Onorato: Hate makes waste. Now it is a priority! OMG, what about 3 years as ACE and before?

Give me a break.

Onorato's arena goal: Deal finished by Feb. Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato vowed yesterday to make keeping the Penguins in Pittsburgh his 'number one priority' heading into the new year and would like to have an arena deal completed under Plan B in two months or less.

This is too little too late in the minds of the hockey fans. Now the ACE (Allegheny County Executive) is in a scramble or else he'll have his head on a -- slapshot out of office just as the Pens puck out of town too.

I think that Dan did too little in the past.

I also think that Dan needs to think again about what really should be done now that we have a new opportunity, a new dawn, a new year.

The best place for the Pens is not in the vicinity of the existing Civic Arena.

You don't want to negotiate until after you've set a vision. You want to establish the goals. You want to have shared priorities understood. You want to overcome objections -- as a good sales person wants. You want to qualify the buyer. You want to get on the same page.

Dan has done nothing in these areas.

Mario is hacked off at the leaders in Pittsburgh for good reason. To jump into a 'negotiation' phase now -- is more sillyness.

Dan is ready to put his offer on the table. That's putting your word out before you think it through.

Time is on the side of Pittsburgh. Time is not of the essence. It was Mario who burned the past six months. Mario is the one who is not returning phone calls as they wait until they see if there is any hope with an IOC objection and legal challenge to the decision of last week.

The lease for the civic arena needs to be extended one season. That offer needs to be put out there for all to see.

The Penguins don't need to be released from its contract with IOC, the Penguins need to break their silence. The Penguins are not slaves to the IOC.

The slots parlor should alter the idea of a new amphitheater next to Heinz Field. That deal should be terminated. Luke should step up and say, 'think again' about that.

And finally, there is a word from Michael Lamb. Where and when did he put in his $.02? Does he have a web site now? Ho, ho, ho... Did Santa bring him a voice?