No, I’m not referring to this blog and my sad posting schedule as of late. I apologize for the irregular updates but it’s summer here in the ‘Burgh so between various outdoor activities and taking advantage of the Pittsburgh Pirates season tickets my family shares (before their inevitable collapse in mid-August), I haven’t found much time for blogging. Not that there’s much NFL news to write about anyway. This is the part of the off-season where unless your team has some serious run-ins with Johnny Law, there simply isn’t much of note going on.
I’ve seen where other Steelers blogs have gotten a week’s worth of posts out of Kordell Stewart‘s retirement. Think about that for a second. I love Slash but the entire sum of his Steeler career was two great seasons and two good ones. If going through that with a fine-tooth comb doesn’t reek of desperation, I don’t know what does.
Another story getting a lot of play on the Black and Gold blogosphere is the mysterious case of the Steelers banner thieves. For those who have no heard, a member of Steeler Nation residing in Washington, DC wrote to a local blog detailing the repeated disappearance of Steeler banners she hangs outside her house. This story would be funny enough had it ended there but she also included surveillance camera footage of hoodlums pilfering her banners. That’s what launched this story from funny tidbit to an internet sensation.
I don’t know how many of my readers are from our nation’s capital but I have an aunt who’s lived there for several decades now. One thing you need to know about Washington, DC is it’s filled with perverts and crooks. Besides politicians, they also have a lot crime. My aunt has had more than her share of run-ins with purse snatchers and limp-dicked men in raincoats.
In addition to being home to more thugs and criminals than the Cincinnati Bengals, DC is also football mad. You wouldn’t know it from the way Steeler Nation famously took over FedEx Field a few years back but trust me, they are. Any slight improvement, any brief glimmer of competence from their beloved Redskins and the town goes into a full-on frenzy. So when you add a penchant for thievery to rampant homerism, it’s not surprising that poor Libby Kavoulakis (is that a Yinzer name or what?) fell victim to her Steeler Pride.
The best part of the story for me was that the thief actually called Libby and tried to arrange a meeting. I’ve heard of people kidnapping pets and a particularly vengeful ex of mine once tried to extort me over my prize comic collection but holding Steeler banners hostage is definitely a first. Even more incredibly, Libby went to a Whole Foods (of course) to try and negotiate her banners safe return. If we nominated people for Steeler Nation Fan of the Year, this lady would definitely be an early favorite.