Welcome to Steelers Takeaways!

First off, what’s the plan after the Post-Gazette layoff –  I’m sorry to see that happen. 

The new ownership said they’d keep going with the strengths of the paper and I guess they felt I wasn’t one of them. I had a nice, long career here – it was longer than I expected. I’m just concerned about the younger people there – their need to figure out what’s next. I think many will probably have to relocate.

It leaves a big gap in the city’s music coverage for sure…

I didn’t have the sponsorships for the music section that the other sections had – I didn’t have LiveNation sponsoring my section – which is probably a good thing now!

Continue reading “Exclusive with Pittsburgh Music Beat Writer Scott Mervis”

First off, what are you up to now – what have you been working on?

I’m doing Fallout season three now. And I’m working on making movies, doing standup and working on a lot of things. The Fallout talk show did well too. Just living life in LA!

How did acting start for you?

I did some plays in middle school – Carson – North Allegheny. I was always trying to be funny in school. I was obsessed with hockey too – I played from Pee Wee and Bantam through high school. But then I got into plays in high school and got good roles. That encouraged me.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Pittsburgh Actor Jon Daly”

First off, how did you get started with this new role?

I spent the last 24 years in public education – 22 years as an Athletic Director in McKeesport. I was born there and played three sports there. I was tasked to find teams who want to use this new space. Central Catholic will play here. I’ve managed countless high school games and sat on the WPIAL Steering Committee – so I know a lot of people in the area. It’s really doing the same stuff I’ve been doing just with another role, working for Sports Facilities Companies as the company that manages and operates the facility. Community outreach, youth football….I’ll be managing those things.

There are a variety of places that I anticipate will utilize the facility once it starts up in August.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Charley Kiss, General Manager of The Field at Hazelwood Green”

First off, any projects you’re working on now?

At the moment I’m working on a Godzilla project – Godzilla Monsterpiece Theater. I did a book two years ago – Godzilla Versus the Great Gatsby which was successful. Now there’s a whole series of literary Godzilla mashups. Godzilla Versus Robin Hood .. . IDW has been doing 10-15 years of Godzilla stories.

How did you get your start in comics – how did The Myth of 8-Opus start?

I went to college at Pitt to study all kinds of art – sculpture, painting, film-making and comics. When I was there I did an anthology with a few guys my age called Codex Pop – we each did a bit and I did a Jack Kirby-esque style science-fiction story.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Pittsburgh Comic Book Creator Tom Scioli”

First – what are you up to now?

I’m retired now. When Covid hit I was a scout for the Rangers at the time. After that, I was getting tired of traveling anyway – it was getting to me. So when Covid came down I decided that after 49 years it was enough.

Now we travel out West and back to the East coast – we move around and keep active. I was the Grand Marshall for the Canonsburg parade here last year – I didn’t realize it was the one of the biggest parades in the country!

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Penguins Right Winger/Coach and Phantoms Coach Rick Kehoe”

First, why hockey? Why did that become your first love?

It inexplicably started as a kid – seemingly centuries ago. Baseball and football were the big sports in Western PA at the time but for whatever reason, even before Pittsburgh had an NHL team, I gravitated towards hockey. We had an AHL team at the time – the Hornets – and I followed them. I can’t tell you what attracted me to the sport. But the attraction arrived early and stayed strong – and is still strong.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Author Dave Molinari on New Book: The Pittsburgh Penguins: An Illustrated Timeline”