In Hiding In The Castle

Preview: Pittsburgh Panthers @ Cincinnati Bearcats

2006-09-08T09:52:00.000-07:00

Why am I scared about the Cincinnati Bearcats?? It's not like this is their basketball team circa 1999 or anything. Maybe it has to do with the fact that Pitt was so dismal on the road in 2005. They lost this exact game last year against Ohio U, who is nowhere near the team Cincy is, and Cincy sucks a fat one.

On the positive side, the team looked FANTASTIC against Virginia. Albeit the Gay Pirates are no Notre Dame or WVU, but they are a solid, solid major conference program. The Panthers just kicked the living shit out of them. They looked FAST, something that no Pitt team as as whole has looked like as long as I can remember. They have a few legitimate studs... Tommy Campbell, Clint Session, HB Blades, Darell Revis, Palko, LaRod Stephens-Howling (spanish for 'the rod'), and Derrick Kinder. I honestly beleive that they could be 10-0 going into season ending home games against WVU and Louisville. They dont' really have much of a test outside of Michigan State at home on the 16th until then.

This is a game the Panthers cannot lose, not that you want to lose any game, but this is a 2 foot putt in golf, a free throw in basketball... you have to convert what is GIVEN to you. Honestly I don't know shit about Cincy, and don't really give a shit, I really don't think that it even matters. I think Pitt will go into Cincy and drop the fucking smack and get the fuck out of there with a blowout win.

Not that any of you give a shit, I mean come on, two nationally-uninteresting teams on a friday night on ESPN2... the rankings should be through the goddamn roof

Personally, I am actually getting in my car and driving 90 minutes to my brother's place to watch the game and actually use his grill once and for all. Could get ugly if another ugly loss insues. Hell I'm still lucky to be able to say my father is still with us after the loss to OU this weekend last year.

I'll let you know how it goes, cuz god knows noone will actually be watching.

Song Of The Day #2

2006-09-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

I figured it would be a good idea to explain the name of my little space here on the interweb. It is named for the song "In Hiding" by Pearl Jam from the album Yield. This song is about isolation and telling the world to "fuck off", which really is not the intention for this site. But it does represent kinda how i feel about being back in my hometown, a small hell-hole type town where everyone is either married, on crack, with child or all three, and all your friends have moved away, but usually not far enough away to lose contact, so in turn you get shit about being back in said "hell-hole". I think this song represents that pretty well.

Let me briefly explain why I ended up back in the "hell-hole". I went to school in Berea, OH, which, if you frequent Deadspin you know that it has a HOF reputation. I followed that up with a year in Akron, where I got a Masters in Taxation. From there I moved to what i've always considered my hometown, Pittsburgh. That didn't turn out so well, so upon receiving a job offer from my father, I bought a house in New Castle and went to work for him. Now I have a major hand in running an oil company and I do taxes on the side. All of this keeps me busy, which in turn takes my mind off of living where i do, but also keeps me from getting away as much as I would like to. The one thing that fucking blows is that most people don't realize that, they just assume im a no-good, drug-induced fucktard like everyone else here. Don't get me started on dating in New Castle, im grateful I met someone from Youngstown, OH. Who knows what the hell you could catch from a New Castle chick.

Pearl Jam "In Hiding"

I shut and locked the front door
No way in or out
I turned and walked the hallway
And pulled the curtains down
I knelt and emptied the mouth of every club around
But nothing's sound, nothing's sound

I'd stay but my last tab left me
Ignored all my rounds
Soon I was seeing visions and cracks along the walls
They were upside down

I swallow my words to keep from lying
I swallow my face just to keep from biting, I, I..
I swallowed my breath and went deep, I was diving, diving
I surfaced when all of my pen wasn't writing

I'm in hiding
I'm in hiding
I'm in hiding
I'm in hiding

It's been about three days now
Since I've been aground
No longer overwhelmed and it seems so simple now
It's funny when things change so much
It's all state of mind

I swallowed my words to keep from lying
I swallowed my face just to keep from biting I, I...
I swallowed my breath and went deep, I was diving, I was diving
I surfaced and all around me was enlightened
Now I'm in hiding
I'm in hiding
I'm in hiding
I'm in hiding

I'm in hiding
I'm in hiding
I'm in hiding
I'm in hiding

Pearl Jam - Yield

Song Of The Day

2006-09-08T07:46:00.000-07:00

I am planning on doing this everyday, most days it will be a song that actually means something, since I listen to more music than anyone I have ever known, but today I am starting it off with a song that has been fantastically (shitty) throughout the years, and made a major resurgence (annoyance) last night during the absurdity that was the ReggieBushProject.com Diet Pepsi ads. Don't get me started on them, please... I beg you, just don't. Well this is the bombastic song used in the series of spots, nothing wrong with starting a daily feature with an 80's hair band named after a continent they may or may not have ever visited.

Europe "The Final Countdown"

We're leaving together
But still it's farewell
And maybe we'll come back
To earth, who can tell?

I guess there is no one to blame
We're leaving ground
Will things ever be the same again?

It's the final countdown
Doo doo doo dooooo doo doo doo doo dooooo doo doo dooo doooooo doo doo doo doo doo doo doooooo;
Doo doo doo dooooo doo doo doo doo dooooo doo doo dooo doooooo doo doo doo doo doo doo doooooo;
The final countdown

Oh, we're heading for Venus and still we stand tall
Cause maybe they've seen us and welcome us all, yeah
With so many light years to go and things to be found
I'm sure that we'll all miss her so

It's the final countdown
The final countdown
The final countdown
Oh!

The final countdown
Oh, it's the final countdown
The final countdown
The final countdown...

Steelers v Dolphins Wrap-Up

2006-09-07T20:51:00.000-07:00

My final observations...

1. What a tough win, it was a game they had to have, and they made the plays they had to make to seal the win in the 2nd half

2. Culpepper overall looks pretty good, the Dolphins look like a playoff team, for them, they should hope that the mistakes in the 4th quarter were the Steelers making plays, because if he morphs into Kordell in the 4th quarter that could be a little bit of problem down the road

3. Willie Parker looked great i thought... they were stacking 8 against him all night, and he still got 100+

4. Heath Miller is a stud

5. Overall I thought the game really make a comeback in the second half, a very engaging second half with lots of big plays, not much more to say than that

6. what you saw out of the Steelers was a team that just knows how to win, they really had no right winning tonight's game, but they found a way, and that is what makes champions, that's part of what they did last year to win the Super Bowl

7. Joey Porter kissed Bill Cowher... looked like foreplay to me, i can only imagine what their postgame celebration involves, but i really don't wanna know

8. Was anyone else a little put off by the tepid reaction given to Bettis before the game?? maybe they were blinded by the absurdity of the bus coming out of the tunnel, that was fucking retarded

9. Pink blows (but you already knew that)

10. If you get a chance to read this either live or after the fact, I hope you enjoyed it, i did, im gonna try to do it as much as i can, and hopefully get better... i have never done anything like this before, let alone a live blog

Thanks for reading, hopefully I can make this whole blogging thing work, see you on Deadspin

Rob

4th Quarter

2006-09-07T19:58:00.001-07:00

11:45 pm

END OF GAME

11:37 pm

classic Porter after the sack... love it...love it

11:32 pm

TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!!

i told you it was coming, i told you it was coming... the big mistake from Daunte... have fun with that Phins fans!!!

11:29 pm

huge field goal here... need this one...WTF was that, had to be tipped... alright now its interesting... i think every columnist just wrote their column... the steelers don't have the Bus, they don't have their "closer" to finish out the game... they can just thank the steelers for that last series... why do i have a feeling that will come back to bite them in the ass down the road, if not right now...

11:22 pm

there's the big play we needed on D... im telling you, its the hair, or that fucked up buddhist shit he does in the offseason...did you know he doesn't even lift?? he has spiritual workouts or some shit... they were talking about it on the news

11:19 pm

holy controversy batman... i think the phins got kinda screwed... but hey they still would have been on the goalline, but of course we saw how that worked last time...

by the by... that Cowher commercial for directv is fucking with me, its kinda intense, and yet freaky at the same time... i need to take a shower after all that spit... i wonder what the camera looked like on that one, i mean seriously, did the producers have to "get him in the mood" before they shot that ,like a fluffer in porn?? did they have Santonio Holmes fumble a punt or something??

11:14 pm

TOUCHDOWN!!!!! HOLY FUCKING SHIT

that boy is SICK... thank god he's on my fantasy team... thank god he is fast... thank the good lord

please, for the sake of my fantasy team, let that challenge not be allowed... either way, awesome play

11:11 pm

terrible play call... HUGE stop... MAYBE there is some hope... i repeat MAYBE... we do have Chaz Batch at center... so that really doesn't mean anything

its crunch time let's see how Chaz responds.... probably not well, but we shall see (yes, i used 'shall', for some reason)

11:04 pm

this is just not looking good...not at all... i am going to avoid any Simmons type reactions involving bodily harm, but its about at that level

10:55 pm

love the trickery... great hustle by Washington... ill take anything at this point... trust me... you've seen the game so far

10:53 pm

did you see those Primanti's sandwiches... that is a meal... make a mental note for the 16th... they are served in PNC Park as well... bring the Rolaids

with that said, how many of those do you think Madden houses everytime he is in the Burgh?

3rd Quarter

2006-09-07T19:29:00.000-07:00

10:51 pm

END OF 3RD QUARTER

what did we learn...

Willie Parker is good, very good... please take note of this
Charlie Batch sucks...

good god let us win this game because im 100% certain it wouldn't even be a contest with Big Ben in there
that was a late hit by Thomas, no question about it... and i also think there is no doubt ben will be back next week... ill probably be wrong though...

alright... let's see what happens...

10:46 pm

thank you zebras...

Batch looks like shit... i guarantee you there is SOMETHING there

10:37 pm

well, well, well... that didn't look good... the D is so aggressive they are overpursuing everything... every good play on that drive could have been stopped by just playing within themselves, the long pass... carter fell down from overpursuing... the touchdown... they all bit inside, being too aggressive...

oh well, let's see what Chaz has in the tank... the last drive looked good until that bad sack...

10:23 pm

here we go... i like the way Parker is running inside, not much there but he's running hard....not that 2nd down run though...

2nd Quarter

2006-09-07T18:21:00.000-07:00

10:08 pm HALFTIME

so what did we learn...

neither offense is doing much... Culpepper looks good, Parker looks good... Wes Welker is going to haunt my dreams if they lose this game... maybe even if they win... ill just call him a fucktard just because i have nothing else, he is playing his nutsack off in the first half...

on to the new halftime report and the 2nd half...

10:03 pm

I will admit, Culpepper looks really good... big 3rd down here, really need to hold the fish to 3 here...

BIG STOP... very good D down in the red zone... very encouraging

I agree with whoever said it today, that Nick Saban looks like a Gruden-type coach who could just freak the fuck out at literally any moment in the game... i wonder what his blood pressure is like...

wow the mannings are d-bags... are you fucking kidding me?? great impression of the Manning face by Eli though... and we got to see that Peyton looked like a tool even as a child

9:55 pm

TOUCHDOWN

Hines Ward is an animal in the red zone... good throw by Chaz... its on

9:52 pm

figured Parker would get going... and get going he did

that wasn't pass interference, it was holding at most, whatever it was, it was pretty blatant, no doubt it was SOME kind of call, i just don't think it was pass interference

this guy on the Lincoln commercial wants to slay dragons... that's moderately dece, i like the usage of the word "slay"

9:41 pm

you had to figure the lack of field position would come back to bite them in the ass...

i don't think that was pass interference... i think it was uncatchable

gonna be 7-7 soon unless the D rises up right here... they actually fell flat... that punt return made that touchdown inevitable.. a little light for ronnie brown owners

9:36 pm

I could swear that the Dolphins have a "star" WR by the name of Chris Chambers... i could be mistaken... maybe he's hurt, maybe he got arrested, must not have been paying attention or something...

Dick Vermeil is blowing away Bill Walsh in these coors light commercials...

9:25 pm

I think Marty Booker saw Polamalu and got hurt, i think the hair used his weird spritiual shit to make it happen... a very underrated quality, maybe its the hair, who knows

once again, i feel bad for you if you have Ronnie Brown starting this week

oh, and im convinced Culpepper is on the verge of doing something stupid... its he law of averages

9:16 pm

TOUCHDOWN!!! what a fucking catch... terrible throw (sorry Madden) but a fantastic catch... totally makes up for Washington's drops early on

I might add, i like the way Willie Parker is running... we know about his playmaking ability, but he is really running strong inside, getting the extra yards, exactly what needs to happen for him to be the dominant tailback in the offense...

let's see how Daunte responds...

1st Quarter

2006-09-07T17:40:00.000-07:00

9:12 pm END OF THE FIRST QUARTER

what did we learn?? the Dolphins D looks really good... you can tell they are extremely well coached, they haven't bit on a single thing, they are swarming the misdirections, frustrating the play actions, this is going to be a really low scoring game, that fourth down could be huge if they can punch it in here...

9:10 pm

good to see Madden in mid-season form... he just talked about bubbles for like 3 plays, and i challenge anyone out there to tell me definitively what the fuck a bubble actually is

big fourth down coming up here... i like the call... i could hate it in a second... check that... i love the call

9:00 pm

nice scruff from Cowher, I am a fan in a totally non-gay, beard-loving way

8:53 pm

defense looks DAMN good, Joey Porter is an animal... Culpepper looks rattled... good times all around... what the fuck was Colclough thinking on that punt?

8:42 pm

let me be the first one to publicly apologize to anyone who is counting on Ronnie Brown on their fantasy squad this week... i feel for you... you are fucked, plain and simple

good opening series, defense looks fired up, if that dink and dunk shit is all they get, its gonna be a good night, a really really really good night...

very early...

they are playing the Bush commercial again... and how dare they fuck with a classic song such as "the final countdown", i mean come on now...

no sign of the king yet, this could end up being tragic, maybe they are saving him for the 2nd half... we shall see...

Kickoff 8:32

2006-09-07T17:28:00.000-07:00

thank the lord for Al Micheals after that bullshit pregame show

p.s. Pink sucks in more ways than i can possibly fathom... i can't beleive i am sitting here wishing for Hank Williams Jr.

I am legitimately nervous about this game... being at home really really helps... the yinzers are fired up

Madden is babbling, Cowher has his chin about 8 miles out from his face... its gametime... can't fucking wait!

Pregame 8:21 pm

2006-09-07T17:25:00.000-07:00

Peyton Manning looks like Guy LaDouche in that Sprint commercial

just thought i would mention

Pregame 8:18 pm

2006-09-07T17:23:00.000-07:00

everytime i think about the fact that there are Browns fans sitting through this pregame ceremony, I get a huge smile on my face and my boner threatens to derail this blog right on the spot

breaking news... Jerome Bettis is from Detroit, and he played in the Super Bowl there last year, ya know, if you hadn't heard about it before

oddly enough, there were no fireworks at the PITT Virginia game last Saturday night, i have no idea why that would be

Pregame 8:10 pm

2006-09-07T17:15:00.000-07:00

this Rascall Flatts performance (yes i spelled that right without looking) reminds me of the AFC Championship a few years ago when Sheryl Crow performed at halftime and the yinzers were pelting her with shit and generally not giving a shit about a song called "Soak Up The Sun", which not coincidentally was performed in Pittsburgh, in January... not too much sun to be soaked up there... not to mention, the Steelers were getting their asses kicked... yeah, it was ugly

for the record, I could give a shit less about this band... they are about as original as nsync or something... the reaction was just overwhelming...

it sounds like Eisen really wants to be pumped, but with the reactions the whole pregame show is getting, its kinda hard... at least he's not faking it, better than some unnamed media members

a few other observations...

1) as an avid diet pepsi drinker, i am personally offended by the reggie bush commercial (not really)
2) did anyone else notice how the scalper prices for tonight's game went down about $100 accross the board when Ben went down?
3) this NFL commercial is making me nauseous... who gives a shit what jesse James and oen of the wayans brothers think?
4) this pregame show is somehow making me incrementally LESS pumped about the season, somehow, just start the game, PLEASE

Pregame 8:04 pm

2006-09-07T17:10:00.000-07:00

who honestly likes this shit?? who thinks that this is what football fans want to see before a game?? Maybe i just don't understand, but i really don't think that is it. The NFL has a well-documented past in which it exhibited the fact that it has a marketing department that is run my a boardroom full of poorly trained chimps with ADD, when it comes to the entertainment.

Who can forget some of the halftime shows they have busted out in the past... as well as this one, I seriously don't understand what it was supposed to be, about 3 minutes long, all i really saw was Puff Daddy gyrating with a bunch of seriously hot women around him, some pryo going off like its a goddamn KISS show, and no real lyrics... not to mention a ridiculously huge stage setup. Before I realized what was going on, it was over... how fucking worthless

on another note, I think the new Coors Light commercials with the coaches press conferences are pretty good, nothing special, but better that some of the bullshit we see in between plays...

more to come... its really just getting going...

(did anyone else notice how little Pittsburgh seemed to care about Rich Eisen?? I would assume most of the yinzers were still outside getting hammered)

Opening Night

2006-09-07T17:06:00.000-07:00

As my first order of business I am going to try to post my thoughts on the big matchup between the Steelers and Dolphins this evening. I am so goddamn pumped for this game, don't even get me started. It should be a fun night, I see the Steelers pulling out a close one, although its gonna be close and I have kinda resigned myself to them getting their asses handed to them with Chaz Batch at the helm.

With that said, I think the whole spectacle of opening night is ripe for the picking, kinda like a bloggers' wet dream.

Welcome to The Castle

2006-09-07T16:59:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog, my name is Rob Frenz, I commonly go by the name of BUCK!!! (three exclamation points, no more, no less). This is a site I created to document my observations and thoughts from a life being lived in the gloriously ridiculous New Castle, Pennsylvania.

I refuse to worry about certain conventions such as proper grammer, proper puncuation and manners. I majored in accounting, not english, so as such, i do not give a flying fuck about such things.

Expect to see posts pertaining to, among other things, crackheads, meth addicts, the Steelers, Pirates, Pearl Jam, golf, etc...

not to mention, I work for my father, which provides plenty of blog fodder...

with that said, please do enjoy... i am completely new at this so take it easy on me!

Rob