Published: August 30, 2008 12:29 am            

Wozniak: Renew rivalry

HARRISBURG — State Sen. John Wozniak today renewed his annual pitch for Pitt and Penn State to resume their century-old football rivalry.

“There is no reasonable or justifiable excuse for not scheduling this game,” Wozniak said. “Again this year, I will make it clear to both schools that I am more than happy to help mediate discussions leading to resuming this once-great football rivalry.”

Wozniak, D-Westmont, criticized both schools.

He said Penn State claims it doesn’t have room for Pitt on its 12-game schedule, but will open its season with a laugher against Coastal Carolina and manages to play home and away games against other former eastern rivals Temple and Syracuse.

He added that Pitt cannot seem to get Penn State back on its schedule, but found room for games with the likes of Bowling Green, Buffalo and Navy.

“While many Pennsylvania fans will be hearing the final scores of the Coastal Carolina and Bowling Green games on their 11 p.m. newscasts this weekend, excitement and lucrative national television audiences await other great in-state rivalries such as Louisville-Kentucky and Colorado-Colorado State,” Wozniak said.

He added that many people have urged the state legislature to step in and mandate that the schools resume their annual game.

For example, West Virginia’s Gov. Joe Manchin met with the athletic directors from Marshall and West Virginia in his office for a full day in 2005 to hammer out details of the football rivalry between those two schools.

Still, Wozniak said that other than “coaxing” the schools to put their differences aside and renew the rivalry, he said “government has more important things to do than dictate how schools operate their athletic programs.

“But that doesn’t excuse Penn State and Pitt from their failure to give school alumni and football fans across our state and country their rivalry back,” Wozniak said.

The schools first met in 1893.

They last played in 2000.

        

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