Staying power
SLIPPERY ROCK — They come from different backgrounds and they come for different reasons.
But Duane Rose, Bob Lutz and Don Fairhead have one thing in common: They've been coming to Slippery Rock University football games — both home and away — for decades.
Rose, 87, and Lutz, 67, are retired employees of the university who live in Slippery Rock.
Originally from Illinois, Rose became a history professor at The Rock in 1965. Lutz was a printing supervisor at the university for 33 years.
“We bowled on a team together in Slippery Rock and came to know each other that way,” Rose said. “Once we discovered we were both going to all of the football games, we decided to go to the games together.
“I missed a couple of games with health issues and Bob's father died during a football season. Since they built this (N. Kerr Thompson) stadium in 1973, there hasn't been a game played that both of us have missed,” he added
Fairhead is a 1970 SRU graduate from Long Island, N.Y., and lives there today. He makes the 420-mile drive to The Rock for every home game and attends most road games.
Fairhead has making such trips since the early 1970s.“I've gone through a lot of cars,” he said. “I probably put 10,000 miles on my vehicle each season going to these games.”Fairhead has a son living in Bethel Park and he stays overnight at his house after most SRU home games. Otherwise, he just drives home.He made one drive to Clarion a few years ago expecting to see a night game, only to discover the game had been played during the day.“I was flipping through radio stations and heard the final score announced,” he said. “What are you gonna do? I turned around and went home.“Ever since then, I check the game time before I venture out.”Rose and Lutz have been going to games for so long that their names are engraved on their seats, which are located on the 50-yard line directly in front of the press box.They've sat through heavy sleet, rain and snow, but have never left a game early nor left their seats to take cover from the elements.“It's always football weather, no matter what it's doing,” Rose said.Lutz drives the pair to road games. He said he learned to stay for the entire game from his father.“My dad took me to Pirate games when I was a kid and we never left before the last out,” he said. “The same holds true for football. We've seen a lot of crazy finishes because we stuck around.”Lutz leaves at the end of each SRU football season for Utah, where he spends the winter skiing.“Skiing and Rock football are a big part of my life,” he said.Rose recalled a 1985 game at Mansfield — a 7-6 Rock win — in which rain, sleet, snow and wind all wreaked havoc on the contest.“There weren't 100 people at that game and at least 50 of them watched from inside buildings or their cars,” Rose said. “We stuck it out.”
The two have been welcome to watch the games from the warmth of the stadium lodge, located high atop the visitors stands on the opposite side, but they refuse.“That's more of a socializing thing over there,” Lutz said. “We're here to watch the game.”“We just love college football and this is our hometown team,” Rose chimed in.Fairhead estimates he's been to 135 of SRU coach George Mihalik's 153 career wins. He attended games in the early 1970s when Mihalik was the quarterback.“I've gotten to know George and his staff pretty well over the years,” said Fairhead, who often watches the games from the sidelines. “I became a big fan of theirs. I guess that's why I keep coming back.”None of the three plan to stop coming to Rock football games in the near future.“If we can get here, we'll be here,” Rose declared.
