September 21, 2009

Back to the Stomping Grounds

The University of Pittsburgh is not what it used to be. It has changed so very much since I was there and it made me wish I could hit "rewind" and go back in time a bit. Gone is the old Pitt stadium. Now the Panthers play at Heinz field.

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Gone are the tiny band and pathetic sports teams. Now Pitt's football team is currently undefeated; their basketball team was #1 last year and the band is massive.

The student section at the game is no longer a clique-like divided up mish-mash of students. The students seem to be as one, throwing people up in the air, singing songs, painting their stomachs with "PITT" and making enough noise to seriously disrupt the plays on the field.

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This is me with my awesome friend. We've been friends since 7th grade.

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Thanks to my friend's company being a major sponsor of Pitt football this year, we were given a pass to the VIP tent before the game and we also got escorted onto the field for warm-ups.

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That was amazing. Not only are you standing down there where the Panthers play, but the Steelers play there too. Mr. BBM was beside himself with joy. Then we were escorted to our awesome seats in the end zone.

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We got to watch an awesome game where Pitt beat Navy, and the fireworks after the game too.

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After the game we caught a crazy cab ride to the South Side, complete with cab commentary that made us almost die with laughter. "Can you see that with your brights?" was just one of the cabby-isms. You can do the rest with your imagination. We hung out in various places and had a blast people watching and catching up with one of our good friends from our college days and his lovely wife.

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Later, we went back to our free hotel room suites and caught some much needed z's. On Sunday morning as we were heading out, Jamie Dixon appeared. He was in our hotel recruiting a basketball player for next year. I noticed him standing outside as Mr. BBM sat in the car nearby waiting for me and my friend. I told Coach Dixon that Mr. BBM was probably freaking out that he was standing right there and told him what a huge fan of Pitt football Mr. BBM happens to be. He immediately walked over to the car, shook Mr. BBM's hand and happily posed for a picture.

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