A dumb screw-up by the Pitt Athletic Department.

Pitt may have to move the kickoff for its Sept. 16 home football game against Michigan State from 3:30 p.m. to noon because of poor planning by the athletic department. If that happens, and at this point it is a definite possibility, it likely would cost the school thousands of dollars in television revenue and penalties as well as from the dropoff in ticket sales generally associated with earlier kickoffs at Heinz Field.

The sticking point is a lack of available parking spots because the Pirates play host to the New York Mets at 7:05 that night and, by contract, are guaranteed to have a large number of the parking spaces in the lots between the two stadiums available to their customers at least two hours before the first pitch. That means many of the parking lots that Pitt sells pre-paid parking passes for will be locked when Pitt fans arrive for the football game earlier that day.

The MSU game is supposed to be a regional ABC game. If Pitt has to move the time, they’ll have to pay penalties to ABC and to Michigan State (and likely the Big 11). Not to mention losing a big telecast opportunity.

I’m not sure how many parking lots/spaces would be lost. I would guess there is actually enough parking in the area to accomodate, but Pitt would have to shift some people — and the lots in question are definitely some of the pricier lots — meaning better paying fans and a decent amount of anger from them for being moved somewhere much further away.

Part of the major problem was that Pitt never communicated with the Pirates over the time. The Pirates claim they only found out about the game time problem recently by reading the paper. Still, why do the Pirates need that much parking for a mid-September game when they are on pace for what, 100 losses? Normally, they’d have what? Maybe 15,000 actual people in attendance? Answer: it’s a giveaway night.

In the past, the Pirates have moved their games in order to accommodate scheduling conflicts with the Panthers. But the Pirates aren’t budging this time because 1. It is Jack Wilson Bobblehead Doll Night. 2. They expect a crowd in excess of 30,000 fans that night. 3. The conflict is Pitt’s fault.

Please note, it’s Jack Wilson. Not Craig Wilson who they gave away to the Yankees. Jack is still with the team. Really, hasn’t the whole bobblehead thing played itself out? People really crave these things? And if it’s such a primo item, why would they have planned it for a Saturday night game when they should expect to draw somewhat decently. Isn’t that the sort of giveaway you use for a weeknight game?

Right now, everyone is claiming that it is an impasse that doesn’t seem to be resolvable. My thought is that Pitt cut a deal with the Pirates for use of the parking lots. It’s going to cost Pitt, but it is very clear at the moment, that anything done is going to cost Pitt money.