Here is a piece by a fellow Marylander, Dan72 – who BTW was a fraternity brother at Pitt with my older brother Clint back in the ’70s.
Imagine the most beautiful girl in your class. You have a complete crush on her but most of the time she will not give you the time of day. Then, amazingly, you become lab partners and agree to some study dates. They go joyfully well and so you ask her out only to hear her say she has a boyfriend at another school.
She never speaks to you again! You are crushed!
It’s like that with Pitt Football!
For me, Pitt Football started when I was eight years old. My dad took my brother Doug and I to Pitt Stadium to see Pitt play Notre Dame. My wealthy Aunt Helen (huge Pitt Donor and dinner partner at parties with Chancellor Litchfield and late Wes Posvar) had season tickets on the 50 yard line behind the opposing team bench) had given my father tickets.
My mom was a huge Notre Dame fan but she did not want to go that day. It was November 8th 1958 and a young Coach John Michelosen had a decent Pitt team which would eventually finish that year 5-4. 
I remember the first walk up Cardiac Hill as my dad went on about the number of fatal heart attacks as we climbed up. I distinctly remember a pregame hush in the packed stadium as this line of Notre Dame very tall men in skirts marched out. Then a roar I will never forget as the Notre Dame Band entered and the ND Fan base, which held about 70% of the seats, exploded in thunder that I have never forgotten. I just had to look up the final score of that match: Pitt 29 -Fighting Lassies 26 as Pitt won the day.
I raved to my Aunt Helen about Pitt and thanked her profusely for the tickets. She uttered the line that day which would define “Same Old Pitt (SOP)” for me. “Son, don’t get too attached to that university….they could F- up a two car funeral!” Later, and many times over, I would remember her warning.
Later in that 1958 season I listened on my little white transistor radio as Pitt lost to Penn State 25-21 as Penn State scored in the final minute. For some reason that really stung and I couldn’t figure out why. My dad went to and flunked out of Penn State, his brother Rich played in the Blue Band and graduated as did my dad’s father and his eight brothers. I had a scholarship to Penn State if I wanted it.
I started to listen to Pitt Football regularly until age 12 when, as a Boy Scout, Pitt hired us to become ushers during home games. I guess the fans were so rowdy, they thought Boy Scouts with uniforms on would allow some stability…..wrong!!! They were probably just being cheap!
So from 1962 until 1965 I ushered every home game in Section 23 where I would eventually have season tickets. The ND and WVU games were the worst! I could have opened three well stocked bars with the leftover bottles of liquor I bagged after those games. Yes…for you youngsters…you could bring an arsenal of bottles in with you at the gate as long as you hid them in something and they were not directly visible.
At age 14 for some crazy reason, my buddies coaxed me into playing Jr. High Football for the Whitehall Scotties (our HS Baldwin 
was the Highlanders so I guess that fit). I was not ever a good football player and we had these stupid Scotty Dogs on the sides of our helmets that opponents roared at.
I remember lining up against Elizabeth Forward for my first game and the guy across from me (who looked like he was about 28 years old, laughed his ass off at me before just crushing me all afternoon continually asking “How’s your dog?”
We did not win a game for two years as Scotty’s and Mt Lebanon (Jefferson Jr. High beat us like 77-0 one game.
When I entered Baldwin HS, no way was I going to play football except that I found out Bob Longo, one of my Pitt idols, was going to help coach the ends…my title was Split End….I was slow, had small hands and couldn’t see without my glasses (In my Junior Year I set a WPIAL record as the first player to wear sports glasses) So I went out and played JV Football for Baldwin…got Longo’s autograph and played two more years until I broke my had in a scrimmage the week before our big game with Mt Lebanon in 1967 in front of 10,000 plus people.
Lebo killed us and I remember it felt like losing to Penn State! Several future Pitt players were on that Baldwin team. Tom Hasbaugh, future Pitt QB, Jimmy Paris, Pitt’s FB, John Wosniak, and Pitt’s Middle Linebacker, and a young sophomore, Dave Wannstedt playing on the offensive line.
Dave and my brother Doug became best friends and they would often lift weights at our house and stay for dinner. They both held shot put records at Baldwin; both were All-WPIAL and had full rides to college. Brother Doug went to Rutgers and shared many of their recruiting XX rated tales with me. I have always really liked Dave, except as a game day coach at Pitt.
When I graduated from HS, the only school I wanted to go to was Pitt. Screw the scholarship I had waiting at Penn State (where I didn’t even apply). I had decent SAT’s but my grades weren’t great with a 3.11 GPA but I got accepted to Washington & Jefferson, Slippery Rock and Grove City but still heard nothing from Pitt.
Then, on one of the top five happiest days of my life, I got my acceptance letter to Pitt the day of my high school prom. That was in late May of 1968 and I was so excited I did not sleep for days.
“THIS WAS THE YEAR THE PANTER WOULD BEGIN TO PROWL!!!”
This was the slogan in 1968 when young circus master Dave Hart took over as HC. They had fired my beloved Johnny Mike but I didn’t care. This guy was going to turn Pitt Football around. Three 1-9 seasons later and Hart was fired. ND Coach Ara Parsegian was quoted back then as saying about Pitt football “Never have I seen so much talent disappear in one school”
But with every loss I appreciated Pitt Football even more. I knew one day it would turn around. When in my junior year Pitt opened 5-1 with a huge second half comeback against WVA, I just knew this was it!
Then, Pitt lost its last 4 games in a soul crushing fashion that would become the basis for future SOP moments.
1972 through 1974 became a blur of losing games but I still never missed a game in person. I had worked in between classes during the summers and Christmas Breaks at a printing company Addressograph Multigraph on the corner of Baum and Bigalow, since I was age 15. My Aunt Helen was the office manager and my family was beyond was very poor. I hated every second of it but it became my career for 48 years. I moved to Baltimore in 1974 to take my first printing sales job. On September 1st of last year I retired from Quad Graphics, the largest printing company in the world. Still, I came back to Pittsburgh for every Pitt game. The drive from Baltimore to Pitt a bit over four hours; I’ve made it in 3.4 hours.
In 1975 Pitt more wealthy alums got together and said enough! They hired the best young coach in America in Johnny Majors. In his first game we tied a great Georgia Team with our future Heisman winner getting his first 100+ yard game in his very first action. And I’ll never forget our first bowl game under Majors – the Fiesta Bowl. We lost that one but my Pitt was in a bowl! Wow!
While at Pitt I met the temporary love of my life, a young lady from Carlow College. She was from Aliquippa and had told me about this young running back named Dorsett who was playing on the ‘Quip’s varsity while he was in 8th grade.
Later I would see every home game he played at Pitt and also as many away games as I could. I saw him break the all-time NCAA Division 1 rushing record at Navy. He was, to this day, the best college football player I have ever seen. The things he did on the field were indescribable. In 74, when we finally beat Notre Dame for the first time since the 60’s, a former Pitt player, Hog Harrison, burned in effigy a Notre Dame pennant in Section 23. I cried my eyes out!
But then there was our 1975 game at Three Rivers Stadium where #17 Pitt went up against a powerful #10 Penn State team. It was freezing for that game but I had my bottle of Southern Comfort to help and by then we had a huge contingent of Pitt Grads in Baltimore making the trip up each week. Pitt completely dominated the game but our kicker, Carson Long (and wide!) missed an extra point and three of his field goal attempts.
Elliot Walker caught a pass out of the backfield and had one man to beat running all alone to the end zone….instead of trying to go around, he tried to hurdle him and was tackled. We missed another FG. Pitt (we) lost 7-6. I was utterly devastated and cried all the way back to my dad’s house where I was staying. To this day, I have never had a loss of any game that stung more than that one. I thought we would never ever beat Penn State again!
In 1976 a state of nirvana occurred and Pitt won the National Championship! Dorsett ran wild. Tom Yewcic replaced an injured Matt Cavanaugh at QB for a few games but it didn’t matter. Pitt probably should have lost at Pitt Stadium to the Orangemen of Syracuse but a total homer call by official Paul Bertha saved the day for us. We rose to the number one ranking when an undefeated Michigan team was upset at home that same afternoon.
I missed my first Pitt Game in a long while that year in the Sugar Bowl because I had to work. I will never forgive myself for that. Pitt utterly crushed Georgia and all was right with the world! Pitt was #1 and the cover of Sports Illustrated was our Pitt Panther holding up a huge #1 Styrofoam Hand.
Next year in 1977-78 I would be one of about a 1000 Pitt fans who went to the Gator Bowl to see Pitt crush Clemson with a Sea of Orange filling the stadium. This team might have been as good or better than the championship one but during the game against Notre Dame at Pitt Stadium, Pitt lost its QBs Cavanaugh and Rick Trocano….I think…and our second team QB Wayne Adams fumbled five snaps from center as Pitt barely lost to a ND team that would go on to win the National Championship.
After that Pitt fielded great teams under Jackie Sherrill through 1982. Jackie was a heavy drinking coach, and a leech with women. They were not his only vices! Reportedly he owed a lot of money to gambling bookies and in 1982 Texas A&M offered to pay off his debts and hired him away from Pitt. THE END …..
Pitt made a SOP move and hired Foge Fazio an assistant coach to replace Sherrill. It was the first in a long line of disastrous hires for Pitt. He was 8-3-1 in his first year and hopes were high. Next year was a disaster as we went 4-6.
One great personal story of 1984 was a trip to State College with my buddy Nate (Theta Chi legend at Pitt). We had decided to attend the Pitt Penn State game at State College even though we were like 3-6 and had been very underperforming that year. We drank all the way up and discussed how we would leave at the half or third quarter if the rout was too bad. The game was all but over in the third quarter but it was Pitt that did the crushing with our backs running behind our terrific offensive line all day.
We stopped for more drinking and dinner at the Boiling Springs Tavern. Finally on the PA Turnpike on the way home, I see the worst sight one can imagine …A State Cop with his lights and siren on pulling me over. Uh frick’n Oh! I Was Dead! Nate is laughing his ass off!
We are both trashed! So…up comes the officer to the window and asks for my driver’s license and registration. Nate is pushing empty beer cans and open bottles of scotch under the seat so they won’t be seen.
The officer asks me if I’d been drinking and…..what was the point….I said yes, we’d been at the Penn State game. He says “Well I can understand then why you were drinking…the Lions sucked today”. Now Nate is pushing all our Pitt stuff under the seats with the open beer cans and bottles of scotch.
“Been a tough day for all of us boys…how far do you have left to go?” Nate was from Carlisle so we said about 11 miles. “I’m going to let you off with a warning he says….been a tough day for Pennsylvania!” We said “Hail to the Lion officer” He escorted us to the Carlisle Exit and we laughed for days.
For me the late 80’s and 90’s were a blur of losses and disappointments. Then came the hiring of AD’s who all knew better than us at what was good for Pitt….or Pittsburgh as Steve Pederson decided to put on our Uni’s. When he tore down my beloved Pitt Stadium in 1998, I swore off Pitt Football forever. I knew it was a horrible mistake to not have an on campus venue. I have yet to go to the Pete as a protest which I will break this fall due to the incredible hire of Jeff Capel. Thank you Heather!
I went through a horrible divorce (are there any good ones) and my company was bought out for the 4th time. Pitt football was not even on the radar for me in the 90’s.
In 2000, I married my next wife, a Hopkins grad and a teacher. We honeymooned in Nemacolin Woods (both sets of my parents are from Uniontown) and were at the Pitt BC Game that Saturday. Antonio Bryant had a very good day as we beat BC. I was re-addicted!
The Pitt coaching debacle of the last 10 years was brutal but I continued my season tickets and sit in Section 358 (second tier front row on the 35 yd line.) You will find me there (and probably hear me screaming) along with my embarrassed but now also addicted second wife Susan.
This last month has been an uptick in Pitt Sports and passion that I have not seen since 1974. Thank you Heather! I liked Pickett from the first day I snuck into practice and saw him throw last spring. I believe in my heart he is the “one” who will lead our football team out of the doldrums and back to prominence!
One of my Fiji frat brothers calls it “The Dreaded Pitt Optimism” like it is a monster or a disease which will always be crushed by SOP! (See Pitt Girls Softball for the latest!)
Just one more time while I am still on this earth, I would like Pitt Football to make a run like the 1975 and’76 seasons. I have a gut feeling that this year is the 1975 replica and next year will be like 1976!
Dreaded Pitt Optimism… here we go again!
pittpov.com 
Just a great article. Nice to know there are others out there sharing the same journey. H2P
LikeLike
Great job Dan, I was there with you for the same ride.
LikeLike
Thanks Dan72. Another great Pitt True Confession ! It’s so nice to be able to put a face and or back story to the names on the POV!
LikeLike
Pitt football (like the jelly of the month club) is the gift that keeps on giving.. That it is, Dan72, that it is indeed..
LikeLike
Dan72, it’s amazing that we have every reason to quit as Pitt fans, yet we are all gluttons for punishment. But heck, anyone can be a frontrunner … I like to believe that we Pitt fans all have great character (and also like to drink.)
wwb
LikeLike
Dan,
Loved every word of the article. Thanks!
(One minor correction on dates. Johnny Majors brought Tony Dorsett in as a freshman in both their first year. TDs 4th year was 1976, the N.C. Year.)
LikeLike
Dan72 – excellent article. Thank you for sharing the evolution of your passion for Pitt football.
Hope your shoulder rehab is going well.
Perhaps Reed can compile these articles into a book entitled “It’s Tough Being a Panther Fan – Why We Do It.”
Hail to Pitt.
LikeLike
Dan ’72 – Loved the article. Thanks for writing. – Hobie
LikeLike
Pitt – PSU 8PM ABC Saturday Night Game
LikeLike
Another excellent write up about life intertwined with Pitt football. And obviously for anyone reading some of my previous posts, I also have joined the “Dreaded Pitt Optimism” team with Pickett being the major reason for doing so.
LikeLike
Nice article…brought back a lot of memories (good and bad). It’s clear that you’re a true Pitt fan If you believe that a repeat of the 75/76 season is remotely in the cards for this team. Pitt fans have many great qualities, but being quick learners is not one of them.
LikeLike
Great article. I really enjoyed reading it during my lunch hour. Thanks for sharing Dan.
LikeLike
Great story Dan and thank you for sharing.. Love your Aunt’s quote “Son, don’t get too attached to that university….they could F- up a two car funeral!”
LikeLike
Is that official Yeti? PITT vs psu @ 8:00 Saturday night ABC.. Hoo boy, that could be insane
LikeLike
Great story Dan. If Amazon likes Strip District who knows what will happen to Pittsburgh.
LikeLike
For IMMEDIATE Release
May 16, 2018
Pitt-Penn State Rivalry Gets ABC Primetime Spotlight
LINK: Pitt-PSU Primetime
PITTSBURGH—One of college football’s most historic rivalries will be showcased in primetime when Pitt and Penn State clash at Heinz Field this September 8 in front of a national ABC television audience at 8 p.m.
This will be the first night kickoff for a Pitt-Penn State game in 31 years. On November 14, 1987, the Panthers defeated the Nittany Lions, 10-0, in an ESPN televised game at Pitt Stadium that started at 7:30 p.m.
The 2018 game is the last scheduled meeting in Pittsburgh between the in-state foes. The current four-game agreement will conclude at Penn State in 2019.
Following the resumption of the rivalry in 2016, Pitt and Penn State have split the initial two contests. Pitt won 42-39 at Heinz Field in 2016, while the Nittany Lions triumphed last year at Beaver Stadium, 33-14.
Overall, the teams have played 98 times dating back to 1893. Penn State leads the series, 51-43-4. The Panthers have won two of the last three games. In addition to the 2016 encounter, Pitt blanked the Nittany Lions, 12-0, in 2000.
For Pitt, it will be the first time it will host an 8 p.m. ABC national telecast in five years—a 28-21 victory over Notre Dame on November 9, 2013.
Season tickets for the 2018 Pitt football season are now on sale. Call the Pitt Ticket Office at (800) 643-PITT (7488) or log on to PittsburghPanthers.com.
LikeLike
My guess the PSU/Pitt ABC TV announcement is the “BIG” news our AD was referring to yesterday.
LikeLike
What an excellent story, Dan. I’ve been following Pitt since Dave Hart had his wonderful career at Pitt (yes, it’s actually possible to go 1-9 for 3 straight years at Pitt). So I’ve seen the very worst there is, and Jock Sutherland must have been rolling over in his grave (I hope they have refurbished his grave site by now). I knew the only direction to go was up, but didn’t realize the journey would be so painful along the way. Thanks again Dan for a great reminder of what being a Pitt fan is all about.
LikeLike
That last Anon was VOR.
LikeLike
Great article Dan. Brought back a lot of memories. Thank you. H2P
LikeLike
Walk on Cal Adomitis Pitt’s long snapper get his scholarship. Congrats to him.
LikeLike
I know there are some committed golfers on this site … but this committed?
https://s1.yimg.com/lo/api/res/1.2/Ef.hTiFux8YMn.eQlPlapg–/YXBwaWQ9eW15O3c9NjQwO3E9NzU7c209MQ–/http://media.zenfs.com/en/homerun/feed_manager_auto_publish_494/a9e28658bcb8a9db7bbf029fd36fe53f
LikeLike
That has to be Erie Express — nothing can shake him on a golf course!
Go Pitt!
LikeLike
Per parking authority the Pitt parking pass is good 5 hrs prior to kick-off – i.e., starting at 3:00. Was told that after 3:00 its first come basis based on available parking. If you try to park before 3:00 will need to pay for Pirates game. They do not sale pre-paid parking to Lot Gold 4. I was able to buy pirate Gold 4 parking pass on stub hub. I’m also going to pirate game so will be tailgating before both games. Checking availably of parking couple weeks ago appears that pirate parking sold out.
LikeLike
Dan – Well crafted piece of work. Thank you for sharing.
Reed – It would be terrific if you could be so kind as to index all these stories of fandom, so we can reference them at later points throughout the year(s). Almost like “Meet the Press”. It would be helpful to me to pull up your individualized stories and marinate on them should you need our well wishes, thoughts and prayers as we all do from time to time. Do you like how I just volunteered you for more work, kind sir?
Would have been great to have a picture or commentary from Reed’s Aunt as we all sent well wishes and had her in our thoughts and prayers a few weeks ago.
Anyway, this is a great idea Reed. Now I know who I am swearing at most of the time when I read the opinions. Just kidding.
Part of growing the readership is being able to identify with the writers. For instance, if I start reading an overly positive, pie in the sky, pitt does nothing wrong piece, I know it is UPitt. I have seen him. He has a face for radio and blogging! Kidding you brother. I know you have been swamped. But the point is that connectivity and belonging to something bigger, sells. That is why Pitt needs a stadium on its campus!
LikeLike
Great story Dan. You have a terrific memory…
LikeLike
Dan72,,,thanks a million.almost felt like I was at your side for most of your story. So much our memories are shared experiences. Pitt is a unique place to go to school and that old stadium was ours (maybe our paths crossed in a FIJI-PhiDelt football game there). We old POVerts went to a game to revel the battle on the field and had nothing to do with amenities the stadium offered. Frat and sororities were a great place to get juices flowing literally then up the hill we would trek from N. Ditheridge. The band provided great entertainment-shout out to NOLA 69 our band member POVer…no piped in music…no 500 time-out just pure football that flowed from play to play(thinking of the big come-back victory vs the Mountaineers in 70)
love seeing the Nit game moved to the evening. Looked back on the series which began in 1893 when our ancestors were the Western University of Pennsylvania,,,”Let’s Go WUPS”…they didn’t fair very against the farm school from 1893 to 1908 ending that phase of our history with a 2 wins vs 8 losses against the farmers while being out-scored 196 to 40….redemption and Old Testament retribution will be unleashed when we open a big can of WUP-a$$ this September,
LikeLike
A on campus venue won’t necessarily help with winning or help improve attendance. When Pitt moved to Heinz they didn’t suddenly get better and we were witness to yellow seats for the first time since Heinz is just too big.
So if people understand that a venue located on campus may not and probably will not lead to significantly more wins or higher attendance, there is a chance. On campus facilities are for the connection. But you need to change the culture first to take advantage of it. Need to create traditions tied to the facility. Need to support and nurture athletics before the investment.
If you place the Pitt spirit in a box and take that spirit away from campus, it’s always going to want to find a way back home.
And I believe Pitt could build a venue that has character and charm. It could just be what it takes to get people off their sofas and back on campus for a better viewing and overall experience. The venue, if built right, could help with recruiting and could lead to higher attendance and contribute to a winning culture. It sure would be a statement of faith.
Eyeball the area for victory heights. There’s space for it along with room for volleyball, wrestling and gymnastics. Plus that indoor track. Think vertical in tight spaces. Think sub terranean. Think outside the box.
If attendance is down in college football because of a better experience at home, build your venues smaller and more intimate. Add technology and more viewing options along with real time stats. Build lounge areas. Install better seats and legroom. Add amenities. Build some overhead covering for fans…semi dome it. Create a ‘show’ leading up to the game. Former players, band, contests, festival like environment.
Make it fun. Make it a school and community event. Not just a game. I think we could all be proud and identify with a complex that supports the school and community.
Tex
LikeLike
“I guess the fans were so rowdy, they thought Boy Scouts with uniforms on would allow some stability…..wrong!!! They were probably just being cheap!”
Pitt cheap ? Nah that’s gotta be a conspiracy theory 🙂
LikeLike
The Scotty Dog helmets probably ranked up there with Cornhole’s Dinocat Squirrel head helmets.
LikeLike
Some dates are wrong, you’ve been hitting the sauce already today Dan ? Majors came in 1973 and we actually started to win some games that first year and played Frank Kush’s Top 10 Arizona State team in one of the early Fiesta Bowl. Kush was from Western Pa and apparently wanted the Pitt job in the 1960’s. Pitt hired Dave Hart instead. Good move there …eh 🙂
So we won 6 games in 1973 and 7 games in 1974. Although we got no bowl invite that year at 7-4.
Great article though….enjoyed it !
LikeLike
“Dreaded Pitt Optimism… here we go again! ”
It is Spring after all. Maybe Houdini will be another McCoy or Ray Ray or Dion. god knows we need some magic at Pitt again.
LikeLike
I have a history degree, so that explains my proclivity towards dates. Oh btw we went 3-7-1 in Foge’s 2nd year(1984), after being Pre-season Ranked #3.
Funny enough the bball program went off the tracks into the dumper in a similar fashion to the football team.
Two years after being Top 10 and even number 1 in the season in 1982 at 9-3, Pitt goes 3-7-1 in Foge’s 2nd years.
Two years after Dixon’s last season which was an NCAA season at 21-12 and 9-9 in the ACC, the bball program under 2nd year coach Otis, goes winless in conf and 8-24 overall.
LikeLike
You geezers can’t get anything straight. Foge’s first year he went 9-3. Second year 8-3-1. Third year 3-7-1. Fourth and final year 5-5-1.
LikeLike
Hey Blackman, thanks for coming on and being so respectful in clearing the air and making the corrections needed. You’re a class act all the way….
couple more things. I always thought of you as a good poster and just in case you had your tongue in cheek when posting? Then so did I. 😉
LikeLike
Isn’t it great how the NATIONAL MEDIA has figured out that Pitt playing the Dairy College is a big thing and obviously good for college football?? Isn’t it equally as terrible that the Dairy AD and the Pitt AD don’t understand the significance of the game locally or nationally??
-1 for both AD’s. Pitt will blame Dairy. Dariy will blame Pitt.
Speaking of AD’s and scheduling. I think OSU may have just pushed back a future game with Texas because they didn’t want to play Texas and ND in the same OOC year! Get with the scheduling! The wins will follow folks.
LikeLike
PSU has no interest in ever playing again. It bought them some local PR after the scandal. I think we should back out of game up there next year and never play them again.
I was all about the rivalry before but it is dead and screw them.
LikeLike
Huff, Heather has made it public that she wants the PITT and psu series to remain and played. Never heard back from psu. Please is explain Heather culpability and faults here please. Not being critical but asking, is there something I don’t know?
LikeLike
PITT says they reached out and put forth an offer. That’s what I know.
LikeLike
I’m basically sick of those arrogant SOBs to the East. We need to walk away from any future series now. Heather should retract the offer and sign WVU or some other school that wants to play us. They think of us like we think of Akron or Bowling Green. A step child or lower tier team that can hurt but not help them in the national rankings. One of those teams that no one wants to play because they could lose to them..
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think you missed my middle sentence. They will each blame the other, or the conference, or whomever. You will never know. What you will know is what she said, she said. What you don’t know is what was really said.
They are both to blame in the negotiation. If Pitt wants to play Dairy, Pitt can make it happen. If Dairy wants to play Pitt, Dairy can make it happen.
If you want to guarantee they play each other every year, call your congressperson.
The national media got it right. Pitt and Penn State got it wrong, period.
LikeLike
Huff, I just don’t believe that Pitt can make it happen, unless they are willing to go 2 for 1. No one wants that. This is still part of the payback for no Eastern Conference. This is JoePa’s revenge.
LikeLike
VOR I think that’s what Huff means. That offer was on the table 25 years ago.
LikeLike
Much like the Sandusky scandal, everyone knows and admits, except the Nitters, that Pitt/PSU is a huge game. The national media knows it, the ratings will tell the tale. They historically have been some of, if not the highest of the year. PS.u is the original Drs. Of spin. They create a narrative and the lemmings just parrot it back. Facts and figures, we don’t need no stinkin facts or figures!
LikeLike
Come on, how often can we keep beating this dead horse. No Penn State doesn’t want to play us and they don’t have to. Big Ten pays the Big bucks, it huts PSU’s recruiting to play PITT, and Penn Sate is the top dog in the East.
No question, PITT, at least for the present, is not the school it was 50 yrs. ago. Academically and popularity wise we have lost position big time. Maybe it is the rust belt location. Maybe the drop of the various schools within the University. Maryland and Penn State are now top dogs
LikeLike
Jay,
You can go back to posting on the blue and white boards. The cultists there will believe you.
LikeLike
That’s one of the silliest posts I’ve ever read. There are multiple examples nation wide of teams in the exact same position that you say Pitt is in. And the big dog? The real big dog is the SEC, and they have multiple teams that play in state rivals in other conferences. If you hang your hat on the BiG then tell Iowa/Iowa State to stop playing. You’ve just repeated the Nitter mantra, and I’m sick of hearing it.
LikeLike
And if you think you’re right, let’s place a small wager on the TV ratings for Pitt/PSU and PSU/MD,, big dogs my ass.
LikeLike
Keep it right..Pitt football started the rebound in 1973 – by 1975 Pitt was winning the Sun Bowl and poised fo a big 1976. It’s our history. Tell it right.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Saw a link on Pitt Fan Fanatics that Peters Pub is closing on May 25. Another iconic Oakland nightspot soon will be gone.
LikeLike
F psu
Anyone think ABC took a glance at this upcoming game and said holy shat. These two teams may not play again after next year in the life times of half of the population of college football fans? Did they realize the bad blood that is going to be flowing overboard for this game. The simple fact that there is not another series on the horizon between these two team has to be consider a larger allure than the game itself. This game will prove for all to see what a real rivalry is in college football. It’s going to be ugly…
What do you all think two club seats for that PITT/psu game at around the 45 yard line with a room reserved for one night at the Residence Inn for that Saturday night and another parking pass in the gold parking garage is worth in a package? (hint) you’re too low. They ain’t for sale.
LikeLike
And, the first bowl predictions for the coming college FB season is out. The Sporting News has Pitt playing Florida in the Independence Bowl on December 27. Sign me up, I’ll take it!
LikeLike
I share your F PSU sentiment moving forward Ike….more on that when I get around to my Pitt bio. I really would be OK with playing WVU as our regular rival so as not to hear Jimmy One Finger compare Pitt to Akron anymore.
LikeLike
PS does not like to risk losses to regional teams. Notice they dropped Temple after Temple beat them.They do consider it a lose lose situation. Even if it’s close as long as they win its OK but don’t win, that upsets their narrative.Was at Pitt in 58, and 59. PS paid for that 58 win with a big Pitt upset that , included breaking the arm of “roll out Richie Lucas’ All American QB who could not play in their Liberty Bowl game which they had already accepted before Pitt game. Pitt knocked off undefeated PS and Notre Dame in 59 and yes there was student support. The Monday after both upsets the student body walked out of classes and paraded all over Oakland tying up traffic,,puting VW’s with drivers on the Cathedral lawn and lowering the trollies on the streetcars thereby disabling them. Thanks for jarring memories of the real good old days.H2P
LikeLike
Great stuff Pitt 60 ….I had forgotten all of that.
LikeLike
I think Pitt 60 has finally hit on why Pedo won’t play Pitt: To lose to someone in the East destroys their image as the Beast of the East. It is all about branding. They must play Rutgers due to the BIG10 commitment, but won’t play Pitt and risk getting their _ss kicked.
LikeLike
“Jay,
You can go back to posting on the blue and white boards. The cultists there will believe you.”….
There is only ONE Jay on here and tis I, Jay91. And I certainly was not responsible for that post!
LikeLike
Lol, true Jay (91)!
LikeLike
Please, one Jay is plenty enough for me…. wink wink nod nod. Just kidding jay. Too bad you won’t be able to make the golf outing friend, maybe catch you at a Fran tailgate? .. ike
LikeLike
I’m thinking anon meant Jay as in Jay Paterno. The Grandfather is just a troll…dont feed him
LikeLike
txpanther, you need to see things as they are, not the way you want them. Paterno says the following line in the movie. “you choose your words. You choose your reality.”
LikeLike
Another great story, Dan!! Thanks!!
LikeLike
Dan72 – you are a good storyteller my friend. I’ve been buried in the bowels of business this week – enjoyed the read. I’m about to head to western PA to play golf with my POV friends at the Pitt Celebrity Golf Outing this weekend. Shine or rain, my money they will gain.
H2P!
LikeLike
Hey EE, private email where you want me to send the money for the POV outing. and BTW, where is s the golf outing this next weekend?
LikeLike
Well, Ike it looks like I WILL be swinging the sticks June 9 with the POVerts! I just have to finalize a few things but I should be there.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great news! The POV Golf Outing wouldn’t be the same without you.
Mopped up some nitters in my golf league last night with constant showers, and an occasional downpour. No hole in ones though, if you know what I mean – a little reference to “Joe Knew”.
LikeLike
Yeah us!
I may cop another ride.
LikeLike
Emotions still run high in Western Pa. when it comes to PSU. Maybe they are doing PITT a favor by playing hard to get. Media may pay a premium to force THE GAME annually or at least more often. I really don’t want to play them regularly until we routinely perform on a high level (if ever). Penn State has NO RIVAL except for PITT. (By the way, Syracuse thinks of Penn State as their football rival too.)
Kids, from NJ and probably most of the Northeast, apply to Happy Valley in large numbers. Maryland is also hot right now; Rutgers too.
Believe me it hurts, but PITT is not a major choice for kids outside of Pa.. But as a major city university playing big time sports, it has few rivals; Miami, USC, BC, and ?; not Louisville. I’m sure there are other schools to be added. I still view PITT as a more private than public school and academically above average. Though I wish we had more grass between the buildings.
Sorry don’t want WVU as a rival. That song may play well in Western Pa., but not nationwide. No respect for WVU. They are where they belong in that Big 12 group.
The ACC is an affluent classy place to be. However, PITT needs to field competitive minor sports and add lacrosse as soon as possible. The conference gave us a blueprint. Now we need to follow it.
LikeLike
There’s nothing wrong with the Hillbillies as a rival. Gives everyone a chance to dust off their favorite hillbilly jokes and insults. Plus they despise us(like a rival should), so that makes it ever better.
The Pedos are 1….the Hillbillies are 1A. Then to me, the Tarholes are 1B.
LikeLike
When psu goes bye bye there is no good reason not to extend the WVU series. I would like to move on from that pedo enabling piece of crap cult school named state penn. West Virginia does the same thing anyway, fill the stadiums. Maybe the Big 12 has more flexibility to move the game towards the end of the season instead of the second game? Make that the “tough” OOC game and bring in 3 other rent a win teams until PITT football sits on static ground… ike*
LikeLike
Dan – thanks for sharing your story. Hope the shoulder heals really well!
LikeLike
I can see the Tarheels as a rival. I do dislike those people and we do need to start beating them on a regular basis. They are physically close enough. Have they ever paid any price for cheating? Speaking of cheating, why no more news on the 30 some schools that may have or are cheating in basketball? What is the FBI doing?
LikeLike
Trying to perform a coup on the POTUS
LikeLike
I heard today that the NCAA plans to hand down their rulings in August.
No year was indicated though…
LikeLike
couple things:
EE’s right, some big news will drop on the basketball scandal but when? << sooner than expected and it will be very big news.
I know it’s been said that some are not so infatuated with Narduzzi in Oakland but I’m hearing he’s living large and in charge at PITT. He’s not going anywhere anytime soon unless the floor drops out completely.
LikeLike