Otherwise, there are portions of Smizik’s mail-it-in-not enough-for-a-full-column piece, with which I could actually agree. The problem is it comes from a guy who has made it a very personal mission to see Harris gone this year. From his opening column where he actually needed to be petty and bitch about Harris being late to the press conference.
I swear, reading Smizik at times makes me almost hope Harris returns for another year in the off chance that Smizik would suffer a coniption.
Having said that, I have to say that Smizik is on the money with his final paragraph:
If Pitt fires Harris, we can only hope the university does not shrink from the task of finding the best possible successor. That’s what it did when Ben Howland resigned. The subsequent hiring of Jamie Dixon might prove to be a stroke of genius, but Pitt’s failure to scour the country for the best candidate was the wrong way to handle a job search. Such searches can get messy, and Pitt clearly had no stomach to get its hands dirty.
The search for a new basketball coach was pathetic. I am in deep fear that Pitt will focus on one guy a little too early and let everyone else fall off the board. When that happens, you better be right and you better get your 1st choice.
The rest of the news is about the game this afternoon. I won’t see it, and both Temple and Pitt do the pay-to-listen internet broadcast, so that’s out. Actually, I’m on the road tomorrow with the family to see the brother-in-law and his family on the other side of Ohio. So this will likely be the last post from me until Monday night.
I hope the players are getting up for the game because I’m not. It’s frickin’ Temple. It’s a no win game. You win, the only question is did you cover? (Pitt by 13 1/2? Wow. I’d take Temple.) You lose, and that is just pathetic. Can’t even get excited that it is for the final time.
If Temple is lucky, there will be a massive crowd of nearly 20,000. Problem is, Lincoln Financial Field holds almost 70,000. There is a note about how much Kirkley should be looking forward to running against Temple. He may run a bit, but I’m betting he splits time with Mason.
Predicted final score: Pitt 30 Temple 23
