Editorial: Discontinue the Backyard Brawl
By: Staff Editorial
Posted on 27. Nov, 2011 in Opinions
Needless to say, last Friday’s Backyard Brawl was hardly the proudest moment in Pitt football history. But despite our desire to redeem ourselves, we’re relieved to hear that the Brawl might be discontinued.
This has been a pivotal year for both Pitt and West Virginia University athletics. After a yet-to-be determined period, the former will decamp to the ACC, while the latter will join the Big 12 next summer. These joint departures have led many to predict that this year’s Backyard Brawl — the 104th — will be the last.
Some would call this a shame, citing the game’s long and illustrious history. We, however, would be more than happy to bid it farewell — not because we don’t enjoy it, but because our relationship with WVU has become profoundly unhealthy.
We’ll be the first to acknowledge that Pitt fans sometimes conduct themselves tastelessly. They’ve been known to insult players and profane property. Once, a Pitt student even threw a can at an Ohio State fan — during, of all things, a party at Penn State.
But our misdeeds pale in comparison to those of supporters of WVU. Before 2007’s legendary 13-9 upset, according to ex-Pitt linebacker Scott McKillop, Mountaineers fans hurled beer cans at our football team’s bus. “I (expletive) hate West Virginia,” he told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
More recently, during a 2010 basketball game, WVU fans tossed plastic bottles and other objects onto the court. Even after WVU head coach Bob Huggins implored them to stop, a quarter hit Pitt assistant coach Tom Herrion in the eye.
For the record, WVU fans are hardly more contained when facing other teams. Last year, during a basketball game against Ohio State, they attracted nationwide criticism for chanting expletives audible even on television. And just a week later, they jeered Louisville coach Rick Pitino about a woman he’d admitted to having affair with.
Some would protest that no storied college rivalries are truly “healthy,” that unseemly incidents abound whenever two large, regional schools confront one another. We beg to differ: Michigan and Michigan State fans might dislike one another, but they haven’t been known to employ WVU fans’ tactics. The same applies to Notre Dame fans, who rarely behave inappropriately when their team plays ours.
In any case, many ACC teams — Virginia Tech, for instance — could easily replace WVU as our main rival. Even Penn State — whom we’ll play in 2016 and 2017 — could fulfill that role, depending on how successful the upcoming games are.
Simply put, we don’t need the Backyard Brawl. We’ve achieved some inspiring victories during the tradition’s history — and certainly, as this year affirms, suffered some embarrassing losses — but we can recognize when the term “Brawl” is becoming too literal.
129 Responses to “Editorial: Discontinue the Backyard Brawl”
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This article is simply incorrect. First off, Michigan v Michigan st is hardly the biggest rivalry game for the UofM fans, the OSU game is. But I have seen fights break out a handful of years between fans and property destruction is almost constant.
I have traveled to games at Louisville, Syracuse and Rutgers, and to Cincinnati, Pitt and Virginia Tech (when they were a member of the Big East) on multiple occasions. While none of them were very inviting, Pitt was by far the most hostile and aggressive. I agree it might not be a bad idea to discontinue the series because fan behavior has become too aggressive; but you’re kidding yourself if you don’t think Pitt fans are just as culpable as WVU fans. Case in point, a member of Pitt’s band, i.e. a representative of the university, told a WVU fan that “you probably f****s your sister.”
Was it true?
The rivalry should continue because that’s what rivalries do!
My distain for Pitt was born in the early 80′s when Pitt was VERY good and we were an upstart on the national scene – when at a game Oakland the public address announcer made a few disparaging and memorable remarks about people from West Virginia. “To the driver of a tractor, West Virginia tags E-I-E-I-O, your lights are on,” and, “This is a smoke free stadium, no cigarettes, cigars or corn cob pipes.” To those public jabs and some great games I say MORE and Beat Pitt!
False- Pitt has someof the countries worst rankings in student life not to mention makin the top 10 in most criminal athletics programs behind of all schools – penn state.
Pitt fans are classless year round to almost anyone sporting a WVU logo or even just having a wv license plate.
Some of the worst people graduate from university of Pittsburgh.
God bless…
Hooray for sweeping generalizations!
You will fit right in the ACC, already have the bad football team, underachieving basketball program, and attitude that you are better than everyone. Good riddance!
You will fit right in the ACC, already have the bad football team, underachieving basketball program, and attitude that you are better than everyone. Good riddance!
It kills me that PITT is so high on itself and thinks it’s students behavior is any different or better than WVU’s students behavior.
I’ve been to the past 20 or so BYB’s. Yes, there’s bad blood, but the only time I’ve ran into issues is when I’ve attended the games in Pittsburgh so it goes both ways…(and i live in Pittsburgh by the way).
I’ve had beer cans lobbed through the air directed at our tailgate at more than one occasion. Friend of mine had to get stitches because one hit him in the head.
I’ve been flipped off by an ON DUTY Pittsburgh Police Officer while trying to park.
I’ve been spit at at Heinz Field on the way out even after losing (’08)
Like i said.. it goes both ways.
I personally don’t think the rivalry should end…. win or lose it’s always a GREAT game. Honestly it sounds like you’re making excuses for sucking this year and that’s about it. Get over your “high octane selves”
If you would have won Friday this article would have never been written.. sigh.
What a whiny bitch you are. Ever see Duke basketball? They are horrid fans.
oh my goodness – you all need to get over yourself – it happens everywhere !!! I am not condoning any of this behavior, for either team, but “bad behavior” happens at all sporting events and I do not like any of it. I actually have wanted to attend a Pitt / WVU game at Pitt with my son, but I was told not too by several WVU fans out of concern for mine and my son’s safety, so I have not attended. But I still do not want to see the “Brawl” discontinued. That would just be a shame.
Sore loser, much? This article is completely tasteless. I’m tired of people saying WVU fans are the worst – but to hear it from someone from Pitt is ridiculous. Not every person who attends this school (or any, for that matter) is mean, ignorant, etc. I would think that as a supposed “journalist” you would be educated enough to know to steer clear of generalizations.
&*%HOLE!
No one has the right to say whether this opinion is correct or incorrect, but given the reasons or “facts” stated in this poorly-written and terribly-organized editorial, I think most people could see it is completely wrong…and sort of embarrassing.
Sports will always breed rivalries, and that is only natural. There may be a group of fans swearing at another team’s players or things being thrown at a bus, but that is just one group of fans behaving that way. There are 10s of thousands of fans at the game — and hundreds of thousands watching on TV — who aren’t doing anything wrong.
No matter what the rivalry, fans will always misbehave. Wait a second…someone threw a bottle and swore at another person? OH MY! What will we do with this nonsense!!!?!?!? Someone said a Pitt player was a bad word? OH NO!!!!!
People need to toughen up and realize that things like this happen and a few bad incidents should not, and will not ruin it, for the rest of the fans. This game is important to the players and the real fans. In contrary to what is mentioned in this editorial, Virginia Tech can not replace WVU because the history there is weak and the schools aren’t nearly as close.
This editorial also failed to mention any other schools and their respective rivalries. Did you look into any SEC rivalries? Any other out-of-conference rivalries (which is what this will be)? Do you really think the Pitt-PSU rivalry will be different?
Aside from missing those points, you didn’t look into any of the financial significance of these rivalries. Did anyone notice that Friday night’s game was an ESPN telecast? How many other games this season has Pitt been on ESPN? I’m not talking about ESPN2 or ESPN3 or ESPN Classic. Millions of college football fans got a chance to see Pitt play on Friday night simply because a rivalry like that draws national exposure.
Do some more research next time and cite some real facts. Look at it both ways and realize the significance of what you’re writing. Don’t just sit in the room with the editorial staff and say “well, what can we write about today that people have an opinion on?” Have a point and don’t be so weak and embarrassing about it.
Pitt stinks.
Awful quiet in here. Feels like a Pitt home football game.
yep, you are oh so right that pitt doesn’t need wvu. save for every other year when you need a sure fire way to fill up the stands in “your own” stadium. oh wait, that’s not even “your” stadium either.
and the incident with your bball coach, go watch the replay and tell me where the section is and who occupies that the projectile came from.
good riddance pitt
welcome to college athletics. as wvu fan we don’t need the brawl either becoming bland playing a program that has no interest becoming better. By weeks end Pitt will be the only big east program not bowl eligible. also, you think wvu is bad welcome to nc state. hope you don’t get stabbed. period w/ pitt
The University of Pittsburgh doesn’t deserve to play West Virginia. Pitt has been irrelevant to college football for decades and has seldom ever been a competent represenatative of the Big East conference football-wise. If Pitt had been even moderately successful in football, possibly the Big East would still be a healthy conference. But Pitt’s success was seldom ever seen. As a result of Pitt’s football ineptness, West Virginia single-handedly provided whatever measure of respect and credibility the conference has achieved since the first ACC raid. We WVU fans have grown tired of our team having to carry the Big East’s water and are happy to be leaving for the big XII where we will be playing real teams such as Texas and Oklahoma for a change where real fans attend games, unlike those insecure inept odd-balls at Pitt like the one registering this idiotic complaint about WVU fan behavior.
This Pitt fan should thank WVU fans for providing the only real college atmosphere in the entire Big East, and the only sure sell-out on Pitt’s schedule. In fact, we believe it is just out of jealousy Pitt fans such as this one spew these type of pitiful remarks. But we WVU fans are just too good-natured to let these little gnats get to us.
We wish Pitt well in the future, and realize you are going to the ideal conference for Pitt football. Now that the Big East conference is dead, thanks to Pitt and Syracuse, both are going to the worst BCS football conference in America where empty seats are plentiful, while WVU is going to one of the best.
Well said. I am proud to be a WVU fan and called unruly. I take that as a compliment. Its better than being a snooty northern yankee who’s teams cant play football worth a crap.
Really? You think this is about unruly fans? It has nothing to do with the idea that Pitt cannot afford to take non-conference losses every year?
I’m not buying it. Aside from that one epic game in 2007, this has been a pretty one-sided affair since 1983, where the Mountaineers have won 20 of 29 games, including 7 of the last 10.
This is all about the win/losses. I have a hard time seeing it as anything else but Pitt being tired of getting abused on the field … not the bus ride.
I totally agree. I hope I never have to travel to Pittsburgh. My wife, children and myself heard more expletives and vulgar behavior from Pitt fans than any other away venue. Even had a kid come up to us (maybe 10 years old) and say “F*&^ you Hillbillies” It has become a disgusting game.
sour grapes.
Oh yes, you pitt fans,pure as the driven snow….you make me sick. I have been to Pittsburg for games and had a great time and I have had some rather bad ones too. One such time a Pitt fan stood behind our( my young son) seats and yelled profane sayings about WV people for about half of the game. I was so mad, that I decided to go confront him and seeing this coming he ran like the foul mouth jerk that he was.
It is not one side…but I hope we NEVER play pitt again in anything.
Seriously? Embarrassing loss to a superior football team? That aside, WVU fans are no worse that Maryland fans, VPI fans, or even your Pitt fans. I have been harassed when visiting Pitt. I have had the middle finger thrust one inch from my nose as a Pitt fan screamed 13-9. I have walked next to my 8 year old nephew as a Pitt student called him a retarded WVU hillbilly too Fn stupid and doomed to be a WVU fan. Or Mountainqueer chants as I walked to the South Florida Pitt game this year. Cry me a river, Pitt fans are ignorant too and this problem is not isolated to our two colleges… it is nationwide. Stay classy Pitt fans.
Terrible article, Pitt hasn’t been relevant for years and your telling me that they don’t need WVU to help keep them in the spotlight at least one game a year. Get real, Pitt fans think they are way better then what they are. By the way WVU fans aren’t as “horrid” as you try to make them sound, of course your just whining about like every other Pitt fan because you lost.
Lol, this is a load of crap.
You’re telling me that the school would rather take away the Backyard Brawl, some of the most exciting games the school has ever had (and will continue to have if it is maintained), and our only rival? I’m sure if our team actually had a good QB and a decent coach, you wouldn’t be saying that. Penn State and VT as our rival? Please, RMU is more of our rival than those two.
Don’t be afraid of some confrontation from our neighbors to the South, our fans aren’t exactly prim and proper either.
Let’s continue it for another century.
Please. Enough with the WVU fans are too mean to us. I sat through the game with my son in Section 215 Friday night listening to three drunk Pitt fans cuss and scream for 3 1/2 quarters. These guys were completely surrounded by WVU supporters yet no one beat them, no one threw beer cans or batteries, or trash cans, or anything else for that matter. They did get real quite about mid-way through the fourth quarter. To Pitt fans or even the WVU fans that think we shouldn’t play this game you are just wrong. This is a great series for both schools that has attracted a national TV audience for nearly 20 straight years. It’s a series that gets both fan bases excited. The fact that we are both going to different conferences has the potential to make the match up even more interesting. Maybe since you guys fear for your safety so much we could play in a neutral location like the first rest stop on I-79 near the WV-PA border. How ’bout it?
While I can understand the points you raise, I believe you let your own personal bias cloud your judgment. For example, you cite WVU (students primarily) fans using profanities at inopportune times, yet you flaunt Scott McKillop’s quote in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review as if it was some sort of heroic statement. As difficult as it is to believe, all schools with strong athletic traditions have moments which are regrettable, but to target WVU fans for incidents that happen all over the country misses the mark.
If the “Brawl” is discontinued, a great majority will be sad to see it go. If anyone should want this game to continue it should be Pitt. The Backyard Brawl is the one time, every other year, that Heinz Field is sold out for something other than a Steelers game.
This is the worst article I’ve read in The Pitt News so far. I feel as if the writers have become unattached to Pitt. The Backyard Brawl is what Pitt is made of. As a lifelong Pitt fan, I look forward to the Brawl every year, and no other game is near as important.
Not to mention your arguments and “facts” are not correct. I have also been a part of the Michigan-Michigan St. rivalry and yes, it does get ugly. But that is what rivalries are. Notre Dame fans don’t treat Pitt the same as Mountaineer fan because they do not view Pitt-ND as a rivalry!!
IMO, I do not believe there is a such thing as an unhealthy rivalry. And trying to say VT could replace WVU is ridiculous.
I completely agree that the Backyard Brawl should end. Pitt fans are not perfect, no fan is. However, I attended the game on Friday and horrified by West Virginia fans. They were rude to Pitt fans, with thousands shout “Eat Sh*t Pitt” which was heard on national TV. WV fans wonder why the umiversity has such a bad reputation and was not invited to the ACC or SEC. You have created it yourselves. I really dont care if we lost every game to WVU, thats not the point. The point is to treat each other with respect and class, something WVU fans clearly lack. Pitt fans have already moved on from this rivalry, we have plenty of other sport interests in our city. Best of luck in the Big 12!
I like your sentence “Pitt fans have already moved on from this rivalry, we have plenty of other sport interests in our city.” You are right, that is why PITT fans cannot even fill the bottom sections of Heinz Field. A PITT fan sat around us the other night and bragged about how PITTS sells 50K+ ticket each home game. So using that math and the # of people who actually show up that means since WVU had 60K+ tickets sold we had over 200,000 in attendance (get it CAUSE WE FILL OUR SEATS)
That’s funny. I watched the game on tv and never heard people chanting that. You’re either dillusional or a liar.
You are completely tunnel visoned. While I do not agree with the behavior of some WVU fans, I went to a WVU/Pitt game in Pittsburgh and was treated terrible by the fans there. For you to believe it just occurs from the WVU side is completely inaccurate.
There were Pitt fans at the game? In Pittsburgh? When did they get a fan base?
Sorry … I forgot all the Penn State fans who are now converting to Pitt fans. My bad.
hahahahahahahaha…this is just too funny.
Evidently the writer has NEVER been to another venue, or has personal reasons for embelishing his story (to say the least) “A Pitt fan ONCE threw a beercan…”LOL..or “A quarter hit Pitt Ass. Coach Herrion IN THE EYE !” 1)Was the ‘quarter’ ever found (was it a coin, or a peice of plastic) 2)I recall it hit him on the cheek, (even though he acted like he had been hit with a ballbat) and not in the “EYE” as the writer lied about. Evidently tall tells are the norm for Pitt fans…LOL
Maybe this should be the reason for discontinuing the BB after 104 years…because Pitt fans are nothing more than overgrown crybabies, and feel the need to say whatever they feel to make them feel better about presently having a poor football program.
I personally would like to see it continue, but, after being on the downside of 18-12-2 record over the last 30 years, evidently Pitt has had enough from those nasty ol, mean, Mountaineers…
Seems like it’s easier to whine, cry, and make up lies about a team, than it is to actually beat them on the field…
Sad, so sad…..no wonder the ASheShe wants them….
Claims such as this are tasteless. WVU is certainly not innocent of unrulely and stupid fans. But so is EVERY major college sports team in the country. Given, that doesn’t make it right, but I do question the motives of those that single out WVU.
I’ve attended countless WVU football and basketball games over the last 20 years. Sure I’ve seen some things I wasn’t too awful proud of, but I in no way saw anything that rises to the level of some of the urban myths floating around. Many would have people believe that if you show up in Morgantown on game day, you should expect every WVU fan to be drunk, carrying a firearm, and ready to eat small children. It’s all wildly exagerated.
The Brawl should continue because it is such a great rivalry. Both teams benefit from it. Both fan bases strongly dislike eachother. It has everything all great rivalries have. Both sides should do whatever it takes to make sure it continues. I hate Pitt. It’s the only thing in the entire world I hate. I’m comforted by this hate. So, I would like to play them every year. It’s hard to hate something you never see.
Actually, on gameday, I generally am drunk, carrying a firearm (legally, of course. It’s called the 2nd Amendment!), and unruly!
This is a very poorly written article.
I hope you are not graded on this piece.
Your comments show both the lack of knowledge that comes with youth, and the lack of effort to look up some of the history that goes along with such a long standing rivalry such as the “Backyard Brawl”.
Your article is very one sided and biased (as would be expected of a Pitt Student Newspaper), but let me assure you that if you were to talk to older fans on both sides of the rivalry, they would tell a much different story then what you have written.
I am a WVU Alumi and life long fan and I will be the first to admit to seeing some of our fans act inappropriately in some situations, but the same could be said of many Pitt fans as well. But, never have I witnessed our announcer and cheerleaders/mascot act in the manner that took place at “old” Pitt Field in the 1990′s. The announcer on more than one occasion made negative/derogatory comments over the PA towards WVU and it’s fans. Even the Pitt Panther got into the act by carrying multiple signs around the stadium that were way beyond just being “in poor taste”. One that comes to my mind was “Control the sheep population, neuter a Mountaineer”.
I will agree it is time to give the rivalry a rest, but I think it will give both schools fans a chance to sit back and think about what a rivalry should be, and how fans should act at sporting events.
I also remember the Pitt PA announcer making comments like ” There is a tractor in the parking lot with its lights on, West Virginia license plate number E I E I O. Real classy Pitt. Whoever wrote this story has no idea what they are talking about.
I much as I would like to read your editorial I just can’t do it. Get off your high horse and face reality. Just ask pitt”fan” who sucker punched my 16 year old son Friday after pitt “fan’s” so called girl friend flipped off our tailgait. Get over yourselves.
HAHAHAHAAHAHAH did you even read this before you posted it? Sounds like a bunch of excuses of why we are tired of losing to WVU…
Eat shit Pitt.
Why do you have to be so mean, Johnny Mountaineer? It hurts my panther feelings soooo much. I just wanted to win this year…wah wah. We were supposed to be “high octane” this year..wah
Hey Pitt Writing Team
Want some cheese to go with that whine????? ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!
Lets Gooooooooooo Mountaineers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Easy to call it quits when you lose the majority of the recent matchups. I’m sure you would love to keep this series if you were still dominating. Let’s Go Mountaineers!!!
Us WVU fans are such a horrible bunch. I’m sure that Pitt fans always conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the pedestal you have placed them on. PSU students are always respectful, er.. Do you remember that one time?
Not so fast. If you think WVU fans are the only ones doing this you are mistaken. I took my 3 nephews to the game with myself and my wife this past weekend. The youngest boy is 9 and the oldest is 14. The younger nephew was called a homo, fag among other things by a Pitt fan, they were making fun of his hair. The oldest nephew was tripped and pushed down to the ground during halftime walking down to get something to drink by a grp of Pitt fans probably in their mid 20′s. Dont give me its all on us. Get a grip, it happens everywhere. If you want the series ended, fine, but dont blame wanting it stopped on fans, your fans are no better.
We waxed that ass mother fucker and when the series picks back up it’ll happen again. I guess little titty baby wants some fuckin milk. Basically you can’t handle losing to us for the third straight year so you justify a discontinuation of the series based on our fans worst moments. Well many fan bases have their own moments, and at the end of the day none of this would happen without something your program lacks. Passion.
Nothing comes close to the fan behavior you described compared to the poisoning of the historic Toomers Corner Oak trees and the hated rivalry of Auburn and Alabama.
Very sad to paint WVU fans as being much different than most other schools.
Without a doubt, most fans think their fans “…misdeeds pale in comparison to those of (other) supporters…” I can tell you from personal experience that I went to a Pitt/WVU game at Heinz field and was constantly harassed from the time I pulled into my parking space until I left after the game and arrived to find a number of people had urinated all over my car. You call it tasteless, I call it completely unacceptable behavior. I’m not claiming that wouldn’t happen to a PA car in Morgantown, and you shouldn’t claim that Pitt fans are nothing more than mildly tasteless. (PS – Their behavior caused me to leave the Steeler fan base.)
Pussies.
You guys are just angry because we beat your pathetic team on Friday. Enjoy living in the bowels of the ACC jackwagons! HAIL WEST VIRGINIA!
Pussies!
I guess you’ve never been in attendance at a SEC game before…………….
Guess you’ve never been in attendance at a SEC game before………..
Sounds like you are simply tired of being beat. Your fans are without a doubt horrible. At halftime while in the concession line, Pitt fans are in the concourse yelling expletives trying to incite a fight. No one has ever accused you guys of being smart. Go away sore loser!
Enjoy the Beef O’Brady Bowl….Maybe
You sir are an idiot and are just trying to stir crap. You know alot of stuff happens at every school. None of those things mentioned happened. Get over yourself because nobody care except you delusional people who like to make stuff up.
As a 1980s graduate and proud alumnus of WVU, I can personally attest to the same outrageously awful behavior of Pitt fans at Pitt sporting events through my years of attending both football and basketball games at Pitt. I was a member of the WVU bands that attended these games, and we were always, without exception, well-behaved and courteous in our interactions with all fans, yet we were repeatedly verbally and physically attacked EVERY single time.
Furthermore, if you want to understand the casus belli for WVU fans, and West Virginians as a group, it is very clear that they (we) are fed up with the constant insults, epithets and condescension of your fan base.
I think I speak for everyone.
Yes, maybe you don’t need the game…but your fans obviously need something to fill the stadium. When tickets go for $2.00 and you still can’t fill the stadium, then maybe it is time to aim your self-loathing directly at yourself and stop trying to find a scapegoat in WVU.
While I do not excuse bad behavior of Pitt nor WVU fans, I certainly find the tenor and premise of this article
entirely wrong, and frankly, cowardly.
Is that “kind” enough for you? Beat Pitt!
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/the_bonus/02/27/cfb.crime/index.html
Your right…Our fans have about as much class as your football players
Chicken losers.
Pitt is nobody.
cry babies.
sounds like someone’s upset they lost to wvu again… get over yourselves and your “holier-than-thou” attitudes. you’re no better than we are
so in comparison..your classless football team blocking the home team band from coming on the field is completely ok? im really sorry ya’ll are stuck with our coaching leftovers and arent even bowl eligible playing in the weakest BCS conference in the country,so with all do respect…FUCK YOU
As a lifelong WVU fan and graduate, I thank you for the amusement that your article provides. Your examples are just terrible journalism. How is throwing a quarter so much worse than throwing a can? And expletives are a deciding factor here? After using a quote from a former Pitt player using…an expletive? Please, just because our fans embarrass you by being the only ones that can ever fill Heinz Field, there is no need to cry like a baby. This is the whiniest editorial I think I have ever read. Eat apple pie Pitt (is that G rated enough for you?)
Wow, what a baby. I am with you about being glad that the Brawl will be over. I’m sick of Pitt’s holier than thou attitude, if only WVU fans showed the integrity that Elijah Fields, Jabaal Sheard, Jeffrey Knox and Keith Coleman has shown, the world would be a such a wonderful place.
HAHAHA. You are pathetic. Cut your own nuts off and save humanity from your underachieving seed.
Looking down on our neighbors to the south is nothing new to us in Western PA.
Due to the decision to host games at Heinz Field, all electricity has been lost at Pitt games. (Miami comes and it is not a sellout and people start pouring out when the Panthers are down 2 touchdowns in the 2nd quarter?) The exception is when WV comes to town. If it takes hillbilly hatred to put some life into this dying program, why stop the series?
how about “masticate feces pitt” ? is that classy enough for you?
What a loser! Cry a little more about losing…the ACC welcomes you with open arms
Editorial staff, you sirs have been pwned.
This article makes Pitt fans look petty and scared. And why no reprimand when our own student athlete states “I (expletive) hate West Virginia.” Kettle, meet pot.
Condensing a 104 year rivalry into the poor decisions of a few fans over the past 10 years makes no sense. Do you not remember the student sections’ vulgar chants at the Pete? Your probably too young. Have you ever been to a rivalry game in the SEC, B12 or B10? Guess not.
Vulgar chants happen everywhere in the country.
http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-10-14/sports/30278366_1_badgers-wisconsin-camp-randall
http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/local/backlash-against-vulgar-fan-chant-at-boston-college-football-games-20100920
Throwing objects happens everywhere in the country.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=ncb&id=4920620
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3514056
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2640969
There is no excuse for this type of behavior, but if this bothers you so much that you want to stop playing your most heated rivals– you probably don’t have the stones to be a college basketball or football fan. I’ve witnessed Pitt fans call WVU fans uneducated, toothless, sister loving hillbillies and they take it in stride. It happens everywhere in both pro and college sports (even at Pitt). As a Pitt fan I’m jealous of the atmosphere and support that WVU fans displayed at the Brawl last week. The students at Pitt should focus on supporting our own team, not make uneducated and generalized criticisms of our rivals.
I guess when I was told by a group of Pitt fans to go burn in a coal mine so their house would be warmer, or when my friends and I at a pirates game had objects hurled at us by Pitt students that was okay because it was Pitt. If I threw it you would of heard everything about it. You all are tasteless and classless.
As a Pitt fan I am embarassed that this article was written. It paints us as sore losers and cry babies. Yes WVU fans are nasty but they are no worse than ANY college football fans in today’s world. I have heard nasty things come out of our fans mouths as well. To say this rivalry should not continue is lunacy. Bottom line is we need this game to boost ticket sales and get national exposure. I don’t know about my fellow Pitt fans out there but it is getting harder and harder to root for them. Think about it. Does anybody in the country even talk about Pitt football except when we play WVU?? I can’t stand losing to WVU just like all of us but calling for the brawl to end is stupid just like the person who wrote this article. Go Steelers!!
Saw this article posted on ESPN and am baffled at this. I love how the writer of the article doesn’t put Pitt fans at the same level as WVU. One great example would be the cursing on television. The very next game Pitt had I heard fans screaming “A-hole” at the ref on a call they didn’t like while the game was being nationally televised. The writer of this article is just a big baby.
WVU and Steeler Fan,
I “hate” Pitt and the Browns! But, I can tell you, some of the worst times were when the Browns did not have a team….it stunk and I missed them. I am more than happy to be able to “hate” the Browns again! The thing about a rivalry that neither side wants to concede? We are much more alike than different…..that is why we “hate”. Be careful when you call for ending the Brawl….that is when the rivalry hate ends and real hate begins. (as you can see from many of my fellow Mountaineers comments)
I think its funny how Pitt thinks they’re fans are so much better than WVU fans. I was walking over to the stadium minding my own business, when a Pitt fan gets right in my face chanting let’s go mountainqueers. This chant is just as bad as the eat shit pitt chant so don’t think that your fans are any better than ours. You’re just as “tasteless.” Good luck with your new rival, Virginia Tech. You’re in for a rude awakening when you meet their fans
You “news” people have probably never even been to a Pitt football game. Pitt needs to play WVU and WVU needs to play Pitt. No matter how horrible our season is up here in the burgh, it is an honor to ruin WVU’s season. Get off your high horses and truly experience a real college rivalry.
Except any time in the last three years. Including this year. Pitt just needs the rivalry so they can sell some tickets once a year, every other year.
D-
You’re hiding from the truth, which is that WVU is 18-9-3 against Pitt in the last 30 seasons. In the last 10 years we’re 7-3 against Pitt. Pitt fans know we’re now the by-far dominant team and they’re running from the challenge. None of your observations are relevant in any way whatsoever.
WOW – SORE LOSER. Pitt football is weak and has been for a few decades. You should be writing articles about your HORRIBLE fan support. I can’t wait to have a Big 12 team bring some fans – YOU (pitt) bring no one to Morgantown. Heck, you only had 20K at the UConn game this year – and tixs selling for $0.99 for that game. In regards to WVU fans being rude….get a life. You obviously are a sore loser as what your talking about HAPPENS WITH EVERY BIG RIVAL. S O R E L O S E R…….
The reason you don’t want it to continue is because you know WVU will be getting better players. Does Pitteven have a fan base? I have seen a few Pitt games on TV and i see about 8 people in the stands. High school football gets a better draw than Pitt. I hope because of what you said Pitt never wins another football game. EAT SHIT PITT!!!!
The truth is that WVU is 18-9-3 against Pitt in the last 30 seasons; 7-3 in the last decade, with a 3-game winning streak. Pitt fans know we’re now the by-far dominant team and they’re running from the challenge. None of your observations are relevant in any way whatsoever.
I’m sad the Big East imploded. Regional rivalries are the soul of being a football fan. I remember great time in this long, fun rivalry – especially when the Pitt fans would come up river on a stern wheeler that they moored at the open end of Old Mountaineer Field.
I no longer live in WV, but while I did we attended the Pitt -WVU game annually with a mixed group of fans from both schools. During the game, everyone rooted for their own team. Afterward, wed go off to party together. You see, fans sharing a region can and do know each other. Despite the comments I read here, they can share respect and good times.
You’ll notice that the vast majority of the stories of bad behavior on BOTH sides, in this rivalry and most others, have alcohol at their core…
It’s beer bottles and cans being hurled at people, it’s drunk fans fighting in the stands, etc etc etc
You can change to a different rival, and it won’t make a difference if the alcohol is still the dominant element of the pre-, during- and post- game activities.
Banning alcohol would have it’s own set of problems as well. But until “fans” decided that getting drunk and doing things you would never do sober is WRONG, poor behavior in the tailgating areas, and in the stands, in after the game will continue … REGARDLESS of the rival.
As a WVU Alum, Season Ticket Holder, and Donor I agree the series should stop but for different reasons. The main reason is that we (WVU)bring 10-20 thousand fans when games are played in Pittsburgh. This year what did Pitt bring to WVU? A couple of hundred. We are spending our hard earned money basically supporting Pittsburgh Athletics, we can do better by supporting our own school, or by playing a school which travels as well as we do! LSU brought 5,000 fans to Morgantown as did Auburn when we played them in 2008.
As a Pitt alum, I am in complete disagreement with this poorly written op-ed. Most of you dorks that collaborated to write this piece probably have never been out to a game, or outside for that matter. Have you ever seen the ESPN special on Alabama and Auburn’s rivalry. The PITT WVU rivalry is not even on the same level but pales in comparison to the hatred between those teams. Btw – your student newspaper will be ranked dead last out out of ACC papers, just another reason you should be embarrassed.
In the IMMORTAL words of Pat White, QB of WVU….”meow, meow”
Wow – I didn’t realize this many West Virginians could read the english language. I guess I need to revise my views on WVU as an academic institution. Not only if they could learn how to speak properly.
dubs….uh, DUH! Try spelling English with a CAPITAL “E” you moron.
Another product of the “academically superior” Pitt! LOL!!!!!!!
As a Morgantown born, WVU alumna, I want the WVU-Pitt rivalry to continue. College sports is about tradition and this is the best in the nation.
On another note: I’ve worked at both UNC and NC State. The ACC (All Criminal Conference) is nothing more than a basketball conference. Football sucks in the ACC, that’s why they have to raid other conferences. Pitt will fit in fine there. They will at least beat NC State.
VTech as a new rival (equal) to Pitt?
PItt’s football program is years behind VTech, and has fallen behind WVU as well.
And don’t paint the whole university with a broad brush. The actions of a few at WVU don’t represent the masses.
Pitt’s not full of saints either.
Hey Pitt, stop worrying about WVs fans and start learning how to win football games. Your school is pathetic in every way and a stoppage of the backyard brawl would be beneficial for everyone cause youre never good enough for a Mountaineer victory over your sorry asses to mean anything significant relative to improving our bcs ranking. We need to play better teams and stop wasting our time playing garbage football teams like lowly Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh is the West Virginia of US cities. Sad truth.
This is honestly one of the most ridiculous articles I’ve ever read. I went to the WVU v. Pitt game in Pitt in 2010, and I was cussed the entire time I was there (probably because we beat you, yet again). You should get your facts straight before writing something like this because now you sound ignorant and hypocritical. By the way, you’re welcome for gaining your terrible football program publicity by playing us on ESPN last Friday, and for helping you fill your stadium when we play you at Heinz Field because God knows you’ll never be able to do it yourself.
Also, try not to use quotes that contain expletives in your piece and act like it’s okay, then act like WVU fans should be ashamed of themselves when they use them. Typical Pitt, I guess. I must’ve forgotten that you’re better than everyone else. Silly me.
One more thing… Let’s Go Mountaineers! (:
I find it extremely interesting that all but one of the Pitt fans who have commented on this article agree that the BYB should continue. It sounds as though a minority opinion with little facts has been poorly written in order to incite anger among the ranks.
Do you mean the EAT SH!T comments by WVU fans? That is a classic phrase in any Mountaineer vocabulary. This rivalry is a very old tradition at both schools and it would be a shame to see that end despite each school seeking “greener” pastures in other conferences. Besides look at the overall win tally, PITT should not want this rivalry to end.
This is why I love when WVU beats SPITT.
I think you forgot to mention some of the embarrassing things YOUR fans have done. I have a few to share with you myself:
After the most recent Backyard Brawl, I heard a Pitt fan yell towards my tailgate full of excited fans “Have fun with all of your cousins tonight. It’s going to be a long drive back to their house!” I’ve personally been flipped off, yelled at, and made fun of for being a WVU fan while at Backyard Brawls in Pittsburgh.
Let’s not forget to mention your rude student players and coaching staff members! My season ticket seats for WVU games are right behind the visitors bench. I’ve seen Pitt PLAYERS and STAFF members turn around after a big play and face our crowd and fans and flip us off, make unnecessary and vulgar gestures, and yell obscenities. I’ve also witnessed many players fill their lips up with chewing tobacco and spit it out on our turf…in the middle of a game! The coaching staff never did anything about this.
A few students and fans give WVU the reputation they have. At least we are brave enough to admit and accept our flaws, not cover them up by others’ flaws. This is a poor excuse for an editorial; it sounds like it was written by a jealous middle schooler.
Next time you decided to write an article like this, be sure to dwell on YOUR students’/fans’/coaches’ flaws too. In the meantime, we’ll be sure embrace our own.
Honestly, I could care less if we play Pitt again. According to this article their “sportsmanship” may be better, but hell, we all know who’s better on the football field.
Good riddance and enjoy the ACC. As always, Let’s go Mountaineers and EAT SHIT PITT. (Go ahead, call me out for saying it.)
Your editorial doesn’t hold any weight at all. I personally watched multiple pitt fans get thrown out of the stadium last friday night. Also few friends sitting in the opposite side of the stadium witnessed multiple pitt fans go as far as getting arrested. I would go as far as calling the writer a flat out liar! Makes your school look like a bunch of idiots.
Did you even actually do any research for this article? Being an editorial, I would expect you to have some sense of authority and experience, which would suggest you know how to do research, yet this is completely lacking it.
Full disclosure, I am a WVU fan. Yes, we love our chants and may like swearing but you really think the Pitt fans are innocent of anything? Have you actually been to a Brawl? Because regardless of where we’re playing, your innocent Pitt fans are just as mean, vulgar, and offense as you call our fans to be.
And the behavior by fans of either one of our schools is no different than any other school out there. I have heard countless occasions of swearing in the chants used. OSU/Michigan fans have beat each other up. And you really must have never met a Michigan/Michigan State fan cause they do hate each other just as much.
While you’re entitled to your opinion (which I may slightly agree with only because WE don’t need YOU), you at least need to support it with better facts and research before you start putting it out there.
In the IMMORTAL words of Pat White, WVU QB,….”meow, meow”…sPITT …bunch of wussies!
This is one of the worst things I have ever read. the points made by other posters are right on target. All rivalry games get ugly. Go to any LSU conference game in Louisiana. Its not pretty. But there are specific issues I must take on in further posts
First of all, the BBall game. Ever since that Basketball game where the PITT coach got hit by a quarter I have been shocked at how easily PITT fans, and the national media have attributed guilt to our fan base with no evidence. Now let me make it clear, the behavior of WVU fans up to that point was deplorable. The court became littered with cups and Bob Huggins had to control the crowd. However, lets take a look at the whole story. Some facts:
Wow. So glad that Pitt holds its student newspaper to such high scholastic standards. Such a superiority complex from a school that has done jack squat since the early 80s. Who has been the banner carrier for the Big East? Oh that’s right, WVU! Who ran to the ACC like scared overreacting girls? PITT.
Ya’ll know what you can eat. It rhymes with your schools name.
The Pitt coach was hit from behind while standing in front of the PITT bench. That means the quarter came from THE VISITOR SEATING AREA!!! That’s right, the Quarter that hit a PITT coach came from the area of the coliseum designated for PITT fans. To reiterate, WVU fans had been completely horrible up to that point. They were so bad, the refs informed us that any more objects on the court would result in a technical foul. Its our house so its our responsibility to keep things like that from escalating. However I will always believe that a fan from PITT decided once the game got close, he was going to score his team a technical by throwing that quarter. Hitting the coach was an incidental consequence of where he threw the coin from.
Are you hicks mad that you go to a place that can barely be called a university? Your school accepts 90% of its applicants, retards. WVU is full of retarded hicks that should’ve never graduated high school.
The Pitt News should be discontinued. This editorial is the most pretentious piece of garbage ever. As a recent Pitt graduate, I am embarrassed by this article. This is what happens when people who know nothing about sports write articles about sports. Michigan-Michigan State doesn’t have bad moments? Where is the evidence to support this claim? Why are you not using the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry as an example?
Furthermore, you can’t just “replace” rivals. You can’t just tell Pitt fans that VT is the new WVU. That’s not how rivalries work. Also, the random anecdote of a beer can being thrown does nothing to enhance your point.
Also, WVU fans can get off their high horse. Maybe Pitt’s relevance has declined but what has WVU done that’s so notable? Other than that national championship that you didn’t go to in 2007, I remain pretty unimpressed by your recent football success. I’ve watched the random Wednesday night Big East games where WVU plays some no-name school, didn’t seem like nearly the atmosphere of a backyard brawl.
Bottomline, anyone that wants this rivalry to end is an idiot. WVU needs it as much as Pitt does (what’s the closest Big 12 school, Missouri?). Rivalries are supposed to be about disdain and hostility. I hate WVU and I hope WVU continues to hate Pitt.
Man I Hate PITT but I love that post. Way to keep your own in line. And the point you make about needing to retain close games is spot on. I am very glad to be in the Big 12 instead of what the BE is going to be. I would have much preffered to be in a BE that was proactive and moved to aquire UCF, Boise, Houston, and others after we got TCU, not after the core of the conference leaves in disgust. I bet you guys feel the same.
What has WVU done? I believe it’s called winning 2 BCS games and winning at least a share of 5 out of the last 8 BE championships.
Secondly, the characterization of WVU fans (and we all know that means West Virginians). One of the last acceptable prejudices in our society is prejudice against rural Appalachians. Everyone casts WVU fans as ignorant and belligerent and this characterization is accepted because everyone knows West Virginians are just a bunch of drunk rednecks. However when the children of privilege act like fools at a Duke game or a Harvard Princeton game, that’s just good natured fun between rivals. Not for nothing, I have been at a PITT game where the announcer came over the stadium PA to inform the crowd that a mud-covered pick up truck with the license plate R-E-D-N-E-C-K had its lights on in the parking lot. That wasn’t an ignorant fan, that was a University employee.
Hey WVU fans, get off the internet and go back to screwing your sisters like normal.
First off I’m not a pitt or WVU fan….but who really cares both of these programs are lame. WVU caring the big least really? Playing those div 2 cream puffs u like to play…u really don’t have any room to get on pitt abt not wanting to avoid losses when u schedule powerhouses like Norfolk state. All this doesn’t matter because pitt and WVU will go to their respective conferences and get blown out, won’t b bowl eligible for years to come and will be non issues…so nobody will care if this brawl goes on…so grow up and move on.
BTW….did anybody hear why WVU was turned down by the ACC….I did….it wasn’t because of the team, or the school itself…it was because of the behavior of the fans….hmmm something to think abt…ha ha…
If this were the case UMD would be long gone and VT would have never been accepted. Sounds like a load of BS.
Sounds to me like Pitt is a school full of pansies….grow a pair
Booo Hooo, Booo Hooo, I don’t like you and I am taking my ball and Im going home and you can’t play with me anymore. LOL What a cry baby. Look I have no issues with Pitt fans, as a WVU fan I realize we have some fans that get out of control. However, Pitt has fans that get out of control as well. I like the BYB, but to say you are going to just simply forget about the rivalry, well that is just pathetic.
I’m in a unique position of being a graduate of both schools, WVU undergraduate in 2000 and Pitt Law in 2003. The article was simply put ignorant and misinformed. For starters the author made no attempted whatsoever to look at the many positives from the rivalry. For instance the both Pitt and WVU chapters of the Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity have run the game ball together between the stadiums for over 40 years to raise over $120,000 for Autism research. This very publication recently published a an article on a second charity ball run being conducted by Pitt’s Phi Delta Theta fraternity raising over $10,000 over the past two years for Cystic fibrosis. I’ve seen unsportsmanlike behavior on both sides during the past 16 years. I honestly think anything by WVU gets amplified by the national media due to the hole redneck perception but that not the point. The truth is you enjoy getting all worked up and occasionally chanting questionable cheers at your rivals. Heck Pitt still chants Penn State Sucks at Pitt games. But for the vast majority of fans is all part of the fun. You play war for a few days then everything goes back to normal. That’s part of what makes any rivalry great. When you consider their killing oak trees down in Alabama we’re not that bad. Especially when compared with all of the good work and shear exhilaration we get out of this game. Long live the “brawl”
Maybe if Pitt could get more than 20,000 fans to a game, they could actually understand what true fans are like. Do I agree with everything that is done at a football game? NO! However, I have no problem shouting “EAT (expletive) PITT.” There are some bad fans at every school. At Georgia Tech a couple years ago, the refs had to keep reminding the crowd not to throw things on the field. It happens. My husband has heard many very rude things about WVU fans said over the loudspeaker at Pitt games before. Our announcer would never do anything like that. Your generalizations are ridiculous. Get some fans and then we can have this discussion again.
What happened to you Pitt people? You used to be hardy, rough, tough steelworkers who would give as good as you got. Now you sound like the Whine and cheese set at Chestnut Hill.
Does this little girl (author of the “article” speak for all of you now?
If so, that’s pathetic. You people should send out a search party for you cahonis. You used to have some.
I’m seriously embarrassed by how low quality the Pitt News has become. Do everyone a favor and do not publish pieces that are based on biased opinions, poorly supported with facts, and highlight lousy research on the author’s part.
Don’t let any of these people fool you: this sort of crazy, violent, rude, and uncalled-for behavior happens EVERYWHERE. I have seen it happen at NCAA basketball games, NCAA football games, MLB games, NFL games, and even high school football games. It has happened at both rivalry games and non-rivalry games alike. Fans everywhere, teenagers and adults alike, are making it difficult for opposing teams’ fans to travel to their away games. I’m not saying that EVERY fan of EVERY team participates in this behavior. That is certainly not true, as the well behaved fans outnumber the rowdy bunch. However, it’s not correct to make sweeping generalizations that (all) fans of X school are worse than (all) fans of Y school.
Also, just because it happens everywhere, doesn’t make it right. Maybe instead of blaming every fan base besides your own (because, come on, every fan base is guilty of having fans like this), we should be looking to find ways to prevent such behavior from occurring in the first place. I’m telling you: no one is innocent in this instance. Not Pitt fans. Not WVU fans. Not anyone.
Look at the facts people. Yes, Pitt football has been underachieving and underperforming for several years now. However, the WVU fans on here are talking about Big East dominance, something that hasn’t happened lately by WVU. If you haven’t noticed, WVU can, at best, have a 3 way tie for first place in Big East this year. This isn’t exactly what I would call “dominance,” especially when the other two teams at the top of the Big East are Louisville (picked to finish 7 of 8 teams in league) and Cincinnati (picked to finish 5th). Additionally, (even though it still has the potential to grab it this year), WVU hasn’t received the Big East BCS bowl bid since 2007. In fact, WVU has received the BCS bowl bid only 3 times in BCS history. While this is more than any other team currently in the Big East, it is less than former Big East member Miami’s 6. Furthermore, with the exception of South Florida, every team currently within the Big East has served as the Big East BCS bowl representative at some point. It seems to me like the Big East Talent has been pretty spread out over all of its teams.
Yes, I certainly agree that Pitt hasn’t been football relevant for over 30 years now, but I don’t agree that WVU dominates. If anything, like Pitt, WVU tends to underperform (against too high expectations?) every year.
“A win would give West Virginia a 10th straight finish of second place or better in the Big East standings. The Mountaineers have been crowned league champions in five of the past eight years and finished second in 2006, 2008 and 2009.”
-ESPN.com
…and let’s not forget a BCS Sugar Bowl win over 6th ranked Georgia and a BCS Fiesta Bowl win over 3rd ranked Oklahoma. That, my friend, is why WVU is universally regarded as THE dominant team in the Big East.
WVU fans care significantly more about the “rivalry” than Pitt fans do. Neither team has “respectful fans”. If this “rivalry” was so great, then why is it ending? WVU fans are like the Dallas Cowboys, overated and uncared for.
Obviously this was written to take a stab at WVU and West Virginia as a whole. Typical. Pitt fans are allowed to goad and harass our fans and insult the entire state of West Virginia but our fans can’t react. While I realize wvu fans are not angels, Pitt fans are just as bad if not worse. WVU is a top notch program that wins football games. If Pitt can’t survive in the Big East, maybe the kinder confines of the ACC will be more to their delicate liking.