They call this day after Thanksgiving "Black Friday."
But today is Red-and-Gold Friday in Haler Heights, the home of McKeesport's WPIAL Class A Champion Serra Catholic Eagles.
I'll allow that to sink in for a minute or two. It only took 26 years. Let me savor it.
They were 26 long, painful years in which the Eagles were the football doormats of the Mon Valley. This is a big, big victory for Coach Rich Bowen, Athletic Director Bill Cleary, and some very tired, hard-working Serra teen-agers and their parents.
For those of you who also attended this morning's festivities at the mustard palace, I was the jaboney at the 50-yard line with the crummy transistor radio, listening to McKeesport's Paul Paterra call the game on WPTT (1360). (Listen here.)
(I also was the one taking pictures with the camera that's older than dirt.)
My typing fingers have finally defrosted enough to offer this assessment: Whew. There ain't no flies on Springdale High School's football team, who forced Serra to earn its 10-6 victory.
Until today, Serra hadn't scored fewer than 33 points in a game this season, and had won all of its games by at least three touchdowns. The Dynamos' defense almost totally shut down the Serra running game, and if it hadn't been for a fourth-quarter interception of a Springdale pass, the contest would have gone down to the final minutes.
But a win is a win is a win. And let's hope it's not another 26 years before the next WPIAL football title.
Bring on the PIAA! Go Eagles!
. . .
Photo Gallery: Hot off the photo processing machine at the drugstore, here are a few more snaps from today's game at Heinz Field. (I'm not Ansel Adams as much as I am Grizzly Adams. Or maybe Puggsley.)
. . .
Oh, Christmas Tree: The deadline to enter McKeesport's Festival of Trees has been extended. If your group or organization would like to decorate a special Christmas tree for this annual tradition at Renzie Park's Jacob Woll Pavilion, hurry up and contact the festival committee or call city Recreation Director Jim Brown at (412) 675-5068.
Don't wait until the last minute. Despite the extended deadline, tee time ... er, I mean tree time ... is fast approaching. The Festival of Trees runs from 12 to 9 p.m. Dec. 6 through 9.
. . .
To Do This Weekend: McKeesport Model Railroad Club, 2209 Walnut St. (Route 148), Christy Park opens its holiday train show tonight at 6. The show runs through Dec. 23.
(Correction: The show opens Friday, Nov. 30.)
Hours are 6 to 9 p.m. Fridays, 1 to 9 p.m. Saturdays, and 12 to 6 p.m. Sundays. Admission is $4 for adults and $1 for children. Call (412) 664-LOCO or visit www.mckeesportmodelrr.org.
Trains not your speed? There's country line dancing at the Palisades, Fifth Avenue at Water Street, tonight at 8:30. Call (412) 678-6979.
There was something besides football this week? Really? Oh, all right.
Several people, including City Councilor Paul Shelly, note that County Councilor Bob Macey, D-Dravosburg, was on the side of the angels Tuesday when he voted against the decision to restrict searches on the Allegheny County real-estate assessment website.
Good on Councilor Macey for taking that stand!
Alas, nine of his colleagues on Allegheny County Council went ahead with the bone-headed move anyway, voting to take away your right to search these public records by the names of the property owners.
Proponents claim that police officers and others have been targeted for harassment by bad guys who've searched for their residences on the county's website. Perhaps they have, although no one presented any proof.
And if you go to the Allegheny County Courthouse or many school district and municipal real-estate tax offices, you'll still be able to search for property owners' names. That hasn't changed. So the bad guys will still be able to get that information.
All county council has done is made it a little harder for average, taxpaying citizens to find out which properties are owned by whom.
Yes, you can still search the website for specific addresses. But now you can't type in the same name and find out what other properties the same company or person owns. That's useful information if you're trying to find out what properties a slumlord owns --- and we have several of them in the Mon-Yough area.
It also makes it harder for you to find out whether your elected officials have paid their property taxes. As local real estate broker Phil Marcus told the Post-Gazette, "we need more transparency in government, not less."
Boo on Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato for backing this change, and boo on the nine county councilmembers who voted for it, including District 6 Councilor Joan Cleary, who represents Clairton, Jefferson Hills, Pleasant Hills and neigborhing areas in southern Allegheny County; and District 8 Councilor Dr. Chuck Martoni, who represents Swissvale, Braddock, North Versailles Township and other communities in eastern Allegheny County.
Mr. Onorato, Ms. Cleary and Dr. Martoni: The taxpayers of Allegheny County own these public records. We ought to be able to search them as conveniently as possible. Shame on you for restricting them.
. . .
The mother of me has adopted a dog. Apparently raising my brother and I wasn't enough aggravation.
"She's from the Pet Adoption League in Yukon," mom told me the other night over the phone.
"You mean you got a sled dog?" I asked.
"Ha, ha," she said. "From Yukon out in Westmoreland County. Her name is Journey."
"Don't stop believin'," I said.
"Are you done now?" she said.
"I guess."
"She's about six months old," mom said. "They found her out along the side of the road when she was a puppy. No one ever owned her, so she's never been out of the kennel. She's not even housebroken yet."
"How do you know if she needs to go outside?" I asked.
"I ask her, 'You need to go potty? Do you? Do you need to go potty?'"
"Does she understand English?"
"Well, no," mom said.
"Then why are you talking to her in baby talk?" I asked. (Mom never even talked to us in baby talk.)
There was a long pause on the other end. "When she starts to walk around, looking at the floor, then I know she needs to go out. She'll learn."
"Is that how you trained me?"
"No, but you were no picnic, either," she said. "Can you do me a favor? Can you come over tomorrow night and feed her and let her out?"
"You know, young lady, taking care of a dog is a big responsibility," I said in my best Mike Brady voice. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"
"I know, but I have to work late, and it's her first time alone," she said.
"Take her to work with you. Tell your boss you've gone blind."
"I don't think that's a good idea. Journey will be in the kitchen. Her food will be in a dish in the fridge."
On the way to mom's house, I stopped at my supermarket (the House of Rancid Lunchmeat) and bought a box of cookies, a box of dog biscuits, and a pint of milk.
The cashier gave me a funny look. "I'm hungry, but I can't decide what I want," I told her.
Later that night, I called mom at work. "You have a very smart doggie," I said.
"Isn't she smart?" she gushed, just like a proud mom.
"She sure is," I said. "She figured out how to get out of the kitchen in no time flat."
"Oh, no," she said.
"Oh, yes," I said, "and she knows how to chew up the bills, and knock over the chairs, and do you remember the Venetian blinds in your living room?"
"Oh, no," she said.
Guess who now has a crate to stay in when she's home by herself? (Hint: Not mom.)
By the way, feeding and walkies went well, for both me and Journey, though at some point on our little jaunt through Dead Man's Hollow it dawned on me that (like mom) I was talking to her in baby talk.
It's like having the little sister I always wanted. Except I won't have to beat up any of her boyfriends when she gets older. She's been spayed.
Good thing, too, because I was lousy in schoolyard fights, even when the other guy wasn't biting.
. . .
P.S.: And "arf" goes Sandy. (Sometimes they said, "And 'arf' says Sandy," according to Wikipedia.) Come to think of it, Journey looks a little like Sandy, too.
I could write about some of the faces in the news.
For instance, I could write about my disappointment in Bob Macey, the Mon-Yough area's newly re-elected county councilman, for supporting the wrong-headed effort to restrict public access to real-estate tax records.
I could write about state House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, D-Pomposity, and his truly brazen brand of thievery.
I could even write about John Kerry, who's got a headstart on the award for "Jackass of the Decade" for deciding --- three years after losing the presidential election --- to respond to the attacks on his military record. Hey, Sen. Kerry --- 2004 called. They say you're up three points in the polls.
I could write about those things, but the Steelers, Penn State and Pitt all lost --- not to mention the Tigers --- and while the Tartans won a bowl game and Serra is on its way to Heinz Field this Friday for the WPIAL Championship, I'm not in the mood to write about politicians, and you're not in the mood to read about them.
Maybe I'll sharpen my leaden wit tonight and spout off on Macey tomorrow.
Until then, here's some alleged humor from my radio show.
This is definitely not a meal from the Red Bull Inn at the McKeesport Sheraton:
KHB Homemaker Show: Deep-Fried Turkey for Thanksgiving (3.5 MB MP3)
. . .
In Other Business: I was headed up Versailles Avenue yesterday afternoon and had to detour because of a ferocious fire on O'Neil Boulevard behind the "Voke." That big white house with the pillared portico caught fire, apparently due to an electrical problem. The Watchdesk has photos. (I hope this link works.)
By the way, did you know that little sliver of land is technically in White Oak? It's a landlocked portion of old Versailles Township that was never annexed by the city. Luckily, no one was home, and city and White Oak firefighters rescued a family dog, according to the Trib.
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