Offensive Coordinator Matt Cavanaugh will be inducted into the Youngstown Curbstone Coaches Hall of Fame tomorrow. You know, I lived in Y-town for 2 years and never heard of this group. I have no idea where they put the plaques.

My first thought was that they had resurrected the “Youngstown Walk of Fame.” Apparently at some in the early 90s they had various “famous” people and athletes from Youngstown on one of the once busy streets. What they had used though was that stuff you see around swimming pools usually looking like feet, to make the starts. So by the time I got there in ’97, most of the stars were ripped or unreadable. I didn’t recognize most of the names I could make out. The only one I knew then was Dave Dravecky. A mediocre starting pitcher in the 80s. Most might remember the clips of his arm breaking while pitching.

The other thing, is just an amusing piece of delusion from a sportswriter for East Carolina. They still like to think they will make the jump to the Big East someday.

There is also speculation that the addition of a 12th game could bring new discussions about expansion of the Big East, a conference now with just eight football schools. Adding a game will bring scheduling opportunities and challenges for those schools.

The new Big East football conference is comprised of Cincinnati, UConn, Louisville,
Pitt, Rutgers, Syracuse , South Florida and West Virginia.

The status of the Big East in the Bowl Championship series has become tenuous since the exodus of Miami, Boston College and Virginia Tech. There’s no question the Big East has lost some glitter as a major football conference, in terms of perception.
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Would adding ECU help or hurt in that regard? There is no question that the Pirates’ recent football woes have come at a very bad time. In fact, timing could not be worse.

Looking ahead, however, there is a renewed sense that ECU could be back on track in the near future. At the very least an argument can be made that the commitment is there.

Bringing in national names like Terry Holland and Skip Holtz have raised some eyebrows around the country. This should be helpful if, indeed, the Big East makes a move anytime soon.

Having South Florida move ahead of ECU in this sweepstakes the first time around is still a bitter pill for many Pirate faithful. Perhaps there is another opportunity around the bend. And it could be rushed along a bit by this 12-game schedule.

I realize the pickings are slim for finding more football schools when the Big East splits in about 5 years and the football schools need to pick up some other teams. East Carolina, though, is way down on the list. Memphis, Southern Miss., Marshall, Central Florida are all in front of ECU.

I said Chevon Troutman was making a mistake for trying to play any football while still holding out hopes of playing in the NBA. Yesterday, Ron Cook, said it was a mistake for Troutman because he didn’t have the passion for it.

Well his first tryout ended quickly. Troutman was cut after the first day.

It was a bad sign when coach Joe Gibbs at first couldn’t place Troutman. Gibbs had been asked for his assessment of the player whom the Redskins hoped might be the next Gates, who zoomed from Kent State basketball star to Pro Bowl tight end for San Diego in just two years.

“That’s a good question,” Gibbs said. “I wish you hadn’t have asked it. … oh, the basketball player. … San Diego starts it off and they get a tight end [Gates] who came out of basketball and plays great. You’d have to say running around in college basketball, there’s a lot of good-looking tight ends. Every time I see them, you’re like, ‘Good gosh, they’re all tight end potential.’ “

Sounds like Gibbs really wasn’t too enthused about bringing Troutman into camp in the first place.

“Chevon showed a lot of toughness and physical prowess on the basketball court that you hope translates onto the football field,” tight ends coach Rennie Simmons said. “When I saw him catch the ball, you could see that Chevon has some athletic ability, but he has a very long way to go. He started to come around towards the end of practice, but unfortunately, if you’re not sure what you’re doing, where to go or what foot to step with, you’re like a duck out of water.
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“When they first threw everything at me, it looked like Spanish or something,” said the 6-foot-6, 240-pound Troutman, who halted his football career after he played defensive end and tight end as a high school junior. “It’s a lot different than basketball.”

You get the sense that both Troutman and the Redskins had, shall we say, ridiculous expectations of how it would go.

Well going into it, Troutman’s dad seemed more realistic that this was just a little test the waters thing.

Troutman and his father, Steve, drove to Washington yesterday. Steve Troutman said several NFL teams were interested in his son, who will be tried out at tight end.

“This gives him a chance to see how he feels about it,” Steve Troutman said. “It keeps him busy. The worst thing you can do is sit around and do nothing.”

Look, his heart is still set on playing basketball. There will be teams that get back in contact with him to gauge his interest after he figures out if he wants to play basketball overseas or not.

If you have to do the Antonio Gates comparisons, remember Gates tried to get into the NBA first. He failed, and then had to train for football. Then it took a year before he really saw playing time.