Okay, this set comes from another Michigan blog, Straight Bangin’.
Which unheralded player on your team will be the hardest to replace? Which seemingly inconsequential player could make the biggest impact?
Right. Pitt didn’t lose that many starters or key role players that stand out. Rob Petitti and Tyrone Gilliard were not unheralded players who graduated. The field is kind of limited so I’d say the hardest player to replace for Pitt that hasn’t gotten much attention is Center Justin Belarski. Replacing a center is always worrisome. I know the line last year wasn’t that good, but Belarski was very solid and was very reliable in protecting Palko up the middle.
Joe Flacco, back-up QB. At this point we still don’t know if he’s transferring or not. If he goes, Pitt will only have true freshmen backing up Palko. I realize as Palko goes, so goes Pitt this year, but if it is just for a game, series, quarter or whatever you would like to have someone go in there with some real familiarity with the players and who has had more than just the training camp to learn the system — even if it’s a new one. Also, the potential risk of moving Tight End Darrell Strong back to QB to provide some depth. Strong is a great athlete and the last thing anyone should want to see is it wasted the way Penn State has wasted and jerked around Michael Robinson.
Which regular-season game that won’t feature your team would you pay the most money to see this season? Why?
Well now that they won’t be selling beer in the Coliseum for USC games, I’ve kind of lost interest in attending those games.
I was thinking about the South Carolina-Tennessee game. Pro, not hearing TV announcers go on ad nauseum about the history between Spurrier and Fulmer. Con, missing the continual cut-away shots to the facial expressions on both coaches during the game. I’ll stick with TV, I can always go to mute.
I guess I have to go with the Oklahoma-Texas game. A bitter rivalry game, expected to be big, lots of drinking and trash talking by the fans before, during and after. When there is a continual threat of violence between factions at any moment, I want to be there. Added bonus, the chance to start rumors about the coaches to see what happens.
To Texas fans: “Hey, I heard that Mack Brown was treated by the team doctor last night for a major panic attack. He was hypervenilating, getting the dry heaves. It was brutal.”
To Oklahoma fans: “I understand that the Seahawks and Paul Allen are prepared to give Stoops all the money and power he wants to take the Seattle job.”
If your team were a rapper, who would it be and why?
#$@%$@#$*&*^$!
Look, I’m in my mid-30s, white, grew up in a rural part of Pennsylvania, and missed the whole hip-hop thing. I have as much street cred as Joe Biden at a rave. I’ll leave it to my readers to pick that one.
For a band analogy just to have an answer, I’ll say the Kinks. Everyone always talks about the Stones, Beatles and the Who. The Kinks have this great history, library of fantastic songs, and are totally underappreciated when discussing the British Invasion.
