My beloved Pitt "Tackling Panthers" are playing North Carolina right now.
Pitt fans say the tackle football team doesn't really have a rival in the Atlantic Coast Conference. PSU won't play us and we won't play WVU, our two biggest historical rivals. The sentiment is true.
Rivalries are founded on a few factors, sharing a state is a big one, geographical proximity, even if across state lines is another big one, frequency and continuity in meetings is another, and team quality. State College, Pennsylvania is 136 miles from Pittsburgh and Morgantown, West Virginia 76 miles. Pitt's nearest opponent in the ACC is Virginia. Charlottesville is 318 miles away. There is no rivalry there. Pitt and Syracuse have played every year since 1955 but are 360 miles apart. There is no rivalry there either.
The quality of the teams can make up for everything else. Notre Dame vs Miami. Pitt and Florida State have only played tackle football nine times but four of those games were in consecutive seasons from 1980-83. Those were BIG games. Both teams were good. That was a mini-rivalry.
And now circling back to tonight's game, Pitt and North Carolina have none of those rivalry indicators. Pittsburgh and Chapel Hill are 478 miles apart. They have only played thirteen times in history. They have almost never been good at the same time (and hardly ever separately). Continuity: six, the last six years. But the fucking Apple Chills have won every damn one of those games. They have won when they have been very good, won when they have been good, won when they have been mediocre (Pitt has been mediocre for the last six years. Pitt has been so mediocre that the current Merriam-Webster has for its definition of mediocre "Pitt football 2013-2018."), they have won when they have been bad and they have won when they have been dreadful. That pisses me off and off-pissing is essential for a rivalry.
So, to me, I don't think just me but this is certainly not a consensus, North Carolina is the game I want Pitt to win the most. At some point I do think we will break this exasperating streak and then I doubt it will be the game I most want Pitt to win. I'll have to come up with a new "rival." But this season, I definitely had this fucking game mentally circled on my calendar. I don't know if this is the year and tonight is the night (Pitt is a 4.5 point fave and I do NOT recommend it.) but if it is not I will be pissed off for another whole year.
LET'S
GO
PITT!
Pitt fans say the tackle football team doesn't really have a rival in the Atlantic Coast Conference. PSU won't play us and we won't play WVU, our two biggest historical rivals. The sentiment is true.
Rivalries are founded on a few factors, sharing a state is a big one, geographical proximity, even if across state lines is another big one, frequency and continuity in meetings is another, and team quality. State College, Pennsylvania is 136 miles from Pittsburgh and Morgantown, West Virginia 76 miles. Pitt's nearest opponent in the ACC is Virginia. Charlottesville is 318 miles away. There is no rivalry there. Pitt and Syracuse have played every year since 1955 but are 360 miles apart. There is no rivalry there either.
The quality of the teams can make up for everything else. Notre Dame vs Miami. Pitt and Florida State have only played tackle football nine times but four of those games were in consecutive seasons from 1980-83. Those were BIG games. Both teams were good. That was a mini-rivalry.
And now circling back to tonight's game, Pitt and North Carolina have none of those rivalry indicators. Pittsburgh and Chapel Hill are 478 miles apart. They have only played thirteen times in history. They have almost never been good at the same time (and hardly ever separately). Continuity: six, the last six years. But the fucking Apple Chills have won every damn one of those games. They have won when they have been very good, won when they have been good, won when they have been mediocre (Pitt has been mediocre for the last six years. Pitt has been so mediocre that the current Merriam-Webster has for its definition of mediocre "Pitt football 2013-2018."), they have won when they have been bad and they have won when they have been dreadful. That pisses me off and off-pissing is essential for a rivalry.
So, to me, I don't think just me but this is certainly not a consensus, North Carolina is the game I want Pitt to win the most. At some point I do think we will break this exasperating streak and then I doubt it will be the game I most want Pitt to win. I'll have to come up with a new "rival." But this season, I definitely had this fucking game mentally circled on my calendar. I don't know if this is the year and tonight is the night (Pitt is a 4.5 point fave and I do NOT recommend it.) but if it is not I will be pissed off for another whole year.
LET'S
GO
PITT!
