Pitt Penn State

by jbolt2005 on Apr 2, 2008 11:12 PM EDT

I miss this game. I need some hate in my life.

Penn State should play Pitt in football every year. I'm starting to believe that this is an opinion that is a bit dated. Please see below for a few reasons why this game should be played and a plan to make it happen. But first, I would like to thank Mike for putting this site together. I visit every day during football season and most other days as well. I enjoy reading his posts and all of the comments as well. You all help feed my addiction.
Reasons for Penn State to play Pitt EVERY YEAR:
1. It is the right thing to do.
2.    Not having a true rival hurts Penn State. I feel that fostering the hate in recruits will help keep some of these kids in Pennsylvania. I hate looking at Michigan's and Iowa's rosters and seeing so much PA Talent. By playing a rival game every year, we will get a chance to show recruits some real passion, from players, coaches and fans.
3.    It will help put Pitt fans/alums (my brother and uncle) back in their place. The last win by Pitt has given this group a trump card to play in arguments. Pitt gets a disproportionate amount of pride from that win. They will not be so bold when the next game is 12 months away.
4.    There is precedent. South Carolina/Clemson, Florida/FSU, Florida/Miami, Louisville/Kentucky are all great football games that do not have conference tie ins. We should have this as well.
5.    I hate to say this, but Pitt is back on the right track. Will they ever be as good as they were in the 70-80's? I don't know. Will Penn State ever be that good again? This game has the potential to mean something again.

How can this Happen? We can talk all we want about why the game is not currently being played, but there is only one reason: MONEY. If we can solve the money problem, we can have our game. Penn State needs 7-8 home games a year to pay for its impressive athletic program. Pitt needs help hiding all of those yellow seats. I think I have a solution (patent pending):
1.    Sponsorship. We have several companies that would jump at the chance at naming rights for the broadcast of this game. Good local companies like Hershey, Hienz, Sheetz, WAWA, or UTZ would get first crack. Why do we need a sponsor?
2.    We have a home/home/neutral site game rotation. Every third game is played at the Linc in Philadelphia. The sponsorship dollars, TV revenue, and the gate for this game will be split between Pitt and Penn State based on each teams average home game profits. Yes, Penn State will get the lion's share of this cash (pun intended), but Pitt will have no argument here as they will be compensated for a home game. If they want more cash, they should sell a few extra tickets for the Grambling game. This gives Penn State the 2 for 1 financial solution that we require without giving a competitive advantage to Penn State. Tickets for this game would be split evenly between Pitt/Penn State. Any unsold tickets would go into a public sale, first come/first serve basis.
3.    Pitt would NOT be allowed to gouge Penn State fans by forcing us to purchase a ticket package to buy the Penn State game. If Pitt can't sell out its season tickets with Penn State on the schedule, shame on them.
4.    I would like to see this game in November, but I can live with it during "Rivalry Week" early in the season. Seriously, I'd much rather watch a competitive game against Pitt than Coastal Carolina any day of the week. Plus, a win over an average BCS conference team will help us more than a win over a MAC or 1AA school.
Thanks for playing along.
For the Glory.
Jarrett

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Comments

are you

related to Jerri Bolton?

For the Glory National Champions 1982, 1986, 1994,

by jesse. on Apr 3, 2008 8:54 AM EDT 0 recs

yes

yes...she is my cousin....i think you and i met at the Pitt WVU game a few years back...

by jbolt2005 on Apr 3, 2008 7:31 PM EDT up 0 recs

Interesting, but...

You noted that you "feel that fostering the hate in recruits will help keep some of these kids in Pennsylvania. I hate looking at Michigan's and Iowa's rosters and seeing so much PA Talent. By playing a rival game every year, we will get a chance to show recruits some real passion, from players, coaches and fans."

Check this out...

http://recruiting.scout.com/2/739966.html

From the article... "Stokes attended a couple of Penn State games last season (against Notre Dame and Ohio State) and loved it. "I like the game day experience there," he said. "It's electrifying. It's just a great setting. I also like the coaches and I feel like if I decided to go there I'd have a chance to come in and make an impact. They are losing three receivers, so it's a good situation for me. I also really like their tradition and coach Joe Paterno is great."

Stokes is one of the five best HS receivers in the country and he didn't see any shortage of passion on his two unofficial trips to Happy Valley. The game day atmosphere at Penn State, particularly for games against prominent programs like OSU and ND, is nearly unrivaled in college football. I honestly don't think a yearly game against Pitt would produce half the excitement of games versus OSU, Michigan, ND, and other schools with actual football talent.

As other people have noted, the renewal of that old rivalry would have a MUCH greater impact on Pitt than on Penn State. Why would we possibly want to do anything to help their program out???

by BSM PSU 93 on Apr 3, 2008 9:59 AM EDT 0 recs

Why would we possibly want to do anything....

to help Pitt their program out???

Yes, by renewing the rivalry we would most likely be helping Pitt out. But an indirect result of this would be improvements to all aspects of our program. With a better Pitt comes greater competition for recruits, greater competition on the field, etc, etc. We would be forced to step up our recruiting, our marketing, our coaching. One major flaw of our program is that we lack the national marketing, or for that matter statewide marketing, of a tUoOS or UM. Competition is not a bad thing, especially when we have the resources to adapt.

In addition, one more top recruit that stays in state is one less potential recruit that goes to another Big Ten squad.

by Screen Name 20 on Apr 4, 2008 8:45 AM EDT up 0 recs

recruiting

you are making my point.....now we would have 3 games a year to shocase the emotion and passion that is Penn State Football.....we are not getting that from Akron or Costal Carolina. I doubt there will be a buzz for Oregon State....and I know for sure that Pitt would be a buzz game on the level of ND and Ohio State.

by jbolt2005 on Apr 3, 2008 10:18 AM EDT 0 recs

Hardly...

I was at the last Penn State / Pitt game in Beaver Stadium so many years ago and, I can assure you, the buzz was nowhere near the level of OSU, Michigan, or ND. Honestly, man... I'm not joking... nowhere near.

Outside the city of Pittsburgh, this "rivalry" is dead. Let's keep it that way. Renewing it does much more for Pitt than it does for Penn State. Hell, give me a renewed rivalry with another state university, like West Virginia. That's a game that might arouse some excitement. Pitt's football program is in the toilet and their fans suck. Keep them out of State College.

by BSM PSU 93 on Apr 3, 2008 10:51 AM EDT 0 recs

You gotta respect Pitt fans though

At the 1997 game, we trounced them. Bad. It was the only game of the four that got out of hand. Not one single Pitt fan left. They scored a late touchdown, and all sreamed "Penn State Sucks" even though it was totally garbage time.

As the clock ran out, all 18,000 of them started chanting "Farmer's High School", it was hysterical.

They got beat 34-17 and couldn't care less. They were there to boo Penn State, and try in their cute little ways to put us down.

This is what happens when you beat these guys, it's like killing a cockroach, they keep coming back, eventually all you can do is move.

For the Glory National Champions 1982, 1986, 1994,

by jesse. on Apr 3, 2008 11:03 AM EDT up 0 recs

LOL

I actually laughed out loud reading that, Jesse.

Yeah, I remember how funny that was. I guess you're right in that they deserve some credit for holding on so dearly to their hatred for us... no matter how pointless it is in this day and age.

Well, actually, let me retract that remark. Their hatred for us is MUCH more legitimate than any Penn State fan's hatred for them. Despite what the cynics say, we have a very good football program... best in the entire northeast, really. Pitt, on the other hand, has almost no identity whatsoever in the world of college football. So, it's quite fair that their fans are more than a little bit jealous of us. It really is.

by BSM PSU 93 on Apr 3, 2008 11:10 AM EDT 0 recs

I don't know how to feel about this...

Pitt is obviously the ugly sister, but it would be nice to have a team you can truly "HATE" like people in South Carolina do with Clemson, and USC. I just don't know how to feel here.

I would love to have a game that actually meant something, a game that would get a cool nickname like "the Iron bowl", or the "Backyard Brawl". But are there any teams that realistically could do that?

Rivalries are defined by geography in most cases. Look at PSU's geography the teams closest to us SUCK with the exceptions of tOSU, WVU and Rutgers. tOSU will never consider us rivals, we are just a big game before the Michigan game. So that leaves us with two other games...WVU and Rutgers...

I don't know if I could hate on Rutgers or if Schiano would allow it, unless he gets the shaft when Joe goes.

So that leaves WVU....Would it work? I dunno but I would love to bust out some WVU jokes now and then...Like why did WVU install artificial turf at the football stadium? To keep the homecoming queen from grazing....ect...picking on hillbillies would be fun and would give us a geographical rivalry that "might" blossom...Or I could just be an idiot rambling on here for no apparent reason.

by carolinaeasy on Apr 3, 2008 3:48 PM EDT 0 recs

I like it...

WVU would make a good rivalry. We used to beat up on them every year, but now they have caught up and even passed us the last several years.

It would definitely create a buzz that TV would eat up.

by Stately NOVA Lion on Apr 3, 2008 4:03 PM EDT up 0 recs

I really like

you're last 4 points in the article. The sponsership and the neutral site are great ideas. If anything, I think we should renew our rivalry with Syracuse once they get a new coach. Pitt already got West Virginia as a rival. Plus, by getting 'Cuse as a rival, it could help their program a lot, and could help in recruiting in the NY/NJ areas. If Pitt doesn't want to play ball, why are we acting like crybabies about it instead of looking elsewhere?

by WPIALkid22 on Apr 3, 2008 5:59 PM EDT 0 recs

If Pitt and PSU were

both ranked, ESPN or ABC would have that game on Saturday night, because the networks would realize the history behind the game and the rivalry, unlike many of the fans on here.

And spare me the arguments about Penn State needing money. The place is awash in money, have you seen all the new buildings? They used to claim they needed six home games, and that somehow used to be enough. Now the NCAA added a 12th game, and now Penn St. says they need seven home dates. Give me an f'n break.

Another reason to have this game is that it wouldn't be on the Big 10 network, thus denying that network the opportunity to overcharge for the game. And it would be nice to go to a game here in Pittsburgh and not have to make a long day trip to State College or pay through the nose for a hotel room (if you can even get one).

by Joe 96alum on Apr 3, 2008 9:49 PM EDT 0 recs

Yawn

First of all, this game would most likely be in September, maybe October, not November like it once was AND it would a noon kickoff on ESPN, if you're lucky.

Secondly, athletic money is separate from the University's budget. It's funding every other sports team, not building all those new buildings.

Lastly, the Big Ten Network isn't overcharging for a damn thing, your cable company is. Funny how your cable bill keeps rising every six months but your not getting any new channels or in most cases losing channels. Aha, that's the Big Ten Network's fault.

by PSU Nick on Apr 3, 2008 10:59 PM EDT up 0 recs

The Big 10

took the games off of the air. They're trying to get more money for second tier games. Last year was the first time I couldn't watch a conference game on my regular cable package (vs. Illinois)

by Joe 96alum on Apr 4, 2008 9:30 PM EDT up 0 recs