9/29/17

I write from my campsite in Opelika, Alabama, about 15 miles away from Jordan-Hare Stadium on the campus of Auburn University. This is the final leg of my College Football Pilgrimage Odyssey that actually began in 1970. Little did I KNOW then, that my days with the Pitt Panthers football team would be the start of my Odyssey. My high school Gladiator Football Skills permitted me to earn a 9 term Grant in Aid Scholarship with Pitt University. During my travels of 3 years, we played in majestic College Football Stadiums throughout our country.

As most alumni, I too was loyal to my university until the destruction of Pitt Stadium in 2000 to make room for a basketball arena, student housing, student fitness center, plus many offices, training rooms, and workout rooms for athletes only. My two part story covering ‘Pitt Football’-The Pederson Penalty at Pitt and Nebraska is archived in the College Sports Football section on our homepage.

After 15 plus years of witnessing the ‘Downfall of Pitt Football’ in Pitt Stadium, Three River Stadium, and Heinz Field, my yearly ‘Football Weekend’ from Henderson, NV with the Boys of Quiptown in Aliquippa, Pa changed. With my friend Greg in from Houston to watch a Thursday night game between Miami and Pitt at ‘Dismal Heinz Field’, Greg surprised me with a ‘Gift’. He had two tickets for the Temple vs Penn State Game at Beaver Stadium that Saturday in September of 2010.

 

Though I played in Beaver Stadium, the current structure had increased from around 60,000 seats to about 106,000 seats. The memories of driving and walking in the parking lot are still fresh. Fans were everywhere. The chatter and the noise added to the Tail Gating experience. However, it is always the most primitive sense that is staggered by the competing aromas of food being cooked. With such a large gathering surrounding Beaver Stadium, it dwarfed the crowd and atmosphere at Heinz Field for a Pitt Game.Read More »»»