. Dealt with a very emotional day as I celebrated the 5th anniversary of my dad’s passing by cracking open my very first bottle of homebrew with him. I visited the Golden Corral for the first time and was left speechless. The kids took down Santa and O-man turned 1.

So there is 2011 in a nutshell. 2012 the world is supposed to end of the world so I’m debating if I should plan to do things or kick back and take it easy. Who am I kidding, I’ll be running between work and kids activities while bitching my basement still isn’t clean.

Stay thirsty my friends…

Tuesday was a day of burger enlightenment. It started with my observation that Consol Energy Center was was selling a $12.50 burger at a hockey game. Its bad enough that fans get gouged by high prices at sporting events across the country but even this seemed excessive.

At least this is what I thought.

Price is relative to your personal enjoyment and this burger changed the way I think. Most arena burgers are mass produced meat disks that even chains make fun of. That’s not the case here.

Commercial description:
8oz. Peppercorn Crusted Beef Burger with Horseradish Cheddar, Haystack Onions and Cabernet Sauce.

EIGHT OUNCES! That seems almost unheard of. The peppercorn crust not only added pop to my taste buds but locked in incredible flavor and juices. Horseradish cheddar provided a nice twang complimented by the Cabernet sauce. The addition of a generous serving of seasoned crisp chips makes this a complete meal.

Looking at the big picture $12.50 isn’t bad for a meal that will leave you stuffed in your seat. Throw in a root beer and you can gave an even $17.

You can pick this up at the Burgatory stand located by section 206 of Consol Energy Center.

I have this posted to my Foodspotting account. Feel free to nom it!

How do you get your husband to get his hair cut? First thing in the morning say he looks like Justin Bieber!

It was getting bad and now its not so bad

On any given workday it takes about an hour to get downtown. Traffic is jammed on all parkways and its mass hysteria. This morning I found the secret, leave at 6:30am. By 7am the city was barely awake and I was able to snap this pic.

Today the Penguins invited select season ticket holders to stop down and take part in a fan forum. It was our chance to let the Pens, CEC staff and Aramark know what we thought of the new digs so far.

Scheduled for only an hour we ended yup going 30 extra minutes and were just warming up. Nothing major for complaints but little things to help out. I gave my opinion of a few issues I noticed but of course I had to mention the lack of quality beer in the arena to the Aramark rep. How do you spend money bragging about all of these local ties when your beer is all Bud, Miller, Coors.

This was addressed with Penn and Rivertowne having their beers available but you can only get them in a couple stands and the ones with it can’t stock enough even when the game starts.  I got some names and emails to pass along to some local brewers whom have been unable to get someone to call them back. Seriously, PNC Park has a hella better selection of beer and at $1.50 less a glass.

Weather hit 54F today so in all it was a great day! The Pens were absolutely amazing hosts and took a serious interest in us today. You won’t find that coming from other organizations in this town.

July
We did that moving thing which pretty much consumed our entire month and turned in our keys to the skid row of Cranberry. The sky was more blue that day and birds chirp was sweeter. SIDT was featured as a “What’s Hot” on iTunes. I think the summer heat made people delusional

August
I had my first tour of the Pens new home, Consol Energy Center. This was big for me because, well hockey is life.

September
Its official, baby 2 is on the way. We had known for a few months but finally made it public. Steel City Big Pour 4 was a huge event for SIDT. Our second booth allowed us to play more with the live podcast plan. Well recorded live but it was still cool to have beer runners and brewers coming up asking to talk to us. All of this was made possible from our live debut at the Big Tap In back in April which we’ll be doing again in 2011. I did my first solo session at Podcamp Pittsburgh. It was a blast because for once I wasn’t talking about SIDT but social media in higher ed. I love social media. I love to talk about it and I love help people understand it. I should probably be charging for it but honestly with my schedule its more of a hassle to figure out a rate structure. Though, that was 2010 thinking, we’ll see about 2011. Daddy has some diapers to pay for

October
Fun thing about being a dad, taking the kid to the pumpkin farm. Pens open their new barn and while I loved the place there was a lot to work on. I found my first grey hair. *UGH* 5 year wedding anniversary proved that we just lost track of time making babies. I found something in my basement while cleaning that was totally badass. A rather preggers Lushie chased kids down the street for smashing our pumpkin and made one wet his pants.

November
Lushie and Jackson went away for one last weekend so I lived it up and had some of the best Pho in the area after a night at the BEV Lounge. Teaspoon microwaved his sneakers and I haven’t stopped laughing since. Lushie was told to take it easy so I cooked the entire Thanksgiving meal. Everyone survived. SIDT was named a finalist in the Podcast Awards for the 3rd time.

December
Lushie and I took an afternoon to ourselves and visited the Vatican Splendors. Most people don’t think of me as the religious type but hey, you learn something new about me. We took our former landlord to court and won our security deposit back. Funny that we had to “win” back our own money rightfully owed to us. It also taught me about how dishonest and shady people can be even when they swear they’re honest. This Christmas holiday I also got the greatest gift of all, my son Owen. With that I published a log of everything I was thinking from conception to birth. Final cap of the year was getting tickets to the Winter Classic Alumni Game and Winter Classic.

2010 was an incredibly busy year. More than we ever anticipated and I’ve never been so overwhelmed in my life. Its because of everything I have learned this past year that in 2011 I’m going to shift gears and focus more on my family, the house and my career. I graduate in June so that will be one burden off my shoulders. School, work, buying a house, moving, trying to get it organized, having a baby, trying to get SIDT to the next level and getting a side writing job off the ground was intense and I realized I need more balance.

We’ll see what 2011 has in store.

http://www.mariomosaic.com/mosaic/

Earlier this summer Pens fans were offered the unique chance to be a part of Penguins history as it was announced that for a $66 donation to the Lemieux Foundation your picture would be added to a mosaic of Mario Lemieux that will/now hangs in Consol Energy Center. We jumped on the chance and the pic above is what we submitted. If you’re looking for it on the wall we’re right here

or when you’re at the arena just search for “douglas13“

The night was as amazing as expected besides the 3-2 loss to Philadelphia that I’m sure they’ll never let us live down. The arena has been open for about a month and yes there have been hockey games but this was the first official opening.

There are reviews all over the internet and yeah I could gush about how kickass the Kielbasa Grinder is (which it truly is) but nothing I could say would do the place justice. It really is that fantastic. Here are my pro’s and cons of the new barn.

Pros

• MUCH better food selection
• Seats are wider and I don’t have to eat my knees when I sit
• Scoreboard is the most unreal display ever built. I found myself watching that more than the ice
• Getting to my seat is very easy. Its 2-3 escalators and BAM I’m there.
• Bathrooms are very clean.
• Incredible view of the city that will take your breath away.
• TV’s everywhere which is great when you’re stuck in line.
• NO bad seats. If you have a ticket you will be amazed
• bright lights means WAY better pictures. I was able to get some incredible pics from around the arena and the overall brightness doesn’t bother me one bit. I’m anxious to see it during a day game.
• Kids section – I can’t wait until Teaspoon and Teaspoon 2 (still working on a name) are old enough to go
• High School hockey – Cathedral Prep is on display. nuff said. ROLL RAMBLERS!
• Plenty of team stores to buy a gross amount of swag.
• There is so much more I need to see!

Cons

• Beer selection is embarrassing. For a place that bragged about how so many local items were used (even the hot dogs are from Erie) they FAILED on the beer. Its still the same lawnmower crap you can get from a redneck. Honestly the Pirates, yes THE PIRATES, have done a better job at PNC Park. I wouldn’t be so bitter but Aramark has not replied to emails about it. The “brewhouse” is a joke.
• Better food but too much together and no way to manage lines. There were food stands without customers and then there were food stands 30 people deep. Its a new place, someone should have been navigating people.
• Seats may be wider but the jagoff in front of me can now also slam his head into my shins.
• Getting out of my seat is a nightmare. Escalators were breaking down and no one was around to tell people how to get out via stairs. Instead employees said, and i quote “Its none of your business whats going on, just wait”.
• Bathrooms are a mess to navigate through. No one knows which is in or out plus they seem smaller room wise.
• Banners are too high. there is too much in the ceiling that obstructs their view from 200 level
• This is more about the games, the 7pm start time SUCKS. Getting home and then down to the arena and having a chance to kick back is near impossible.
• Ushers weren’t stopping people from walking up and down while game was in play. Someone is lucky they didn’t get tossed by fans.

7pm – Pens vs Flyers (Preview)

LETS DO IT!!!

Sunday was the day I have waited for since it was announced the Pens would remain in Pittsburgh. Sunday I finally walked into the Penguins new arena, the Consol Energy Center. I had pretty high expectations, I won’t lie. I wanted the absolute best and the Penguins blew me away! As a ticket holder we were only able to walk around as if it were a game day and the Party Suites were open also (anyone have $10-12,000 for a suite? ).

I didn’t take many pics or videos since you can find them all over the web but if you want to check out my flickr stream head over here.

What I Loved
When you enter at the Trib Total Media gate there is an interactive area for the Penguins Greats and a virtual Stanley Cup. using a touchscreen you can browse through videos and stats of players plus zoom in on the Pens sections of the cup. Pens Gear is the new Pens Station and quite frankly if I had credit cards with me I would have maxed all out.

I walked around the lower bowl and suite areas with much pleasure seeing that there is not one obstructed view. in fact you are always walking down to your seat to arrive and up to leave. After soaking in seats i’ll never sit in I made my way up to nosebleed which is where I sit. Along the way I noticed many more concession stands and each had quality arena food, not those generic things they threw on bread and overcharged for at the Mellon Arena.

Kids Zone looked fun from the brief moment I was in there. You can pose on life-like bodies of Sid and Fleury and also take shots at Sid’s washing machine. It was packed so I left fast.

A nice tribute that you probably wont see in many other cities was high school/youth hockey jersey wall. Granted I was partial to this one I did think it was a nice tribute to the schools who provide kids with a chance to play hockey. Just around the corner from there also is a wall made from the bricks of the old Duquesne Gardens and still standing Mellon Arena.

View from the seat – I was worried that I would have an obstructed view but that wasn’t the case at all in fact I LOVE the view and I’m close to the exit for fast runs to the bathroom and nacho stand.

Food – the first thing you must do when hunting food is get yourself a Kielbasa Grinder from the Smokehouse on the 200 level. I met up with my bud AJ there and he clued me into the culinary masterpiece that is the grinder. We also tried the pulled pork and Erie’ own Smith’s Hot Dogs.

Jumbotron – words can’t describe the levels of badass this shot past. the picture is unreal. UNREAL!

What I Hated
The ONLY letdown I had of the entire experience was the beer situation. The arena was boasting how it was built around local ties from food to design but yet the beer selection is your standard macros. PNC Park, home to the team which has lost for 18 years has Erie, Penn and Dogfish Head products in great supply but Consol the most adventurous you’ll get is Corona. *yack*. I’m writing an article about the travesty this is for Examiner but since this is my blog I can say it, its fucking embarrassing. There is a section called The Brewhouse, this is where I expected to find the goldmine. Yeah that didn’t happen.  There are 5 stations to get a draft and they’re all macros.  I can understand that since they are your main draw but when I looked in the coolers of bottles I saw… well take a look. The name BREWhouse should tell people you can get craft beer then. Its a step above what is available everywhere. Complete FAIL. I have an email out to Consol and Aramark to find out how this can get fixed.

What’s Next?
I’m hitting 1, possibly 2 pre-season games before the home opener October 7th vs the Flyers and then my big event will be the RMU Hockey Showcase. I plan on spending the whole day stuffing my face with grinders, watching college hockey and enjoying our new arena.

Last Thursday night was emotional. The Mellon Arena is the only place I have ever watched a professional hockey game and last night I saw my last regular season game there before we move over to the Consol Energy Center in the fall. I admit, I held back tears seeing some of the former greats come back for one last time on the ice, even for Craig Patrick. I’ve hung out with Eddie Johnson a few times (we had lunch once which stories were told that are more than epic) so seeing the light on him was moving and Gary Roberts was an absolute plus but seeing Super Mario was euphoric. He’s made appearances before but last night, at that moment, you knew that all 17,132 of us were in the presence of greatness.

I went to the game with my nephew/godson Ben and we made sure to get there early, granted we’re both going to playoff games but this night was special and nothing was going to stop us from enjoying every moment of the night.

Hats off to the team for the videos they played as often as possible. Classic commercials that 90% of the fans probably don’t remember from the mid-late 80′s, cheesy KDKA “LETS GO PENS” spots and montages of players form the 90′s/00′s, like the man I came to see… Martin Straka.

That was the only downside to the night for me was the production. I know some players first of all couldn’t be there but I really would have loved it if Straka, Jagr, Moran and a few others were there. The opening ceremony was just the into of the 50 former Pens, which don’t get me wrong was fantastic, but if you’ve been to any Penguins event in the last couple years you know they go balls to the wall and this was *meh*.

Bob gave me the best reasoning of anyone online who didn’t get their panties in a wad over my thoughts. The banner raising will go down as the coolest thing I have ever seen at the arena. I just figured that this should have deserved the same amount of attention especially when you have a full year to plan for it.  It was announced that there would be a special ceremony at the end of the game along with the “Oh my god this is so fucking long” Shirts off our Backs tradition.

Quick thing about that if I may. 1) I REALLY appreciate that the Pens do this. I think its a badass that they take the time to give back in this unique way 2) All of you who threw the jersey you were wearing over the glass for players to sign, you’re not getting those back. You’re all fools. There’s a time and place to get autographs. When you see 20 jerseys being thrown at Crosby did you honestly think he would hand deliver it back? 3) its waaaaayyyyy tooooo looonnnggggg

The only reason why I endured the pain of watching the Shirts gig is so I could see what they had for a grand finale and all I got was a 7 minute video recap of the arena and a somewhat decent light show. Again something felt like it was missing. The WOW factor and after reading what Bob said above I have to agree. I’ve been spoiled by what they’ve already done for me.

I’ll never forget this night and the time to hang out with my nephew. Someday I’ll talk about it to my son and how powerful the night was. The Pens have put most of the videos on their website so you can get caught up there.

Thank you Mellon Arena for a great ride. I’ll be by a couple more times for the playoffs but that night you shined.

Oh yeah, Jimmy Mann wasn’t there either. I think he heard I was looking for him