Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, December 11, 1994                   TAG: 9412120072
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

DESPITE SOGGY WEATHER, STAGG BOWL DELIGHTED FANS

So it really didn't matter, then, that Karen Heinrich hadn't brought anything to keep herself dry. By the third quarter of the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, nobody could tell the difference anyway.

If you were there at Salem Stadium on Saturday, you were wet, no matter how much time was left in the game.

How wet? Well, let's take Heinrich as our "how wet you'd be if you didn't even bother" example. Her hair was drenched. The rain was rolling off her cheeks like tears. And she shivered beneath her denim jacket.

"This coat weighs about 10 pounds heavier than it did," the Albion senior groaned.

Ah, yes, but was that 10 pounds worth of rain or 10 pounds worth of memories?

That all depends on which side you were on.

Not which side, as in Albion College vs. Washington & Jefferson College. Their cheering sections both seemed equally oblivious to the elements. Hey, it's a national championship; you do what you gotta do.

"Years from now," Heinrich said, "I won't remember how it was rainy and cold. I'll just remember we were here."

Well, that part's debatable. Plenty of her Albion classmates said they'd remember the weather, too.

"I'm going to remember being wet and being miserable and not caring," said sophomore Jane Neitz.

It was the home folks, though, who cared.

Oh sure, we cared enough to buy more than 3,600 tickets before we even knew who was coming. Not that we used them all, mind you.

Just before kickoff, the sidewalk in front of the ticket booth was jammed with locals, waving their tickets. Scalpers? They were the ones getting scalped.

"I can't even give 'em away," said John Addington of Salem.

Not when the temperature is 45 degrees and almost three-quarters of an inch of rain is falling.

"Football weather," some of the Albion fans called it approvingly. "We're from Michigan," Neitz said. "We're used to this."

"I've got six of us here. There were supposed to be eight people, but two backed out. I don't blame 'em."

Some of the Albion students even brought a dry pair of clothes for the trip home. Then again, others didn't. "The only dry thing I've got is my pajamas," Harns said, "so I may wear those on the trip back."

Keywords:
FOOTBALL