Puskas: Football takes a back seat

There’s a first time for everything and not all of them are good.

Football is part of our DNA in these parts and it has been for about as long as people have played the game.

Even when our teams aren’t very good, we still show up to support them, or at least to complain about what is wrong with them.

Hot, cold, rain, snow — it doesn’t matter. Turn on the lights, open the concession stands and get ready to take tickets. We’ll be there with bells on — and if we’re not wearing them, too many of us will be ringing them.

You can never have enough cowbell.

But on Friday, stupidity and a lack of human decency kept one of our most historic stadiums dark and empty on what should have been another festive night of high school football.

Tension over two recent fatal shootings in Warren led city officials and Warren City Schools leaders to cancel Warren G. Harding’s regular-season finale against Lorain. The game between the Lake Erie League rivals was to have taken place at Mollenkopf Stadium, but it was determined that the risks were too great.

I’m not going to question the judgment of Warren Superintendent Michael Notar, Warren Mayor Doug Franklin and the city’s police force — the people who collaborated on the decision.

Their jobs — in large part — are to ensure the safety of citizens, students and fans. The police, in particular, are on the streets every day and night and are far better equipped to get a feel for what’s happening — and what might happen — in the community.

It’s sad that Harding’s senior football players, band members and fans were denied one final opportunity to share each other’s company. The memories they could have made will never be known.

It’s sad and frustrating that the fear of violence has brought us to an unprecedented point.

Even in the early 1970s, when race riots were common and the bitter rivalry between Harding and Western Reserve also divided the city, Warren found a way to come together — whether its citizens backed the then-Panthers or the old Raiders — at football games.

Not everyone agrees with the decision to cancel. Some say the game should have been moved. Others say it’s time to stand up and re-claim the city. They wanted football with a larger police presence and metal detectors.

But if the game had been played and something tragic happened, some of these people would be among the first to criticize officials for letting it happen.

Violence isn’t new to Warren, Youngstown or anywhere else. I saw a teenager handling a weapon outside a stadium during a game in 2001 and reported the incident to police.

Why only now — when a football game is canceled — is there an outcry to take back the city?

The time to do that has long been upon us.

I love football like it’s my job. It actually is my job. But if losing a game brings about some positive change and wakes everyone up to the reality in our streets, I’m OK with that.

Write Vindicator Sports Editor Ed Puskas at epuskas@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @edpuskas85.