New WSJ/THE ranking shows that Pitt is slightly better than Penn State
‘I would like to congratulate Penn State on almost being as good as us’
Being in a rivalry takes great courage. It takes great passion and great strength. But sometimes, it can also take great maturity and humility. It takes great maturity to recognize your rival’s strengths, as well as your own weaknesses. And if you do, in fact, triumph against your rival, it takes great humility to refrain from boasting. Nothing feels worse than losing, especially against a rival, so it is of the utmost importance that the winner is always gracious, respectful, and dignified. No one likes a sore winner.
That being said, I would like to congratulate Penn State on almost being as good as us. In fact, you were almost as good as us on two separate occasions over the past two months. And on both occasions, oh, how close you were. To think that you tried so hard to beat us during that September 10th football game—and you just barely lost. The score was 39-42. Just one more touchdown and the game would have been yours. You put forth such a massive amount of effort and resources, and it really did almost pay off. And for that, I want to congratulate you.
I also want to congratulate you on your most recent achievement. You were ranked #2 on The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education’s list of the “Best Public Colleges in the Northeast”. That is such an incredible honor, and I have to say, you truly deserve it. You have such fantastic school spirit, and your campus is beautiful. Your programs are top notch, and you are so incredibly diverse. And I have to say that all of us at the University of Pittsburgh are so honored to be ranked just one spot ahead of you. We were so excited to be #1 on this list, but you know what made us even more excited? Seeing that our friends at Penn State were #2.
Top ten public colleges in Northeast, according to WSJ/THE
I only wish that our rankings on The Wall Street Journal’s overall college ranking list were closer. I mean, there’s so much distance between us, with you being ranked at #96, compared to our ranking at #59. Honestly though, I just want to congratulate you on making the top 100. I know how close you were to not making it, but you did, and that’s all that matters, right?
Our relationship defies scores and rankings, though. It’s much more complicated than that. We’re like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in 2008. Hillary Clinton came so close to the White House, but Barack Obama came even closer. We’re like Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin. Gatlin is a fantastic runner, but Bolt will always be just a little bit faster. We’re like Batman and Robin. Robin may live in Batman’s shadow, but he’s still a nice guy. We may have beaten you twice in just two months, but judging by the closeness of that September 10th football game and the closeness of the Northeast public college rankings, we are only slightly better than you, and we want you to remember that.
Penn Staters, I want to share with you something that I learned many years ago: first is the worst, and second is the best. While this may be completely false, you should not let that discourage you. You should never stop trying to be first. Because, from personal experience, I can tell you that it feels pretty damn great.