So you got to Circuit City to buy a new television for the kitchen. Sitting side by side are two 19-inch sets. One is a brand new flat-panel, HDTV jobber that's cable ready with all of the bells and whistles. The other is an old school Zenith with the two knobs, fake wood plastic and rabbit ears.
And both are the same price.
So you ask the salesman about it and he says, "well, the Zenith never sold back in '88, so technically it's still a new TV, so it's still full-price." You explain to the guy that this TV is not only an old style television with a tube, it's not nearly as sophisticated as the new HDTV.
"Doesn't matter. Never sold. Same price," the sales dope says.
Seems pretty stuid, huh?
Well, our beloved athletic department is doing the same thing currently. A quick scouring of the Pitt athetics merchandise site shows that, not only are they selling old-logo merchandise at the full retail price, some of this stuff is four years old. Don't believe me? Take a look at this:
http://www.shoppittpanthers.com/catalog/product/47926/
This shirt not only says "PITTSBURGH" On it when the name was changed back to "PITT" in 2005, but it has the Tooth logo embriodered on the sleeve? The Tooth logo? That's sooooo 2002. Regardles, if ya want it, ya gotta pay full price for it.
And what better coat to wear with the shirt than this:
http://www.shoppittpanthers.com/catalog/product/48167/
It too has the "PITTSBURGH" name embroidered on the front and the now-extinct dinocat logo on the back. It's also a fantasically warm coat. I know this because I bought this...in 2003 for $100. Four years and two new logos later, the university will still be happy to sell it to you...for $100.
Last, and certainly not least, we present you with some headwear to wear with your new shirt and coat.
http://www.shoppittpanthers.com/catalog/product/48127/
Where do I even begin with this thing? Should I start with the gold embriodered Git-r-done NASCAR flames on the brim? Or maybe the fact that it's the now-three year old logo that the university is currently removing from the main entrance from the Peterson Center. Despite the fact that the school is spending tens of thousands to take the logo off of the arena floor, you are still welcome to buy this visor...for full price.
You see things like this and I immediately become like Vince Lombardi in that one NFL Films clip. "What da' hell's goin' on out there???" If it's the athletic department trying to bilk every buck that they can out of it's fans, well, they should be ashamed of themselves. You develop a new logo to get everyone to buy the new logo at retail price, and also make a couple of extra bucks when they buy the old logo on clearance.
However, if it's just a simple oversight by the merchanidising department, well, they should still be ashamed of themselves. Everyone knows that the old goes on sale and on clearance when the new starts arriving. Department stores and car dealers have been doing this for decades. Who hasn't saved a couple of bucks by buying a swimsuit after July 4th when the season's half over or bought a car in December when the new model is coming in and they're looking to unload the current model?
Then again, this is Pitt afterall. A school that couldn't get the game time right for Michigan State last yearbecause they forgot that they were neighbors with the Pirates. A school that scheduled a team that's main drawing card is it's band, and then can't decide if they want the band to come. A school that has now designed two panther logos in the past 10 years and neither of them have managed to have whiskers (who needs details and accuracy anyways). I mean, what do we expect? I guess we should just be satisfied that the prices on this stuff didn't go up.
And both are the same price.
So you ask the salesman about it and he says, "well, the Zenith never sold back in '88, so technically it's still a new TV, so it's still full-price." You explain to the guy that this TV is not only an old style television with a tube, it's not nearly as sophisticated as the new HDTV.
"Doesn't matter. Never sold. Same price," the sales dope says.
Seems pretty stuid, huh?
Well, our beloved athletic department is doing the same thing currently. A quick scouring of the Pitt athetics merchandise site shows that, not only are they selling old-logo merchandise at the full retail price, some of this stuff is four years old. Don't believe me? Take a look at this:
http://www.shoppittpanthers.com/catalog/product/47926/
This shirt not only says "PITTSBURGH" On it when the name was changed back to "PITT" in 2005, but it has the Tooth logo embriodered on the sleeve? The Tooth logo? That's sooooo 2002. Regardles, if ya want it, ya gotta pay full price for it.
And what better coat to wear with the shirt than this:
http://www.shoppittpanthers.com/catalog/product/48167/
It too has the "PITTSBURGH" name embroidered on the front and the now-extinct dinocat logo on the back. It's also a fantasically warm coat. I know this because I bought this...in 2003 for $100. Four years and two new logos later, the university will still be happy to sell it to you...for $100.
Last, and certainly not least, we present you with some headwear to wear with your new shirt and coat.
http://www.shoppittpanthers.com/catalog/product/48127/
Where do I even begin with this thing? Should I start with the gold embriodered Git-r-done NASCAR flames on the brim? Or maybe the fact that it's the now-three year old logo that the university is currently removing from the main entrance from the Peterson Center. Despite the fact that the school is spending tens of thousands to take the logo off of the arena floor, you are still welcome to buy this visor...for full price.
You see things like this and I immediately become like Vince Lombardi in that one NFL Films clip. "What da' hell's goin' on out there???" If it's the athletic department trying to bilk every buck that they can out of it's fans, well, they should be ashamed of themselves. You develop a new logo to get everyone to buy the new logo at retail price, and also make a couple of extra bucks when they buy the old logo on clearance.
However, if it's just a simple oversight by the merchanidising department, well, they should still be ashamed of themselves. Everyone knows that the old goes on sale and on clearance when the new starts arriving. Department stores and car dealers have been doing this for decades. Who hasn't saved a couple of bucks by buying a swimsuit after July 4th when the season's half over or bought a car in December when the new model is coming in and they're looking to unload the current model?
Then again, this is Pitt afterall. A school that couldn't get the game time right for Michigan State last yearbecause they forgot that they were neighbors with the Pirates. A school that scheduled a team that's main drawing card is it's band, and then can't decide if they want the band to come. A school that has now designed two panther logos in the past 10 years and neither of them have managed to have whiskers (who needs details and accuracy anyways). I mean, what do we expect? I guess we should just be satisfied that the prices on this stuff didn't go up.
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