The Empty Room
By Tony Cimaglia

There's a room in southwest Pennsylvania that sits dark and empty. A room that was once filled with high fives and cheers every Autumn Sunday now sits in silence. It's been nearly five months since my Dad lost his battle with cancer, and this is the first time I've been able to write about it.

Shortly after my Dad's death, I remember someone asking me, "What are you going do to come football season?" I never gave it much thought, with the season still being four months away and much more important things to worry about at the time. But now that the season is in full swing, I know exactly why he asked and what he meant.

If I didn't already know it before, I know it now - things will never be the same again. My Dad loved football. He loved all sports really, but especially football.

He loved the Steelers.

And this was his time.

It was OUR time.

What some people view as nothing more than a game meant so much more to us.

Every Sunday in Autumn was a holiday, because no matter where we were in this world, we would always come together to cheer on the old black-and-gold.

And even though the discussions would always start out about football, they would ultimately turn into discussions about life - how we were in our parts of the world and how that world was treating us.

To us it was always about more than just football - more than just a game - it was about spending time together as a family, and if football was the common ground that brought us together, then so be it.

But now all of that is gone.

In all of my years I had only shed tears once following a Steelers game, and that was at the end of a loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XXX.

I've already cried three times this season - once at the end of each bittersweet victory - because my Dad is not here.

And boy would he have loved this team.

He would have loved the way they're playing defense.

He would have loved the way they're running the ball.

He would have loved the fact that they're finally using the tight end.

He would have loved the new head coach and his approach to the game.

He would have even loved those 1940s throwback uniforms the Steelers wore a few Sundays ago, because he loved all things Steelers - all things football.

But most of all, he would have loved having his family together, sitting in that room, high-fiving and cheering on the old black-and-gold.

This season will undoubtedly be like no other season for me, because on every snap, every pass, every catch, every tackle, every win and every loss, I will be missing my Dad. I will be missing OUR time.

No, nothing will ever be the same again.

"What are you going to do come football season?"

I still haven't figured that out, and until I do, that room in southwest Pennsylvania will continue to sit quiet and empty every Autumn Sunday.

As will I.

TONY CIMAGLIA is the sports editor of the Keyser (WV) Mineral Daily News-Tribune. He is also a contributing writer to the Pittsburgh Sports Report.