I was a freshman at Pitt in 1988. Just as the basketball and football teams were either in the midst of or beginning a slide into a malaise that lasted through the 90s. While the teams were bad, they served as a connection. Not just to the school, but to the friends I made at Pitt. Even as we moved around the country, became bogged down with work, and started families. We could always reconnect through Pitt. Phone calls, e-mails, texts over the latest successes and disappointments. It allowed us to catch-up with what the other was doing. Pitt and Pitt sports have strengthened my friendships and in turn that has strengthened my love for Pitt.