A disappointing performance for the Canadian National Team.

Marcelo Machado scored a tournament-high 42 points as Brazil downed Canada 105-81 in the FIBA Americas world qualifying tournament, eliminating the Canadians from the competition. Canada (1-3) finished at the bottom of its five-team group, with the top four teams advancing to the quarter-finals.

The loss also means Canada will not play in next year’s world basketball championships in Japan. It’s the first time Canada has failed to qualify for the world championships since 1967.

Levon Kendall finished with 13 points (6-11) 6 rebounds and 3 blocks in that game. A decent final game.

It wasn’t a particularly good tournament for him. He did pretty well in the team’s opening game.
In the second game against USA — which the Canadians actually won — he had 4 fouls, 2 points and 2 rebounds in 20 minutes.

Then in a loss to Panama, it was a 3 rebound 4 point effort in only 16 minutes.

Well he needed to come back to Pitt for the start of classes, I guess.

You know, maybe I’ll just chalk this up to letting it slip through the cracks.

A few weeks ago, AD Jeff Long said that Pitt was close to a deal to get its radio broadcasts on Satellite Radio, but wouldn’t say with which group.

I figured when they had the deal, they would announce it. Call me arrogant, but I don’t think I missed the announcement.

So, a closer look at the game notes (PDF, pg. 1) reveals that the games will be on Sirius.

This was a stupid slip. Something that should have gotten released sooner for the fans. Not a major error, but a stupid one. If you are going to say it’s coming, then let people know when it happens.

The game is officially sold out. Some standing room only tix will be on sale on Tuesday.

So, what’s the word on the team residing in a state that looks something like a dripping, spent phallic representation?

The same but different. While Pitt has a new coach who is considered long on personality and inspiring players, but short on actual game coaching; ND’s new coach is considered an X-O guy who has needed to prove himself in the personality/charisma department.

Obviously both coaches will need to prove themselves again on the field with what they do, but for now everyone around the program believes in Coach Charlie Weis and what he has done with the attitude of the team.

No, the only thing Weis, a 1978 Notre Dame graduate, seems concerned about at the moment is changing the attitude of the entire program. He’s a demanding coach in the mold of Lou Holtz — minus the endless bluster — who won’t settle for anything less than restoring the Fighting Irish to national prominence.

“It’s a fair question if you’re worried about what people are thinking,” Weis told reporters during media day in South Bend, Ind., earlier this month. “I’m not really worrying about it. Mind you, the object is to win as fast as we can.”

Weis inherits a program that finished 6-6 last season.

It has been 16 long seasons since Notre Dame won the last of its 11 national championships — equaling the longest draught in school history from 1950-65.

The master plan under Weis is based on instilling faith.

“The first message we’re trying to teach the players is, ‘You have no chance of winning if you believe you’re not going to win.’ If you have games you’re already thinking, ‘Well, this team is a lot better than us,’ you really have no chance.

“If you go into a game thinking anything other than you’re going to win that game, you can count on losing it,” Weis said.

“The sooner we can get more people thinking that way, the better our chances are,” he added. “There are not many games where I’ve looked at the schedule and said, ‘Well, we’re losing that one.’ I’ve tried not to do that.”

In fact, that was the overwhelming theme of stories today on Weis and the Domers.

But Charlie Weis needed more than four Super Bowl rings and a proven playbook to win over his new team.

He needed to push. He needed to teach. He needed to inspire.

And, perhaps most important, he needed to relate.

Maybe it’s the outgrowth of the “one voice” theory from Bill Belichick that Weis is adhering to that creates a uniformity of stories. I’ll have some more thoughts on that theory later in the week, from someone who got to observe it in action in Cleveland under Belichick.

The players, of course, in their interviews are positive, but it is already causing media people to look for tells —

When the subject turns to Charlie Weis, as it always does, Notre Dame football players offer variations on the same reaction.

A chuckle suggests their responses will be edited for sensitive tastes.

Then maybe darting eyes, or a thumb and forefinger tracing the corners of their mouths, some kind of tic to buy time.

Wary, weary expressions developed over three weeks of the Weis treatment, a persistent drumbeat of criticism and instruction and perpetual unhappiness with their performance, as promised.

“It’s hard to describe,” serves as a common throat-clearing remark from Notre Dame football players asked to explain the tactics and intensity of their new coaching staff.

Goading questions about comparing them with their predecessors go nowhere — they have been trained — but their words reveal more than the usual preseason anticipation.

Exhaustion and excitement on their faces illustrate their current state of mind.

Sounds like the first couple weeks while dating a crazy chick. But then, I may just be projecting.

Pop open a Saranac.

Kevin Collier, the running back recruit from upstate NY, has apparently committed to Pitt. This recruit gets credited to RB Coach David Walker. Scouts, Inc./ESPN has Collier ranked as the 26th best RB in the country (Insider Subs.).

Evaluation: Collier has the potential to become a special player and is a very natural, explosive runner with excellent vision and instincts. He is what you would call a darter type back, with superb quickness and explosiveness. He shows great burst to the hole, can pick and slide to avoid contact and can really make people miss. Has smooth hips, can swerve and slash and is very difficult to get a beat on. Is certainly fast enough, but not a burner. Question level of competition as he is a man amongst boys in his conference. He is surprisingly effective as an inside runner, has some power, runs low and can avoid taking on big hits. Will bounce plays outside and this is where he is at his best. He does not have great size, but he is well built, and he has excellent change of direction skills and the ability to create in space. He shows some suddenness, he can bounce it to the outside, and he has the ability to get to put it into a second gear. He catches the ball naturally out of the backfield and he is a threat in space when you get him on the perimeter or if you can line him up in man-to-man coverage on a linebacker. He is very effective on dump offs and screens, and he can give you a lot of big plays.

The optimism for the future is on the verge of unbridled at this point.

ND debuts it’s 2-deep depth chart out (PDF).

Pitt has the game notes available (PDF). The depth chart is on page 3.

Study them. Learn them. There will be a quiz later.

According to our spiritual and base leader for tailgating, Pat, we got our parking passes. We are back in Green 23 which is fine, as long as they maintain or increase the number of port-a-johns. The bright side, we don’t need the feelings of inadequacy of our tailgate that came from being in the lot that had S.H.A.T. Now this is organization for games (not to mention a pretty good menu).

We’re a little more basic. Just burgers and dogs each week with some snack foods. Yuengling lager (though occasionally something from Penn Brewing thrown in) and some Makers Mark. To a degree it’s necessitated because over a third of our group comes in from out of town1-3 hour drives. After that, no one wants to put that much effort into the food.

Plenty of media stuff for the coming week. FSN Pittsburgh will be airing a Pitt preview show at 7:30 pm on Wednesday, followed by a story on Coach Dave Wannstedt coming back to Pitt called “Homecoming.”

Just to conflict with both, the Dave Wannstedt Radio Show airs that night at the exact same time. Don’t you think someone might have coordinated this a little better? A little cooperation? I mean the radio show airs on Fox Sports Radio 970.

Can’t radio and tv under the same corporate parent get along?

The College GameDay site needs a bit of updating.

Here’s the information on Pitt’s site about going down for the AM GameDay show.

LOCATION
Heinz Field Great Lawn

FREE PARKING AND SHUTTLE BUS SERVICE
FREE parking is available in the Posvar Hall parking garage located in Oakland off of Roberto Clemente Drive from 8:30 A.M. – 12:30 P.M. Click here for parking map.

FREE shuttle bus service from Oakland to Heinz Field for all ESPN College GameDay fans will also be available from 8:30 A.M. – 12:30 P.M. Shuttle buses will board and drop-off from Bigelow Blvd. located in-between the William Pitt Union and the Cathedral of Learning.

Event parking is available on the North Shore (rates may vary).

I like the free shuttle service for both students and fans. The free parking is very cool.

Pitt Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations, E.J. Borghetti helped me find the link (now, that’s just shameless namedropping). He also added the following in an e-mail:

Due to the Pirates game attendees in the a.m. will have to pay for parking. However, if you have a Pitt park pass, you can hang it up upon arrival and then just stay the rest of the day. You won’t get booted.

In contrast, people who attend the Pirates game for noon that day will get the boot at the conclusion of that game. Let me know if this explains it.

Well, it makes sense to me. It also makes the shuttle service that much more attractice.

Capsule pieces abound in newspapers this weekend trying to find something else to talk about regarding college football. The most popular subject has been new coaches. Lots of little, mostly useless 1 to 2 line pieces on each new coach and their potential impact.

This story from Louisiana is a little more, but it is also very familiar to Pitt fans.

And sometimes the coach comes to the school with a ready-made body of knowledge of the institution, if not his new position.

Wannstedt spent the past 15 years in the NFL, most recently five seasons as head coach of the Miami Dolphins, but he is a native of Pittsburgh with two degrees from the school.

“We thought Dave would be a great fit, and he’s done nothing but prove us correct,” Pittsburgh athletic director Jeff Long said. “With our current and former players, with the community and with all of Pennsylvania, Dave has served notice that Pitt is back in a major way on the college football scene.”

Wannstedt has declared Western Pennsylvania “our back yard” and has 12 early commitments, 11 from the Pittsburgh area. Rival Penn State has only two.

He’s also related well to the locals, bringing up his college summers working alongside his father in the Jones & Laughlin steel mill. That’s a stark contrast to Walt Harris, his aloof predecessor, whom the school didn’t try to hold back when he took the Stanford job last December.

“Everybody cares about their own, but Pittsburghers love and embrace them in a way I’ve never seen before,” Long said. “Dave’s strong faith and integrity resonates extremely well in this community. He’s forged in steel.”

Now, anyone who lives or has lived in Chicago knows there is not exactly a lot of love for Coach Dave Wannstedt. So, this very positive, practically glowing story on Coach Wannstedt taking over at Pitt is stunning — and probably caused more than a few in Chicagoland to mutter and curse.

His moment of anonymity lasted only as long as a few rings of a cellular phone, “Unknown Name” and “Unknown Number” concealing his identity ever so briefly.

But the moment Bill Stull answered the phone, the voice, with its unmistakably “Pittsburgh-ese” cadence and pronunciations, gave away the caller.

“I usually don’t answer ‘Unknown Name, Unknown Number,’ but I answered it,” Stull said. “He said, ‘I was just calling to make sure you were safe on your commit.'”

Stull was so stunned by the call, so stoked to finally get a look from his hometown school, that he stammered out an unconvincing yes.

Stull, a star quarterback at Pittsburgh’s Seton-LaSalle High School, had made an oral commitment to attend Kentucky in the fall of 2005 on a football scholarship.

But . . .

“I’ve always wanted to play here,” Stull said, standing on the University of Pittsburgh’s practice field last week. “I knew deep down I was going to wind up here.”

Stull was not the only one. The 2005 season has yet to begin, and Pitt already has a dozen oral commitments for the class of 2010 from western Pennsylvania high school stars looking to follow in Stull’s footsteps.

Because when it’s Dave Wannstedt doing the asking, few people in these parts will turn him down.

It also touches on the loyalty and fondness former players have for him.

Wannstedt knows the key to successful recruiting is spotting the best players, reeling them in and maximizing their talent. Though he hasn’t been involved in college football for more than a decade, he has a track record.

“A lot of people figured I was a little bit small as a linebacker, but he believed I was a player and thought I could play at Miami,” former Hurricanes linebacker Maurice Crum said.

Crum justified that faith by leading the Hurricanes in tackles for three straight seasons, from 1988 to 1990.

On Saturday, Crum’s namesake son, Maurice Crum Jr., will start at linebacker for Notre Dame.

“Maurice called me the other day and said he is going to be starting,” Maurice Crum Sr. said. “I told him to tell coach Wannstedt thank you, because all the things I was taught by coach, I taught him.”

Any other game, any other team, and he would be rooting wholeheartedly for his former coach, Crum said.

“I think Dave will work hard enough to get the team to a national championship,” Crum said. “He’ll do whatever it takes.”

Bennie Blades played safety for Wannstedt at Miami, and he is more than happy to have his son, H.B., starting at middle linebacker for the Panthers.

“Dave had such an aura about him,” Blades said. “When you pick a guy who has played the game, who knows how to coach the game, you can take everything he says and basically lay your hat on it.”

Read and enjoy it all.

Finally, I’ve always enjoyed stories of how one event can impact so many, so tenuously connected. Here’s a good one about coaching changes starting with Wannstedt resigning from the Dolphins.

We’ll work our way into the meat for this one then fade back.

With a puff piece that borders on an unhealthy man-crush, Ron Cook plants a juicy one on Tyler Palko. As happens with revisionism, all credit for his development and emergence last year stays with Palko.

He made himself a great quarterback after picking himself up out of that Nebraska mess and playing the kind of fabulous football that had longtime Pitt people mentioning his name in the same sentence with Dan Marino’s. The proof is that he somehow found a way to get an otherwise ordinary, three-loss Pitt team to the Fiesta Bowl. It’s also that he’s on the fringe of the early Heisman Trophy talk, a tremendous achievement for a player on a team that finished last season No. 25 in The Associated Press poll and starts this season No. 23.

“It’s nice, but it’s not like I wake up in the morning trying to win the Heisman,” Palko said. “I wake up thinking about getting to practice and trying to get better and trying to help this team get better.”

This week, Palko will wake up thinking about beating Notre Dame, Pitt’s opponent Saturday night in the nationally televised and much anticipated season opener at Heinz Field.

He is Pitt’s best chance.

It doesn’t matter that Harris and his pass-happy offense are gone, replaced by a more balanced offense under new coach Dave Wannstedt and offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh.

The only references to former Coach Walt Harris, who Palko has credited and was not happy to see leave, is how Palko saved him from immediate firing by winning against Temple at the end and in passing above.

I don’t mind puff pieces, but revisionist history pisses me off. Elevating Palko (or Wannstedt) does not mean you need to tear down or ignore Harris. Other wise it is worth a look.

Darrelle Revis gets the game-type puff piece. It talks a lot about his development from basically playing on pure athleticism to understanding the game and the position.

“Last year, I played off of raw talent,” Revis said. “This year, I’m learning more about offenses and what they want to accomplish in certain situations.

“The game really has slowed down for me. If you relax and take your time, the game will come to you. Last year, it was crazy. My head was everywhere. Now, I’m comfortable.”

Revis reached his comfort zone with the help of some excellent teachers. Rhoads is a rising star in the collegiate coaching ranks. Wannstedt was the guru who, as the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive coordinator in 1992, molded the NFL’s youngest defense into the league’s most dominant unit.

And, every week during the season, Revis has a skull session with his uncle, Sean Gilbert — who had a standout career as a defensive tackle at Pitt and in the pros.

“After every game, we talk about a lot of things — what I did wrong, what I did good, what I can do better,” Revis said. “I’m thankful for having an uncle who cares about me and supports me in that way. It’s a family thing.”

The secondary should be so much better this year (Pitt was 100th against the pass, how much worse could it get?) with Lay and Revis playing much tighter and aggressive coverage. Plus, with Morris and Phillips at the safeties big things have to be expected.

The other reason why the secondary needs to be good is the fact that the defensive line is one of Pitt’s question marks for the season.

The defensive line is inexperienced, though. Thomas Smith is the only starter with extensive playing time, but he is learning a new position and has been hurt for most of camp.

The defensive line has plenty of speed, though, and that alone is an upgrade from a year ago.

“Our defensive line isn’t big, but they get to the ball quick, a lot quicker than in the past,” Blades said. “You can tell because it seems like our D-line is making a lot of plays and that’s really what is the most important — just make plays. That goes for all the rest of us as well.”

The running game and offensive line are expected to be improved (Again, they really only had one direction they could go.).

The only other big question regards the Wide Receivers. After Greg Lee and Joe DelSardo, Derek Kinder has been the most consistent receiver to claim the 3rd spot. Then it is more of an ongoing audition with Marcel Pestano presently leading.

The kickers and punters have been getting extra practice at Heinz Field rather than at the practice facilities to refresh their recollection regarding the winds.

The kickers and punters practiced twice last week at Heinz Field while the rest of the squad worked out at the South Side facility.

Because of swirling winds, kickers have a notoriously difficult time kicking toward the open end of Heinz Field. Those conditions affected the outcome of at least one game last season, when Furman’s Scott Becker missed a 37-yard field goal attempt in overtime.

“Right before he went out to kick it, I said, ‘He’s going to miss wide right,’ ” Pitt kicker Josh Cummings said. “And, yes, he did.”

Before every game, the Panthers kick toward the open end of the stadium, so they have an extra chance to gauge the wind. Opponents kick toward the enclosed end of the field.

“There’s definitely a big difference,” Cummings said. “For the most part, I’m not sure if (other teams) are aware of it when they come in here. Maybe if they were, they might think about it more — which could be bad for them. So I don’t know if ignorance is bliss or if it’s better to know what you’re getting into.”

Finally, a little on Pitt’s latest verbal:

Aaron Smith got a big cheer from the crowd last night during pregame warmups.

Smith, a senior at Gateway, announced on the public address system that he had made a verbal commitment to the University of Pittsburgh. The announcement came on the field before Gateway’s season opener against Cleveland Benedictine. Smith’s news also was carried live by FSN Pittsburgh.

Smith (6 feet, 180 pounds) plays quarterback and defensive back for Gateway, but he was recruited by Pitt to play receiver. Smith had more than a dozen scholarship offers from Division I colleges, but had narrowed his list to Pitt and Maryland.

“Pitt’s close to home and they wanted me to play receiver,” he said. “Maryland wanted me to play defensive back. Receiver is where I feel more comfortable.”

It’s going to be a long week of anticipation.

Aaron Smith from Gateway High chose Pitt over Maryland.

Been a while. This one’s hosted by the HeismanPundit.

What criteria do you use to determine if a team and its players are good?

Past performance, while not necessarily indicative of future performance is still the leading factor. This goes for teams, coaches and players. That is always a starting point. It has to be. There is no way anyone with anything approaching a life and normalcy could possibly be able to look at each team without taking the past into account. This means taking into account the coaching staff’s history — developing players, finding talent, gameday coaching and in-game adjustments.

As for players, only a fool or a liar doesn’t admit to taking some note of how they were ranked by various recruiting services as at least a starting point/shortcut. I want Pitt to land Darrin Walls. Why? I haven’t seen him play. I’ve not bothered to watch any video. I have, however, heard from voices with credibility that he is an absolute talent, though. I have some measure of trust in what I’ve heard — again, looking to past performance on someone to base the opinion.

From there I go by what I see on the field when the time comes. I look for the fundamentals and natural ability. Natural ability is easy to spot and is good initially. It’s what comes afterwards that determines just how good. Does he know the system and the plays? Does he make the same mistake continually? Does he adjust accordingly? Does he make improvements from game to game?

To shift to basketball, Pitt had 2 players in the front court this past season who couldn’t be more different — Chevy Troutman and Chris Taft. Both good players, but different. Taft showed no adjustments, or growth. He relied on pure natural ability to take him where he wanted — but no further. Troutman continually improved and adjusted. He tweaked what he was doing as a game went on, and continually looked for new ways to accomplish his goals on defense or offense.

If you could choose one coach to build an offensive system for your school, who would it be? Conversely, who would you choose to devise the defense? Why?

I know, Urban Meyer on offense and Pete Carroll on defense is the easy call. I’m not taking that way, though. Just for fun, I’m going with actual coordinators.

For the Offense, how about Chris Petersen. This is his 5th season as offensive coordinator at Boise State. How or why he hasn’t taken over OC duties at a bigger school is a mystery to me. Maybe it’s because of the blue turf, but he has just made an offensive machine there. Before that he was the WR coach at Oregon under Mike Belotti. Judging from what hasn’t been seen from Joey Harrington in the pros, maybe his WRs and their WR coach need a little more credit.

On Defense, I’ll take Bo Pelini now the d-coordinator at LSU. He’s been a hot assistant for a few years now. I like his aggressive defenses, and the way he makes in-game adjustments (the USC game notwithstanding). I actually think being d-coordinator at 3 schools in 3 years (Nebraska, Oklahoma now LSU) has hurt his head coaching prospects — makes him look so blatantly like he is just eyeing the next job. Second choice, Tom Bradley, Penn State D-coordinator. Coming from a Pitt guy, that should tell you all you need to know about him.

Describe your typical college football Saturday.

Oh, boy. If Pitt is at home, and it is a noon start, that means things started the night before. Preload the car with the chairs and whatever else I’m bringing and showering the night before. Then it means rolling out of bed around 5 or 6, smacking my foot or stepping on some toy my kid left as a landmine for me as I stumble to the bathroom — all curses quietly muttered. Get dressed and get in the car to begin the drive from Cleveland and hope to stay conscious until I hit about mile marker 193 on the Ohio turnpike where there’s a rest stop for a triple shot of espresso at a Starbucks kiosk.

Get to the designated meeting spot of the tailgating group — Pat’s house on the South Side — make sure we have everything, wait for the rest of the crew to show (and likely grab some more espresso) and convoy over to the parking lot around 10 am. Start drinking and grilling while listening to the radio pregame.

Attend the game.

Afterwards, it’s more tailgating for a couple hours while watching the roads back-up. We are usually one of the last groups to leave the parking lot.

Eventually drive home.

For non-home games, it means getting a game on around noon after I’ve done the dad thing by playing with my daughter all morning (so I can dump her off on the wife for the afternoon). Around noon start watching football and begin cursing the fact that because I live in Ohio they think I actually want to watch Northwestern vs. Illinois. Don’t even get me started with the realization that I am going to be stuck with Ohio St. v. San Diego State on September 17 at the same time Pitt plays Nebraska — looks like I’m springing for ESPN Gameplan that day.

Alcoholic beverages are involved in all of this. Sometimes food.

Now you know.

Is this thing on?

Sorry, just testing the audioblogging feature, which may or may not — depending on levels of sobriety — be utilized during games or tailgating situations. The audio runs via quicktime.

Speculative, but still a little worrisome.

For the third day in a row, tailback Rashad Jennings did not dress for practice. He is being “rested” — which is coachspeak for Jennings is nursing some undisclosed injury. Jennings, who walked off the practice field with no outward signs of injury, was not permitted to speak with reporters.

Could just be some tender ribs. At least it doesn’t appear to be an injury in the legs. Or it could actually be nothing. It just means one more thing to watch at practice today — if someone could. Practice this afternoon is a closed session.

Coach Wannstedt said he won’t name the starting tailback, though, until after Monday or Tuesday because he wants to see how Jennings looks back in practice.

Two different types of puff pieces today — game and personal.

H.B. Blades gets the game puff piece. A piece that talks about his play, how good a player and leader on the field he is and such. For Blades, it also means talking about his move from strongside (SAM) linebacker to middle linebacker. Something he is actually quite happy about despite national recognition following an outstanding season last year.

Blades said his football intelligence comes naturally, but he has had to work at developing a good football sense because he knows he isn’t as blessed athletically as many players.

“Some guys, [understanding the game] comes natural and with me it comes natural as well because of my genes,” he said. “At the same time, I used to go to football meetings all the time with my dad and my uncles and I got to see things at a college and professional level. That helps me now because I learned how to read things. It is not only the ones who go out and run fast or make hard hits who make the plays.

“If you go out and make three hard hits and that’s it, what have you done? You have to play smart, you have to be consistent and be smart. If you are smart, it makes you that much faster, and even if your opponent is faster than you, you can still beat him because you are going to get to where he is going before he does.”

Blades said he was happy for the opportunity to play as a freshman and sophomore, but he always believed he was better suited play middle linebacker than outside linebacker.

“I am a very physical player. Everybody knows that and I love to get after it,” he said. “This year it is going to be more downhill for me and I’ll be able to play a lot more fast and being physical, and that will be good for me because this is what I am better suited for.”

Blades was also one of the very first players to openly support Coach Wannstedt’s hire — because of his uncle and father’s experiences from Miami. The article also points out that swapping Session and Blades to SAM and middle respectively will allow Session to go for the big hit and use his speed — which he prefers — while Blades, who is more technically sound, can focus on stuffing the run and tackling.

The personal puff piece is for John Pelusi, his sister Jamie and of course their father. Both are at Pitt. Jamie is a scholarship, star goalkeeper — yes, soccer. John Pelusi was the starting Center on the ’76 Pitt team and also is on Pitt’s Board of Trustees. Last year, Pelusi being slow to commit to Pitt was an indication of Coach Walt Harris’ lame duck status. Now he and his sister are carrying on the grand Pelusi name at Pitt.

In some other player news, Joe Flacco is still not in any college. He hasn’t appeared at Delaware.

The AP preview story on Pitt I noted in passing earlier in the week, keeps getting picked up in larger online outlets.

Finally, a sportswriter decides to list the top starting college QBs in the country from 1 to 119. It is based on his guess of “how each of these guys will produce in his offense” not talent. He also lists the back-up for some reason.

7. Pittsburgh = Tyler Palko, Bill Stull = Palko flourished last season, but will Dave Wannstedt curtail him?

If he’s ranked at #7, I’m guessing the guy doesn’t think the coaching staff will curtail him.

Bruce Feldman at ESPN.com has lots of love for Pitt and Coach Wannstedt, but will likely piss off the Domers after this chat session (Insider Subs. req’d).

Bryan (Fayetteville): Can Notre Dame finish in the top10 this year?

Bruce Feldman: (3:10 PM ET ) no..I think the D, especially the pass D, is terrible. They’ll score points but not enough.
…
Brian (Heinz Field, PA): Can Wannstedt get Pitt to the next level…which was a criticism of Walt Harris?

Bruce Feldman: (3:21 PM ET ) yes, I think that was a very good hire. He’s doing very well recruiting in the pitt area something walt didn’t do very well
…
Michael (Colorado Springs): Who was the best off-season hire and why?

Bruce Feldman: (3:40 PM ET ) Wannstedt as HC I think although I am a big believer in mark snyder and think he will revitalize marshall
…
Brian (Lake Worth, FL): Is it fair to say that the winner of Pitt/Louisville in early November will win the Big East?
Bruce Feldman: (3:42 PM ET ) yes!
…
TJ (LA): Wannestadt better than Weis?

Bruce Feldman: (3:44 PM ET ) Yes.
…
mark (tennessee): dave has had zero sucess as a head coach, and i understand the jury is stillout, but why such a cut and dried yes hes better than charie?

Bruce Feldman: (4:05 PM ET ) I think he’s a better fit for that program. I think Weis will have a harder time recruiting. The expectations are too high and it sounds like he is coming in there convinced he is just going to outsmart all these other coaches. I don’t think it’s going to be that easy.

About the only thing I’ll say in defense of Charlie Weis is that his confidence may be overblown by the media. It could be argued he is trying to bring back the Irish swagger, and the fans and media coverage are convinced that he can outsmart everyone else.

One way or the other, in a week Pitt or ND faithful are about to have expectations tempered.

Paul Zeise’s Q&A came up late today, but it is a complete must read. This one is just outstanding for so many reasons. He gives some solid opinions and complete thoughts on the team and positions. Not just easy answers.

Q: What is your best guess at who of the true freshmen will be most important to the team’s success and also could you name an additional five that will be important over the next four or five years?

ZEISE: The true freshman most likely to play and contribute this year are Tommie Campbell, Rashaad Duncan, Rashad Jennings, LaRod Stephens and Gus Mustakas. If Tyler Palko goes down, well, then the most important of them all is obviously Bill Stull.

As for the long term – the most important ones are John Bachman, John Brown, Craig Bokor, John Brown, C.J. Davis, Duncan, Derrell Jones and Mustakas. I mean, face it — the difference between Pitt and the elite in college football is the offensive and defensive lines. These two areas are where Pitt needs the biggest upgrades. All of these guy have talent, but they need to develop into real players in order for Pitt to get to that so-called “next level” or even take a step forward.

[Emphasis added.]

Zeise’s notebooks are very good during the week, but I’ve actually become a fan of his over the last couple of years because of his Q&As. They let his personality and something of his humor shine through a lot more in his responses.

SI.com is listing 15 games to watch this season.

#14 Pitt at Louisville. Shockingly, the ND-Pitt game isn’t on the list. I suppose in the scheme of games that mean something for the BCS it isn’t that important. For intrigue, curiosity and hype though, it is huge.

They also do a thing on the five “guttsiest” and “wimpiest” non-con schedules (subs. req’d). Pitt doesn’t break either, but another school from Pennsylvania ranks #2 on the wimpy scale.

There’s an easy explanation for the Nittany Lions’ scheduling three cupcakes at home: Penn State has gone 0-5 in nonconference road games over the past five seasons.

Go Bulls! Go Bearcats!

No one, though can top Texas Tech with Florida International, Sam Houston State (I-AA), Indiana State (I-AA). Wow. If I’m a Red Raider season ticket holder, I’m more than a little pissed about having to pay for those games.

Other thing to note, Mike Phillips gets a puff piece on his move from Cornerback to Strong Safety. Phillips plays it humble.

“Camp’s been going pretty good, but there’s a lot of learning for me,” Phillips said. “So, I’m just coming out here and trying to put everything together for the first game. The spring really helped me a lot, because I learned everything I needed to know to play safety at this level.

“In camp so far this summer, I more or less learned how to put it all together. I’m just glad I was able to help the team by moving to safety, and now I have a chance to start. I’m happy to get that chance, and I’m looking forward to more playing time this season.”

While Phillips’ presence should make Pitt’s secondary a strong point, he quickly dismissed his role in that. He preferred to give just about everybody else credit.

“It’s like a committee,” Phillips said. “It’s not just me back there or Tez, because we have Eric Thatcher, Tommie Campbell, a great group of guys. And the cornerbacks, Darrelle, Josh, Kennard Cox and Reggie Carter … everybody plays a part. So, it’s not a one-man show out there.”

Pitt defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads said that the transition for Phillips has been so seamless that he hasn’t given it a second thought.

“It’s just been so smooth by Mike,” Rhoads said. “He had just a handful of days in spring practice and picked it up very quickly because he’s an intelligent young man, and he’s very conscientious. So, he’s with the No. 1 unit right now, and he’s done very well there.”

The article also notes that Coach Wannstedt mentioned off-handedly that he had been approached from other college programs before about being their head coach. That’s not exactly a shock. He’d been rumored for LSU, Miami and others in the past.

And here’s today’s Kendall fix.

No box score that I could find. But Kendall scored 18 or 14 points — I don’t know why the reports vary — but Canada went down to Venezuela 100-91.

This is a problem for Canada to make it out of the preliminaries, and thus have a shot to compete in the 2006 World Championships. They face the US, Panama and then Brazil. The US, by the way, upset the favorite Brazil the other day.

UPDATE: Box score found thanks to Agent Smith who e-mailed it to me. Kendall had foul issues picking up 4 in his 20 minutes but was very effective. It lists him with 14 points on 5-7 shooting and 4-4 on free throws, along with 7 rebounds.