Matt Brisley 🇺🇸🚒🌶🖤💛

Vol. FF since 1984. US Navy Vet. County Fire Coord since 2006. BF to Heather, Father to Glenn & Katie. Love golf, fishing the Pirates, & Steelers.

[Matt Brisley 🇺🇸🚒🌶🖤💛 @matbriz]

@NoLieWithBTC I’ve loved watching 60 minutes over the years. Shame what’s going on lately. Former viewer now.

[Mike Mayer @mikemayer22]

10 years ago today, “Our ass is in the jackpot.”

[Matt Brisley 🇺🇸🚒🌶🖤💛 @matbriz]

Paying an @MLBTV subscription every year for the @MLB to keep bouncing games around on @AppleTV and @peacock is absolute malarky 🐂 💩

[Pittsburgh Pirates @Pirates]

53/162.

📺 @peacock
📻 @937theFan

[Matt Brisley 🇺🇸🚒🌶🖤💛 @matbriz]

@edvb27 @Monica55dzrh We have 3 in our driveway 🙌🏻

[Matt Brisley 🇺🇸🚒🌶🖤💛 @matbriz]

@IceBanshee_ Mine has sidewalks. No stoplights, highways, overpasses…….

[U.S. Navy @USNavy]

⚓📰 #USNAVY UPDATE: USS Cooperstown (LCS 23) Departs Mayport for Deployment

MAYPORT, Fla. – The Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Cooperstown (LCS 23) got underway from Naval Station Mayport May 16, 2026, to begin operations in support of its scheduled deployment. Cooperstown assumed duties previously executed by the Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Wichita (LCS 13) in support of USNORTHCOM’s border security objectives.

“Today is a defining moment for every Sailor aboard this outstanding warship,” said Cmdr. Jesse DuParc, commanding officer, USS Cooperstown. “From commissioning day in New York City to today, the crew of Cooperstown has trained relentlessly and is prepared to defend the homeland, protect freedom of the seas and answer the call of every mission assigned. We carry with us not only the support and love of our families, our Navy and our country, but also the legacy of the 70 ‘Baseball Hall of Famers’ who served this nation honorably in uniform — men who left the game they loved to answer a higher calling. We are honored to represent them and carry their spirit forward because, after all, we are America’s Away Team.”

[FirefighterCloseCall @TheSecretList]

DAD OF MAINE FIREFIGHTER: “MY SON FACES A LONG ROAD TO RECOVERY: 
https://t.co/EeHtDSjqdv @WABI_TV5 @MaineVillager @IAFC_VCOS @NVFC @IAFFofficial #maine #firefighter

[Matt Brisley 🇺🇸🚒🌶🖤💛 @matbriz]

@broookenicole21 Someday I’ll get to that show. There always seems to be something going on. 🔥🚒

[Matt Brisley 🇺🇸🚒🌶🖤💛 @matbriz]

@ScottvanLaer @constantino @SmullenNewYork This guy is just the absolute worst. He carries on like a toddler. Cosplayer.

[Matt Brisley 🇺🇸🚒🌶🖤💛 @matbriz]

@lippyent 8 miles from the hospital, 1/4 mile from the house

[Clint Hurdle @ClintHurdle13]

I kept this story in my pocket for a long time....

In Pittsburgh, September 15th is Roberto Clemente Day.

Every year the whole organization fans out across the city. It's like Christmas. Roberto's family is there, Vera and the boys.

My first year as manager was 2011. We celebrated. We shook hands and moved on.
We didn't win.

19 consecutive losing seasons.

2012 rolls around. Same day, same celebration. We had another losing season, our 20th consecutive.

After the ceremony, Roberto Jr. walked over.

"My mom wants to talk to you."

We went into the dugout. Me, Vera, and her three sons.

She spoke in Spanish. I played four years of winter ball so I understood enough. She wasn't angry, but she was passionate. And I kept hearing Roberto's number come up.

Roberto Jr. translated.

"My mother wants you to know that there cannot be a 21st losing season. That was Roberto's number. It would be a disgrace to his legacy."

She was staring right at me.

Before I could even think about what to say, words came out of my mouth:
"I promise you, Vera. That won't happen."

Roberto Jr. looked at me and said, "You made my mom a promise. I hope you can keep it."

I said, "I hope I can keep it too."

I didn't tell my coaches. I didn't tell the players. I told my wife. That was it.

The next year, 2013, we broke the consecutive seasons losing streak. Ended it at 20.

On Roberto Clemente Day that September, Vera came walking across that field.

And I probably got one of the most meaningful hugs I've ever received in my life.

The players did all the heavy lifting. I just got the hug.

Some promises are worth making before you know if you can keep them.

@Pirates

[Matt Brisley 🇺🇸🚒🌶🖤💛 @matbriz]

❤️❤️

[Adirondack Contrarian @AdkContrarian]

Constant-whining, the rodeo clown @constantino asking for the public's trust to be #ny21 Congressman, told a questioner that he needed “get beat up a little bit.” This race is for big boys, not petulant children. It's past your bedtime, child. https://t.co/J34GOswOK0 #maga #trump

[Matt Brisley 🇺🇸🚒🌶🖤💛 @matbriz]

@BrianforNY21 @constantino Temu Trump❤️😂 I love it 🥰

[NFFF @NFFF_News]

We remember and honor the following firefighters who lost their lives in the line of duty on May 13. We also recognize their sacrifice and that of their families. Search for the Roll of Honor profiles of these firefighters on our website. #FireHero

[Baltimore County Police Department @BaltCoPolice]

Tonight, a police officer responded to a call about a stranded dog on a rooftop in Dundalk. Read more here: https://t.co/rDqfisrFrT

[Matt Brisley 🇺🇸🚒🌶🖤💛 @matbriz]

That’s some cool stuff right there ⚾️ @Pirates #pittsburgh #pirates

[Joe Block @joe_block]

7th time a Pirates pitcher 10+ SO, 0 runs, 0 walks (since 1901)

Paul Skenes has thrown 3 of them

[Matt Brisley 🇺🇸🚒🌶🖤💛 @matbriz]

@edvb27 @SureBetFusion Rollie

[Matt Brisley 🇺🇸🚒🌶🖤💛 @matbriz]

@IceBanshee_

[The Darkpulse Files  𝕏 @Scout_503]

This is getting wild now 👀

So I started looking at the ballroom after digging into the Reflecting Pool yesterday. I’m starting to see some patterns.

The playbook works like this. Pick your contractor personally. Invoke “Unusual and Compelling Urgency” to skip competition. Use the 250th anniversary as the justification. Inflate the price. Don’t disclose who’s actually doing the work. Repeat.

Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. $13.1M. No bid. No competition. Justification: “Unusual and Compelling Urgency” 250th anniversary. Contractor: Atlantic Industrial. Zero prior federal contracts. No pool or monument experience. The subcontractor doing the actual work doesn’t appear anywhere in the justification documents.

Now the ballroom. Trump personally selected Clark Construction to build his $400M White House ballroom. Clark is already on site with people and equipment. Then NPS quietly awards Clark a separate $17.4M no-bid contract to fix two fountains in Lafayette Park directly across the street. Never posted publicly. Never competitively bid. The justification? Clark was already nearby. That’s it.

The original estimate for those fountains in 2022 was $3.3M. The consultant who wrote that estimate said the administration literally took his cover page and added millions with no itemization. Final price: $17.4M. Same urgency exemption. Same 250th anniversary justification.

Both contracts bypassed competitive bidding. Both used the same urgency exemption. Both cited the same 250th anniversary. Both awarded to contractors with direct Trump connections. The Lafayette Park contract was never posted in public federal spending databases. The Reflecting Pool contract was posted but the subcontractor doing the primary work appears nowhere in the paperwork.

Combined taxpayer bill: over $30 million. Combined competitive bids received: zero. This urgency exemption has been used in less than 1% of NPS contracts over the past decade. They used it twice in the same year. For birthday decorations.

Senator Blumenthal is already demanding answers on the Lafayette Park contract by May 15th. The Reflecting Pool has a Cabinet secretary photographed on site and a subcontractor with an expired federal registration that isn’t mentioned anywhere in the contract documents.

This isn’t two separate stories. This is one story. The 250th anniversary isn’t just a celebration. It’s a billing mechanism. And taxpayers are footing the bill with zero say in who got the work or why..