Sep 10, 2016 4 min read

Just think, instead of Pitt and Penn State playing in front of the biggest crowd ever to watch a sporting event in Pittsburgh, Pitt could have been playing Ohio U., and Penn State could have been playing Akron.

That’s what Pitt and Penn State football fans got for the last 15 years because of stupidity that is so stupid it can’t be measured or explained.

It would have been fitting if the first game between the two had gone to overtime after 84 points had been scored, but it will still probably end up being the most entertaining game – college or pro – of the weekend and the win for Pitt was so much bigger than it would have been for Penn State.

Pitt has to compete for customers with the Steelers and its fans don’t get to experience that atmosphere very often. Penn State has no real competition for fans and can get away with Akron much easier than Pitt can get away with Ohio U.

The loss will make it tough on Penn State fans who, for at least the next year, will only have the “Yeah, but we draw 107,000 fans to our games” argument to counter Pitt fans’ taunts.

Everybody who likes good football should hope that the people in charge in Happy Valley are smart enough to know that playing Pitt -especially in Pittsburgh – is good for them, too. The best high school players in Western Pennsylvania will be watching the games between now and 2019 and it will help both programs recruit them.

Pitt plays Richmond and Marshall in 2020, Penn State plays TBA. They have three years to figure out how to play each other then and every year for as long as both schools have football teams.

While they’re at it, they can both figure out how to get West Virginia on their schedules.

• Ron Lippock had a great idea and he turned it into an excellent book for Steelers fans. It’s called “Steelers Takeaways” and it’s a book full of soundbites.

Simple.

And they come from every era of Steelers football. When the Steelers were great, when they were really, really bad and everything in between.

Open up any page and get a little piece of Steelers history. Here’s Tommy Maddox on page 207: “I’d be lying if I said it didn’t surprise me when they drafted Ben Roethlisberger. When I left the facility that Friday they told me they were going to draft an offensive lineman.”

Of course, that’s exactly what they were going to do until Dan Rooney told Bill Cowher they were going to draft a quarterback.

Terry Hanratty on page 25: “Back then (1969) quarterbacks called their own plays. Chuck (Noll) gave me as a rookie full reign – I thought that was great. Now, quarterbacks get plays sent in their helmets. Me, Terry (Bradshaw) and Joe (Gilliam) would all watch film and game plan together with Chuck and the quarterback coach. There were no offensive coordinators. We all got involved.”

That’s a good one to remember when comparing quarterbacks from different eras.

Rick Strom, a backup quarterback from 1989 to 1993 is on page 98: “We were installing Joe Walton’s offense. Late in practice Bubby (Brister) fumbled the snap and offensive guard Brian Blankenship picked up the ball and continued back to pass as if he was the quarterback. He quickly looked downfield and threw the ball incomplete to the tight end. Let’s just say tension was running pretty high. In the evening film review meeting, Chuck Noll was sitting in the back of the room. As soon as the play ran on film, Chuck spoke up. “Hey, Blankenship.” There was a brief pause, “Your first read was out in the flat.”

Laughter erupted and tension was diffused.

“Steelers Takeaways” is a perfect book to keep with you while watching a Steelers game. You can read several takeaways during one commercial break.

John Steigerwald writes a Sunday column for the Observer-Reporter.