I was asked by some Pittsburgh bloggers who are working on a project with the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, to write a post about the Pittsburgh Primary and how it has impacted my life over the past 6 weeks. I thought it would be impossible to tie it together with Mountaineer football until I really started thinking about it and realized it actually has. In the best way possible.

If you are a reader of this blog you know by now that I’m a Southern WV boy from Beckley living just north of the Mason Dixon line here in Pittsburgh. Because of this I’m right smack in the middle of a Democratic Primary battle and it’s been great, and not for the reasons a Political Junkie would talk about, no, for reasons only a Mountaineer fan would understand.

ZERO PITT PANTHER FOOTBALL TALK!

The greatest thing about being a Mountaineer living in Pittsburgh during the past 6 weeks is that there has been absolutly ZERO talk or news about PITT football.

Usually around this time all you hear is Wanny-stache running his mouth about how they are in a rebuilding year. How they will make it to a bowl game this year. How he has pulled in the best recruits in the Big East. Blah Blah Blah. Then he tends to yap on and on to distract the few PITT fans there actually are and lower everyones expectations so that a 6-6 season isn’t really that bad. Now that I think about it, it’s quite brilliant. He must have WVU Grad Public Relations people working for him.

Anyway, this year is different. Because of the attention Obama and Clinton are stirring up here in Pittsburgh you hear nothing about Pitt football… NOTHING, not even on the sports channels.

Sure, every now and then you’ll hear a quick sound-bite of Wanny, but it’s soon trumped by a rousing sound-bite of Obama telling Pittsburghers that they are the key to him winning in PA, or how the Steelers are on a Bus trip across South Western PA to drum up support for Obama. You hear stories about how Dan Rooney, the Steelers owner, has endorsed Obama. You see news clips of Hillary Clinton in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and You Tube video of Bill Clinton giving speeches to little round Pittsburgh moms. It’s a site to see, I’m telling ya.

Don’t get me wrong I love Pittsburgh, love it to death, but I hate PITT and the Pittsburgh Primary has been great for this Mountaineer.