As I mentioned, I’m in Pittsburgh for a few days. I actually have a small list of things to get — booze from the liquor store since it is significantly cheaper than the state licensed stores in Ohio, some Pitt gear, and a case of Yuengling. Sadly, it looks like the Yuengling will not be acquired due to space considerations (or lack thereof) in the car.

So I went to the Pitt Store to get stuff for my daughter and me. Yeah, I know putting her in Pitt gear is no guarantee. If it were, Lee and I would both be Penn State fools. Still, effort must be made and at the very least they will be embarrassing photos when she is older.

They have cheap, simple t-shirts with the new Pitt logo for only $6, but I was more interested in getting a new hat. Get it now and have time to really break it in before the season starts. Pathetic. They didn’t have any hats with the new logo. They didn’t even have any of the retro hats.

WTF? They just don’t get it, do they?

Down at the corner street vendor — Pitt Stop — they had one. They also had at the bottom of the rack some really old hats that they must have found in a bin. I mean, these were hats they sold when I was in school. And no, they weren’t “retro” hats. They were just old hats. Still dusty, and a couple were sun-bleached out.

Right now we seem be right there for this kid.

Youngstown (Ohio) Liberty defensive tackle Chris Harrison is looking to play D-1 college football. Liberty head coach Jeff Whitaker says Harrison has a huge upside and his best football is definitely ahead of him. The 6-foo-5, 265-pound, Harrison says several schools have already offered a scholarship.
…
“I like Ohio State a lot because of the tradition but I wouldn’t say there’s an absolute leader.” Harrison said.

“Ohio State is such a prestigious program that its hard not to look at them, especially living in the state of Ohio. I also like Pittsburgh a lot right now. Pitt and Ohio State would be my top two.[“]

He also leaves out that in Y-town, OSU head coach Tressel is a god. Columbus doesn’t even compare in the worship of Tressel.

He’s planning to wait on his commit, though, until it is much closer to signing day. The article says he is rising in profile and expected to be in their mid-west top-100. According to the recruiting info on Harrison, neither Pitt or OSU have actually offered yet.

Today is the Big East football Media Day. The coaches and certain key players from each team will be on hand doing quickie interviews and press conferences. On such a day, optimism will be the theme.

What a difference a year makes.

For the first time in three seasons, every member of the Big East wants to be in the Big East. Miami and Virginia Tech are gone. So is Boston College. In their place are Cincinnati, Louisville and South Florida, three schools that will be vitally important to the future success of the conference.

“We feel good about it,” said commissioner Mike Tranghese. “It’s nice to have people here who are excited about being here. Last year was a hard year.”

The BE coaches pre-season poll will be released today.

The Big East also has a football preview. The actual preview is in PDF, and this borrowed laptop won’t let me download the latest Adobe Reader to take a looks, so I can’t tell you what the propaganda press released info on Pitt says.

At least I know there will be stories tomorrow.