Happy Canada Day!

I read today where Pittsburgh North Catholic’s girls’ basketball coach is going to be suspended for the entire 2004-05 season for recruiting. It’s high time some of these Catholic schools get their due. The beautiful part about it is the recruiting was discovered when the recruited player made a seemingly harmless statement about the coach coming to watch her play a junior high game. Hopefully this will be the first of many punishments handed out for what is a completely un-level playing field. How else is a single A enrollment school beating larger classifications. Yes, Bishop Carroll I’m referring to you!

Kudos to the Pirates for sweeping the Cardinals at PNC Park after a bottom of the ninth victory in a businessman’s special yesterday afternoon. A rare Wednesday day game in the ‘Burgh as most of them are on the traditional getaway day: Thursday. I know I’m not the first to pose this question but, if Jack Wilson is the National League all star shortstop, please tell me who is.

I’m hopeful of what I wish for: just a few days ago I mentioned the Meyersdale native who won an Arena Bowl championship with San Jose. I talked a bit about how much I missed the arena team in Johnstown. Well, Mike Mastovich writes in the Tribune Democrat today about the possibility of indoor football making its return to the Flood City. I guess air conditioning was one of the major hang-ups with both players and fans and with the recent remodeling, that problem has been solved. Hopefully they’ll try to get some local talent like last time too. I loved watching JHS grad Quenteen Robinson jump in the crowd and high-five fans after each one of his touchdowns.

I still can’t see why no one wants to get involved with an AFL franchise in Pittsburgh. Mr. Rooney has been asked and he basically is sticking the league’s agreement to support NFL Europe in the spring and I can respect that. But why isn’t there someone else willing to bring the game to Mellon Arena. Mellon Arena might just be the hang up. From what I understand, the rent is sky high, it kept a franchise from joining the league Johnstown played in a few years ago. What a missed opportunity that was. Pittsburgh and Johnstown are just an hour and a half apart from each other, separated by US 22, that could have been an interesting rivalry.

Nascar bad boy Tony Stewart was fined $50,000 for his stupidity following Sunday’s race in Sonoma. The big deal was that he lost his points in the championship race because of the fight. I hope if it happens again they just suspend him for the remainder of the season.

Here’s hoping that Ralf Schumacher has a speedy recovery from the severe concussion and two broken back bones he suffered when his BMW Williams crashed at the US Grand Prix. Newspaper accounts say he could miss up to 12 weeks.

There will be a new $50 bill soon, with many of the color characteristics that the new $20 has. The counterfeiters always seem to be one step ahead of the Mint and Secret Service, I’m sure there are fake bills already made!

Sheetz has a great plan to open a store in Altoona that will be licensed to sell beer and malt liquor beverages. As usual, the sticks in the mud are protesting wanting to stop it. Apparently they believe Pennsylvania should remain a state in the dark ages. How nice it would be to pick up a six-pack at Giant Eagle or Shop N Save! Is that asking too much? The state could still have their liquor store monopoly to sell spirits. Just let the grocers sell beer, malt liquor and wine.

Troubled Mount Pleasant glassmaker L.E. Smith may have to go out of business. A planned buyout seems to have fallen through. At least glass collectors like my mother will still have Fenton to fall back on, but Smith is a local company and it’s sad to see this happen if it does. Just like the airline industry, they’re blaming 9/11 in an article in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Unbelievable! A glassmaker blaming terrorist attacks on hard times. Hey, what about the owner 10 years ago that got caught up in a check-kiting scheme.

As you all know I’m currently reading one of the great presidents of our time, Bill Clinton’s memoir. You’d be amazed to know this; I read in U.S. News and World Report yesterday that he wrote the entire thing by hand. Dude, get a PC.

I’ll be seeing Fahrenheit 9/11 tonight. You’ll see my review manaña!