Steelers banner theives; Terrible Towel on 'top of the world'

An amusing item from the nation's capital: In what could match only the Lufthansa heist for sheer daring, the wee hour theft of a "You're in Steelers Country" banner from the backyard of a Washington D.C. home last week was caught on a surveillance camera.

The Prince of Petworth, a D.C. nieighborhood blog, picks up the narration:

Two videos of a real life crime being committed. This jerk stole my Steelers banner from my back yard. Please help identify the him, the car, his friends/accomplices and anything else that will help me catch this thief. It happened at 12:49 AM, Thursday, May 31st in Washington DC. They drove through the alley from Veazey to Warren Street then stopped, the thief jumped out and the car pulled behind my garage to wait for him to steal the banner. HELP IDENTIFY THIS THIEF AND HIS CO-CONSPIRATORS.

Please help identify this thief and his friends. A police report has been filed with the Second District station in Washington DC. This is the third time that my banner has been stolen, each time attached to my garage or house. Please email me information that will identify this criminal and his friends in the car.

Notice the banner in the top left of the screen, above the door to the house. At about the 17 second mark, the suspect appears on screen left and rips it down and walks off with it.

A second video shows the thieves making their approach.

Appropriately the crime occurred in the Cleveland Park neighborhood of the NW quadrant. 

A Terrible Towel at the Top of the World

Pictured above is United States Army Major David Rapone, an Upper St. Clair native, visiting the northenmost point of the United States -- Barrow, Alaska -- with his Terrible Towel in tow.

Stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base, in Anchorage, AK, part of Rapone's duty in the tundra is to coordinate emergency responsiveness with local, state and federal authorities (think oil spills). He flew to Barrow in order to coordinate with local emergency response officials.

Rapone notes that the high temperature on the day of his late May visit there "was 24 degrees, in the winter it averages in the negative teens," but that "those attending Allegheny College or live in Erie could live there no problem. Indeed, living in Barrow would probably be a joy as they really don't get a lot of snow up there."

He also said that "Barrow has one of two blue football fields in the nation. Yes, blue. And they are damn proud of it.  Not sure when the local high school plays there, however, as by the time football season really kicks in  it is already averaging around zero degrees. Plus, the next opponent is three hours away by snowmobile."

Apparently, they play in August, when the average high is 44 degrees. According to Wikipedia:

On August 19, 2006, the Barrow Whalers of Barrow High School played the first official football game in the Arctic against Delta Junction High School. Barrow recorded its first win two weeks later; the coaches and players celebrated the historic win by jumping into the Arctic Ocean, just 100 yd (91 m) from the makeshift dirt field.

On August 17, 2007, the Whalers football team played their first game of the season on their new artificial turf field. The historic game, attended by former Miami Dolphins player Larry Csonka, was the first live Internet broadcast of a sporting event in the United States from north of the Arctic Circle.