steelers – Stumbling Through Life

Tuesday Randomness

Posted on August 8, 2017August 8, 2017 by Amy

I think I deserve a cookie for posting Tuesday Randomness two weeks in a row! Maybe I am finally out of my slump. There are times when I think that when Chandler left and Alan entered stage wrong, my desire to write went with Chandler. Now? I don’t think it was that necessarily, it was knowing how uncertain things were with Alan. . . never wanting to jinx it. But then again he had an awfully hard time staying faithful so maybe it is best that I didn’t really document that time. Live and learn right?

Let’s see, I am still the same dorky Amy, addicted to all things sports. I finally became a season ticket holder with the Nashville Predators (yay #smashville!). I went to the Used Equipment Sale this past weekend and picked up a Ryan Ellis hockey stick. He is my favorite Canadian ginger! Love him! Now I have to figure out if I can ever get him to sign my stick. I plan on mounting it on my living room wall with my growing collection of hockey pucks.

Once the hockey season was over (oh, that was in June people) I washed all the rally towels, t-shirt giveaways, my hockey sweater and oh yeah. . .my probably really rank jeans that I refused to wash during playoffs. My lint trap looked like something Gnash might have puked up. I also had to admit I have a slight problem. .. see I have clothes for work, a limited supply of casual wear for warmer weather and the rest of my closet looks like a sports store threw up in it.

Gee, I didn’t realize this was going to be all about puke/things that come up. Sorry?

Anyway, I was on a roll last fall with my Cubbies (LOVE!) so of course I had to pick up all kinds of playoff t-shirts. Then I broke down and bought the Steelers (LOVE) infinity scarf so I could be kind of dressy at work. Which led to a late hockey season decision to purchase the Preds scarf which was then worn through a good portion of June (oh yeah, did you know we made a run for Lord Stanley’s Cup?).

And I will go ahead and admit, I am a very lucky girl. I was able to attend most of the games through the playoffs. And let’s just say that playoff hockey is on another level and then add our crazy crew who let’s face it, took a few traditions from football and hockey, smashed them together and all the sudden we were the talk of the NHL. Traditional markets didn’t care for us, said we were loud, rude, obnoxious while some saw a great storyline coming out of a southern town.

We are a smaller hockey market, that came in with three other teams. One of the expansions no longer exists in it’s original city. And it wasn’t us! We had a huge scare ten years ago and I remember the fight to keep them here. I attended plenty of games where we sucked, we lost most of the games, the barn wasn’t near capacity and an owner who wasn’t completely honest about his financials.

But that’s the funny thing about Nashville. We have a lot of self loathing (look no further than Music Row and the execs), the multiple personalities when it comes to the neighborhoods and some neighborhoods that just can’t figure out their identity. But there are two ways to identify someone that is considered a Nashvillian. .. if we spot someone famous, we may nod their way but we don’t stop and chat, take pictures or ask for autographs and the other is when you ask us how long it takes to get from Bellevue to say the arena. .. we will say 15 minutes. The second is so bad because the only way you can get anywhere in this town within 15 minutes is either via helicopter or it’s one am and you’ve been able to arrange a road block so you can get from point A to point B within the 15 minute timeframe.

So our little market that could had a grassroots movement of sorts to save our Preds. Sure, in the beginning most of us didn’t understand icing, power plays, shots on goal, hooking or high sticking however. .. we can read. So between learning how this sport worked, we got a quick intro into going all in with a team to keep them here. I give mad props to the marketing team because they really got our community. They had ticket reps feeding tickets to people on the street and slowly taking them away with the allure of game packages. And soon little pockets of fans creeped up throughout the city. We had the Cell Block, our rowdy friends in the upper deck who really got the chant thing going. And no, we don’t have practice or meetings to discuss the chants. In the advent of social media, the chants spread like wildfire.

I remember chanting, “we want tacos” when we needed one more goal since five goals got us a free taco. Thank goodness they went to Frosties at four goals. Hey, we will yell our hearts out for the free dollar item! Some things I miss, like the Predator like blimp that would fly around during the game and spit out tickets for prizes. They still show some of the old graphics (Get Loud Nashville. . .I believe that was one of the first ones).

And because we are Music City, crazed football fans who love our hockey players. . . well I think everyone knew we were going to kick it up a few notches when we strolled into the Western Conference Division finals. Our first time to that dance before the big one and man, we were crazed. The catfish flew everywhere, I held one (I would have kissed him had he been a bit fresher) and downtown transformed to a golden city. And then we arrived to the big stage, fighting for the glory of Lord Stanley’s Cup.

And in true Music City, only in Nashville can this happen, a trifecta of a perfect storm: Bonaroo, Fan Fair (wait, sorry CMA Music Fest) and then hockey in JUNE! All at the same time. Parking downtown on a normal evening is not pleasant, parking down there when you have major events happening at the same time, a high school graduation and an awards show was moved from our barn to the Music City Convention Center and the chaos from providing some over the top entertainment for the NHL stage. . . umm yeah, a lot of bad words were uttered. The parking lots gouging us had to be a part of Dante’s seven circles of hell.

Mayor Barry, please, please, please. . . mass transit for all. PLEASE!

But overall, I am so proud of my boys! It didn’t end the way I wanted it to but what a ride. And we are all anxiously counting down until October to raise the banner and keep showing the nation just how much we love our hockey!

But I am kind of really, OMG, I can’t wait, excited that football is here (I will take preseason by this point just to have it back on my tv).

The One Where I Break the Curse

Posted on November 18, 2014November 18, 2014 by Amy

I ~~like~~ no LOVE the Steelers. It happened years ago, I was abducted by a family of Steeler fans and given the kool-aid. I haven’t been the same since, which is fine because while it may seem a bit strange to live in the middle of TN Titans country, I have crossed paths with some really cool people since adopting them as my team. I still cheer the Titans on except when we play them. I think that is fair.

So the past few years when they have played in Nashville I have gone and they have lost. . . as in, let’s find a way to really stink it up lose. I was so nervous going into last night’s game because we needed that win and my track record has been, well horrible. So here it is, a hundred below freezing, flurries, bitter wind and oh yeah, me, the cursed one. I am well aware of my track record when it comes to men and relationships and you know, I am okay with that losing streak but not my Steelers. Leave them alone.

Last week I was invited to a meet and greet sponsored by the Steeler’s newest app for the organization: Steeler Nation Unite. I met Craig Wolfey (former Steeler and voice of the team) as well as some front office staffers. I caught a glimpse of the Monday Night Football team and Coach Tomlin. That was Sunday night and I was beyond giddy at this point because I tried on a Super Bowl Ring, got to meet other Steeler fans and geeked out on all things football.

Oh this ring? It's a Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl ring. . . — Oh this ring? It’s a Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl ring. . .

Pano view of the Meet and Greet. . . I got lucky.

I drove home from the meet and greet dreaming of a win and a job offer from the Steelers. . . I never said I was rational when it came to my dreams. So Monday morning it was cold, snowing and did I mention cold? I layered up for work. . . making sure I had my bumble bee socks on for all to see. If I thought I could get away with wearing my jersey to work, I would have trust me. The morning flew by but then at about 1:30 the clock just stopped. Ugh, longest afternoon of my life.

Rocking the bumble bee socks before the game

And then I found out I got a field pass. It was better than Christmas morning around here. It was a good news/bad news type of thing though. They only had one and my inner selfish football crazy girl came out and said, “oh my friend doesn’t like the Steelers so no worries, mine, mine, mine!!!!” He didn’t care, in fact he was still coming up with ways to end my life because of this very cold evening of football. My only request was that he would hold off on offing me after the game. I have priorities.

I am a very lucky girl who happens to stumble upon some really nice people. . . I got to go on the field pregame

I walked out onto the field and from that moment on I was overwhelmed. I didn’t know which way to look, what to take pictures of and I wanted pictures of the players but I didn’t want to bother them. So I probably looked like a fish with my mouth wide open. But it was one of the coolest things I have ever done and I got to observe how a team gets ready for the game.

One of the first views when I hit the field.

Please oh please let the curse be broken

Oh and don’t mind me gawking. . . that’s just Mr. Rooney walking in front of me. . .

OMG! Mr. Rooney! Fan girl geeking out as the owner walks two feet in front of me.

My true nerdy self got all dorky with a selfie in front of the MNF team. . . they really wanted to be in the picture.

For a sports and news junkie, this just kind of sent me over the edge. Monday Night Football set right there. ..

I’m cold, I can’t feel my tush but I am beyond happy to be watching my team play and swinging that Terrible Towel.

Sure it was a cold night, my friend kept thinking up ways to kill me for dragging him to the game and we hit a rough patch but it's my team ya'll. Like I wouldn't be there watching them. — Sure it was a cold night, my friend kept thinking up ways to kill me for dragging him to the game and we hit a rough patch but it’s my team ya’ll. Like I wouldn’t be there watching them.

And while the first wave of people who sat behind us were mostly Steelers’ fans, they kept spilling their beer on my jacket and their token Titans fan friend about took a head dive into our row. So it was with great joy that a group of guys ended up showing up late and reclaimed their seats behind us. They were all cute but there was one that I wanted to trip all over myself to talk to. . . translation. . . I grinned like a dork and said a handful of words to, including, “you have pretty eyes.” If anyone wondered how I have managed to stay single for so long, wonder no more. I chatted up the rest of the guys, they called me honey bee and bumble bee, teased me for my choice in football teams, swatted their Titans towels at my shoulder and bought me drinks but the one that I thought was cute I barely talked to and certainly didn’t ask him his name. But blue eyes said I looked like his best friend and that I would look better in blue instead of black and gold and I said. . . you have pretty eyes.

I meant it but I also wanted to say, you have the kindest eyes ever and I am so awkward but damn, you are cute. . . are you dating anyone? I like football, hockey and can cook like nobody’s business and have the humor of an adolescent boy, wanna go out? But I just blushed, stole quick glances and gave probably some of the stupidest faces to him. All the while hopping up and down trying to stay warm.

After the half they never came back, well one of them did and he said he was messaging them to come back but never heard anything. I repel men. . . see. And just when it looked like the curse was very real I told my friend I was ready to hang it up, the third quarter was almost up, I couldn’t feel my tush or my legs and my team was down. I was a sad panda. So we grabbed our stuff, I told the guy to tell his buddy thanks for the drinks and that blue eyed boy had really pretty eyes (yep, LAME) and we hauled it out of the stadium.

By the way, that curse is really real cause when we got to the car, they scored a TD and by the time I got home we were up and we won. Crisis averted, my Steelers WON!!!!! I can’t feel most of my body, I met a guy that I thought was cute (it’s been way to long) and I think I may of made a fool of myself BUT I got to try on a Super Bowl ring, meet some cool people, hang out on the field and geek out getting to see Steelers players up close and personal.

Yeah, it was a good night.

Tuesday Randomness

Posted on November 13, 2012November 14, 2012 by Amy

How in the world is it Thanksgiving next week? Where did the time go? And is it possible that this next weekend not be in the 70s? I am beginning to get a complex when it comes to picking out clothes to wear each day.

The past couple of weeks I have indulged myself by taking Friday off. Apparently I needed it. The Friday before last I took it so I could deal with my guest room. . . but I didn’t even so much glance at that room.
Last Friday I knew I had no choice but to deal with it because I also needed to buy a bed for my parents and the current state of the room didn’t exactly welcome a queen size bed.
Because I rarely sleep in anymore, I got up and dealt with the room first thing. This never happens, so I was shocked as I went through the stuff that had been thrown in the room; putting everything in a tote and stacking them in the closet.
FYI–guests will not really have room to hang stuff in this closet, oh well. At least it is no longer an episode of Hoarders.
I also managed to gather the random junk mail, paper and other crap that seems to camp out into a trash bag to take to the dumpster.
I started laundry, dealt with the kitchen and finally got cleaned up.
The nice part of taking a Friday off from work, it gives me a chance to get stuff done but not feel rushed. I knew I would need to get out to run a couple of errands but instead of running out of the door as soon as I got cleaned up, I read, watched some tv and piddled around.
I went to a couple mattress stores and giggled when the salespeople wanted to point me to the higher end models. Seriously? I need a basic queen set and frame. Doesn’t have to be fancy people. And while I could have dragged my very old queen set back up here when I moved, I didn’t want to torture any future guests.
I am sure it used to be a very comfy bed but in all fairness, how comfortable is a 30+ year old mattress?
My trusty, I am never ever going to part with it, like ever rocker is sitting in the guest room, waiting for the bed to come so it won’t be lonely.
Background: this poor rocker is as old as me. I was rocked in it as a baby, my mom’s dog used to hike his leg around it in a fit a jealousy and it was re-upholstered sometime in the late 80s. Dad also broke the base so if you sit in it a certain way, it will tip over with you in it.
But I love that thing and it has moved about 100 times with me. I will eventually get it fixed and recovered.
I was told a few years ago that being an Ole Miss fan is one of the tougher things a person could do. . . they were right. So close, yet so far Saturday night; Vandy beating us AGAIN. Not enough Jack in the world to get me through those losses.
I did get to witness two, um, interesting women get into an argument about football teams in the bar. The drunker one of the two did the whole up close, bump you with my chest and let the bar stool fall on the floor. She was ushered away to cool off and the other woman quickly paid her tab and left the bar.
I am still wondering why drunk one didn’t get kicked out or cut off. She came back, did a few more shots and wallered (is that even a word? I mean, I use it when talking about the cat not leaving me alone. . . ) on a few men.
It was all Klassy with a K.
I believed I OD’ed on football Sunday and watched the ESPN 30 on 30 documentary, Ghosts of Ole Miss. It was a wonderful documentary and left me conflicted on what I know is right and traditions.
Monday night was filled with a lot of pacing, gripping the arm of my chair, yelling at the tv and thinking I might need oxygen
All because the Steelers almost lost to another crappy team
They pulled out the win but my man Rothlisberger is hurt
I am officially a sad panda
I am doing fairly decently on try # 1,875,139,471 of losing weight, getting into smaller sized pants but I need to get back into walking, ugh

Now I must go deal with my fantasy football team, I won this past week but I need to deal with some players going on bye this week as well as some players that are questionable. I also need to have a talk with my Steelers, I need them to beat the Ravens. I need them to go into the playoffs and not as a Wild Card. I also need to talk to Coach Freeze about Ole Miss needing to win so they can go bowling this year.

Clearly I have issues. . . I am also waiting for Bettman to throw greed to the side and get the NHL season going. I haven’t been to a game in forever and I always loved going when I lived here before.

Pinching Myself

Posted on August 18, 2012 by Amy

I am still pinching myself and the good fortune of getting to move back home. There is a part of me that feels like I have never been away and then the other part that remembers how homesick I felt for two and a half years. I keep waiting to wake up in my old apartment but thankfully I wake up each morning, on Central time, in Nashville and to everything that made my daily routine just so good. I took it for granted back then and now I just smile and realize that even if I do have a bad day, I am where I want to be.

This past week has been a blur, a lot of learning new things as well as spending time with old friends. I was notorious for invoking the no going out on a school night for many years. In fact, Bear, called me out on this a couple of months before I moved to Chattanooga. He called it via text, exactly what I was doing, so I knew that when I moved back home I had to change this.

I don’t want to go out every night, but it does help you realize that you have friends and they do care about you. So I spent some time with the Queen on Tuesday evening and as I was driving back home I was pinching myself because, hey! I am driving back to my apartment in a city that I adore and I don’t have to rush back to Chattanooga.

Thursday evening rolls around and I had a hankering for wings, so I changed from my work clothes to some jeans and a t-shirt and headed back out. Once I got to BW3 and placed my order I texted Bear. When he got there he asked what I was doing in town and I laughed and said, well I moved back. Apparently I am not in his news feed for FB. We laughed, made fun of each other and talked about football, because really, that is one of the things we have always talked about.

He then mentioned a bar that he sometimes goes to and said, come on, are you going home or do you want to go there. The old me would have said I was going home and I would have been a good girl. In an effort to force myself out a bit more I said sure. And off we went.

We watched some of the Little League World series (Go Goodlettsville!) and I shared just how stupid I am when it comes to baseball. We talked football, best places to watch the games and his fantasy NASCAR teams. Um, yeah, I mocked him for that. Then the bartender comes up giggling and asks if I watched Sex and the City. Turns out the owner is friends with John Corbett who played Aidan.

Tangent: People, I spent six years, every Sunday night with a group of my girlfriends eating, drinking and watching this show. To say I am a fan is a slight understatement. We even gathered a group of girls together to see the first movie in the theater and smuggled in cheap champagne in cans to celebrate.

Okay, now where was I? Oh yes, so he may or may not come by. Bear keeps asking who this guy is and I go through a list of what I can remember him from and he still doesn’t know who he is but like I care. This is about me! Mr. Corbett comes in and since the bar has maybe seven people total there, it isn’t really hard to look across and see him.

Oh! One more tangent: There is an unspoken code in Nashville, we don’t bother the stars that we bump into, it is probably more about we all have lives and really, you see Tim McGraw once, you have seen him a hundred times. No biggie. But to the dismay of my dad, I don’t bother them when they are out, I don’t take pictures or anything else. The other part is I am oblivious most of the time until I have left and then I smack my forehead and say, oh wow, that was such and such.

But Thursday night I broke the code. Minus the two bartenders that night, I was the only female so Mr. Corbett is having a nice evening just hanging out chatting with his friends. As we are getting ready to leave, Bear runs to the restroom and I do the complete dork/goober thing by stopping to ask for a picture. I felt awful about bothering him but there was a small part of me that just wanted to have one picture with him.

You guys, he was so nice. We took several pictures because the one thing the iPhone is crappy about is the camera when it comes to strange lighting. Besides the fact that he was freakishly tall, I was impressed in how kind and willing he was to stop, chat and take time out of his downtime for a complete stranger.

And Bear now has a picture with him and still couldn’t tell you who he is, which is about par for the course. We left, he mocked me and then we agreed that football is going to be a priority for this fall.

Yesterday he made the fatal mistake of mentioning that he was cooking jambalaya. I quickly responded with a “do you deliver?” With the promise of a decent sized tv and the Titans on I got a dinner prepped in my kitchen by Bear. Dude, thanks, it was so good but you really need to become more open to shrimp because the whole shrimp and grits thing is to die for, I promise.

And I didn’t go to sleep until way past midnight; this girl doesn’t stay up late often anymore and the bad part has to be that I still wake up fairly early. After errands, a power nap and trying to get things together for a business trip, I hit the pool. I also got to hang with Bear and his very cute and sassy daughter. Lord help him when she is a teenager, she is going to put him through the paces. I will be there to laugh at him.

But even without a decent nap, I am reminded just how lucky I am. I have a group of friends that are like family to me, a crazy and sometimes very needy cat and a job that I enjoy. Not bad for a girl who broke down earlier this summer, crying about being homesick. And even if I do lose some sleep from time to time, spending time with my friends on a school night is worth it.

So I will continue to pinch myself and smile at lucky I am. I will also know that when the Steelers play the Titans I have one more person I can harass with glee. That might be a fair warning for Nashville, things could get ugly this fall because you have two football junkies that happen to enjoy spending large amounts of Sunday sitting on a bar stool to take advantage of Sunday Ticket.