The Roaming Penguins Plan

I want to start with some great news: as of this morning, good Friend of The Show and penguin mama Stephanie S. has reported that sales of the Roaming Penguins have netted $165 (actual cash in hand) for the Mario Lemieux Foundation! There are still more orders, so that number will go up. We'll keep you posted!


So, I left you on Friday with a teaser about big news regarding the Roaming Penguins. I had another unexpectedly busy weekend, so I apologize for not getting to post about it as promised. I was offered a free ticket to the Penn State v Oregon State football game on Saturday. I pass Beaver Stadium on my way to work every day, but in all the years I've lived in this area, I had never been to a PSU game. Let me tell you it was a lot of fun. Despite a recent blow to PSU's defense because of multiple suspensions, Penn State dominated with a 45-14 win. Here's a shot I took of #22 Evan Royster's 28-yard touchdown at the beginning of the second quarter:

What a play! If you don't know much about football, that guy is turning out to be a big deal. In the 2 games played so far this season, he has had 3 TDs in each.

Enough about football! ;) At last, here is the announcement I had planned to make this weekend. Another good Friend of The Show, Daily Su, came up with a simply fantastic idea to create story books using our Roaming Penguins' travels for children in the hospital. After some discussion, here's how we decided we're going to do it: You'll keep taking pictures and sending them in, I'll keep posting them with stories and maps, and Su will copy the pictures and the stories, organize them, and have them printed.


If she can get a lot of books printed, we thought the books would probably have the greatest impact at the Pittsburgh Children's Hospital. We figured since the Penguins themselves do a lot of charity work there (as shown in the majority of today's photos, which came from a visit the Pens made on 01-16-08), the kids would already know and love the Pens. The kids would get to keep the books and take them home when they get better. Also, if we have extras, we MAY sell them to any Friends who'd like a copy - but we won't know if that will happen until we find out how many copies Su is going to be able to get. (Proceeds of any sales would go to the Mario Lemieux Foundation.)


But in the event she can only get a few printed, we are going to send them to the MLF so they can put them in all the "Austin's Playrooms" where the books would stay. (If you aren't already aware, "Austin's Playroom" is a sort of daycare that hospitals have for the older siblings of sick children and premature babies. When Mario's son Austin was born prematurely, Mario's wife Nathalie had to take their daughters to the hospital a few times because she didn't have a babysitter, but they were too young to be allowed in the NICU, and there wasn't really anywhere for the girls to go while their mom tended to their sick infant brother. That experience inspired the Mario and Nathalie to use some of the money raised by the MLF to fund the construction of these playrooms.)

Mario Lemieux, Nathalie Lemieux, Mr. McFeely from "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," and Children's Home CEO Pam Schanwald cut the ribbon for a new Austin's Playroom on March 15, 2007.

Now your job is to get your Roaming Penguins out there and visiting some unique places. We decided that we'll be accepting pictures until November. I'll post a more concrete deadline as soon as we figure one out. (*** See the Late Edit section below for new due date details. ***) Since the season will be underway, someone out there HAS to get some Roaming Penguins pictures at the Mellon. How awesome would it be to have a shot of Sidney Penguin watching Sidney Crosby on the ice??? Of course, we'd love to see S.P. watching S.C. in other arenas, too (hint, hint!).


Also consider taking the little guy to local landmarks, museums, or parks. Pack him up and take with you on vacation or on business trips. Take lots of pictures and send them in - the more pictures we have, the bigger the book will be. :) Don't worry if you've already sent in some pictures; we'll take as many as you want to send. If you don't yet have a Roaming Penguin, get all the ordering details here. It seems pretty likely that Sidney Penguin's story will be the longest story, but so far we've also got Brooks Penguin, Petr Penguin, and Marc-Andre Penguin making appearances, so feel free to get any Penguin you'd like.


DISCLAIMER - now that you know about our intentions to use your pictures in our book, all Roaming Penguin emails received from this point on will come with the assumption of permission to use your images and/or names. (Your names will appear in the book as they do on The Show, so if you use a screen name, that's what will be in the book. Otherwise it will be your first name and last initial.) For those of you who have already sent a Roaming Penguin story and do not want your photos used, please send me an email to let me know and Su and I will gladly comply.


Hopefully you all are as excited about this new project as we are. And don't forget about our wallpaper project! FYI: I got a couple of requests for the name of font that I used to create TSCS's logo so it can be added to wallpapers. It is called Harting, and it is available for free at Dafont.com. (Don't fret if you've never installed a font on your computer, Dafont provides easy to follow installation instructions for both Windows and Mac OS.)


Stick with TSCS - these last lingering weeks until the season starts can't get boring if we're too busy creating wallpapers and taking pictures in random places! ;)

Now it's time for TSCS's Quote of The Day:

"How many more points would he have had if he stayed reasonably healthy? Four hundred? Five hundred? Six hundred? We'll never know. No disrespect to Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Mark Messier, Bobby Orr, Gilbert Perreault ... but Mario did things nobody else could ever do."

~ Bluejackets' forward and Pittsburgh native R.J. Umberger

LATE EDIT: Based on your feedback in the comments below and several emails, the due date has been pushed back to Friday, January 02, 2009. This will allow plenty of time for Stephanie to make and ship these little guys to everyone who wants to be a part of the book without putting too much stress and pressure on her to get them done in a rush. Plus, I figured it would increase the chances that we'll get a shot of Sidney Penguin hanging out with Sidney Crosby... ;)

Sid On ESPN!

In a span of no more than 2 hours, I received four emails containing a link to this story. It's an ESPN feature on the Saint. (I know! ESPN covering hockey?! The sky isn't falling, I assure you.) It features a video of Sid and his teammates during their recent trip to the Pittsburgh Children's Hospital. What strikes me most about the clip is that it seems like Sidney is getting just as much, if not more joy from the visit as the sick children are.

It is astonishing to me that this kid is a multimillionaire, award winning, 20-year-old phenomenon, and yet he remains so grounded and so humble. It would be incredibly easy for anyone in his shoes to begin to buy into all the hype: Sidney Crosby is the face of the NHL! Crosby is "The Next One!" Sid the Kid is the best player in the world! That kind of talk could start to mess with someone's head. But somehow through it all, Sid understands that it is just that - talk. On that video, it is apparent that he is wise and mature beyond his years. He must have incredible parents. (You'll need to go to ESPN's website to view the clip; they don't allow embedding.)

Sid with a kid!

The story that accompanies the video covers all the things about Sid that you could possibly ever want to know. Seriously. EVERYTHING. It covers everything from the whereabouts of his pet (a dog named Sam who lives with his parents) to how he doesn't have time right now for dating (sorry, ladies, you're going to have to wait a while longer) and everything in between. There's entirely too much stuff in that article to discuss in one post here, but I do want to point out one anecdote in particular which involves his on-the-road roommate, Colby Armstrong:

"I'm going to throw him under the bus on that one. He loves Ellen DeGeneres," Crosby says. Right before a pregame nap? "No, it's right after. It's hilarious. To a T, we wake up from our nap and that show's coming on and she's dancing."

When Armstrong finds out Crosby has spilled the beans, Armstrong drags a reporter over to Crosby and announces loudly that he wants to do the interview over, that he's going to reveal Sid's affection for Chandler on "Friends." Crosby interrupts, revealing that not only does Armstrong love "Ellen" but he also likes to dance along to her show opening. The two players are in stitches.

[...]

Armstrong, not surprisingly, makes sure Crosby doesn't get any special treatment among the team. "Every little thing, I'm all over him about it. It's my only chance," Armstrong says. And Crosby gives as good as he gets.

For every comment Armstrong makes about the size of Crosby's butt ("It's kind of big"), Crosby will chide his friend about the way he eats and the noises he makes when he sleeps. "He rips me about the way I sleep because I'm a mouth breather," Armstrong says. "He rips me to my face in front of the whole team. Can you believe that?"

One question: Why is Army checking out Sid's ass?! And baby clothes in the locker?! Too funny! Big, big thanks to Friends of The Show Cassie C., Adrienne F., Alex M., and Ava H. who (in that order) each sent me the link to this story. :)

I'll leave you with one last laugh. Pensblog Adam sent me a link to this photo of Sidney immediately after he sustained his high ankle sprain. (And just so we're crystal clear here - the photo is NOT the funny part.) The funny part was the headline that accompanied it:

NHL Out Three To Five Weeks With Sprained Right Poster Boy

HA! What else would you expect from TheOnion.com?

I Need Your Help

Did you attend the recent Pens game in Atlanta? If you did, I need a HUGE favor from you: We got a request from a new Friend of The Show, a woman named Gina. She is the mother of two of the young hockey players that were featured with their Penguins counterparts just before the start of the game. She would like to know if any of you out there got a good photo of either of her girls:

This is a long shot... I'm the mom of the little girl who was paired with Sidney Crosby at the opening of the Jan. 12 game with the Thrashers. I wasn't able to get a good picture of them together. Any chance anyone has one they could email? We also have another daughter paired with [Colby] Armstrong at the Nat'l Anthem - any good photos of those two would also be much appreciated! The girls had the time of their life!
Thanks, Gina

If anyone can help her out with pictures of her daughters, you can e-mail them to her by clicking this link: E-mail Gina (Don't forget to let us know how you make out, Gina!)

If you've been a Penguins fan for even just a month, you know the Pens love to give back to the Pittsburgh community, especially the children. Yesterday, the team paid another visit to the Pittsburgh Children's Hospital. Friend of The Show Frank D. of PensBurgh.com shares the story with us:

Sid tries to play pool while Kris Letang plays with K'Nex.

Following the 4-1 win over the Rangers on Monday, the Pens were set to have the next three days off until the Lightning come to town on Friday. Perhaps Tuesday was a time for them to rest and relax, but Wednesday was not.

The Penguins visited Pittsburgh's Children's Hospital on Wednesday to sign autographs, hand out blankets and cheer up the sick patients at the hospital. Class act.

The Saint's Tiniest Fan

Class act, indeed! Make sure you check out Frank's site. He's got all the details, quotes from the players about Wednesday's visit, and a picture of Mad Max Talbot taking on the kids in a game of "Don't Wake Daddy." Also, Frank graciously provided today's photos of Sid (which he got from the Pens' official website - click the link to see all the pictures from yesterday's visit, including several more of Sir Sidney).

THERE'S A GAME TOMORROW!!! (Does anyone else feel like it's been months since the last one?!) We're going to have to deal with round 2 of "Who's better: Crosby or Lecavalier?!" tomorrow when the Tampa Bay Lightning come to Pittsburgh. GO PENS!!!