The 2002 season began with two things for certain: (1) Pitt Football had definitely rounded the corner of respectability and was on its way back to having a serious football program and (2) SHAT had firmly established itself as the dominant Pitt tailgating group around Heinz Field.

As like the year before, a week prior to the season, the second annual SHAT Golf Outing took place at Riverview Golf Club in Elizabeth, PA. Marty Connelly and Mike Speca again pulled off another tremendous event in which 15 foursomes tee-ed it up for the right to be claimed SHAT Golf Outing Champs. The Connelly foursome took home the hardware (imagine trophy – there will actually be one for next year’s event) with a -9 score. They took advantage of severe monsoon conditions to go -7 on the back nine & climb to the top of the leader board. Everyone had a great time on the course (especially the Spray Brothers Trio) and was very eager to open their wallets up as the well endowed Beer Cart Babe – Melinda made her rounds about the course. The post-golf dinner and prize ceremony was again held at Chartiers Park. A larger selection of prizes was available at this year’s event. (As things continue to grow, so do the rewards). Bill Gould and Big Ben Speca once again contributed their grilling skills to feed the wet, hungry, buzzed up golfers. Another fine job by all who contributed their time and help.

The same number (34) of ticket holders returned for 2002, Gone were Craig Stevenson and Dave Shelley. Filling their spots were newcomers Curt Cairns and Matt Fleming. Also the Kappeler Bros (Kevin and Brian) became permanent additions to the SHAT tailgate scene. In addition, numerous other tailgaters and ticket holders had gotten a taste of SHAT the year before and were back on a weekly basis. Rookie attendees, Tim Shannon & Tim Shannon Jr. brought the full tailgate attitude with them weekly. The average number of tailgaters has reached a solid 50 attendees per game.

 

Bob Gable once again strung together a fantastic ethnically themed menu which was led by opening day Pittsburgh Bulk items with Primanti-Style Pork & Fried Steak Sandwiches along with Kilbo and Sausage. The Hamkey came out early this year in game #2 against Texas A&M. (Who knew the WVU game would end up being the biggest home game on the schedule at the beginning of the season)? Unfortunately, Walt Harris’ “Swinging Gate” coaching antics brought the Hamkey’s undefeated record against major opponents to a halt. The Hamkey was the anchor entrée of Major Meat Day which included Smoked Pork, Fried Pork Chops, Beef Brisket, Wings and Bill Gould’s Italian Sausage. “Where’s the Beef Day” with its large assortment of Beef products ended up being the best received tailgate of the year. Other events were Chili Dog Day (self explanatory) with Gable’s Ass Burnin’ Chili, Steak and Shrimp Day (special thanks to Dan Blocher for 3 hours of Shrimp Skewering and Big Lar for the grilling duties), Italian Day (another fan favorite) and Mexican Day rounded out the menu themes for the season finale in the cold against WVU.

In addition to all of the regular favorite appetizers: Bagel Bites, Taquitos (there is a strong line drawn between those supporting Beef and those supporting Chicken), a smash or trash was held each week with a different Sam’s Club appetizer item being cooked and evaluated by popular opinion. This year’s big winner seemed to be Mini Corn Dogs and the hand’s down loser was Mini Tacos (they sucked big time).

On the field, Pitt got off to another scary start to the season. The opening game against Ohio was an ugly mess of terrible offense as the Pitt “D” saved the day. Opening day QB, Rod Rutherford struggled mightily. This year’s Walt Harris early season over-coaching maneuver featured rotating running backs instead of the quarterback carousel that we witnessed the previous season. As with most of Walt’s early season ideas, this one was not a good one and would ultimately end up costing them a game or two in the loss column before the season ended. And rotating the running backs wasn’t enough for Walt, he also decided that Pitt should use two kickers this season; One (J.B. Gibboney) for extra-points and short field goals, and another (D. Abdul) to kick long field goals. Another wonderful Walt idea – this too would backfire. On top of the scary opening day, on-field action, the post-game fireworks show was cancelled due to high winds that didn’t seem very gusty to anyone. This of course upset many diehard Pittsburghers, but didn’t seem to faze the SHATsters who proceeded back to their tailgate, business as usual.

After dropping a tough one to Texas A&M in the heat, Pitt went on a three game winning streak before dropping a heartbreaker to Notre Dame in South Bend in which the Panthers absolutely dominated the statistics, but could not put the ball in the end-zone.

With the Panthers standing at 4-2, the BC Eagles invaded Heinz Field for a crucial Big East match-up. With the Eagles holding the ball and up by 3 with just a few minutes to go, the old guy contingent (Big Lar, Ben Sr, Bill Gould & Geo Goldstrom) threw in the towel and headed for the parking lot. They ended up missing the game tying field goal and a wild OT finish with David Abdul’s field goal being the difference. This was a huge win as the Panthers stayed undefeated in the Big East as they headed for Blacksburg for a showdown with the Hokies of VA-Tech.

 

This game also represented the chance for SHAT to get out on the road as well. The six plus hour trip went smoothly on the way down, as Butler Motor Coach Driver Clyde navigated the way. Everyone did their normal pounding of brewskies and then when we arrived in Salem, VA, the bar at the local Sizzler Steak-House was taken over by SHAT-Heads. Following the bar trip, Mike Delon and Darin McHenry decided to go explore the local landscape. In their drunken haze, they mistook a nursing home high on a hill beside the bar for the hotel that we were staying at. After rolling down the hill a couple of times, the SHAT expeditioners managed to make it to the nursing home and after arriving in the lobby were given a police escort back to the hotel from the friendly Salem cops. The following day of travel was quite the adventure. Needing to fill the bus with gas, Clyde took us on a three hour drive to fill up. If you’ve ever wanted to see the nothingness of the Virginia Mountain area, you got quite a fill during this ride. Once we finally arrived at Lane Stadium, we were treated to rock-star parking right in front of the stadium. Gerry & Mike Delon and Darin McHenry did a tremendous job firing up some Fried Turkeys and Wings that set the tone for the evening’s festivities while Scott Thompson, Jason Whalen and Ken Gianella heckled the Hokie fans and players in a pregame parade. Classic Stuff. The next three hours were soon to become some of the coldest but most enjoyable spent as a Panther fan. Pitt went on to take out the #2 ranked Hokies with Larry Fitzgerald emerging as a bonafide superstar hauling in 3 amazing TD catches. After a few minor scuffles with Rednecks the bus headed back for Pittsburgh. We arrived at 7:30 am Sunday. Clyde kind of lost his way while most of the bus slept and added a couple of more hours to the trip home. Whoops.

Pitt was in the driver’s seat for one of the few times since the Glory Days and nearly dropped one to the always pesky Temple Owls. (Why is it that every team but Pitt blows these guys out of the water every time they play them?) This was followed by a last second loss to the #1 Ranked Miami Hurricanes and then another last second loss to the WVU ‘Queers the following week. This was one of the coldest games in quite a while at home. It also was one of the most well attended tailgates as everyone anticipated a shot at the Gator Bowl for the victors in this game. Unfortunately it was not the Panthers in the victory column and they had to settle for another trip to the Insight Bowl in Phoenix, AZ. Pitt went on to lick the Beavers of Oregon State and finished the season with a #16 ranking. Much better than what we’ve been watching for the past 15 years, but still short of what should have been. What wasn’t short, were the efforts of the SHAT Tailgates. 2002 Rookie of the Year Tim Shannon summed up the SHAT tailgating scene by saying, when your brothers told me about this setup, I thought they were blowing smoke, this is better than they could have ever described”. That’s what it’s all about. Huge attendances and great atmosphere at each of the seven events made for a great season. With a ton of returning starters back in the fold for the 2003 season, expectations are huge for the Panthers.