I hate doing it, but it is time for an annual plea for funds for season tickets. And I’m ambitiously going to ask for a significant amount of support for blogging related things.

The last few weeks, blogger and blogspot has been incredibly flaky and frustrating. Some lost posts, missing archives, and lots of other nagging problems. Stuff that had been building for a while.

It’s gotten to the point where I want to move the blog to its own domain. I also am ready to leave blogger for either word press or movable type blogging software.

The advantages are better stability, appearance, commenting and just an overall better site.

The problem is, it costs money. Paying for domain registration, server space, etc.

The one advantage of blogger versus the other blogging software I mentioned, is that blogger is browser based software. That means I can blog from any computer with an internet connection.

Right now, the home computer is a 4 year old desktop. Ideally, I’d like to move to a laptop, so I can do more. Liveblogging of football and basketball games while they are on TV. More immediate blogging before and after home football games. Just being able to do more blogging from anywhere. Obviously that would mean more content.

The deal with the wife, though, has been the time taken by this is (usually) okay as long as it doesn’t eat into our tight budget.

Believe it or not, those “blog ads” up there don’t really pay that much.

Some of you have donated in the past, and I appreciate it immeasurably. I’m asking again, and for a little more if possible from more of you.

Ideally, this would happen quickly so I could get the new site up and running over the spring and summer — working the kinks out during the slow time — so it would rolling by the fall.

Sorry, if it makes you feel uncomfortable to read this solicitation. You have no idea how uncomfortable it is for me to ask.

Thank you.

Iowa State didn’t waste any time.

Iowa State has hired Northern Iowa coach Greg McDermott, a source close to McDermott said Tuesday.

McDermott replaces Wayne Morgan, who was fired last Friday.

McDermott is from Iowa, and everyone figured he would be nabbed by Iowa when Indiana came calling for Steve Alford. The problem for Iowa, Indiana hasn’t acted yet.

As of late Tuesday morning, Indiana still hadn’t contacted Iowa’s Steve Alford while Missouri’s search for Quin Snyder’s replacement was moving along molasses-like as well. Can you believe that? Five weeks into their coaching searches, Indiana and Missouri are still doing their due diligence. Iowa State, meanwhile, has done a firing and a hiring, and soon Greg McDermott will be kicking Iowa’s and Indiana’s butts for available recruits.

That, of course, meant that neither could Iowa. Iowa State did not hesitate, and McDermott took the sure job over the potential one.

Now, moving to Arizona State, Coach Dixon and a Pitt extension. Well, no news, but just some other things. I agree with a lot of the comments about the Arizona State job not being as good as Pitt in terms of situation, facilities, exposure, etc. Let’s also consider the fanbase and what it would take.

Dumb hires happen. Passionless Steve Robinson to apathetic Florida State in 1998 comes to mind. So does city slicker Pat Kennedy to Montana in 2002. But if dumb hires happen this year — and they will — it won’t be without warning.

Ten for Tuesday presents 10 potential hires that shouldn’t happen
…
6. Lon Kruger to Arizona State: Arizona State basketball is such a sleeping giant, it would take major pizzazz to deliver the wakeup call. Kruger? The only thing he has in common with pizzazz are the zzzzzz’s. (Sleeping noise — get it?) Kruger is a solid X-and-O coach, but he’s not going to excite anyone about Arizona State. Not boosters, not recruits, not television executives and, most important, not me.

Coach Dixon’s come a long way this season from his first two as far as showing something resembling a personality to the public. He hasn’t come that far to be leading the invigoration of the fanbase and do the rubber chicken circuit to alumni groups for ASU.
Now as to Dixon and Pitt, this may simply be a useless piece of information that happens to be a coincidence, but consider this nugget regarding the Sweet 16 teams (ESPN Insider):

Compared to the 65 teams that started the 2006 tourney, the Sweet 16 teams are:
Led by coaches with more tourney experience (7.1 to 5.7 years on average)
…
Compared to 21 years’ worth of Sweet 16 groups, the 2006 field:
Is relatively inexperienced in the coaching ranks, with the six fewest average years of tourney trips (7.1) and the fourth fewest average Elite Eight appearances (1.4)

Just a casual look at the list of teams that are in the Sweet 16 shows that 10 teams (Memphis, UConn, Villanova, WVU, Duke, BC, Texas, Florida, Gonzaga, UCLA) are headed by coaches who have taken teams to the NCAA 4 or more times. Experience in the post-season may not matter as much as it once did, but it still counts for something.

If Pitt were to let Dixon leave, is anyone that confident that Pitt would really and successfully hire someone not only better than Dixon but more experienced (not to mention more expensive)? If you are frustrated with Pitt not getting as far as they could, are you that sure someone new would?

There are several ways to look at Pitt’s loss to Bradley in Round Two of the NCAA. Here are two.

The big picture, is that this is the NCAA Tournament, and what makes it so compelling is the big upsets and Pitt was simply a part of that.

The first weekend was a big one for the little guys. There were 10 surprises that qualified as major upsets under the definition in the NCAA record book, which counts winners who were seeded at least five slots lower than their opponents. Eight of those 10 winners came from mid-major conferences. The 10 major upsets tied the first-weekend record, set in 1986 and matched in 1990 and 2002.

First round
No. 14 Northwestern State 64, No. 3 Iowa 63
No. 13 Bradley 77, No. 4 Kansas 73
No. 12 Montana 87, No. 5 Nevada 79
No. 12 Texas A&M 66, No. 5 Syracuse 58
No. 11 George Mason 75, No. 6 Michigan State 65
No. 11 Wisconsin-Milwaukee 82, No. 6 Oklahoma 74

Second round
No. 13 Bradley 72, No. 5 Pittsburgh 66
No. 11 George Mason 65, No. 3 North Carolina 60
No. 7 Wichita State 80, No. 2 Tennessee 73
No. 7 Georgetown 70, No. 2 Ohio State 52

It’s small comfort to realize Pitt was one of the 3 5 seeds eliminated, along with a 4, 2 3s and 2 2s. I know I only take very, very small comfort in the fact that there are fans of other schools probably as disappointed. Even less of a comfort to realize that Pitt wasn’t exactly the biggest or most shocking of the teams upset.

Then there’s the moan and simpering perspective (or lack thereof) that Pitt may never be a great basketball program because it always loses in the NCAA.

So, at Pitt, once again, it’s the same old refrain:

Wait ’til next year!

The good news is Pitt should have a terrific team next season, one that should be considered a favorite to win the Big East. Krauser is the only significant player who won’t be back unless Gray pulls a surprise and takes a chance at going after NBA money a year early. On paper, at least, it should be Pitt’s most talented team since its 1988 team, which included future NBA No. 1 draft picks Charles Smith and Jerome Lane.

I think I know what you’re thinking.

You’re afraid to get excited about the possibilities, right?

I don’t blame you.

You have been burned too many times.

Geez, you’d think we were rooting for the Cubs or something. What does that say about rooting for the Pirates and Penguins. At least Pitt can get to a post-season.

It’s bad enough that Bradley was an inferior opponent that happened to live a little of the tournament magic in its first-round upset of Kansas, which, it should be noted, isn’t feeling so hot about its program this week, either.

Um, is he channeling Billy Packer? I think I’ll let his co-worker respond to that.

Ray Fittipaldo: It’s hard to explain. And I’m sure it’s frustrating to the coaches and players. Let me say this first: Bradley is a very good basketball team. As I stated earlier, I thought the Braves had superior athletes than Pitt.

The flip side, is that Pitt should be very, very good next year.

“We’re going to have a great team next year,” said forward Levon Kendall, one of those three returning starters. “We just have to remember this feeling for the next six months and use that to drive us the next six months. We have the chance to get back here and do some damage next year.”

Kendall will be joined by center Aaron Gray, if he chooses not to enter the NBA draft, and guard Ronald Ramon. Freshmen Levance Fields and Sam Young are poised to take on bigger roles, possibly as starters, and Dixon has Antonio Graves, Keith Benjamin, Tyrell Biggs and Mike Cook, a transfer from East Carolina, ready to challenge for starting positions and playing time.
…
“There is a lot to look forward to,” Krauser said. “They’re going to continue to be good with Levance Fields at the point and Ronald Ramon and Aaron Gray and those guys coming back. The future is bright.”

Pitt has two freshmen coming in next season and Dixon has one more scholarship to give. One of the freshmen, guard Gilbert Brown, is expected to make an immediate contribution.

Brown, a 6-foot-6 shooting guard who also can play small forward, is rated the No. 100 senior in the country by Rivals.com. He played last season at South Kent Prep in Connecticut.

The other freshman is 6-9 Austin Wallace, a less heralded player out of New York but someone the coaches believe has a big upside.

Pitt is recruiting several other top 100 players to fill out its class. One of them is Tyler Smith, a small forward who could help fill a gaping hole. Smith, who played last season at Hargrave Military Academy, is also being recruited by Memphis, Kentucky and Iowa. Smith is rated No. 57, according to Rivals.

[Emphasis added.]

I’m actually very excited about Mike Cook for next year. I think he will be big as an experienced inside out guard/forward. He will push Young and Benjamin to get even better. He’s also hungry and spent the year practicing with the team. A big potential impact with him.

And how can any post on Pitt basketball end without some more coaching speculation.

If Dixon opts to go to another school, Pitt could set its sights on a number of coaches, including Xavier’s Sean Miller, the former Pitt star; Carnegie native Skip Prosser of Wake Forest; Oklahoma’s Kelvin Sampson; and Hofstra’s Tom Pecora.

Or, Long could follow the same path Pitt took when former coach Ben Howland resigned to take over at UCLA. Just as Dixon was elevated to his present position from associate head coach, Long could move current associate head coach Barry Rohrssen into the top spot.

Just get a deal with Dixon done.

Pitt has a light Positional outlook press release. Still no actual explanation as to how or what John Pelusi did to his knee. It doessay that he will be ready come fall camp.

Apparently the plans for the “Toronto Bowl” are almost in place.

…according to league [Big East] associate commissioner Nick Carparelli, Jr. The bowl will make an application and presentation to the NCAA Football Licensing Committee at the group’s meeting late next month. The committee will then give the bowl the go-ahead or turn down its application.

The Big East has been working with the people involved and would be one of the conferences affiliated as long rumored.

In Big East coaching accumen, there are 3 coaches that are clearly at the top tier, in terms of achievements, credentials and reputation — Calhoun, Pitino and Boeheim. I’d put them in that order, and some might switch Pitino and Calhoun, but that’s quibbling.

At the second tier, depending on your biases, metrics and what they did this week, there are five coaches: Jay Wright (‘Nova), John Beilein (WVU), John Thompson III (G-town), Tom Crean (Marq.) and Jamie Dixon. At this tier, partisan fans can debate who they would honestly prefer coaching their team without a clear answer. All have flaws and positives. Non-Big East biased college basketball fans might easily differ on the rankings of those coaches depending on what had happened in a particular season and what their particular favorite program needed.

As an example, right now in the thick of the NCAA, John Thompson looks like the best of the bunch with the upset over #2 seed Ohio St. Then it would be Wright and Beilein. How do think the perception was right after the Big East Tournament? At the end of the regular season? Opinion can shift quickly.

After that in the Big East you have the unproven — Wainwright (DePaul) and Roberts (St. John’s); the lackluster — Brey (ND) and Welsh (Providence); the just plain bad team — McCallum (USF); and then the (presumably) semi-open jobs — Rutgers, Seton Hall and Cinci.

The point is, Coach Dixon is one of the best coaches in the Big East. Heck, take a look at the coaches across the other 5 power conferences. The list is damn short as to coaches you could honestly say, “yes, I am sure that guy could come in here and do a better job.” How many of those coaches are long-term fixtures or at incredibly storied programs?

After that, you start reaching the guys you think might be able to do better. And if the metric is post-season success, there aren’t many who you can point to that have done it more than once — if that.

Hiring the coach who is doing a great job at a mid-major is no assurance. For every Bruce Pearl or Ben Howland there is a Ralph Willard or Gary Waters.

With that, Coach Dixon is considering an offer from Pitt.

Dixon and his agent are mulling over an offer Pitt officials have laid out in an effort to renegotiate his contract. Dixon has four years remaining on his current contract that pays him around $600,000 annually.

“I haven’t had time to look at it,” Dixon said last night. “We’ve been in discussions. That’s all I can really say about it.”

Dixon is being mentioned for several head coaching vacancies, most prominently at Arizona State. Arizona State athletic director Lisa Love is expected to formally ask Pitt athletic director Jeff Long for permission to interview Dixon this week. Long would not confirm or deny yesterday whether Love has sought permission.

Dixon said that he has not been contacted by Arizona State. Dixon’s agent, Dennis Coleman, could not be reached for comment.
…
More than half of the coaches in the Big East Conference make more money than Dixon.

Arizona St. wants to move soon. They have some recruits who don’t want to come right now and even some promising players considering leaving.

Jeff Pendergraph says he will decide whether to return to Arizona State for his sophomore season after ASU hires a new basketball coach.

“I’m just waiting to see who they bring in,” Pendergraph said Monday in his first comments since Rob Evans was told March 10 that he would not be back as ASU’s coach for a ninth season.

Pendergraph, one of five players on the 2006 All-Pac-10 Freshman Team, said he talked to his mom about whether to go or stay last week during spring break.

How much of it is emotional outbursts, is never clear, but ASU can’t afford to have their talent level dip further. As a reflection of that, one of their top in-state recruits who is reconsidering is actually being asked to meet with the AD. He’s not requesting the meeting, the AD is.

One Arizona columnist called Dixon, the UConn of ASU AD Love’s hiring bracket.

Is there a risk that Dixon may not really be as good as he’s been the first 3 years? Or that Pitt will never get over the post-season hump with him? Of course. But there is no guarantee with anyone else. If Pitt is to keep building towards reaching consistent national prominence, there has to be a coach in place for more than 3 years at a time.

I think Dixon improved as a coach and a public communicator from last year to this year. The recruiting has been very good, and whether you want to give more of the credit to Associate Head Coach Barry Rohrssen, remember that it is still up to the head coach to close the deal.

Has Coach Dixon shown enough to merit a huge bump in salary and years? Maybe not, by some standards. The market, however, seems to indicate he has.

With all that has been out there for basketball the last couple weeks, I’ve let a lot of football stuff slide by out of time constraints. Not to mention, just not being in the right frame of mind to even begin focusing on it.

I’ve skipped even posting about the last couple of Q&As from Paul Zeise. His one from 2 weeks ago talked about Darrell Strong needing to step up this year or never with Nate Byham coming in, impact freshmen, expectations for 2006 — 7-5 or so, and there was this comment about Pitt’s offensive philosophy.

Q: What college or pro offense is Matt Cavanugh’s offense modeled after and what parts of Walt Harris’ schemes has the Panthers retained?

Zeise: It isn’t modeled after any offense — it is the West Coast offense in its purest form, as if Bill Walsh himself had drawn it up and were calling the plays. Cavanaugh pretty much scrapped the Walt Harris offense in its entirety, although there were some concepts of the vertical passing game that were retained, and started from scratch. I think the comfort level among the players in the offense now that they are in the second year will be a big factor and a reason they will play better and more consistently.

You know, I read that two weeks ago and I felt a little confused by that. I just assumed it was because I was too much in b-ball mode. But I’m still finding that a bit unclear. Pure West Coast offense? Scrapping everything, but retaining some “concepts” of Harris’ vertical passing game? Is that anything like visualizing the deep pass but not really doing it? I hope the players do have a better comfort level because that explanation doesn’t do much for me.

Zeise also indicated that there was better chemistry between the players coming back as opposed to this past season. A theme he repeats in this past week’s Q&A.

Q: There seems to be a trend of Pitt players letting their individual agendas bring down team chemistry following a successful season. It happened in 2001, 2003 and 2005. Am I off base with this?

Zeise: I think there is something to that with a lot of teams. Once you have success, guys start to forget what it was that brought them to the top of the mountain — teamwork, hard work, chemistry, accountability. Individual agendas start getting in the way, egos get involved and it can fall apart quickly if a team isn’t focused.

That being said, I think there is more to the collapse each year than just egos and individual agendas. The 2001 team was done in by an ill-fated attempt at running the spread offense. The 2003 team found out rather quickly just how good Gerald Hayes, Torrie Cox, Brian Guzek and Brian Beinecke were because they had nobody to replace them and thus the defense was terrible.

Last year, I do think there was a big problem with chemistry and accountability and a lot of individual agendas, but there were some personnel issues as well. I don’t think the running back spot ever got settled, there were some issues at center and guard, the defensive line was just not very good, etc. etc.,

Why do we never hear about these “chemistry” issues during the season? Regardless of whether it’s football or basketball. It’s always the following season that ominous word is released that people — who are now gone — had their own agendas and that sabotaged the team. Just once, I’d like to read about some of these problems before it is old news.

The rest of the Q&A discusses position battles at WR, what redshirt players will be expected to make immediate contributions and line questions (always line questions).

If it had been any team other than Pitt that Bradley beat, I could probably read a lot of these stories, smile and feel good for the players, coaches and fans of Bradley for getting to the Sweet 16. It is quite the achievement to knock off Kansas and Pitt in the opening rounds of the NCAA.

Instead, I keep getting this hollow feeling in my gut. Still, here’s what was written.

This AP article essentially wondered who was the experienced team.

O’Bryant and Sommerville combined for all 13 of Bradley’s points during a 13-2 run in the first six minutes of the second half that put the Braves in control.

“They weren’t intimidated at all,” Pitt forward Levon Kendall said. “They were in our face the whole game.”

Freshman Levance Fields, who scored 18 points, stopped the run with a layup, but Pitt’s misery continued. Gray missed a dunk and then Krauser missed a wide open tip-in.

O’Bryant followed on the other end with a thunderous alley-oop dunk and Tony Bennett banked in a mid-range jumper for a 53-39 lead with under 9 minutes to go. Pitt never got closer than four points the rest of the way.

Playing in their school-record fifth straight NCAA tournament, the Panthers looked like nervous kids against the newcomers from Bradley.

They committed careless turnovers, missed free throws and lost their composure throughout the game. Krauser, playing in his ninth NCAA tournament game, came unglued several times and Gray picked up a technical foul in the second half when he slammed the ball to the court after being whistled for a five-second call.

Plenty of talk of vindication for the Missouri Valley. For Bradley in particular, it’s been over 50 years since they were in the Sweet 16.

For the first time in the conference’s 99-year run, two MVC schools have advanced to the Sweet 16. MVC commissioner Doug Elgin and his long-time associate, Joe Mitch, stood beaming as they witnessed the happy scene.

“Bradley deserved to win,” Dixon said. “They are a very good team, well-balanced, well-coached.”

And, for the first time in a half-century of Marches, Bradley is well-traveled in the NCAA tournament.

“It’s a great accomplishment for our program and it’s great for Bradley,” Sommerville said. “We’re trying to bring the tradition back to Bradley.”

After the game ended, Bradley players went into the stands to shake hands and embrace some of their fans and family.

Bradley coach Jim Les thought it would be a good idea for his players to go over to their edge of the stands and thank their crowd following Sunday’s victory.

But Marcellus Sommerville spotted his wife, Brooke, and son, Lathan, up there and just couldn’t help himself. His teammates followed their co-captain and all of a sudden, Palace security staff got nervous.

A Detroit reporter, mindful of the brawl between players and fans at a 2004 Detroit Pistons-Indiana Pacers game that saw nine players suspended and nine fans treated for injuries, later asked this postgame question to the Braves’ players on the interview dais: “At The Palace of Auburn Hills, they frown on players entering the stands, although today was an exception. Whose idea was that?”

Sommerville, Patrick O’Bryant and Lawrence Wright all got a laugh from how the query was posed. Sommerville owned up to leading the charge.

Once they all went into the stands, they just started hugging everybody and anybody wearing red.

The Bradley player who got a lot of stories afterwards was actually senior guard Tony Bennett. Bennett came from Chicago’s West Side Projects, and also took a while to get to Bradley. After the game he was crying for joy.

Bennett went to two high schools, then Pratt Community College in Pratt, Kan., before landing at Bradley. Asked to name the best thing about Bradley, his reply was simple: “Its degree.”

Sunday afternoon, Bennett, a senior guard, eventually regained his composure. His eyes dried and his throat cleared. Then he took a few verbal jabs at Pittsburgh point guard Carl Krauser, who had given Bennett an unauthorized elbow in the second half and talked too much trash for Bennett’s liking.

“He had a few words,” Bennett said, “but I had the best choice of words. I told him to have a nice trip home.”

This was the kid from the projects reclaiming his turf. But rewind a few minutes. Zoom in on Tony Bennett’s tears.

“I’ve been holding it in since we got the NCAA bid,” Bennett said. “I didn’t want to show emotion. I tried to stay focused. But it’s just too much to hold in.”

For more fun, I think I’ll shove a pen through my eye.

Hard to believe, considering how bad Pitt did to start the game, but possession-wise, that spell in the second half when Bradley took control was even worse. Ken Pomeroy has the graph showing how bad it was.