Priorities on the Sports Page

Last night, Lisa and I went to the Stillers preseason game against the cross-state Iggles, compliments of a couple in the church. They're season ticket holders and weren't able to make the game, so they gave us their tickets. When we agreed to accept them, we had no idea where they were. Turns out, the seats were 2 rows off the field in the corner of the end zone -- the corner that the Steelers' tunnel from the locker room comes out. So we were about 20 feet away from the players during introductions. That was cool. The Steelers won 16-10 (I know, it's meaningless), and Jeff Reed kicked a 50 yard FG right in front of us.

As we left the game, we called Chip, and he alerted us that the Pirates were locked in a 0-0 game in the 10th inning against the Phillies. So we turned on the radio as we got into the car and listened to what turned out to be a 2-0, 12 inning victory by the Bucs. They won the game as we pulled into our driveway -- perfect timing! Big sports night in Pittsburgh.

So the Steelers win a meaningless preseason game 16-10. It wasn't all that exciting, and nothing big happened. The Pirates win a regular season game in the 12th inning, 2-0. Which one do you think will be the lead story in the sports section of the paper the next morning? If you're from Pittsburgh, you probably guessed the Steelers, and you guessed correctly. There's a huge photo of rookie Rashard Mendenhall of the Steelers on the front page, and the headline "Steelers Start Fast." Then, at the bottom of the page, there's a one line strip that reads, in small print, "Pirates top Phillies in 12 innings, 2-0. Story page C-7."


Yes, football has taken over, and nothing the Pirates do can make them more important than even high school football from this point on. It's sad, because I love baseball, but it's also exciting because it means football season's coming! The Steelers are less than a month away from starting, college football starts at the end of THIS month, and high school football is creeping closer by the day. Lisa and I are pumped! Being in a new area of Western PA, we've got new HS football teams to learn about and watch. It's mostly AAA schools around here -- Belle Vernon, Jeannette, Greensburg CC, Yough, Charleroi, Elizabeth-Forward. Our weekends will look something like this: Friday -- travel to best HS football matchup of the week in our area; Saturday -- watch college football all day long while doing things around the house (we're back in Big Ten country!); Sunday -- Church and then watch the Steelers at home, where they're always on!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!