He looked so old and frail.

His hair was a mess, whiter than I thought it would be. His glasses were thick, resting on his wrinkled, wise and weathered face.

His walk? Now a hunched-over shuffle, holding on to others as he maneuvered down steps.

There he was, Mr. Rooney, the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, sitting high in the bleachers at Highlands High School on Saturday afternoon, watching his grandson and namesake, Dan Rooney, play for Shady Side Academy against Neshannock.

He sat quietly with his son, Art Rooney, around the rest of the Shady Side crowd, now used to the fact that an icon in professional sports is present among them.

“Wow, he looks old,” I couldn’t help but think to myself, quickly forgetting that I had a game to report on.

I knew Rooney had a grandson who played, so I thought there might be a possibility that he’d be there.

But what about the draft? — he has to be busy with that, right?

What about Ben’s contract? — he must be busy with that, right?

Why would he drive to Natrona Heights to watch some lowly preliminary round game?

“MR. ROONEY clap-clap, clap-clap-clap ... MR. ROONEY clap-clap, clap-clap-clap,” came from the Neshannock student section, started by senior Jared Kelly.

They prepared for the game, too.

Still, no response from Rooney.

“HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!” came next.

Most of the fans didn’t know he was there, so there were a lot of puzzled faces when the Steeler Pride chants erupted.

“He looked up,” I said to myself.

His eyes widened. His face, with a roadmap of wrinkles from God knows how many stories nobody knows about, became bright. He smiled.

He propped himself up (willed is a more apt description), raised his left hand and waved to the crowd.

His son, Art, also acknowledged the fans, carefully making sure his father didn’t slip on his way back down to his seat.

“YEAH”, was the response of the enthusiastic teenagers.

Rooney gave them a story to tell for the rest of their lives.

It pays to treat people nicely, doesn’t it?



WPIAL FALLOUT

Ten things we learned from the first weekend of the WPIAL playoffs.

10. Abby Allen is all heart. She willed New Castle to a win Friday night against Bethel Park.

9. Union beats the heck out of teams that aren’t as athletic as they are. Too bad the next game is against Lincoln Park.

8. Neshannock played like a fourth-place team for the first time in two weeks. They never had a chance against Shady Side Academy.

7. This was only a tune-up for the Mohawk girls. Mike O’Lare is starting to build a program out there.

6. Union sophomore Anthony Thomas is quickly becoming one of the better point guards in the WPIAL — regardless of classification.

5. Great career, Chase Frederick.

4. Neshannnock’s Mike Conglose finishes his career with 1,005 points. Congratulations to a good basketball player and an even better person.

3. South Park better double-team Kylee Patton. She’s killed teams that let her get position down low this season.

2. I’ll take Luann Grybowski over any other coach in the Class AAAA girls field right now. She knows what it takes to win late.

1. The Mohawk boys had, basically, a home game Saturday against Ford City at New Castle — and lost. No way this should happen. The Warriors are better than that.

Shovel those driveways, New Castle!

(Jon Geramita is a sports correspondent for The News.)