Speaking of highly anticipated Sports
Steelers Camp 2005!!!!!
This is something we Ambroses look forward to all summer long. Ever since Crispian was almost 3 we have gone just about every year, even when I was out to there pregnant and last year, of which there is a picture here. We used to refer to Myles in his 36 jersey as the Mini-Bus.
Sometime in the next few weeks at least once (and after Randy and I get all of our stuff moved out of Mississippi), some number of Ambrose. Callihans, and Bishes will make our annual pilgrimage to St. Vincent in Latrobe. Too bad Cardinal Arinze's trip wasn't timed with Steelers Camp. He is really missing out on the best St. Vincent has to offer.
The training camp experience has changed a lot since Kate and I made our first trip to Latrobe in August in 1987. St. Callistus had a seminarian for the summer who took a bunch of us to Latrobe to tour the Basilica and watch the Steelers work out. I remember we sat on a hil, among maybe 30 other people, watching this pretty low-key workout session that happened to be the Steelers. There were no TV cameras, no venders, no tents, no "Steelers Experience." Just a small collection of fans, some merely curious, a handful the rabid older ladies (the most devoted Steelers fans are always 60ish women with bouffants), and us from St. Callistus. After the workout, the Steelers walked up the hill from the field and stopped to give autographs. I hope Kate still has somewhere that autograph book. I remember she got Dwayne Woodruff's.
When I went back with Crispian 15 years later, I noticed it was completely different. The parking had to be directed. There were more than hundreds of people, with some sort of VIP tent barbeque thing down on the field. The path the players took up to the showers after the workout was roped-off. If you wanted autographs or pictures, you needed to push your way through. I was amazed at the size of the crowds compared to what I remembered.
Two years later, camp was completely insane. In addition to more parking directed by student workers and a new residence hall (Rooney Hall) paid for by the Rooneys to give their players decent rooms in which to live in August, there was the addition of kids activities called the Steelers Experience. Tons of inflatable football-themed games. Autographs? Fugettaboutit! If you didn't go to the ropes the minute campus opens up at 12:30, when the Steelers go in for their showers at 5:00 you won't get to see as much as a waterboy.
There have been a few instances of player-magic with Crispian there. One was two years ago, when Crispian saw his then-favorite player Tommy "Gun" Maddox in the workout room after the open practice. Not many people noticed, but Crispian did, so he waved at him. Maddox waved back. I hope he got to see how excited Crispian was that Tommy Maddox acknowledged him. I hope it made his day like it made Crispian's week.
The dark cloud this year, though, that hangs over the training camp is what will happen with Hines Ward. If, after letting Plax go in free agency, they cannot reach a suitable agreement with Ward, we may witness the second or third dumbest roster move the Steelers have made in their history. The first? Not drafting local candidate for sainthood Dan Marino in 1983.
This is something we Ambroses look forward to all summer long. Ever since Crispian was almost 3 we have gone just about every year, even when I was out to there pregnant and last year, of which there is a picture here. We used to refer to Myles in his 36 jersey as the Mini-Bus.
Sometime in the next few weeks at least once (and after Randy and I get all of our stuff moved out of Mississippi), some number of Ambrose. Callihans, and Bishes will make our annual pilgrimage to St. Vincent in Latrobe. Too bad Cardinal Arinze's trip wasn't timed with Steelers Camp. He is really missing out on the best St. Vincent has to offer.
The training camp experience has changed a lot since Kate and I made our first trip to Latrobe in August in 1987. St. Callistus had a seminarian for the summer who took a bunch of us to Latrobe to tour the Basilica and watch the Steelers work out. I remember we sat on a hil, among maybe 30 other people, watching this pretty low-key workout session that happened to be the Steelers. There were no TV cameras, no venders, no tents, no "Steelers Experience." Just a small collection of fans, some merely curious, a handful the rabid older ladies (the most devoted Steelers fans are always 60ish women with bouffants), and us from St. Callistus. After the workout, the Steelers walked up the hill from the field and stopped to give autographs. I hope Kate still has somewhere that autograph book. I remember she got Dwayne Woodruff's.
When I went back with Crispian 15 years later, I noticed it was completely different. The parking had to be directed. There were more than hundreds of people, with some sort of VIP tent barbeque thing down on the field. The path the players took up to the showers after the workout was roped-off. If you wanted autographs or pictures, you needed to push your way through. I was amazed at the size of the crowds compared to what I remembered.
Two years later, camp was completely insane. In addition to more parking directed by student workers and a new residence hall (Rooney Hall) paid for by the Rooneys to give their players decent rooms in which to live in August, there was the addition of kids activities called the Steelers Experience. Tons of inflatable football-themed games. Autographs? Fugettaboutit! If you didn't go to the ropes the minute campus opens up at 12:30, when the Steelers go in for their showers at 5:00 you won't get to see as much as a waterboy.
There have been a few instances of player-magic with Crispian there. One was two years ago, when Crispian saw his then-favorite player Tommy "Gun" Maddox in the workout room after the open practice. Not many people noticed, but Crispian did, so he waved at him. Maddox waved back. I hope he got to see how excited Crispian was that Tommy Maddox acknowledged him. I hope it made his day like it made Crispian's week.
The dark cloud this year, though, that hangs over the training camp is what will happen with Hines Ward. If, after letting Plax go in free agency, they cannot reach a suitable agreement with Ward, we may witness the second or third dumbest roster move the Steelers have made in their history. The first? Not drafting local candidate for sainthood Dan Marino in 1983.
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