What's That Spell? CENTRAL

I miss Central Catholic. That's not a statement that anybody who knows me well would EVER have expected me to make several years ago, but I've been finding that it's more and more true as time goes by. I miss the camaraderie that comes with spending four years with 800 guys, the associations that become friendships that become brotherhoods and fellowships. The traditions and formality that soon become everyday routine, the sense of pride you get from being a Central student, the "Central mystique" that sounds crazy at first, but turns out to be truth. I miss it all.

Most of all, though, I miss the football games. At the same time that the leaves begin to change and the weather begins to cool in Pittsburgh, other things happen. High school stadium lights click on, grills get fired up...and the most fanatic student section in football suits up and invades the stadiums of Quad-A schools everywhere. Central doesn't have a home stadium; they use CMU's field for their one or two home games a year. Thus, the rest are away...but they don't seem like it. The Central Catholic student section is legendary around the Pittsburgh area for their massive turnout and absolute insanity. Rival fans (Woodland Hills, Penn Hills, Gateway, etc) absolutely despise us, because we invade their stadiums and, more often than not, beat the hell out of them in their own house. Some of the best memories I have of my four years at Central have come from football games (the bullhorn at Woodland Hills, almost getting shot at Penn Hills, the epic tailgate in Central's parking lot before the game at CMU, the comeback at Heinz Field for the WPIAL Championship, collapsing the fence at Hersheypark after the State Championship win...) and I really wish I could go back and relive them.