Friday, August 15, 2003

By Jeffrey Cohan, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Alco Parking President Merrill Stabile is not the biggest fan of No Bad Ju Ju, the rock band that will play outside PNC Park after Saturday's 12:35 p.m. Pirates game.

"My advice is that no one stay for the concert," Stabile said yesterday.

It's not that Stabile thinks No Bad Ju Ju sounds better in the recording studio than in live performances.

Rather, with the Steelers playing a 7:30 p.m. preseason game at Heinz Field that same day, Stabile simply wants Pirates fans to leave the North Shore as soon as the baseball game ends.

"If they don't, it will be a traffic snarl for everyone," said Stabile, whose company operates the 6,000 parking spaces around PNC Park and Heinz Field.

Naturally, No Bad Ju Ju is hoping baseball fans ignore Stabile.

"It's going to be a quick show after the game," promised Mark Matteo, a guitarist and vocalist for the band. "We're going to be out of there by 4 or 4:30. It's going to give people plenty of time to park [for the Steelers game]."

Saturday will be the third time since PNC Park and Heinz Field opened that the Pirates and Steelers have played on the same day. Similar baseball-football doubleheaders in 2001 and 2002 went fairly smoothly.

But the No Bad Ju Ju show, part of a post-Pirates game concert series on Saturdays, adds a new wrinkle.

"All I can say is, the Pirate fans should go home immediately after the game and the Steeler fans should not come early, by any means," Stabile said. "Those Steeler fans who want to come in seven hours ahead of game time, this is not the day to do it."

Neither Steelers nor Pirates officials expect the concert to create traffic jams, however.

"I think there is enough time difference between the two games it won't be a problem," said Steelers spokesman Ron Wahl.

"[The concert] is going to be enjoyable for people coming to the Steeler game," said Patty Paytas, the Pirates vice president of communications.

The Pirates are expecting a crowd of 27,000 for Jack Wilson Bobblehead Day and a game against the sausage-racing Milwaukee Brewers, while the Steelers are expecting the usual 60,000-plus for a preseason game against their intrastate rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles.

Stabile warns fans planning to attend both games that they will be charged twice for parking, the $7-to-$15 Pirates rate and the $20 Steelers rate, even if they don't move their cars between games.

"We're going to check for that," Stabile said. "If they want to stay for both, they're going to have to pay for both."

Despite the turmoil in the ranks of the city police, the usual number of on-duty and off-duty officers is expected to be on hand Saturday to direct traffic.

While the Pirates and Steelers won't share another home date this year, the baseball team and Pitt Panthers will both play on the North Shore on Sept. 13. On that Saturday, the Panthers will kick off at 12:30 p.m. and the Pirates at 7 p.m.

E-mail this story   Print this story