You may have missed my reference to Kelcy Daviston (lived down the street from me) when I first posted in this thread. (By the way, Kelcy's sister was in your graduating class.) There's a guy who posts on here (usually on the basketball side) under the name "Colin Grant" who is a cousin of the Davistons. You wouldn't know him because he didn't live in Duquesne, but his mother is from there. I've known him since we were toddlers because my late aunt (my uncle's wife) and his mother are sisters.
When did you become a Pitt fan?
- Thread starter ncyajleel
- Start date
You may have missed my reference to Kelcy Daviston (lived down the street from me) when I first posted in this thread. (By the way, Kelcy's sister was in your graduating class.) There's a guy who posts on here (usually on the basketball side) under the name "Colin Grant" who is a cousin of the Davistons. You wouldn't know him because he didn't live in Duquesne, but his mother is from there. I've known him since we were toddlers because my late aunt (my uncle's wife) and his mother are sisters.
I first really started caring around my third game when I was 5 - Curtis Martin breaks his leg after a Herculean effort falls short against Texas in 93.
Been hooked ever since. Also a Pens and Steelers fan but never get the same type of satisfaction when they win versus the rare times when Pitt shocks the world. They've given me some inexplicable lossss and some world class wins, and let me see a plethora of future NFL hall of famers on the cheap.
Hoping narduzzi can finally get us to a decent FL bowl game. That's all my father (big Pitt fan and grad) ever wanted, at least since he's been able to share Pitt football with me.
Been hooked ever since. Also a Pens and Steelers fan but never get the same type of satisfaction when they win versus the rare times when Pitt shocks the world. They've given me some inexplicable lossss and some world class wins, and let me see a plethora of future NFL hall of famers on the cheap.
Hoping narduzzi can finally get us to a decent FL bowl game. That's all my father (big Pitt fan and grad) ever wanted, at least since he's been able to share Pitt football with me.
76 ... My dad humming / singing the Pitt Fight song after Sunday Mass I was 9 at the time
I do not think I ever heard him do that again until this last fall when my daughter (freshman at Pitt) saw him in Sept.
My first game a Backyard Brawl
I do not think I ever heard him do that again until this last fall when my daughter (freshman at Pitt) saw him in Sept.
My first game a Backyard Brawl
I was at that Pitt - USC game in 1974. I remember the game being billed as TD vs. AD ( Tony Dorsett vs. Anthony Davis ; both eventual Heisman Trophy winners I believe ). As I recall, USC won in a close game. don't have the score?
I remember Kelcy!!! INbelieve his brother was Roy!!! So you graduated with John Adams, Keith Montgomery, Jerry Kozak????
Yes. I played guard, John played center, and Jerry was a halfback.
Roy ("Porky") and Leroy ("Poochie") Daviston were Kelcy's first cousins. Kelcy's sister Millie was in your graduating class, and their brother Vincent was in mine.
Yep, Roy was Porky! Millicent was a great person. By the way, John Adams is now a priest! I can't believe somebody from DHS is on this board! Where did you work at KP?
Yeah, when my aunt passed away in December, I wasn't able to travel back for the funeral, so I looked on line for local obituaries and saw that Mr. Adams passed away around the same time and John (now Father John) would officiate his dad's funeral. Had I been in town, I'd have stopped by to pay my respects. Mr. Adams was a good guy.
At Kennywood, I worked the Big Apple dart game under Ken Garrett and Dick Wood. A few other Duquesne guys also worked that stand: Keith Firle, Lloyd Seager, Leonard Robinson. Also, a West Mifflin guy named Walt Danchenka, who I understand is married to Nadine Samochin. (I found that out when I came back around 1998. Your class and mine held a joint reunion. That was the first and only class reunion I ever attended--I never wanted to go before because I really didn't enjoy high school. To my surprise, I had an absolutely wonderful time, but I'm not aware that there have been any subsequent reunions involving my class.)
Right, I talk to Nadine! Also, Mike Borza, Dave Montgomery and John Belback are guys I still talk to. Besides Dave Mewkalo, I also went to Pitt with Janet Sowash and Karen Sabo (she married Freddie Huwalt) and we are all still very close! Finally, I have stayed in contact with a lot of Duquesne High Alumni because I have hired their kids at KP! It is great to talk to you!
Not really. It is alot farther than that. Plus...they have buses and really from the lower part of the campus it is just like walking up a hill.
Early 80s, I was 10 or 11. Bill Fralic was friends with my cousin (wrestled together) and he dated my friends oldest sister in high school. Add another local kid Flynn, along with the hometown boy Marino, and I was a Panther fan.
Borza became a high ranking Naval officer, right? I saw him and "Mewk" at that joint class reunion, but don't recall seeing you there. Don't recall seing either of the Montgomery brothers there (Keith went to Pitt, I don't know about David), but when I was home in 2011 for a community event my uncle organizes each year, I ran into their younger brother Ed. Ed lives in Northern California (I'm in the Southern part of the state) after a career in the Air Force.
I became a fan in 2000. My dad was a fan all of my life and he started in 74. I was born in 83. He and I spend most of the season watching CFB most of the day on most Saturdays during the season.
You know Owt when I go back there - which isn't often anymore... other than the cars, nothing has changed.
I worked in the coal mines for almost 2 years...a member of the UMW....you talk about salt of the earth people there...
My ~semi new wife of 7 years who's from Long Island couldn't believe Cambria county in general when she saw it. She's like...wtf is this place?
But oh God, were we huge Pitt fans.
I can remember watching the championship game against Georgia on TV and my dad and I jumping up and down...the 1970 Pitt vs. WVU game and the comeback which came right in our end-zone Section 9 opposite the scoreboard at Pitt Stadium...
Memories of Cambria county, Pitt Stadium...I could go on and on and on.
As a little kid watching the Sunday morning Pitt highlight show ...and the old Post gazette sports pages where they had a picture then dash marks showing where the runner or the ball was going.
Believe it or not ...thought the Johnny Mike era unis looked cool .. on black n white TV
Did you know Johnny Mike was the first coach to have the QB lifting his foot to put a back in motion.
That's what the show said
H2P
Believe it or not ...thought the Johnny Mike era unis looked cool .. on black n white TV
Did you know Johnny Mike was the first coach to have the QB lifting his foot to put a back in motion.
That's what the show said
H2P
Dad went to Pitt, grew up in Munhall...never thought of being a fan of anything else. I never went to Pitt, but first game as a young lad was a packed Pitt stadium in 1975. I remember of having a hatred of all things Penn State as a young kid even though all my older siblings attended Penn State in the early 80s.
1985, Having grown up near Johnstown, I was a PSU fan up until then, being thoroughly indoctrinated through the news media. After spending 1 year in State College, I knew this was not for me and headed for greener pastures ( pun intended). UPJ, was next and I ended up dating the daughter of a school administrator and going to games with my future father in law. I've been die hard Pitt fan ever since.
I became a die hard Pitt fan the day I was accepted into Pitt School of Pharmacy. Must have been late 1983 or early 1984. Prior to that I was a fan of the Evil Empire to the East. And I immediately embraced the hated rivalry from the Pitt perspective.
Somehow I haven't posted in this thread yet, so I figured it's my turn to share.
My roots have always been in Western PA, as my entire family (and many generations before them) are from Johnstown, and all of them are Pitt fans. My grandfather became the first person from his family to escape the steel mills and attend college at Pitt. My father also became the first person on his side and attended Pitt-Johnstown, along with my mom. After them, my cousins attended both UPJ and Pitt-main. As I said in another thread, we take a lot of pride in our Panthers. Not only is it because we love the teams, but it gave many generations a future that those before them did not have.
I was born into the Pitt family and have loved every second of it. Since I was a little kid I grew up watching Pitt football and basketball. There's been some good times and some bad times, but I wouldn't give it up for anything
My roots have always been in Western PA, as my entire family (and many generations before them) are from Johnstown, and all of them are Pitt fans. My grandfather became the first person from his family to escape the steel mills and attend college at Pitt. My father also became the first person on his side and attended Pitt-Johnstown, along with my mom. After them, my cousins attended both UPJ and Pitt-main. As I said in another thread, we take a lot of pride in our Panthers. Not only is it because we love the teams, but it gave many generations a future that those before them did not have.
I was born into the Pitt family and have loved every second of it. Since I was a little kid I grew up watching Pitt football and basketball. There's been some good times and some bad times, but I wouldn't give it up for anything
I was not at the reunion!!! I had to work!!!! The Mintogomery Brothers were great guys!!! It is great talking to you!!! If you are ever back in the area, please look me up!!!! HAIL DUQUESNE HIGH!!!
A
anon_vmuicqnzlyp3u
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1974 Pitt v. BC. My neighbor was a freshman and got tickets for my dad and me to come. The rest is history
I was born into it. My dad was a starting shooting guard at Pitt during the 1962-63 and 1963-64 seasons. I have been going to Pitt Football and Basketball games since the mid 70's.
I deal with the wind farms in that area, and I was in Patton, and then was headed north on 219 when I ran into North Cambria. Id did not even know it was a town, I thought people just referred to a school district or the northern part of Cambria county. Just all of those mining towns, I mean they are so far away, it would be weird (for me) to grow up or live there, because I never lived somewhere that isolated.
My Dad, Grandpa, and uncles were all Pitt fans. So I was born into it in a sense. I remember being at the 1996 Backyard Brawl (34-0, ouch) and the 1997 Notre Dame game (45-21, ouch). But as I grew up I secretly had a big liking for a team a bit to the east, probably because they were really good in those years and I was a kid had no idea of what the word 'loyalty' meant.
I went with my Dad to Beaver Stadium in 1999 to watch the Panthers play #2 Penn State in a game that we all remember. I was so proud of how the team played and that I was from Pittsburgh that I left that game a diehard Panther fan (and my dislike of the opponent that day began and has only grown). I also lucked into meeting Walt Harris after the game. I remember him being very friendly and let me get a picture with him, all despite just losing a heartbreaker.
I went with my Dad to Beaver Stadium in 1999 to watch the Panthers play #2 Penn State in a game that we all remember. I was so proud of how the team played and that I was from Pittsburgh that I left that game a diehard Panther fan (and my dislike of the opponent that day began and has only grown). I also lucked into meeting Walt Harris after the game. I remember him being very friendly and let me get a picture with him, all despite just losing a heartbreaker.
Grew up in Homestead Park till 12 YO. Followed Pitt in the really bad years. Depasqua years, My first game was 1971 Pitt -Oklahoma. Pitt actually put up 29 on the Sooners but they scored 55. Pitt would get the ball plod down the field taking up clock (which was a good game plan) and scored some, but OK would get the ball, Pruitt option left, Pruitt option right a little bit of Jack Mildren keeping. They'd score in like three four plays. Next game I went to was Dorsett's Freshman year against ND. We lost 31-10, but Dorsett was electric. Looked like Pruitt did two years earlier. We moved up and down the field but could not punch it in. That was it though. Hooked ever since.
I grew up in Pittsburgh but my parents were both Iowa grads so I watched Pitt as the home team but had no influence pushing me to be a fan. Became a fan of the hoops team in the early 2000s, and then became a full on Pitt fan my freshman year.
I missed that game, I was still in the military. I heard about it though. Were there no personal foul rules for that back then?
I am different than most. I grew up in Central New Jersey about 10 minutes from Rutgers. No family or friends ever went there. I liked the Steelers when I was just a few years old. My dad asked me one day if I liked the Pitt college team when they were playing Notre Dame on TV when I was about 4 or 5. My whole family was ND and Irish Catholic so of course I looked at the uniforms and especially the helmet with those stickers all over them and said that was my team. I really became a huge football fan when Alex Van Pelt was QBing. I vividly remember jumping up and down when I was 13 watching the Van Pelt comeback against WVU. I used to go into the back room and catch the faintest feed of the games on the radio in NJ. They would fade in and out. Basketball with Sean Miller's freshman year was when I went hardcore for basketball. Got to see them play in person against Seton Hall a few times.
I still rarely miss a game but have to admit my #1 is ECU as I live here and went to school here and have tickets for everything. But I do love Pitt still.
But the good news is my 11 year old is also a huge Pitt fan. I have yet to make a game in Pittsburgh but my son and I will do it in the next few years. Maybe he will want to go there. I couldnt afford the out of state tuition when I was looking at schools.
I still rarely miss a game but have to admit my #1 is ECU as I live here and went to school here and have tickets for everything. But I do love Pitt still.
But the good news is my 11 year old is also a huge Pitt fan. I have yet to make a game in Pittsburgh but my son and I will do it in the next few years. Maybe he will want to go there. I couldnt afford the out of state tuition when I was looking at schools.
One of my favorite memories about the 31-31 "win" against WVU is being able to listen to their post game radio show and just listen to their fans bitch and Moan about Don Nehlen and how terrible a coach he was and on and on and on. I laughed alot that night.
Started fall 1965 when a freshman at Bradford Campus. Became fully hooked during junior, senior and grad student years on campus in Oakland (1967-72).
2004--05 when Nate started his recruitment with Pitt is when I really started to pay attention..Before that i was, sports fan that watched with interest all sports,involving Pittsburgh teams..
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