Pitt’s screw-up with the schedule is starting to be noticed outside of Pittsburgh. What do you expect? It’s mid-August and training camp stories get repetitive after a while.

Someone in the Pitt athletic department needs a calendar.

The school scheduled its Sept. 16 game with Michigan State at 3:30 p.m. and the game was scheduled for ABC regional telecast. Heinz Field, though, shares parking spaces with the Pittsburgh Pirates’ home field. The contract calls for any football traffic to clear out two hours prior to a home game.

Yep, you guessed it. The Pirates have a game scheduled at 7:05 p.m. on Sept. 16. Pitt will probably have to reschedule the game for noon. Both conferences (Big East and Big Ten) plus Michigan State will expect someone — yep, you guessed it, Pitt — to make up the difference in television money lost because of the switch.

I’m guessing this is not the kind of story on Pitt the Athletic Department is hoping to see making news.

It really seems Pitt would be more interested in changing the time of the game rather than do anything about parking.

Further complicating the scenario is a new partnership between Pitt and the Pirates. PNC Park hosts the Panther Zone, site of pregame activities for Pitt students, for all home games. It also is the starting point for Pitt’s March to Victory and the Panther Prowl to Heinz Field.

…

Molin said he talked to Michigan State athletic officials yesterday to inform them of the conflict. He said Pitt would continue to look into changing the game time “until someone tells me for the record that it can’t happen.”

While alternative parking and using shuttle buses is mentioned, it doesn’t seem to be the desired option by the Pitt Athletic Department.

Now, the pressure is on the Pitt Athletic Department to solve this problem. They, essentially, are responsible for the mess. If I’m in the Pirates organization, though, I see a big opportunity here.

Let’s face it, the crowds haven’t really been there this season, despite the boost in season ticket sales tied to possibly getting tickets to attend the All-Star Game. More importantly, the other revenue streams — parking and concessions can not have been that good with all the no-shows. Plus, anyone with half a brain knows the team will draw really poorly next year after this season.

So, if I’m in the Pirates organization, I want Pitt to keep the 3:30 start time. I then want to let the Pirate ticketholders to be very aware of that. Highly recommend they come early to the ballpark to avoid the traffic congestion when the Pitt game would be expected to end around 6:30 or 7 pm. Do whatever it takes to get people coming to PNC Park early. A big boost for the concessions as people get to the park early and eat dinner, snack and drink there.

So, the Pirates should work with Pitt on some of the parking. Maybe let them have part of a lot. It wouldn’t hurt the Pirates in the PR area — which they always are in need of help — and it would make them appear altruistic while really serving their own finances quite handsomely.