I've been a Pitt fan since about age 5 and for the 35 years that followed. I listened to games on the radio when many of them weren't televised. I sat in the last row with my best friend at the Civic Arena in the late 80's to watch Pitt-Arizona from the last row of the E balcony. I went to Pitt basketball camp 3 years in a row. I hit a three pointer at the main court at the Fieldhouse during the camp which was my biggest thrill ever. My first game at the Fieldhouse wasn't until I was in college because I didn't know anyone who could get me tickets. I lived for Big Mondays, even when we weren't playing. I grew up loving the Big East, the great players, all of it. The game Jerome Lane shattered the backboard was blacked out in Pittsburgh that night but I watched it on ESPN the next morning because we had a two hour snow delay. I told friends in high school and college that if Pitt would just make the tournament more than it missed that I would be thrilled. And wow, if we ever won a Big East tournament I could probably rest in peace.
I remember meeting Vonteego Cummings my first day of school as a freshman. He was a freshman too. I told him I heard of him and that I was excited to see him play. To this day he is my favorite Panther from a team prior to the glory years. I watched us lose back to back games at the Fieldhouse to UMass and UConn in a span of 3 days. Man I thought we were close. I thought Ralph Willard would be great at Pitt. It didn't work out.
Then this no name from Northern Arizona arrives. I remember after it was announced Ben Howland was going to be our new coach, I watched his team in the NCAA tournament against I think Cincinnati. They shot a lot of 3's. I figured he'd get some shooters and we'd score a lot of points and that would be cool. Little did I know what kind of teams he would put on the floor. Tough. Defense. Fundamentally strong. Winners.
I remember the improbable run to the Big East Championship game in 2001. Those four nights were must see TV for me. After years of one and done in NYC, Pitt was in the title game! Then so close the following year. In 2003, my power went out during the final vs. UCONN. I had to listen on a walkman. Thankfully the power came back just in time for me to see Brandin Knight dive for a loose ball and call timeout before falling out of bounds, while we were up 15 or so points. Pitt won the Big East! I cried.
I had to get to MSG and see it for myself. I went the next year to the semis and finals. In one of the best games I've ever watched, we lost in the final, but what a great trip, something I would need to try again.
The following year, Dixon's second year, the team was a little down, but still solid. Due to fortune I was able to not only get a week off, but scored tickets to the entire tournament. Three of us went and spent 6 days in NYC, not missing a minute of any game. What a blast! Of course with my luck, Pitt lost in the quarterfinal to Villanova and we had to ensure West Virginia making the final but it was a great tournament. I had to try once again.
2008, another improbable run to the final. I'm in central PA working. I meet friends, we take the train from Harrisburg Saturday morning, get to NYC, pick up the tickets we ordered on StubHub two nights earlier, hoping we'd be in the title game, and head to MSG to watch Pitt-Georgetown in the title game. Next thing you know I'm hugging Charles Smith down by the benches after the game, while we watched the team cut down the nets. We had no place to stay that night so we just bar hopped in NYC until morning, when it was time to catch our train.
The 2009 team was awesome. The number of big games at the Pete that year were incredible, none bigger than the final game of the year when we took down #1 UCONN for the second time that year, on my birthday!
If Pitt could get to a final four, that would be something after all this. I went to Boston that year and saw Scottie Reynolds drive the floor and rip my heart out. So be it. I saw Butler stun us in DC. So be it. At least we were still in the mix year after year.
Change can be hard.
The move to the ACC was necessary. But its still a change. Is it a better league than the Big East? Not in my opinion. Maybe that first year when Pitt and Syracuse were still top dogs. But not since. Even though its still a great league. Not better but different.
When Nordenberg and Pederson were no longer there, in a new league, you figured Jamie's time may come to an end. After all, change is hard. We don't know all the dynamics, but I know enough to know that things can change with new bosses, maybe a level of comfort you once had is gone. Maybe things you counted on, you could no longer count on. Regardless of how or why, change was hard, and change happened.
While its not a blue blood, and its never been sexy, Pitt basketball apologized to nobody for who they were for about 15 years. We were champions of a league on multiple occasions that was maybe the best league of all-time. Pitt basketball was the hottest ticket in town during a large stretch of that. Celebrities weren't going to Pirate games or Penguin games, they were courtside at the Pete. People rearranged schedules to make sure they got to Oakland for a weeknight 7pm tilt vs Providence and the place was packed.
I realize once we went to the ACC we seemed to maybe drop off some, but the bar was pretty damn high to begin with based on the last decade plus. I realize game announcers are trying to put a good spin on an ugly game most times, but over the last few weeks, we continue to hear about how young we are, and eventually these young guys will be good, etc. Last night we were compared to Boston College in that they too went winless with a young team and now look at them. That is a terrible comparison as BC hasn't been relevant in years and even now they're an NIT team at best. Pitt was a top team in the best league for a decade plus.
Do some of us fans get greedy? Sure. Were some of us growing tired of early post-season exits. Yes. Even me, who only 20 years ago said I'd be happy if we made the tournament more than we missed. Was that no longer the case? I don't know.
What I do know is that its not the fans' fault of where the current state of the program is right now.
I loved Jamie when he coached here. I did admittedly grow tired of some of the ugly games (Wisconsin in he tourney), and the micromanaging every possession. But overall, we were winning. Despite me being a big fan of his, when he left, I didn't have strong emotions either way. I get it. Change can be hard and I think as much as anything he was probably a victim of that, and putting it altogether, he moved on. Whether he jumped or was pushed, who knows and at this point who cares?
An overwhelming majority of fans were against the hiring of Kevin Stallings. I was too. I don't know my exact reason but it probably was mostly due to the fact that his resume at Vanderbilt didn't blow me away and I didn't think there was any evidence that he could do better than what we had with Dixon. But I still supported the new coach and kept my fingers crossed. In fairness, the bar was set high. But for me, and I think for a lot of fans, Scott Barnes referring to the media and the fans as noise just 45 seconds into Stallings' intro. presser, probably set the stage for the current state of mind and current support being shown to this program.
To me, it was disrespectful to our fans. I know he was responding to a reporter's question, but they knew the pulse of the fanbase better than Scott Barnes. Barnes' dismissiveness and arrogance made it that much harder for Stallings to be accepted. Combine that with the underachieving last year, the Cameron Johnson transfer, cobbling together a class of players who in some cases are lucky to be playing division 1, and we have reached a point of no return.
To me, both guys treated this as nothing more than a job. I never got a sense from either of them that they had a responsibility to continue on a tradition, a culture of winning. Rather they knew best and all the "noise" would one day understand. Maybe that's not the reality, but that's the perception to me.
So now what? I don't know. I can't imagine this continuing much longer as is. Money talks though and that is going to be a factor in all of this. How much, who knows?
I suspect we'll have a new coach next year. Unfortunately we need a complete overhaul. Regardless of how or why, this program is in worse shape than it was found two years ago. We need the next Ben Howland to come in and restart everything. I don't know who that person is but I hope its someone capable of making us forget about these two years. And like when I was younger, and after being reminded how the other half lives, I'll be appreciative of making the tournament more than missing it once again with the expectation that we can do better than that once again.
I remember meeting Vonteego Cummings my first day of school as a freshman. He was a freshman too. I told him I heard of him and that I was excited to see him play. To this day he is my favorite Panther from a team prior to the glory years. I watched us lose back to back games at the Fieldhouse to UMass and UConn in a span of 3 days. Man I thought we were close. I thought Ralph Willard would be great at Pitt. It didn't work out.
Then this no name from Northern Arizona arrives. I remember after it was announced Ben Howland was going to be our new coach, I watched his team in the NCAA tournament against I think Cincinnati. They shot a lot of 3's. I figured he'd get some shooters and we'd score a lot of points and that would be cool. Little did I know what kind of teams he would put on the floor. Tough. Defense. Fundamentally strong. Winners.
I remember the improbable run to the Big East Championship game in 2001. Those four nights were must see TV for me. After years of one and done in NYC, Pitt was in the title game! Then so close the following year. In 2003, my power went out during the final vs. UCONN. I had to listen on a walkman. Thankfully the power came back just in time for me to see Brandin Knight dive for a loose ball and call timeout before falling out of bounds, while we were up 15 or so points. Pitt won the Big East! I cried.
I had to get to MSG and see it for myself. I went the next year to the semis and finals. In one of the best games I've ever watched, we lost in the final, but what a great trip, something I would need to try again.
The following year, Dixon's second year, the team was a little down, but still solid. Due to fortune I was able to not only get a week off, but scored tickets to the entire tournament. Three of us went and spent 6 days in NYC, not missing a minute of any game. What a blast! Of course with my luck, Pitt lost in the quarterfinal to Villanova and we had to ensure West Virginia making the final but it was a great tournament. I had to try once again.
2008, another improbable run to the final. I'm in central PA working. I meet friends, we take the train from Harrisburg Saturday morning, get to NYC, pick up the tickets we ordered on StubHub two nights earlier, hoping we'd be in the title game, and head to MSG to watch Pitt-Georgetown in the title game. Next thing you know I'm hugging Charles Smith down by the benches after the game, while we watched the team cut down the nets. We had no place to stay that night so we just bar hopped in NYC until morning, when it was time to catch our train.
The 2009 team was awesome. The number of big games at the Pete that year were incredible, none bigger than the final game of the year when we took down #1 UCONN for the second time that year, on my birthday!
If Pitt could get to a final four, that would be something after all this. I went to Boston that year and saw Scottie Reynolds drive the floor and rip my heart out. So be it. I saw Butler stun us in DC. So be it. At least we were still in the mix year after year.
Change can be hard.
The move to the ACC was necessary. But its still a change. Is it a better league than the Big East? Not in my opinion. Maybe that first year when Pitt and Syracuse were still top dogs. But not since. Even though its still a great league. Not better but different.
When Nordenberg and Pederson were no longer there, in a new league, you figured Jamie's time may come to an end. After all, change is hard. We don't know all the dynamics, but I know enough to know that things can change with new bosses, maybe a level of comfort you once had is gone. Maybe things you counted on, you could no longer count on. Regardless of how or why, change was hard, and change happened.
While its not a blue blood, and its never been sexy, Pitt basketball apologized to nobody for who they were for about 15 years. We were champions of a league on multiple occasions that was maybe the best league of all-time. Pitt basketball was the hottest ticket in town during a large stretch of that. Celebrities weren't going to Pirate games or Penguin games, they were courtside at the Pete. People rearranged schedules to make sure they got to Oakland for a weeknight 7pm tilt vs Providence and the place was packed.
I realize once we went to the ACC we seemed to maybe drop off some, but the bar was pretty damn high to begin with based on the last decade plus. I realize game announcers are trying to put a good spin on an ugly game most times, but over the last few weeks, we continue to hear about how young we are, and eventually these young guys will be good, etc. Last night we were compared to Boston College in that they too went winless with a young team and now look at them. That is a terrible comparison as BC hasn't been relevant in years and even now they're an NIT team at best. Pitt was a top team in the best league for a decade plus.
Do some of us fans get greedy? Sure. Were some of us growing tired of early post-season exits. Yes. Even me, who only 20 years ago said I'd be happy if we made the tournament more than we missed. Was that no longer the case? I don't know.
What I do know is that its not the fans' fault of where the current state of the program is right now.
I loved Jamie when he coached here. I did admittedly grow tired of some of the ugly games (Wisconsin in he tourney), and the micromanaging every possession. But overall, we were winning. Despite me being a big fan of his, when he left, I didn't have strong emotions either way. I get it. Change can be hard and I think as much as anything he was probably a victim of that, and putting it altogether, he moved on. Whether he jumped or was pushed, who knows and at this point who cares?
An overwhelming majority of fans were against the hiring of Kevin Stallings. I was too. I don't know my exact reason but it probably was mostly due to the fact that his resume at Vanderbilt didn't blow me away and I didn't think there was any evidence that he could do better than what we had with Dixon. But I still supported the new coach and kept my fingers crossed. In fairness, the bar was set high. But for me, and I think for a lot of fans, Scott Barnes referring to the media and the fans as noise just 45 seconds into Stallings' intro. presser, probably set the stage for the current state of mind and current support being shown to this program.
To me, it was disrespectful to our fans. I know he was responding to a reporter's question, but they knew the pulse of the fanbase better than Scott Barnes. Barnes' dismissiveness and arrogance made it that much harder for Stallings to be accepted. Combine that with the underachieving last year, the Cameron Johnson transfer, cobbling together a class of players who in some cases are lucky to be playing division 1, and we have reached a point of no return.
To me, both guys treated this as nothing more than a job. I never got a sense from either of them that they had a responsibility to continue on a tradition, a culture of winning. Rather they knew best and all the "noise" would one day understand. Maybe that's not the reality, but that's the perception to me.
So now what? I don't know. I can't imagine this continuing much longer as is. Money talks though and that is going to be a factor in all of this. How much, who knows?
I suspect we'll have a new coach next year. Unfortunately we need a complete overhaul. Regardless of how or why, this program is in worse shape than it was found two years ago. We need the next Ben Howland to come in and restart everything. I don't know who that person is but I hope its someone capable of making us forget about these two years. And like when I was younger, and after being reminded how the other half lives, I'll be appreciative of making the tournament more than missing it once again with the expectation that we can do better than that once again.
