I’ve received a couple e-mails asking how the contributions are coming to move to a new site and achieve more mobile blogging with a new laptop.

A decent first week. 12 contributions on-line and sending checks. About 25% towards where I would like to reach in terms of monetary donations.

I hope more will be willing to make a contribution. One of the things that moving to a separate site will allow me to do will be to save comments as well as posts. One of the drawbacks to the present system is that comments are not archived and that’s something I would like to change.

As previously noted, the spring drills are the time for the receivers to bond with Palko and try and jockey for position on the depth chart before the highly heralded commits arrive for the fall.

Joe DelSardo, Derek Kinder, Marcel Pestano, Cedric McGee and Oderick Turner all could be a factor for Pitt.

“I’ve tried to spend as much time with those guys as possible to find out their likes and dislikes,” Palko said at spring practice Thursday. “Are they a put-your-arm-around-them type of guy or do you need to get on their tails or do you just need to talk to them? Hopefully, I’ll find that out pretty quick here.”

Kinder, who will be a junior in the fall, made eight starts – including the final seven games – and steadily improved throughout last season. He finished second to Lee with 37 catches for 374 yards and three touchdowns. But Lee’s defection left a void at the split end spot.

DelSardo, who was replaced by the bigger, faster Kinder, dropped to just 15 catches and no touchdowns after making 49 catches with four scores as a sophomore. The speedy Pestano had just one catch for five yards as a redshirt freshman, while Turner and McGee both redshirted last season.

“No one is penciled in as a starter on opening day yet, and I think that’s the way you have to look at it whether you have good freshmen coming in or not,” Palko said. “Competition always makes you play better, and that’s what we’re experiencing now during practice. We have a talented recruiting class coming in, but it’s their time now. And the guys that are here need to step up.”

Derek Kinder is feeling more comfortable as a starting receiver and that he has Palko’s confidence.

Redshirt Freshman Oderick Turner gets a puff-piece as he tries to get a good spot on the depth chart.

Oderick Turner is a freshman, so he didn’t want to sound cocky or greedy when someone asked how he felt when wideout Greg Lee decided to bolt for the NFL.

“I don’t know if I was surprised,” Turner said. “But he was good enough to go. So, if he had the chance, it was probably the best thing for him. That’s his decision. It wasn’t that I was happy …”

Turner paused and smiled.

“But, then again, I am happy.”

He does have his cliches down. An important first step.

“I’m just trying to be more consistent and (get a) better understanding of the offense,” he said. “Whatever they want me to do, I’m going to do it.”
…
By the end of camp, Turner suspected he would be redshirted. Wannstedt confirmed it a couple of weeks into the season.

“It was the best thing for me to do,” Turner said. “That way, I could get to know the system better and be more comfortable. Plus, I had Greg and all those other receivers to learn from. I just sat back and watched them, and it taught me a lot.”

Turner’s father Odessa played receiver in the NFL from ’87 to ’93, and played his college ball at Northwestern St. — the school that knocked off Iowa in the NCAA. His roommate this season is Freshman CB Jovani Chappel. They like to go at each other.

H.B. Blades was put on the preliminary watch lists for the Rotary Lombardi Award and the Lott Trophy.

The Lombardi Award goes to the “top down lineman or defensive player who lines up within five yards of the football.”

Rutgers TE, Clark Harris; WVU LB, Kevin McLee; and WVU C, Dan Mozes are the other Big East players on the list.

The Lott Trophy is named for Ronnie Lott, and must be a new one, because I never heard of it.

The award is unique because it represents the first trophy to give equal weight to personal character as well as athletic performance from a defensive college player and will be the first national college football award based on the West Coast.

Okay. Yep, this is the 3rd year for it.

While on the subject of Blades, he got a puff piece in the Harrisburg paper yesterday.

While Blades readily accepted his leadership role, he said it’s hard to believe he is approaching his final college season.

“Time flies,” Blades said. “When I was a freshman, I remember Lousake [Polite] and those guys telling me that it will go by fast. I said, ‘I’ve got a whole three years left after this.’ But now I’m going into my senior year, my final year, and I’m going to try to make it as memorable as possible.”

Blades, the son of Bennie Blades, led the Panthers with 121 tackles last year. But Pitt’s run defense was shredded in losses to Notre Dame in the opener, Louisville near midseason and West Virginia in the regular-season finale.

And that performance against the Mountaineers, when Pitt gave up 451 yards on the ground, stayed with Blades for a long time.

“It’s been a long offseason, for sure, but the break after the West Virginia game gave us a chance to think,” Blades said. “We thought about why we weren’t at a bowl game, what we could have done, and we … want to go out and correct those problems.”

For some reason, though, I’m chilled to the bone by this comment from DC Paul Rhoads.

Blades said Pitt’s biggest problems on defense were stopping the run, the most glaring issue, and tackling. Defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads partially agreed with Blades’ assessment.

“For sure, we’ve got to stop the run,” Rhoads said. “I wasn’t displeased with how we tackled last year, but obviously we were extremely porous against the run. The way you stop it is that you get more comfortable with your assignments and get into the right places.”

He “wasn’t displeased” with how Pitt tackled? Oh, )!^%#$@*!!!! Then he’s the only one. That doesn’t fill me with great confidence.

It looks like the focus by Seton Hall, quite logically, is on Tom Pecora the Head Coach at Hofstra. The problem for Seton Hall, they aren’t sure whether he wants the job.

According to a person close to the Hofstra men’s basketball program, Pecora will meet with Hayes and Hofstra president Stuart Rabinowitz tomorrow morning. The source said Pecora will not meet with Seton Hall athletic director Joe Quinlan until after his meeting with the Hofstra administrators.

Pecora has said he would prefer to stay on Long Island. Hofstra likely will offer him a contract extension at that meeting to cement his feelings.

Pecora gets about $225,000/year at Hofstra. At this point, it isn’t even clear if Seton Hall has contacted Pitt for permission to talk to Rohrssen.

On Friday, Quinlan said he was looking for the Pirates’ next coach to have strong metropolitan recruiting ties. Pecora, known as a proven recruiter, recently expressed his happiness being at Hofstra. The Long Island native led the Pride to a 26-7 record this season. Hofstra went to the NIT quarterfinals, winning its first two postseason games as a Division 1 program. Pecora is 81-71 in five years at the school.

Pittsburgh assistant Barry Rohrssen also could be on the Hall’s short list. Pittsburgh athletic director Jeff Long, through a university spokesman, declined to comment on whether Seton Hall had contacted him to request to interview Rohrssen.

Other candidates appear to include Ohio University coach Tim O’Shea, Bobby Gonzalez of Manhattan and Iona’s Jeff Ruland.

Pirate’s Plank Blog (obligatory, “aarrr”) seems to believe they will target a coach with some head coaching experience.

A story from the Jerusalem Post about March Madness.

A narrow aisle, no more than a foot wide, divides the cluster of red sweatshirts from the cluster of blue ones. The fans on the right, the ones in red, are a visibly older bunch who know that one more victory brings their Bradley University Braves to a Land that is far from Promised to a Mid-Major school. The Sweet 16.

Segregated to the left, the fans in blue expect their University of Pittsburgh Panthers, a power team from a power conference, to take care of business. A victory is a victory, but the Final Four is the Final Four.

Although the driver has no choice but to sit on the left side, he has made a point to dress in a neutral white polo. His only loyalties are to his job, which consists of shuttling fans from the Big Bucks Brewery to The Palace at Auburn Hills for the NCAA Tournament’s second round matchups.

“Driver,” a Panthers fan shouts. “You sure you don’t want a Pitt sticker?”

The driver laughs off the offer.

“You know that after the game, you’ll have to drive us both home,” says a Bradley fan. “And only one of us is going to be happy.”

The woman has revealed a truth that leaves the men and women on the bus – both blue and red – silent and uneasy.

Unfortunately, we know which group that was.

LaRod Stephens-Howling, the subject of an early puff-piece last week, has received a couple more. A follow-up in his hometown paper about how he is considered the starter at this point — though everyone is just waiting until the fall when Kevin Collier arrives to challenge him for it.

“He tells me, so this is according to him, that he’s every bit of 10 pounds bigger and stronger this year,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “He said he came in at 158-160, and he’s 170 now. It’s 10 pounds of good weight, and from what I’ve seen out here, it doesn’t look like he’s lost any quickness.”

Wannstedt acknowledged that Stephens-Howling might have difficulty being Pitt’s primary back, but he’s the leading candidate to start right now.

“There’s nobody tougher,” Wannstedt said. “I think any great running back would be insulted if you said he was just a third-down back. That’s what they don’t want to hear. Or you say that they’re just a situation guy.

“But I’m going to give LaRod the benefit of the doubt. I think he’s a guy that can get in there and carry the ball 25 times a game, and until he proves that he can’t, then that’s the way we’ve got to approach it.”

Stephens knows that he is facing competition now and come the fall.

“I wanted to get bigger and improve my power,” he said. “I’m ready for the challenge. We have a lot of competition.”

Others in competition for playing time include sophomore Brandon Mason and redshirt freshman Shane Brooks.

“Experience is lacking,” Wannstedt said. “Desire is abundant. That’s OK. As long as a guy’s got ability and is willing to learn, you can make progress.”

No matter what, Stephens will be taking getting chances. He’s got too much speed and the potential to bust one outside — if the line gives him time to turn the corner — for big gains.

A couple of you have e-mailed this to me, or linked it in the comments. This article about former Pitt Tackle Rob Petitti making some nice change from the NFL’s Performance Based Pay-Program (PBP).

The second-year veteran, who started all 16 games for the Dallas Cowboys at right tackle in 2005, is now a true believer. Only the 209th prospect selected in the 2005 draft, having dropped into the sixth round after an injury-plagued senior season at the University of Pittsburgh overshadowed what had been an otherwise superb college career, Petitti is No. 1 on this year’s performance-based pay roll call.

His windfall, a record $271,287, is nearly $45,000 more than last year’s biggest beneficiary, New York Jets safety Erik Coleman. And it represents a nifty 95 percent increase in Petitti’s 2005 compensation. Notable is the fact Coleman ranked in the top 25 again for 2005, pocketing $196,813 in PBP funds.

According to the article, Petitti made about $284,000 last season from the league minimum and his signing bonus. The PBP seems like a very good program, that until now, I had never heard of.

Around the league, there are a lot of players feeling really good about the PBP program, implemented in 2002 as part of that year’s extension to the collective bargaining agreement, to establish a fund from NFL revenues to supplement the salaries of men whose playing time in a given season is disproportionate to their compensation. Those who benefit the most are primarily guys like Petitti, young players who generally are earning a minimum base salary.

Every player in the league who participates in even one snap receives something from the PBP pool, which does not impact a player’s salary cap charge. The pool to fund the supplements is deducted from the overall league salary cap funds, and it was essentially created by slowing the annual increases in base salaries and by blunting the increases in the annual rookie allocation pool.

What I liked reading, in Petitti’s case, is that most of it went into a mutual fund for savings for the future. Always glad to read when there are athletes actually planning ahead — especially ones who aren’t making a ton of money. He did indulge in the purchase of a new hot tub, though he might make an argument that it should be deducted from his taxes as a work-related expense.

This Dixon extension became all consuming last week. I’m now very backed up with posts on football. I probably have posts that I can churn out for a couple days to clear the backlog.

Pitt has seen the back-up QB transfer each of the past two years. Luke Getsy is now thriving in Akron.

Then there’s Joe Flacco, who is now playing for the leader of the Fulmer Cup, Delaware. Pitt is still making him pay his own way, despite now playing at the Div. 1-AA level.

Blue Hen coach K.C. Keeler said this week that, despite several written requests, Pitt refuses to release Flacco from his scholarship.

While the situation won’t effect the two seasons of eligibility that Flacco has remaining, it does mean that his family will have to continue paying his tuition for the rest of the school year.

“It’s punitive now – in my mind it’s punitive,” said Keeler. “Why would you do this to a student-athlete? It would have been different if they had recruited him.

Well, the message is to more than Flacco that you don’t just transfer out and expect things to be that easy.

If I had a hunch, Pitt’s policy is the kid has to pay his own way for one semester before he is released. That’s how Pitt handled Luke Getsy. He transferred to Akron, right away and for that first semester he paid, then come winter semester he was released and Akron could put him on scholarship.

Flacco didn’t immediately transfer anywhere. He only showed up at Delaware this past semester. I wouldn’t be surprised/hope that he’ll be released by Pitt after the end of the semester. It really serves no purpose for Pitt to punish beyond one semester.

I know some of you don’t really want to read about other schools, but considering how much I was tracking the intrigues of Arizona State and Missouri I am still reading along. And realizing that the Pitt Athletic Department is humming along as a smoothly run machine compared to Missouri. Even as the AD was hiring Mike Anderson from UAB there were two meetings over the weekend by the school’s Board to determine whether the AD would even be around to introduce the new coach. After all of the controversy and criticisms and everything else.

Guy Junker likes the extension for Coach Jamie Dixon. Of course he wants Pitt to find a way to keep Barry Rohrssen. Who doesn’t? The issue is whether he gets offered the Head Coaching job at Seton Hall. He wants to be a head coach, and he needs to get experience regardless. I don’t see why he doesn’t go for it. Hopefully Pitt has already considered replacements. I would think they’d take a look at who’s on the bench at Manhattan or Hofstra dealing with recruits. Assistant coaches who are familiar and working the NYC metro area with some on the court success.

Even though it seemed like an eternity, the new contract for Coach Dixon came together very quickly.

As contract talks go, the process went so smoothly that about all Dixon needed to do was sign on the dotted line.

“You don’t get something done in four days if everybody isn’t on the same page,” he said.

With the success the Panthers have experienced under his direction, including this year’s improbable 25-victory run, it became increasingly evident that Dixon would be exploring his options at the end of the season.

Shortly after Pitt was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament on March 19 by Bradley, the two sides began to work out a deal.

Dixon even hired an attorney, whose policies include no contact with the media.

“That was by design,” Dixon said, laughing.

It worked perfectly during last week’s wild saga of guessing games surrounding Dixon’s future. Nobody, it seemed — not even Arizona State athletic director Lisa Love, who had diligently pursued the Pitt coach’s services to no avail — could predict Dixon’s next move.

“I apologize, guys,” he told reporters Saturday. “I hope you understand.”

If you really want to go speculating as to early coaches on the hot seat for 2006, I can think of 3: Tommy Ammaker, Michigan; Mike Brey, ND; and Ernie Kent, Oregon. I’m not that concerned.

Come late April, Pitt will be hosting a big AAU talent fest.

As many as 100 teams from a dozen states in three divisions (17-under/open, 16-under and 15-under) are expected to play in the Pittsburgh Jam Fest on April 21-23 at Fitzgerald Field House and Petersen Events Center.

What makes the Jam Fest intriguing is that it received PIAA approval in late February, meaning Division I coaches are allowed to attend the event to scout prospects. Event organizers are expecting a huge draw, even though its dates conflict with the Kingwood Classic in Houston.

“It’s probably going to draw over 100 Division I coaches,” said Adam Chiappano of the Hoop Group, which runs the Jam Fest and the Eastern Invitational. “It’s one of only a few states that have approved events for Division I coaches in the springtime. That’s great exposure-wise for the school itself and the city.”

One marquee team that has accepted an invitation is the D-I Greyhounds, which has two of the nation’s top 10 juniors in O.J. Mayo and Bill Walker of Cincinnati’s North College Hill. The Pittsburgh JOTS, featuring Schenley’s DeJuan Blair and D.J. Kennedy, Aliquippa’s Herb Pope and Jeannette’s Terrelle Pryor, also has accepted.

“We’re looking to have the biggest event on the East Coast for springtime next year,” Chiappano said. “Hopefully, by next year, this event will have some buzz about it and keep the top East Coast teams in the East. They won’t have to hop on flights. They can just drive six hours.”

That can’t be bad for Pitt basketball recruiting.

According to other notes in the story, Lance Jeter from Beaver Falls finally reached eligibility to play sports as a freshman for next year. He just has to choose where and what to play. Jeter has been more interested in playing basketball, but was more highly regarded in football. He’s 6’3″ and 200 pounds. Akron, Detroit, George Mason, Marquette and Purdue are expressing interest in him for b-ball. Cinci is the only school actively pursuing him in football. Pitt doesn’t seem that interested in him.