This unscheduled installment of Steelers Best Interest is brought to you result of our friend, Stosh, on Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena, lavishing me with a 24 oz. Iron City Light....which my son promptly drank!! Hey, Stosh...word to the wise, no one from Pittsburgh buys that shit. Us Yinzers always maintained it was brewed with Monongahela River water....at the heyday of the Steel industry. So, if you object to the resurrection of SBI, blame Stosh!!

More importantly, the Steelers dreadful loss to the Jagoffs on Sunday? Again...blame Stosh!! Let the record show, Steelers were up 9-7, had the ball, when Stosh and his son came to visit me and my boy in Section 517. While Stosh was in mid-sentence, it was pick-6 Jagoffs, and then the roof really fell in. So...Stosh, Barry Foster, aka Barney Rubble, from this esteemed website, was long regarded as a fuckin' jinx. He shook that mantle when he was present for the Steelers SB XLIII victory. You'll need to so something similar, my friend. All that said, was a pleasure meeting you and Ethan, Stosh!

Now...Steelers. Let's be clear on a couple of things that just ain't happening, one of which should have happened long ago:

*Steelers aren't siging Colin Kaepernick. No fuckin' way does Art II, with his family legacy, with his family's way of doing things, bring to Pittsburgh a guy who was last seen wearing Cops are Pigs socks. The North Side, Irish Rooneys, bringing to town a guy who disses cops, the flag and the national anthem. Ain't happening, don't even think about it.

*Steelers aren't firing Tomlin. And yes, this is the on that should have happened at least four years ago. Tell ya what!! The Catholic Church will fire the fuckin' Pope sooner than the Rooneys fire Tomlin. This dude has that kind of job security. No matter how much a dolt, how much a fuckin' idiot this guy reveals himself to be, this Head Coaching gig is his just as long as he wants it. Don't care how much he fucks up a two-minute drill....or a national anthem demo, no way the Rooneys dump Mikey T. All this bullshit though, about Tomlin needs to fire Haley. Hell...and all politics aside, it's like all the problems described with the Trump administration when everyone knows that the problem with the Trump administration is Trump!! Same thing with the Tomlin reign. First & goal from the 5...three consecutive passes....nuff said. And to boot, had these two guys sitting next to me, in row of four seats....never shut the fuck up the whole game. Insufferable!!

Thankfully, Pittsburgh has a kick-ass hockey team. Saturday night, I took in my first live Penguins game since Mario's rookie year, my son's first ever. He LOVED it....especially the fights. Sullivan and Rutherford are the alter egos of the Steelers brain trust. These two guys NEVER make the wrong move. Whether it's goalie changes, line switches, or bringing another badass wearing #75 to Pittsburgh, these dudes have the golden touch. And...the Penguins differ from the Steelers in one rather obvious way.

Penguins are run by Mario Lemieux...Steelers are run by The Douchebag Art II. It's like another rendition of...test your memory...."Joey....Jeremy." Remember that? Mario doesn't hesitate to shitcan a Stanley Cup winning coach who's not getting it done. Art II....Tomlin can fuck up from here to eternity....won't matter.

Speaking of Joey Porter. One of my absolute pet peeves on this esteemed website are those of you who think you can judge the effectiveness of position coaches. None of you knows shit about how good Joey Porter, or John Mitchell or Jerry Fuckin' Olsavsky is (he's not still around, is he?). We have enough info. on which to judge the performance of a Head Coach, or Coordinators. But position coaches....none of use, me included, have a goddamn clue whether Kevin Greene would be a better LB coach than Peezy. I DO know this. Were it not for Peezy, we lose to the Bungals in the playoffs two years ago. Now THAT would have been an embarrassment, moreso than Sunday's putrid effort against the Jagoffs.

I sat in the lower end zone of Pitt Stadium for the first time in 1965, cost $4 for a lower EZ ducat vs. $3 if one where willing to scale the entirety of Cardiac Hill. Steelers lost the season opener to the Packers, 41-9. This game was worse than that, worse than a 31-3 pasting at the hands of the Redskins later that year, worse than the home finale that year wherein Tommy Wade threw seven picks and Bill Nelson, in relief, threw another pair (Oh..Ben might have surpassed that on Sunday had there been another five min to play). It was actually worse than the mother-fuckin' Fog Bowl of 1996 at Foxboro!! Zero to cheer for.

Me and my boy still had a helluva weekend though....Roman Bistro in Forest Hills on Friday night, awesome ago eatery. Then, I was dragged to the Meadows casino against my will. Anthony lost the $20 that his old man gave him in about five minutes time. From then on, it was observation of the assorted douchebaggery trying to strike it rich, all the while dragging along oxygen tanks while chain-smoking Marlboros. Oh...we had picked up a Vinny Pie on Friday night, just a hop down Ardmore Boulevard from the Bistro. We dined on the Canadian Bacon pie on Saturday afternoon as we watched Penn State best Northwestern, the Illinois Intellectuals adorned in the most god-awful uniforms.....purple shirts, blue pants....what the hell is that!! Even I know better. Then it was Penguins in a shutout win on Saturday night after a good walk around Point Park. Sunday morning brought about three drinks each at JB's Grille 36, commencing our imbibing around 9:30am. Post-game, it was the Original Oyster House for a Monster Fish sandwich with fries and onion rings. So...was quite the gastro weekend, split the sporting events, and an absolutely horrendous drive back to drop off Anthony at his NYC abode....abode meaning an $1800/month studio atop some Chinese joint.

Anyway, good time was had by all....and don't forget....blame Stosh!!!

Thanks guys -- no matter who's to blame, the only pleasures derived thus far from the Steelers 2017 season have been Stosh's Score Game © and your observations (along with Pittsburgh Dad's -- the Jags game episode is great if weren't so sad and true).

By the way Swiss, I thought of your, ahem, elegant use of the king's english when I came across this quote by Steve Schirripa (of Blue Bloods and Sopranos fame) . . . was this the origin of that certain poetic descriptive phrase you introduced to this esteemed message board?

Thanks Franco!! I can't claim ownership of references to "....fat fuck," but I'm not familiar with Bacala's comment. Speaking of bacala though....it's a staple at dago Xmas Eve feasts. I was lucky enough to have some last year.

LOL!
I'll take the sword if it means the problems with this offense will come to a head during the week and they will stop looking like an expansion team offense come Sunday.

Great game Saturday night. Thanks for egging me on during the week to buy tickets and get to that event. Not a huge hockey fan, but the two boys that we took on the road trip are huge fans.

Great National Anthem with the ice lit up with red and blue lights and white stars.
20,000 people and not one damn knee.

When I came down to say hello, I thought I knew what you looked like from a photo on Fury a few years back, so when I came up to possibly a complete stranger and made you the offer hoping it was you...........

"I will trade you this 24 ounce, ice cold Iron City beer for a SBI article this week"
I was happy you got a big chuckle out of it.

Nice to meet you and your son Anthony.

If there is one message you can convey to Anthony its this.......
Don't ever stop going on these type of road trips with your Dad.

Great road trip. Drive back should have been and could have been much better.

Took my 2 boys and two friends, who tragically lost their father a few years back. A good friend and a great man.

He was a Steeler fan and a huge hockey fan. The younger of the two was volunteering with me the night of the accident when my wife called me with the news.
Awful to lose a parent with 30-40 years of life ahead.
I text the older son often, mostly about Steeler stuff and look forward to being a part of their lives forever.

So to me this trip was more than just a football game.
It was 5 guys, laughing and joking, listening to Steeler Nation Radio on the drive, eating candy and junk to make the miles go by. Doing some sprints at the rest stop to shake out those legs.
A trip my friend would have loved.
900+ mile in two days. Left after the game, got home 1:00 am, only to teach a 4 hour class at 8:00 am Monday morning.
I am still paying for it.

But tomorrow is promised to nobody.
I would do it again this weekend.

So Anthony.
Don't ever stop going on these type of road trips with your Dad.

Pssh...like the Turncoat cares about the Steelers' Best Interests.

Lest there be any evidence needed of what a dick you are....this is it.

Great message, Stosh!! It was really, really poignant, and good for you to take these boys on the trip to Pittsburgh. Sorry about not responding to your message about the cell #. I'll PM it to you. I had only my phone this weekend for internet stuff and didn't really see it until after all of the Sunday events. I'm VERY glad though, that I had sent you the seat locations and that you took the initiative to visit with us at both games.

My drive home started on Monday morning, and the rain made it a very difficult trip. Dropped off Anthony in Manhattan, then sat in traffic from FDR Drive all the way to Hartford. Left Pittsburgh around 6:30am, back to New Hampshire around 7pm.

Great meeting you and Ethan. And...I'll certainly relay your message to Anthony. We had a GREAT time!!

That's a full day.....no one should question your dedication to this team.
We left in the drizzle after the game. Never fun driving at night in the rain with the wet glare and headlights. At times you can't see the road.
I just kept saying we have to get ahead of the rain as we were driving East.
Finally about 100+ miles in we got ahead of it.

If the chips fall right....may try and get out to another game this year.
Will have to stretch it out Friday to Monday and hit some of the spots the guys on this board suggested.

Well done Swiss. And a touching comment Stosh. I'm looking more forward to my trip out for the Packers game.

A couple things:

-Meadows Casino is in Washington, PA, right? Did you mean Rivers Casino?

-Where is the SBI part of the article?

- ignore the overweight coffee gopher

Right, Meadows is in Washington, RS, and that's where we went. My brother lives in the South Hills, so not too far. He and his wife find the clientele at Rivers a bit sketchy on weekend nights. Personally, I was none too impressed with the gathering at Meadows.

SBI in name only....I realize I didn't comment going forward.

Oh...I can hear Joe Bendel yelling now...."Hey Chase...extra cream, no sugar, couple jelly doughnuts for yourself."