I don’t mean to beat a dead horse. Especially one I wanted to shoot a few weeks ago. This is worth noting for some further perspective:

Troy Smith was wearing a vintage Pittsburgh Pirates jersey Tuesday night with Willie Stargell’s name and number on the back.

Smith, however, was not sounding a “We Are Fam-i-lee” theme.

The Ohio State sophomore quarterback expressed frustration with his backup status and said he will evaluate whether he’ll remain at OSU after this season.
…
Asked if he received a fair chance to win the quarterback job, Smith said: “That’s for you guys to decide. I really can’t say anything on that because I don’t want to put myself in a situation where I say this and then something else [like] repercussions of what I said to the media have something to do with my playing time or my future here. So that’s for you to decide.”

Two of the first three starting QB’s Pitt faced were transfers from other programs because they realized they would never be the starter at their original school. Luke Getsy transferring from Pitt was not Harris’ fault, or anything that unusual anymore. It’s the nature of college football these days. If a kid has aspirations of playing beyond college, he goes somewhere where he can show what he has. We all know that the game has changed, and the kids playing it are doing what they have to.

The BC-Pitt game being televised on ESPN2 on Saturday, October 16 will have a 12 noon kick-off. Damn.

A few articles that really don’t have much to do with Pitt, but worth noting for one reason or another.

Syracuse basketball will not have the talented but troubled Billy Edelin back this season. The NCAA ruled him ineligible because of insufficient academic credits. No one really knows why he left the program and the school during last season, even now.

Ohio big 3 basketball programs — Cinci, Ohio St. and Xavier — are spotlighted. Xavier head coach and former Pitt great, Sean Miller, is given major hype.

That’s an impeccable coaching resume, and recruits have noticed. Miller has retained the verbal commitment 6-6 wing B.J. Raymond of Toledo had given to Matta at Xavier, and three weeks ago he picked up a commitment from 6-7 wing Derrick Brown of Dayton.

The hiring of Miller also means Xavier no longer has an interim coach, which is basically what Matta was. Since his 26-6 Xavier debut in 2001-02, Matta was holding down the job on a temporary basis. Everyone knew it.

For Xavier, it was better to lose Matta now instead of later. See, Miller was going to be a head coach — soon. He almost took the Illinois State job two years ago, and Stan Van Gundy even tried to hire Miller for his staff with the Miami Heat last year.

Whether it was Miller or someone else, Xavier was going to replace Matta with a rising star. Replacing Matta with Miller gives the program a rising star — and continuity. Remember when assistant Skip Prosser replaced Pete Gillen in 1994? That worked out pretty well.

Finally a real fun list. The top ten college sports scandals of the last 20 years.

On a Friday or Saturday night in Oakland (Pitt Campus) you will see a full contingent of Pittsburgh Police and the dreaded paddy wagon parked across from The O at the corner of Forbes Ave. and South Bouquet St. It was reassuring to know that the cops and the wagon were in one spot. That meant they weren’t out cruising around South Oakland to bust a house party you might just happen to be on your way to attend. The kids in Storrs, CT appear to need a lookout for Thursday night, because the police intend to be out in force.

Meawhile the UConn team claims to be focused and not distracted by anything for the Pitt game. UConn has a bye week after this game before another home game against WVU. Arguably they need this game to avoid going to 0-3 in the Big East.

How about a better picture of the dance team in cheerleader outfits. This courtesy of one of our long-time readers, Tony in Harrisburg that he describes as “a nice pic with the help of a drunken buddy right before the Furman game”. He sent me a link to a list of other game photos. Take a look.

We also got another e-mail (2 in 2 days? A new record?) . James asks:

Why cannot Pitt schedule the weak sisters from the
other major conferences(Kentucky, Indiana, Stanford,
Vandy, Mississippi State, ASU etc.). Even if it is a
home and home schedule, three or four of these would
lead to a more national schedule and better
attendance. I would also think that this sort of
schedule would help recruiting too.

It’s a good question. One I’d like to spend some more time on at a later date. Off the top of my head, part of it is just money. Eveyone wants the home non-cons. Most big schools want/need at least 3 home non-cons out of the 4 or 5. You need at least 1 patsy, preferably 2. That leaves 1 or 2 other games. Pitt this year has road non-cons against ND and USF. Were it not for Furman (a last minute filler because of the defections of VT and Miami) , I’d call Pitt’s non-con fairly respectable. I think next year we have Michigan State at home and Nebraska away.

The other factor is cancelling. Everyone wants to host the first game, that way they can back out if it looks too hard or they can get another home game from a patsy the following year (think Louisville and FSU) with merely a buy out.

I don’t have time right now, but I hope to return to this. Discussion?

UPDATE: Read this article about the payoffs to patsy schools to go somewhere for a game.

Welcome to the backroom of college football, where athletic directors from Troy’s Johnny Williams to Andy Geiger at Ohio State and DeLoss Dodds at Texas struggle to balance department budgets while often bleeding every cent from their major revenue producer. Acting as a booking agent goes with the job description. And scheduling the right mix of so-called money games isn’t to be overlooked, both for the haves and have-nots.

It’s proven invaluable seed money for the Troy program, which 10 years ago generated $250,000 as a Division I-AA program and last season produced almost $3.5 million — $1.6 million in game guarantees — in its third season playing with the big boys. Money has been plowed back into an $18 million stadium project (Movie Gallery handed over $5 million for naming rights), plus another $10 million in facility upgrades for other sports.

It’s part of the reason the NCAA seemingly “forgot” to fix the rule that allowed Pitt to count the Furman game as a win for bowl calculations.

As promised, here are a couple other Dance Team photos from the Nebraska game. Obviously taken from our seats, as opposed to getting closer shots.

Dance team in cheer outfits

The dance team ditched the “America” medley and t-shirts for the all black look. 

Today, building up UConn.

An article talking about how far and how fast the football program there has come.

No article about a Pitt opponent would happen without the Pittsburgh papers making it seem special by pointing out the local connections. This time there are plenty. Starting with a head coach from Eastern PA. Then there is a WR from McKeesport who verballed to Pitt but had trouble getting his SATs high enough.

Josh Lay, the junior CB, who lost the starting job because of some academic issues as training camp started coupled with a minor injury and the strong play of Darrelle Revis is looking to get more playing time. Possibly by trying to play a little on the offense. Defensive coordinator and also the secondary coach, Paul Rhoads doesn’t see that happening. Right Guard, John Simonitis, actually practiced yesterday. Maybe he’ll play, maybe he won’t.

A rather scattershot piece from Joe Bendel on Harris, Edsall, UConn, Pitt and perceptions. I’m really confused by what he is saying

“They’re the only show in town — and that’s an advantage,” Harris said. “It’s different here.”

To say the least.

Harris has become the low man on the totem pole in the Pittsburgh sports scene, a coach who is scrutinized more than Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon (who has four losing seasons in four years), Penguins coach Ed Olczyk (the NHL’s worst record in 2003-04) and Steelers coach Bill Cowher (he’s missed the playoffs four times in six years).

So, let me get this straight. A college program that is “the only show in town,” gets less scrutiny than one where there are 3 pro sports? At least in football? Usually that means the program gets more scrutiny, more unhinged fans, and more reactionaries. At least that’s been my experience in Central PA with PSU fans and in Ohio regarding the Buckeyes. Maybe it’s a Storrs thing.

Pitt, however, has landed in the Top 25 just once during the Harris era and finished only 8-5 last season, despite having its best talent in 15 years.

Harris is all but a lame duck. His contract expires after the 2006 season and a new one is nowhere in the offing. Most coaches like to have four to five years remaining on their deals to assure recruits they’ll be there for the duration.

Not so in this case. Beano Cook thinks he knows why.

“What got him into trouble was his (complaining),” Cook said, referring to public comments Harris made about the lack of talent he gets at his football camps and his decision to discuss players who got away at letter-of-intent day earlier this year. “He does it all the time. If he’s unhappy, it’s time for an amicable divorce.”

Cook’s rants are becoming more audible. He said he speaks for a good portion of Panthers followers.

Sadly, in this case, Beano may actually be speaking, “for a good portion of Panthers followers.” I’m speaking as someone sitting in the stands and the parking lots. Harris is looked upon with a great deal of scorn. The mood toward Harris really soured last year. Even though this is a rebuilding year and most of the fans know this is not a particularly strong team, there is a lot of lingering frustration amongst the fans at the way the season went last year.

I think there was serious discussions about firing Harris in the beginning of January, but 2 factors mitigated against it:

(1) The complete upheaval in the athletic department over the last year with the loss of the AD, interim AD and head basketball coach. No one had the stomach, power, or desire to make one more big change and make the entire Pitt athleticprogram appear to be in complete shambles.

(2) The recruiting class appeared to be the best ever for Pitt. This was a top-20 recruiting class. Whatever Harris’ shortcomings as a coach, he was bringing in some big names and did have the program going in the right direction. Get the new recruits in, and give Harris a little more time.

Yes, we know what happened to the recruiting class, how Harris seemed to fiddle while it burned, and then whined afterwards. By that time, it was too late to fire him. It would have looked horrible and a reaction to what high school recruits did. With that, the school committed itself to Harris for at least this season.

The comparison with Edsall — the UConn head footbal coach — is a bit of a stretch. Edsall started at UConn 2 years after Harris came to Pitt. Edsall gets more time because, no matter how down Pitt was, it was already in Div. 1-A. UConn made a move up from 1-AA. Plus, to this point, Edsall has shown steady improvement each year. He hasn’t taken major steps backwards as Pitt did in both 2001 and 2003.

I’m guessing this was Bendel’s early epitaph for Harris. Not a good thing.

Rich Podolsky at ESPN.com picks the weekday games.

Connecticut – 7 over Pittsburgh: Nothing like playing the Black Knights of Army to get your momentum back. That’s what UConn did last week, thoroughly embarrassing Bobby Ross’ troops, 40-3. The victory came after a 27-7 defeat to rival Boston College. With Dan Orlovsky throwing the ball against two freshman corners, and Cornell Brockington running against a suspect Pitt defense, the Huskies should score plenty of points.

Pitt lost three great players from last year’s offense — QB Rod Rutherford, WR Larry Fitzgerald and TE Kris Wilson. The Panthers came close to losing to I-AA Furman (ranked #4) last week. Pittsburgh won in OT, after trailing 31-14. The victory probably gave them a jolt of confidence, and featured the talents of new quarterback Tyler Palko. Unfortunately, it won’t be enough to stop a fired up Connecticut bunch playing at home. This line opened with UConn favored by five and shot up to over a touchdown. It shouldn’t make a difference.
The pick: Connecticut in a high scoring affair. Also over 45.

The plus side, Podolsky is a very Lee-esque 19-20 overall this season. The defense will have to step up for this game.