Former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Lynn Swann cut quite an impressive figure over the weekend at the Republican State Committee's fall meeting. This, according to a lobbyist who attended the Harrisburg Hilton event but asked to remain anonymous.

Swann is one of four GOP candidates looking to face incumbent Democrat Ed Rendell, an avid Eagles fan, in next year's governor's race.

Swann's unannounced candidacy seems to be gaining momentum, even though he hasn't made any public decision about running. Though he's formed an exploratory committee — it's called Team 88 in honor of the number he wore in his playing days — testing the political waters is probably a tough call. Swann would have to give up his high-paying sports-announcing gig. Swann is currently a college football commentator for ABC Sports, and he would have to resign if he ran. (Meanwhile, Rendell's still chatting away on Comcast post-Eagles-game shows.)

Other GOP gubernatorial hopefuls in attendance were former Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Bill Scranton Jr., Dauphin County state Sen. Jeffrey Piccola and businessman Jim Panyard.

"People were interested in meeting Lynn Swann," said the lobbyist. "He's a fresh face. The old guard will probably go with Scranton but I think Swann has a good chance."

By parlaying fame into political clout, the ex-jock must be hoping for an Arnold Schwarzenegger-like win. "But not on such a big scale," replied the pundit.

Swann's a celeb of sorts among Steelers fans and others in the western part of the state thanks to his noteworthy football career. He was elected to the College Hall of Fame in 1993, the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2002. He is currently plying his fame at county fairs and barbecues around the state.

Why is he running now and not in 2010 when the fundraising behemoth Rendell could be finishing his second term? Republicans claim Rendell is vulnerable because he didn't veto the pay raise for House members while he cut Medicare funding. They think this is making him weaker out west than may be evident in the east.

An April 2005 Quinnipiac College poll showed Swann leading other GOP contenders with 25 percent of the electorate, followed by Scranton's 21 percent. In the poll, Rendell led each Republican by double digits in head-to-head matchups.

When the price of gas gets really high, people turn to nonpetroleum-based forms of transportation. That — along with the increase in Center City traffic, outrageous insurance rates that won't drop and the gouging by parking moguls — means more people are turning to bicycles. But this trend hasn't been entirely without its own costs.

It seems that more and more bicycles are populating the sidewalks and being very unaccommodating to those using that most ancient transportation device: the foot.

In fact, pedestrian/bicycle collisions are far too common as bicycles and pedestrians don't mix. At least not in this city where, according to Police Department spokesman Cpl. Jim Pauley, bikers on the sidewalk are violating a city ordinance and will be fined $50 if caught.

Alex Doty, executive director of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, agrees that "bikes and pedestrians don't mix.

"We are the only city with no pedestrian/bicyclist plan," says Doty. The Bicycle Coalition and the Center City District have applied for federal grants to create programs to educate cyclists on riding safely in the streets.

Committee of Seventy CEO and former editor of the Daily News Zachary Stalberg will be the featured speaker at a luncheon hosted by the 2020 Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division Friday at the bar's Center City headquarters. He'll dish on City Hall corruption, the pay raise for legislators, next year's U.S. Senate race and the 2007 mayor's race.

The Pennsylvania Society will bestow its Gold Medal upon MSNBC political host Chris Matthews at its Dec. 10 black-tie gala at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan.

Matthews, who grew up in Northeast Philly, is best-known for his nightly one-hour talk show -- Hardball with Chris Matthews. In the past, Matthews worked for Democrats; he was a speechwriter for former President Jimmy Carter, top assistant to Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill and on the staff of U.S. Sen. Edmund Muskie.

The society was founded in 1899 by prominent Pennsylvania businessmen, politicians and journalists. It meets every year in New York instead of Pennsylvania because former society member Andrew Carnegie built the Waldorf.

The Gold Medal is awarded to distinguished citizens who have made a difference in Pennsylvania. The last Philadelphian to receive the award was Horticultural Society President Jane Pepper in 1996.