Before the climb, I had a chance to interview this young woman. Her name is Skylar Hicks and she has asthma. However, she does not let it slow her down. Along with her parents, Skylar made it up to the 19th floor ... and still wanted to keep going. Her performance was inspirational and made all the participants go the extra mile.

This is the aftermath of 38 floors. I'm in the background in the white t-shirt, next to my best friend Joe. In the foreground are the firefighters with whom I had the honor of joining. It was a pleasure to put on the gear ( all 50 pounds of it ) and try to scale 38 floors. While we set no speed records, we did make it.

Wondering what it takes to scale 38 floors?

It's less about the shape you are in -- and more about the stamina you have. Even the most experienced of athletes will feel a burning of the lungs in the first ten floors. It's that burning of the lungs that is the goals of organizers. They want you to feel what asthma suffers feel on a daily basis .. and believe me, after having to deal with that feeling for 20-plus floors, I will never take my lungs for granted.

I will also never take for granted what the firefighters do. I wore the heavy equipment and made it 38 floors and nothing left by the time I reached the top. Imagine having to do that every day - and then, once reaching the top, you still have to save some one's life. That's why firefighters really are heroes.

Thanks to everyone who came out and joined us ... and a special thanks to those who joined my team: Stockey's Steppers. We kicked butt!!! See you next year at the USX Tower! ( just kidding ).

Here are some pics from a Super Saturday morning ... and some commentary as well.

Nothing lasts forever.

What makes life both great and sad is how people pass through your life. They are there for a few days or maybe a few years, touch your life, and then move on. While they are there, they create some memorable moments - and when they depart, they leave with you those memories and perhaps some lesson that makes you a better person.

Melanie Taylor is that kind of person.

This is Melanie's final morning with us here at Channel 4. After helping Pittsburgh through what can be the daily traffic nightmare for more than two years, she is leaving us and heading back to her roots in radio.

In the "Battle for Pennsylvania", there are many shots fired on both sides ... and there will be some blasts that mis-fire ... or in this case, candidates that "mis-speak". That is the latest bit of jargon the fight for the democratic nomination.


You know the story by know. Senator Hillary Clinton told the press she had to duck sniper fire during a visit to Bosnia as first lady. She recounted the harrowing details in detail. One problem. There's video of her arrival and it's quite clear there was no sniper fire. To be honest, it was as peaceful and warm a reception as you could hope for.

Because Senator Clinton got caught, Pennsylvania voters have a unique opportunity. Not only do we actually have proof that a candidate has failed to tell us the truth ... but know the state democratic voters will have the first opportunity to react and show the voting electorate in this country if this issue and this misstatement does make a difference.

Senator Clinton did spin it ... saying she made a mistake and she's human .. but from a media member point of view, it's difficult to swallow that excuse because her recollections were so vivid and the contrast to what actually happened was so stark. It's the same reason media members are holding Senator Barack Obama's feet to the fire for sitting in the pews as his pastor spewed out his controversial comments .. comments that are also on video.


One final note: The Clinton campaign's strategy to have daughter Chelsea engage college students was a brilliant stroke .. in the beginning. Having her take any question from college students and only college students created a real discussion that I think will help young people as they make up their minds going into their first election. However, we learned Tuesday there are indeed boundaries in this format .. and controversial ones at that.



When Chelsea was asked at one stop, by a college student, whether her mother's credibility was hurt by the Lewinsky scandal she took offense. She actually said "It's none of your business". Look, she may have truly been offended. Who knows? Bottom line here: just because the press can't ask her questions doesn't mean her contemporaries are going to serve up softballs. If you want to have a real frank discussion, than Chelsea will have to field all comers.

photo courtesy: Associated Press

Bill Cowher may have been the most intense coach during his time as the leader of the Steelers, but I don't think there has been a more engaging and vocal coach than Agnus Berenato. The only reason Pittsburgh sports fans may have missed her gift for gab is because she coaches womens basketball.

I've had the opportunity to cover this recent run of Steelers being charged with domestic violence from several angles, and have gotten to know some of those accused on a professional level from my years as a sports reporter and being in the locker room, so this is more than just an opinion you are about to read.

First of all, there is no reason to strike a woman. Ever.

Second, I'm not going to try and read the tea leaves coming from the comments of Steeler chairman Dan Rooney. That is for other to decide. I will just judge the team's actions.

What I will do is tell you that Pittsburgh is getting a full dose of a problem that plagues the world of professional sports in general and football in particular. The rise in domestic violence involving these athletes.

While they are employed by the Steelers and the team does have a responsibility to make sure the players it brings to our city behave, it is not the Steelers job to babysit these players. The team claims that character does matter - and they have told me there is a code of conduct. Clearly, these employees ( and that is what the players are ) do not follow that code.

We point out the fact they are Steelers because their employer is high profile ... and the employer should take a stand when one of their employees cross the line. But the real problem here is young men with a lot of money and a license to do anything they want. A license granted to them at a very young age when they first showed athletic potential.

While the players may all be good athletes, they are not all good people. Like society itself, the Steeler players reflect society. They may all be the cream of the crop when it comes to talent, but some are clearly not ready to be adults, much less role models. Frankly, it's been my experience that we should not expect any of these young men to be role models since they are just learning how to be adults.

The NFL says it has a program designed to guide rookies through the obstacles and off-field dangers they will face. The program takes place before they ever get to training camp. It's my belief that program should be an annual event for every player ... and hopefully incorporate experts who deal with domestic violence.

The other thing that needs to happen is a zero-tolerance policy. Forget three strikes and you're out. When you commit a crime, you should at the least be suspended - and immediately undergo counseling. Only after this is done - and the situation reaches some sort of conclusion - should you be allowed back on the field. Currently, the NFL does require counseling after every offense - but it's a one-time thing and most often the player is on the field before it takes place. In my opinion, the league needs to look at playing as a privilege - not a right for the player or for the team.

Will this be the last time a Steeler is charged with domestic abuse or violence? The statistics tell me no. The hope is yesterday's decision to release receiver Cedrick Wilson - without a trial - will send a message to the rest of those in the locker room that this behavior will not be tolerated. While the Steelers will be under the microscope from here on, it is the players who are the offenders and the players who misbehave who must change. The Steelers job now is to prevent such offenses from taking place by being proactive. Much more so than history would suggest.

Now that I have been assigned to the campaign trail, one of the things I am taking the time to experience as a reporter is the entire speech of a Presidential candidate, not sound bites that have become the standard fare by which most of hear our candidates. Tuesday, it was my first chance to hear Barack Obama from start to finish.

You probably know about the controversy surrounding Obama by now. His pastor has made comments seen as racial, inflammatory and critical of U.S. policy. Critics wondered whether Obama shares those beliefs. Tuesday in Philadelphia, he addressed those concerns in a speech all about race in America.

Did his speech diffuse the controversy and clear up the issue? In my opinion, it did not. After saying he had never sat in the pews and heard such comments from the pastor, he told the assembled audience yesterday that he indeed had heard these things while attending church. He also failed to renounce his association with the pastor, which is what the critics wanted in the first place. That alone guarantee this story will "have legs", as they say in my business, for a long time.
However, here is what the speech did. It talked about race in America in a frank, open and real way that we rarely see from politicians. While I do have a vested interest in the subject, even I was taken aback by the complexity of the issue as Obama spelled it out. It's truly ironic that the issue of race in America is not "black and white". It has many layers, many complications and few simple solutions.

Perhaps nobody spelled out what Obama's speech meant better than CNN analyst and former White House advisor David Gergen who said about Obama's speech, "he spoke to us as adults". That is true. For years, we have tried to simplify this issue and there really is no way to do so. That's not to say the issue of race cannot be solved, but let's not try to put a band-aid on an issue which had cut much deeper into our collective psyche.

Will Obama's address win him the White House? I doubt it. It probably won't even get him the nomination. Rarely will a subject such as race win someone public office - and if it's discussed in the wrong way, it can kill your campaign. Also, we will likely forget about it in the days and weeks to come. We still live in the "here and now" as a society. After all, anybody remember how "Super Tuesday" was supposed to decide the race? There's a lot more campaigning still to come.

We can only hope - and Senator Hillary Clinton touched on this Tuesday - the lasting legacy of this campaign will not be who wins, but rather how we look at race AND gender in our country. This election has already started that process. It's not that the race or gender card is being played here, but rather the entire deck is being thrown at our feet and we are forced to really face the issue for the first time.