CMU Steel City Shootout – A football tourney that pitted Pilam chapters against each other and brought them together
The Carnegie Mellon chapter hosted an epic flag football tournament dubbed the “Steel City Shootout” from 1987 to 1995, which brought Pilam chapters from all over the East Coast (and Canada) together to test their mettle on the gridiron.
In CMU yearbooks the Steel City Shootout was described as, “A weekend long ‘points-for-money’ competition to raise money for United Cerebral Palsy.” In 1987, the event drew 12 chapters, but when word spread of the good times and camaraderie, more than 20 chapters later participated to claim the coveted “Steel City Shootout” flag football crown. This was pre-Internet; no email or social media. It was all accomplished with word of mouth, mailers, and phone calls.
The 1991 participating chapters included: Albright, Altoona, Cincinnati, CMU, Delaware, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Farleigh Dickenson, Ferris State, MIT, Michigan, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Robert Morris, Sienna Heights, SUNY Binghamton, SUNY Buffalo, Temple, Towson State, and West Carolina. Through registration fees, the event raised money for United Cerebral Palsy.
Shootouts are a journey, not a destination
Brothers from all walks of Pilam life packed into their college-grade beater cars with dubious inspection stickers to make long, harrowing journeys to attend the tournament.
One brother recalled, “My Subaru (cheese wedge) had no defrost mode, so that made for a fun trip. But we could still reach the cooler, so that was good.”
Another said, “We must have done 80 MPH the whole way there. I swear the car was radar-proof, probably due to all the dents and lack of windows. It was the stealth Datsun.”
CMU tackled a monumental event
CMU graciously opened their house for a full weekend of activities, hosting parties and providing entertainment. Parties were packed shoulder-to-shoulder with loud music, coeds from CMU and surrounding colleges, beverages, and chapter competitions.
When it was time to crash, CMU brothers offered every open bed, couch, and floor spot, but if you ventured out late-night to get a massive basket of fries at Kelly O’s Diner, you may have wound up on a stiff plastic chair in the chapter room.
Tom Hummel (CMU ’95) recalled, “Our lounge was just packed with people passing out and sleeping everywhere. And that was basically every corner of the house.”
Local chapters also offered their houses to host brothers. Some enterprising brothers even sought the sanctuary of a charitable companion who might offer them a cozy place to sleep in the dorms.
Between entertainment, housing, and managing the football tournament itself, the event was a huge undertaking. Tom credited the CMU brotherhood for readily pitching in to ensure that everything ran smoothly. He joked, “It’s easy to make things run smoothly when the expectation is just to keep the house standing.”
Spirited rivalries and great memories
Though Tom admitted, “It was all for fun. We never intended it to be a really serious football tournament,” many chapters took it as a test of their mettle to win it all. On-field competition got serious, and some of the smack talk was epic.
When Temple and SUNY Cortland brothers (who won the tourney the year before) met at the Friday night party, one Temple brother recalled, “We saw them at the Friday night party, and they weren’t drinking. I remember them saying, ‘We are taking this tournament seriously.’ We laughed at them, and had another beer.” (Editors note: During their first game, Temple brothers reportedly called all their timeouts in the first five minutes to wretch on the sidelines.)
On the field, it got competitive. Though it was flag football, it was physical. There was full contact on the line. Some chapters brought coaches, others had playbooks and game plans. Pilam glory was on the line.
Though many chapters sought the thrill of victory, and ad nauseam bragging rights (Unsolicited endorsement: Temple won three titles), at the end of the day, win or lose, we shook hands as brothers.
The Xs and Os of Brotherhood bonding
One of the visiting brothers called it, “An unbelievable blast. I had a great time meeting brothers from all over the East Coast and sharing stories.” Everyone had a great time and enjoyed the competition, but the real appeal of the event for many brothers was getting to know guys from other chapters, and realizing all the commonalities they had.
Tom said of the event, “There were a lot of different types of chapters with very different people. But once they were all there, they were brothers and friends. It was pretty cool getting to meet all the brothers from different walks of life. We all had one thing in common. We were Pilam.”