PITTSBURGH ATTENDANCE

[SB-50]

There's a Spring Hill Suites (Marriott) across the street from PNC Park (Pirates ballpark). The hotel is blocks away from Heinz Field. It should be the Falcon Nation Embassy on this weekend.

[FortWayneFalcon]

There's a Spring Hill Suites (Marriott) across the street from PNC Park (Pirates ballpark). The hotel is blocks away from Heinz Field. It should be the Falcon Nation Embassy on this weekend.

Thank you! I will add this to my very short list of possible Pittsburgh accomadations.

[tiznow]

There's a Spring Hill Suites (Marriott) across the street from PNC Park (Pirates ballpark). The hotel is blocks away from Heinz Field. It should be the Falcon Nation Embassy on this weekend.

Thank you! I will add this to my very short list of possible Pittsburgh accomadations.

There is also a Hampton Inn on McKnight Road. It is about 5 minutes north of the stadium. It is straight up I-279. It is real easy to get to and from Heinz Field from there. McKnight Road has numerous malls and restaurants. I grew up in that area.

The Hilton is right across the river. You can walk across the bridge to the stadium, but I am not sure how expensive the Hilton is.

There are also some reasonable hotels in the Grenn Tree area. It is also about 5 minutes from downtown, however it may be a little confusing to navigate the bridges and tunnels of Pittsburgh

FYI, there is no sales tax on clothing or shoes in Pennsylvania. People come from Ohio and West Virginia to shop.

[Lord_Byron]

. . .FYI, there is no sales tax on clothing or shoes in Pennsylvania. People come from Ohio and West Virginia to shop.

What possible use do people from West Virginia have for shoes?

[Warthog]

The Hilton is right across the river. You can walk across the bridge to the stadium, but I am not sure how expensive the Hilton is.

I was in Pittsburgh back in March and the Hilton was undergoing MAJOR renovations and was a mess. People staying there wished they were somewhere else. I have no idea how long the renovations were supposed to take.

[FortWayneFalcon]

Come on Falcons! Beat Pitt!
If you're going to the game, bring 2 friends.
Gas is cheaper when the car is full.
The Fort Wayne Falcon's cookin' Johnsonville Brats!

[Falconian]

My daughter is a 2003 graduate of the U. of Pittsburgh. When my wife and I stayed in Pittsburgh, we would first check out Friendship Suites. The Innkeeper knew us so well that on one occasion we did not even pay for our room until after we got back home to the Philadelphia area. Friendship Suites is reasonably close to the U. of Pitts., and if you don't plan on tailgating out of your vehicle, I would suggest you drive over to the Pitt campus and take the free shuttle bus. THe Friendship Suites is also cheaper than what you are going to pay elsewhere.

http://www.friendshipsuites.com/ - 15k - Cached

The Innkeeper does a lot of long term rentals to visiting professors, but he also has rooms that he rents daily. It is set in a quiet Pittsburgh neighborhood so you don't get that hotel atmosphere.

There is plenty of undergound parking at the Soldiers and Sailors museum which is right at the Pitt campus, and about 100 yards from where the you board the buses. The Soldiers and Sailors Museum was used in the movie "The Silence of the Lambs." If you have the time, I would highly recommend you go through the museum.

My wife and I plan on going to the game, but now our kid lives in Pittsburgh (about a 1.5 mile walk down the hill to the stadiums) and I am going to sponge off of her and her husband that weekend.

If there is an Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba / Falcon tailgate party set up somewhere, let me know so I can meet you guys and gals for the first time.

[FortWayneFalcon]

I'd just rather see this topic at the top of the forum. See you at the game.

[BourbonFalcon]

So far there are about 11 people heading to Pitt in my group. Hope to see a lot of orange there! Go BG!

[tiznow]

I was on the Pitt message boards last night. They have at least three different, so I am not sure which is their "official". They were trying to estimate the crowd for the game. The poster seem to think between 35-45k.

They also think the games against BG, Buffalo, Navy and Syracuse are in the bag. I made a post that how can any game with DW as your coach be considered a gimmee and got blasted. Navy beat Pitt last year. I know this is supposed to be the best Pitt team on paper since the late 80's, but win some games first.

Brandon has had success out of conference, especially early in the year. I don't think Pitt will have much of a home field advantage. BG can win this.

[Falcon137]

Anyone know about tickets for the game yet?

[Falconfreak90]

I was on the Pitt message boards last night. They have at least three different, so I am not sure which is their "official". They were trying to estimate the crowd for the game. The poster seem to think between 35-45k.

They also think the games against BG, Buffalo, Navy and Syracuse are in the bag. I made a post that how can any game with DW as your coach be considered a gimmee and got blasted. Navy beat Pitt last year. I know this is supposed to be the best Pitt team on paper since the late 80's, but win some games first.

Brandon has had success out of conference, especially early in the year. I don't think Pitt will have much of a home field advantage. BG can win this.

Let them think whatever they want...we should be used to it by now. Look, I think Pitt will be a pretty tough opponent...the natives are getting restless with DW so I think they will come out fired up. But BG is just as good, if not better, than Pitt in a lot of ways. BG certainly can win this game and I expect us to win. Pitt only beat Syracuse by 3 last year at home so I don't see how they look at that as a "Gimme". Same with Navy, who they lost to and was actually a pretty good team last year. Pitt needs to find a starting QB and none of their returning QB's are anything to write home about. Projected starter JR Bill Stull has attempted a grand total of 30 passes in his career and Pitt must replace 3/5th's of their O line...two of those guys were drafted in April's NFL draft. I think Briggs and Magnone could have a field day attacking the Pitt backfield as their O line has more question marks than BG's.

Pitt's D will be very solid and we all know about McCoy at RB...

I see a pretty close game with the Falcons winning by 7 or so...

One way to find out...and we will in less than 45 days.

Falcon137,
Try calling the BG ticket office and see if they know...877-BGSUTICKETS, I believe is the correct #.

[SB-50]

I am quite confident that The Falcons can compete with Pittsburgh. What concerns me is our ability deep into the second half being able to stop their running game. I am emotionally scarred from watching Oklahoma's Adrian Petersen in '04, Wisconsin's Brian Calhoun in '05 & PJ Hill in '06 and even Minnesota's Amir Pinnix (168 yds) in '07 exert their will late in the game. This contest will hinge on our ability to negate their ground game. LeSean McCoy is the Big East leading returning rusher and runs behind an O-Line of 285, 275, 315, 300, 300 pounds. BG's likely starters are 232, 265, 241 and whoever starts for Hardwick. That's alot of beef the Falcon defenders will have to combat in the Sept heat. The key is to shut down their run into the 4th quarter. We can best do that with an effective run game and short, possession-type passes. If McCoy runs wild (200-250 yds) it will be along day for us. If we can hold him to under 150, and get a couple of turnovers, the streets of Pittsburgh will ring with choruses of Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba deep into the night.

[SB-50]

There are alot of tickets available on Stub Hub. One problem with buying from our ticket office is seat location. In many of the BCS-league stadiums, the visitor sections are low and/or in the corners. The seating chart for Heinz Field shows the visitors' section on the field and in the corner. Horrible! I bought 6 tickets on Stub Hub on the 45 yard line, 25 rows off the field for $35/ea. Check Stub Hub for some prime seats and a chance to spread a little Falcon Frenzy amongst the Panther fans.

Heinz Field seating chart for Panther games:
http://pittsburghpanthers.cstv.com/tick ... 08.html#a1

[Lord_Byron]

Anyone know about tickets for the game yet?

They're on sale. I just ordered twelve through the ticket office ($25). We're meeting some of my cousins who live in W-PA there.