Pitt fan here. Ask me anything.

[Jax_Vol]

That’s Alibamuh

Oh, my bad

 

[paulyvolnuts]

Did WVU serenade Pitt to Neil Diamond the other day?

 

[TN Jed]

Hey @HailToPitt725 , I appreciate your willingness to direct the Vols fans in the right direction; very kind of you.

My father grew up in Pittsburgh; Pleasant Hills area and was a fireman in their local department. The same one that used to have the 'hooters style' calendar for a fund raiser. I still have family in the Bethel Park area and some of them are going to the game....wish I could join, but can't travel right now.

I attended a cousin's wedding north of the Burg a few years ago. In chatting with folks there, once they figured out that I was a Vols fan, they wanted to chat about football. Vast majority were Penn St. fans and I was shocked by their JoePa sympathy. I kinda kept my mouth shut, considering the event, just to be polite and not cause a stir, but I was still taken aback.

Of course, at the wedding there was a 'cookie bar'. Seems to be at every event there. Why is that? I'm assuming it's because of the German bakers that immigrated back in the day? Darn good cookies, I might add.

Outside of Saturday, hope 'yinz' (y'all) have a great season! Looking forward to a great matchup.

 

[Vol737]

Definitely Pitt. As for the first question, it was likely introduced by Cleveland or Philly at the pro sports level but might also be a reference to the fact that Pittsburgh was one of the most polluted cities in the America the first half of the 20th century due to our steel mills.

Lol! Like Cleveland or Philly have room to talk. Even the Cuyahoga River caught fire several times leading up to the 70s because it was so polluted. Been to Pittsburgh a lot for work and always enjoy my trip into Primanti Bros for lunch. Good town, scrappy, down to earth people overall. Definitely a series I’d like to see renewed every few years. Hope we smoke you this year, but was glad Pitt went on and had a good season after losing to them last year.

 

[EZE]

I’d love it. Heinz makes for a great atmosphere when Penn State, WVU, or Notre Dame come to town, but it’s bigger than what we need the rest of the time. Our success the past 12 months has been fun to see because a lot of the pro sports/casual fans have begun to follow the team. Would love for every game to have the atmosphere the Backyard Brawl had on Thursday.

That game needs to be restored to annual status IMO. Too much history not to.

 

[qwik_kick]

My god, man.... you have a choice of 32 NFL teams and you chose the BROWNS? The least successful NFL team in the Super Bowl era not named Detroit Lions?

I'd suggest the Steelers... but given your penchant for making poor life decisions, I'm not sure we want you. ;-)

The Cowboys are better choice than Steelers. How bout dem Cowboys! And GO Vols!

 

[TrapVol]

Not that I'm aware of, but there are troughs in the stadium. Could make for some interesting encounters if you're into that type of stuff...

I remember when California came to Neyland a few years back. Some of their fans were horrified at seeing the troughs in our bathrooms. Lol

 

[HailToPitt725]

Hey @HailToPitt725 , I appreciate your willingness to direct the Vols fans in the right direction; very kind of you.

My father grew up in Pittsburgh; Pleasant Hills area and was a fireman in their local department. The same one that used to have the 'hooters style' calendar for a fund raiser. I still have family in the Bethel Park area and some of them are going to the game....wish I could join, but can't travel right now.

I attended a cousin's wedding north of the Burg a few years ago. In chatting with folks there, once they figured out that I was a Vols fan, they wanted to chat about football. Vast majority were Penn St. fans and I was shocked by their JoePa sympathy. I kinda kept my mouth shut, considering the event, just to be polite and not cause a stir, but I was still taken aback.

Of course, at the wedding there was a 'cookie bar'. Seems to be at every event there. Why is that? I'm assuming it's because of the German bakers that immigrated back in the day? Darn good cookies, I might add.

Outside of Saturday, hope 'yinz' (y'all) have a great season! Looking forward to a great matchup.

Yup, there’s a cookie table at just about every Western PA/Eastern OH wedding. I’m not sure of its origin, but I’ve actually noticed that they’re most prevalent at Italian weddings. That might just be anecdotal, and you might not be wrong about the German lineage.

 

[HailToPitt725]

Did WVU serenade Pitt to Neil Diamond the other day?

Yes and no. Pitt plays Sweet Caroline at the start of every fourth quarter dating back to 2008, when the Pitt band played it at Notre Dame and the team proceeded to come back and win in 4OT. Instead of “bum bum bum,” we sing “Let’s go Pitt.” Of course, WVU has their own rendition of it (“eat s#!t Pitt”), but from what I heard they were drowned out by the Pitt fans in attendance.

 

[WoodsmanVol]

HailtoPitt, pardon those of our fanbase who don't recognize a goodwill visit, even if it is their own moms visiting. I'm sure you will see some of us giving appreciative and respectful responses. Ignore the others. I have no questions myself, as I regretfully, won't be going. But thanks for stopping by just the same.

 

[TN Jed]

Yup, there’s a cookie table at just about every Western PA/Eastern OH wedding. I’m not sure of its origin, but I’ve actually noticed that they’re most prevalent at Italian weddings. That might just be anecdotal, and you might not be wrong about the German lineage.

Thanks for the response.....it was most certainly an Italian wedding!

 

[WoodsmanVol]

(Long post) In the mid-90s, the football program had been in disarray for about ten years and Pitt Stadium, home to Pitt football since 1925, was in desperate need of repairs. At the same time, we were also looking to replace our basketball arena, the Fitzgerald Fieldhouse, that was just as old and was too small for our fanbase.

Originally, there was a plan to renovate Pitt Stadium and build a new basketball arena on a vacant parking lot in front of the Cost Center (indoor turf field). However, the Steelers were looking for a new stadium around the same time. Pitt eventually hopped on the Heinz Field/UPMC SouthSide (practice facility) deal with the Steelers, tore down Pitt Stadium to build a new basketball arena, the Petersen Events Center, and the rest was history. There was definitely a lack of donors to fund both a Pitt Stadium renovation and a new basketball arena; moving football off-campus was a cheaper alternative to solving both facility problems. This was due to the lack of success at the time as well as the fact that then-AD Steve Pederson drove off the Golden Panthers, the booster club that funded our success in the 70s and 80s. That tarnished relationship has carried over to today and is why Pitt has one of the lowest donor rates among P5 programs.

With that being said, Pitt likely doesn’t join the ACC if we don’t move to Heinz Field. Our facilities were among the worst in the country for a power conference program and not having to renovate Pitt Stadium freed up funds to both build a new arena and build facilities for baseball, soccer, and softball. At the same time, it likely guaranteed that football would never return on-campus because Oakland, the neighborhood that houses the university, is land-locked with more and more properties being acquired by tech companies and housing developers. There simply is not enough room to build a new stadium on-campus, and buying up lots would run into the hundreds of millions of dollars. In my opinion, the only way Pitt football likely ever returns to campus is if the Pittsburgh VA Hospital, which resides next to the athletics neighborhood on campus, moves out and builds a new hospital elsewhere in the city

Hill, I'm a wild, perhaps worse, a certifiably insane Vols fan. I throw out ideas that are either from the Twilight Zone, or from some planet in the Antennae - Corvus Galaxy. That said, has the UP ever thought of Boston Big Digging a stadium? That is building a subterranean stadium, with connecting tunnel roads, rail lines, lighting system etc for getting to and out of it. Yes, I know, the idea is way out there in the land of crazy, but...

 

[HailToPitt725]

Hill, I'm a wild, perhaps worse, a certifiably insane Vols fan. I throw out ideas that are either from the Twilight Zone, or from some planet in the Antennae - Corvus Galaxy. That said, has the UP ever thought of Boston Big Digging a stadium? That is building a subterranean stadium, with connecting tunnel roads, rail lines, lighting system etc for getting to and out of it. Yes, I know, the idea is way out there in the land of crazy, but...

That’s certainly an interesting idea. The university really hasn’t proposed any plans for a new stadium since they tore down Pitt Stadium because they’re pretty content with Heinz Field. I think the wildest idea a fan had was to relocate a historical building/fountain and place a stadium right next to the Cathedral of Learning. An underground stadium would definitely be an unusual yet significant home field advantage. Think of the noise it’d keep in.

However, it’d likely never happen because the city is notorious for not being friendly towards Pitt and a project like that would require quite the partnership in terms of infrastructure. We can’t even get them to shutdown one little block so that students don’t have to play frogger while waking to classes.

 

[WoodsmanVol]

That’s certainly an interesting idea. The university really hasn’t proposed any plans for a new stadium since they tore down Pitt Stadium because they’re pretty content with Heinz Field. I think the wildest idea a fan had was to relocate a historical building/fountain and place a stadium right next to the Cathedral of Learning. An underground stadium would definitely be an unusual yet significant home field advantage. Think of the noise it’d keep in.

However, it’d likely never happen because the city is notorious for not being friendly towards Pitt and a project like that would require quite the partnership in terms of infrastructure. We can’t even get them to shutdown one little block so that students don’t have to play frogger while waking to classes.

The city is throwing away a very potential revenue source by acting that way.

 

[Teezy]

Wow. Great thread. You are an amazing sport and have provided a shocking amount of value.
How did you feel about Narduzzi getting rid of your offensive coordinator after such a great season?

 

[kcvols1]

Not that I'm aware of, but there are troughs in the stadium. Could make for some interesting encounters if you're into that type of stuff...

Wait, so this means a stadium built in 2001 has troughs?!?

A great controversy of whether to preserve or destroy the Neyland troughs persists as renovations continue ad infinitum.

I think this fact carries great weight for the pro-trough crowd.

I’m a pro-trough adherent for the sole reason that plastic gators in individual urinals just doesn’t have the same effect for fans.

 

[vegasvolfan]

Want to know more about our team? Need suggestions on things to do around the Burgh? Ask away and I’ll be more than happy to respond. Tennessee was one of the most welcoming and accommodating fanbases we ever met last year, so I hope you all receive the same generosity from us.

Do you think Pitt will win? How do you see the game shaking out?

 

[FLVOL_79]

If you get divorced, is your ex-wife still your sister?

Ask a gator and Bama fan comes later in the season bro

 

[HailToPitt725]

Wow. Great thread. You are an amazing sport and have provided a shocking amount of value.
How did you feel about Narduzzi getting rid of your offensive coordinator after such a great season?

I was somewhat torn. His offenses were not good in 2019 or 2020. The run game took a huge step back and we were passing it almost every play, which was not what Narduzzi was looking for. In fact, Whipple and Narduzzi were ready to part ways after 2020 but Pickett insisted that he come back if he returned for his fifth season. Obviously, he did some good things (pro style offense, good QB Coach) and the offense was much better last season, but Whipple was pretty much moving on regardless of what happened in 2021. The 11-2 season bought Whipple some good standing with the fanbase, but the consensus was that they still didn’t object his departure.

Also, I was surprised that Nebraska decided to hire him after he resigned here. Not that I don’t think he is any good, but his offense took a long time to come together here and I don’t think Scott Frost has that kind of time.

 

[HailToPitt725]

Do you think Pitt will win? How do you see the game shaking out?

I think we fall behind early and are forced to play catch up the rest of the game. Gun to my head, I say Tennessee wins by about ten points. I would take the over, though. I think there will be a lot of points scored.

 

[Vols4six]

I hope this week.

Wow, I didn't know there was anybody else on here from Dover, hello neighbor!!!

 

[HalfullVol]

I remember when California came to Neyland a few years back. Some of their fans were horrified at seeing the troughs in our bathrooms. Lol

Aren’t troughs in upper deck bathrooms only?

 

[kiddiedoc]

Aren’t troughs in upper deck bathrooms only?

The top lower-deck concourse bathrooms on the east sideline have troughs. I don't know about y'all, but I enjoy the cold water on hot days like last Thursday.

 

[vegasvolfan]

I think we fall behind early and are forced to play catch up the rest of the game. Gun to my head, I say Tennessee wins by about ten points. I would take the over, though. I think there will be a lot of points scored.

That would definitely be abnormal for us to fall behind early!

 

[The Original Fade]

I lived in West Virginia for three years and grew fond of pepperoni rolls. The best ones were at Barney’s in Weirton. I’m also morally obligated to dislike anything from Filthadelphia, so that eliminates cheesesteaks.

Gave you a like for “Filthadelphia”