Penguins, Red Wings: Talking Hockey Smack with Detroit's Model D
Elaine Labalme and Terry Parris, Jr.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Last year Pop City and Model D, our sister pub in Detroit, got into a spirited discussion about hockey and more during the Stanley Cup finals and this year the conversation continues with two of our writers. Watch the feathers fly!
Elaine Labalme (New Girl In Town, Pop City): Folks, Sid touched the Prince o'Wales Cup. No, he put his hands (fins?) all over it, and then called Geno and Gonch over for some more love. It's o-vah.
Terry Parris, Jr. (Writer, Model D): Yes, it is over ... for those flightless birds.
Elaine: Detroit will win this on a (red) wing and a prayer IF you can get Eminem to show up to rap the national anthem. A Slim and Shady Show fersure...do those Swedes have any moves other than left-right-left? It's a more up-and-down thang in the ‘burgh.
Terry: I'm sure Detroit will win regardless of who sings the national anthem. But we'll probably have the only woman famous for singing the national anthem at hockey games do it ... Karen Newman. I don't expect you to know that. It's a Detroit thing.
Let's face it, the Pens can learn a thing or two about hockey from the Wings (like how to win a Stanley Cup). On the flip side, Detroit could learn a few things from Pittsburgh. We’re paying close attention to how Steeler-ville has rebounded after the steel industry pretty much disappeared. We might be in a similar boat ... or car ... back to razzing you.
Sid? Oh baby Sid. He should quit hockey and open up a winery ... actually ... wait for it ... a WHINE-ry. I've never seen a grown man cry that much.
Elaine: Even the New Girl In Town knows that the Pens can win a Cup or two, to wit the Mario era of the early 90s. We like to think it's quality, not quantity, here in the 'burgh -- 'cept when it comes to winning Super Bowls (er, is that Steelers 6, Lions 0?).
And thank you, Mr. Rooney, for making the President our BFF – Pittsburgh is hosting the G-20 Summit in September. That's huge, the international stage, and we will be forever known as the city that hosted this major event. Now if Sid, Geno, Feds and the gang meet and break bread with the G-20, we might finally achieve world peace.
Terry: True, the Steelers have more Super Bowl wins than the Lions. But the Lions went 0 and 16... way more memorable. Silver lining, babycakes. Going for the gold is our unparalleled music scene (nearly 100,000 glow stick-toting music fans at Movement last weekend can't be wrong) and a burgeoning film industry.
Elaine: Terry, did you know that Pittsburgh (and Southwestern PA) is one of the nation's leaders in the farm-to-table movement? We're all about organic and sustainable, farmers markets, honey bees (we're stacking hives in Braddock)...and one of the 'burgh's hottest young chefs, Kevin Sousa, is opening a new place this fall called Salt of the Earth. Come to think of it, that describes Sid to a T...or is that P-E-N?
Terry: Detroit has its fair share of urban farming... Detroit could be the urban farming capital of the world. Check it out, we've got organizations like the Greening of Detroit, more community gardens than you can shake a (hockey)stick at, and potentially the largest urban farm ever. You should check out not only the number of pieces on urban farming and fresh markets in Detroit that Model D has produced.
Elaine: So, Terry, Hossa or Guerin? Chevy or Ford? Wait a minute, you've got a buncha Volvos over there...I'm stickin' with Guerin on Sid's right wing. Billy can score a goal and land a punch, all on the same shift. Hossa's too pretty for a fight...plus he dissed Sid, Shero, Mario. That spells bad karma times three. Even the Dalai Lama can't get him outta that jam.
Terry: Volvos? In Detroit? Are you kidding? I'm gonna have to go with Hossa - Guerin's salt and pepper beard makes me think he might not make it. Billy can score a goal, land a punch, and get 50 percent off the blue plate special at the Hilltop Cafe thanks to AARP (Chelios, too, for that matter).
Really, though, Pittsburgh is great. I love Zip Cars. Wish we had ‘em.
Elaine: I'll let you in on a secret: I love Eminem. But we've had some cool cats out of Pittsburgh, too, with names like Carnegie and Mellon and Heinz. Have you heard about the new dinosaur wing at the Carnegie Museum? (some of the dinos had knees as creaky as Chelios!) Heinz Hall, too, where the world-class Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra makes beautiful music. Oh yeah, and that Carnegie/Mellon collaboration of a university where uber-geeks are engineering the future. And let’s not forget Clemente, a maestro with the glove. No wonder we're the City of Champions.
Terry: Or how about you change it to... Second Place? It has a nice ring to it. Carnegie, Mellon, and Heinz? Is that like Crosby, Stills, and Nash? Can they do-wop?
Elaine: They built this city, baby, and we're happy to ride into the sunset on their backs (and their bucks) while making a few of our own. CSN is so Cali -- I left the city by the bay for Pittsburgh. I've traded up! It's about the big boys this week and what they mean to their respective towns. A showdown for the ages, or at least the Midwest/Mid Atlantic/wherever we are.
Terry: I say the Wings take it in four. It's an exciting time for both our cities. Here in Detroit, light rail is gearing up, the film industry has brought in the likes of not only Clint Eastwood but ROB SCHNEIDER and gold has been found in the river. Actually, don't believe that last one.
Elaine: And here in Pittsburgh we're talking G-20 summit and green technology and chemistry and green buildings, along with hockey. Red Wings, green ‘burgh...GO PITTSBURGH!
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Elaine Labalme writes for Pop City as the New Girl In Town and thinks Penguins are the coolest things on two feet. Terry Parris, Jr. lives in Southwest Detroit, writes for Model D and loves octopus.
Photographs copyright Brian Cohen