Tom Deinhart names some of his favorite places to grab some grub when covering college football games.

Primanti Bros at Pitt: Tucked among the bustle of a section of town called Oakland, this Steel City staple features primo sandwiches. Oh, they come with French fries — on TOP of the sandwich. I bet Ironhead Heyward ate here. He just had to. Sure wish I could have dined with him.

One of my favorite post-hangover places to grab breakfast/lunch on Sundays around 2 in the afternoon.

Now I have to wonder about what this means for parking at Heinz Field in the future. And that really is my only concern. Will this eat into the parking there, and push more people out to the lots where we are tailgating for Pitt games?

The entertainment and retail developer that was involved in the redevelopment of the Inner Harbor in Baltimore and a new entertainment district in Louisville, Ky., is close to securing land on Pittsburgh’s North Shore.

David Cordish, chairman of The Cordish Co. in Baltimore, said Cordish Co. and Continental Real Estate Cos. are partnering to buy and lease several tracts of property between Heinz Field and PNC Park.

The development will be closer to Heinz Field than the baseball park, according to Mr. Cordish.
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Cordish hopes to build one of its signature urban “Live” districts, which can be found in Louisville, Kansas City, Baltimore and elsewhere. “Power Plant Live!” in Baltimore and “4th Street Live!” in Louisville feature shops, clubs, restaurants and bars, many of which are chain or franchise outlets and can already be found in Pittsburgh.

Louisville’s version, for example, has a Hard Rock Cafe, a Red Star tavern, a T.G.I. Friday’s, Lucky Strike Lanes and a Saddle Ridge rock-n-country saloon.

Just what we need. More chain restaurant, bar food.

I don’t really dislike chains or feel that they totally become soulless voids that need the requisite amount of “flair” on their employee uniforms. God knows when you have kids you end up at them often enough because they have beer for you and food the kid will eat. Just don’t expect me to want to go there when I’m actually free for those few hours and I can delude myself that I’m not really an adult.

The latest press release on the Blue-Gold Game for this Saturday doesn’t really say much, other than the fact that no score will be kept. This year it’s going to be just scrimmaging.

Wannstedt said the format for the spring game will be a controlled scrimmage — first-team offense vs. first-team defense, second team vs. second team, etc. — as opposed to a typical spring game in which the team is divided into two teams and score is kept. “We need to get one last good day of work in, and the only way to do that is go best against best,” Wannstedt said.

I believe Pitt has one practice on Thursday left on its schedule before that final workout to end Spring Drills.

The Blue-Gold Game, of course, also serves as an unofficial recruiting event. There will surely be sightings of plenty of kids with offers or expected to receive offers from Pitt in attendance.

Last Saturday’s practice was also a recruiting day.

Pitt used Saturday’s practice session as a blue-chip day, and more than two dozen high school prospects visited the UPMC Sports Performance Complex on the South Side. The Panthers used the occasion to extend a formal scholarship offer to Thomas Jefferson’s Dom DeCicco, a 6-3, 195-pound safety who is on his way to becoming one of the WPIAL’s top prospects.

Manheim Township quarterback Pat Bostick spent much of Pitt’s practice yesterday hanging out with 2006 signees Dorin Dickerson of West Allegheny and Elijah Fields of Duquesne, perhaps giving Panthers fans a glimpse of their future offense.

Southern Columbia fullback Henry Hynoski and lineman Josh Marks, who combined to lead the Tigers to a fourth consecutive PIAA Class A championship, spent the weekend making unofficial visits to Pitt.

“It’s been awesome,” Marks said of his trip. “I like it here a lot. It’s definitely one of my favorite schools.”

Marks said Pitt, Penn State, West Virginia, Ohio State and Michigan are his early top five — although the latter two have yet to offer scholarships.

Always good to see the incoming freshmen eager to help in the recruitment for next season.

Chris McKillop gets a puff piece on his second season at Defensive End.

“Last year, I was so worried about what I had to do before the snap,” McKillop said. “This year, I know exactly what I have to do, so I can do more things.

“I can read the offensive tackle, to see if he’s going to block or run. I can read their stances, to see if they’re going to double-team me or clog. Things of that nature come a lot quicker with a year under your belt.”

Before Tuesday’s workout on the South Side, Wannstedt praised McKillop for using his natural skills and adapting to the new role.

“He’s probably our most consistent defensive lineman,” Wannstedt said.

McKillop is at a size disadvantage against most offensive linemen. Last year, he figured ways to combat that by sparring in practice with 330-pound offensive tackle Charles Spencer.

“You couldn’t let him grab hold of you, or it was over,” McKillop said with a chuckle. “This year, the same thing goes with Mike McGlynn. He’s a strong man.”

McKillop goes about 245 and at the other end position, Charles Sallet is 235. An undersized, but ostensibly fast pair of DEs. The whole D-line had better be fast to compensate for the noticeable lack of size up and down.

In the notebook, Coach Wannstedt observed the lack of depth on the O-line. Also, much like the receivers, now that the initial puff pieces and happy stories about the running backs have subsided it reads as if there is no one really distinguishing themselves outside of LaRod Stephens-Howling.

Neither Shane Brooks nor Brandon Mason has emerged as an obvious choice for the backup tailback spot behind starter LaRod Stephens-Howling. “They just need more work,” Wannstedt said. “We’re still getting a feel for what they’re capable of doing.”

Roughly translated, Kevin Collier is going to see a lot of action come the fall.

I really don’t think there is any other way to read this report on how the wide receivers are doing. Derek Kinder looks solid in his spot, but it seems no one else has really made a claim, though Joe DelSardo seems to have the #3 WR slot.

Early in the spring it looked as if redshirt freshman Oderick Turner was a lock to earn a starting job, but he has had an inconsistent spring and was passed — at least temporarily — by fellow redshirt freshman Cedric McGee.

There is also senior Joe DelSardo, who is actually the team leader in career receptions, and was a starter as a sophomore before losing his job to Kinder three games into last season. DelSardo has excellent hands, is a great route-runner and understands the offense better than any of the other receivers.

One other player who has been competitive is sophomore Marcel Pestano.

“We’re still waiting for that one player at receiver to step up, but it hasn’t happened yet,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “The guys have been doing a good job, but we have been looking for one of them to step up and be the guy. We have some options. I think Joe DelSardo has done a good job and there are a lot of ways we can use him, he’ll be an intricate part of what we do.”

The spot appears to be Dorin Dickerson’s to lose. I mean when Derek Kinder is stressing the run-blocking aspect of his WR teammates, that’s not a good sign.

“We are always going to put the ball in the air, but we really focused on run-blocking, on being more physical. We always hear references to [Steelers receiver] Hines Ward, how tough he is and how tough we have to be. Even if we’re not as tough, we’ve got to put on that face like we’re going to go in there and take on those linebackers or we won’t play.”

Vital and important, I know, but not one of those things you expect to talk about when you don’t have a clear depth chart at the WR positions, and that really hasn’t changed.

Tight End Darrell Strong gets a puff piece from the AP. Now at tight end, it’s good to talk about improved blocking skills.

Wannstedt said Strong is vastly improved since last season.

“He’s blocking the powers and the sweeps, and that’s been the best thing to happen to him,” Wannstedt said. “But we’ll see what happens this summer when Pelusi comes back and Nate Byham comes in. Then, we’ll sit back and look at our tight end position and see what we can do.”

Until then, Strong will continue to work hard.

“For me, the improvement from last year would be that I got a lot bigger in the offseason,” Strong said. “This year, I’m probably going to be more of a blocking tight end than a receiver. I lost a lot of body (fat) and put on muscle.”

Strong’s increased size, strength and blocking ability could help take his game to another level.

“Right now, I feel confident that this can be a breakout season for me,” Strong said. “I feel better and a whole lot more comfortable with everything that we’re doing on offense, and they want me on the field a whole lot more than they did last year. I’m not just on the field to catch the ball. I can be in there to block, too, so I’m a better overall tight end.”

Good.

Still no word on a Big East-SEC basketball challenge, other than reports that they are still talking.

The Trib. catches up and notes Krauser’s solid performance at Portsmouth.

Now, the former Pitt guard is hoping for another shot at attending the prestigious NBA Pre-Draft Camp in June.

Judging from the way he played at Portsmouth, he’ll likely be invited.

“It’s just about being solid,” said Krauser, the No. 9 all-time scorer at Pitt.
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NBA scouting director Marty Blake was impressed with Krauser’s effort, saying he “does what we want in a point guard.”

Now, maybe it’s nothing. Perhaps it’s just oversight, but the other day Andy Katz blogs (Insider Subs.) a list of early entrants and likely early entrants for the NBA draft.

The deadline to declare is April 29. Unlike football, players can declare and return to college as long as they don’t sign with an agent. And for the umpteenth time, players must pay their expenses in advance for all NBA workouts except the Orlando predraft camp in June. There are no exceptions. We can’t stress this enough, yet every season at least one player doesn’t abide by the rules and has to sit out multiple games when he returns to school.

With Texas’ LaMarcus Aldridge the latest to decide he’s going (no surprise), here’s the list of significant names who have declared so far:

• Will Blalock, Iowa State
• Josh Boone, UConn
• Guillermo Diaz, Miami (signing with agent)
• Nick Fazekas, Nevada
• Thomas Gardner, Missouri
• Brandon Heath, San Diego State
• Paul Millsap, Louisiana Tech
• Danilo Pinnock, George Washington
• Richard Roby, Colorado
• Rajon Rondo, Kentucky (signing with agent)
• Marcus Slaughter, San Diego State (signing with agent)
• Curtis Stinson, Iowa State

Decisions coming soon from:

• Ronnie Brewer, Arkansas
• Glen Davis, LSU
• Quincy Douby, Rutgers
• Rudy Gay, UConn
• Josh McRoberts, Duke
• Adam Morrison, Gonzaga
• Patrick O’Bryant, Bradley
• Leon Powe, Cal
• Brandon Rush, Kansas
• Mustafa Shakur, Arizona
• Tyrus Thomas, LSU
• P.J. Tucker, Texas
• Darius Washington Jr., Memphis
• Marcus Williams, UConn
• Marcus Williams, Arizona
• Shawne Williams, Memphis

Don’t be surprised to see most of these names declare for the simple purpose of getting the free trip to Orlando. But expect Gay, UConn’s Marcus Williams, Morrison and Thomas to stay in the draft if they declare. They’re all too highly regarded to flirt with the process.

Aaron Gray doesn’t even merit a mention.

Now maybe Gray will open a lot of eyes at the camp, and rocket up the board. But right now, he is not a significant name in the list of underclassmen.