I see it as a blessing getting the opportunity to cover Saturday’s game between Pitt and Syracuse. However, as much as I love college football, and as many of you close to me know how genuinely important this game is to my life, this one felt different than any game I have ever covered.
From driving to the stadium through empty streets with no fanfare, despite this weekend’s lineup for sports in Pittsburgh showcased Pitt vs. Syracuse at noon, the Pirates vs. the St. Louis Cardinals tonight at 7:30, and the Steelers home opener against Denver on Sunday.
The lineup would be any Pittsburgh sports fans dream, however, 2020 has blunted that.
It was almost painful in some ways, nearly brought me to tears as I entered an eerily quiet Heinz Field. I always love going to a new stadium, feeling the energy and passion of the home town faithful. It’s what I love most about college football, the love, the family, the fellowship.
Usually, when you walk inside the stadium for the first time, you can sense the heart and soul of it. The colors, the noises, the smells, the smiling faces, always so inviting and hopeful. As the time ticks closer to kickoff, you feel that energy starting to build and grow and hit that early peak of the energy stock as kickoff happens. Then depending on how the night goes for the home team, it usually determines how the energy goes, as well as the closeness of the game. A close game will make you feel like you’re almost in the game. The adrenaline rushes through your veins as your heart races!
When I walked into Heinz Field, I could still feel the soul of the Stadium. However, this was the first time stepping inside, and you could feel genuine pain.
Maybe it started with the fans that traveled from near and far that are staying at my hotel. Many of them came so that they could be close by because it means that much to them. They even staged their own tailgate areas in the hotel parking lot, which would typically be sold out. Not this weekend though, the hotel is well under capacity, and the cars were even socially distant.
Going up the escalator to get to the press box, I peered out at the empty bright yellow seats. As I ascended through the levels of the stadium, I thought about those fans. It was like a punch in the gut almost. A tear started to build; it never built enough to release from my eye, as I regained my composure. They belonged here, not in a hotel parking lot 3 miles from the stadium.
I had made it to the press box doors and walked in. After walking through various twists and turns, I made it to the board, checked for my seat, and went to it. I met two members of the media that have been covering Pitt for years. After introducing myself to them, I mentioned to them that the stadium had a weird vibe. They both acknowledged that and said they had to go through that roller coaster of emotions last week at the Pitt home opener.
Though the weirdness was felt, there was a genuine level of being grateful that we have football at all. Though, it does go back to that soul of a stadium feel. You could tell from their mannerisms and conversations that went on that it wasn’t business as usual. The Pitt staff were kind and helpful as usual, complete class acts. Though, again, you could still pick up on the pain of the soul in the stadium. There wasn’t the typical “water cooler talk” at halftime, it was grabbing a boxed lunch and head back to your seat to eat it socially distanced.
As the game came to a close, people’s departure in the press box was swift for a majority. The main beat writers and media members stayed for the press conference, as they put their headphones on and linked up their Zoom’s to talk to the coaches and players. After coach Pat Narduzzi talked, a few left, wishing their fellow writers a good week and looking forward to seeing them again at the next game.
Then, as I left the stadium, there was no sign on the streets that there was even a football game that happened despite the Panthers’ win. No longer the lingering fan’s cheering and heckling their opposing fans. No smells of the grill, and sights of families playing catch as they wait for traffic to die down before heading back home. Just silence. Just the ominous feeling and reminder that everything is not business as usual. In fact, it is very far from it.
However, at the end of the day, we have football. We have kids running around on the field and chasing their dreams. So, we have gained some normality back. Adding on to this, just a little over 4 hours south, in Huntington, West Virginia, the Marshall Thundering Herd were in a battle with Appalachian State in front of fans. At one point, the announcer said on the broadcast that you could feel the energy from the fans in the stands as things heated up as the game winded down.
Cheers to that. Cheers to the day when all our stadiums get the happiness back in their souls.
Until then, we do what we must to stay the course, doing our part to be a solution and curb the spread in whatever way we can. One day we will return our stadiums to their true identity. One day, the sights, smells, and sounds will be all too familiar again. Though that day is not today, we must press on.
