The Blurgh

When Andi called me the second I turned off my work computer and gathered my November-cold clothing (scarf, but a light one; coat, but not a parka), I was ready for whatever she was going to throw my way.

“You wanna go to Murphy’s? 9 o’clock?”

You better believe I wanted to go to Murphy’s at 9 o’clock. Murphy’s is this ridiculously odd little bar nestled between a furniture store and an art gallery on Federal Street on the North Side. It is unabashedly dedicated to all things 90s, which I find pretty hilarious. My mom grew up in the 90s and a few months ago, during one of her visits, I brought her there. The bar’s named for the guy who was mayor of Pittsburgh during most of the decade - some people like that, some people hate it, but the owners don’t really care. They just want you to have a good time. There are posters of bands ranging from Nirvana to the Spice Girls on the walls, the servers dress in their preferred 90s fashions (some people choose to invoke Cher from Clueless, others prefer the grunge look), and, best of all, they have only-90s karaoke on Monday nights.

I asked Frank if he wanted to come along, and he couldn’t resist. One of his fondest memories is of his mom and dad singing Salt N Pepa’s “Let’s Talk About Sex” at a neighborhood barbecue to the general mortification of Frank and his siblings, so he always sings that song at 90s karaoke. My signature song is Hanson’s “MMMBop,” in honor of my mother who had the biggest crush ever on Taylor Hanson back in the day. Andi’s parents had a thing for Oasis, so she always sings “Champagne Supernova.” And any songs that we don’t cover are sure to be done by the other people.

Anyway, it was just what I needed after a long day at work. I love going to these little bars in Pittsburgh, especially the ones that really fit in with their neighborhoods. The North Side is such a weird, funky place that it makes sense it would have a kitschy bar that you can goof off at next to a hoity-toity art gallery and a family-run furniture store. I freaking love it.

This afternoon was one of the best times I’ve had in my life. Normally, at the Pittsburgh Women’s Foundation, I work with girls who enjoy creative writing, but occasionally I’ll pitch in with the girls on sports teams as well. (I was pretty good at volleyball and soccer back in my day, though the girls who come to PWF for sports could have wiped the floor with my fifth grade self.) Anyway, this afternoon I, along with two of my colleagues, got to take 10 of the PWF girls to the North Side to meet the two new female coaches for the Steelers.

We all rode the blue line together to the North Side. Once we got off the subway, we walked the few blocks to Heinz Field. It was kind of slow going, because Samara’s still on crutches, but we arrived just in time to be greeted by some very chipper Steelers representatives, who escorted us up to one of the luxury boxes. The girls were enthralled with the box and took turns sitting on every piece of furniture in it. Then they started pretending that half of them were hot shot sports agents and the other half were star athletes being courted by the Steelers, so there was a lot of silly exchanges about trillion dollar offers and all the Faygo pop endorsements you could dream of.

A few minutes later, the two coaches entered the box and a hush fell over the girls. The special teams coach, Maddie Byers, spoke first about her experiences playing high school football in rural Texas and the prejudice she encountered in the community as a black girl who wanted to play football with the guys. She ended up breaking her school’s record for longest punt return during her sophomore year, and everyone in her town stopped complaining about her and started celebrating her. In college, she excelled once again on her school’s football team, but during her senior year she decided that what she really wanted to do was coach, so she started out as a coach for her own college’s team and worked her way up from there to her present position with the Steelers.

Next we heard from Elizabeth McGraw, the defensive backs coach. She is one tough woman. Like Maddie, she was a star athlete during her high school years, although Elizabeth was a kicker who comes from northern Ohio. She received an athletic scholarship to college and played on her school’s team until halfway through her junior year, when she was injured. She didn’t want to lose her scholarship, so her school offered her the opportunity to begin working with the team as a coach. She learned more about the defensive side of things in football and became really interested in it. After college, she coached a women’s football team in Ohio and then came to Pennsylvania to coach for the Pittsburgh Passion. A few years later, the Rooneys approached her about the defensive backs coaching position and she accepted it.

After the women spoke, lunch was served and the girls peppered the coaches with tons of questions. They were so excited to be sitting with women who were living out their dreams of one day making a living in the world of professional sports. The coaches were very gracious and patient with the girls. After lunch, we all trooped down to the field, where the coaches helped the girls with their techniques. We left to go back to the PWF around 4 and made our way to the subway, the girls chattering the whole way about what teams they want to coach for when they grow up.

The North Street corridor is a very happening spot if you’ve never checked it out. Yesterday there was a local film festival held at a place which just reopened called “The Garden.” My dad told me that back in the day it was a porno theatre, which struck me as hilarious, because now it’s a high-brow artsy theatre/gallery type of place. The inside was spectacular, and the films were awesome. Being that I’m a history dork, my favorite one was on all the craziness that was going on after the turn of the millennium, from the Y2K bug to 9/11 to Iraq to global warming finally getting the attention it deserved. That was one crazy-ass decade, and I have to say that I’m not too disappointed that I can’t remember any of it!

After that we went into the park across the street to see the street performers. There was one of those people who paints themselves in metallic paint and acted like a statue, there was a juggler, and there was a really impressive dance group from whereabouts unknown. We could have stayed longer and went to one of the clubs to catch a band, but we decided to skip out early and head home.

On another note, stuff at the Castle has been pretty good, and I finally convinced my manager to put on a Rocky Horror showing on Halloween. I totally promised him that there would be people dressed up and wild for it, which may be a hollow promise because I know absolutely no one at this point who would actually do it. If you have any suggestions, drop me an email!