When the schedule for the San Diego Chargers was released earlier this year, I circled November 16. I always try to see a handful of Chargers’ games on the East Coast and November 16 featured my beloved Chargers at the Pittsburgh Steelers.
I called my classmate John Chapas, who lives in Pittsburgh and is a partner at Reed Smith, and asking him to secure tickets. John, being the gracious host he is, said no problem. I also remember thinking about what the weather would be like in Pittsburgh in mid-November. Having been around Charlottesville weather for so long, I thought perhaps mid-40s in Pittsburgh since the weather in Charlottesville during that time of year is usually mid-50s.
So on Thursday, November 15, I packed my car and headed north.
Pittsburgh is the city of 1,000 bridges. It sits at the intersection of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers and is known colloquially as the “Steel City” because the city’s economy was historically built on the steel industry. Today, Pittsburgh’s economy has diversified away from just steel and features companies focused on healthcare, technology, and financial services. Pittsburgh is home to some of the country’s most recognizable companies: Heinz, Alcoa, US Steel and PNC Financial Services. In fact, we have several alumni who are employed by these great companies, including Barbara Jeremiah ’77 who is Executive Vice President of Corporate Development at Alcoa.
I had the opportunity to visit with several alumni during my visit to Pittsburgh. The highlight was a lunch with Barbara Bower ’84 of K&L Gates, Brendan Stuhan ’03 of Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney, John Chapas ’96 and Tonya Sulia Goodman ’00 of Reed Smith. I also got to see my old classmate Dina Johnson ’96, who just relocated to Pittsburgh with her family from New York City.
After spending Saturday with my cousin Sam who is Associate Food Technologist of Condiments & Sauces at Heinz, I woke up on Sunday morning ready for the Chargers/Steelers game. I bundled up in my Chargers gear and met up with Sam and John. As we settled into our seats at Heinz Field, the gray sky above started spitting small flakes of snow. Shortly thereafter, it turned into a blizzard. My thoughts (and hope) for temperatures in the mid-40s was replaced by a desire to simply stay dry and warm. At one point, so much snow had accumulated on the bill of my cap that I turned to John to say something and basically pummeled him in the face with flying snow.
I was hopeful that the Chargers would be able to pull out the win (especially since they made me watch them in the snow), but they lost 11-10. Next year, I won’t be so quick to pull the trigger on a Chargers game north of D.C. in November. I’m thinking Miami or Tampa would be a better venue that time of the year.
(ESPN photo)
