Editorial: Stay four quarters, chips or not

Pitt football fans have always had chips on their shoulders. Now, they can have chips on their rides back from this Saturday’s homecoming game too.

On Wednesday, Pitt Athletics emailed students to announce that anyone who rides Pitt’s student shuttles back from Heinz Field following the Panthers’ Saturday game against Virginia will receive a complimentary drink and snack.

There is a caveat, though: The students will somehow have to sit through three-plus hours of football to earn the goodies.

That clause might seem inconsequential for gamedays at other schools across the country. But at Pitt, students continuously  flock to the exits immediately after Neil Diamond’s sway-inducing “Sweet Caroline” fades out at the end of the third quarter.

The promised snacks are part of a series of clear attempts by Pitt Athletics to beg fans to stay for the entire game. Pitt invited fans to come view practice. Pitt teased a surprise new addition to the fourth quarter. Pitt added more shuttles and spread them out around Heinz Field. Under new athletic director Scott Barnes and new football coach Pat Narduzzi, Pitt Athletics is really, really trying.

But Pitt students shouldn’t also need a bag of Cheetos and a Sierra Mist to make them stay for their team. Experiencing a full college football game during Homecoming should be an indelible item on every student’s collegiate bucket list.

What’s an extra couple minutes waiting in line for a bus? There are lines at Chipotle that are longer than the ones after the game. It’s a Saturday. It’s Homecoming. Enjoy yourself, recite some Pitt chants, rehash the game.

Home field advantage is crucial in football, and Pitt needs as many students as it can in the Panther Pitt.

We want everyone to stick around, but if not, it’s your loss and more chips for us. Cheetos taste so much better after a win, anyway.