Throwback

The year was 1992, and I was working at my very first job. KPOM TV24 was where my Uncle Keith (aka Carbo) and his girlfriend at the time worked. Beth called me one day soon after I hit my sixteenth birthday because she knew I needed a job to pay for insurance and gas for my hooptie '78 Grand Prix. I was hired as a camera operator for the news and in the field for a crazy church service in Van Buren on Sunday mornings. That part of the job was not fun, but working with my uncle and a guy named Mike Hart was entertaining to say the least. Mike is still one of my good friends to this day and is one of the funniest people I know.

This job only lasted about six months because the corporation decided to go without news. They were going to be strictly broadcast television. Toward the end of my brief stint at this company, I would get to watch hockey at night between newscasts because there wasn't much else to do from 7-9. This is one of my best memories from my first job because it was also the year the Penguins won Lord Stanley's cup for the second year in a row. They swept the Blackhawks easily , and I got to see every game because Carbo would tune in the Pittsburgh broadcasts on a spare sattelite. This was my first introduction into one of the most exciting sports I know. I didn't get to watch hockey growing up because it just wasn't available on television here in the south. My family history in Pittsburgh is what keeps my fire lit for all of professional sports in Pittsburgh- even the lowly Pirates. Getting to watch the Penguins dominate with Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr in front and Tom Barrasso in net was an experience that I'll never forget.

Last night, I was a little disappointed when I couldn't watch the Penguins wrap up their first four game sweep in the playoffs since the '91-'92 season. It's only a sweep in the first round, but it is very symbolic because they swept the team (Ottawa Senators) that ousted my young Pens last year. Perfect retribution, and it should be a good sign of things to come. They get to kick back and wait for their next opponent on thier road to hoisting the Stanley Cup again soon. This time around, Lemieux isn't on the ice, but in the owner's luxury suite having handed the keys to the car over to a young captain by the name of Crosby. If this young team is able to raise the cup again, it will be just as sweet as it was in '92.