YinzPitt

So here we are.  In the midst of a sports-less summer, because the Pirates have struggled immensely, so much so that I don’t even feel like writing about how bad they’ve bee doing.  The only thing you need to know is that they are 3 games out of being the worst team in baseball.  Here’s to them getting the number 1 pick in the draft next year.   That is, if they don’t manage to mess it up either.  So moving on, we’re gonna go old school and do a Pittsburgh News round-up.

So we’ll start with this hot topic, that’s not even dealing with Pittsburgh.  Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia has died.  He was 92 years old.   Here’s a little love from the AP article describing his life:

Robert C. Byrd, the longest serving member of the U.S. Senate, a fiery orator and hard-charging power broker who steered billions of federal dollars to his beloved West Virginia, died Monday. He was 92.

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You guys remember Pittsburgh’s famous “tagger” Daniel Montano?  You know, the kid who made the phrase, “MFONE” famous around the city?  That same kid, who caused over $700,000 dollars worth of estimated damage, and racked up over 18 felony’s for spray painting, has turned his jail sentence into a blessing, by doing art.  It just so happens to be that he will be doing an art show, “Invisible Walls, Invisible Children,” which opens July 9 at Gallery 4, 206 S. Highland Ave., Shadyside.

Here’s a little excerpt from the Post-Gazette’s article about the young man:

The most prolific tagger in the city’s history — police estimated he caused more than $700,000 in damage to 125 property owners over several years — has been on pre-release from a 21/2-to-5 year sentence since last August.

He spends his three free nights with his sister in Highland Park. He has been working as a dishwasher, doing scenic paintings for movies and preparing works for an art show, “Invisible Walls, Invisible Children,” which opens July 9 at Gallery 4, 206 S. Highland Ave., Shadyside.

Now 25, Mr. Montano says being incarcerated “turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“After my sentence, I went to my cell and cried. My bunkie said, ‘You feel like there’s nothing that you can change right now but it’s not true. You can change what’s inside you.’”

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Finally, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the rest of the NHL had their draft over the weekend.  All in all, it was a very meh draft as hardly any players were traded, along with nobody really even being re-signed. About the only good thing that can come from all of that, is that July 1, is absolutely going to be a mad house, and a lot of the teams in the league are going to change a lot of personnel.

Here’s what the Gazette had to say about the draft and the Pens “trendy” choices:

The NHL draft came to California, and the league’s teams, including the Penguins, left with a lot of American players.”I think it’s great,” said Penguins general manager Ray Shero, who also is involved in USA Hockey.

“Especially to see the kids from California taken in the first round, it’s come a long way. It just goes to show you, it’s great for U.S. hockey.”

In the first round Friday, the Penguins took a native Californian, forward Beau Bennett, one of two Californians selected in that round.

A record 11 Americans were selected in the first round, and a record-tying 21 were selected in the first two rounds. Of the 210 prospects picked, 59 are Americans. Four of the Penguins’ six draft picks are from the United States.

The three who were selected Saturday on the second day of the draft at Staples Center were right winger Bryan Rust, of suburban Detroit, who plays for the United States Development Program’s under-18 team and was selected in the third round, 80th overall; left winger Kenneth Agostino, a New Jersey high school player headed to Yale who was taken in the fifth round, 140th overall; and defenseman Joe Rogalski, of Buffalo, who plays for Sarnia of the Ontario Junior Hockey League.

All in all, a pretty un-spectacular weekend.  We’re fast approaching the 4th of July, so what are your plans Pittsburgh?

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