I’ll get to the West Virginia media coverage later, but right now I’ve got way too many browser windows open that I will crash the computer.
First up, yet another reminder that this game is on at 7pm on ESPN2. Apparently the Big East and, especially, WVU fought like hell to keep the game as a 12 noon start, even if it meant limiting it to regional coverage. Why? Well basically, they are fearful of Morgantown burning — again. People hitting the bottle early, often and late into the evening. Ron Cook’s Post-Gazette column is the kind he loves to do, and the ones that make me wince: moral scold. You know the kind of drill. Sanctimonious, self-righteous, and condemning ESPN for daring to want to make a profit off one of the biggest games of the weekend. How dare they. How dare they actually assure those not living in Western PA or WV of actually being able to see the game (like me), rather than risk the vagaries of regional ABC telecasts — like say being stuck in Big 11 country where it inevitably is a key Indiana-Illinois match-up that is shown. How dare the game get national exposure — at a time when both programs and the Big East can surely need it. If the threat of riots would drive off a recruit, then Tom Izzo and Michigan St. wouldn’t be a perennial contender.
Anyways, it appears the big deal in the Pittsburgh media is Coach Walt Harris closing off all practices for the first time in his tenure. This year, Walt seems to be embracing the idea that this is a “big game” rather than “just another game.”
“It’s a real big game to us,” he said. “Our guys seem to focus better when there are not a lot of distractions. We tried to reduce the number of things we have to focus on (outside) as a staff for our players, and it seems like this is helpful. …. We have to keep our eye on the bull’s-eye.”
Somebody then asked Harris about the sign hanging in the locker room. The coach turned to media relations director E.J. Borghetti and asked how reporters could have seen it. Borghetti simply said, “through the window.”
“First of all, they’re our biggest rival,” Harris said, explaining the sign. “It’s an exciting game for both universities to play in the Backyard Brawl. This will be my seventh, and I have some vivid memories, of all-time highs and all-time lows. Last year, was an all-time low.”
Ah, the sign. Apparently it is simply a sign reading: 11-15-03.
Media lockout is the way some see it. Chuck Finder lays into Harris for this, in a somewhat amusing fashion. Finder, who doesn’t hide a strong distaste for Harris, thinks that Harris is risking making his players too tight by playing up its importance.
I have mixed feelings. I want this game to be played up. It is a big game. It is a rivalry game. It is for 1st place in the Big East. It would keep Pitt in the driver’s seat for the Big East BCS bid. That being said, I’m just not sure that closing off practices is that necessary. It seems like a useless gesture that pisses off the media needlessly, and forces the writers to look for other things that may cause a bigger distraction. Sportswriters, especially the beat writers, are already limited and probably a bit bored with the same routine. It’s not the smartest thing in the world to make them part of the opposition.
There’s a decent article talking about past Backyard Brawls — but you have to be able to stand excessive quoting of Beano Cook.
Pitt QB Rod Rutherford was named Big East offensive Player of the Week. RB Brandon Miree is likely to still be out for the game on Saturday. WVU’s stud running back, Quincy Wilson has been cleared to play after bruising a lung and spitting up blood in the win this past weekend over Boston College. WVU QB Rasheed Marshall has also been declared fully recovered from his concussion.
