Demagogue

I can't believe the Steelers are in the Super Bowl! I also can't believe I'm excited about a football game. Go Steelers!

I do have one pet peeve, however. Much of the coverage I've seen that refers to the city of Pittsburgh is, sadly, very dated. The mills closed down 20+ years ago, many have been bulldozed and built over. What are Pittsburgh's biggest industries these days? Health care and education, there's practically a hospital on every corner and it has over 33 colleges and universities in the region. It's a unique, vibrant city that is unusually pretty with a lot of greenspace, interesting history and architecture. It's a city with deep ethnic roots-- Italian, Greek, Polish, German-- and it has the second largest Jewish population in America outside of NYC. (It has over 40 synagogues.) Also most Pittsburghers are disturbingly friendly and polite. It's far from the gritty industrial town that it is often made out to be.

OK, my pseudo-sales pitch is over. I just hate to see it continue to be mischaracterized. That is all.

(Hmmm. That might be a fun pet name-- Peeve. I'll have to keep that in mind.)