I’m off on my travels again and heading off to Pittsburgh once more, this time for Thanksgiving. This will be my first Thanksgiving in the USA and I’m really looking forward to the trip. This will be my third time in Pittsburgh this year and with the strong Euro and weak dollar it will be a perfect time to get the christmas present shopping done.
I’ll also be heading to my first American Football game on the 28th to watch the Steelers play the RedSkins at Heinz Field. I’ve been following the Steelers all season and at the moment they are doing great, winning 8 out of their 9 games so far and breaking a few winning streaks for the other teams. I’m looking forward to actually being at a game, now if only somebody could expalin the rules to us Europeans …
Another first on this trip will be the new border measures that were put into effect for visa waiver countries on the 1st Sept this year. With inkless finger printing and digital mugshots I suspect the processing time at the border is going to be much longer then usual. I’ve no problem with the new measures that are in place but I have heard of people complaining. If you have nothing to hide and it makes air travel safer then I’ll put up with the inconvienience.
So have a great Thanksgiving week ye’all
Dec's Dom Blog 
American football rules… Hmmm…. The game begins with an ancient ceremony known as “tail-gating”, during which time food and spirits are consumed in the parking lot of the stadium. If you master the rules of this part of the game, the rest won’t matter. Enjoy -rich
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There’s usually a playoff or the Super Bowl itself on the schedule the Sunday of Lotusphere – maybe some of us Yanks should drag you over to ESPN to watch and expound on all the crazy rules. They’ll be easier to understand after a few pints of the good stuff… Of course, I’ll trade you American football rules against cricket any time – now there’s a game I’ve never been able to figure out.
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Cricket.. You must be confusing me with somebody from England but that’s OK, all you Canadians make that mistake
We have our own sports over here that are more fun like Gaelic Football. It’s a cross between Rugby and American football, played with a round ball and no padding, mostly played outside Dublin it’s affectionitly known as Bog Ball. Then there is Hurling ( or Bog Stick Ball ). That’s played with a small ball about the size of a tennis ball except it’s rock hard, the ball is then hit with a hurling stick, check out this picture to see what’s its like… http://www.ballinhassiggaa.com/pages/photos/hurling%20pic%203.jpg
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Cricket’s easy, just read this:http://www.fortunecity.com/campus/books/845/cricrule.htm
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Well, I saw plenty of cricket on the Irish TV last time I was in Dublin, but I guess it must have been those poncey Brits instead? The television stations in England and Ireland don’t make much sense to us barbaric Yanks, I must admit. I also saw lots of hurling (“Up Clare!” – as my wife’s cousins from Mountshannon said instead of “Hello” – it was playoffs/tournament season apparently), football (your kind, not ours), and even some Gaelic football (which reminded me of Rugby until I saw the ball, but still looked like a good excuse for a legal mugging).PS We American liberals have decided not to move to Canada. Too much work to do at home… PPS Thanks, Colin, that makes it soooooo much more clear.
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Welcome back to the States! Enjoy the game. Just don’t go to any professional basketball games…wimpy versions of Gaelic football end up breaking out in the stands!
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Rich got it right- tailgating is all you need to worry about. In Green Bay, folks go tailgate and never even get in the game. They sit outside the stadium with TV’s plugged up.
Of course, you have to be on a waiting list for about 100 years to get season tickets there, so tailgating outside the stadium and watching on a little tv in the parking lot might be as close as many people get…
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