Home >  Sports >  Steelers

Wednesday, September 19, 2001

Compiled by Ed Bouchette

Steelers vs. Bills, 1 p.m. Sept. 30, Ralph Wilson Stadium, Buffalo, N.Y. TV: KDKA. Radio: WDVE-FM (102.5), WBBG-AM (970).

Some fans paid a lot of money for what might be a meaningless game between the Steelers and Cleveland Browns, rescheduled for Jan. 6. The game originally was the Heinz Field opener, scheduled for Sunday night. Tickets were going for as much as $450 apiece through at least one ticket broker advertising in the Post-Gazette classified section. Prices have been reduced to $275 by the broker for the top seats. End zone seats that had been selling for $175 are down to $110.

Brokers' ticket prices for the new Heinz Field opener, Oct. 7 against Cincinnati, have risen, but they're not yet in the range of the original opener that was postponed because of last week's terrorist attacks on the United States. Tickets for the Oct. 7 game are priced from $150 to $350.

Plenty of young, wealthy men in the Steelers' locker room took a big hit to their portfolios when the stock market plunged Monday. What normally would have been a huge topic among the players was rarely mentioned after the bigger news of a week ago.

"I think I'm like a lot of guys," OT Wayne Gandy said. "Just put on your helmet and ignore it. You kind of expected it after what happened."

G Alan Faneca, 24, wasn't worried because he had no plans to pull anything out of the stock market.

"I haven't really called my financial advisor," he said. "I know I'm not going to sell a lot and take a hit. I'm going to stick with it and fight through it like most of America is going to do, I assume."

The Steelers plan to take a chartered airplane to Buffalo for their next game, as they normally do. However, a bus can travel to Buffalo in four hours and some players might feel better going that way. The team normally takes a 2 1/2-hour bus trip to Cleveland, but it has always flown to Buffalo in the past.

LB Jason Gildon, the captain of the defense, said the issue has not been discussed, but it's possible it will be.

"The closer we get to game time and take into account what's going on around us, we'll be able to make that decision. Right now, we really don't know the feelings of the team as far as flying's concerned. We really haven't gone around and asked these guys how they feel. If we have to do that, then that's something we have to do. If it comes out the majority of the team really isn't comfortable with flying right now, I think we'll have to address it."

Tickets are still available for the Steelers' Sept. 30 game in Buffalo. They can be purchased by calling 1-877-228-4257 or through the Bills' Web site at http://www.buffalobills.com/.