Friday Night Happy Hour: Across the Pond edition

Welcome back to BTSC’s Friday night open thread:

The big fanfare around the Steelers this week is naturally the team’s trip to Dublin, Ireland to take on the Vikings. This is both the second time the Steelers have played the Vikings abroad — the other being the only other regular season game the Steelers have played internationally, a 2013 contest in London — and the second time the Steelers have traveled to Dublin. They played the Bears during the preseason, winning 30-17. The Steelers have a fun photo gallery from that day on their website.

1. Hypothetically, pretending that cost was no obstacle, what locale outside of Pittsburgh do you think would be most fun to travel to for a Steelers game?

2. What’s your favorite place you’ve ever traveled to? Can be anything from trips outside the country to a favorite spot stateside.

3. What are your predictions, thoughts, hopes, and/or concerns for this game against the Vikings?

4. This one’s a little off-the-wall, but I saw a video this week of a morning news show where an off-the-cuff answer about someone’s favorite soup led to a debate about what makes something a soup vs. a stew. While I’m not really interested in that line of debate, there were some funny reactions to the news casters’ favorite soup selections, and since Ryland was asking for soup flavors last year, I thought I’d put it to y’all.

What is your favorite type of soup?

5. Song(s) of the Week: As some of you may remember, I’m based out in Seattle. While I was raised to root for the Steelers in football, I’m a diehard Mariners fan for baseball. They’re having a bit of a moment right now and are positioned for what will hopefully be a deep playoff run. The Mariners are the only franchise in baseball that has never even appeared in the World Series, and this is the best team they’ve put together since 2001.

So while I’m still riding high on the good vibes, we’re doubling up our songs of the week this week.

First up, a song the players seem to have been rallying around lately:

“Mr. Rager” — Kid Cudi

The second is a song about growing up watching/listening to baseball broadcasts, especially the Mariners. I’m not a Macklemore fan generally, but he released this after the passing of longtime Mariners play-by-play broadcaster Dave Niehaus. Niehaus called Mariners games from 1977-2010, which means during my childhood, he was as much a part of the Mariners as guys like Ken Griffey Jr., Ichiro, and Edgar Martinez.

“My Oh My” – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis