humansofyinzburgh-blog

[humansofyinzburgh-blog]

I came across this today as next year’s Grammy nominees were announced last week.

I won’t spoil the best song ever for yinz, but it deserves to win (although the PNC sax guy is also a strong candidate)

~Nicco

[humansofyinzburgh-blog]

“I don’t think any food sums up the history of Pittsburgh more than the Primanti sandwich.  What started out as a portable, all-in-one-package meal designed to feed the hungry truckers and blue collar workers alike of the Strip District in the early 20th century has evolved into an emblem for the city.  If you really want to do it right, go to the original location and take in the old-timey, rustic neighborhood that surrounds the restaurant.  Doing that combined with ordering a Pittsburgher makes you feel like you’ve gone back in time and get a feel of the city’s humble beginnings of the modern era.  There’s simply nothing else like it.”

~Nicco Shorto

[humansofyinzburgh-blog]

“My favorite Pittsburgh memories almost always involve sports, but one of my favorites is now one of my favorites.  It was my first ever Penguins game back at the Igloo in 2009.  The Pens won that afternoon and as Marc-Andre Fleury went back onto the ice as the first star of the game, he came out wearing a Steelers helmet and waving a Terrible Towel as the Steelers were playing in the AFC Championship that night.  It’s always special to see how well all three pro sports teams in the city support each other.”

-Ben Mical

[humansofyinzburgh-blog]

“My favorite part of being a yinzer is the dedication we have to our sports teams. No other damn city would sit in the freezing cold with negative wind chill to watch their team take on their rivals.”

-Ashley Sosinski

[humansofyinzburgh-blog]

“I’ve been down this way my whole life, but for sure the coolest experience I have from our city is from the time I went down to the Pens Parade after they won the Stanley cup this year. It was a pretty awesome time and totally unique to see the way the whole city came together to celebrate.”

-Justine Bennett

[humansofyinzburgh-blog]

“My favorite memory from the Burgh is the time spent with my family in the Strip District. We always go to La Prima and get a coffee and an awesome pastry from the Collangelo’s next door. We do this every Sunday that we are home from school. Weather isn’t a factor and we love having that time together. We then take a stroll down the street and indulge in more carbs down at Mancini’s. I always get a mini twist and eat the small loaf of bread myself. If it is a special occasion we go inside Wholey’s fish market and get something tasty from there, too. Something so simply that we do will forever be some of my favorite memories.”

-Mariah Cichon

[humansofyinzburgh-blog]

“The many opportunities that Pittsburgh’s music scene gave me a few years back was definitely the highlight of all of my time spent here. Being able to perform alongside some of my favorite musicians was a dream come true, but even better was meeting all of the awesome people that would come out to the shows all the time. They’re the ones keeping it still going.”

-Spencer Patrick

[humansofyinzburgh-blog]

“The best memory I have of Pittsburgh was from my 16th birthday. Me and my friends went to Dave and Buster’s down in the Waterfront for the first time. There was this one game me and my friend Hunter were determined to beat. It was the giant claw machine. We spent hours playing that game and after it all, I finally won a duck. It was a floppy, poorly stuffed duck which I still have to this day.”

-Kristen Koontz

[humansofyinzburgh-blog]

“They say that when you play Pittsburgh, you play the whole stadium.  That was very much the case from this photo; these were just two of the 67,000- plus screaming Yinzers that helped push our Steelers to a last-minute victory over the hated Baltimore Ravens to clinch the AFC North title.  By the time this photo was taken, Ben (right) and I (left) had lost out voices, given ourselves major headaches, and were completely exhausted from putting blood, sweat, and tears into the atmosphere that helps give Heinz Field a distinct home-field advantage.

Speaking of atmosphere, it seems that a majority of the Steeler Nation seems to share the same traits: rants about the officiating (and justifiably so; that was the worst refereeing I have ever witnessed in my entire life), Todd Haley’s playcalling, Ju-Ju’s suspension, amongst other jargon.  To me, this made me feel right at home in the stadium as I felt like everyone else shared my emotions.  The atmosphere, to me, had an almost family-like feel to it; everyone was getting along no matter how loud some fans were (with an exception of a few Ravens fans that got kicked out a few sections over).  That to me is what makes this team and this city so special.

Oh, and on top of that, the Steelers claimed victory as the game clock ticked to 0:00 mere seconds before the clock struck midnight on my 22nd birthday.  That was a birthday that I will never forget thanks to the Steeler Nation.”

~Nicco

[humansofyinzburgh-blog]

Another found memory - unsurprisingly, its about the Pens.  This is from their cold, blustery, 4-2 victory over Philly in the 2017 Stadium Series game at Heinz Field.  Gotta love the design of the field surrounding the rink; a reminder that this we are the City of Bridges, and we’re damn proud of it.

~Nicco

[humansofyinzburgh-blog]

“This is what one Yinzer (yours truly) faithfully calls ‘The Happiest Place on Earth’: PPG Paints Arena (or Consol Energy Center, the building’s original name and the name at the time this photo was taken).

Why do I call it such? Well, this building – and my beloved Penguins – both hold a special place in my heart.  However, this photo in particular reflects one memory in that building that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

It was May 10, 2016. Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semis. Pens and Caps.  This series is treated unlike any other; the blood was always bad for these games. Me and three of my closest friends: Ben, Nolan, and Matt, were getting ready to leave Matt’s place in Oakdale to faithfully cheer on the Pens on the big screen outside the arena.  Suddenly, we found out that Mother Nature had other plans as a light rain descended from the evening sky.  Upon seeing this, Nolan and Matt thought that we should all just stay put instead of dealing with the wetness.  I was being quite stubborn, as for once I had a chance to finally experience the big screen for the first time, so I demanded that we still go; the other two resisted, while Ben reluctantly agreed to go with me to make me happy.  Little did we initially know that this would turn out to be one of the greatest nights of our young lives.

As we pulled into a free parking spot on a side street in the Hill District about a block from the arena, we both realized that the rain wasn’t going to let up.  I was still in my stubborn ways, preparing to brave the precipitation until Ben goes, ‘I have a crazy idea but it’s at least worth asking: Wanna see if there’s anything for sale on Ticket Master?’  I told him to go ahead and look it up, remembering that I still had some leftover Christmas money.  The cheapest pair he found was about $200 each (when your city has a sellout streak for hockey games for nearly a decade, you can’t expect tickets, especially re-sale, to be cheap).  We gave it a quick thought (It is also important to note that at the time, puck drop was in about 20 minutes).  We eventually caved in and promptly bought the pair of seats.

It was an intense game to say the least.  It was 3-3 going into overtime; I could feel the mutual state of butterflies in the air that all 18,000-plus of us were going through.  That all turned into extreme loudness all thanks to the heroics of Nick Bonino, who snuck one past Braden Holtby to give the Pens the W and therefore, eliminating Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals and marking the halfway point to what would become the Pens’ 4th Stanley Cup title.

This picture represents the blood, sweat, and tears that was piled in from not just the Pens, but from me, Ben, and the other 18,000-plus screaming Yinzers; after all, when you play in Pittsburgh, you play the whole arena.  A handshake line after a playoff round is over is one of the most honored traditions in the NHL, so being able to witness one – especially the Pens knocking off one of their bitterest rivals – is a very special treat.  This is one image that is very close to my heart, as it represents a special moment in not just my history, but for this team and this city as well”

~Nicco Shorto

[humansofyinzburgh-blog]

“One of my favorite places to go in the Burgh is South Side. There are lots of bars to visit, but what interests me most are the tattoo shops. I have been coming to South Side since high school for tattoos, and my favorite place by far to get them is “In the Blood.” The prices are low, and the work is high quality. I’m hoping to go again as soon as possible, but money is always tight.”

-Chris Baumann

[humansofyinzburgh-blog]

“The first time I ever really visited South Side, I went bar hopping for my twenty first birthday with a bunch of friends and my mom. Things were going great, but come the end of the night, things got out of hand and some drunk guy tried to fight me outside of a bar when I was alone. I was scared shitless, literally had no idea what to do because I had never been put in a situation like that. But next thing I know, the guy gets a little closer to me and some random girl and her 6′4 boyfriend show up and protect me and chase the guy off and then walk with me to make sure I get back inside okay. Yinzers really are the best kinda people.”

-Alecia Koontz

[humansofyinzburgh-blog]

Me: No big deal. Just temporary; not the end of the world.

Dad: ^^

Only in the ‘Burgh is this a normal occurrence.

~Nicco 

[humansofyinzburgh-blog]

“So whenever I was first going to go to school, I wanted to go to the University of Pittsburgh at Oakland but a lot of my family were not as enthusiastic as I was about this decision. Any time I would talk about this, my great aunt Eleanor would tell me how I was going to get shot and I should just go to Johnstown instead. Despite their attempts to keep me from the city,  I still go to visit friends there frequently.“

-Josh Calandrella