DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Welcome to Tuesday 12 Qs, our chat that takes place each week at 1 p.m. and offers you a chance to dictate the discussion.
The format is simple: Use the comments section below to submit an entry. No more than one per person, please. Submit it early if you prefer, and I’ll pick from that batch to get rolling, then monitor new entries once we go live. All topics welcome, as always.
UPDATE 1:13 p.m.: Sorry, a bit late. Fairly eventful morning of travel. But all ready to go now …
Dom: Cam Thomas played more than half the snaps on Sunday. Yet, he seems to have done little to warrant such major playing time. Why do the Steelers feel it is better to go with Thomas as opposed to Stephon Tuitt or Daniel McCullers?
DK: Because they’re stubborn like that, Dom. No other way to put it. No other explanation. Doesn’t take much at all to see Tuitt was a beast out there and made a significant difference, just as it doesn’t take much to see Thomas almost never does.
So, the way this works is this: Mike Tomlin and Dick LeBeau will come around, maybe as soon as Sunday, and then it’ll all look like it was part of the plan. You know, the way Tomlin answered that question Sunday night about all the offensive changes the past couple weeks: “You can go back through all my transcripts and see I’ve been saying the same thing since Latrobe, that we desire a balance between the run and the pass.”
Right. But that isn’t what’s changed. It’s that the pass half has suddenly gone forward rather than sideways. Again, something else anyone can see.
This happened in 2013 after big changes were made, and the Steelers turned 2-6 into 6-2. They’ve made big changes again, only they remain too stubborn to admit them.
JasonBaileys: Who will miss Olli Maatta more for his consistent play, the fans, Kris Letang or Mike Johnston? He seems to have been our best all-around defender in this system.
DK: The pairings this morning here in Minnesota, where the Penguins will play without Maatta for the first time, had Letang and Paul Martin, so I wouldn’t expect much change at all in Letang’s game. Martin got off to a bit of a slow start, and he hasn’t been part of the power play as he’d been in the past, but he’s been much more solid of late.
The answer to your question, I think, is Gary Agnew. He’s the Penguins’ new assistant coach responsible for the defense, and Maatta is a coach’s dream. The other assistant, Rick Tocchet, was saying last week Maatta is one of his favorite players to be around at any point in his career, for the professionalism and passion he puts into his job.
As ever, thoughts and prayers with the young man on an infinitely more important front right now.
jemberg: From your interaction with both Tomlin and LeBeau, do you feel they’re on the right page with respect to Cortez Allen? Are you confident they will they keep him on the sidelines, or at least just give him fourth-quarter work after the game is decided?
DK: Ah, the Nation. Steelers pile up 94 points over two weeks, and the Qs agonize over spare-part defensive linemen and the now-fourth-string corner!
I kid, I kid. But that is the nature, really is. No one calls City Hall to say the sanitation workers did an excellent job of picking up the trash that day, right?
In his press conference back in Pittsburgh an hour ago, Tomlin praised the overall work of the secondary against the Ravens, even as he acknowledged that Troy Polamalu will be out for the Jets game. Antwon Blake was sharp in coverage. Brice McCain was, too. These guys aren’t going anywhere. And even with Shamarko Thomas (perpetually) hurt, there’s an experienced backup safety in Will Allen who came in last season in a similar situation and fared well.
Cortez sits. He just has to.
And you know, while I typed this response, I think Shamarko just hurt something else.
Heismano1: Hey, DK, is Troy being hurt a big deal anymore for the Steelers’ defense?
DK: It is. Polamalu remains a highly graded safety week in and week out, and he’s especially effective in containing the run. All of us, I think — and I’m no exception at all — still watch Troy expecting him to be the old Troy, dominating games singlehandedly, flying over the line of scrimmage, running with the ball downfield as his mane bounces about. He isn’t that, and he won’t be again. But within where he is now, he’s still a very good NFL safety.
PghGolfGirl: I’m waiting for the definitive answer to this question that no one seems to know the answer to: Can Kasperi Kapanen come back to the Wilkes-Barre and/or Pittsburgh Pens after the Finnish hockey season? Or does he have to wait until next September?
DK: It’s not a simple answer, if only because the NHL’s agreements with the International Ice Hockey Federation and other member leagues — including Finland’s — are almost willfully muddy.
The real answer is that Kapanen could play in the NHL any time he wants because the Penguins could simply pull a power play, if you will, or work out a deal with his Finnish club that duly compensates his loss. If that hadn’t been the case, they’d never have sent him back over. No one involved would want to hear that, but it’s the truth.
At any rate, don’t expect to see him, barring an extraordinary circumstance. Last thing you want to do with an 18-year-old is unsettle him. He’s in a good situation in a very good league in Finland, and he has much he can learn there.
Besides, what, you want more offense? Come on!
Jordan Falkner: With baseball’s free agency starting today, what do you think the percent chances are that Russell Martin and Edinson Volquez return? You hearing anything about Martin that would indicate what he’s leaning towards or is his side quiet?
DK: There has been not a peep about Martin from anyone I know, and rest assured, Jordan, that if there were, I wouldn’t be waiting for a chat prompt to share with you. But nothing is nothing, and I’m not the type to fill space with speculation to make up for the void. The Pirates are deathly silent on this, as is Martin’s camp. And yes, there were reach-outs to both from this site.
Brought up Volquez in the News/views entry yesterday regarding Francisco Liriano’s qualifying offer, but to elaborate a bit: Volquez likes it in Pittsburgh, likes it with Ray Searage. My every impression is that he never enjoyed himself more in the majors than he did in 2014, and anyone who knows Volquez’s personality knows that his default mode is to enjoy himself. A great spirit. Now, that doesn’t mean he’ll stay for a song. Rather, I’d be looking at something more in line with what the Pirates did to extend Charlie Morton, or even just two years. But the selling point has to be a commitment or show of faith on the Pirates’ end. Term will be key.
tedsptman: What’s the status of Pitt’s coaching staff? Any rumblings of changes coming?
DK: None. And if you think about it, that only makes sense, as the man who’d make such a decision is Steve Pederson, and I think we’re well past the point of wondering how many coaches one AD can be allowed to hire in the span of, what a half-decade?
Pederson would be the last guy to discuss such a thing, even if contemplating it.
That said, the view here is that Chryst gets another year. And should get another year, based on having a fair chance to assemble his own class. I can’t say I feel the same about his staff as a whole, and those tend to be the ones tossed overboard after a trying season like this. Giving up a billion points in the past two games, for example, doesn’t exactly reflect well on Matt House.
But Chryst himself, no, nothing at all. I believe he’ll be back in 2015.
Tom: Lost in the recent offense explosions and the D finally generating pressure and turnovers, have been the struggles on special teams. Gave up the 108-yarder Sunday, haven’t had a decent return all year, and Brad Wing is shaky at best both punting and holding. What is being/can be done to address this before it costs them a game?
DK: Oh, those struggles aren’t being lost here, Tom! We’re all about the Steelers’ struggles while winning three in a row.
Again, I kid! I kid! (Not really, but it sounds better.)
The kick coverage has been quite good for the better part of the season, and two things went wrong on the 108-yarder, both of which are fixable:
One is that Ross Ventrone was out, and Blake was seeing significant action on defense. Both those players had been excellent in that regard. They were sorely missed. And Ventrone was listed today by Tomlin as questionable, so he might be missed again Sunday.
Two is that, upon video review, some players on the Steelers’ kick coverage team were seen dancing around to the music playing on the stadium sound system while preparing for that Jacoby Jones return. Blake apparently was one of them. Tomlin called that action ‘ridiculous’ and vowed ‘that won’t happen again.’
And actually, I’ll throw in a third: Why were the Steelers’ coaches kicking to Jones?
Wondered about this aloud earlier in the same game.
JJ: If it’s not too early to evaluate, besides Patric Hornqvist, which new player do you think has had the biggest impact in the first 10 games? (Or do you not think he has had the biggest impact?)
DK: No, no, exempting Hornqvist was a shrewd move on your part. Would have resulted in a two-word answer and little more. He’s been that good, that influential.
I’ll go with Steve Downie.
I wasn’t wild about the signing when it occurred, for the same reasons I poked fun at the Flyers when they added him a year ago. There’s a risk that comes with a loose cannon, and you never know when it’ll turn around and point in your own face. Downie still shows that on occasion, even with all the caretaking he gets — on and off the ice — from Tocchet.
But Downie as is, I think, has emboldened the Penguins and their stars to play to the best of their abilities against any team not wearing orange and black, and let’s not pretend that anything tops that as a priority for this franchise. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are flying on Johnston’s middle breakouts, they’re creating all over the ice, and they’re going to the hard areas again.
In an intangible way, I’d give Downie a partial shout for that.
Senor Moneyshot: What’s the real story on Malkin missing training camp? Seems suspicious that nobody found what “injury” he had.
DK: I’m dumbfounded every time I hear from someone about some mystery related to Malkin’s injury, if only because all NHL injuries are mysteries. That’s the scenario Gary Bettman has created with all this upper-body, lower-body stuff, one that actually makes it acceptable for teams to lie to their own fans in the name of … what, do they really think opponents don’t have video and can’t track which body part on a player was hurt so they know which one to whack that night?
All NHL teams either conceal or lie about injuries. Not just the Penguins. Not just this one for Malkin. The fact that it turned into a social media free-for-all isn’t any reflection of the broader reality.
Chris B.: Seems that Pitt and Penn State could be on an ugly collision course to the Pinstripe Bowl. Am I the only one who thinks that’s a terrible way to restart the rivalry? Possibly two 6-6 teams at a neutral site as opposed to two much improved teams in Pittsburgh in 2016? Now that will be fun.
DK: No, I’ll join you in that. There will be a genuine buildup to the restart of the series in a couple years and, ideally, both programs will be a lot better than they are now. This site will focus on Chryst because I cover Pitt on a regular basis, but for the purposes of this point, it’s worth stressing that James Franklin hasn’t exactly lived up to … well, his own hype. In particular, he and his coaching staff should be outright embarrassed at what they’ve been able to get from Christian Hackenberg compared to what Bill O’Brien did. That alone has been a dagger in the Nittany Lions’ season.
But no, again, I’m with you on that. No reason either of these programs should get a bowl that draws legit headlines. Not the way they look now, for sure.
SeanE: I know your belief that the Pirates must sign Martin. But wouldn’t the Pirates be better off bringing in a cheaper defense-first catcher (to pair with Chris Stewart)and using that money to upgrade the offense in other areas and fill some rotation holes?
DK: What I’ve written, Sean, is more that the Pirates must do their actual very, very best to sign Martin, while also acknowledging that takes both parties. We’ll see how that plays out.
For a myriad of reasons, I’d rather see Martin retained. That’s the simplest path. But to consider yours, if you get a defense-first catcher, you’ve got to first theorize it’s one in the bracket of Martin, Yadier Molina and Jonathan Lucroy on that count alone. That’s rare air. Not easily found, no matter the cost. Catching defense is prioritized more than ever, and those guys aren’t hiding out in the minors as 4-A types.
Upgrading the offense means little more than upgrading first base, if you go across the Pirates’ diamond. I’m not a fan of throwing cash at that position, so I like your other idea better where it goes to starting pitching. And maybe that was part of Neal Huntington’s mindset with Liriano.
Donald Mason: Have you gotten any word on why the Dri Archer experiment has gone so badly, especially after a few preseason plays that offered lots of hope? Is it too early to deem it a bad use of a third-round draft pick?
DK: Archer hasn’t been very good, including on kick returns, in part because he clearly hasn’t accepted that it takes more than speed to get yards in the NFL. That’s the criticism I hear constantly around the Steelers’ offices. Not so much that he’s too fast for his own good, but that he doesn’t accept that there’s more to it.
On offense, it’s a little different. It’s become something of a running joke now that, when Archer is in the backfield, the Steelers are really trying to trick the defense by running it up the middle. And when the defense isn’t tricked because they’ve seen the same thing, Archer gets two yards and a spec of dust. Happened again Sunday.
If Archer doesn’t catch a pass in the open field, he isn’t going to use that speed. Simple as that.
And yes, a team that’s lacked depth in recent drafts and hasn’t invested much in corners, in particular, could ill afford to go all wacky in the third round. Or to take a clipboard-holder in the fourth-round the previous year, for that matter.
That’s all the time for this week.
Reminder that I’ll be at Starbucks on St. Peter Street in downtown St. Paul at 4 p.m. Central time for a Lunatic meet-up. If you’re in the area, by all means, come on down!
November 4, 2014
Tuesday 12 Qs: Stephon, Olli, Russ, Dri, Hack
by Dejan Kovacevic • Five Qs at 5 • Penguins, Penn State, Pirates, Pitt, Steelers
DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS
The format is simple: Use the comments section below to submit an entry. No more than one per person, please. Submit it early if you prefer, and I’ll pick from that batch to get rolling, then monitor new entries once we go live. All topics welcome, as always.
UPDATE 1:13 p.m.: Sorry, a bit late. Fairly eventful morning of travel. But all ready to go now …
Dom: Cam Thomas played more than half the snaps on Sunday. Yet, he seems to have done little to warrant such major playing time. Why do the Steelers feel it is better to go with Thomas as opposed to Stephon Tuitt or Daniel McCullers?
DK: Because they’re stubborn like that, Dom. No other way to put it. No other explanation. Doesn’t take much at all to see Tuitt was a beast out there and made a significant difference, just as it doesn’t take much to see Thomas almost never does.
So, the way this works is this: Mike Tomlin and Dick LeBeau will come around, maybe as soon as Sunday, and then it’ll all look like it was part of the plan. You know, the way Tomlin answered that question Sunday night about all the offensive changes the past couple weeks: “You can go back through all my transcripts and see I’ve been saying the same thing since Latrobe, that we desire a balance between the run and the pass.”
Right. But that isn’t what’s changed. It’s that the pass half has suddenly gone forward rather than sideways. Again, something else anyone can see.
This happened in 2013 after big changes were made, and the Steelers turned 2-6 into 6-2. They’ve made big changes again, only they remain too stubborn to admit them.
JasonBaileys: Who will miss Olli Maatta more for his consistent play, the fans, Kris Letang or Mike Johnston? He seems to have been our best all-around defender in this system.
DK: The pairings this morning here in Minnesota, where the Penguins will play without Maatta for the first time, had Letang and Paul Martin, so I wouldn’t expect much change at all in Letang’s game. Martin got off to a bit of a slow start, and he hasn’t been part of the power play as he’d been in the past, but he’s been much more solid of late.
The answer to your question, I think, is Gary Agnew. He’s the Penguins’ new assistant coach responsible for the defense, and Maatta is a coach’s dream. The other assistant, Rick Tocchet, was saying last week Maatta is one of his favorite players to be around at any point in his career, for the professionalism and passion he puts into his job.
As ever, thoughts and prayers with the young man on an infinitely more important front right now.
jemberg: From your interaction with both Tomlin and LeBeau, do you feel they’re on the right page with respect to Cortez Allen? Are you confident they will they keep him on the sidelines, or at least just give him fourth-quarter work after the game is decided?
DK: Ah, the Nation. Steelers pile up 94 points over two weeks, and the Qs agonize over spare-part defensive linemen and the now-fourth-string corner!
I kid, I kid. But that is the nature, really is. No one calls City Hall to say the sanitation workers did an excellent job of picking up the trash that day, right?
In his press conference back in Pittsburgh an hour ago, Tomlin praised the overall work of the secondary against the Ravens, even as he acknowledged that Troy Polamalu will be out for the Jets game. Antwon Blake was sharp in coverage. Brice McCain was, too. These guys aren’t going anywhere. And even with Shamarko Thomas (perpetually) hurt, there’s an experienced backup safety in Will Allen who came in last season in a similar situation and fared well.
Cortez sits. He just has to.
And you know, while I typed this response, I think Shamarko just hurt something else.
Heismano1: Hey, DK, is Troy being hurt a big deal anymore for the Steelers’ defense?
DK: It is. Polamalu remains a highly graded safety week in and week out, and he’s especially effective in containing the run. All of us, I think — and I’m no exception at all — still watch Troy expecting him to be the old Troy, dominating games singlehandedly, flying over the line of scrimmage, running with the ball downfield as his mane bounces about. He isn’t that, and he won’t be again. But within where he is now, he’s still a very good NFL safety.
PghGolfGirl: I’m waiting for the definitive answer to this question that no one seems to know the answer to: Can Kasperi Kapanen come back to the Wilkes-Barre and/or Pittsburgh Pens after the Finnish hockey season? Or does he have to wait until next September?
DK: It’s not a simple answer, if only because the NHL’s agreements with the International Ice Hockey Federation and other member leagues — including Finland’s — are almost willfully muddy.
The real answer is that Kapanen could play in the NHL any time he wants because the Penguins could simply pull a power play, if you will, or work out a deal with his Finnish club that duly compensates his loss. If that hadn’t been the case, they’d never have sent him back over. No one involved would want to hear that, but it’s the truth.
At any rate, don’t expect to see him, barring an extraordinary circumstance. Last thing you want to do with an 18-year-old is unsettle him. He’s in a good situation in a very good league in Finland, and he has much he can learn there.
Besides, what, you want more offense? Come on!
Jordan Falkner: With baseball’s free agency starting today, what do you think the percent chances are that Russell Martin and Edinson Volquez return? You hearing anything about Martin that would indicate what he’s leaning towards or is his side quiet?
DK: There has been not a peep about Martin from anyone I know, and rest assured, Jordan, that if there were, I wouldn’t be waiting for a chat prompt to share with you. But nothing is nothing, and I’m not the type to fill space with speculation to make up for the void. The Pirates are deathly silent on this, as is Martin’s camp. And yes, there were reach-outs to both from this site.
Brought up Volquez in the News/views entry yesterday regarding Francisco Liriano’s qualifying offer, but to elaborate a bit: Volquez likes it in Pittsburgh, likes it with Ray Searage. My every impression is that he never enjoyed himself more in the majors than he did in 2014, and anyone who knows Volquez’s personality knows that his default mode is to enjoy himself. A great spirit. Now, that doesn’t mean he’ll stay for a song. Rather, I’d be looking at something more in line with what the Pirates did to extend Charlie Morton, or even just two years. But the selling point has to be a commitment or show of faith on the Pirates’ end. Term will be key.
tedsptman: What’s the status of Pitt’s coaching staff? Any rumblings of changes coming?
DK: None. And if you think about it, that only makes sense, as the man who’d make such a decision is Steve Pederson, and I think we’re well past the point of wondering how many coaches one AD can be allowed to hire in the span of, what a half-decade?
Pederson would be the last guy to discuss such a thing, even if contemplating it.
That said, the view here is that Chryst gets another year. And should get another year, based on having a fair chance to assemble his own class. I can’t say I feel the same about his staff as a whole, and those tend to be the ones tossed overboard after a trying season like this. Giving up a billion points in the past two games, for example, doesn’t exactly reflect well on Matt House.
But Chryst himself, no, nothing at all. I believe he’ll be back in 2015.
Tom: Lost in the recent offense explosions and the D finally generating pressure and turnovers, have been the struggles on special teams. Gave up the 108-yarder Sunday, haven’t had a decent return all year, and Brad Wing is shaky at best both punting and holding. What is being/can be done to address this before it costs them a game?
DK: Oh, those struggles aren’t being lost here, Tom! We’re all about the Steelers’ struggles while winning three in a row.
Again, I kid! I kid! (Not really, but it sounds better.)
The kick coverage has been quite good for the better part of the season, and two things went wrong on the 108-yarder, both of which are fixable:
One is that Ross Ventrone was out, and Blake was seeing significant action on defense. Both those players had been excellent in that regard. They were sorely missed. And Ventrone was listed today by Tomlin as questionable, so he might be missed again Sunday.
Two is that, upon video review, some players on the Steelers’ kick coverage team were seen dancing around to the music playing on the stadium sound system while preparing for that Jacoby Jones return. Blake apparently was one of them. Tomlin called that action ‘ridiculous’ and vowed ‘that won’t happen again.’
And actually, I’ll throw in a third: Why were the Steelers’ coaches kicking to Jones?
Wondered about this aloud earlier in the same game.
JJ: If it’s not too early to evaluate, besides Patric Hornqvist, which new player do you think has had the biggest impact in the first 10 games? (Or do you not think he has had the biggest impact?)
DK: No, no, exempting Hornqvist was a shrewd move on your part. Would have resulted in a two-word answer and little more. He’s been that good, that influential.
I’ll go with Steve Downie.
I wasn’t wild about the signing when it occurred, for the same reasons I poked fun at the Flyers when they added him a year ago. There’s a risk that comes with a loose cannon, and you never know when it’ll turn around and point in your own face. Downie still shows that on occasion, even with all the caretaking he gets — on and off the ice — from Tocchet.
But Downie as is, I think, has emboldened the Penguins and their stars to play to the best of their abilities against any team not wearing orange and black, and let’s not pretend that anything tops that as a priority for this franchise. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are flying on Johnston’s middle breakouts, they’re creating all over the ice, and they’re going to the hard areas again.
In an intangible way, I’d give Downie a partial shout for that.
Senor Moneyshot: What’s the real story on Malkin missing training camp? Seems suspicious that nobody found what “injury” he had.
DK: I’m dumbfounded every time I hear from someone about some mystery related to Malkin’s injury, if only because all NHL injuries are mysteries. That’s the scenario Gary Bettman has created with all this upper-body, lower-body stuff, one that actually makes it acceptable for teams to lie to their own fans in the name of … what, do they really think opponents don’t have video and can’t track which body part on a player was hurt so they know which one to whack that night?
All NHL teams either conceal or lie about injuries. Not just the Penguins. Not just this one for Malkin. The fact that it turned into a social media free-for-all isn’t any reflection of the broader reality.
Chris B.: Seems that Pitt and Penn State could be on an ugly collision course to the Pinstripe Bowl. Am I the only one who thinks that’s a terrible way to restart the rivalry? Possibly two 6-6 teams at a neutral site as opposed to two much improved teams in Pittsburgh in 2016? Now that will be fun.
DK: No, I’ll join you in that. There will be a genuine buildup to the restart of the series in a couple years and, ideally, both programs will be a lot better than they are now. This site will focus on Chryst because I cover Pitt on a regular basis, but for the purposes of this point, it’s worth stressing that James Franklin hasn’t exactly lived up to … well, his own hype. In particular, he and his coaching staff should be outright embarrassed at what they’ve been able to get from Christian Hackenberg compared to what Bill O’Brien did. That alone has been a dagger in the Nittany Lions’ season.
But no, again, I’m with you on that. No reason either of these programs should get a bowl that draws legit headlines. Not the way they look now, for sure.
SeanE: I know your belief that the Pirates must sign Martin. But wouldn’t the Pirates be better off bringing in a cheaper defense-first catcher (to pair with Chris Stewart)and using that money to upgrade the offense in other areas and fill some rotation holes?
DK: What I’ve written, Sean, is more that the Pirates must do their actual very, very best to sign Martin, while also acknowledging that takes both parties. We’ll see how that plays out.
For a myriad of reasons, I’d rather see Martin retained. That’s the simplest path. But to consider yours, if you get a defense-first catcher, you’ve got to first theorize it’s one in the bracket of Martin, Yadier Molina and Jonathan Lucroy on that count alone. That’s rare air. Not easily found, no matter the cost. Catching defense is prioritized more than ever, and those guys aren’t hiding out in the minors as 4-A types.
Upgrading the offense means little more than upgrading first base, if you go across the Pirates’ diamond. I’m not a fan of throwing cash at that position, so I like your other idea better where it goes to starting pitching. And maybe that was part of Neal Huntington’s mindset with Liriano.
Donald Mason: Have you gotten any word on why the Dri Archer experiment has gone so badly, especially after a few preseason plays that offered lots of hope? Is it too early to deem it a bad use of a third-round draft pick?
DK: Archer hasn’t been very good, including on kick returns, in part because he clearly hasn’t accepted that it takes more than speed to get yards in the NFL. That’s the criticism I hear constantly around the Steelers’ offices. Not so much that he’s too fast for his own good, but that he doesn’t accept that there’s more to it.
On offense, it’s a little different. It’s become something of a running joke now that, when Archer is in the backfield, the Steelers are really trying to trick the defense by running it up the middle. And when the defense isn’t tricked because they’ve seen the same thing, Archer gets two yards and a spec of dust. Happened again Sunday.
If Archer doesn’t catch a pass in the open field, he isn’t going to use that speed. Simple as that.
And yes, a team that’s lacked depth in recent drafts and hasn’t invested much in corners, in particular, could ill afford to go all wacky in the third round. Or to take a clipboard-holder in the fourth-round the previous year, for that matter.
That’s all the time for this week.
Reminder that I’ll be at Starbucks on St. Peter Street in downtown St. Paul at 4 p.m. Central time for a Lunatic meet-up. If you’re in the area, by all means, come on down!