{"id":1771,"date":"2013-05-20T10:01:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-20T10:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=1771"},"modified":"2015-01-08T17:48:37","modified_gmt":"2015-01-08T22:48:37","slug":"high-wire-act-at-three-rivers-stadium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/05\/20\/high-wire-act-at-three-rivers-stadium\/","title":{"rendered":"High wire act at Three Rivers Stadium"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

On a hot August night in 1985, Walter J. Lascola was seated in the stands watching the Pittsburgh Steelers play the New York Giants.<\/p>\n

With two minutes remaining in the game, Lascola, 24, made a bet with a friend and began a high wire act that enthralled fans and stopped the pre-season contest. He began crawling across a guy wire strung across the fifth level of Three Rivers Stadium.<\/p>\n

The wire, which was about 60 feet above the ground, held up a net behind the goal post. The wire was directly above members of a band and authorities immediately moved them out of the way.<\/p>\n

Play stopped and the crowd, as well as the football players, watched Lascola inch his way across the wire for about 10 minutes. Security guards followed underneath him, carrying a large white cloth to catch him if he fell.<\/p>\n

Once Lascola reached the middle of the wire, he was able to shinny safely down to the top of a dugout. As he did, the crowd cheered.<\/p>\n

He raised a hand to the crowd for one last round of cheers before police took him into custody and charged him with disorderly conduct and recklessly endangering another person.<\/p>\n

As police led Lascola away, he was overheard saying, \u201cWhen I was one-quarter of the way across, I got scared and started praying.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Steelers lost to the Giants, 24-14. Coach Chuck\u00a0Noll\u00a0frustrated by a string of pre-season losses, remarked after the game, \u201cWe didn\u2019t exhibit anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Steelers might have lost their nerve but Lascola put on quite a show.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhen I was one-quarter of the way across, I got scared and started praying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesHigh wire act at Three Rivers Stadium<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1773,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[948],"tags":[976,1025,1030,1047],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/tumblr_mmy20exMAc1rr5swxo2_1280.jpg?fit=936%2C485&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2236,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/12\/03\/jack-fleming-and-myron-cope-call-a-steelers-game-at-three-rivers-stadium\/","url_meta":{"origin":1771,"position":0},"title":"Jack Fleming and Myron Cope call a Steelers game at Three Rivers Stadium","date":"December 3, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Jack Fleming and Myron Cope would seemingly be an odd mix in a radio booth.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/tumblr_me9k095nIJ1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C794&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2658,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/08\/07\/jan-6-1980-steelers-quarterback-terry-bradshaw\/","url_meta":{"origin":1771,"position":1},"title":"Terry Bradshaw at Three Rivers Stadium","date":"August 7, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Terry Bradshaw represented a captivating image of concentration.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/tumblr_m8fv5uVN0r1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1022%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1865,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/04\/19\/steelers-draft-terry-bradshaw\/","url_meta":{"origin":1771,"position":2},"title":"Steelers draft Terry Bradshaw","date":"April 19, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"It is hardly a stretch to say that the Pittsburgh Steelers owe everything to a coin flip.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/tumblr_mlgl23yTgo1rr5swxo2_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C813&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1809,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/05\/07\/mean-joe-greene\/","url_meta":{"origin":1771,"position":3},"title":"Mean Joe Greene","date":"May 7, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"If it was Chuck Noll\u2019s task to resurrect a moribund football franchise when he was hired as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1969.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/tumblr_mmfo5hh2vw1rr5swxo4_r1_1280-e1418794212506.jpg?fit=1200%2C656&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9608,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2019\/09\/18\/terry-bradshaw-elbow-ben-roethlisberger-injury\/","url_meta":{"origin":1771,"position":4},"title":"The elbow injury that ended Terry Bradshaw’s career","date":"September 18, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"No professional athlete ever knows which game will be his or her last, even the greats. 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