Kaye Cowher Dies of Skin Cancer

photo by Matt Freed, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

photo by Matt Freed, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Kaye Young Cowher, wife of former Pittsburgh Steelers coach and CBS football analyst Bill Cowher, passed away after a battle with melanoma in North Carolina on July 23.

She was an accomplished athlete in her own right, playing basketball on a full scholarship along with her identical twin sister Faye at NC State, and later in the Women’s Professional Basketball league for three seasons. (Yes, the twins did commercials, including Doublemint gum and Dannon yogurt.) She was also a tireless advocate and fundraiser for Family Resources Inc., a Pittsburgh-based child abuse prevention and treatment agency.

Kaye Cowher was not always visible in Pittsburgh. She stayed out of the limelight, raising her three daughters in as normal and private a home as possible. She was so private that her illness was not common knowledge, and her passing came as a shock. Bill Cowher’s resistance to coaching offers makes a bit more sense now.

Here is his statement:

Sadly, my wife Kaye lost her battle with cancer on Friday. Kaye was such a loving and compassionate person and she was the foundation of our family. Kaye was always at my side throughout my career as a player, coach, NFL analyst and, most importantly, as a parent to our three daughters Meagan, Lauren and Lindsay. They will miss their mother dearly.

Our condolences to the Cowher family.

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Dream On: Book Review Edition

Paula Creamer

photo by John Mummert/USGA

The 2010 US Women’s Open Championship was contested this past weekend at Oakmont Country Club, near Pittsburgh, PA. Site of the 2007 men’s open and host of more USGA and PGA championships than any other in the US, the course is an absolute beast. No poor shot goes unpunished and the greens are more like glass than grass. Around a 15 on the stimpmeter, for those of you scoring at home.

Angel Cabrera won the men’s open with a score of 5 over par three years ago. One caddie predicted one of the women would shoot 100. It isn’t surprising then to find only one golfer, winner Paula Creamer, ended up under par for 72 holes. She is the only golfer to muster three sub-par rounds. Only one other golfer, Brittany Lang, managed two sub-par rounds. I witnessed one player on Sunday throw her putter after finishing the 9th hole, complete with a few words not exactly suitable for a family sport. Like I said, a beast.church pew bunker at Oakmont #15

But maybe your dream isn’t to win a major. Maybe it’s just to shoot a round at par, probably on a course a bit more suitable to mortals than Oakmont. Maybe you decide to devote a year to this task and write a book about it.

That is exactly what John Richardson of Ireland set out to do. Then end result is Dream On:  One Hack Golfer’s Challenge to Break Par in a Year.

He’s a regular guy, with a wife, a daughter, and a full-time job that has nothing to do with golf. He also writes like a regular guy, with a conversational style that’s not unlike a lot of bloggers. The book is very approachable, thought it would have benefitted from a bit more editing. (I thought I would scream if I saw the phrase “hard graft” one more time.) It chronicles the entire year of ups and downs for the 24-handicapper who is striving to just once shoot par.

Richardson feels guilty, so very guilty, about the time spent on the golf course instead of at home with his family. This particular horse is beaten up a bit for my taste, but he’s incredibly sincere at the same time. Not for a moment did I doubt him, though I did find myself wishing for running commentary or at least an epilogue by his wife. I could imagine an audio book with little parenthetical comments from her, or perhaps little mutterings under the breath.

dream_onThe geek in me loved how he was sucked in by every book, video, and gadget he found (and bought, many on eBay or late night tv), searching for another saved stroke. Then I discovered he’s selling what he learned for a mere $19 a month. He will even send you a crisp 10 pound note if you don’t shave 33 strokes off your golf game too.

But none of that takes away from the book. It’s a fun, easy summer read, and certainly inspirational. Dream on, indeed. And come play Oakmont, Mr. Richardson. I’ll hook you up.

[The publisher graciously provided this book to me. The words are my own and I received no other compensation besides the book.]

ClumberKim has been obsessed with golf for more than 25 years. Someday she might even swing a club.

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Pirates Can’t Even Fire a Pierogi Properly

Pierogi RacingIsn’t the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results?

A few days ago Pittsburgh Pirates management announced they had extended the contracts of Manager John Russell and General Manager Neal Huntington in October of 2009. Despite throwing a press conference last time around, everyone involved was sworn to secrecy. No one really knows why this happened and fans are understandably frustrated.

Frustrated fans are typically not quiet ones. Case in point, Andrew Kurtz. He’s a serious fan. So much so that he dresses up in a pierogi suit and runs around PNC Park in The Great Pittsburgh Pierogi Race N’At. Like many people, he also has a Facebook page where he happened to post a pretty mild statement about this latest insanity from his beloved Pirates’ management.

Then he was dooced.

And the story made the front page of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Today the Pirates announced the re-hiring of Kurtz, claiming it wasn’t done according to proper procedures. Surely it had nothing to do with the wave of bad publicity, or the revelation that the Pierogi races are rigged scripted.

Photo

ClumberKim is raising two little Yinzers in the City of Champions (and the Pirates).

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Wimbledon? Or Is It A Marathon?

As I type this, a first round match at Wimbledon between Nicolas Mahut of France and John Isner of the United States  just hit the nine and a half hours mark, tied at 54 games all in the fifth set. The match began yesterday but was postponed due to darkness after 4 sets. Isner leads in winners, 318 to 299. For comparison, Andy Roddick won his last match with 82 winners.

Match stats do not include how many bathroom breaks have been taken.

John Isner in less exhausted times.

John Isner in less exhausted times.

The New York Times is live-blogging the match at the aptly named Straight Sets blog and the Guardian has it blogged on local time.

[Update:  Play was suspended on day two with the 5th set score tied at 59 games all. The match will resume not before 15:30 local time tomorrow.]

[Photo]

ClumberKim enjoyed a successful high school tennis career, thanks entirely to a doubles partner with a killer serve.

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Out With the Old: The Igloo Edition

Mellon Arena, formerly known as Civic Auditorium and Civic Arena, will close at the conclusion of the Pittsburgh Penguin’s season. When the Penguins win Lord Stanley’s Cup (or, shudder to think, get eliminated), it’s lights out for the arena. The trouble is no one knows when that is going to happen. Could be tonight, if the Penguins lose to the Canadiens. Or not.

The place has had a few names. Originally built for Civic Light Opera, it was Civic Auditorium, later Civic Arena. Following the trend of so many sports venues, it was renamed Mellon Arena in 1999.

Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh

Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh

The arena has a ridiculously cool address (66 Mario Lemieux Place) but it is also one of the smallest and oldest arenas in the NHL. I know that last part because getting tickets to a Pens game is either impossible or prohibitively expensive. Barring a miracle, my son will never see the Penguins play there. His only memory of the place will be Disney on Ice’s Finding Nemo. This pains me.

Perhaps the thing the Igloo is best known for is the stainless steel retractable roof, the first in a major sports arena. The last time the roof opened, and the first time it opened for hockey, was in 1994. It wasn’t a Penguins game, though. It was the Phantoms, a now-defunct roller hockey team. The roof construction also enables the interior to be free of support beams, so there are no obstructed views. There is a facebook group hoping to convince the Penguins to open the roof during the playoffs but I wouldn’t bet on it. The scoreboard would have to be removed.

The Igloo

The Igloo

I’m not a native of Pittsburgh so I don’t have all the childhood memories held by Yinzers. So I did what any good fan of social media would do. I asked Twitter what would be missed most about our Igloo.

From AccessClosing:

The best thing about the Civic/Mellon Arena was Mario on skates. I’ve already been missing that for a while.

From ChachiSays:

The shape. Ya know, the way you can easily pick it out in the skyline on a clear night sky.

And finally, from Andrea Shockling:

I’m going to miss the chance to take Avi to events in the same place I grew up going to Pens games, Sesame Street Live and concerts. I’m really looking forward to the new arena, but there’s something awesome about taking your own child to a venue you experienced as a kid. He’ll never really get the chance to stare up at the roof, thinking and wishing and hoping that maybe THIS time it’ll open! Like I did, everytime I was there as a child.

The first event at the Igloo was Ice Capades. The first event at Consol Energy Center will be Lady Gaga. Draw your own conclusions.

[Photo: Top - courtesy of Talke Photography under Creative Commons; bottom, courtesy Getty images]

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