TCP connect() (in C) always fails, even when the server is telnet accessible

Question

I'm trying to create a program that monitors an IRC server, and I'm having trouble even with the basics of connecting. I'm working on a linux cluster, at my school.

I simply don't know what I'm doing wrong. Here's my code, copied almost verbatim from TCP IP Sockets in C, Chapter 2.

 int main(int argc, char** argv)
 {

      char *servName = "irc.freenode.net";
      in_port_t servPort = 6667;

      //Start populating server information into a sockaddr
      struct sockaddr_in servAddr;
           memset(&servAddr, 0, sizeof(servAddr));

           //To get the IP address of irc.freenode.net
               //Using gethostbyname
           char servIP[16];
           struct hostent *hent;
           hent = gethostbyname(servName);
           inet_ntop(AF_INET, (void *)hent->h_addr_list[0],servIP,16);         

           //Convert the IP address's endianness
           int rtnVal = inet_pton(AF_INET, servIP, &servAddr.sin_addr.s_addr);
           if(rtnVal <= 0)
                dieMsg("inet fail",rtnVal);

           servAddr.sin_port = htons(servPort);
           servAddr.sin_family = AF_INET;
           printf("%s\n",servIP);
      //End server information

      //Open a socket to use
      int sock = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_TCP);          
      if(sock<0)
           dieMsg("sock fail",sock);

      //Connect using the sock, and the populated sockaddr struct.
      if(connect(sock,(struct sockaddr*) &servAddr, sizeof(servAddr))<0);
      {
           dieMsg("con fail",-1);
      }

      return 0;
 }

dieMsg is a function that takes a string and an int, prints them, and then exits.

The output of this code is

89.16.176.16
con fail -1

Alternatively, I've also used the addrinfo struct, to no avail:

int main(int argc, char** argv)
{    

     char *servHostc = "irc.freenode.net";
     char *servPortc = "6667";

     struct addrinfo addrCriteria;
     memset(&addrCriteria, 0, sizeof(addrCriteria));
     addrCriteria.ai_family = AF_INET;
     addrCriteria.ai_socktype = SOCK_STREAM;
     addrCriteria.ai_protocol = IPPROTO_TCP;

     struct addrinfo *servAddr;
     int rtnVal = getaddrinfo(servHostc,servPortc, &addrCriteria, &servAddr);
     if(rtnVal != 0)
          dieMsg("getaddrinfo() connect fail", rtnVal);

     int sock = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_TCP);

     if(connect(sock, (struct sockaddr*) &servAddr, sizeof(servAddr) < 0))
     {
          free(servAddr);
          dieMsg("Connect failed",-1);
     }

     return 0;
}

Telnet works for both addresses, so it's not my internet connection.

$ telnet irc.freenode.net 6667
Trying 128.237.157.136...
Connected to irc.freenode.net (128.237.157.136).
Escape character is '^]'.
:hubbard.freenode.net NOTICE * :*** Looking up your hostname...
:hubbard.freenode.net NOTICE * :*** Checking Ident
:hubbard.freenode.net NOTICE * :*** Found your hostname
^]
telnet> Connection closed.
$ telnet 89.16.176.16 6667
Trying 89.16.176.16...
Connected to wolfe.freenode.net (89.16.176.16).
Escape character is '^]'.
:wolfe.freenode.net NOTICE * :*** Looking up your hostname...
:wolfe.freenode.net NOTICE * :*** Checking Ident
:wolfe.freenode.net NOTICE * :*** Found your hostname
^]
telnet> Connection closed.

I usually hate asking questions, so this is my last resort. If anyone can please please shed some light on my predicament, I will be so grateful.

Answer 1

  if(connect(sock,(struct sockaddr*) &servAddr, sizeof(servAddr))<0);
  {
       dieMsg("con fail",-1);
  }

; at the end of if.