Baby Blue

By Val Porter

As we quickly push towards the dog days of summer, hearts and minds start to turn towards Latrobe, which any Steelers fan knows means the beginning of training camp. And for those suffering through the Pirates season just to get them to the next football season, it's a date to look forward to.

Many people have a tradition of making that trip out Route 30 to training camp… almost Mecca for a Steelers fan. And those fans have tons of stories, I'm sure. Even though I've only been to a few camps, I do have one particularly entertaining story of my own.

In 1990, I was a fresh-faced kid from Clarion University, working for the summer at WDVE as an intern for Scott Paulsen and Jim Krenn and the DVE Morning Show. I had become a huge Steelers fan, after watching just about every game with my Dad, and it's from him that I learned some of the ins and outs of football.

The season before my internship, I became a huge Merril Hoge fan. I watched his every move every game. So when I found out the Morning Show was going to do a broadcast from Steelers training camp, I just had to be there. I extended my internship by a week, just so I could go.

At the time, head coach Chuck Noll had a strict rule: NO WOMEN IN THE DORMS! But the station got permission for me to be there for the broadcast, which in 1990 was in the media room in one of the dorms where the players and media stayed.

As the players filtered in throughout the morning for their interviews, I eagerly awaited the arrival of Merril. At just about the end of the show, here he comes with Bubby Brister in tow. That summer we did a bit called "Bubby & Bubbles." It was Jimmy doing Bubby and me doing Bubbles. I'm sure you can imagine the stuff we did.

Well, we did a skit with Scott, Jim, Merril, Bubby and me. As a 22 year-old kid from Franklin, not only was it to be involved in it, but I was so excited to meet Merril that I was literally shaking.

So as we brought the show to an end and I prepared to say goodbye to everyone and head back to Clarion. The room was long and skinny room with a door at each end, and as we were all milling about, one door opens. I wasn't really paying too much attention, but I did notice everyone starting to look wide-eyed and nervous.

I turned around and there stood Myron Cope.

In his boxers.

Then his eyes got big and he said "Yoi, there's a woman in here! Training camp ain't what it used to be."

And he turned around and left the room, and everyone busted up. We still laugh about it. Myron was, in a words he would've used, a "dearheart." He's still missed, and every time I think of training camp I think of Myron in his baby blue boxer shorts.