The 1998 season proved to be another brutal one in the win/loss column as the Panthers finished with a 2-9 record, which included consecutive home losses to Rutgers and Temple. The Temple loss had yours truly ready to climb up behind the retired number flags on the high side of Pitt Stadium and take a leap. For the unnamed group of tailgaters in the Syria Mosque lot, this was a transition year as well. We learned how to introduce food into the tailgating routine. For most of us, tailgating had consisted of taking a case of beer to Three Rivers Stadium before a Steelers game and pounding it. This is where being an observant youngster paid off. My Dad’s buddy used to throw a full-blown tailgate party once a year at a Pitt game that was well received by all in attendance. They always consisted of some sweet ass kind of food as well as tons of beer. I tried to incorporate some of these ideas into a version that fit our group’s style. We held the first annual Steak & Shrimp Tailgate, against the weasel Paterno & his pajama-wearing bunch of homos. Big Lar Thompson stepped up for the grilling duties and a tradition was born. This year also introduced gambling to the tailgate. A minor league version of the dice game was unleashed on the Mosque lot. Many arguments erupted as the cracks in the pavement screwed more than one person during their roll of the dice. Again, things were learned here. We liked to gamble and the pavement sucked for rolling dice on, so it would have to be remedied the following season.

The 1999 season proved to be a quite interesting one. We had a couple of people retire their tickets and picked up some new members (Tom Spray, Kurt Bruner) in the process. Overall, we had fourteen ticket holders in what would end up being the last year in Pitt Stadium. There were some pretty good games at home that season with heart breaking losses to Syracuse and Virginia Tech. Pitt finished the year with a 5-6 record, but showed that they were beginning to turn the corner back to respectability by nearly upsetting Penn State, Syracuse and Virginia Tech (all highly ranked opponents). The tailgating food continued to improve each week and the Steak & Shrimp game was a killer. Bagel Bites were discovered and quickly became a fan favorite. The problem with the cracks in pavement was fixed by the invention of the dice cart put together by a refocused Mike Norcutt, who had shown up for only one game the year before. The dice cart has gotten more use in the thirteen games over the ’99 and ’00 seasons than it did when it used to be a microwave stand. Thousands of dollars changed hands on this table during the season.

The first ever block poll was unleashed against the Bowling Green Falcons. This was the doing of fellow co-founding fathers; Mike Speca and Dan Blocher. Since nobody had any paper to draw a grid on, the first one was drawn on the plastic lid from the hoagie ring platter. This was the first of many polls that Kicker, Nick Lotz helped ruin for someone with his many missed extra points. Kurt Bruner was the winner of the block poll along with winning every round of dice that day and almost not making it home alive. ”Who is this new guy taking all of our money?”- was a familiar sound that day. The final game in Pitt Stadium against Notre Dame ended up being one of the greatest days ever. The final game tailgate had over 45 people in attendance at one point. The introduction to another annual food tradition was also unveiled at this tailgate. Bob Gable and his brother-in-law, Jack Tomino turned the Hamkey loose at this game. The Hamkey is a combo of turkey, ham and booze that somehow is smoke and fused together to create one of the tastiest treats you’ll ever eat. Commemorative beers with derogatory ND slogans and Pitt Stadium highlights were distributed. These would become the first two commemorative beers of a series. The inaugural awards ceremony for worthy season ticket holders to be rewarded for their dedication and acts of insanity over the season was also introduced on this day. This was capped off by an emotional victory over the Irish and a wave of fans destroying the field in a matter of seconds after ND came up short on a 4th down pass into the end-zone. Both field goals were dropped, seats were torn out, and about thirty yards of turf was torn back by souvenir seeking fans. Pitt used everything they had in that game and came out flat the next week against WVU and failed to make a bowl game, but the 5-6 record had been accomplished with mainly freshmen and sophomore players which should lead to good things in the future.