All right, I’m tired of taking flak for being a Penn State fan.

And no, it’s not because I… All right, I’m tired of taking flak for being a Penn State fan.

And no, it’s not because I can’t stand being persecuted because I like the enemy. If that were the case, I wouldn’t wear my Eagles hat every waking moment. I don’t give a hoot if you like my team or hate my team.

Penn State’s having their best season this century, so of course I’m wearing my PSU gear as usual. And as Pitt has limped along, picking up pity wins against such powerhouses as the Youngstown State “We won Division I-AA a lot back in the ’90s!” Penguins and the Cincinnati “This one time, we even scored a touchdown!” Bearcats, Penn State has flourished. Naturally, people are angry, and are giving me more crap.

I’m sick of people making a big deal out of my affection for PSU because every time I hear, “Penn State sucks,” it just makes me sad that people are still stuck on that rivalry.

I’m aware of the history, the great teams, the great games and the battle for Keystone State bragging rights. But there’s a reason they call it “history,” folks – it’s in the past.

Think about it: How many current undergraduates here were in school at Pitt the last time the Panthers squared off against the Nittany Lions on the gridiron? (Here’s a hint: That game was in 2000.) Or how about a better question – how many undergraduates were in high school the last time they met?

The rivalry’s dead, folks. Penn State has bigger things to worry about than Pitt. Don’t get me wrong; I think it’s a shame that the two don’t play anymore. If PSU would walk into Heinz Field this Saturday to play, I assure you Pitt fans would be louder than they’ve ever been.

But they’re not going to walk in. We’re in the conference era now. These aren’t two major independents anymore. Once Penn State entered the Big Ten and Pitt signed on for the Big East, fans should have shifted their focus.

Penn State’s loyal did. Its long-standing rivalries with teams like Pitt and Syracuse became a sidebar to bigger conference games. Ohio State-Penn State is now a huge rivalry. Michigan-Penn State is a major contest every year. Pitt doesn’t register any hostility in Happy Valley anymore. My sister – the biggest sports lover with two “x” chromosomes I’ve ever met – went there for undergrad from 1998-2002. How much did the rivalry affect her?

After my first month or so here, I said to her, “Wow, you never told me you guys had a huge rivalry with us!”

Her response: “What rivalry?”

Maybe Pitt should have let go, too. Fans turned out in droves to Virginia Tech games the last couple of years the Hokies were in the Big East. But did we have a rivalry there? The same thing goes for Miami and for Boston College. Pitt is a great school for football, and one of these teams – who all left for the ACC – likely would have welcomed a contest that meant something more than a game in the standings. A rivalry might have even kept one of the schools in the conference. But they left, depriving Pitt of a chance to start something meaningful and the Big East with less talented teams than there are fingers on the human hand.

If Pitt-PSU is such a gigantic battle, why can’t the two schools find room on their non-conference schedules for each other? Pitt plays minor league teams like Ohio and Furman. (Yes, I realize both gave us problems. That doesn’t make them good.) Penn State plays directional Michigan schools, teams that would probably lose to the champions from Pitt’s intramural football league.

Pitt has bigger things to worry about right now. Fans have done a great job getting fired up for the Backyard Brawl, with both West Virginia and Pitt supporters hurling enough obscenities at this game to make it worthy of the title “rivalry.” Now what about other teams in the Big East? We’ve got Louisville in the conference now, and with the Cardinals picked No. 1 and Pitt No. 2 in practically every pre-season poll known to man, this seems like it would be a great time to inject some life into a new rivalry.

Or, you could humor the people who created the “River City Rivalry” and get really hyped about Cincinnati. (Okay, can’t write that one with a straight face.) But look, at least a Pitt-Cincinnati game means something. Cincy is the worst Division I-A team I’ve ever seen, but the game counts. If Pitt and PSU played, it wouldn’t matter for anything except bragging rights. And those don’t mean anything if the other party doesn’t care that you’re bragging.

The bottom line is that Penn State doesn’t matter. If you’re still stuck on them, then you’re like the little kid whose gerbil dies, but he won’t accept it. He keeps filling the food dish and refilling the water bottle, hoping that maybe the little guy will come back, but the gerbil’s still dead.

So please, if you see me in my Penn State hoodie, don’t bother saying, “Penn State sucks!” or anything along those lines. It’ll only make me feel bad. But not for myself; it won’t hurt my feelings.

I’ll feel bad for you.

Brian Weaver is the assistant sports editor for the Pitt News. E-mail him at [email protected].