I am a Pitt Fan

 Basketball, College Basketball, College Football, Football, The Bigger Picture  No Responses »
Sep 012013
 

I’ve sat through 2-9 records. I’ve been disappointed by 9-4 records.

… watched 13-9, jumping up and down, hooting and hollering throughout that agonizing and ultimately triumphant fourth quarter against West Virginia.

13-9

… was present when Rod Rutherford scampered 62 yards to score the lone touchdown as Pitt beat Pennstate, 12-0, at Three Rivers Stadium in 2000.

Pitt 12, PSU 0

Pitt 12, PSU 0

… started the “asshole” chant at Joe Paterno in 2000 at Three Rivers Stadium.

… bore witness when Larry caught that touchdown pass. And that one. And that one. And that one. And that one.

… will never forgive Oklahoma’s Jason White for denying Larry Fitzgerald the Heisman Trophy.

… saw Tyler Palko lay the wood on that BC player and Darrelle Revis’ ESPY-winning kickoff return for a touchdown.

… was so fucking proud when Pitt beat Notre Dame in five overtimes at ND Stadium.

… think Walt Harris made the right decision to start Palko over Joe Flacco.

… watched helplessly as Cincinnati came back in the fourth quarter to deny Pitt a BCS bowl berth.

… stood in the home student section at Beaver Stadium, too afraid for my life to say a word, watching Pitt fight and scratch and claw against Pennstate, only to lose 20-17 when LeVar blocked a last gasp field goal attempt.

… remember the “slide” against UConn.

… shook Dave Wannstedt’s hand after watching him give a talk to alumni after he was hired at Pitt.

… tried putting on a brave face when Mike Haywood was hired. (I couldn’t even convince myself though).

… was subjected to the Swinging Gate.

… wish Walt’s experiment with the Spread Offense, years before it became en vogue, had succeeded.

… refreshed ESPN Gamecast over and over and over again sitting on a connection in Bangladesh, ‘watching’ Pitt win the Tangerine Bowl vs NC State.

… sat through that entire bullshit meltdown in the rain against Youngstown State last season.

… saw Chryst rally the program to thump Virginia Tech after starting out 0-2.

Pitt 35, VT 17. Sept 5, 2012.

… have said a couple nice words about Tino Sunseri and even Bill Stull before him.

… DITKA, Dorsett, Marino, Curtis Martin, Russ Grimm, Chris Doleman, Rickey Jackson, Joe Schmidt. Beat that. Only three other schools can. Ruben Brown, Larry Fitzgerald, Darrelle Revis. We’re coming for the last three.

… have been a Pitt football season ticket holder in all but one year since 1998.

… refuse to give up hope.

HAIL TO PITT.

Pitt Logos Through the Years

 College Football, Football  3 Responses »
Aug 222013
 
Golden Panther on the prowl with tail up

Or… Really, He’s Writing About the Damned Script Logo?!

Yesterday, I wrote about the second most annoying common issue that Pitt partisans bring up – the lack of an on-campus football stadium. Today’s let’s delve into the most aggravating common issue – the script logo, which Pitt used from 1973-1996.

I get why people pine for the return of the script logo. It’s pretty unique and just so happens to coincide (at least in its early years) with one of Pitt football’s most successful spells, a period that included a national title and three straight 11-1 seasons as well as a cavalcade of stars. Of the 8 Pitt players enshrined in Canton, 6 wore the script logo – Chris Doleman, Tony Dorsett, Russ Grimm, Rickey Jackson, Dan Marino and Curtis Martin. Ruben Brown stands a decent chance of adding to that total.

I love the script logo but I’ve come to accept that the administration won’t bring it back. Furthermore, a whole generation of Pitt fans has grown up without the script logo and so have no attachment to it. The current block logo is pretty decent, if not a little unimaginative. And both Larry Fitzgerald and Darrelle Revis (two possible Pro Football HOF candidates) made it proud.

Pitt Script logoscript logo, 1973-1996 pittblockblock logo, 1997-present.

If Pitt were to use the old script as a third uniform in the same way that ND occasionally wears their green uniforms, I think that would be a decent compromise. But if the administration really wants to get creative,  why not bring back logos for eras past.

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Is Andre Smith the Next Muñoz or Mandarich?

 College Football, Football, Pro-Football  No Responses »
Apr 232009
 

I daresay I’m one of the few football fans out there who has little interest in the upcoming NFL draft. I may track who the Steelers take with their first couple picks but I don’t tune in to ESPN all day or get immersed in the minutiae of late round picks or talking about a potential draftee’s upside or the dreaded “value pick”. Give me a damn break.

Mel Kiper has to be one of the greatest snake oil salesmen in modern history. He whiffs on picks, mis-analyses players and generally mucks up the works. I remember a number of years ago, he claimed that the Steelers would regret for years afterwards not picking Chad Pennington, a player at the time whose greatest upside was that he was a “poor man’s Joe Montana”. As if.

I suppose that the draft is a time of hope for those who root for inferior teams. But I support a team and organization whose drafting prowess is so well-established that there’s really no point in my questioning their draft decisions. This year, the Steelers will be looking to shore up OL, DL and DB. They could also use some depth at WR and LB. Yes, I pretty much named every position except QB. No wait, the Steelers might need to draft a late-round QB for #3/#4 QB depth reasons.

Tony Mandarich, 1989

Tony Mandarch was a colossal flame-out.  Rod Woodson was a highly rated first round pick. James Harrison and Willie Parker went undrafted. Donovan McNabb was booed on draft day. Tom Brady was a 6th round pick. Joe Montana was a 3rd round pick. Tim Worley was drafted ahead of Emmitt Smith. Gabe Rivera was drafted by the Steelers instead of Dan Marino. I do get interested in where Pitt kids or my favorite college football fantasy players may get drafted but it’s still worth noting that Curtis Martin slipped into the 3rd round and had a Hall of Fame career nonetheless.

Wake me up when training camp starts. Otherwise, I think I’ll skip Kiper and his faux intensity.

Standards of Expectation

 Baseball, Basketball, College Basketball, College Football, Football, Futbol/Soccer, The Bigger Picture  1 Response »
Mar 292009
 

By and large, I consider myself to be a fortunate sports fan. My teams generally do well. Two Superbowl titles, 2 Stanley Cups, 7 Sweet Sixteens, 1 Elite Eight, 1 Champions League, 1 FA Cup, Curtis Martin, Larry Fitzgerald, many others. And someday the Pirates will get to .500 and all of Pittsburgh will go nuts.

I think a reasonable standard of expectation for a fan is for one’s teams to be in the hunt, in any given year. Nothing more, nothing less. All the crazies who expect a title every single season can stay in Lexington or Tuscaloosa or the Bronx.

In any given year, I expect that the Steelers will win 10+ games and have a shot at the Superbowl. I expect the Penguins to make the NHL playoffs and have a shot at the Stanley Cup. I expect that Pitt basketball will make the Field of 65 and have a shot to make a run to the Final Four. I expect Liverpool FC to contend for the Premiership, Champions League, and/or FA Cup titles. Eventually, I would like to expect that Pitt football will win 8-9 games in most years and once every few years when the pieces fall into place, they should contend for a national title.

Pitt vs Villanova

But even with what I believe are reasonable expectations, you inevitably get heart-breaking losses. I don’t have to tell you which loss I’m “mourning” today. I would have to say that Pitt’s loss to Villanova ranks second only to Francisco Cabrera’s single for Atlanta vs the Pirates in the 1992 NLCS. Even the Penguins recovered from David Volek. The Pirates have never recovered from that loss.

Pitt basketball is a strong program and they’ll rebound, rebuild and contend again. I know we had a successful season. I’m proud of how they battled and banged with the big boys. We’ll be back. I expect it.