Folks, a long time reader and commenter, “Voice of Reason” or “VoR” as we know him, asked me if I would post this as a favor to him. Here it is. I’ll be doing one last post in a few days to close out the blog. In the meantime…

An Open Letter to Reed Kohberger:

I don’t know you personally, Reed.  Most others on the POV don’t either.  But most of us who faithfully follow the POV know what a good and dedicated man you are, how you have sacrificed for family and country, and have suffered through some painful events in your life.  To continue to support the POV, and to serve as the head of this group for so long has been a great service to the university and to Pitt followers across the globe.  How many other sites routinely have bloggers checking in from Europe and around the world?  Your dedication to Pitt athletics has kept many alums and fans linked to the university, and it is very much appreciated.

As with many others on this site, we are tied to a past time that was the golden era of Pitt sports.  The younger generations haven’t experienced these wonderful times and may not share our same desires for a return to the glory days.  We have watched as power and greed have combined to ruin college sports as they existed in the past.  We saw the inevitable inequity among colleges grow as the universities with 100,000 seat stadiums have attempted to outspend and even cheat their way to national championships. 

Money is apparently not enough for some colleges such as Tennessee and Michigan as they cheat to gain an even greater advantage over the competition.  These painful episodes only add to the frustration and discouraging resentment that you and many of us feel, when we see that our own university is rightfully not willing to cheat or inclined to step up and compete with these arrogant, so called institutions of higher learning.

You have paid your dues over the years, and can justifiably feel that you have done what you can do to maintain interest in Pitt sports and bring Pitt back to those bygone glory years.  Without getting political, it is clear for us old timers to see that, like a majority of major universities, Pitt is not inclined to compete in this unequal, corrupted arena of purchased championships.  We are running out of years to return to the Majors and Sherrill eras in our lifetimes. Our alums, athletes and other beneficiaries of past winning programs are seemingly not willing to make the necessary financial commitments to return Pitt to its glory days, and the Athletics Department seems unwilling or unable to provide the leadership needed to do so.

So as you decide to step away as our Founder and Spiritual Leader, my only request is that you continue to honor us with your thoughts and comments from time to time as we reminisce about past glory days and plead for future sanity to return to college sports.  I’m sure many POVers agree that your efforts will always be appreciated, and will be the foundation for any future success we may have on future sites highlighting Pitt sports.

All the best,

VoiceofReason