Oh, So That's What Double-Elimination Means...

Well unfortunately, Texas A&M lost a game they should've won (in my opinion and everyone else in the Aggie crowd) to California.  It just seemed as if the guys weren't there mentally when they stepped up to the plate.  Sophomore Michael Wacha did a fantastic job as the starting pitcher, but it wasn't enough to hold off Cal's batters.  I noticed there were a lot of foul balls, way more than usual, one almost hitting one of A&M's coach's daughters in the back of the head!  I guess Cal had their heads in the game more so than the Aggies.  I'm not a coach (obviously) so I'll leave it to the guys who really know what the team was going through, mentally, to justify that statement.

It was a very cold, windy, rainy game, especially with the "tornado" that came through the day before.  No offense to ABC News but, the general consensus in Omaha was they blew it way out of proportion and it was just high winds.  Still, nobody knows why the tornado sirens went off during the game.  Everytime the skys started to part and sun came through, we all thought it was a good omen for the team!  Even all my praying wasn't helping, but God had a plan and we had to trust it!

Texas A&M vs, South Carolina -- ugh

Well of course, my boyfriend's team HAD to play my Gamecocks in the 1st game at the 2011 CWS and just seein him get ready for the game had my heart jumpin!  It was really exciting and all of us wives and girlfriends were on edge the whole day just hopin for a W after last night.  After tryin to relax in the sun all day we got ourselves all pretty in our A&M colors and headed to the TD Ameritrade Park!

Now, I will admit that I felt a little sad that I wasn't standing in line for my ticket with the rest of the South Carolina fans but I am a good girlfriend and I stood my ground.  After waiting in a line that lasted about 45 min for just Player Guests tickets (I thought we were supposed to have special privileges, haha) and sweatin all our makeup off, we set off into the park.  Its really beautiful!

Well  I was just so excited because I got to sit next to Kyle's parents in the family section!  It was really fun to be around such a lively group of fans!  So lively, in fact, that they put us on TV!

"You Got South Carolina Tattooed On Your Liver, Honey"

So I did get one of my questions answered...

As a Gamecock, I have to say that I am pretty upset that I will "have" to root against them this weekend because Texas A&M is going to the CWS!  And would you believe it, they play South Carolina first on Sunday!  I'm so thrilled for the team because they worked so hard and with the way the game went yesterday, those boys deserve it! Amazing pitching game for the Aggies (and I'd like to give credit to a coach, wink wink) last night and are sailing right on through to Omaha. 

As I was telling my mom about my dilemma of how my boyfriend refuses to let me cheer for my beloved (and reigning National Champion) Gamecocks, we were going through ideas of how I could sneak some sort of article of clothing on myself under my Aggie gear.  I have several items of clothing that was so graciously given to me in the beginning of the season because I was told that I would need to wear them to the CWS when A&M beat SC.  I thought he had a really sweet imagination at the time.  But here we are, 4 months later and that's exactly what these boys are going to try to do!

Anyway, I was thinking of SC underwear or bandanna to hide in my shirt or something when my precious mother turned to me and said, "I wouldn't worry about it, you got South Carolina tattooed on your liver, honey..."

Well, I'd say its the best tattoo I got!

   
(Too many of those in college...)

Case of The Mondays

I am trying to motivate myself today because I have so much to do but it seems so overwhelming!  I am in such a weird position because I am desperately needing to clean up my life (house, jobs, etc) in order to figure out what I'm going to do!  Today I'm starting on my house because I believe this is where I will start to clean out all the "clutter" in my life!  With my job in limbo because of the NFL lockout, I've had a lot of time to reflect on what I need to prioritize.  Nobody knows when the lockout will end and I'm really nervous about when I will be able to return to work after the AFL season ends! Therefore, I figured that I need to take this time to set things in order.  But this is no easy task especially since my son is out of school and with the ever changing weather in Pittsburgh, I need to keep him occupied and its not always easy since he is such a ball of energy and is hard to contain him in the house!

Where do I start?  I guess I'll just take it one day at a time, but I need to hurry because my amazing brother is coming home from his Army base in Germany on Saturday to spend 2 weeks at my house with our family before he is deployed to Afghanistan.  So I will be playing hostess and also planning a send off party for him downtown towards the end of June (I desperately need to start on that!)  Also, my boyfriend will be coming into town as well either very soon or at the end of June as well pending the outcome of his game today!  He is a coach for the Texas A&M Baseball team and they are in the Super Regionals in Tallahassee, Florida this weekend (and today) and they play tonight at 7PM against FSU to move on to the College World Series!  They won their first game on Saturday 6-2 but suffered a devastating loss last night (I went a little overboard with the fit I threw because they lost 23-9) but they play today to win!  Saying lots of prayers! I'd love to go to Omaha to see them play! 

At least after tonight's game, I'll have one answer!  Hopefully it'll be that we'll be taking a trip to the CWS!!!

Lockout Affecting More Than Just Owners and Players

I am about to go into my (God-willing the lockout ends) my 6th season working for the Pittsburgh Steelers.  The Steelers have an amazing organization and I have been part of it for literally my ENTIRE life.  I am so very blessed to have grown up in the Steeler family and now I work for them.  It would be any Steeler fan's dream!  Although my jobs for them are not big to the franchise as a whole, they are big for me and my son.  This lockout is affecting more than just the owners and the players, most people don't see how its affecting the rest of the employees that don't get to be heard.

I grew up the first-born daughter of Pittsburgh Steeler offensive lineman, #73 Craig Wolfley.  People ask me all the time what it was like to grow up the way I did, and honestly, I thought everyone's dad played football!  I never understood why people would always want to have him "draw" on footballs or take pictures with my dad when we he would take us to a McDonald's playground or anywhere!  I always wondered why they didn't want to take a picture with me?  (I mean, I was a lot cuter at 5 years old in pigtails and missing teeth!)  As I grew older, I realized who my dad was and what the Steelers meant to this city.

Being my dad's daughter and being associated with the Steelers brought a lot of pressure later in my life when I was first approached by one of the producers to audition for a reporting role for Steelers TV.  Not only was I carrying my dad's legendary last name (in the Steel City) but now I had the opportunity of a lifetime to actually work for them and when I started to think about it, it was pretty scary.  I had a lot to prove and being a woman in a man's world (I don't care what other people think, you are in a man's world when it comes to sports broadcasting) and showing people that I didn't have my job just because of who my daddy is. 

So after that audition, I was also asked to take over 2 new positions that were opening up.  I was to become an assistant on the McDonald's Steelers KidZONE Show and work in graphic design and updating stats on the jumbotron for all home games.  I had A LOT to learn very quickly, but I was not going to let this opportunity pass me up.  I was, after all, being offered to work for not only the BEST franchise in the NFL, but also the team that provided for my family.  Even though I had to work along side my dad (which was difficult at times, especially for the poor guys who didn't know I was Wolf's daughter but quickly found out) it really has been a dream job. 

It is a family at Heinz Field and everyone looks out for one another.  I work with wonderful, amazing, talented people every week during the season who all work so well together to benefit, not only the team, but each other.  I could go on forever and name each person I work with and talk about how they benefit the franchise, but that might be for another post.  But my point here is, you don't see us behind the glass in the control room every game, controlling everything going on in the bowl.  You don't see or really recognize all the hundreds of people it takes behind the scenes who make gamedays as magical as they are for the thousands of fans that pay good money to come cheer on their favorite team.  I don't think most of the headliners in the lockout recognize who else they are affecting.

One of the benefits of working for one of the best franchises in the league is you get paid very good money when you work for them.  I am a single mom and I depend very much on the money I make from Steelers.  With this lockout still not being resolved, I am very nervous about when it will.  I don't know whether or not I should think about looking for another job in case it's not ended?  What about if we have a shortened season? I have bills to pay and a child to take care of and I know everyone that I work with has the same concerns.  We can't even make future plans because we don't know what is going to happen!  It's the people who work security at the stadiums, the vendors, the concession stand operators, the camera men, the freelance reporters, the men and women who clean up after drunken fans, the people who work in all parts of in game production that are being affected and most likely are just as concerned as I am about our job security. 

I am not down playing how the players are affected, especially those who are not making $1 Million and up a year, I understand what they are going through.  But I'm talking about people like me, who are not part of a union, who freelance and can't file for unemployment or get any sort of compensation if we do not have a season or miss part of it.  It's the little people that the big guys aren't thinking of.  It's the people who stand behind the scenes, behind the cameras and make the magic happen for all the amazing fans across the country, at every stadium, every gameday.  Our paychecks may not be that much to sign off on compared to the players, but my job and that check means so much to someone like me.

Pittsburgh Power Shocks Spokane

I am the sideline reporter for the new Arena Football Team, the Pittsburgh Power on 93.7 The Fan.  Many people are very skeptical of arena ball, but once you see a game and feel the excitement of how fast paced and high scoring the game is, you'll be hooked.  The Power are boasting the highest attendance levels in the league in its inaugural season!  So obviously, something is going on in the CONSOL Energy Center in downtown Pittsburgh and it doesn't have to do with Sidney Crosby's concussion.

The Power has had a rough road so far, and fans, coaches and players were a bit worried about how this season would end.  Fortunately for the Power, they are led by a confident, knowledgeable and passionate head coach, Chris Siegfried.  Even when the team's record going into Saturday night's game against the defending Arena Bowl Champions, Spokane Shock, Siegfried was more than confident in his team.  The Power has had many set backs through the first 7 games, plagued by injuries and off the field controversies (which are really just some reporters making a big deal of nothing) that have sidelined some very good and key players.

Coach joked at his pregame press conference on Thursday that he has a winning team on IR right now!  The Power was on their 3rd quarterback until this game against Spokane when Siegfried surprised everyone (myself included) when he started the orginial starting QB of the season, Bernard Morris.  Coach had told me before the game that even though he has been relying on backup QB, PSU alumn Anthony Morelli, as his current passer, he knew it would be Morris who would be the man to take them where they needed to go.  Although Morelli deserves a lot of praise for picking up where Morris and then original backup, Cal U grad Kevin McCabe, left off, it was apparant that Morris is THE man for the job.

Before the start of the game, it was unclear to whether or not Morris was at 100% with his throwing arm (which was the reason he was placed on IR) but he said it wasn't his arm that he was unsure of, it was his stamina in the game.  I interviewed him from the bench after his 1st TD pass and he said he felt great, he just had a hard time talking because he was so winded. Well, if anyone saw the game, they'd never know he was unsure about anything.  Morris came back with a passion and let the Shock know who was taking snaps that night and threw bombs all down the field to wide receivers who were more than happy to be making big plays again.  Although he misfired a few times, he got the job done. 

The Power improved their record to 4-4 after a 51-41 victory Saturday night and they are taking on the San Jose Sabercats this Saturday night at home in the CONSOL Energy Center at 7:30 pm.  The Power is coming back with a vengeance and I'm sure this will be a game Pittsburgh will not want to miss!

Big Ben's Savin' the Date

TMZ apparently got hold of Ben Roethlisberger and Ashely Harlan's Save The Date.

So this is it.  Now I have not had to plan my own wedding (yet!) but I would have to say for a couple who is about my age, I really don't see this being the save the date our generation would use.  All the save the dates I have received have not looked anything like this.  Usually there is a picture, or its a postcard, or magnet.  And the floral design is not exactly my taste.

On that note, I wonder who on their guest list sold them out?  And to TMZ?  Really?  I hope they got enough money to give them a really good wedding present.  IF it is really the save the date, I couldn't imagine that the happy couple would be having such a large wedding that you couldn't trust the people you were inviting to not sell your invitations to Internet tabloids!

My first thought on this was maybe it was the company who they were thinking about using, who had made up several different ones to show them and they leaked it?

If I were them, I would never have my wedding here.  If it really meant a lot to them to be married to each other and avoid all the media spectacles, wouldn't you just want to do this privately?  Get away and take people with you that you could trust and it would really mean something for them to be there?  But if they want to have all this attention, then they are on the right track.  Many other celebrities get married in front of a hundred close family and friends and their save the dates never get out...so why did theirs?  I'm interested to see how this all unfolds....