Tube City Almanac

November 29, 2007

First and Way, Way Long

Category: Wild World of Sports || By Jason Togyer



Some academic football coaches can inspire their students to great things year after year, like Serra's Rich Bowen, McKeesport's George Smith, or Penn State's Joe Paterno (who, as Alert Reader Jonathan points out, apparently plans to coach until he's just a floating head in a jar).

Other coaches are like Coach Chuck Flannery, our football analyst and a guest on my radio show a few weeks ago:

Listen: "Sports Parade" with Coach Chuck Flannery (3.2 MB, MP3)

. . .

Speaking of Football: Can you take one more comment on the Steelers-Dolphins game the other night? No? Well, too bad.

WKHB's Barry Banker said Tuesday morning that "all the field needed was a fence, and it would have made a nice pigsty." That's the most accurate description I've heard yet.

In retrospect, Josh Yohe's column in Monday night's Daily News seems eerily prescient.

Yohe wrote about Gateway's heart-breaking 35-34 overtime loss to Central Catholic. Central's victory was clinched when Gateway's kicker missed a point-after-touchdown.

Wrote Yohe: "I found it peculiar that one of the best kickers in the WPIAL would have missed his target ... I suspected that the infamous Heinz Field grass had something to do with (Ryan) Lichtenstein's inability to do something that he can probably do with his eyes closed."

According to Yohe, who says he snuck out onto the field immediately after the game, the turf was so muddy, wet and uneven he had trouble walking on it, even in hiking boots.

Lichtenstein "was literally kicking on a sheet of mud and water. If the Rooneys ever grow out of this old-fashioned, traditionalist crap and install some Field Turf, it's conceivable to assume that Gateway might be the WPIAL champion today."

Of course, all that happened before the Steelers laid the sod, and God brought the deluge.

And anyway, I don't know if "woulda, coulda, shoulda" will make you Gateway Gators fans (like Dr. Bob Kelso) feel any better.

. . .

On a Related Note: Some people are saying that the WPIAL games shouldn't have been played at Heinz Field in the first place, because they damaged the turf.

To quote that great philosopher, Sherman Potter, "Horse-hockey." That field was built with taxpayer money after taxpayers specifically said they didn't want to use tax money to build it. As far as I'm concerned, any public group that wants to use Heinz Field should be allowed, from the Allegheny Intermediate Unit to the Wilmerding YMCA.

Besides, other cities play their high school football championships at the local pro stadium, including in Boston. (The difference being that the Patriots' stadium has artificial turf.)

I'm not sure we should be playing high school games at a pro stadium because I don't know if I like the message it sends. We spend so much time telling student-athletes that they should get an education, then we rush to add the trappings of pro sports to their games.

The WPIAL championships used to be played at high school stadiums. If neutral sites are necessary, then maybe the WPIAL should use smaller college stadiums (like Robert Morris' and Carnegie Mellon's) or Pittsburgh city league stadiums.

Defenders will say that playing in a WPIAL championship is the only time most students will ever get to play in a pro stadium.

True. But playing high school football is the last time they'll ever get to be a kid. I know some of them --- like Jeannette's star Terrelle Pryor --- look like adults, but they're not. We need to stop rushing them out of childhood.

And we need to stop commercializing high school football like college football was commercialized decades ago.

Oh, and the Rooneys seriously need to fix that field. "Pigsty" was generous.







Feedback on “First and Way, Way Long”

Grass takes years to root properly! When I saw them rolling new sod before the Steeler game, I knew there was trouble brewing.

Aren’t they having the same problem in Philly?

I love the Field turf. Ifwe can afford it at McKeesport High School, I’m sure the Rooneys could eat the cost.

Two solutions:

STAY OFF THE GRASS for two years (won’t happen)

or

Get the Rooneys to spend the $ (good luck)

Had they lost to Miami and subsequently missed out on play-off $, their pockets may have deepened.

I think the kids should get to play at Heinz Field. For many it will be the last game that they play and they’ll have a stroy to tell their grand kids someday.

When I was a high school hooper, my goal was ALWAYS to play in the WPIALs at the Civic Arena. I love “the Pete” where we go now (hopefully) but to me it lacks some of the luster of the big venue.

Mckeesport beating Farrel for the 1983 WPIAL at the Arena is still one of my fondest memories…..

-Paul
Paul Shelly (URL) - November 30, 2007



Well, you won’t have Dr. Canady to kick around any more; the medical staff voted to restore his privileges on Wednesday.

I’m feeling better already!
Prof. Windbag - November 30, 2007



With the exception of the soggy mess, grass is safer to play on than artificial turf. When Elizabeth-Forward school district turned a high school field into a college stadium costing residents over $1,000,000, inlcuded was artificial turf. Both the Steeler and Pirate organizations visited E.F. and begged them to stay with grass, citing less operating costs and more importantly the health of the kids’ knees and ankles. The school board decided otherwise, much to the taxpayer’s dismay. Besides, isn’t a little mud/snow part of playing football…from kids’ backyards all the way to the pros’ stadiums?
Dude from West Mifflin - December 03, 2007



Personal information

Due to abuse by a handful of people, we will no longer accept anonymous comments. You may request to use a pen name or to have your real name withheld, but you may not comment anonymously, and you must give us a verifiable email address and/or phone number.







To help block automated comment spam, we now require you to answer this silly question.



 


Remember your information?
Comment

Small print: All html tags except <b> and <i> will be removed from your comment. You can make links by just typing the url or mail-address.

Terms of Service: Tube City Community Media Inc. encourages discussion and debate, and welcomes dissenting opinions. However, the corporation cannot and will not vouch for the accuracy of comments.

Opinions expressed in the comments are those of the posters, and do not reflect those of Tube City Community Media Inc., its directors or affiliates.

Under 47 U.S.C. 230, the corporation is not legally responsible for opinions expressed in the comments. However: We reserve the right to delete comments for any or no reason, including comments that are libelous, defamatory, infringing, inappropriate or offensive. We also reserve the right to ban individuals with or without warning.

Posting a comment at www.tubecityonline.com gives the corporation a perpetual, free license to reprint or republish that comment.

Posting a comment at www.tubecityonline.com or any related site operated by Tube City Community Media Inc. implies acceptance of these terms.