The ToonSeum and the National Cartoonists Society got together tonight with a VIP event to kick off the Pittsburgh convention, the launch of a weekend that includes the Pittsburgh Cartoon Arts Festival on Sunday. As part of the gathering, ToonSeum leader Joe Wos honored Jeannie Schulz (above), widow of "Peanuts" creator Charles M. Schulz, with the ToonSeum's Nemo Award for her support of cartooning and exhibitions like the one now at the Pittsburgh museum -- the first ever showing of original works by all 66 Reuben Award winners as Cartoonist of the Year.

The works on display include a couple of original "Calvin & Hobbes" cartoons like the one below, a gift by the reclusive cartoonist to Charles Schulz.

***** Yesterday Issac Redman talked about his approach to 2013, which included a change in offseason training and dieting. Today, I asked him specifics about how it was different to work with trainer Ron Jones in Tampa, Florida, which he said he got in shape for before he even started training, because he said, "I knew he was going to kill me."

How did you change your diet?

"I cut out the fast food – I was eating a lot of junk, pizza. I'm from near Philadelphia so I'd be eating cheesesteaks whenever I go home, so [now] I eat a lot of salad, chicken, fish and I stay on that. I might get a steak on Friday – steak's pretty good for you so I might get that once a week, but I've pretty much turned into a chicken Caesar salad guy."

Was that transition difficult?

"It is. I tried to make sure that I ate a lot of things that I like. It wasn't really that hard – I mean I love those cheesesteaks and things like that its kind of hard to not get that, but I love baked chicken and I can cook, so I make it the way I like it. So it's not as hard. I like salads. I just try to stick with it and stay away from people that's even eating that stuff – I can't go to my mom's house because she's always frying foods."

Is the trick to eat less or eat differently?

It's eating less and different at the same times. I try to break the portions down and eat about five times a day, smaller portions, and the weight stops dropping fast.

What about the workouts?

"We start off, maybe one day we'll go on the field and I'll pull a weight on a sled, I run with the parachute, I do a bunch of agility drills, one time I had a bunch of chains wrapped around me [while] running routes, I do sprints with the parachute, I have bands strapped around my thigh area because I didn't like my knee drive, so that helped with me getting my knees up, being able to get up over top of tackles and get my feet down on the ground faster. Some days we'd run on the beach, do agility on the beach, running sand hills. A whole bunch of stuff. And after two weeks, I could see the difference.

"It was intense. I've never trained like that, ever. It was like old school training. His motto was 'bringing old school training back.' It was that old school, getting' grimy – nothing pretty about it, just out there working hard."

***** Rookie running back Le'Veon Bell (highlights above) is drawing a media throng whenever he stops to talk, and today was no exception. Some of what he said:  

What does he think of an RB-by-committee approach to an offense?

"Running back by committee is always fine, I did that at Michigan State. I ran by committee and one year, I was the guy. I'm able to play in both scenarios, whatever they may be. I'm ready for anything. I'm just ready to go out here and compete."

Would he be better as the feature back?

"I feel like any running back would. I mean just being in a rythym – the more carries you get, the more feel you get for a defense, the more rythm you get in the game, so of course that would be the case if you get the ball more times."

How much time has he put in with the playbook?

A lot. I keep my head in the play book, especially when I'm here, when I go back to the apartment I might chill out and take a little break from it but I always keep my head in there, I'm watching film, that's one thing I like doing -- I just like watching football in general anyway, I just throw in a game and watch it. Maybe not breaking it down but just watching how the game is played always helped me out. ... My first time seeing the playbook, I was like 'whoa' but I'm starting to pick up on everything – I didn't mess up on any assignments the last three days ... I'm picking up on everything.

What did he think of being compared to Eddie George by Todd Haley at the draft?

"He did that?  He compared me to Eddie George? ... I guess I'm more of a similar running style to him. I'm not saying I'm an Eddir George, but I'm a taller, a slimmer type of guy. I don't know. I guess my running style is comparable but that's the first time I'm hearing that."

So who does he run like?

"I really don't think I run like anybody. I'm kind of a balanced runner. Im a bigger guy, but I don't look at myself as a bruiser. I don't look at myself as a scat back either. I'm just kind of a balanced guy. I'm a bigger guy who can make moves. I can get tough yardage and catch the ball out of the backfield. There's a lot of things I bring to the game. I don't really emulate somebody else's running style. I just try to get my own. Take little bits and pieces of everybody's game – players that I used to watch and I try to put it in my game."

***** Finally, the social media of the week, courtesy of numbers 84 & 24. That's Rabbi Anotonio Brown on top, wearing his Steeler-themed Yarmulke in a picture he posted on Facebook, and below that the inimitable Ike Taylor on the right throwin' up deuces with 80-year-old Ambassador "Papa" Dan Rooney. 

With the Canucks firing Alain Vigneault as head coach yesterday, Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma became the sixth most tenured head coach in the NHL.

The ten most tenured head coaches in the NHL:

Note:

-It's kind of jarring to see that only nine current coaches were hired before the start of this decade.

(Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images)