This is a good thing for Pitt to do and I think should be done on an annual basis. We will be hosting Active Duty military, Veterans, First Responders and their family members by making available 2000 seats for free for the season opener against Villanova.
Good job Pitt, Liberty IT and all who partake of this generous offer…
Aug. 1, 2016
PITTSBURGH — Pitt Athletics will host active military members, Veterans and first responders, as well as their family members, at Heinz Field on Saturday, September 3 for the annual Hail to Heroes Day for the Pitt football team’s 2016 season opener against Villanova. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
“Once again, we are thrilled to welcome active duty military personnel, Veterans and first responders to a Pitt football game at Heinz Field this season,” Pitt Athletic Director Scott Barnes said. “Thanks to a generous donation, our annual Hail to Heroes Day will provide more free tickets than ever before as we show our unwavering appreciation for those who dedicate their lives to bravely serving us.”
In order to make this possible, Pitt has teamed up with Liberty IT Solutions, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, to provide 2,000 complimentary game tickets to local military and rescue personnel and their families.
Liberty IT Solutions, headquartered in Herndon, Va., specializes in technology solutions for government healthcare clients. Bill Greene, Liberty’s President and CEO, is a Service-Disabled Veteran who spent four years as a member of the United States Navy. The company’s Chief Strategy Officer, Chris Bickell, is a 1996 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and a loyal supporter of Pitt Athletics.
“We are excited to be partnering with Pitt Athletics for this year’s Hail to Heroes Day,” Bickell said. “As a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, we take pride in supporting those that serve our country. We look forward to helping kick off the 2016 Pitt football season by honoring them.”
Active military, Veterans and first responders can claim up to four tickets to see the Panthers host the Wildcats by visiting www.pittsburghpanthers.com/heroes.
Season tickets, mini-packages and single-game tickets for the 2016 Pitt football season are now on sale. Call the Pitt Ticket Office at (800) 643-PITT (7488) or visit http://www.pittsburghpanthers.com/tickets
Say hello to the Very Best Armed Force in the US
(VBAFUS)
Lest we think the Coast Guard just does Search and Rescue or stops drunken boaters here is the real down and dirty US Coast Guard. We send our Deployable Operations Group (DOG) members through both the Army Ranger Schools and the Navy Seal Schools and this, National Safety and Security, is now the largest mission we are tasked with and execute.
Bravo Zulu – Charlie Golf!
Semper Paratus!!!
pittpov.com 
Does anyone know what ticket sales look like for Pitt-Nova? Since Heroes Day was just announced, I’m assuming sales for this game can’t be good (with absolutely no disrespect meant to the Service Members in our Armed Forces)…
I’m sure they want to sell this out for James Conner, but based on past history for FCS season openers, I doubt this will actually happen…
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Three things will significantly impact walk up ticket sales on game day for the NOVA contest. 1) RIBFEST! Hey why not catch the Pitt game along with consuming a full rack or two of ribs? 2) The weather. A beautiful sunny fall day at the beginning of football season why not get out to Heinz Field for q cheap afternoon to see what the hometown team looks like in 2016. 3) Conner hype. This marketing opportunity can be exploited or not. Football is a team sport, so is it wise to feature any individual player to hype attendance at our home opener? Good question, in this instance I say yes due to the circumstances. No doubt about it, James Conner’s previous fame in the 2014 season precedes his return in a Panther uniform. Considering the $hit storm of misfortune that has befallen him over he last year and of course the good fortune he has had in overcoming these life struggles have already thrust him into the limelight of celebrity notoriety. So yeah, I say hop on that pony and ride it right into the home opener for the selfish gain of selling tickets for the NOVA game. That being said, it really is a great human interest story. Imagine if for some reason Narduzzi decides to feature Conner as our primary RB this season and goes on to have another 1,000+ TD season. What a great final chapter in Conner’s Pitt football drama. Of course the NOVA game is the coming out tribute to Conner as he returns to the field of play after those tribulations. If handled in a sophisticated manner by Barnes the advertising for the game right before the weekend could encourage the city to show up simply to recognize the kid for overcoming these recent struggles. I myself, am showing up for that game for that very reason. To me it’s going to be an emotional moment when #24 runs out onto that field healed & healthy anxious to play football once again. Conner Strong!
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Sales will likely be much higher than actual attendance due to
many season ticket holders may choose not to come
just about all PSU supporters who bought ticket plans just to get PSU game tix will not come
it’s a holiday weekend
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Pitt #23 all time in this ranking of FB programs since 1936
http://collegefootball.ap.org/top-100
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Darnell Dinkins @Darnell_Dinkins 7 hours ago
I’m so proud to announce that Callen Adomitis committed to Pitt. He put in work and now is the Nations 24th ranked long snapper!! Congrats!
This guy is from Central Catholic and pretty sure will be a walk-on. (non-schollie) Hard to believe there is a ranking of high school long snappers. On 2nd thought …. maybe not
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wbb beat me to it. But here’s another article, about the Top 25 all-time college football programs.
Pitt checks in at #23. My oh my if just a little more seriousness about Pitt’s football program by Pitt’s administrators and we could have easily been in the Top 25, perhaps Top 10.
A consolation prize, Pitt has been ranked #1, twenty one times compared to the Pedo’s 19.
http://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/where-does-your-team-rank-ap-releases-top-100-college-football-teams-of-all-time/
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Typo, we could have easily been in the Top 15 !
Amazing we checked in at #23 considering the 1940’s, the 1960’s and the 1990’s decades were almost
complete wipe-outs.
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Does anyone know when the ESPN Digital ACC channel is scheduled to roll out this month?
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Good read Reed. Pitt should also reach out to the families of those that paid the ultimate sacrifice. There are many in the area of which my special forces nephew was one! My sister never gets tired of seeing the other special force guys stop in just to say hi! She went to Pitt!!
Any time we can acknowledge our troops, we should. Pitt almost got this 100% right and a good idea nonetheless. Thanks for sharing.
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I think they should call it what it is. Not all heroes are veterans. There are so many ways to be a hero in this life. How about Veterans’ Appreciation Game/Day? Much better in my not-so-humble opinion.
Btw, in case you like to read into things…don’t. Veterans are heroes in my mind as well.
H2P!
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Panther94 – I think you are correct.
We truly misuse the word ‘hero’ and ‘heroic’ in the US today. But if one talks about people whom society has put that label on and disputes the idea that they are heroes the backlash is very strong.
Case in point… the Coast Guard had three fatalities back in 1997 when a small boat crew out of Quillayute River, WA went out in heavy surf to rescue a sailboat that was taking on water. What basically happened was that the Coast Guard 44′ lifeboat capsized and three of the four CG crew members drowned.
But a later investigation, which I was part of because seven years earlier I supervised that same Operations Center where it happened and wrote the local unit Search and Rescue policies – found fault at almost every step of the way. I was involved because my job then was the Search and Rescue planner and I ran the operations and ordered the small boats and Helos to go out when and where to search.
That case instance clearly called for air resources (Helos and Rescue Swimmers)deploy first and no small boats go out until a relief Coxswain, who was surf qualified, could arrive at the unit to drive the small boat… which would have been less than 15 minutes.
Fact finding later on showed that the driver of the boat wasn’t qualified to take small boats out in heavy surf; the crew members weren’t wearing their helmets as required and that all three who died didn’t strap their safety harnesses onto the small boat which is required procedure also.
Those small boats were designed to right themselves in 15-30 seconds after capsizing hence the harnesses to keep you inside the vessel while it rolled. The survivor was the newest member of the crew and did everything right – helmet on and strapped in and survived.
In essence the senior crew members, and especially the Coxswain (senior man on board and boat driver), did everything wrong and directly ignored the Coast Guards operational and safety procedures and thus died. This wasn’t the first time he did things wrong on purpose either as he had his qualifications yanked earlier as punishment for his actions.
It was a goat f*ck from the minute the Mayday call was received and they paid for it. But what followed was a showering of awards and praise for the Coast Guard “heroes” against the cry and strong complaints of us old-timers who saw the fiasco for exactly what it was.
The Brass gave those crew members the highest awards the Coast Guard has. It was very obvious to us senior members of the Coast Guard exactly what was happening and that was a public affairs blitz to cover up the horrendous mistakes in judgement the Coxswain used that night.
That bullshit from the top should NEVER have happened as it sent a terrible message to the rest of the young men and women of our Service.
The Coxswain, through exceedingly bad choices, created circumstances that allowed these deaths to occur by a sever lack of judgement and blatant disregard for Standing Orders.
These members who died were not heroes and did not do heroic things as had as that is to understand. What these young men were were dedicated and brave men who wanted to do the right thing and paid the price for not doing it the way they had extensively trained to do. Their bravery is unquestioned and I applauded that then and now.
But sometimes the heroic thing to do is fight against your first instincts of wanting to jump straight into the fray and hold yourself, and those you lead, back until you can clearly and rationally do the job the way it is supposed to be done.
Today we throw the word around until it has no meaning whatsoever. I have all the respect in the world for people who volunteer to go into military service, or into a burning building or into dangerous situations to make arrests or to save somebody… and thus make sacrifices that others may never have to make.
I understand that completely and pray for their safety and well-being every single night.
But doing that act does not make them heroes, we are paid to do that and are expected to do that as a condition of employment… What those actions do though is make them amazing citizens of the United States who do what others won’t and who should be celebrated and thanked for that.
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Very interesting story Reed. It could be argued that anyone that puts themselves in harms way to serve others could be considered a hero. Appreciate your service to our Republic. And if we ever meet, you are required to sing the Coast Guard anthem, Commander ! 🙂
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Excellent story and point well made. 30 years ago I became a county prosecutor, my salary still doesn’t equal what some of my friends made coming out of law school but it’s the career I chose. I would like to think I have done my duty to seek justice for not only victims but protect the rights of the accused as well. I think my parents would have been proud of my dedication and that’s enough. That said I applaud those who serve their country in the military which can be a hardship in many ways during and after service.
Does anyone know if the season is sold out by the Pedos. I signed up to get two extra tickets for Pedo if they were available and have heard anything.
If there are ratings for long snappers it is only natural wwb and Emel would find them, thanks guys. Pitt got several commits over the past few days, all 3 stars I believe.
Hail to Pitt !!!
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Notices went out via email a couple weeks back regarding extra psu ticks. If you haven’t heard yet you should probably call the ticket office. Good luck.
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This is nice http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/gallery/cfb-2016-preseason-top-25-alabama-florida-state-clemson-lsu-oklahoma-ohio-state-michigan-080316
Stewart Mandel is on our side.
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Thru experience, I never put much stock in pre-season polls … but it’s certainly nice to be recognized, and a credit to our coaching staff.
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Three things will significantly impact walk up ticket sales on game day for the NOVA contest. 1) RIBFEST! Hey why not catch the Pitt game along with consuming a full rack or two of ribs? 2) The weather. A beautiful sunny fall day at the beginning of football season why not get out to Heinz Field for a cheap afternoon to see what the hometown team looks like in 2016. 3) Conner hype. This marketing opportunity can be exploited or not. Football is a team sport, so is it wise to feature any individual player to hype attendance at our home opener? Good question, in this instance I say yes due to the circumstances. No doubt about it, James Conner’s previous fame in the 2014 season precedes his return in a Panther uniform. Considering the $hit storm of misfortune that has befallen him over he last year and of course the good fortune he has had in overcoming these life struggles have already thrust him into the limelight of celebrity notoriety. So yeah, I say hop on that pony and ride it right into the home opener for the selfish gain of selling tickets for the NOVA game. That being said, it really is a great human interest story. Imagine if for some reason Narduzzi decides to feature Conner as our primary RB this season and goes on to have another 1,000+yd season. What a great final chapter in Conner’s Pitt football drama. Of course the NOVA game is the coming out tribute to Conner as he returns to the field of play after those tribulations. If handled in a sophisticated manner by Barnes the advertising for the game right before the weekend could encourage the city to show up simply to recognize the kid for overcoming these recent struggles. I myself, am showing up for that game for that very reason. To me it’s going to be an emotional moment when #24 runs out onto that field healed & healthy anxious to play football once again. Conner Strong!
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