Lifetime worth of memories in just four years

To steal a phrase from one of the only Yankees I respect, “Today I consider myself the… To steal a phrase from one of the only Yankees I respect, “Today I consider myself the luckiest college student on the face of the earth.”

While today hopefully will not be my last printed column ever, it will be my last to you, the Pitt students, staff and alumni.

No one word can describe what I have gone through the past four years writing for this paper. But there is one word that I am thankful to be able to use — lucky.

Before I sat back and wrote this column, I read through previous sports writers’ final columns. Almost every one talked about their experiences at Pitt sporting events and how much fun they had covering these events. I can say the same, but none of these people, at least in the past 20 years, were able to do as much as I did.

I have covered four bowl games and three NCAA tournaments, not to mention a clean sweep — four for four Big East Championship games. This is insane. I’m 21 years old and I’ve gotten to cover three NCAA Tournaments. Some people go a lifetime wishing they could go to three NCAA tournaments as a fan, and I got to do it all with a press pass.

My four years at Pitt have taken me to Phoenix; Miami; Orlando, Fla.; Boston; New York City; Charlotte, N.C.; Lexington, Ky., Milwaukee; College Station, Texas and many other places.

I’ve met people, from Dick Vitale, Lee Corso, Beano Cook and Bill Cowher to Sean McDonough, Sean Salisbury, Bill Laimbeer, Bill Hillgrove and Mike Tirico. Not to mention that I’ve had good conversations with Jay Bilas, Bob Ryan and Stephen A. Smith.

I have covered two Biletnikoff winners, a Heisman Trophy runner-up, a Big East Player and Coach of the Year, and the opening of two beautiful brand-new sports facilities — Heinz Field and the Petersen Events Center.

My senior class is only the fourth class — and first since the class of 1980 — to see Pitt football go to four bowls in four years. I have written some negative remarks about the football team over the past four years, and rightfully so, but let’s put things in perspective; only two years before I got to Pitt, the Panthers gave up 77 points to Ohio State. Now if Pitt doesn’t go to at least the Gator Bowl, it’s a bad season. That’s remarkable.

I will never forget being able to go to Notre Dame Stadium and touch the “Play Like a Champion Today” sign and walk through the tunnel onto the field chanting, “Rudy, Rudy”. I remember standing on the sidelines in Morgantown, W.Va., and watching Antonio Bryant catch a touchdown seconds after losing his shoe, and I will never forget being so close to the field at the Insight Bowl in 2002 that I could almost touch Larry Fitzgerald as he caught the touchdown that made him famous.

As for men’s basketball, this season was only the 16th time Pitt has ever been in the NCAA Tournament. I already have stated what this squad did in my four years at Pitt, so I won’t get into that again, but just realize something — before the 2002 NCAA Tournament, Pitt hadn’t been to the “big dance” since the 1993 season, and the Panthers hadn’t won two games in the tournament since 1974.

I got to cover the Pitt team with the most wins in school history, which I will never forget. I saw Julius Page dunk over Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje. I witnessed three of the best games ever in three consecutive Big East Championship games against Connecticut, and I saw the game that put Pitt back on the college basketball map — beating Georgetown on a last second tip-in by Jaron Brown in 2002.

Now, don’t think my four years at The Pitt News have been all about football and men’s basketball. I loved covering all the other sports. After seeing the Pitt women’s basketball team struggle the past few years, it is encouraging to see a dedicated coach like Agnus Berenato taking over. She is going to do wonders for that program.

What can you say about the men’s swimming and diving team? It has been the most consistent Pitt sport in the past decade. Until you’ve gone and watched a meet at Trees Pool, you can’t truly appreciate how dominant a squad in the Big East it truly is. The Panthers are even more dominant then Miami football ever was.

Women’s volleyball this year was absolutely amazing. I’m not kidding when I tell you my favorite Pitt home game was this year when the volleyball team beat Notre Dame in the Fitzgerald Field House to take home the Big East Regular Season Championship. I’ve never been more pumped than I was at that volleyball match.

Then there is baseball, softball, soccer, track and tennis. These sports just don’t get their fair due. For soccer and tennis, it is absurd that you have to drive 45 minutes to watch these athletes perform. When Steve Pederson, Pitt’s former athletics director, tore down Pitt Stadium, he wrecked these sports. Pitt was promised a soccer field every year I was here. Where are the fields now? I hope our new athletics director, Jeff Long, gives these sports what they deserve — a court, field or track where they can officially play at home, in Oakland, on Pitt’s campus.

Before I go, I want to say a few thank yous. Thank you to everyone who ever responded to something I wrote. Whether you agreed, disagreed or told me never to write on hockey again — you know who you are — I have always appreciated the comments.

I also want to thank some people who you may or may not know. First, writing doesn’t come naturally for me. I’ve learned how to write over the years, but no one has been more influential on my writing then Joe Bendel. Without his guidance, I wouldn’t have been able to write some of the stories I have since the fall of 2000.

I could never have known everything about Pitt sports if it wasn’t for Sports Information Director E.J. Borghetti. While he could have been my biggest critic, he supported me from day one, and let me cover Pitt sports the way I wanted to.

I also want to thank all the players who have befriended me over the years. I’m not talking as a business relationship, but the friends I have made throughout this ordeal have been amazing. People like Julius Page, Mark McCarroll, Lousaka Polite, Penny Semaia, Laine Selwyn, Sheila Stufflet, Carl Krauser and especially Chris Curd.

Lastly, I have to thank Al Gottman for introducing me to more people then my miniscule brain can remember, and for giving me hope that when I’m 90 years old, I can still have the love and passion for sports that I do now.

This four-year run has been amazing. But as of today I am announcing that the Israeli Rebel is retiring from The Pitt News. I guess this means I will be eligible for The Pitt News Hall of Fame in 2009. I look forward to seeing everyone at my induction ceremony then.

Brian Goldman was never a writer for The Pitt News. He was just a figment of your imagination. Still, you can e-mail Brian with your last sarcastic remarks for him at brg9@pitt.edu.