Adieu Lemieux

(Yes, this was an actual cover headline on a Pittsburgh paper this morning.) Lemieux is no dummy, either. On the week when everybody is so frenzied about football, Mario gives us something else to talk about, if only for a day. One of my Mother Goose moms today said to me, it’s so nice to have a place to go for an hour where no one is talking about football. Gee, that’s the nicest thing a patron has said to me all year! (I mean 2006.) I own no yellow clothing, and no black pants, but I have about a week and a half to plan my wardrobe for Superbowl Friday (although at our library, if you work in circulation, every Friday is Black & Gold day—I think you get points off your performance review if you don’t comply.)

From a commentary in today’s Post Gazette: “You'd have to go back almost 100 years to the Pirates' Honus Wagner to find an athlete who accomplished as much or who dominated his sport for so long while wearing a Pittsburgh uniform.” Bob Smizik

The guy is a national treasure, and an all around great guy. This is from an article about the Pens being Stillers fans and vice versa: “The Penguins are scheduled to travel to Ottawa the day of the Super Bowl but should be able to arrive well before the opening kickoff. Indeed, they bumped their flight to Philadelphia Sunday up an hour -- at the behest of owner Mario Lemeiux, who didn't even make the trip -- so that players, coaches and team staffers could get settled into their hotel before the AFC title game began.”

A lot of the articles are saying it’s a sad day for hockey, but I think it’s a day to celebrate the man who almost single-handedly saved the Pens franchise from bankruptcy, helped it win so many Stanley cups, and…I could gush all afternoon. I’m kind of sad to say that I’ve only ever seen him play once, and that was the game when he returned to the ice in 2000, sitting in a bar in Falls Church, Va. (While I love hockey, I have never had cable while in Pittsburgh or lived in a household that paid for the sports channels.) For more, go here: Post-Gazette.com.

In other news, a new book has hit the bookstore shelves: Punxsutawney Phyllis. It looks like a Groundhog day version of that feminist book on Easter, The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes.

I've started reading "Looking for Alaska" the Printz award book and it's good. Reader beware: it will very likely be banned for content found in the first 25 pages. Oh well, that's why we love YA Lit! C'mon, I've been reading Judy Blume since I was 9!

Oh, and Chad Lowe does a wonderful job on the audio version of Hoot. I definately recommend reading this (or listening to it) before the movie hits the theatres in the spring. Right now I'm listening to "Good to Great" and learning all about Level 5 leaders: Abraham Lincoln was the only president that was one.

It's almost the witching hour when the teens come traipsing up the hill to the library--time for me to powder my nose. Catch ya on the flip side, dudes and dudettes! (Oh, how corny can I be???)