Nice to see some common sense from a Pitt fan. So I'll give you my perspective.
I bleed Blue and White. I began following PSU when my older brother went off to PSU in 1967. Really before that, as we always seemed to follow PSU. But we followed Pitt as well. I then attended PSU and obviously my love for PSU football was only strengthened. But back in the 80's I got a graduate degree from Pitt, met my wife (PSU undergrad) that was finishing her grad degree from Pitt, so we have some respect for Pitt as an institution.
Back then, yes the PSU/Pitt games were big events. The 48-14 game is likely still one of my top 5 PSU football memories. But then Pitt football declined. The landscape of college football changed, with stadiums being expanded, greater TV exposure,.... But Pitt didn't really participate in the changes like the real top programs. So that wore on Pitt fans.
In the 80's and 90's I had season tickets to Pitt basketball. I'm a sports fan, basketball fan, and the only local (to me) real college BB was Pitt. And yet with pitt playing Georgetown, or Syracuse, the Pitt "fans" interject PSU into their fight song. Sad.
Over the years since then, as PSU and Pitt went in different directions the hate from Pitt fans only seemed to increase. I found it pretty impossible to talk college sports with a Pitt fan. One of my wife's best friends husband, a plumber who never attended college but is a lifelong Pitt fan, continued to insult Paterno shortly after the Sandusky crimes were exposed when we were out to dinner with them, quoting the "facts" he heard from Pitt "fans" to me. Why would anyone with a brain antagonize a PSU grad like that at that time? I should have decked the clown, but out of respect for his wife I just told the gals that I was ready to leave.
And then the paranoia that Duzzy showed when PSU and Pitt had their 4 year series. Media blackouts. Saying it's the biggest game for them. Just plain stupid. I did love it when Franklin said it was just like playing Akron, as it really is just an out of conference game for PSU that can only hurt PSU if PSU loses and not really add to PSU's resume when PSU beats Pitt. That really is the truth, but it gives Pitt fans a case of hysteria. PSU really is better off playing a team with a more recognized national name, where more respect can be gained, as it's one tougher OOC game.
I've had other interactions with Pitt fans that lead me to believe that there are far too many Pitt fans that are just off their rockers. Some I tell that I had season tickets to Pitt BB for 10+ years, and they don't know how to respond. But in general I avoid conversations on sports with Pitt fans, as there are just too many of them that can't control themselves, that don't have a sense of how far into a discussion that includes rivalry (actual or perceived) that a respectful conversation can include.....
So the fact that I have a degree from Pitt, and that my oldest son just finished his Master from Pitt as well, and that I would like to cheer for Pitt as a second team now that PSU and Pitt have gone separate ways, just gets overshadowed by the memories of the Pitt jerks that I have come across over the last 50 years.....