I try not to get myself in arguments with Pitt fans.  It isn't good for my health, and because I don't care as much as them, sometimes I let my guard down and come off almost as ignorant as they do.  But over the last couple of days I've found myself mired in a [peeing] match over at Mondesi's House because of this seemingly harmless post.  So, if I may, I'm going to piggback off Cpiritual27 and jump on the hate wagon.

Some of the finer moments for your entertainment:

"I hope this happens so Pitt can beat that ass and refuse to play Poop state again until someone with a brain runs the program and agrees to have a natural state rivalry like every other big football state does...plus there will be some great pre and post game fights between fans...pitt wins"-commenter NickDawg

My response.

"390 wins, 3 Big 10 championships, two national titles, 23 bowl wins, and 5 undefeated teams.

Not to mention a 24-7-1 record against Pitt...you know, by saying he has no brain, you're basically saying you'd have never won if he had one."

More good ones:

"I'd love to see Pitt beat Penn State, but I also have fun every year watching a team from the Small Ten Conference go to Pasadena and prove what a joke they really are by getting smoked in the Rose Bowl.


You know what Burress, Penn State DOES have a rival: Temple"-commentern The Mad Bubbler

"the fact that penn st plays 7 home games is hilarious, thats why they will never get any respect...penn st takes an elitist view (and by the way there is nothing elite about any facet of penn st sports or academics) that they need to schedule more home games to be self sufficient..thats bull and 90% of schools if not more simply dont do that..i know plenty of penn st fans both family and friends and friends of friends that want this game to happen so regardless if a generation hasnt seen the game, it would be a worthwhile event and they do care now. Notice how you are the only penn st fan saying this on the pittsburgh blogs..show me where all these penn st fans are that oppose the game and take an elitist view as your self and I promise you my son you wont get further than the mirror"-commenter NickDawg Note: "Adam" refers to me.

"Why would Penn State even schedule Alabama? The Big Ten can't even beat a Pac-10 team, let alone an SEC team"-Commenter Mad Bubbler

"I personally like the Pitt/PSU matchup because we had our family reunions at the games, but as for them playing, neither one needs the other. I think it speaks more though that one old man with too much power is responsible for the two not meeting anymore. In a way I'm thankful because Pitt's main focus (finally) is on WVU as a rival"-Commenter BURGH08

"big 10 is a joke all around. There is 3 ok teams the rest garbage plus they cant beat anyone in any bowl games let alone BCS games. Who in the last 10 yrs has put out more pros pitt or penn st? (remember this) Pitt by far so to say the big 10 gets more respect is asinine. The thing all you penn staters are ignorant too is that the rest of the county enjoys seeing you get stomped by the pac-10 or sec every yr when you think penn st is good for beating on the weak big 10. I dare to say the big east has been way better than the big 10 the last three yrs by far in football and especially hoops."-commenter NickDawg

If commenter NickDawg sticks out to you, he should.  And as much as I wish I could say he's just an internet hack trying to pump up his ego, I can't.  See, people like this chap make up a large majority of the Pitt fan base, which is why I personally still feel the hate for the Panthers.  Heck, it isn't so much the team as the fans.  On one hand, when Pitt does well, I feel a degree of civic pride for our city.  I'm a Pittsburgher, and I like to see us do well.  But Pitt's fan base is just so overwhelmingly ignorant and out of touch with the rest of the college sports world, I can't help but feel the hate and desire to see them fail, right down to their fencing team (which incidentally lost to my high school's fencing team last year.  No joke).

More fun:

"I am a Pitt fan, but will try to be as logical as possible!! University of Penn State's front 7 does not have an answer for Dion Lewis &/or Henry Hynoski... #27  are just too good. University of Penn State's secondary would also never be able to match-up with the heighth of J. Baldwin or Oderick Turner. If they did choose to try to double Baldwin or Turner, Dorin Dickerson would be too much to handle in the middle of the field. In the event that DD couldn't get open Nate Byham would be there. The fact is Pitt has waaaay too much offense. As far as the other side of the ball, Romeus, Sheard, Mick, and Mustakas would cause too much havoc for Darryl Clark and Evan Royster. The ground game would never get going. Darryl Clark would have a better chance scoring a 700 on the SAT's than figuring out the rush. University of Penn State's receivers are also not physical enough to play with Dom DeCicco, Elijah Fields, Jovani Chappel, or Aaron Berry. In fairness, UPS usually does have a good kicker, so I will give UPS the advantage in the kicking game....

In short...
When Pitt has the ball... Advantage Pitt
When UPS has the ball... Advantage Pitt

Final Score: Pitt 38 - UPS 7"-commenter TheWellHungarian

and the props from NickDawg:

"The well hungarian..couldnt describe the potential dismantling better... hope to see them in the fiesta bowl or see them get stomped on by usc again...

as for clint pitts aka "the grammar teacher".. my statistic may have been off (not by much though) NOTE: Clint pitts pointed out that Penn State has produced 11 more NFL draft picks and 7 more first rounders...continue stat boy but what you didnt list list is who those draft picks are and what they turned out to be because all or most of them work at the place i get my car washed...what I meant to say was pitt puts out more quality pros..im sure your proud to be affiliated with the likes of Kerry Collins and KiJana Carter, and Levi brown...we are fine over here in Oakland putting out players who actually matter in the pros like Shady, Fitz, Revis, Otah, sessions, blades, bryant, etc.....to name a few...playmakers is what pitt puts out not car washers...back to your regulary scheduled program"

Now the chirping about Morelli starts, which to me, is unbelieveable.

"Really? I think Anthony Morelli would have something to say about that...Note: reference to my "UPS" correction.

Sorry man, but if you look at the match-up Pitt clearly has the edge at every position except for maybe kicker."-commenter TheWellHungarian

"I'm not buying everything the Hungarian is selling, but the 'UPS' comment was clearly in reference to Morelli.

By the way, that kid didn't have a prayer no matter where he ended up. If you want to raise a kid properly as a student/athlete, one should do everything opposite of the 'Senior Morelli'."-commenter BURGH08

The response from me was obvious.

Morelli went 9-4 twice here and won two bowl games, which is much more than can be said of the entire Pitt program during that time. Don't tell me you're glad he didn't go to Pitt. Even his worst daya at Penn State was better than anything Pitt has experienced in the least 25 years plus.

I wish this was something that could be swept under the rug, too, but again, this isn't an opionion out of the mainstream in Steel Town.  Pitt fans are actually glad Morelli didn't come to Pitt, and they give themselves a "+1" every time his name comes up in conversation. 

"Yeah, ok, we don't like Morelli.  That's because our standards are infinitely higher than Pitt's.  The Panthers' biggest problem in 2006 and 2007 was quarterback, and Morelli certainly would have been good enough to help those Pitt teams quite a bit.  But here again we see the break down in logic.  It amazes me.  The hate burns.

The records in this decade are very similiar, PSU even up a game. You would think that they would be up much more considering that Penn State plays in a weaker conference and schedules weaker non-conference opponents. Also, Pitt changed coaches and playing styles Note: WTF? during this decade which created down years between 2005-2007.


Penn State's Records

[Saving space

Total - 66-44

Pitt Records
[saving space]
Total - 64-45"-NickDawg

 

"Playing styles".  Just too good to not show you guys.

"Just when I think Adam can't get any less intelligent, he moves the bar just a bit more.

The comment about Morelli would be like a Pitt fan applauding Bill Stull's performance last year because they 'won nine games and went to a bowl'.

Once again Adam: Less time reading stats, staring at drum majors, and more time actually knowing something about the game being played."-BURGH08

Ahh, he calls me stupid, and mostly because of this post than anything else.  This specific commenter has hammered me for it repeatedly, and all because Penn State football means more to me than what happens between the lines.  It's a shame, really, how some people can't understand that or never experienced it...but as they say, ignorance is bliss.

But anyway, back to this Hungarian fellow.  He apparantly has a Jonathan Baldwin fetish.

"Honestly, do you really think Penn State's secondary would have an answer for Jonathan Baldwin?"

"i don't know man, 6' 5" & 225lbs is about as unstoppable as they come in college & Stull is learning how to use him, but I do agree he can be stopped. My point though is I don't think Penn State has the personnel to stop him. If they did "sell-out" to stop him, that leaves Dorin Dickerson un-accounted for in the middle of the field and also opens up the ground game for Dion Lewis"

Yeah, because we'd definitely sell out to stop a tall guy who can't go across the middle.

So anyway, if you got through all of that, good for you, because I had to take it in several sittings.  But things like this are why I still believe there's a rivalry here.  While you can say that every villege has it's idiot[s], it simply isn't true of Pitt.  Most of the things said here are mainstream opinions.  And even when they do have basis, the local media exaggerates them to massage the egos of the population.

Maybe some of you can ignore ignorant people, but I for one will always hate Pitt because of things like this.

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UPDATE: More fun for you all!

"Arguing between the strength of the Big Ten and Big East is like a steel cage match between librarians.

It's also interesting which posters like to use the word "we" ("we kicked your ass", etc) when referring to their team. Like they have anything to do with it.

Lastly, there is a difference between a quarterback "winning games for US" and being in the lineup and winning despite his play.

Carry on."-BURGH08

I mean...We Are Penn State kinda speaks for itself doesn't it?

"So you're saying that Penn State's D wouldn't have an answer for Baldwin, Turner, Lewis, Dickerson, Byham, and Hyno? I don't think so either."-WellHungarian (That's debateable)

"bill stull is better than clark ... wannstedt has better bladder control than paterno ... true frosh lewis is better than 7th year senior royster who is only playing until he gets caught raping a co-ed"-commenter rhule20

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This is the cherry on top:

"Judging by the comments Mondesi, a Pitt - Penn St. post is like shooting fish in a barrel. 65 posts and counting... While their respective records might provoke flashbacks to the early 1980's, neither program "needs" each other in 2009. That said, a potential bowl matchup would surely embolden the smack talkers on the message boards. Maybe that would be a good thing to end these incessant Pitt-Penn St. posts. I really feel bad for Adam because it is painfully evident that he derives his entire self worth through Penn St. football. When people use "we" or "us" to refer to their favorite team, you know you are dealing with a FANATIC in the true sense of the word."-Commenter Dallas Mike

My response:

"I'm not a fanatic. I'm a Penn State student.

I eat what Penn State feeds me. I sleep where Penn State houses me. This is my home, and the 40,000 other people that live here are my family. That includes people like Daryll Clark and Evan Royster, but it also includes the lady that drives the shuttle that takes me to class, the guy who gives me my donuts at the HUB, and the instructors who work their asses off to give me every opportunity to have a great future.

Our family gets the chance to come together as one a handful of times every fall, and that's to watch this football team. Football games aren't just about football for us, and that's why you see 110,000 people show up for games against the Akrons and Eastern Illinois's of the world. There's something greater going on here, and football is how we celebrate it.

We Are ALL Penn State, and unless you've walked in my shoes and lived what this place is all about, you're in no position to tell me how I evaluate my self-worth."

We Are Penn State.