The Panther Chronicles: The Brawl

I will be starting a new blog series covering all things Pitt football from now until the end of the season. My series will mostly be about what's happening now in Pitt football. But, I will also be blogging about some controversial topics as well such as; Steve Pederson, Pitt Script etc. I'm sure my Co-blogger James Dotson will see this and want to do a Mount Nittany Chronicle or something so just make sure to check back to this site regularly.


The Backyard Brawl is on life support



I have been a HUGE Pitt fan since my freshman year in high school. Since then I have experienced great moments while rooting for Pitt and I also experienced some REALLY BAD ones as well. My all time favorite memory of Panthers sports is: 13-9

It was December 1st, 2007 and it was the end of my first semester of college. Golly gee was I proud to be a Panther that night. Going into the game I had ZERO faith that Pitt was going to find a way to come out victorious against the 28 point favorite and #1 ranked Mountaineers. I had been to backyard brawls before and the way Mountaineer fans came into Heinz field and harassed adults and children made me sick. Now I know every fan base has their jerks, but the Mountaineers are known around the country for having one of the rowdiest and boorish fan bases in Division I athletics. I am not afraid to say that anyone who dismisses that claim is completely foolish and ignorant. I'M NOT SAYING ALL WVU FANS ARE LIKE THIS but they have a bad national reputation for a reason.


I wonder if these fans cancelled
their trip to New Orleans after
the 13-9 debacle?


The point is the Mountaineers where one win away from the National Title game and to see my Panthers led by THE STACHE come out and beat the Mounties on national tv, on the 100th edition of the Backyard Brawl was by far the greatest Pitt moment of my life.

Dave Wannstedt was mercilessly ridiculed by Mountaineer fans after the 2005 version of the Backyard Brawl for saying in a halftime interview on national tv that all Pitt had to do was run faster to beat West Virginia. Mountaineer fans made crude Youtube videos of Wanny's interview and it was all over the internet. Very clever and mean spirited but I guess Dave Wannstedts team did in fact run faster than WVU on December 1st, 2007.

Today we all have learned the BIG XII has invited WVU into their conference. They are landing in a great situation, so good for them. I am worried though that the Backyard Brawl is going to be discontinued. It sounds as if the ACC is going to have its schools play 9 conference games per season and that leaves only 3 non-conference games for Pitt. Two them will end up being a 1AA games against team such as Youngstown State, and Butler County Community College. So the question becomes: What team will the Panthers end up playing on their open date? Some might say it will alternate between a different opponent each year, but I find that unlikely. Pitt is going to want Notre Dame or maybe even pipe-dream Penn State for that open date. I dont know how everything is going to work out. It sure seems like from all the "sources". From every major media news outlet that the backyard brawl is coming to an end.


Both schools are going to have fun trying to find a new "true" rival.   As much as I can't stand the hoopies and their fans, I LOVE when Pitt comes out victorious (which is rare) against them. The feeling of beating the hoopies is second to none and I'm not sure in fact I know that even if Pitt finds a new rival, I will not be able to get that kind of joy back. Kind of sad I know but thats the way it is. Other Pitt fans will say "But Al what about Penn State?" but lets be real here for a moment. There is no way Penn State wants to renew the rivalry with Pitt other than the home and home series 5 years from now. Even if Penn State did renew the rivalry with Pitt full time, It wouldnt be the same because I have some love in my heart for Penn State because I am a student at a local branch campus (ill be at Pitt main next semester so just chill). Does that mean im not a true Pitt fan? Probably BUT I dont care about being a "true" Pitt fan. I care about being a fan of sports in my own way.  Bottom Line: both Pitt and WVU need to find a way to keep this rivarly alive for the sake of both schools and for the sake of both fans.

For the few of you who do not understand what 13-9 meant to Pitt fans and students, please watch at least the first 2 minutes of the following video...