…to me.

We all have games that matter for one reason or another. Most of us have a thing with PSU or WVU because of family or friends that went there. A little trash talking from the other keeps things interesting. Then there are the teams that aren’t really traditional rivals, but on a personal level it matters. For me, it is Rutgers.

Even before I got my degree at Pitt in ’92, I started losing interest in the sports teams. They were horrible and I had other things to distract me — mainly beer. After a year or so in Pittsburgh, I moved out to Chicago for a year before ending up in Cleveland for law school. Totally fell out of touch and interest in Pitt. Bad teams, and no information reaching me. Then I started law school, and some of the school pride was coming back to me. It was a little rough, being in Ohio when Ohio State destroyed Pitt for a couple years. Still, you have to back your school. So I started paying closer attention — no matter how depressing.

One of my good friends in law school went to Rutgers. New Jersey bred, and one of the best trash talkers I ever met. Rutgers became a full BE member in the 1995-96 season. And we started going at it occasionally over our teams. They played in New Jersey in January. Rutgers eked out a 1 point win. He gave me grief for a couple days leading me to suggest we go to Pittsburgh for the rematch, and a bet. The loser would wear the other guy’s school gear for a couple days. We spent the next month arguing about it. Everyone knew about the bet and was probably sick of two guys running smack over 2 lousy basketball teams.

I got in touch with John, who was still living in Pittsburgh, and he arranged tickets for the 3 of us. Great seats at Fitzgerald — granted they weren’t hard to get considering Pitt was having another hideous season under Ralph Willard. We were maybe 14 rows from the floor and moved down to about the 5th row on the student side.

The whole drive to Pittsburgh, Amar was just talking trash. Nonstop. We meet John and go watch Pitt blow Rutgers out of the water in the first half. Pitt was up by 20 something if memory serves. It was huge. Unbelievable how good Pitt looked and how bad Rutgers was. Amar wasn’t talking much at that point. Then the second half came.

One of the most spectacular collapses I ever saw to that point (a few years later I saw the ’98 UConn-Pitt game with Pat, but this one is right up there). Rutgers just kept inching closer and closer. Pitt couldn’t score and couldn’t run the clock out fast enough. It happened so slowly, though. The first 10 minutes of the second half, we were barely paying attention. I was catching up a little with John, we were staring at the dance team (which Amar conceded was superior to Rutgers), looking at the college girls. Practically ignoring the game. Then we realized Rutgers had closed the gap into the low teens. Then it was 10 points, then 6. They kept getting closer. Not in a flurry. Not raining shots. No. Slowly. And Pitt seemed to collapse and wither before our eyes. Not even trying to shoot, just trying to run out the clock. It almost worked, despite the cowardice of the play.

Pitt had the ball and the lead in the final seconds and managed to throw it away. Rutgers got the ball with maybe 3 seconds left, down by 2. You defend the inbounds. Hell, you foul whoever gets the ball, right away. You don’t let a shot get off. No. Not this team. The ball was inbounded cleanly to a waiting player standing right in front of where we were standing. He caught and shot the 3, no one even close to him and it swished through at the buzzer. Rutgers won 71-70.

I drank heavily at the Attic that night and continued at my friend Evan’s until I passed out. I was bummed.

So I ended up wearing that hideous fire hydrant red crap for 2 days.

We went back to Pittsburgh for the final game of the Johnny Majors (II) game in November 1996 (AD Pederson never shook my hand). Thankfully Pitt won that game, in the miserable weather. The best thing about that, was that I was determined that he would wear a Pitt jersey. So I had to buy one. Of course the program was completely in the dumps, and licensed gear was minimal. They had no replica jerseys to sell. I asked at the counter and they told me they had a couple official jerseys available — for $120!! They kept them behind the counter, because no one ever bought them. They had Billy West’s #20 on them. My ego was such that I spent $120 dollars on that jersey in 1996. I didn’t exactly have a lot of cash near the end of the semester, but I was determined and a little obsessed.

The next year, Pitt switched uniform colors and I remember being pissed that I had blown that kind of money on an obsolete jersey. On top of that, they were selling replicas that year for $40. Now, of course, I am just extremely happy to have a jersey with the old school colors. Whenever I break it out for games, people stop to ask where I got it. So, thanks to Amar and Rutgers, I have a great jersey, and whenever Pitt and Rutgers meet, it matters. I lost touch with Amar a few years ago, but I bet he still pays attention when the teams meet.

Pitt plays Rutgers on Saturday, and I’m sorely tempted to go with the pay-per-view. Admittedly, I can listen on the internet for free, via Rutgers, but… . It’s a sellout at the RAC.