I’ve been following the Pitt blog scene for about a year now and I was glad when I saw Cardiac Hill become a part of SB Nation. I’ve enjoyed reading what Anson has written since I started reading his blog and I can’t thank him enough for giving me the opportunity to write about my favorite college team: the Pittsburgh Panthers. Some of you may have seen posts I’ve done in the past but if not, let me introduce myself.
My name is Greg and I will be a senior at the University of Pittsburgh this fall. Unlike Anson and Mike, I am in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, majoring in Rehabilitation Sciences with minors in Chemistry and Italian. I have to admit something now: I almost went to Penn State. I grew up an Ohio State Buckeye fan and still am (go ahead and make your Pryor/Tressel jokes now), though the Buckeyes have fallen to second place in my mind, after the Panthers of course. When I applied for colleges, Pitt was the last school I applied to. But they were the first to accept me and offered me a large scholarship (which definitely helped make my decision between Pitt and Penn State). Three years later, I’m still here and I definitely made the right choice. But my college decision isn’t why you’re here. You’re here because you want to read about the Pitt Panthers.
Like some college students, I didn’t start following my school’s athletic teams until I decided I was going to go there. So my personal knowledge of Pitt athletics is limited to only the past three years. I wish I could have gotten to see Pitt Stadium, experience the euphoria following the Sugar Bowl victory over Georgia when Pitt last won the national championship, been on campus following the historic 13-9 upset of archrival West Virginia, or been in Madison Square Garden as Pitt won the Big East Tournament in 2008. But despite not being a fan of Pitt as long as Mike or Anson have been, I can say that since I arrived on campus, the Panthers have become a huge part of my life. Like Mike said in his introduction, there’s something special about this university that only students and alumni can understand. With the student-athletes and coaches here at Pitt, I know that the University of Pittsburgh can be as successful in sports as it is in everything else it does.
Again, I want to thank Anson for giving me the chance to write and share my thoughts about Pitt. I hope to serve not only this blog well, but the Pitt community as well.
Hail to Pitt.