Dribs & Drabs of the Pittsburgh Penguins

Five: Personal Pittsburgh Trip Gushing

(^Totally only bought that shirt because of Olli.)

In their song called 27, Fall Out Boy sings, "If home is where the heart is, then we're all just fucked."

People like to use this as something 'grunge', 'punk', or 'fuck the world-ish' to say, but in reality, there's a lot of meaning to it.

I like to say I have three different 'homes': Scott, Olli, and Pittsburgh, PA. Clearly, Scotty and Olli are people, so them being home probably doesn't make a lot of sense. Pittsburgh though, Pittsburgh seems plausible, right?

I'm not from Pittsburgh. I'm from a town 3 hours, 27 minutes away. The entire trek is 219 miles. In all technicality, I'm still in Pennsylvania, but that doesn't matter to me.

Pittsburgh is my pride and joy. I love the area so much, it scares me. Never did I ever think I would fall for a place -much less one in my own state- so hard.

My heart is in Pittsburgh; not my small, central PA town. I live in a dump of a place, surrounded by fields, grass, and an ungodly amount of cows. It's brutal. I'm a city girl, that loves the whirl of Light Rail trains, and the feeling of cracked sidewalk underneath my feet. I do not belong amongst the farms and painfully-familiar faces of the fellow town citizens.

It's selfish of me to say that I'm fucked because my heart is in Pittsburgh, since there are people that love places that are so much further away. I know. I know there are probably people who're reading this that live states, or even countries away from the 412, and I feel bad that I'm bitching about being 219 miles away.

I've spent the past two days in Pittsburgh for the prospect camp scrimmage, and they've been nothing short of spectacular. It's a couple years away, but I want to go to Duquesne University so badly, it hurts.

But enough about all of the down in the dumps stuff, though. I kind of really want to talk about the prospect camp.

My best friend Molly and I both came out, which was extra special, since she had never been to the city before, despite having heard me rave about it for months upon months. It was our first real 'vacation' together, so it was this big thing.

When we got into town, the first thing we did was hit up the DU bookstore, for two reasons:

Number One: We both want to go to Duquesne, and gosh, it's sick to see all the Dukes gear.

Number Two: That was where Olli met Alex in So Be It, so naturally, we had to go. We stood in the mystery section, and I even took selfies in front of the mystery sign. It seemed so insane to stand there, and think in my head that the very spot was where they met in the book. It was surreal.

After the bookstore, we went to Consol, and took the cliched photos with the Sid and Geno cutouts, on the mock bench. We boycotted the Kunitz one. (I don't care if that man genuinely has an iron deficiency; his play was absolute trash most of this season.)

And then, we went to the team merchandise store, PensGear. And inside PensGear they were selling used player sticks. On the rack, there were a couple that Scott used, and since he was recently traded, their price was marked down. Significantly marked down.

I ended up buying two; one to display in my room, and one to cut down, and use as my own. As I've said before, I'm a defenseman for the local travel team, and a left-handed shot, like him. Basically, I can take this stick, cut it to my height, and then use it in games for myself. This stick that he taped and used; I can use it too.

That makes me ineffably happy. I like the idea that this dork I love -my baby, actually- taped and used this stick in practices/games, and I'm going to get to use it myself. The fact that I can use the tape job he did makes me so happy.

Him being traded has been pretty damn rough on me. I miss him so much. And it's only going to get worse once the season starts, and he's not in WBS or Pittsburgh. Seeing him in blue & white will be so weird.

But it means a lot to me that even though he's gone, by buying his sticks, I kinda got two pieces of his Pittsburgh era. Even though he's gone, I've got a tangible piece of what he left behind. In addition to the memories, I have two of his sticks. And God, does that make me happy.

Pretty much after that, we put the sticks and stuff back in the car, then were walking back to the area, but stopped, since the hotel the prospects were staying at was right there. There were a handful of fans, so Molly and I kind of hung out. We ended up meeting Bryan Rust (the one I'm in the picture with), Matty Murray (total sweetheart), and a couple other guys. It was insane.

We watched the scrimmage, obviously, and, as TheOneYouCallElise and I talked about, Derrick Pouliot looked flawless. It sounds weird, but we both agree that his hair is perfect, and we both would pay lots of money to touch it. Like, come on, it looks so soft and fluffy; who wouldn't want to feel that up?

After the scrimmage, we walked to The Point, which -I've decided- is my favorite place in all of human history. Even though it was obscenely hot, the sky was a crystal blue, and the spray from the fountain felt beyond-refreshing. I genuinely wish I could put into words how wonderful it is, because man, if you haven't experienced it before, you need to.

We eventually walked to Market Square and had dinner in Primantis Brothers'. If I can't be Mrs. Harrington, or Mrs. Maatta, than damn, let me marry that ham and cheese sandwich.

The rest of the night was filled with the Ross Park Mall, Market District, and a trip through the Fort Pitt Tunnel while blaring Imagine Dragons.

I'd like to say that things lasted longer than they did. I really didn't want to say goodbye to this place. It feels so homey, such like where I belong. My hometown has never, does not, and will not ever feel like that. I always feel so foreign there; so out of place.

We are currently driving back to our town, and I'm pretty upset. I'm also in denial.

I love Pittsburgh a lot. I love Scott Harrington and Olli Maatta. All three feel like my homes. My heart's with them, and I still can't figure out whether that's good for me, or if it hurts me even more.