It was been wonderful to read all the great stories of Pitt fans on the Pitt POV.  There is sort of a common thread and that is our common roots.  Mount Lebanon. Donora. Squirrel Hill. Belle Vernon. Johnstown. Etc.  Most of us have personal football involvement, or at least a healthy dose of participatory athletics also.

Me, I grew up in Rhode Island.  The only athletes they grow in Rhode Island frankly are sailors (which I am) and the occasional hockey player.  Heck, we had hockey cheerleaders in my high school (they wore VERY thick nylons!).  My high school won the football state championship twice when I was there.  No one really cared that much.  Attendance was never more than a few hundred.  No one from my school, I would venture to guess, ever played football at a P5 school. I played a bit of high school basketball, until I discovered I enjoyed skipping out on late study halls and going to the beach instead.

I knew nothing, absolutely nothing, of Pittsburgh until I found Pitt in one of those college reference books you used to research colleges back when we had actual bookstores.  I got recruited for my guitar playing…Pitt had a great guitar teacher in Joe Negri, who if you don’t know who that is, his other job was Mr. Handyman on Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, which used to be filmed at the Pitt music school building before my time.  The Pitt jazz band had a very nice national reputation, and so that was enough for me.  My high school guidance counselor said he had no record of anyone going to Pitt from my high school before.

I had never attended a college football game before coming to Pitt.  My first game ever was a 34-0 thumping of #14 NC State.  I learned who Ironhead Heyward was on that day.  It was cool.  I think I perhaps went to see Pitt beat Navy.  These games were fun!

And then the later in that season the 10-0 win over PSU happened (1987).  I remember at that earlier NC State game people chanting “Penn State sucks” and I found it so odd that we, well, we dissed another college in our fight song?  That made zero sense to me.  I had no context, no history.  And then, 10-0.

We rushed the field.  My roommate stole one of the coaches’ head phones.  It was bedlam and pure joy. A year or so later my crew and I apparently broke the game clock on national television.  We have pounding on it vs. Notre Dame, “Lets Go Pitt!”  Suddenly the ref runs over and seemed kind of upset.  The police came and said if we did not settle down we would all be hauled away.  Literally two plays later we scored a touchdown.  We became quite joyfully unsettled…and away we went…

For me, however, the Fitzgerald Fieldhouse was where I really became a Pitt fan.  I can still hear Paul Evans screaming at his players (unfortunately).  When Jerome sent it in, well, wow.  My roommate (was in the pep band) got a piece of the glass.  The Georgetown fight at the Civic Arena I will always remember too.  Sadly I will of course always remember things like…Vanderbilt.  Such is the life of a Pitt fan.  But what a great time to be a Pitt basketball fan.  Warts and all, the Fieldhouse was special in those years.

I can’t say my story is too interesting, sorry!  But perhaps a bit of something different, that even people from far away strange lands, lands that don’t care about football or basketball, lands where the name “Pitt” just don’t register in any meaningful way, even from there, someone can grow to be a rabid fan of Pitt athletics.  HTP.  DD.

Michaelangelo holds a degree in Travel Writing from the University of Pittsburgh. He was a former staff writer for InPittsburgh Newsweekly, and currently resides near Atlanta, Georgia. He has been a Pitt fan since 1997 after he witnessed Pitt upset #22 Miami on Thursday night at Pitt Stadium.

74 thoughts on “My Pitt Story….the Road Rarely Travelled”

  2. DD – I enjoyed your (and all of the other) Pitt stories. Keep ’em coming!

    My days at Pitt overlapped with yours, as I was there from ’84-’88.

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  3. DD, thanks for sharing and jump in more often…I remember Joe Negri but did not know he taught at PITT. Did he teach you?

    Penn State really sucks now..I have lobbied EJ to get the Penn State Sucks back in the Pitt Victory song !

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  4. Ognenovic not choosing Pitt is a big disappointment for the staff. They recruited this kid very hard when he took his official visit to Pitt with all the other FL kids. Before anyone talks about the number of TEs we have now the plan is to move three of them over to OL starting this fall and with the 2019 class.

    Because O’Neill’s move worked out so well Narduzzi is going that direction…which makes sense, but we really wanted this kid and he would have stayed as a pass catching TE…along the lines of Orndoff.

    https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2019/nikolas-ognenovic-210043

    The other big recruit targets for 2019 are:

    4* Marlon Devonshire, a DB out of Alliquippa and the #2 recruit in PA.

    https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2019/nikolas-ognenovic-210043

    And 4* Daniel Carter a Florida RB who visited two weeks ago

    https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2019/daniel-carter-44582

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    1. Koontz is rated higher, so onto the next tight end prospect.

      If Pitt landed Ognenovic it would have been nothing but “another three-star recruit” on this board today.

      Liked by 2 people

  5. Thanks for the great story DD, I remember and really like your comments so keep them coming. Joe Negri was great, remember him on the Paul Shannan show too I think? Love the Bio’s..

    I hate to do this on the POV but my email server has been down for a few days and I wanted to let anyone know ho’s been trying to contact me that I apologize for not getting back with you. Also to Fran, opened up the package and cracked up, I should have known what you were up to. That is a really great shirt BTW, really cool Uncle Ike shirt guys. My wife was hoping it didn’t fit me but it does buddy thank you…ike

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  6. The staff just offered two more TE’s in last 10 days. One was just offered about 3 days ago. This told me the Florida TE was going elsewhere. Narduzzi had the last crack with him on campus but couldn’t close. He recruited this kid hard.

    Last year Narduzzi brought in 3 TE’s. I could see two of them not finishing their career at Pitt.

    I don’t see Devonshire or Carter coming our way.

    BTW, haven’t seen any recent updates. Are we still ranked 26th?

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  7. Here is College Football News’ predictions for the ACC conference in 2018:

    https://collegefootballnews.com/2018/07/2018-preseason-acc-team-by-team-predictions-for-every-game/2

    Here is the Pitt-specific bit (has five parts to it):

    https://collegefootballnews.com/2018/05/pitt-panthers-college-football

    Predicting just what every other nation publication has done – 5.5 wins on the season. Personally I think CFN is beine very optimistic about the offense but we’ll see.

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    1. The national publications know more than me…

      But, last year’s disappointing record was somewhat caused by several pre-season injuries, suspensions, dismissals on a team that couldn’t afford to lose any depth or senior leadership. Taleni (would have been best D lineman early in the season), Wirginis (best LB, at least early in the season), Aston (one of the best offensive players and definitely an on the field leader), and then we also lost Tipton. Lots of teams lose players, but we didn’t have the depth and we had lost a few of the previous year’s leaders (Connor on O and the senior LB on D) to graduation.

      I’m not saying that we were much more than a 7-5 team last year, but with the above mentioned guys we were better than 5-7, IMO. This year we will be somewhere between 6-6 and 8-4. I’m a homer for sure, but actually think that we will win 7 games and play well enough (but fall short) to win 9 games. I think that the 5.5 wins from the national publications is slightly low.

      With any luck we won’t see three or four key players get injured/suspended/dismissed before the first snap…

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    2. I read a prediction from one of these national sources (forgot which) just yesterday that had Pitt 5-7. It also listed Ben DiNucci as the QB

      I did see a prediction from an ESPN writer last month that had Pitt with 8 wins …. but that was the only one I saw that predicted more than 6

      wwb

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    1. He is the only TE commit at Kentucky while Pitt already has 2 others already committed in addition to 3 more who are already on the roster
      UK averaged about 55,000 home attendance last year at their OCS – Commonwealth Stadium capacity of 61,000. And get this, it was downsized from 67,942 back in 2013

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      1. At least one of the tight ends is bound for offensive tackle-land.
        As for the education, Pitt is a no-brainer.
        And, as for attendance, living in Pittsburgh overcomes seeing a paltry crowd from time to time.
        Obviously, I am jaded…
        Unless Kentucky coeds trump ours.
        If so…GO WILDCATS

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    2. Narduzzi has managed to transform the image and identity of Pitt football into small time and irrelevant.

      Tex

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  12. DD, thanks for sharing. For an article short on words, it certainly produced a lot of great memories.

    So you’re a guitar playing sailor. Pretty interesting combo.

    wwb

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  13. Taking big bodied high school TE’s and turning them into tackles is not a new concept for sure. Because it worked for one, doesn’t mean it works for every ONE. O’neill didn’t have a legitimate chance to see the field as a TE as he was stuck behind JP and Orndoff, hence the move. If these kids don’t get a fair shake at the TE position, it will become increasingly difficult to recruit high level TE’s because they will think they will get moved to OL.

    This is where the new rules can help. Pitt can still recruit TE’s and give them a shot for 4 games at TE. This should provide enough tape to show whether these kids can cut it at TE or not. If not, seems like a TE move to OL would be okay. Doing it now without a solid chance, makes the move cute and wreaks of trying to outsmart the opponents. Relying on gimmicks can give you short term success but ultimately long term failure. Gimmickry is not a plan, ask our old OC.

    Liked by 1 person

  14. Depressing to me to keep seeing the pictures of Pitt Stadium. Where are the Heinz or the campus or the Cathedral pictures?

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    1. Tx panther avatar shows the cathedral and pitt stadium. My Heinz field avatar would either be a big ketchup bottle or 20k yellow seats. Visiting fans don’t see campus when they attend a game. Students get bussed nearly five miles. Fans know Heinz is a steelers stadium and cheap one at that.

      Tex

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    1. Agree – and we are still relevant but 180 degrees from what we really want – beating PSU in 2015 kept them out of the playoffs so we were ‘relevant’ that season… just like we were in 2007 keeping WVU out of the MNC.

      Had Miami beaten Clemson in the last in their last game then we might have kept them out of the playoffs with our win the week earlier depending on the voters for that.

      But we at Pitt want to be relevant due to our winning lots of football games and hopefully getting into the ACC conference championship game and the CFB playoffs if possible.

      I think the former, the ACC big game, is more likely than the playoffs though. Still might be a few years off even so.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. My opinion it is.
      Last time Pitt won the conference? I was there in Arizona at the fiesta bowl. Walt’s last year. Irrelevant ever since. And that was a 4 way tie for the conference. SOP since 1982. Pitt is smalls…not BIG. For Pitts spending, average would buy conference titles in the MAC. You want an ACC title then Pitt needs to spend much more. It’s an arms race and heathers primary Job is to raise funds so Pitt can compete. Ask any penn state fan what they think of Pitt. We’re the step child still in diapers at age 18.

      Tex

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      1. FYI, Pitt tied for BE title in 2010 but lost a team-tiebreaker to UConn. WVU was the 3rd team

        FWIW, I thought the 2002 and 2009 teams were much better than either the 2004 or 2010 team.

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  16. Here is the P-G’s take on our recruiting so far – interesting comments from the local HS coaches.

    http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/Pitt/2018/07/05/pitt-football-recruiting-2019-class-pittsburgh-panthers-pat-narduzzi-wpial-offers/stories/201806290071

    I’ll say this – one of the things about a program like Pitt is that the WPA football fans like to see local kids on the team and it can’t hurt attendance to get more of them on roster and out on the field. If there is a choice between WPIAL recruits and others who are equally matched it would be to our advantage to take the local kid.

    Rivals has us at #31 today.

    https://n.rivals.com/team_rankings/2019/all-teams/football

    247 has us at #37 and 9th in the ACC:

    https://247sports.com/Season/2019-Football/CompositeTeamRankings

    Not sure what ESPN has us at this point as its subscription. But they have us with one 4* (Hill), 10 3*s and two NR.

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  17. Please let any Vets you may know about this new disability ruling – it can seriously change lives for the better for those who have served this great nation… Too many vets don’t either know about VA Disability or misguidedly feel that it is some sort of handout – which it absolutely not – is is a benefit honorably earned.

    RULING COULD EXTEND DISABILITY BENEFITS TO THOUSANDS IN PAIN

    Thousands of veterans previously denied disability benefits for pain issues related to military service may now be eligible for assistance, thanks to a federal court ruling this week. On 4 APR, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned a 19-year-old precedent used in more than 11,000 VA claims denials that stated veterans had to have a clear medical diagnosis connected to their pain in order to be eligible for those disability payouts. Advocates said the ruling could be life-changing for individuals who are unable to work because of service-connected injuries but excluded from veterans assistance because of medical technicalities.

    The court challenge, which was brought by NVLSP, involved Army veteran Melba Saunders, who served in first Gulf War. She injured her knees during her seven years in service, a fact that military doctors noted in her files without determining a specific medical diagnosis of the issue. When she left the service and applied for veterans’ disability benefits, her claim was denied. VA officials acknowledged the problem stemmed from her time in service but the Board of Veterans’ Appeals cited a 1999 Veterans Court decision which held that “pain alone is not a disability for the purpose of VA disability compensation.”

    The new court ruling erases that precedent, at least for now. Veterans still need to show a clear connection between their pain and their military service to be eligible but would no longer have to have a specific medical reason for the pain to apply for benefits. VA officials can appeal the decision, although it’s unclear if they will do so. In a statement, Saunders’ lawyer, Mel Bostwick, called the court case “a significant victory for disabled veterans” and a long-overdue correction in VA policy.

    “Congress recognized that the nation owes these veterans for their sacrifices, and the court today vindicated the common-sense notion that this debt does not depend on whether a veteran’s disabling pain can be labeled with a specific medical diagnosis,” she said. Stichman said veterans who have previously been rejected for disability benefits — or who have avoided applying in the past because they assumed they would not be eligible — should now reapply to see if the new ruling will allow them to qualify.

    “We just don’t know how many veterans this could affect,” he said. “We know the Board of Veterans Appeals has cited this precedent in more than 11,000 cases. But we don’t know about all the other veterans who never even applied.”

    Source: [Marine Corps Times | Leo Shane III |Apr 16, 2018]

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  18. DD – enjoyed the read. Thanks for sharing your story.

    Joe Negri was a staple of Pgh local TV when I was growing up – not just Mr. Rogers, but he made all the rounds. I think he would occasionally show up on Paul Shannon/Adventure Time as well.

    https://www.joenegri.com/

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  19. Tex – comparing your comments at 12:57pm and 2:12pm .

    So, in your view did Narduzzi transform the image into irrelevant or has it been the case since that Fiesta Bowl we both attended? Not sure it can be both.

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    1. It has been irrelevant since the Fiesta Bowl (actually since Marino and 48-14). Narduzzi is very good at piling on mediocrity on your noodles. And so was Chryst at dishing up frankfurters that he called gourmet food.

      Narduzzi cant punch himself out of a wet paper bag when it comes to recruiting. That will be the death of this program. My bet is he will not be able to develop the 2 and 3 star players he recruits by years 2 and 3 and turn them into players that make an impact and win us division titles.

      But we will know this year and by next year whether this strategy works.

      This Michigan State model might have worked 5-10 years ago but remember Narduzzi wasnt THE coach and even the Spartans are deviating away from this strategy today…they are recruiting 4 stars.

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      1. My point is that the ‘right’ coach can pour (not pore) good sauce on your noodles and make you choice cut steaks over Nathan’s hotdogs.

        Capel in a mere 6 weeks was able to generate Pitt’s best recruiting class in 5 years.

        We need Capel to recruit football players.

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  20. Agree that if potential players are equal, Pitt should offer the local UNLESS offering a kid from a potential pipeline school or continuing a pipeline like say from somewhere in Flurrrrida. Absent that extenuating circumstance, I’d go with the local kid.

    Pitt should be studying demographics for high school graduates nationally and project out 5-7 years and start developing relationships with those high school coaches. Seems pretty simple since the data is public. Larger populations should equal larger player pools, which should equal better talent. Hello Athletic Department. Partner with your Enrollment Officer who does these studies for marketing purposes.

    Also, is it illegal to have a coach like Charlie Partridge, reside in Florida for 6 months of the year, so he can beat the doors down on florida high schools and IMG all week, every week and then come back to Pitt during spring drills and of course during the season? Maybe not Charlie but a young gun?

    Does anyone know why we don’t have the Pat Narduzzi show airing on the sunshine sports network every week before and during the season?

    Small things turn into big things……

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  21. DD..I spent many a weekend afternoon in Pitt Stadium, not only as a spectator but that is where we played inter-fraternity football. When I was in PT school several of us would hustle over to the Fieldhouse to play basketball at lunch..played against Dave Guisti, Steve Blass and Manny Sanguillen a couple of times in the Fitz….that was so much fun…those facilites were places to play and watch games. That was all I ever needed and still need..don’t need all the bells and whistles/glitz and glamour but I am out of date and can’t relate.

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  23. PITT gets a 3* player we bitch and if PITT loses a 3* we bitch. Like the consistency there but can we stick with the mandated Rivals ratings please. PITT is currently ranked # 30. Moving forward.

    Liked by 1 person

  24. If we lose a 3 star to Kentucky we should bitch
    Pitt’s final ranking will be outside the top 40 just like in previous years if Narduzzi doesnt find a way to recruit a few 4 stars.
    Even the article linked above says that Coach is recruiting like the previous 3 years
    Somehow I am NOT comforted by it
    But we all shall see if he’s able to turn these 3 stars into impact players by developing them (aka coaching them up)
    He’s got this year and next (assuming Heather has a heart)

    ike – Heather recommended OBX

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  25. Heather went to Emerald Isle, or was it the Emerald City? See, it could have been either. Just pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, and we all know who’s wearing those ruby slippers,right?

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  26. Yardbarker just released an article and ranking of “the hardest 2018 schedules in college football” and Pitt is ranked #3. So we have a middling program with an Alabama like schedule. Hell, Alabama doesn’t play as tough a schedule. WTF! This is institutionalize mediocrity. Heather, stop the madness, please. It isn’t fair to the players>

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  27. LOL at the last two comments, gave me a chuckle in a funny way. Here’s the thing and Joe is more on the beam with this one Tx, if we could get a glimpse inside the tight end that committed to Kentucky and by that I mean the player not his anatomy and see what his reasons were to go to school at Kentucky instead of PITT, then maybe we could see if Narduzzi lost the player or Kentucky gained the player. Way too much finger pointing for a player people would have only bitched about getting.

    Perspective and perception are two distant close relatives here. Narduzzi and PITT football are no longer conducting the program on a railroad to the city dump. Whoo Whoo. ike

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    1. I won’t bitch if we get a four star with offers from penn state, Ohio state and Clemson. But narduzzi will never recruit such a player. So I will always bitch. 🙂

      Tex

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  28. AFH’s comment aside. You snuck that one in on me. Give Heather a chance to help with the schedule. They are made up decades in advance and sometimes centuries.

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  29. Yes, I thought we were all supposed to only be using rivals. If that’s the case, we’re 31st and between TCU and Florida.

    Also Reed, to add to your list of high prospect players (in addition to Devonshire and Carter), we’re in the running for 4* OL Jaquay Hubbard and 4* CB Taiwan Mullen. Also, keep an eye on two other intriguing 3* prospects (but 5.7s on rivals) Briton Allen and Keshun Brown. I read that they’re pretty high on Pitt.

    Any chance we have a shot with Porter Jr?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Porter Jr would be a nice get – not sure if the projections are accurate, but if so, he is leaning elsewhere while lukewarm on Pitt.

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      1. If we can’t get a kid who would share a facility with his Dad then we are in fact doomed.

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  31. Schedules are no longer made up that far in advance, and are bought out or changed all the time. Can’t have a top three schedule with a top 40 team and expect to be real successful. Match the schedule with the team, once you get better you can up it. They know the ACC rotation, as well as ND. Does take a rocket scientist to figure out the rest. Sure, teams get better or worse over time, but some things and teams never change much. Oh, wait, that’s us!

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    1. The good thing for Pitt is the 3 ranked OOC teams are with overrated.

      Psux lost many top performers from 2017’s team on both sides of the ball. Plus their OC Morehead, who saved Jimmy one finger’s job has left to be the head at Miss State. Jimmy is left to manage the game again – looking forward to seeing how that plays out.

      ND is usually overrated and very much hated by Panther fans. Our D will frustrate Kelly & the Irish for four quarters. Let’s hope the refs don’t frustrate Pitt fans again & again.

      UCF coming off their magical undefeated season lost their entire coaching staff and many good players on D, albeit 2 and 3 star talent.

      Nothing with any of these three teams scares me as a Pitt fan.

      These young Panther players have been in bigger games – no doubt, not fear!

      H2P!

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  32. According to the ESPN predictor system, Pitt is favored in 3 games – Albany, cuse and uva.

    I’m so glad the season will actually be played – psux, gtech, UCF, duke, vtech and wf will be underdog victims of the Duzz.

    “Chip on our shoulders? We don’t need no stinkin chip on our shoulders!”

    H2P!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I see 6 wins. With Pitt losing the water purifier bowl in Flint Michigan against Toledo.

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  33. Couple thoughts:

    —This was a tough year for Heather to lighten the schedule having both UPS and ND. Could have changed the UCF game, I guess, ducking out of that game would have looked bad — and some on here would have complained…

    —Always wondered why Kentucky didn’t have a better FB program. They are perfectly situated to draw players from the north and the south…

    —I don’t think you should be too critical of Coach Partridge’s recruiting. It’s not his fault the 4-Stars will not consider Pitt… And I’ve heard that other teams have ace recruiters too…

    Go Pitt!

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  34. DD — Forgot to say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading of your journey to Pitt fandom.

    And hats off to Joe Negri. Was at a wedding once where he played as the featured entertainment…

    Hail to Pitt!

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  35. The water purifier bowl is just one step head of the toilet bowl. Why aren’t we seeing any interviews with Pitt assistants about off season conditioning activities, program changes or anything Pitt related? If it weren’t for a few reporters digging up stuff for articles we would think the whole program is hibernating. If the assistant coaches are recruiting locally, wouldn’t it be good to get some publicity? Where is Heather? The time to sell tickets is now. What is the marketing plan? I still cannot find a decent Pitt jersey…

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    1. This worries me as well. No excitement or buzz. Maybe it’s because Pitt knows they are guilty of being mediocre. Tough to gin up the base when you’re closing practices and getting beat by Kentucky for recruits. But in all seriousness, Pitt needs to market this program hard but they have no clue. I guess we’ll revert back to bobble heads and Fantas to build attendance.

      Tex

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      1. Quote in paper today:

        “Without promotion something terrible happens: Nothing!”

        —-P. T. Barnum

        Go Pitt!

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  36. Tex, it worries me that they are closing practices for a reason. It might be more about what they can’t do than they can do. Even if they are mediocre they should aspire to become better, and should sell us a plan that provides hope to the fans. They don’t want to fall into Pirates territory where no one believes what they say.

    Liked by 1 person

  37. If it’s any consolation, just saw the Top 25 paid college HCs and Kentucky coach Mark Stoops is listed.

    wwb

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  38. Ike, with all due respect my friend, schedules come and schedules go. Our AD could have changed the schedule last year and this year because it would have made sense to do it, especially last year. I am okay with UCF this year. We will struggle defending their qb.

    Schedules and contracts are broken every year between universities. They are all going to the three cupcake one difficult game. Expect that to continue as the new redshirt rule will require a cupcake schedule so the big programs can play true freshman for 4 games and still take a redshirt.

    It would have been a great kick in the shorts to the Dairy College if we would have cancelled that game. I actually laugh as I type that. Not that I am afraid of the Dairy College, rather, it would be great just to screw with them on the way out!! Maybe the legislature would have gotten together and finally required it as a must play annual game. Each team could schedule three cupcakes and the PA game.

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  39. wwb – where’s our coach listed? I haven’t seen him at $3.5M per annum. Can anyone confirm?

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    1. They only had the Top 25 listed so Narduzzi wasn’t listed.

      Where are you getting this $3.5M figure for Narduzzi? The 2017 list put out bu USA had him listed at $1.82M and at 61st.

      http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/

      I know PN got a raise but I’ll guarantee it wasn’t doubled. I believe I read here a few months ago that it was around $2.2M.

      One more thing …. you people here remain delusional. The current example is that Pitt is a much better program than Kentucky …. yet if you look at the list linked above, Stoops is 22nd and Narduzzi is 61st … and Stoops was paid last year twice than what PN was paid

      Stop the delusions. wwb

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      1. Narduzzi and Capel are making similar compensation
        Thats around $3M

        Virginia’s football coach is making $3.5M
        Narduzzi is now competitive with him

        Narduzzi was making $2M with all compensation, $3M is a 50% increase

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        1. tx and wbb – That was my point. I haven’t found anything that says he was making $3.%M but that number was tossed around here so I looked it up and found the rankings i posted with Nard at 60’s, 54th in P5. That is why I argue constantly that you get what you pay for and if that is a real number, we shouldn’t complain about Narduzzi. He is actually overperforming if the numbers are correct.

          Asking for some true number of what he gets paid so he can be compared to others. Why is this so difficult to get?

          Is Pitt hiding the ball so we don’t make them accountable for overpaying for results or underpaying?

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  40. VOR, think about what you just posted. Can or can’t do? Aren’t the they same thing for the same reason? Then ask yourself, how about the players psu has and other teams and how does PITT even that playing field? Then think about the media that want to beat PITT down every chance they get. There are legit reasons why the practices are closed.

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  42. ike, I agree that there are reasons to close the practices on game week, but no reason to close Spring ball and limit interviews. You must admit that this HC is overly secretive and not very fan friendly. It naturally raises suspicions that things may be worse than suspected. First I heard about the website workout, Rocky. Thanks for the tip.

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  45. EE— so appropriate for you to post that link about JC. Powerful stuff!

    Hope you’re continuing to play well on the golf course…

    Go Pitt!

    Liked by 1 person

  46. DD, thanks for your story. Never thought about Pitt as a music school. Joe Negri , definitely a Pittsburgh classic. Where do you reside these days? Did you make a career in music?

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  47. Ha, Busy week have not been on the POV for a few days…did not realize Reed would post so quickly after I sent him my little story!

    Thanks all for the comments. I did take guitar lessons from Joe for 3 years, and played in a pretty serious rock and roll band…every other Thursday night at the Decade, as well as regular shows at the Attic, Nicks Fat City (south side), some Graffiti shows, etc. Sadly all these clubs do not exist anymore!!

    Then I realized music was not going to pay the bills…got a PhD and am basically a data scientist now. Living in Philly for the last 20 years. (Which as an aside, damn going to the ACC…I used to drive 3 minutes to see Pitt play at “nova when in the Big East; take the Amtrak to MSG for many games, went to Rutgers once or twice for games too…now? Pitt is now the closest place I can see them play. I have gone to just about every Navy football game though in the past 10 years…great place to see a game the Navy fans as sooo polite!).

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