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WVU Vs. Pitt

"The Backyard Brawl"

By Cory C.

    One thing is unequivocally clear after any long weekend of
sports in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Town of Steel and City of
Champions is by far the best sports town in the United States of
America.  What better way to give thanks for this fact than a
Thursday night Backyard Brawl match-up between the Panthers
of the University of Pittsburgh and the Mountaineers of West
Virginia University.
  By mid morning, folks had filled the lots adjacent to Heinz field
with table after table of Iron City and Thanksgiving fixings.  By
afternoon, latecomers were relegated to parking garages on the
south shore of the Allegheny River, where the scene was just as
lively across the bridge.  The rivals in the parking lot kept things
good natured and a boring game led to an exciting finish.  Say
what you will about the panthers who eked out the win to cause
a four-way tie for the Big East Championship), but my prediction
is that their play on Thanksgiving night will effect more change
on The broken B.C.S. system than the play of any other team in
the history of college football.
    The weekend of sports continued Saturday evening at the
Peterson Event Center, where the Panther Basketball team took
on Jimmy Patsos Greyhounds of Loyola(MD) University.  This
game was perhaps the biggest mismatch I have ever seen live.  
The highlight of the game came around the 7 minute mark of the
first half.  The Panthers led 39-13, when, saving a ball from out of
bounds, Karl Krauser sent pretty boy Matt Kovarick and his chair
into a double backwards sommersault into the student section.  
Luckily a 350+ pound Terell Stokes was there on the bench to
help the red faced Kovarick get up and right his mangled chair.  
Despite the blow-out, Patsos coached the entire game
Gary-style, pacing the floor, screaming, throwing tantrums,
sweating through his suit, and calling a time-out with 1 minute
left in the game to berate his players.
  What's Thanksgiving without pumkin pie?  So, Sunday was
spent back at Heinz Field, where Atwaan Randel-El stole the
show and any dignity the lowly Redskins had left.
   Folks if you've never been to a sporting event in Pittsburgh,
you've never been to a sporting event.  It is hard to articulate the
atmosphere afns create in The 'Burgh before, during, and after a
ball game, so in the words of Charlie Daniels, "Just go on and
lay your hand on a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, and then I think you'll
understand."