Why leave early?
PITTSBURGH -- So the William Penn Tavern near the hotel had the NFL Ticket, and I got to watch the Bills. Yeah me! Man, are they horrible. (How was that ride home from Toronto, Joe and Lori? Joyful times, I bet, huh?) But on to the point:
Obviously, with the exception of me and some kid from Miami who goes to Pitt, everyone in there was watching Steelers-Cowboys. The game was fairly interesting, so I figured I'd get another soda when the Bills game mercifully ended and stay to watch the finish. The Steelers rallied for two touchdowns in 24 seconds with two minutes to go and earned a 20-13 win.
The place, filled with Jerome Bettis, Troy Polamalu and Ben Roethlisberger jerseys, went bonkers. (Gee, it sure looks like fun when a city's NFL team wins.) But you know who didn't party? The four people who entered the bar with about eight minutes left. The four people who had gone to the game and left early.
There they were, bundled up in winter gear and Steelers garb, with their team staging an implausible comeback, and they looked like someone had stolen their Christmas money. They spent dough on tickets (I'm guessing there weren't too many freebies floating around for two of the league's premier franchises), yet they didn't get to enjoy the moment fans will be talking about for the rest of the season.
Why? To beat the traffic? I just don't see any reason to bolt. I remember my friend Kenny left a Sabres-Lightning game early, and all he missed was Thomas Vanek's hat trick in the final couple of minutes that gave Buffalo a 4-3 overtime win. Just sit in your seats people!
Unless it's the Bills. No hope there.
---John Vogl
