Kind of a gray misty morning as we woke up and started our trek downtown for the game. The original plan was to attend the game, but, I had scrapped that plan after seeing how much tickets were going for online (approx. 4x-5x face value….it was going to be at least $800 for Christopher and I to have two tickets in peanut heaven). Thankfully (another thing I have to be thankful for!) one of Rob’s group of tailgaters decided they weren’t going to go to the game and two tickets opened up for me and the big guy…at face value!
I decided to go to Station Square and take the Gateway Clipper across; figured Christopher would enjoy that and it would probably be the best route for ‘escape’ after the game. The misty and gray started to burn off as the boat left the docks and took us over to the game.
The Fort Pitt Bridge and the West End Bridge (Civil engineering note here: Wow have they reconfigured the West End Circle approaches!)
The big ketchup bottle, as they say on ESPN. Stadium doesn’t open up until 11 am for a 1 pm game time; we arrived at about 10:20 am. That’s ok, we hiked up the river walk to the PNC Park and the Mason tailgate….Christopher had some light snacks (including bacon!) and Dad had a nice omelette (cheese, ham, onions, green peppers….can’t beat that!)
You can still see the misty grays going on here…
a panorama….
One of the best things about coming to the game was seeing all of the various pre-game activities at the stadium….Christopher enjoyed hearing the band from Boardman playing Lady Gaga outside the stadium as we walked up. This picture is from the concourse on the north side of the stadium which hosts the Coca-Cola Great Walk of Fame (or something like that..). Just a lot of Steeler photos and memorabilia.
View from our seats…..under cover (not needed today) but in the sun for the first half (should’ve brought a baseball hat). I was worried that Christopher would be cold and he was layered up but this turned out to not even come close to being a concern and his jacket spent the entire game under his chair.
A panorama….about an hour maybe before game time. Christopher had a good time checking out the pre-game warm ups (“they warm up like we do!”) and I got a kick out of the scoreboard stuff that I’m sure is just plain annoying for people who come every week but was fun for me (I really liked the two minute game ‘intro’ they did right before game time, Steeler highlights, fans talking, and shots of the ‘Burgh….one of the last images I remember was taken from the Ohio River side looking back at the city with this big CSX locomotive moving into the picture)
Christopher was seated to the left of me and wasn’t very pleased with the dude with the antenna headphones. This picture was one of the first plays of the game….
This picture was the first play of the 2nd quarter. I recall it being the pass play, but, maybe I was wrong. Anyway, the Steelers scored shortly thereafter
“2nd and 10 at OAK 16
R.Mendenhall up the middle to OAK 12 for 4 yards (R.Seymour).
3rd and 6 at OAK 12
(Shotgun) B.Roethlisberger pass short middle to M.Moore to OAK 5 for 7 yards (Q.Groves, R.Brown).
1st and 5 at OAK 5
R.Mendenhall right guard for 5 yards, TOUCHDOWN.”
I think this play was this “3rd and 9 at OAK 12 (Shotgun) J.Campbell pass incomplete short right to D.McFadden (L.Timmons).” Raiders punted, 5 plays later we scored again, and again to end the quarter. Good way to end the half.
Christopher has been focused on swear words recently; he received a master’s level course in their use during the game! The referee-ing was bizarre to be kind and just horrid at other points (we saw a record-setting game; most penalty yards by the Steelers in a game! And we still won by 32!)
The top moment was this…..“(No Huddle, Shotgun) B.Roethlisberger pass deep left to E.Sanders for 22 yards, TOUCHDOWN. Penalty on OAK-R.Seymour, Disqualification, offsetting. Penalty on PIT-C.Kemoeatu, Personal Foul, offsetting. #92 Seymour ejected from the game.” We had no idea what happened on the field; we were watching the TD celebration in the end zone and they initially eject #93 from the game. That got Tomlin to run across the field to yell at the ref to get the number right, and they eventually got the right guy, and he walked off to a chorus of boo’s and Christopher and I waving “Bye Bye!”
You suck.
Anyway, back to the swears…between the guy behind Christopher who complained about everything and anything using a wide variety of words, to the “Bullshit” chant that echoed through the stadium at times, the “Referees Suck” chant that dominated the fourth quarter, and the two guys behind us in line on the way back to the boat after the game (I mean, really, they couldn’t end one sentence without it!….Christopher just kept looking over at me…..) he certainly got an ‘ear’ full!
But, all’s well that ends well. Christopher decided Polamalu was “his guy” and followed him everywhere he went on defense in the 2nd half. This play was a big hit:
“3rd and 10 at PIT 24 (Shotgun) B.Gradkowski pass deep left intended for J.Ford INTERCEPTED by T.Polamalu at PIT 8. T.Polamalu to PIT 46 for 38 yards (J.Veldheer)”
Christopher was pretty disappointed when Troy’s day came to an end with about 5 minutes to go in the game as they put in Mundy for scrub time. I asked him when we were shopping if he wanted a jersey and he didn’t, but, at the end of the game, he wanted a white #43 that I’m pretty sure will arrive in time for the playoffs.
We left at the 2-minute warning; didn’t need to see the victory formation. Random things that Christopher liked:
- those tipping ketchup bottles as the Steelers entered the Heinz red zone. “Dad, they’re open! They’re tipping!”….
- He saw a set of Steeler Uno cards in one of the shops at the field; I said ‘no’ at the game but again, think that this will arrive on or around Dec 25. Might make a perfect Kris Kringle gift though…hmmmmm.
The ‘escape’ went well; I was on the parkway at full speed by 4:45 pm and we were on our way to Michigan. Made it back by 10:10 pm (that’s some seriously good time!).
