As you probably know, I went to high school in a suburban Atlanta county in the 1980s. I was one of the “freaks”: the punk rockers, the goths, the skaters and other assorted misfits. Each high school in the county had between 10 to 100 of us “freaks”, and we all kept in close contact with each other. Sometimes we’d hang out at the food court at the local mall, smoking cigarettes and snarling at the moms pushing their babies in strollers. But early on our favorite hang out was the Midnight Movies… and specifically, the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Most “freaks” put their egos aside at the Midnights. It was liberating to be surrounded by our “own kind” and free from the “jockocracy” that all of us dealt with each school day. Rocky Horror was filled with all of the freaks from each high school in the county, and the rednecks watching The Wall or Heavy Metal didn’t dare mess with a theatre full of weirdos in bondage gear and liberty spikes.
But even if most people kept their egos in check, that doesn’t mean that there wasn’t a pecking order at the Midnights. People that just showed up were cool. People that brought props with them were even cooler. And the people that dressed up and played the roles in Rocky Horror each week were superstars; they were our heroes for 2 hours each week during the film.
Sadly, I found out last night that one of the Rocky Horror superstars from my youth is in prison for murder. I don’t have any details about it yet, so I don’t know if it was a crime of passion, a fistfight gone too far, road rage, ‘roid rage, a horrible miscarriage of justice, or if he’s just plain crazy.
It’s just so…. weird. I know a murderer! Granted, I haven’t seen the guy since 1986, and even back in the day we only hung out at the Midnights or the “after-parties” at Dunkin’ Donuts or IHOP. As best I recall, we might have gone to the mall together once, and that was more of a “one guy with a car picks up a bunch of friends without cars” thing than an actual “planned outing” or anything like that. But still… It almost gives me the willies. I know a murderer!
Yikes!
The Pittsburgh Steelers, on the other hand, seemed to be firing on all cylinders. The offense is still anemic in the first quarter, but thankfully Pittsburgh’s D is good enough to not make this an issue so far. In fact, I’m really liking the Steelers’ schedule so far this year. The first four games are against weak teams, and maybe this will give Big Ben a confidence boost. He’s actually looked pretty good so far this year: while he hasn’t been the huge playmaker he was in his first two seasons, he’s also not making stupid mistakes like he did last year. Something one of the game commentators said yesterday that I hadn’t thought about: Ben admitted recently that he spent almost all of his pre-season time last year getting into shape. He had almost no classroom time before the start of last season. Physical issues aside, this explains a lot about his performance last season, and the extra hours he’s spent studying this year seem to be bearing fruit. Also, it was good to see touchdowns from all Steeler teams yesterday. The 49ers enjoyed their 3-0 lead for about 14 seconds yesterday, as former Atlanta Falcon Allen Rossum returned SF’s ensuing kickoff 90+ yards for a touchdown. And late in the game Bryant McFadden picked off a SF pass and returned it for a TD that made the score 30-9. The Steelers almost kept their opponent in the single digits for the third game in a row… except for a SF TD with 2:22 left in the game, deep into “garbage time”. All in all, a *great* performance from the Steelers; I look forward to next week’s game against Arizona and their new head coach – former Steelers OC Ken Whisenhunt.
On a happier note, the Steelers walked all over the Bills 26-3 this past Sunday. Part of what made this post so late in coming was that I wanted to watch the game in full before reporting on it (and it was a slooooow download). And all I can say is… wow! It’s true that the Steelers didn’t put it in the endzone until the second half, kicking four field goals in the first half for a 12-0 lead – but in this case, the score doesn’t tell you how close the game wasn’t. The Steelers controlled the game in all aspects, relying on the running game to dominate time-of-possession. Although Big Ben still looks a bit rusty in the passing game, it’s good to see him not making stupid mistakes by trying to force things that aren’t there. The O-line looked really good (yaaaaa!) and the defense was brutal as usual. The Steelers outrushed the Bills 239-50 in the first half alone… and that’s as much to do with how good the Steelers looked versus how crappy Buffalo might have played. All in all, it was a great game! It’s far too early to crow about getting into the playoffs, but if the Steelers can get it together as a team in the easier first half of the schedule… other teams should look out for them in the second half! Lastly, I’m probably alone here… but I actually liked the Steelers throwback uniforms! They’re not “genuine” throwback uniforms, they’re actually a hodgepodge: jerseys based on the 1940s design, the 1962s helmets with the 1963+ stickers, etc. But since the Steelers have used their current uniforms for 40 years, it’s hard to do a true “throwback” uniform that will comply with current safety specifications.
