No particular overarching theme for these stories. Some I’ve had for a day or so, thinking there might be more, but now I just want off my browser tabs.

An article about the shifts of various teams into new conferences. Mainly focused on BC and Louisville. Some quotes from Louisville Coach Bobby Petrino about expanding his recruiting.

Petrino also believes Louisville’s entrance into the Big East will help him stretch his recruiting territory because of increased exposure in the Northeast. He said Louisville already has lured two players each from New Jersey and Pennsylvania the last two years, including offensive tackle Brian Roche of powerful Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J., ranked by several recruiting services among the nation’s top 25 prospects.

“We tried to use [identification with the Big East] a couple of years ago, when we knew we were going in or thought we were going in, and tried to get into a different pool of players,” Petrino said. “I think we’ve done that. We’re always going to go south and recruit Florida, Alabama and Georgia.

“I want us to be the fastest team in the Big East. To do that, we’ve got to go south. But we’ve started going into New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Now, we can tell a young man that we have a much better chance of being in a BCS game and winning a national championship.”

No kidding. Just ask Michigan about the joys of getting to recruit easier into Pennsylvania once Penn State joined the Big 11. Of course it cuts both ways. Pitt now has Paul Dunn on the staff. Dunn spent the last 2 seasons in Kentucky coaching. He should help Pitt do some recruiting there, even if it isn’t officially on Pitt’s pre-set recruiting areas. The key when there is a conference expansion or shake-up is to take advantage of the new areas.

CollegeFootballNews.com sets out landmine games. For Pitt, they say it is Rutgers. “Why? Pitt can’t be overconfident against sleeper team.”

Here, I’ll disagree. I don’t think they will be. Rutgers should be 2-1 or even 3-0 when Pitt comes to Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights are expected to be at least middle of the pack. I don’t think Pitt can be that overconfident, especially in their Big East opener. If there is a true landmine game, I think it is in week 2 at Ohio. It will be coming off a very emotional and heavily publicized opening game against Notre Dame, and the week before another big game at Nebraska. The Bobcats may not have the talent, but they will be a better coached team. It will also be the debut home game for Frank Solich and OU’s first ESPN game — ever.

A lot of people have e-mailed me or left a comment with the link to the Coach Dave Wannstedt interview on Pittsburgh Sports Report. By all means read the whole thing, if you already haven’t. Here’s a snippet:

PSR: What parts of this team excite you the most?

DW: Our offensive line is going to be critical and I was really pleased with them coming out of the spring. I thought that they were better than what anybody gave them credit for. And we only have one guy from opening day a year ago lining up in the same spot.

I was very encouraged by our tight ends. I think we have a good group of tight ends. And our secondary – I think if we stay healthy we have a chance to have as good a secondary as anybody in the conference.

PSR: What parts of the team keep you awake at night?

DW: Our front seven. Right now, if we were to play a game tonight, we don’t have one defensive lineman or one linebacker who is lining up at the same spot that he did opening day a year ago. That’s a concern.

That is really going to be the focus in training camp. We need to make sure that, number one, we get the players lined up in the right spots where they can play at the highest level possible and give us the best chance to win. And we’ve got to get this thing back together quick.

Finally, a little peak at Walt Harris at PAC-10 media day.

Harris almost said “Big East” on Wednesday when making a reference to the Pac-10’s media day, held a day earlier in Los Angeles.

“Excuse me, I’m not in the Big East anymore,” he said, smiling.

Minor slip, but here’s a statement that even someone like myself, who is objectively pro-Walt, provoked a “are you f***ing kidding me?” moment.

The Cardinal went 4-7 last season, dropping five games by a total of 22 points, while Pittsburgh won five games in the fourth quarter or overtime.

“It’s an interesting contrast,” Harris said. “You say, ‘What’s the secret?’ That’s what they hired me for: To make the difference and get us over the hump. … Getting close isn’t good enough.”

Actually, uh, that was part of the reason the administration let you jump. The team was only “getting close” in the overall scheme of things. Pitt had to come back against Temple and Furman. Blew the lead against BC before pulling it out. I’ll give him the ND and WVU games, but those other ones were part of the problem.

A couple more stories on transfer Mike Cook. His hometown paper gives a little more about what schools he considered.

Cook chose Pittsburgh after also considering La Salle, George Washington and Charlotte. Cook said he has given the Panthers an oral commitment, but expects to complete the paperwork that will make his transfer official this week. A journalism major, he will report to school no later than Aug. 29 for the start of classes.

Under NCAA rules, Cook, who played three positions at East Carolina – point guard, shooting guard and small forward – must sit out the 2005-06 season but may join the Panthers in 2006-07. He has two years of eligibility remaining.

I do like the fact that he played multiple positions, and will have a year to practice with the team and learn the system. The more I think about it, the more encouraged I get. He could be a very good inside-out threat. He has a scorer mentality and wants to drive to the basket — plus he can shoot free throws.

Cook’s father liked what Pitt offered.

“Pitt seemed like a place where Mike could thrive. They play the style he is looking for,” Cook’s father said. “They’ve been so good in the Big East, and watching them play made us feel like it was a winning situation. Even though they lose players, it doesn’t seem like they have much of a drop-off from year to year.”

In high school, Cook was part of team at Friends Central in Philadelphia that also showcased former Syracuse star Hakim Warrick, a Memphis Grizzlies draft choice, and Arizona junior Mustafa Shakur.

Given the number of guards that Pitt will have on the active roster come 2006, it would suggest that Pitt will be looking for Forwards and Centers for the rest of its recruiting class. Come 2006 barring any transfers or worse the guards on the roster will include Graves (Sr), Ramon (Jr), Benjamin (Jr), Fields(So), Ferguson (So), Gilbert Brown (Fr) and Cook (Jr). Not to mention walk-ons Bowman and Small.

That’s a lot of Guards. Versatility of position and their size for players like Cook, Ferguson and Brown will likely see them in the 3rd guard/Small Forward position a lot more than simply Shooting Guard.

No, I don’t actually believe that title, but it sure is catchy.

We’re back to ringtones of Pitt songs. I was meaning to get to this.

Here’s where you can listen to the real thing (Real Player)

Hat tip to Steve for finding a decent ringtone version of the Pitt Victory Song from MobileRingtones.com. You just need the right carrier. He said ATT mLife (now part of Cingular) works, and I found Sprint phones seem to offer it.

I’m on Verizon, so it isn’t available to me. There is, however, a new alternative. Xringer.com has a new option on Hail to Pitt. Rather than just the weirdly speeded up version, they have a much better one. You can find them here. The one with a “(2)” next to it is the better version. (Yes, I am enough of a geek to have downloaded it to my phone.)

Xringer has it available on Cingular and Alltel, but not T-Mobile or Sprint.

At least the quality and choices are improving.

A cross-posting pair of must reads from Blue-Gray Sky and Every Day Should Be Saturday on their new coaches.

First, go to EDSBS to read a very solid technical analysis on the coaching approach and style of Urban Meyer. In other words, get a better idea of what the hell happened in the Fiesta Bowl to Pitt.

Then head to BGS for one of the funniest damn posts you will read, all the while getting very nervous about what could happen on that September 3 game.

Now it’s time for the Steven Walker update.

Not much on the actual plea front. In fact, it seems not to have been reported what he pleaded. He does have an attorney, and there is some explanation as to why he got kicked off of the Pitt football team:

Walker, who was arraigned in Canton Municipal Court on Monday in connection with the shooting death of a Canton teenager in a gas station parking lot last weekend, won a football scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh and began preseason drills last August as a defensive back, a school official said.

Three months later, however, Walker was arrested by university police on seven counts of burglary and one count of unauthorized use of a credit card in connection with a series of break-ins at school residence halls, university spokesman John Fedele said.

The burglaries, Fedele said, occurred on Nov. 29 and 30, the week after the Thanksgiving Day holiday, but Fedele said he didn’t know how the charges were resolved.

The Akron Beacon Journal broke out one of their few remaining big guns (sorry, unprompted media criticism) to write a bit of a defense of Buchtel High School, Terry Pluto.

When a former high school football star is jailed and charged with murder, the temptation is to look at the school and the team’s coaches.

And somehow, to blame them.

Even Buchtel coach Claude Brown finds himself asking, “I wonder what else I could have done?”

In the case of Steve Walker, the answer is Buchtel did more than enough to give the former quarterback a chance at college and a promising future.

Walker is in Stark County jail charged with murder in the shooting of 17-year-old Michael Cheek at a Canton gas station Friday night. Walker is a former City Series Player of the Year at Buchtel, and he earned a football scholarship to Pittsburgh for the fall of 2004. He was dismissed from the Pitt team in December for an undisclosed violation of team rules.

“I just know that it was something that he had made restitution for,”Brown said. “I was talking to Butler Community College (in Kansas) trying to get him another chance. They were interested.”

Brown wanted to discuss what happened at Pitt with Walker, “but Stevie was sort of avoiding me. He kept the conversations short. I think he was embarrassed.”

Buchtel enabled Walker to be in position to receive a Division I football scholarship worth perhaps $100,000 over four years.

“Stevie had no parents, but he did have a guardian,” Brown said. “He was a street kid, but never violent. I was shocked by what happened.”

There are successes at Buchtel, and Pitt has and is benefitting from them. Believe me, no one is going to stay away from Buchtel kids because of what Steven Walker did.

Tim Murphy is another Buchtel player besides Walker who was at Pitt last season. He is scheduled to graduate in December with a communications degree. He was a red-shirt as a freshman and will start in the backfield this fall as a fifth-year senior. Like Walker, his background was less than ideal. But he’s made better choices.

“Tim is a quiet, humble kid,” said J.D. Brookhart, the former Pitt offensive coordinator who is now the coach at the University of Akron.

Brookhart praised Murphy’s willingness to carry the ball or do less glamorous work as a blocking fullback. He said there were no discipline issues with Murphy. “He’s just a good kid. Lots of the city kids are like that.”

Ramon Walker was a star player at Buchtel in the ’90s, attended Pitt and now plays for the NFL’s Houston Texans. Pitt recruited another Buchtel player for this fall — Bryan Williams.

Former Buchtel players now in college include Antonio Pittman (Ohio State), Antonio Reynolds (Tennessee) and Charlton Keith (Kansas). Anthony Lovelace just graduated from Bucknell with a degree in accounting, and Steve Reynolds just finished his criminal justice degree at Youngstown State.

There was a vigil held last night in honor of the murdered kid, Michael Cheeks, Jr.

Here’s an article on East Carolina transfer Mike Cook.

Cook, who played for two losing teams at East Carolina in Conference USA, wanted to play for a winner, and the Panthers, who have played in four consecutive NCAA tournaments, fit that description.

“The number of guards they have was not much of a concern,” Cook said yesterday from his home in Philadelphia. “I have a lot of confidence in my abilities. I’ve been through a lot of losing, and [Conference USA] was getting kind of weak. I know at Pitt, we’ll win consistently and play in tournaments.”

Cook, a 6-foot-4 guard, led East Carolina in scoring last season with 15 points per game. He also averaged four rebounds and three assists per game and shot 37 percent from the field, 31.6 percent from 3-point range.

Why would a player who led his team in scoring leave?

Cook said it was mainly the losing, but, when Bill Herrion was fired and Ricky Stokes was brought in to replace him, he knew it was time for a change.

Cook will sit out the season, as per NCAA rules, but will have 2 years of eligibility left starting in 2006. He hasn’t actually enrolled and obviously isn’t at Pitt yet. Until such time, Coach Dixon and the Pitt athletic department are prohibited from commenting under NCAA rules. Big East Basketball Blog things he will be a good addition for Pitt.

Some things will never change.

I hope that song is stuck in your head for the rest of the day. It just popped unbidden into my skull when I was reading this article about PAC-10 Media Day and the new coaches — Tyrone Willingham and Walt Harris. Well, it was mainly about Willingham but this was so typical.

By contrast, Harris spent little time glad-handing. As he waited to be called into a suite for broadcast interviews, Harris sat alone, engrossed in the Los Angeles Times.

“It’s very exciting to be back in this conference,” said Harris, who coached linebackers at California from 1974-77.

Excitement is not an emotion typically associated with Harris, who came to Stanford after eight seasons at Pittsburgh. Both he and Willingham are known for being reserved – some might say guarded – in public settings. But Willingham made an effort to connect Tuesday, flashing his dry wit several times for reporters.

This isn’t to bash Harris, it’s just a reminder to myself as much as anyone about one of Harris’ major shortcomings — his absolute inability/unwillingness to publicly engage the media and the fans. It drove me nuts to watch or listen to one of his press conferences.

The combination of him and basketball coach Jamie Dixon the last couple seasons may have given Pitt the worst 1-2 combo of coaches with no ability to connect with the fans and media at a press conference or interview.

The awards watch lists keep trickling. Tight End Eric Gill was put on the Mackey Award watch list.

The only other Big East player on the list is Clark Harris of Rutgers.

The Mackey Award is given by the Nassau County Sports Commission.

33 days.

Bob Smizik is ready to set the bar for success by Wannstedt rather high. He also sees the potential for a lot of excitement and interest for Pitt this season. In his high setting of the bar, he pays a backhanded compliment to Walt Harris.

Somehow, mostly because his superiors were eager to see him go, Harris was perceived as a failure at Pitt. He is viewed as a coach who left behind a struggling program. Consequently, Wannstedt is regarded by some as a savior.

Pitt doesn’t need a savior. Pitt has a strong program. Harris was not a failure. He was a success. Pitt won 25 games in Harris’ final three seasons. It hadn’t done that well since winning 26 from 1981-83, in Sherrill’s final season and Foge Fazio’s first two.

The cupboard is not bare for Wannstedt. It’s close to being full. He has one of the best quarterbacks in college football in Tyler Palko and a strong defense. He also has a schedule — as did Harris — with enough built-in victories to virtually ensure a winning season and a bowl trip. He’s in a conference that is the weakest with an affiliation to the Bowl Championship Series.

The Pitt program is in good shape and in position to expand on that.

I’m going to ignore the obvious shot at Smizik for deflecting all desire to jettison Harris onto the Pitt administration. The poorly feigned attempt to sound almost bothered by the action, when he was eager to lead the charge to toss Harris (when he was sure that there was plenty of support). If I don’t start ignoring it now, I’ll be forced to point it out all year. Still…

The Knight-Ridder Newspapers are running a countdown of the top-25 teams in reverse order each day. The pieces are written by their college football writer for the Fort Worth Telegram, but they run in just about every one of their many newspapers. Pitt was ranked #20.

Why Pittsburgh is No. 20: The Panthers should have one of the nation’s more productive offenses. The defense, if the line develops, should be capable of keeping Pitt in most games.
…
Jeers: In the spring, Wannstedt moved Blades, the team’s leading tackler, to middle linebacker. That meant that Session, who was second on the team in tackles, will be Blades’ backup. Whatever happened to that old coaches’ saying about getting your best 11 players on the field?

It all means: With 16 starters and 48 lettermen returning, there’s plenty of talent. If Jennings produces the way he did during spring practice, the running game should be able to take the heat off of Palko.

Datebook: The schedule is difficult at the start and the finish. Pitt opens against Notre Dame, which will be playing its first game under new coach Charlie Weis. Two weeks later, the Panthers play at Nebraska. The Big East title could come down to the Nov. 3 game at league newcomer Louisville. The season finale at West Virginia on Nov. 24 is always a brawl.

There is also a companion piece on Tyler Palko. It focuses on his brash statement when he signed with Pitt about winning 2 National Championships.

From a Louisville paper, one of their columnists and also an AP voter, has a Q&A up regarding Louisville, his biases and the BE.

QUESTION: Where do the Cardinals deserve to be ranked nationally in the preseason polls?

DR. BO: I’m uncertain if Petrino votes in the coaches’ poll, but I am voting in The Associated Press writers’ poll, which is no longer included in the Bowl Championship Series formula.

I plan to vote Petrino’s team ninth in the AP preseason poll. The offense is relentless. The defense should be solid and more confident than it was at the start of last season. And the schedule is kind, especially early.
…
QUESTION: Which team is the biggest threat to the Cards’ push to win the Big East title?

DR. BO: West Virginia.

The Good Doctor knows Pittsburgh, not the Mountaineers, is the popular pick to finish second. But I’m here to give you three reasons to keep an extra linebacker keyed on West Virginia:

(A) The schedule: West Virginia gets Pitt and U of L at home, and the Panthers play the Mountaineers and Cardinals on the road;

(B) West Virginia is a tougher place to play;

(C) New Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt is a college football novice whose work with the Bears and Dolphins should not make Petrino sweat.

It’s going to feel like an eternity waiting for this month to end.

Looks like they delayed Steven Walker’s initial court appearance until this morning. At that time it should be expected that he will plead “not guilty” in Canton Municipal Court. Walker has apparently refused to speak to the investigators about what happened that night. Information is spotty.

Except for the locale of the fatal shooting — an area known to police as a trouble spot near the Alan Page Drive apartment buildings — investigators were still trying to piece together Friday night’s events by attempting to interview several friends and family members who were with Cheek, Angelo said.

Walker and Cheek, he said, apparently arrived at the gas station in separate vehicles about 10:40 p.m. Friday. Shortly thereafter, they got into a pushing and shoving match inside the store, Angelo said.

As Walker fell into a rack of candy, the sergeant said, Cheek left the store.

“The suspect must have followed him out, and from what we’ve heard, he was trying to run for his car when he was shot,” Angelo said.

The victim was shot once in the back, Angelo said.

Investigators have not been able to determine how the fight started.

“The people we’ve talked to aren’t really sure, and the suspect refused to speak (to us),” Angelo said. “I guess it was just circumstances that they bumped into each other there.”

They apparently had known each other for a long time, Angelo said.

He said the store had a video surveillance camera running, but it ran out of tape before the fight began.

Angelo said investigators have not been able to recover the gun used in the shooting.

His former high school coach expressed shock over the whole thing.

A bit under the radar, and not actually confirmed.

Comcast SportsNet in Philadelphia has reported that former East Carolina guard Mike Cook has decided to transfer to Pitt. Cook made the announcement yesterday at a news conference near his home in Mount Airy, Pa., a Philadelphia suburb. Cook, a 6-foot-4 guard, averaged 15 points per game last season. Cook, who must sit out this coming season, would have two years of eligibility remaining. Pitt could not confirm Cook’s decision last night. Under NCAA rules, a coach is not allowed to speak about a transfer until he is enrolled in school and on campus.

Comcast Philadelphia‘s site has nothing.

Cook is a shooting guard. He decided to and released by ECU to transfer in May. He was the leading scorer for the Pirates. He averaged the most minutes for the team at 33. His FG% was .370, 3P% – .316, and FT% – .726. In his first season at ECU he was part of the all-freshman C-USA team.

According to the old recruiting pages, he was a 3-star recruit for the class of 2003. Pitt never recruited him, though he drew interest (but no offers) from Marquette, WVU and PSU.

Can really score. From Philadelphia and has a nice aptitude for the game. Medium-range jumper is soft and sweet. Can hit 3s, but more efficient inside arc. Will also rebound and work the baselines. Just has a nice knack for scoring.

It reads like he has the potential to be a decent outside and inside threat on offense. He has to sit out a year and adapt to a team where he is not likely to be the primary focus of the team.

Steven Walker turned himself in last night (photo on the page). He had apparently been on the run since Friday night. The initial reports said Walker was a member of the Pitt team.

Walker, a three-year starting quarterback at Buchtel, is listed as a defensive back on the 2005 roster at the University of Pittsburgh, according to the athletics department’s Web site.

University officials could not be reached for comment Saturday.

Obviously, it was later corrected that Walker was not on the 2005 roster, and had, in fact been dismissed from the team in December 2004. Presumably, this page was where they pulled that info. It’s a sloppy page. It says 2004 roster (a dumb error by the reporter, especially when the 2005 football media guide doesn’t list him(PDF)), but lists the new coaching staff. If you look now, you will see that Steven Walker is not listed.

That was a rather sloppy scrub job this morning by the Pitt Athletic Department on a couple counts. First, there is the good old, reliable Google Cache to show Walker was listed even yesterday. Second, each player has a weblinked bio. The pages are arranged alphabetically by class. So, on the 2004 roster, Freshman Tyler Tipton was before Walker and Dave Weber was after. If you look at the end portion of the URL for each, you will see a “PLAYER_ID=” and a 4 digit number. For Tipton it is 2447 and Weber is 2449. These numbers had been in simple order, butsuddenlyy 2448 is gone. A check of #2448 now shows an empty bio page (not to mention the cached page confirms the same link). That individual bio page, was where the photo of Walker in his Pitt uni was pulled. Finally, there is still the PDF version of the 2004 roster page.

Maybe now might be a good time to update the roster pages on the top of the football section to reflect 2005.

Still, the damage was done. The TV Reports, like this one from Sunday evening (Windows Media) led with identifying him as a present day Panther.

Walker’s arraignment was this morning, but I haven’t found a report on how he pled or anything else at this point.

More when I can and there is more.

Okay, today’s preview is “Phil Steele’s College Football Preview 2005.” This is part of the Cleveland-based North Coast Sports company. We are talking handicapping, so arguably these people have a better idea of what’s going on. They have money riding on being accurate.

Before I get into the actual review, this developing database on games and teams looks very interesting and promising. Moving further astray, another useful site for those who have a gambling jones or are curious about the claims of handicappers that you hear on advertising on sports talk all the time. Check out Sports-Watch to see how the claims match up with reality.

Actually, this is a rather good preview. Lots of information, details and rankings. Still there are some big question marks in some parts.

He puts Pitt at #27. Aside from the Sporting News preview, this is the lowest pre-season ranking Pitt has received. Pitt is still picked 2nd in the BE, which should tell you what he thinks of the overall strength of the conference. That would also explain why he ranks Pitt’s schedule strength at 82nd.

At the same time, he hedges on their potential because he includes Pitt as one of the potential “surprise teams” (page 22). Interestingly, he repeatedly mentions in his preview that Walt Harris didn’t really want to leave Pitt and that there is a lot of talent on the squad. He even states that a 10-1 record could be very probable (losing to Louisville).

In ranking individual positions he went to varying lengths. There was no set number:

QB — Palko, #9
WR — Lee, #16
TE — Eric Gill, #25
Offensive Guards — John Simonitis, #27
Offensive Tackles — Charles Spencer, #60
Defensive Tackles — Thomas Smith, #59
OLB — Blades, #14
CB — Josh Lay, #19; Darrelle Revis, #34

I was very surprised that Josh Cummings and Adam Graessle didn’t make his lists for kicker and punter, respectively.

In ranking the teams key units he puts the QB position at #12; the WR Corps come in at #17; Defensive Backs are #21; and in a stunner, puts the Special Teams at #27 (Did he not see our kickoff returns, punt returns and coverage last year?).

On the All-Big East teams, he goes 4 squads deep. In a stunner he puts QB Brian Brohm from Louisville on the 1st team and Palko on the 2nd. Most publications have it the other way. Here’s where Pitt players showed up:

1st Team — Lee, WR; Spencer, OT; Smith, DL; Blades, LB; Lay, CB; Cummings, K
2nd Team — Palko, QB; Gill, TE; Simonitis, OG; Revis, CB
3rd Team — Tez Morris, FS; Graessle, P; Furman, KR
4th Team — Corey Davis and Azzie Beagnyam, DL

Obviously, Beagnyam is no longer with the team. I’m still puzzling over having Furman even at 3rd team for Kick Returner.

In the Big East, he considers Pitt to have the second best offense in the BE (Louisville is 1st) and the best defense.

I got nothing right now. Just throwing out an excessively cute photo of my daughter on the campus from a couple weeks ago.

It was either this or more cap-blogging.

I’m glad I don’t believe in omens or portents. There is nothing good about this.

A former University of Pittsburgh football player has been charged with killing a teenager outside a gas station, authorities said.

Steven J. Walker, 19, of Canton, is charged with shooting Michael Cheek, 17, to death on Friday night. A warrant charging Walker with murder was issued Saturday, according to court documents.

Walker had not been arrested Sunday, authorities said. Municipal Judge John A. Poulos set Walker’s bond at $2 million.

Lt. James Cole said Walker and Cheek started arguing inside the station, and a witness said Cheek was trying to get to his car when he was shot. He was unconscious when taken to a hospital and died shortly afterward, authorities said.

Walker was dismissed from the Pittsburgh football program in early December 2004 and has not been a student at the school since then, Panthers spokesman E.J. Borghetti said Sunday. Borghetti would not say why Walker was dismissed from the program.

Before he was dismissed, Walker, a defensive back, was on the team for just over four months and did not play in any games, Borghetti said.

Walker started at quarterback for three seasons at Buchtel High School in Akron.

You hate to be cynical and wondering how it hurts Pitt when a life has been taken.

Still, when the headline screams that it was a Pitt player — Ex-player or not — the thoughts have to turn to it. It doesn’t matter if he was with the team for only one season, never played and most of us have never even heard of him (let alone realized he had been kicked off the team and left school).

I mean when the bright side is: at least he wasn’t associated with Pitt currently, things aren’t good. I’m sure there will be more later.