How much more would it cost to entice a Five Star Florida recruit to choose Pitt over Auburn?
The Pitt fan is great, the team has not reciprocated
- Thread starter Saboteur
- Start date
How much more would it cost to entice a Five Star Florida recruit to choose Pitt over Auburn?
The only difference between Pirate and Pitt fad is that a large percentage of Pirate fans still blindly believe that the people at the top are trying. Pitt fans are, at their best, skeptical the top even cares.
The boosters drive the bus in college athletics. It isn’t a coincidence that the schools with supportive boosters pumping $$$ into the program are the same ones that win.
Again, had to unhide who you were quoting and wasn't shocked. Pitt spends more than they take in to run athletic, spends the 4th most on FB in the ACC even though we are next to last in donations. At least this leadership seems to care.
The fans not so much.
And that those schools welcome those boosters and allow their influence.
Pitt wants the money, then wants the boosters to shut up and accept crap results.
Now somebody cite how a guy did something shady with booster money 38 years ago as a reason why it's this way now.
Bingo If you want a College football program to thrive boosters must step up
Barnes was terrible but one thing he had right and it’s right because it’s sourced and could be checked was the level of spending vs donations vs the number of living Alumni
It doesn’t add up to what you should be seeing if you want a successful football program
This is not PRO sports which are an entirely different proposition.
Barnes was terrible but one thing he had right and it’s right because it’s sourced and could be checked was the level of spending vs donations vs the number of living Alumni
It doesn’t add up to what you should be seeing if you want a successful football program
This is not PRO sports which are an entirely different proposition.
He can't read this, but it's only true that Pitt takes in more than is spent for athletics because more has been invested in other athletics programs at Pitt and Pitt keeps the University subsidy active. They increased spending on football from +10 in 2015 to +4 in 2016. Let's see where Pitt falls in 2017. One single year isn't a good way to judge.
But... traditionally Pitt has not shown much commitment to the program. This is a relatively recent thing and they need to maintain it.
Some of these folks on here clearly work for Pitt, and their jobs depend on defending the status quo. You can't really blame em, who wouldn't want a job with no real accountability to deliver good results.
They can't back arguing for the status quo with actual facts, however ... because the facts are right out there for the world to see (and mocked for, as during the Clemson game broadcast). So they have to resort to the tactic of calling names of those who do post the truth, then putting them on "ignore". Which is ironic at best, emblematic at worst of why Pitt football (and lately basketball) have done little more than harm the reputation (and bottom line) of the university, not improve it, for 40ish years.
How a grown man could care so much about, what is essentially a costume, is totally beyond me.
and I'd also wager that Auburn and Alabama don't have to compete with an NFL team for dollars. Our fans support the Steelers and Eagles (to a lesser extent), have season tickets and go to their road games. We fight for relevancy, and we've done a horrible job with our product in a hyper-competitive market.
Pitt has no one to blame but Pitt. We pushed the ball up to the top of the hill in the 70's and early 80's, then let it roll back down.
Secret? Nobody supports losers. Is the concept that hard? Heinz Field is way too big for Pitt. Pitt needs a 45,000 seat.on campus stadium.
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anon_vmuicqnzlyp3u
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I believe what set the wheels in motion for basketball, which it did in my case, was the backdoor hiring of Stallings. Barnes screwed the basketball program as hard as I have ever seen a program screwed. I believe "if" there was a legit search you would not have seen the drop off like there was. I am finally coming back to basketball but I for one dropped the tickets after the hiring.
We are among the bottom p5 programs in athletic donations- with only wash state behind us
So , no...you’re mistaken
Yeah, that was also because the South Carolina Panthers in the NFL had a bad year. Oh, wait a minute, wrong Carolina. Not much else going on sports wise in South Carolina.
0-19 in the league is not exactly just a "sign of trouble", it's complete rock bottom.
You can't really compare Pitt to these hillbilly schools in small towns in hillbilly states where they fill the stadium every game because the other 358 days a year there's nothin better to do than stroll down to Gomer's fillin station and grab a soda pop.
It started to decline when we weren't winning the ACC but was still a tourney team.
But that is what recruits and other coaches are comparing to. That is why they gravitate there and not Pitt.
Do you remember when people called dixon’s Last 5 years awful, and said things couldn’t get worse?
That was a big time LOL.
LOL. Pitt should build a new stadium in Oakland AND do it with less support.
I just can't.
I've lived in small towns and cities, there is an appeal to small towns. I love Oakland, but I'd never want to live in a congested place like that again, I like being in places with no traffic and unlimited parking spaces 355 days a year.
I feel like I am an expert on this subject. Why? My family. My family is the typical Western PA family or people (aka "yinzers" by this board).
They are Steeler fans through and through. More recently Pens fans. They go to Pirate games occasionally because of fireworks and it is a nice night out. They could care less about college sports. Could care less.
Last Saturday I was watching the SEC Champ game, and my mom goes "wait is that college? What are all those people in that stadium?" I asked her, "mom, do you think college football is closer to High School or Pro at this level?" She said "High School, because it is only college."
My dad could care less. My brother. My sister. "It is only college". I think back in the day when my mom was working and Pitt and PSU played and were good, so the engineers in her department would battle, she took some notice, but she just figured it wasn't much different than say Valley High School and Burrell High School having a rivalry.
There are a lot of people that just not only don't have a clue, but don't care. I was speaking to some lady the other week out to dinner, and she was from Ohio and now lives in Alabama. She said as soon as she moved, people were asking her about "Ohio State" and that is her team. She said, 'well I went to Case Western, and Cleveland Browns are my team". That is what it is like in cities in many/most cases. It is why Pitt will always be limited here, not just constrained by mediocrity, but constrained by the pros.
On the flip side, I have lived in Greenville, SC (Clemson) and Morgantown. There the casual fan was completely dialed in on those college teams, even if they never stepped foot in a classroom there or went to another school (non P5).
That's just the way it is. Most people in Western Pa could give a flying bleep about Pitt sports. To them, not only is it no bigger than say New Castle or Pine Richland or Thomas Jefferson or Aliquippa, it is BELOW the local High Schools for interest. That is the reality.
Part of that is Pitt's fault for being so mediocre, part of it is the Steelers fault for being so damn good for so long, but most of it is the realities of living in a city with pro sports.
They are Steeler fans through and through. More recently Pens fans. They go to Pirate games occasionally because of fireworks and it is a nice night out. They could care less about college sports. Could care less.
Last Saturday I was watching the SEC Champ game, and my mom goes "wait is that college? What are all those people in that stadium?" I asked her, "mom, do you think college football is closer to High School or Pro at this level?" She said "High School, because it is only college."
My dad could care less. My brother. My sister. "It is only college". I think back in the day when my mom was working and Pitt and PSU played and were good, so the engineers in her department would battle, she took some notice, but she just figured it wasn't much different than say Valley High School and Burrell High School having a rivalry.
There are a lot of people that just not only don't have a clue, but don't care. I was speaking to some lady the other week out to dinner, and she was from Ohio and now lives in Alabama. She said as soon as she moved, people were asking her about "Ohio State" and that is her team. She said, 'well I went to Case Western, and Cleveland Browns are my team". That is what it is like in cities in many/most cases. It is why Pitt will always be limited here, not just constrained by mediocrity, but constrained by the pros.
On the flip side, I have lived in Greenville, SC (Clemson) and Morgantown. There the casual fan was completely dialed in on those college teams, even if they never stepped foot in a classroom there or went to another school (non P5).
That's just the way it is. Most people in Western Pa could give a flying bleep about Pitt sports. To them, not only is it no bigger than say New Castle or Pine Richland or Thomas Jefferson or Aliquippa, it is BELOW the local High Schools for interest. That is the reality.
Part of that is Pitt's fault for being so mediocre, part of it is the Steelers fault for being so damn good for so long, but most of it is the realities of living in a city with pro sports.
He’s correct. Yoy’re wrong as usual ... on everything. Kentucky’s admin hasn’t shown nearly the incompetence and total indifference to athletics that Pitt’s has ... see John calipari for starters
I agree, I went to Pitt grad school, lived in Pittsburgh, lived in Oakland and Shadyside for 5 years, so I became a huge Pitt sports fan, over those years, I went to probably 90% of all football and basketball games, so I'm hooked on Pitt sports watch every game I can get. College football "in general" no, not so much. Pitt is my second favorite football team, WAY, WAY, WAY behind the Steelers in importance, and also based on performance over the years. And I follow the NFL as a league. College football NO, not at all! Just the BE before and the ACC Coastal now. Because I have this PRO MINDSET, I hate the CFB Playoff system, based on perceiving who is "best team" and voting on it and picking 4. I'd rather teams get in because they won a division, no matter how good they are, like when the Steelers go 10-6 and win the North and aren't even top six in the AFC but get a playoff game. So I watch Pitt's games, I honestly don't remember watching a whole Bama game? maybe in the '70s? Those CFB Playoffs? I might watch some of it? maybe? last year I watched UCF's bowl game and that was it, just because I had interest in seeing them win. Basketball? That's different, I am more into college, and Pittsburgh never had an NBA team, so I never had great NBA interest, I was always a Bulls fan from the '70s to the '90s, but they've been crap since MJ left and the lack of proximity has made me not much of a fan anymore. Plus I like the college game better and I like the March Madness- I like it because it makes it hard on the "best teams" and the bracket thing is FUN. But yeah, being a Western PA Yinzer type, Steelers above all else. I like Pitt, watch every game, but NFL>CFB by far.
This is accurate. Everybody knows this and it's why we were stupid for agreeing to play in a stadium that was for the Steelers. We essentially made it more difficult to build our base, which is students who become alumni.
But alumni tend to move away from Pittsburgh. In many cases far, far away. A college football team's fan base is primarily football fans that live nearby. In Pittsburgh's case, obviously another option exists.
Yeah but then don’t bitch and moan as a fan base when you lose games to those types of schools either...
It’s all part of the big picture... hell even high schools have to get boosters for their band programs in order to do what they do... I know I witness it...
You ( not necessarily you ) can’t tell me that having the second highest living ACC alumni base who also has the distinction of the next to the bottom in donations makes sense no matter how many ways it’s twisted or how many Super Bowls the Steelers win...
It’s a deficit and it hurts the program... I think people are just comfortable complaining over the past however many years and if that weren’t true the media in Pgh wouldn’t get away with what they do on regular basis either...
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Well said.
I was attempting to give my Mom some insight on Pitt football recently while a game was on, (she's not a sports fan at all, but will tune in a Stillers game on occasion.)
So, I was telling her how good George Aston is, and how Pitt is going to miss him next year, because he's a senior. Her comment? "Will he get to play on a real team next year?" I asked if Pitt wasn't a "real" team, and she said matter-of-factly, "I mean a pro team".
She meant no malice by her comment, it's just what she's been conditioned to believe with the non stop Steelers message the local TV stations provide. I say conditioned because when she was young, Pitt was THE team in the region, and the Steelers were an afterthought.
How old is she? I'm 59 and that was never the case in my memory, even when Pitt was great in the '70s, the Steelers where still greater, are you talking about the '30s or '40s?
Which is why Pitt needs an appropriately sized stadium. We are never converting the pro fans to fill the empty seats at Heinz for most games.
