Post by LaMantia on Aug 4, 2005 19:40:28 GMT -5
In the summertime, the 32 teams of the National Football League establish training camps in colleges & training facilities across the nation. Only 14 camps allow fans to interact with their favorite players. The top 5 camps that are fan friendly according to many hardcore NFL fans are #5 Panthers, #4 Eagles, #3 Cardinals, #2 Packers, & #1 Steelers from St. Vincent’s College in Latrobe, Pa. On July 16th, my Mom placed 1 ticket in a raffle for an autographed Big Ben Football, NFL crap, & 4 tickets to be a guest at a day’s visit to the Steelers’s Training Camp in Latrobe. We chose to go on August 2nd, the 1st day of camp. We chose a great sunny hot humid day.
The LaMantia Family came at 10:30 a.m. & practice began at 3 p.m., but this is a chance to hang around some of the loyalist members of the Back & Gold Faithful. Once we parked the car, we went to the cathedral to make pray for the upcoming 2005 Steelers Season. By the way, the cathedral is very beautiful & huge. At the entrance of the camp, we checked out their gift shop, which is just a hot sweaty tent & their portable Great Hall, which is just a small air conditioner trailer. I bought a $15 camp T-shirt at the shop & my Family won a cap & a pennant at the Hall. In front of shop, there is a huge banner where you can write messages for the Steelers. I wrote, “Go Steelers!” like everyone else, and then I wrote, “We Need Ward!”
This was the 1st day of camp, and the Steelers’ give presents tops were anticipating on seeing their favorite players including the old & & the new like “The Bus” Jerome Bettis & the Steelers’ 2005 #1 Draft Pick, Heath Miller. In the hot summer, these old fat Pittsburghers get very angry & irritable. If one punch were drawn, there would be a riot featured on Sports Center. Finally, they let us go free to get great seats. It was like children on Christmas morning & the running of bulls combined.
Before the training session begins, hordes of people waited for their favorite players. You need to get ready & get a great spot if you want an autograph. Jeff Reed, Big Ben, Tommy Maddox, Heath Miller, Duce Staley are all very friend & are willing to give out many autograph. Jerome is extremely nice, but not an autograph giver. If you get an autograph of him, it is special.
The 3 types of people who come to training camp
1. The Public- These give presents tops are the most hardcore of the Steelers fans. The majority comes to a lot of the camp days. They have to stay long the fence & watch from there.
2. The Guests- I was in this group. They get to go beyond the fence. You get to look from the sidelines.
3. The VIPs- They are like the guests, but they get benefits like Training Day Cap & cookout after the training session.
Being on the sidelines, it is phenomenal fan experience. By the way, there was a Browns fan & Bengals fan with signs in the public area. It reminded me at a fashion show how PETA protests the fur being used for that show. Those hot sunny muggy humid days are exactly what Coach Cowher loves. I still got burns on my face. The players get $500 a week working there, and huge props go out to them.
It is cool how they work this machine. The camp is very well organized & well oiled. They all take turns. 1st string Big Ben does his throws, & then 2nd string Tommy Gun does his thing. It is all so quick without hesitation. You see Cowher with his straw cap controlling the entire operation. Randle El makes some marvelous catches, defense is whipping the crap out of the dummies, & some great scrimmage as the crowd cheered.
After the practice, I got my pictures developed. They came out pretty good, and I overheard from my Family that they could see me during the scrimmage on the news. I saw make the trip & watch the Steelers get ready for the 2005 season. After you see them, go to the DeeeeeeeeeLicious Rolling Rock Brewery Restaurant just 4 miles away from St. Vincent’s. You could meet past Steelers. The day after I went, Terry Bradshaw was there. I said, “D’oh!”
The LaMantia Family came at 10:30 a.m. & practice began at 3 p.m., but this is a chance to hang around some of the loyalist members of the Back & Gold Faithful. Once we parked the car, we went to the cathedral to make pray for the upcoming 2005 Steelers Season. By the way, the cathedral is very beautiful & huge. At the entrance of the camp, we checked out their gift shop, which is just a hot sweaty tent & their portable Great Hall, which is just a small air conditioner trailer. I bought a $15 camp T-shirt at the shop & my Family won a cap & a pennant at the Hall. In front of shop, there is a huge banner where you can write messages for the Steelers. I wrote, “Go Steelers!” like everyone else, and then I wrote, “We Need Ward!”
This was the 1st day of camp, and the Steelers’ give presents tops were anticipating on seeing their favorite players including the old & & the new like “The Bus” Jerome Bettis & the Steelers’ 2005 #1 Draft Pick, Heath Miller. In the hot summer, these old fat Pittsburghers get very angry & irritable. If one punch were drawn, there would be a riot featured on Sports Center. Finally, they let us go free to get great seats. It was like children on Christmas morning & the running of bulls combined.
Before the training session begins, hordes of people waited for their favorite players. You need to get ready & get a great spot if you want an autograph. Jeff Reed, Big Ben, Tommy Maddox, Heath Miller, Duce Staley are all very friend & are willing to give out many autograph. Jerome is extremely nice, but not an autograph giver. If you get an autograph of him, it is special.
The 3 types of people who come to training camp
1. The Public- These give presents tops are the most hardcore of the Steelers fans. The majority comes to a lot of the camp days. They have to stay long the fence & watch from there.
2. The Guests- I was in this group. They get to go beyond the fence. You get to look from the sidelines.
3. The VIPs- They are like the guests, but they get benefits like Training Day Cap & cookout after the training session.
Being on the sidelines, it is phenomenal fan experience. By the way, there was a Browns fan & Bengals fan with signs in the public area. It reminded me at a fashion show how PETA protests the fur being used for that show. Those hot sunny muggy humid days are exactly what Coach Cowher loves. I still got burns on my face. The players get $500 a week working there, and huge props go out to them.
It is cool how they work this machine. The camp is very well organized & well oiled. They all take turns. 1st string Big Ben does his throws, & then 2nd string Tommy Gun does his thing. It is all so quick without hesitation. You see Cowher with his straw cap controlling the entire operation. Randle El makes some marvelous catches, defense is whipping the crap out of the dummies, & some great scrimmage as the crowd cheered.
After the practice, I got my pictures developed. They came out pretty good, and I overheard from my Family that they could see me during the scrimmage on the news. I saw make the trip & watch the Steelers get ready for the 2005 season. After you see them, go to the DeeeeeeeeeLicious Rolling Rock Brewery Restaurant just 4 miles away from St. Vincent’s. You could meet past Steelers. The day after I went, Terry Bradshaw was there. I said, “D’oh!”