The very existence of a rival not only inspires sports fans to behave erratically, but also, it overwhelms us with an irresistible urge to present ourselves in a myriad of undignified and childish ways. By simply browsing through sports fans home pages, it is made readily apparent that the mere presence of a rival imbues fans with the audacity to take slapshots at a rival team as well as its supporters. Perhaps, these predictions can be attributed to his innate desire to evaluate the team from which he educes portions of his self-esteem as being extraordinarily successful. Many of which are caused by youth.
Young guys get older, freshmen become sophomores and so on.
In this circumstance, the author, who is obviously a Pitt fan, has discounted a team loss by making an internal but unstable attribution as he concedes that the team is currently is a state of disrepair, but that its frailties will be eradicated in a relatively brief period of time. The home pages I have located suggest that fans latent reliance upon the in group bias is instrumental in perpetuating the existing rivalry between Penn State and Pitt fans. Although it can be mystifying, we should not be disillusioned by the behaviors sports fans direct at their rivals. Indeed, rivalry is the lifeblood of sports and as the old proverb states, all is fair in love and war. We war with our rivals.