Yes, I am that girl that grew up loving the West Virginia Mountaineers in Pittsburgh Panther territory. And I must admit it taught me a lot. Starting with how to defend myself and my family.

It is one thing to sit there and criticize a rivals sports team. Hell, we all do that. It is human nature and it is in our blood. It's called having pride. I will play right along and start spilling statistics like it's my job. In fact, I hope that one day it is my job! But when you run out of statistics to prove your point and your alternative is to attack my education or family, a whole new me is about to evolve.

I have heard all of the "jokes" at his point and I must tell you they are not funny anymore as if they even were, to begin with. No, my family is not a bunch of rednecks. And I can assure you they all have teeth. If I am being honest here, my family has some of the prettiest teeth. If you would like me to prove it, I will gladly pull out some pictures. I must warn you however, you might end up being intimidated by how beautiful my Mountaineer loving family actually is. My favorite "joke" is when they accuse my parents of being related to each other. I can promise you they were not cousins in a former life and they sure as hell are not cousins today.

Growing up in rival territory taught me that I can win an argument and know I won when they start attacking my family. And after they are done attacking my family, they start talking about the acceptance rate at WVU. Which I must say, I am glad the acceptance rate here is so high. I could not imagine going to any other college and West Virginia University provides me with the opportunity to chase my dreams (and one of the best opportunities, if I must add). WVU is arguably one of the best schools for journalism. So please do not attack my education. My family pays a lot of money for me to go here. I was a 4.0 student in high school who earned my way into this university, just like everyone else here.

One more of my favorite questions was, "are you going to burn a couch now that you won?" Well first of all, no because that is a felony in the city of Morgantown. And second of all, at least we know how to have fun. We aren't bitter and we have pride for our team. Which is perfectly acceptable. West Virginia University has outstanding athletic teams and an even bigger support system. We have more pride in our right pinky finger than most universities. And we will never, EVER be sorry for showing that.

I remember coming home from school and calling my mom on the phone as soon as I got off the bus. I was trying so hard to hold back tears but most days I just could not hold them back. My little heart was broken because some jerks at school decided to roll with the stereotypes of West Virginia. I always fought back, of course, but it was the worst feeling when all of the guys decided to gang up on me. It was all of them against just one of me. Had they played within the respectable limits of the argument, they would have kept my family and my education out of it.

I have never once criticized Pitt's education system or attacked anyone's family and I never will. I will, however, sit down and argue whose team is better. And I won't just sit there and say, "your team sucks." I will state statistics that back up my reasoning. Sure my ultimate argument is that your team isn't as good as mine, but I will most definitely have facts providing me with the upper hand by the end of our conversation.

Don't get me wrong, I love the city of Pittsburgh. I love the Penguins, the Steelers, and the Pirates. That is my city and I will always be a fan of those teams. But Morgantown is my new home now and I bleed blue and gold for my Mountaineers. And lucky for me, it is a very effortless job being a Mountaineer.