PITTSBURG, Kan. — It is about 650 miles from St. Cloud to Pittsburg, Kan., so it is safe to say that most people from the area have not made the 11-plus hour trek down to see what it is like.

"Honey, I was thinking that I would like to take a trip somewhere to see what it’s like in one of the best NCAA Division II football atmospheres. What do you say we go to Pittsburg? ... No, Fargo and Grand Forks are too close.

”Yeah, that would not go over well with the significant others of football fans, would it? So for those of you who did not make the trek down to Pittsburg to watch St. Cloud State play the Gorillas this weekend, I offer you a bit of a tour of the city.

Pittsburg is a city of about 18,000 and it is within 50 miles of the borders of Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri. A drive past the high school football field gives you one indicator of how big football is in Pittsburg. It looked like it could seat about 4,000 with cement stands on both sides of the field. Basically, it looked better than most of the fields in the MIAC.

Maybe this puts the football craze in town in perspective: The Morning Sun, the newspaper in Pittsburg, had a six-page section devoted to college football on Saturday. The paper also had a three-page regular sports section. This is done each week. There were three stories on the St. Cloud State/Pittsburg State match up, including a cover story on Huskies quarterback Keith Heckendorf.

Page 2 of the college football section had a look at each game involving the other Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, league leaders, standings, the American Football Coaches Association Division II poll, a two-deep depth chart on the game and team statistics for both teams.

Drive in downtown Pittsburg and the light poles each have a Pittsburg State Gorillas flag on them. In the Jock Notch, a sporting goods store, about 80 percent of the merchandise has Pittsburg State on it in one shape or form.

The Gorillas’ football stadium is on the Pittsburg State campus. The only outdoor stadium in the North Central Conference that comes close to comparing it to would be Caniglia Field in Omaha, Neb., for those of you who have ventured there.

But Brandenburg Field in Pittsburg is better. There is FieldTurf for openers, which is much easier on the players than the concrete turf they play on in Omaha.

Also, in 2001, Pittsburg State’s field received a $5.7 million facelift. Football has been played at the stadium since 1924, but it does not look like it. That renovation included adding 2,700 seats, club seating on both sides of the field, 16 luxury boxes were added to the East side to go with a new restroom, concession stand and ticket facilities. Both locker rooms were upgraded and a media room and handicap access were all added. All of those upgrades were done with private funding and it now seats 8,343.

At the Gorillas’ games, Pittsburg State comes out of its locker room and they run behind eight cheerleaders, each carrying a flag to spell out the word "Gorillas." Fireworks are also set off as they enter and there is about a 50-foot inflated Gorilla beyond the North end zone.

Add to that the school marching band and cannons being shot after each Pittsburg State score and you have a pretty good football environment.

The Huskies have their first home game this week against Northern State. There could be some culture shock for a few of the players. Then again, with what they heard from the Pittsburg State student body, a home game must sound pretty good for the Huskies. But for the players’ sake, here’s hoping St. Cloud State’s new stadium will add at least some of these flavors to their college experience.