Stand. Sit. Take a knee.
To The Fumbler, it doesn’t really matter.
Whatever you want to do to make it through a long line at the concession stand is up to you.
Especially if it’s for haluski at the Wolvarena or gyros at The Pit in Aliquippa.
Long before he was president, Donald Trump attended a WPIAL football game. The Fumbler knows because he was there. And while he won’t tell you which teams were playing, he will say that he saw Trump order some nachos and a drink. He stood through the entire line.
And guess who The Fumbler saw at a high school game in San Francisco last fall? Yes, Colin Kaepernick was in the house that night. He must have been hungry because he waited about 15 minutes for two hot dogs and a pretzel. He kneeled for most of it, too.
That brings us to your favorite football prognosticator. When the Fumbler goes to a game, he is often treated better than a president or NFL player. Last week he hung out in the press box with a few sports writers. The Fumbler was told not to bother getting up when the food arrived, so he happily sat while waiting for his customary three slices of pizza.
Trump, Kaepernick and The Fumbler approached the situations differently, but all walked away in similar fashion — with a full stomach.
There’s no debating that.
The Fumbler went 53-10 (.841) last week, improving him to 286-71 (.801) for the season.
Here are his thoughts on this week’s top games:
Upper St. Clair at West Allegheny, 7 Friday — Didn’t Ben Franklin say something like, “Nothing can be said to be certain, except death, taxes and West Allegheny winning lots of football games”? At least that’s how The Fumbler remembers it. Franklin should have added “great fish sandwiches at Cole’s Pub” — just down the road from West Allegheny — to that list, too. This is for first place in the Class 5A Allegheny Nine Conference. West Allegheny could be without star playmaker Will Weber, but the Indians will still find a way to win. Winner: West Allegheny.
Penn Hills at North Allegheny, 7:30 Friday — No one can argue what the best team in Class 6A is — Pine-Richland has made sure of that — but which team is No. 2? These teams are both in the conversation. Penn Hills’ only loss was to Pine-Richland and the Indians are loaded with terrific skill players. North Allegheny has won three in a row since suffering a pair of losses. The Tigers also control their destiny in the Northern Seven Conference title race. They have one conference loss and host Pine-Richland in the regular-season finale. Winner: North Allegheny.
South Fayette at New Castle, 7 Friday — Food is on The Fumbler’s mind right now, so he has to tell you that he was once at a wedding catered by Two Brothers Bar-B-Q near South Fayette High School. Outstanding! Speaking of phenomenal brothers, New Castle has had a few of those with the Hookers. Malik Hooker already has three interceptions in his rookie season with the Indianapolis Colts, while Marcus is trying to help New Castle return to the WPIAL final. It’s just so hard to pick against South Fayette, especially in the regular season. Winner: South Fayette.
Clairton at Aliquippa, 7 Friday — Remember the build-up surrounding this game last year? Probably the most for a WPIAL regular-season non-conference game in many years. If you heard what sounded like air being let out of a balloon last Friday, it was actually some of the hype being taken away from the rematch. Clairton dropped its first game of the season to Imani Christian, while Aliquippa continued its dominance with yet another blowout win. Clairton routed Aliquippa last year. Now it’s time for the Quips to get some payback. Winner: Aliquippa.
And the rest (home teams in capital letters):
Friday
CITY LEAGUE — UNIVERSITY PREP over Westinghouse.
WPIAL CLASS 6A — (Northern Seven) CENTRAL CATHOLIC over Butler. (Southeastern) Hempfield over ALTOONA; MT. LEBANON over Norwin.
WPIAL CLASS 5A — (Allegheny Nine) FOX CHAPEL over Hampton; Moon over CHARTIERS VALLEY; WOODLAND HILLS over North Hills. (Big East) Armstrong over LATROBE; Gateway over PLUM; McKeesport over KISKI AREA; Penn-Trafford over FRANKLIN REGIONAL.
WPIAL CLASS 4A — (Big Nine) Greensburg Salem over ALBERT GALLATIN; WEST MIFFLIN over Laurel Highlands; Ringgold over UNIONTOWN; Trinity over BELLE VERNON. (Northwest Nine) Blackhawk over AMBRIDGE; Indiana over KNOCH; Montour over HIGHLANDS.
WPIAL CLASS 3A — (Allegheny) FREEPORT over Apollo-Ridge; Keystone Oaks over BURRELL; Seton LaSalle over DEER LAKES; (Beaver Valley) Beaver over ELLWOOD CITY; QUAKER VALLEY over Beaver Falls; CENTRAL VALLEY over Hopewell. (Interstate) Derry over MOUNT PLEASANT; Elizabeth Forward over YOUGH; South Park over WAYNESBURG; MCGUFFEY over Southmoreland.
WPIAL CLASS 2A — (Century) WASHINGTON over Bentworth; Burgettstown over BETH-CENTER; Charleroi over CHARTIERS-HOUSTON; Frazier over BROWNSVILLE. (Midwestern) CARDINAL WUERL NORTH CATHOLIC over Laurel; RIVERSIDE over Neshannock; MOHAWK over New Brighton. (Three Rivers) EAST ALLEGHENY over Avonworth; Brentwood over SOUTH ALLEGHENY; STEEL VALLEY over Carlynton.
WPIAL CLASS 1A — (Big Seven) Rochester over OUR LADY OF THE SACRED HEART; Union over CORNELL; Western Beaver over STO-ROX. (Eastern) Jeannette over SPRINGDALE; GREENSBURG CENTRAL CATHOLIC over Riverview. (Tri-County South) CALIFORNIA over Carmichaels; Fort Cherry over AVELLA; Mapletown over JEFFERSON-MORGAN.
NON-CONFERENCE — Bethel Park over SENECA VALLEY; BALDWIN over Connellsville; Hollidaysburg over ALLDERDICE; WEST GREENE over Leechburg; THOMAS JEFFERSON over Mars; NORTHGATE over Monessen; HOWLAND, OHIO over Perry; PINE-RICHLAND over Peters Township; CANON-MCMILLAN over Shaler.
Saturday afternoon
WPIAL CLASS 3A — (Allegheny) SHADY SIDE ACADEMY over Valley.
WPIAL CLASS 1A — (Big Seven) Shenango over SUMMIT ACADEMY; (Eastern) IMANI CHRISTIAN over Bishop Canevin.
NON-CONFERENCE — FORT HILL, MD. over Serra Catholic.
Saturday night
WPIAL CLASS 2A — (Midwestern) FREEDOM over South Side Beaver.
First Published: October 4, 2017, 11:30 a.m.