Like many Pitt fans, the stunning 54-34 loss to Rutgers has had me tossing and turning at night. Last night I laid in my bed restless, replaying the game in my mind, asking myself questions.
How could the Panthers allow 54 to a Rutgers team that has not scored more than 21 against a FBS (1-A) opponent all season? Why was there no pressure on their quarterback? Wasn’t our defensive line supposed to be our strength? Isn’t their offensive line supposed to be in shambles? Why did we try that fake field goal?
Unfortunately, everybody who follows this team has been here before with PITT. The one question that caused me the most discomfort during the wee hours of the morning was “why do we loose every time we have a chance to build momentum, you know, make a statement for the program?”
And then, at 2:30 am on Monday October, 27th 2008, I, Paul Francis Sievers had a revelation. Call it a spiritual awakening that allowed me to see the world through the eyes of the Wanstache.
When Dave Wannstedt (aka the Wanstache) wakes up every morning he looks at the sunrise over Beaver Stadium in Happy Valley, a two hour drive east. A stadium packed with 100,000 loyal fans six or seven Saturdays every autumn. Many of these fans are from Pittsburgh, in fact there are more Penn State alumni in Allegheny county than Pitt alumni.
Every night, the Wanstache watches the sun set over Ohio Stadium in Columbus, three hour drive west. He thinks about how Ohio State has become the greatest football program north of the Mason-Dixon line with maybe the most loyal fan base in America.
The rest of the day Dave Wannstedt is left to worry about his own program that rarely sells out the 65,000 seat stadium it shares with the Steelers. He knows that if he can win with the phenomenal local recruits he has drawn to Pitt, he can probably generate enough local interest in the team to sell out the stadium. Hell he can win the conference and generate a serious buzz in a region of America where football is religion.
His program can be like Penn State and Ohio State. The Stache promptly breaks into a cold sweat and starts shaking. “%*#! THAT!” he screams, “I’m no conformist!” He quickly calms down and then heads back to work, fine tuning the most brilliant marketing scheme of all time.
Sports fans in Pittsburgh these days seem to be surrounded by success. Penn State, Ohio State, West Virginia, Pitt basketball, the Penguins, and the Steelers. All of these teams are both successful and popular, with wild fan bases that pack their stadiums and buy the team merchandise. Being like these other teams is not enough for the Wanstache, oh no, he’s too *!^#ing extreme.
The PITT football program is going to market itself differently. Marketing firms call it the snob appeal. The snob appeal is a marketing technique that is usually used to sell high end products like jewelry and luxury cars.
Part of the joy in owning a BMW is knowing that not everybody can afford one, therefore if you are seen driving a BMW it is a status symbol that either impresses people or makes people jealous, giving the product fantastic snob appeal.
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2 months ago
I apologize to all 36 people who had to read "Dave Wannstedt, Marketing Genius" which was undoubtedly written by a 10 year old (I spelled the coach's name wrong for gods sake). These things happen when Rutgers beats you by 20. Anyway, I did not want to damage PITT’s academic reputation (imagine if we couldn’t use the “pay him for the pizza” joke about WVU) so I went back and made sure that this time the article was in English. I swear I have a degree. HAIL TO PITT!
2 months ago
Hahahaha.. good article. Maybe that's why he didn't do well in Chicago with the Bears. We had enough die-hards to fill the stadium even in his tenure.
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