The Best of the ‘Burgh

By Pitt News Staff
November 9, 2005

Best band: Tha Beatz N’ Verbz Runner-up: The Clarks

Tha Beatz N’ Verbz burst onto the scene March 22 after playing a monster set at Pitt Program Council’s Battle of the Bands.

With dueling emcees and a band to support them, the group quickly earned the title of Pitt’s premiere act, and even won an opportunity to open for The Starting Line and M.A.E. at last year’s Bigelow Bash.

Students Marcus Harris and Ryan Jennings trade rhymes as James Brown keeps the keyboard lively. Walter Prorok strums his guitar. Paul Eppes lays down the bass and Dennis the Menace kicks the beat on drums.

Showing no signs of stopping, Tha Beatz N’ Verbz performed at this year’s Fall Fest and have already released their first album, “We Blowin’ Up.”

Adam Fleming, News Editor

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Best dance club: The Matrix Runner-up: Sanctuary

The Matrix can teach us that there are some questions in life that are better left unasked. Why are there giant, black and white photographs of mid-’90s era female celebrities lining the walls of the room with the main dance floor? What, in god’s name, does that guy in the “techno room” think he’s doing with those glow sticks all by himself? Where are all the people I came here with? Who’s that grabbing my ass? Hey, hands off, buddy!

But you know what? When drinks are a mere 50 cents on Thursday nights, who are we to quibble? It’s sweaty, it’s drunk on cheap booze and it’s ready to let you grind all over its five ridiculously decorated dance floors. It’s The Matrix, your choice for best dance club in Pittsburgh.

Diane McMartin, Assistant Copy Chief

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Best free entertainment: Watching drunk people Runner-up: Opera man

Whether you choose to loiter in Towers’ Lobby or kick back in the comfort of a South Oakland porch, watching your drunken fellow students return from a night of revelry is a pastime like no other.

Laugh with delight as they stumble up stairs and struggle with the concept of push-pull doors; join in as they sing loudly your favorite pop hits of the ’80s and ’90s; share with them a slice of delicious Antoon’s pizza, fresh from the oven.

In short, eclipse your shame in the shadow of their inebriated bliss, but be courteous all the same – because next time it may be you who tramples past, awash in your own indiscretion.

D. Clark Denison, for The Pitt News

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Best live theater: Benedum Center Runner-up: Byham Theater

The Benedum Center hosts a wide array of performances, ranging from popular musicians to classic operas. The multifarious venue has hosted many prestigious performers, such as comedian Lewis Black and musician Rob Thomas. Luckily for Pitt students, the Benedum Center is only a short bus ride downtown. This venue even has historic appeal, as it was the central cultural spot for Pittsburgh’s 19th-century upper class.

John Nigro, staff writer

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Mascot: Panther Runner-up: The Pirate Parrot

We had to count the ballots twice for this, but apparently the University mascot is the favorite mascot among students attending Pitt. Go figure. Is it because we have statues of the Panther all over campus? No. Is it because our mascot is much cooler than any other cat-based mascot? No. It’s because we as Pitt students have the heart and soul of a Panther; we have determination, ambition and the ability to make things happen. Nothing and no one can ever take that away from us – except maybe the Pirate Parrot.

Andy Medici, Assistant News Editor

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Best movie theater: SouthSide Works Cinema Runner-up: Loew’s Waterfront Cinema

Whoever conceived SouthSide Works is a genius. Whoever thought to put a movie theater in SouthSide Works is a god among lesser men.

The SouthSide Works Cinema gives students the chance to catch movies at a large theater relatively close to campus. Prices are already low, and on Thursday nights a valid student ID bumps that price down to $6.00.

It’s also in a great location if you’re taking the bus. The 54C gets you close if you want to catch a movie during the day, and the new route of the 59U puts you right in SouthSide Works if you want to catch a movie after 5:00 p.m.

Brian Weaver, Assistant Sports Editor

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Best Pittsburgh neighborhood: Oakland Runner-up: Shadyside

Ah, Oakland. Pater familias of the Pitt community. Home sweet home.

A Pitt student, no doubt, is just as much a product of Oakland as he is of Pitt. This neighborhood isn’t just a place, it’s a lifestyle.

Oakland, if you can imagine, used to be rather quaint. Once dominated by the Italian immigrant community unionized workers in the heyday of blue-collar Pittsburgh, Oakland was a legit, if not excellent, place to have a family. It even brought us some of our favorite local heroes, like hall-of-fame NFL quarterback Dan Marino and avant-garde pop artist Andy Warhol. And let’s not forget every kid’s best big buddy, Mr. Rogers. You know how they sing “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood?” Yeah, that’s Oakland they’re singing about, kids.

Today, Oakland is the center of all major urban activity in the city of Pittsburgh. Now, it’s a hybrid mutant college town, metropolis, cultural center and economic mecca.

The character of the area is built by the interactions between people of all walks of life – both at work and at play – and what results is a neighborhood so teeming with activity, so overblown with energy that it often seems as though it can barely contain itself.

Helicopters fly overhead almost nonstop, police sirens race up and down the road. People gravitate en masse in every direction at all times of day. Pittsburghers of every shape, size and color can be seen on every corner. This is a place where you can land your first job with a conversation, make friends just by sitting on your porch, go on a date, party with your friends until you don’t know where you are anymore and recover in the morning. Hell, you can do all of these things in one day.

God bless Oakland, home sweet home.

Daniel Richey, Managing Editor

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Best Pittsburgh sports team: Steelers Runner-up: Pitt Panthers football

As the Great Depression hit its most oppressive depths, a man named Arthur Rooney – once just another scrappy Irish kid from the North Side – quietly made history.

Rooney knew how to do two things: box and pick winning horses. The latter talent was such an anomaly that a local reporter decided to follow him everywhere he went in 1932 until he stopped losing. During an especially long tour of regional tracks, Rooney won over a quarter of a million dollars. The next year, he used a pittance of that money to purchase an equally scrappy, fledgling professional football club from a friend. And thus, the Pittsburgh Pirates were born.

They’d be renamed the Steelers in the ’40s, and would go on to be arguably the NFL’s most formidable dynasty ever in the ’70s. The Steelers became an icon of Pittsburgh, a hard-nosed, tough team that emphasized suffocating defense and hard work, a so-called “blue collar” approach to the game that reflected the values of the city – and the man – that gave birth to them.

Today, the Steelers are more religion than entertainment. Fans have their sacred objects (the Terrible Towel) and mysterious, fantastic lore (the immaculate reception). They have their savior in Ben Roethlisberger, a kid who came into the NFL in a hurricane and helped the team trample all who opposed them.

Every Sunday, we worship at the glowing-box altar, exalting the heroes of Pittsburgh sports, and a team that means so much more to Pittsburgh than just good football. Through it all, they still believe in kicking ass the old fashioned way. As Joey Porter says: Who ride? We ride.

Daniel Richey, Managing Editor

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Best radio station: 96.1 KISS FM Runner-up: KDKA

There’s SOMETHING on the PARKWAY! It’s a bunch of satisfied listeners enjoying the sweet sounds of KISS FM. So if you’re one of the many voters who decided 96.1 is the best radio station in the ‘Burgh, join the Kiss Klub by visiting the station’s Web site at www.kissfm961.com.

Jessica Lear, Editor in Chief

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Best Web site for college students: facebook.com Runner-up: my.pitt.edu

Do you have problems remembering your friends’ birthdays? Ever wonder where that person who sits next to you in class lives? What do you do if you meet that special someone at a bar and just can’t seem to remember their full name the next day? Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg, all of these problems can easily be solved by logging onto www.facebook.com. On facebook, you can get ahold of your classmates for missed assignments, make new friends whether you know the person or not, playfully “poke” that cute boy in your night class and even find out about parties taking place in the next few weeks. If you aren’t already signed up, log onto the Web site and get connected; you never know, that old friend of yours from first grade who you lost contact with nine years ago may find you and request your friendship. Don’t forget, you can always reject them! Oh, and don’t worry, we don’t know what a quail looks like either.

Erica Armbruster, Copy Chief

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