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Post by wgt on Feb 5, 2006 16:45:38 GMT -5
Bona provided the Steelers their Forness Stadium for practices in the late 40s. Also Bona football coach Joe Bach coached the Steelers at two different times in their history. Bach’s Bonnies went 12-6 in the 51 & 52 seasons & coached Ted Machibroda. Like coach Solomon he came to us from ND. What history at Forness. Nearly 13,000 showed up to see Bona beat Canisius in 48. And of course Johnny U played there once.
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Post by portpasses on Feb 5, 2006 16:51:02 GMT -5
wgt, if I remember the story correctly, didn't Unitas leave camp at Bona and start to hitch rides back to pittsburgh? I think that was near the end of his time with the Steelers. Of course, he then went on to play for the Colts or someone and win a couple of games.....
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bccuse
Freshman Member
Posts: 91
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Post by bccuse on Feb 5, 2006 20:00:46 GMT -5
Art Rooney, patriarch of the Rooney family and initial owner of thr franchise was the brother of Silas Rooney, O.F. M., who I believe was the former athletic director at St. Bonaventure. My recollection is that the Steelers used the facilities at St. Bonaventure for pre-season camp. A grandson of Art Rooney, Art Rooney attended St. Bonaventure in the early 70's and was a fair quarterback. He used to travel home weekly for games in Pittsburgh and would jet with the team for away games. I believe that he is an attorney in Pittsburgh and works for Steelers. I have heard that he will eventually succeed to the presidency of organization.
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Post by FriendsofAN44 on Feb 6, 2006 7:31:41 GMT -5
Aerial view of SBU campus circa late 50's (??) Forness field, where the Steelers held pre-season training camp is on the left. Cow barns are the long white buildings, where the Reilly Center stands now. Most other buildings are as they remain today - Dev, etc. Doyle Hall has yet to be built, and the road behind campus is just a dirt path. What is the building with the steeple in the lower right ? A campus church ? Butler ? And what is the U-shaped building next to Forness Field ?  |
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Post by FriendsofAN44 on Feb 6, 2006 7:50:22 GMT -5
Oops, dummy, Butler is front of the smokestack !
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Post by MIKE MACALUSO on Feb 6, 2006 8:03:05 GMT -5
minor correction..the long white bldgs which stood where the RC is were used by the ROTC program..the old cow barns were located roughly between where the current baseball diamond is and the maintenance [clint reihle memorial hall ] building is..the cow barns were home to the sbu rifle team and a couple of friars who tended to bee hives back there. for a while the sbu garbarge dump was back there also.
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Post by facultybrat on Feb 6, 2006 8:28:47 GMT -5
U-shaped bldg was the Administration Bldg;Bldg with the steeple was,I believe,Alumni Hall.
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Post by wgt on Feb 6, 2006 10:38:20 GMT -5
Correct as always Facultybrat. Alumni Hall was built in 1888 & demolished in 1961 due to structural problems. Served many purpose over the years. The first national radio broadcast from any college or university came from there on 1936. And we have all heard about McGraw & Jennings invented the bunt (actually it was the Baltimore chop) in its gym. Alumni Association was started on its steps when it opened.
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jim62
Junior Member
Posts: 377
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Post by jim62 on Feb 6, 2006 10:50:37 GMT -5
Picture looks exactly how the campus looked when I arrived there in September 1958.
I lived in Pittsburgh at the time and the Steelers having a camp there was one of the reasons I wanted to go to Bonas.
The Steelers must have heard I was coming there and quickly moved to St. Vincents.
The demolition of Alumni Hall in 1961 was also hastened by a fire in the building.
And, of course, I'll leave my 8' x 2' Steeler banner on the front of my house in Kansas City for a while longer.
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Post by West End Stench on Feb 6, 2006 11:15:40 GMT -5
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shaltz
Freshman Member
Posts: 69
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Post by shaltz on Feb 6, 2006 15:44:02 GMT -5
Jack McGinley, Board of Trustees Member and minority owner of the Steelers
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Post by maplehurst on Feb 7, 2006 8:52:50 GMT -5
As a 10 year old boy I sometimes accompanied my father to work at SBU. One day he told me to go and watch the Pittsburgh Steelers practice. The only thing I knew about them was that they were an important football team. I remember watching the Steelers work out, but it definitely was not in the stadium. It was a football field out in the back near the grotto, almost like the lawn between RC and the grotto. Not sure why they let me stand on the sideline, it could get dangerous there. I did not meet any players, I just remember I though they were pushing each other around. This post does not mean that there was never Steeler activity in the stadium, just not on the day I was there.
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Post by rimRocka44 on Feb 7, 2006 9:37:27 GMT -5
Jerome Bettis is from Olean, oh no wait he's from Detroit. Stupid me.
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Post by bulldogbrower on Feb 7, 2006 9:53:59 GMT -5
He is? Boy is that an obscure bit of information! How did you know that?
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Post by wgt on Feb 7, 2006 20:00:51 GMT -5
Ellicottville basketball and football coach (and lifelong Pittsburgh Steelers fan) Tim Bergan was a guest of the Rooney family at Sunday's Super Bowl. Bergan said he befriended A.J. Rooney, Steelers owner Dan Rooney's eldest son and a lawyer for the Steelers, when A.J. Rooney stayed with Bergan and his wife while Rooney attended St. Bonaventure.
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