An Age Old Rivalry

First off, I promise that this blog is not going to become a running record of the 2016 Penn State football season. But, to be fair, when two major rivals play for the first time in 16 years you just have to write about it.

The rivalry I'm talking about is of course between PSU (Go State!) and the University of Pittsburgh (Boo!). After consulting Wikipedia, I found that the first game between the two was way back in 1893. For those of you keeping track, that is 123 years ago!

As you can imagine, this rivalry has had plenty of time to fester. However, in those 123 years, our teams have only played each other 97 times. Out of these games, there have been 4 ties, (including two 0-0 ties in 1920 and 1921 because apparently nobody knew how to play football) and out of the remaining 93 games Penn State has won 50. Take that Pittsburgh!

The reason why we haven't played one another every year is because in the 90's our schools drifted apart like high school friendships after joining different football conferences. Penn State entered the Big Ten and Pittsburgh joined the Big East.

I was aware of the scope and history of this rivalry going into the game. In the week prior, I had also picked up on the fact that most Penn State fans were not particularly fond of Pitt, but considering that my twin sister goes to school there, I did not personally despise the college, which brings me to my next point.

My reason for excitement for this football game was not just a personal investment in a century old conflict (of course I wanted Penn State to win!). I was also concerned with the fact that I was going to see my twin sister for the first time in 4 weeks! For those of you without a twin, which I'm assuming is most people reading this post, it is an extreme adjustment to go from sharing every aspect of your life with someone to occasionally Skyping when your free times miraculously align.

I finally got to see Gabby in the stadium before the game started, and after the game following Penn State's heartbreaking 3 point loss to Pitt.

Even though our schools are rivals and she talked some trash, we both know that blood is thicker than water.

I guess if there is a lesson to learn or an experience to be related through this post, it's that relationships in college are what you make of them. If you truly care about someone in your life, they will always be a part of yours.

Finally, it's time for everybody's favorite part: the rating scale!

Losing to your college's rival team: 3 footballs out of 10
Reuniting with a family member after a long time apart: 10 warm fuzzy feelings out of 10

Photo credits in order of appearance:

Andy Moursund

Olivia Dowd