Two of ESPN.com’s columnists Ivan Maisel and Pat Forde in a long exchange about the upcoming football season. Here’s the portion regarding the Big East.

Ivan: Texas, unnamed team from the Big Ten, whoever it is. Michigan has got it all on paper, but with the exception of ’97, they always find a way to not get it off the paper. What I think will be interesting is what happens when Louisville runs the table in the Big East. How will the Cardinals be regarded? They will start high enough in the ranking that, if they are undefeated, they are going to move up.

Pat: They’ll start in the top 10, top 12, and move up from there. They’re playing in a marginally better conference. The one game they’ve got to hunker down for is Pittsburgh.

Ivan: When is that game?

Pat: Nov. 3, a Thursday night. Of course, it’s Louisville, so they’re not playing on a Saturday.

Ivan: I have a theory that Dave Wannstedt is the new Pete Carroll. Talented assistant who fought the NFL to a draw, had two different teams, and is at the perfect school for him. It’s the same profile.

Pat: Pitt has players. They should be the team that challenges Louisville.

Ivan: I don’t know how you pick that league because you’ve got three new teams, and two new coaches at the other five.

Pat: The start-from-scratch league.

Ivan: Everybody at Texas says that Greg Robinson will be a very good head coach at Syracuse.

Pat: I’ll wait and see.

That really is it, isn’t it. Everyone is waiting to see what will happen, and preparing storylines accordingly. The Big East will still be ripped this year. If Louisville runs the table or just wins the BE, people will use that as an indictment of how weak the conference is. If, say Pitt wins it then everyone will just say that the BE is no better than it was last year even with the new teams. God help the conference, though, if someone else wins it.

It’s just the way things are going to be. I’m not going to rail about it (for now). The only thing to do for the Big East teams is to win the good non-con games. Strangely, for the Big East, the non-conference games take on bigger meaning than the conference games for national exposure and credibility.

Pitt needs to beat ND and Nebraska. Syracuse needs to surprise Virginia or Florida State. Louisville needs to handle Oregon State and North Carolina. Rutgers needs to beat Illinois. UConn needs to upset Georgia Tech or USF over Penn State. Those will be the things that gets attention regarding the teams and competitiveness.

E.J. Borghetti is Pitt’s Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations — Football. He is also a Pitt grad (CAS ’92) and literally has Pitt in his blood. His father, Dr. Ernie Borghetti, D.D.S., was an All-American (pg. 180, PDF) Tackle for Pitt in the early ’60s, drafted by the Browns in 1963, and today is the Pitt Alumni Association Rep in the Youngstown-Sharon area. Dr. Borghetti took E.J. to his first Pitt game in 1976, and he was hooked ever since.

As a fan and being in charge of media relations, he pays attention to what is being said about Pitt. Including this blog. Last month he sent me an e-mail complimenting the blog. For whatever foolish reason, he agreed to talk to me and let the results be posted here. E.J. also sent me a copy of the new media guide (Whoo hoo! Free stuff!).

The discussion was originally supposed to be some e-mailed questions and exchanges. To aid in that I sent e-mails to some of the readers, for whom I had e-mail addresses, asking them to contribute some questions of their own. There was a great response. Some really interesting things. To get this out of the way now, a bunch of the questions concerned issues of recruiting. Borghetti really doesn’t have anything to do with that, and under NCAA regulations all Pitt Athletic Department employees are prohibited from commenting about any commit or potential commit until they actually sign a letter of intent — which won’t be until February.

I finally sent E.J. the first batch of questions along with my own thoughts and other stuff. The focus of the questions concerned issues of PR, media, his own work, the website and about himself and his own job. The result of course was a very long missive, that caught him off-guard

“That might be the longest message I have ever received in my life….” was his response. He countered with the suggestion of a real conversation over the phone. And that’s what happened Thursday evening. A roughly 50 some minute talk with E.J. about Pitt football, the Pitt athletic department and various things.

What follows are some of my notes and recollections from the talk, and the key things.

Since he sent me the media guide, and he was an editor of the thing (PDF) that’s where the conversation began. Last year, the media guide was 326 pages, this year Pitt had to get it down to the NCAA mandated maximum of 208. That meant trimming 118 pages. You can only do so much with reducing the font sizes in places. Still, it’s an easier job than Missouri (614 pages) or Nebraska (440 pages), but still things had to be lopped or truncated.

Borghetti was very up front about the purpose of the media guide. They are about aiding in recruiting. Something most people know, but not everyone likes to acknowledge. Show kids some of the history, portray the coaches positively and give solid bios on the present student-athletes. There was to be no real sacrificing of space for the kids or the coaches. Both of those sections were only down a total of 8 pages, mostly from a smaller font size.

The real cuts came in the administration bios, some of the opening materials celebrating the City of Pittsburgh and the non-football aspects of Pitt, and sadly the written stories about great eras in Pitt football. Asking a little more about this part, Borghetti said that those stories would be moved to the Pitt website in the history of Pitt soon.

He made very clear about how important that the history of Pitt football be accessible. That the fans be able to get the information. At that point, was when he simply mentioned that his “father played for Pitt.” That was it, he didn’t mention that he was an All-American and played in the NFL. Just that Ernie Borghetti played for Pitt, and that E.J. grew up loving Pitt. To drive the point home he stated that in 1981 Pitt’s leading receivers were Julius Dawkins and Dwight Collins. I don’t know if he’s right (well Dawkins is true, pg. 145), but the audacity is impressive.

This of course led into a discussion of the Pitt website and issues of keeping it updated. At this point, he revealed something that may only matter to Pitt fans and those of us spending lots of time online.

Pitt is overhauling the website. Like the Big East, Pitt will be moving the athletics website to be under the aegis of collegesports.com. The move should take place sometime in mid- to late-August.

The whole site will be coming in for a complete overhaul, and Pitt has created a new position in the athletic department to specifically handle and coordinate internet communications and the website. Prior to that, each department essentially its own thing.

According to Borghetti, Athletic Director Jeff Long has made the internet a priority for communications and to help sell and market Pitt. Borghetti and AD Long recognize that the internet has become the default place people go for information. Be it the fans, potential recruits or the media they turn to the net find things. Pitt, therefore, needs to have a strong, forward thinking approach to its web presence. It’s very encouraging to me that he gets this.

This also means that Coach Wannstedt’s press conferences should be made available on-line a day or two afterwards, and the transcripts will definitely be on the site. A continuation of what was started last year. Direct communication to the fans will continue.

A discussion of the website and it being a place where people go for information, of course, led to talking about the Steven Walker stuff, since that was how it first got reported in Ohio that he was still a Pitt Panther. Borghetti, unsurprisingly, was not able or willing to talk about Steven Walker and his time at Pitt. As far as him still being listed on the site, he readily admitted that it was inexcusable to still have him listed in the first place. He sounded quite frustrated about the fact that there had never been any cleaning up of the page.

On Pitt football ticket sales, the media blitz is coming. Likely, starting this week to coincide with the start of training camp Pitt will be doing a lot more advertising for Pitt football and tickets. There is a whole campaign, and those living in the Pittsburgh media market should start seeing more of it.

Borghetti has been completely blown away by Coach Wannstedt from a media perspective. Coach Wannstedt has such charisma and is so very comfortable in his own skin. He is very good at getting out his message and view across in the media. He is exactly who he appears to be in interviews, stories about him. It is no act.

This jibes, of course, with everything in the past from media coverage of Coach Wannstedt. People have questioned his ability as a head coach in the NFL, but everyone actually liked him.

Finally this led to a discussion of his feelings about how people were feeling about Pitt. He said there is a vibe right now, on the campus, in the athletic department in the city about Pitt that he has never seen with regards to the football team. People are genuinely excited about the season and this first game. From a media/public standpoint, he just loves having Pitt playing the first game of the season against a name opponent. Everyone is just anticipating big things.

Hopefully, I will be able to check in with E.J. from time to time and let everyone know what else is going on in the Pitt Athletic Department.

Pitt commit and only QB in the class to date, Kevan Smith gets a profile. The focus, of course is his return from the injury to his non-throwing arm.

The impromptu medical procedure — Smith had received clearance from his mom and the school’s medical trainer — started a whirlwind four-month span in which Smith would go from a relative no-name to the University of Pittsburgh’s top quarterback recruit.

Smith will begin his senior year at full strength when training camp begins today for the 2005 high school football season. The strong-armed 6-foot-3, 217-pounder provides hope for a Seneca Valley team that went 1-9 last season and hasn’t won a Quad North game since 2002.

“At this time last year I was in a full arm cast, bent at the elbow,” Smith said, “and I was miserable.”

The reports were, that just as Pitt offered and he committed, other name schools started sniffing around once they saw how he had recovered from the injury. It of course gives him “sleeper” potential.

The big name recruit from Western Pennsylvania everyone wants at this point is Darrin Walls. He gets puffed in the other daily.

Walls, a defensive back/running back/receiver, heads into his senior season with possibly more accolades and more national hype than any player in the WPIAL. One scouting service (rivals.com) ranks him the No. 1 cornerback in the country. But the 6-foot-1, 175-pound Walls also is ranked highly by other services. Scout.com ranks him the No. 6 cornerback. Nationally known talent scout Tom Lemming ranks him the No. 5 defensive back and the No. 32 player overall.

“I really try not to think too much about those rankings,” Walls said. “I just want to go out, play and, hopefully, show that I am one of the best in the country.”

Walls also is one of the most heavily recruited players in Novak’s 19 seasons at Woodland Hills, gaining as much attention from colleges as former Wolverines stars Steve Breaston and Ryan Mundy, who both play at Michigan.

“You don’t want to be just like the other players from here. You want to be yourself. But they have set some good paths,” Walls said. “You do want to follow what they did.”

Walls has dozens of scholarship offers and the lucky seven that he likes most are Pitt, Penn State, West Virginia, Southern California, Michigan, Notre Dame and Florida. If he had to narrow his list from there, he said Michigan, Notre Dame and Florida would be his top three, although Pitt has gained ground in his eyes.

Walls will likely wait until the college football season ends. At a minimum, until after his high school season ends. That can only work to Pitt’s advantage with many “ifs.”

If the list is accurate, Pitt is the darkhorse looking in on the other 3 choices. If Pitt has the season we anticipate/hope/pray Walls will be right there watching it unfold. If that happens and Pitt continues to aggressively woo him, how can that not increase Pitt’s chances.

I’m just saying

Yes, once more Louisville picked to win and Pitt in 2nd place in the Big East. This preview from Rivals.com. The real surprise in their picks is placing South Florida as their darkhorse and 3rd in the BE. I have to believe that Pitt fans should never take the Bulls for granted — hopefully neither will the team.

On their all-Big East 1st and 2nd Teams, it was all Pitt and Louisville.

The fact that the Cardinals and Panthers are overwhelming favorites to win the Big East crown is evident in the Rivals.com 2005 Preseason All-Big East team. Louisville placed 12 players on the first or second team, while Pittsburgh was represented by nine players, including eight who made the first team.

Louisville had 7 on the 1st team.

The Canadians got absolutely trounced by the Argentineans 86-46. The Argentinean defense suffocated the Canadians. Canada had no outside shot, with Andy Rautins out with the ankle sprain.

Levon Kendall did not have a good game. He was the second leading scorer on the squad with 9 points. Unfortunately, that came on 3-11 shooting (and 3-3 on FTs). He had 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocked shots, 3 turnovers and 4 fouls in the game.

Next up for Canada is Greece.

You know, I was about 2/3 through a decent retrospective post commemorating the bloggiversary of Pitt Sports Blather when the browser (Firefox, no less) locked up and the post went “pfft.” If having a decent post fragged because of unstable software, browser and/or RAM isn’t absolutely symbolic of blogging I don’t know what is.

So, because I can take a hint, when properly bludgeoned, I’ll keep it short and a lot less self-congratulatory.

The blog has gotten more popular than I expected over the last 8 months, and even more so in the expected dead period of the last couple.

I keep saying it, and I mean it: I’m alternatively humbled, flattered and disturbed at how many of you find this site to now be part of your daily routine — especially during the hours when you should be working.

There are now so many great readers and commentators to thank individually, but I do want to say thank you. Agree or disagree, conversation is a positive, and all of you are contributing.

Since I’m feeling paranoid about losing the post again, I’m stopping here.

I’ll just say that this is still an enjoyable labor of love and I hope for better this coming year, and of course:

LET’S GO PITT!

And deservedly so. A couple readers have written to point out this article on Pitt recruit/commit, Jason Pinkston and his work as a junior volunteer fireman in Baldwin. It is a positive story on a young man who definitely wants to get to the pros. He seems to get the part, though, about needing an education.

But for Pinkston, being a fireman is simply part of making it. His childhood wasn’t the easiest. He should have a moving company’s phone number on speed dial. Living with his mother and father or grandmother, he started his schooling in the Woodland Hills district. Over the years, he moved to South Park, to Baldwin, back to South Park, to West Mifflin and then back to Baldwin as a sophomore.

“It’s been hard at times,” Pinkston said. “We lived in Braddock and one night this guy got shot and killed right in front of our house. I’ve seen innocent people get shot for nothing. When we were in West Mifflin, I saw people get shot over basketball games.

“I’ve learned you have to do something to get to college and get an education or you’ll be working at McDonald’s.”

For every story like his, Tim Murphy’s, Carl Krauser or Julius Page, and really throughout big-time college football and basketball; and honestly it confuses/inspires me.

I’m a cynic by nature, and I look at the money flowing from big-time college athletics and know that these kids wouldn’t get a chance but for their athletic prowess. They are exploited, used and if they royally screw-up the same people cheering, encouraging (and in some cases enabling) them turn on them and treat them like garbage again.

Still, stories like this give you hope.

Training camp begins on Tuesday. These are not open to the public practices like the Steelers in Latrobe (or the Eagles at Lehigh), but there will be a FanFest on August 25 at Heinz Field where you can meet the players.

Optimism abounds. Even in Central New Jersey, where the fans of the Scarlet Knights are expecting a winning season and their first bowl game in a long time. Heck, the optimism is such that in the preview, the paper actually refers to Rutgers as a darkhorse in the BE.

Of course, in Pittsburgh, Coach Dave Wannstedt is ready for some football.

He has enjoyed meeting alumni, building relationships within the university, recruiting, fund-raising, attending pep rallies and all the while he has relished becoming the public face of his alma mater.

He has enjoyed it all, but coaching football is what he does best and that is why he’s as excited as anyone that the Panthers open training camp this week and that the season is less than a month away.

“In the NFL it is all about coaching and football all the time,” Wannstedt said, “but the thing I’ve liked about this is the variety and all the different areas I have had to stay involved with. That broke up the offseason. But I do what I do because I love football and I really can’t wait to get out there and get started.

“We have a lot of holes to fill and a lot of work to do, but I’m really ready to get down to X’s and O’s and leave the other stuff on the back burner for a while.”

The article notes that Pitt still isn’t set at RB, is unsure about the back-up QB (Joe Flacco is still unknown), the need for more depth on the offensive line, and the fact that the entire D-line has been reshuffled. On the bright side, there is great depth at Tight End.

For the Canadians.

The Australian Crocs continue to roll through their opponents at the FIBA World Championships for Young Men in Argentina, defeating Canada 88-71 overnight.

The win is an outstanding result, given that they lost to the Canadians twice in pre-World’s tournaments at the end of July.

It didn’t help the Canadians that their primary outside threat, Andy Rautins (who will be a freshman at Syracuse) went down with a sprained ankle 2 minutes into the game. Canada’s next game is against Argentina.

Canada is technically 1-1 at this point, since it has a forfeit win against Iran. Iran, showing the usual tolerance and feelings of peace towards all, pulled out of the tournament when it found that it not only was in an opening round-robin group that included Israel, but that they would have to play Israel first. The same high-minded feelings that came through in the Athens Olympics when their Greco-Roman champion wrestler forfeited rather than risk losing to Israelis (read, Jews) in the medal round.

As for how Levon Kendall did. He shot pretty well inside the arc going 5-6 (but 5-8 overall with 2 missed 3s) and 8 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocked shots in only 26 minutes. The downside was he was limited because he got in foul trouble early (4 fouls for the game) and had a disturbing 8 turnovers.

Another article on Chris Taft signing his contract with Golden State. He seems to be getting better at saying the “proper” thing, even when it has no basis in fact.

The Warriors’ front office includes Chris Mullin, their executive vice president of basketball operations who is a graduate of Xaverian (N.Y.) High School, where Taft also attended.

“He has shown so much faith and confidence in me,” Taft said of Mullin. “I just want to take this great opportunity and make the most of it. Golden State is a great organization with great guys, and everyone seems really happy with me. The assistant coaches said they can make me into a really great player.”

Golden State last made the playoffs in 1994. Quick name a great player with the Warriors, who they didn’t lose in the last 15 years. You gotta’ say what you gotta’ say.

Meanwhile, former Pitt player Darnell Dinkins who had the misfortune to be a top athlete in college football during the dark days of the mid- to late 90s, rather than a player at a set position stands to make the Ravens roster as the back-up tight end. It’s a great story of an individual’s will and personal perseverance.

Nothing particularly interesting I suppose, but Nebraska uses field turf as its playing surface. It has since 1999. They are putting a new field turf in and doing it in two tones of green. It is supposed to be evocative of the way they used to have the field look in the 60s and so, before they went to astro-turf. The fans seem quite divided on the issue as you can read in the comments (more pictures, as well).

Just a thought, when it is an appearance/style-thing and pioneered at Oregon, it’s usually not a good thing.

The USA Today Coaches Poll has released its preseason top-25. No shock that USC is #1.

Pitt is ranked #25.

Other teams to note. Louisville was #14. BC #22 (huh?). Penn St., ND and WVU all received some votes but were far outside serious top-25 consideration. Duke received its customary vote from Steve Spurrier.

UPDATE: Here’s the Pitt press release on the ranking.

Fox Sports just might be gearing up for another run at ESPN.

Scout Media, Inc., the parent company of Scout.com, the country’s No. 1 independent online sports network, and Scout Publishing, producer of 47 of the most widely read local sports magazines in the U.S. today announced that Fox Interactive Media has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Scout and its assets.

The deal will bring to PantherReport.Com users video, stats, Associated Press game stories and other content from FoxSports.com, proprietary FOX team-specific video for Scout.com subscribers, and increased visibility of Scout experts and publishers on Fox Sports Television and Radio, among other major benefits.

“Fox is a dream partner for our network of team sites and publications because of its dominance in team broadcast rights,” said Jim Heckman, Scout founder and CEO. “When you consider Fox’s massive online reach, proprietary video infrastructure and the power of the worldwide brand, I couldn’t imagine a better combined product for sports fans. I think it will immediately revolutionize the online sports industry.”

The addition of Scout.com gives Fox Interactive Media (FIM) one of the web’s stickiest sites with a loyal user base of more than two million unique users. Fox is already a leader in the world of sports coverage with the national broadcast programming of FOX Sports and the regional and national programming of Fox Sports Net’s 20 regional sports networks, as well as cable channels SPEED, Fox College Sports and Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Sports Radio and the highly trafficked FOXSports.com. FOXSports.com, which is now operated by FIM, has become one of the top three sports websites in the country since its launch a year ago as the primary sports destination on the MSN network with 11.2 million unique visitors per month.

The battle has increasingly come over college athletics. With Fox using and emphasizing area colleges and their shows to fill the programming on their regional channels. By that I mean Fox Sports Atlantic, Pacific, etc., not Fox Sports Ohio, Pittsburgh and such.

ESPN countered with ESPNU, and expanded their Scouts, Inc. component on ESPN.com.

A lawsuit has to be coming between the two over the names andconfusionn regarding Scout.com and Scouts, Inc.

Chris Taft has signed a deal with the Golden State Warriors (hat tip Joe). Prior to signing, Taft could still have been cut by the Warriors. 2nd round picks are not guaranteed anything. Now, he is under contract with them for a few years. He could still be loaned to an NBDL team, but that seems less likely.

Antonio Bryant is shining in Cleveland Browns training camp. He is benefiting from having worked with Trent Dilfer during the offseason, having the same offensive coordinator he had as a rookie in Dallas (and is running the same offense), and WR Braylon Edwards the Browns 1st round pick is still not in camp.

Nancy Clark does not know her ass from her mouth. Is that assertive enough?

Boi From Troy (USC and lots of other subjects) and FanBlogs air out the rantings of an apparently highly defensive reporter.

The State of the News Media Report is an annual review by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, part of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York.

The conclusion of the 600-page report was that the traditional “journalism of verification,” in which reporters check facts, is being infringed upon by a new model of journalism that is “faster, looser and cheaper.”

In the new “journalism of assertion,” as the report calls it, information is offered with little time and little attempt to independently verify its voracity.

In other words, bloggers and some radio and cable talk show hosts make up stories and spread rumors. Too often, consumers don’t know the difference between these lies and mainstream news reports.

Because of this shift, there is no longer widespread agreement on basic facts. We don’t all know the same thing.
…
But I think “journalism of assertion” is just as pervasive in sports. Lies and rumors about coaches and players in Iowa City – accepted as fact until proven otherwise by the mainstream media – have sadly become routine. Ask Steve Alford. Ask Jennie Lillis.

Read the blogs if you want. Read the message boards. But do it for entertainment, not information. Don’t accept anything you read on them as truth unless it has been independently verified.

Usual scenario: A loser tries to make himself seem important by posting information that makes him appear to be an insider, “in the know.”

Worse case scenario: Gambling interests, bookies, the mob pass off inaccurate information about a player or team as truth to try to influence wagering or the outcome of a contest. They’re counting on readers and viewers to be gullible.

Speaking of journalism of the assertion, does she have anything to back up these accusations of blogs? They seem rather serious. Libelous as these statements may seem to blogs, they don’t reach it since she doesn’t actually accuse anyone, just an entire form of communication. All she does is imply and suggest that bloggers are actually trying to eff the readers and make money for gambling interests.

One can only trust properly credentialed media beings such as herself. For they, truly are, the truth bringers. All other heretics must be stopped and destroyed.

A few things. Here’s the report she is basing her own assertions upon, since it never dawned on her to provide a link or where to find it for others.

There’s a real retro feel to this sort of complaint. Many of you may be aware that I have a couple other blogs going, and actually have been at blogging for over 3 years. Others have claimed similar things about blogs years ago. The classic was a Boston Globe reporter, Alex Beam who made the mistake (April 2 entry) of trying to write about blogs (and their dangers) by looking in on them on April 1, 2002.

There is a complete South Park logic from this reporter from the Des Moines newspaper. For those of you unfamiliar with Prehistoric Ice Man, a man frozen in 1996 is thawed out in 1999. Stan and Kyle realize the only place where he can fit in is Des Moines, Iowa. A place 3 years behind the rest of the country.

Suddenly, it all makes sense.