As my son and I sat watching the Michigan v Cincinnati game on ESPN3 Saturday morning, suddenly the broadcast was interrupted by an incoming call. Across the screen flashed a woman’s name and underneath that the word “Pitt.” As I took the call, she first thanked me for my many years of support of Pitt athletics and the thousands of dollars that I have contributed since the 1970’s. She asked me if I would consider upping my support of Pitt Athletics. I told her, Pitt was important to me and my family. We had many graduates (brothers, sisters, brother-in-laws, aunts, uncles, and cousins) who were also graduates of the university. Our roots with Pitt run deep.
But, I was sick of seeing Pitt Football continually be needlessly embarrassed on national TV, week after week … year after year by the utter incompetence of Pitt’s Administration: 1) completely minimizing and disregarding the importance of football in connecting alumni with the school through an “on campus” game day experience watching a team we could be proud of; 2) committing unconscionable acts that facilitated the program “dying its own death,” like moving the program off campus in a way that would be hard to reverse; 3) that, until Pitt could show me that they were committed to making championship football a priority again, it was better to put my limited charitable giving dollars to much better use rather than continuing to give Pitt’s “incompetent” administrators more “money to waste” on their misdirected and self-destructive efforts with our football legacy.
If Pitt’s leaders don’t care about Pitt’s football success, why should I?
She was very kind, and understanding. Obviously, this was not the first time she had heard this message. She also was a good salesperson, and then asked if I would consider supporting an academic department at Pitt, instead. I told her I had graduate degrees from 2 other schools. One of which was USC. I had season tickets at SC and would be watching them play Stanford that afternoon. At least at USC, they understand the underlying importance of college football to the well-being of the “Trojan Family.” Their home games have tents and activities all over the campus where alumni and their families learn how special being a graduate of their university really is.
This morning, I read the post by Butler Pitt Fan on “Debunking the Myths of Steve Pederson.” It covered well, most of my conversation with her. Regardless of whether part of that article is fact or fiction, and some parts likely both … it covered pretty accurately my feelings and experience with Pitt football over that time period.
Pitt’s academics have fallen too. Both the US News and Money Magazine’s most recent rankings of colleges document that the apparent “overall” value of a Pitt degree has dropped significantly. Pitt doesn’t even rank in the top 100 anymore in these rankings. And, something like 9 other ACC schools rank higher than Pitt in these surveys. That is a shame. One can’t argue with “feelings” – they are what they are!
I concluded my remarks by telling her that I didn’t think Pitt could maintain its current position (academically or athletically) going forward by doing more of the same. In my opinion, in life, most things either have to get better, or they get worse. They don’t stay the same!
The town of Pittsburgh itself is a great example of this - now a fraction of the size in population that it was in the 60’s and 70’s, the loss of corporate HQ’s, their manufacturing base, an “International” airport than now seems 2/3 deserted, a metamorphosis that has changed Pittsburgh into a medical, quasi hi-tech, A.I. center (i.e., self-driving cars), academic research area, where young high school graduates in the outlying areas having to leave the state because there are no jobs. UPMC becoming a “monster” medical entity in itself - gobbling up smaller health care hospitals, clinics, etc.
Where Pitt “fits” in this changing future of Pittsburgh is a question that needs serious consideration, not glib responses.
For “development purposes,” they may have to get greater penetration (share) of charitable contributions from a much smaller number of local alumni and corporations, many with employees who may have come from other countries (China, India, etc.) or have allegiances to other schools (Carnegie Mellon, MIT, Wharton, Harvard, Penn State, Ohio State, etc.). They don’t know Pitt’s history, and likely could care less about some of its traditional programs, like football. Some of the wealthier older local alumni might be leaving legacies to their families, who may live in more prosperous areas elsewhere in the country. For alumni living far away from Pittsburgh, like me, Pitt needs to provide a much better reason to continue to foolishly contribute to its failed cause in athletics, or “apparent” diminishing standing academically. They could have kept Pitt Stadium preserved as part of our heritage, rather than neglect it, and then tear it down.
Given the above, those reason(s) likely will never materialize, because Pitt doesn’t appear to even care about how it is perceived athletically, or recognize that a large part of their athletic success directly affects the school’s overall perception by the rest of the country ... and in turn my pride in the school. Even my dentist, a Northwestern grad, tongue in cheek, asked me how Pitt did in the Pinstripe Bowl earlier this year. Positive perception that comes from a long history of success in football (or BB if you are UK or Duke or Kansas) is important. Instead, Pitt’s left some alumni bereft of hope. The opposite of “love” isn’t “hate” … it’s “indifference.” I suspect many of us Pitt alumni have become “indifferent” to Pitt, and Pitt Football for one reason or another.
But that “indifference” was caused directly by Pitt. As outlined in “Debunking the Myths," Pitt did it to themselves, one step at a time, one foolish decision compounded by an even greater foolish decision, until we have reached the point we are today – a football program “permanently” exiled to being the “home visiting team” in an off campus NFL stadium, the inability to easily regain an “on campus” game day experience again, an administration that, up to now, cannot get the (rest of) the university behind and committed to returning Pitt Football to glory and keeping it there, and an athletic department that always has its “hand” out asking for support - while it kicks the alumni and fans in the hind end for not attending the games or supporting the program.
It seems more certain than ever, that Pitt has wandered into unchartered waters where “unexpected consequences” have not been properly anticipated, let alone accounted for. They have “sailed away” from the courses other large, highly respected, national universities have charted. Courses leading their schools and alumni into the future based on ensuring that they will be provided with a successful big time “on campus” college football game day experience. Instead, Pitt stood-bye as the “rudderless ship” burning fuel, consuming resources, while turning useless circles as it watched the rest of these schools sail over the horizon … and loved every minute of it. Now they find themselves “alone” on their part of the sea, with a broken compass, limited amount of fuel and resources, and stalled by the inability of their administration to correct and fund getting back on course.
The problem Pitt now seems to face is the cost and time of catching up to their main rivals. Or, if they should even try? It can get confusing, and indecision is the plague that causes many institutions to fail. As pointed out before, you either have to get better - or you get worse.
In the meantime, where college football is concerned, I am going to enjoy seeing and supporting my USC Trojans, and enjoying the terrific “on campus” gameday experience they consistently offer, just 1 hour up the road. I will still root for Pitt Football, but with the satisfaction of knowing that I have turned the corner and no longer buy the “snake oil” they have been selling us for over 32 years. There are more genuine products on the market!
