So, I watched the opening press conference on the All-Access. Here’s what I took note of.

Asst. AD E.J. Borghetti’s reminder to the media to “eat, eat, eat.” Not to mention making note that Joe Bendel showed up. He now works for Clear Channel/Fox Sports Radio 970 not the Trib (he’s still listed, though).

Next AD Long spoke. Welcomed everyone including net denizens watching on All-Access to year 117 of Pitt Football. This year being the anniversary years for Pitt championships from 1916 (90 years), 1936 (70 years) and 1976 (30 years). The 1976 championship will be honored at halftime of the opening game against UVa.

To commemorate the 30th anniversary of that monumental season, the University of Pittsburgh will honor its 1976 national title team during halftime of the Panthers’ season-opening contest with Virginia on Sept. 2. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Members of the ’76 squad will appear at Panthers FanFest on Art Rooney Avenue for autographs from 3 to 4 p.m. They will also take part in Pitt’s “March to Victory” at 6 p.m., on General Robinson Street.

Another new feature will be for the students only. A “Panther Zone” for pregame. Featuring entertainment and activities. Twofold purpose would be my guess. Try and get more student involvement, and try to keep booze out of it.

Finally he pimps the new elite seating in the North End. The Endzone Club seats. Can’t find a working link for it, but  nothing like having a billiards table in your seating area along with the TVs.

Then it’s the main event with Coach Wannstedt.

*From the opening remarks.

Talking about leadership on the team, he said the seniors are the leaders. There are only 12 scholarship seniors, so they all play a major part.

On injuries, Kicker David Abdul has not and will not be medically cleared to practice for the duration of training camp. He might be cleared to play and practice by the start of the season itself.

TE John Pelusi is coming off his knee surgery, but will be in camp. He will practice but not any contact drills. DL Mick Williams and OL Dave Weber both have injuries that will delay their camp.

Regarding the NCAA Clearinghouse, Freshmen Aaron Smith and Jason Pinkston haven’t gotten it yet. Coach Wannstedt minimized it as a paperwork issue, that should be resolved very soon — possibly tomorrow.

*Q&A Time

On the split practices, he admitted that it will be a grind for the coaches that first week (5 practices). Looking at starting practice at 6 am and not getting to the coaches meetings until 10 pm.

On how they will work is that with the WR, one day a freshman will practice with the upperclassmen and one upperclassman will be with the freshmen. It will be a rotation that changes daily. Not to single out anyone.

The Offensive line will be better, but the lack of depth there is the biggest problem.

The Defensive line has to be significantly better for the defense and the whole team to take another step.

Big question marks for starters appears to be at WR, RB and the Kicker.

On the subject of the freshment, Defensive End Greg Romeus was singled out by Wannstedt as a very exciting player. The sleeper of training camp it would seem.

At the end of the press conference after Coach Wannstedt left, it was amusing to watch all the reporters go up to the podium to get their recorders. Many of them looked surly and downright dour. I guess the free grub just wasn’t up to snuff or something. No word as to whether Smizik was counting the minutes to see how long he was inconvenienced between the scheduled time and actual starting time.

It would appear the MAC is the biggest beneficiary/victim of ESPN no longer having the Mountain West to plug in during the fall on just about any day they need to fill program space. Miami (Ohio) has found itself playing on Sunday evening — it’s homecoming game this year. This is a Dayton/Cinci area story so the high school coaches aren’t worried. In fact it isn’t their problem.

To many, though, Sundays aren’t the main concern. The idea of playing on Friday night — the customary bastion of high school football — is the big worry.

And that concern continues, as 10 Friday-night college football games will appear on ESPN channels this season. The American Football Coaches Association has gone as far as taking an official stand against college football on Friday nights, said Grant Teaff, the AFCA executive director.

If his membership had its way, he said, college football would be restricted to Saturdays.

“I’ve not talked to one coach who really likes it,” Teaff said of non-Saturday games.

Steve Specht, who coached Cincinnati St. Xavier to the Division I state championship last season, isn’t bothered much by the University of Cincinnati hosting Pittsburgh on Friday, Sept. 8 for an ESPN2 audience. His team plays on Saturday, Sept. 9, against Lakewood St. Edward at Paul Brown Stadium.

For the teams playing on Friday night, though, Specht said there shouldn’t be concern in Cincinnati about falling attendance. “I honestly believe in this area people care a hell of a lot more about high school football than they do about college football,” Specht said. “I think it hurts the college game playing on Friday nights around here.”

You know, Cinci better do its best to make sure the Friday game is a sellout. You would hate to be outdrawn by a high school game.

While inching closer and closer to full-fledged Friday night football, some athletic directors are still drawing lines, they say. Pitt’s Jeff Long has given the Big East Conference his position on putting a Friday-night game at Heinz Field.

“My commitment has been we would not play a home game on a Friday night, and our conference has respected that,” said Long, a Kettering native. “The conference does have the ability to say, ‘You’re going to play on Friday night, and you’re going to play at home.’ But they haven’t done that.”

…Yet.

Sooner or later it will happen. The other BE football programs are not going to say, that Pitt should be given special treatment to never have to host a Friday night game. This year Cinci, UConn and USF will all host Friday night games. Last year Rutgers, Louisville and UConn hosted them. Sooner or later the Big East will go to Syracuse, WVU and Pitt and tell them it’s their turn.

As AD Long pointed out, the conference can compel them. So he can say that the school won’t but if ESPN and the Big East say otherwise, Pitt will find itself hosting a home game. Whether it’s “under protest” or not.

Friday games don’t just “compete” with the high schools, it hurts the hosting team with local recruits. They won’t be at the games or seeing the team play because they have their own games to play that night. It’s one less opportunity to get them to see a game.

[Editor Note: Okay, Lee not only lives in Altoona, he works in State College. His office, of course is just slightly filled with Penn State homers. Lee, graduated from Pitt and did masters work at Ohio State, so he carries dual loyalties, and completely annoys his co-workers with his teams. Rather than do real work, they demanded his analysis of the season from Penn State, Ohio State and Pitt. What follows is all Lee, and thus is credited as his post.]

But enough about me and the pride of the Big Ten. Let’s first focus on what I’m technically being graded on here.

You are… Penn State

Offense: Penn State’s surprising season last year has made many college football fans forget that it is still coached by the same staff that refused to play the eventual 2005 league MVP Michael Robinson at quarterback for at least two years and then barely started him over Anthony Morelli last fall (remember that?). For most of what could have been a great career, MRob sat behind the slow, immobile, pocket-passer Zack Mills and watched him get literally no protection from his offensive line (a mobile QB like MRob could have helped such a situation, I’m told). For the life of me, Anthony Morelli reminds me a lot of Zack. A great arm, but somewhat limited mobility. So ask yourself, can Jay “I’m here because I’m the best quarterbacks coach available” Paterno do a better job of coaching Morelli than he did the fellow pocket-passer Mills? Somehow, I doubt it. Hopefully, Morelli will spend more time with my boy, Williamsburg (Blair Co.) native Galen Hall, than JayPa.

As a former offensive lineman, I can’t help but focus on the trenches. And I question whether Morelli’s o-line in 2006 will be a whole lot better than some of Zack Mills’ lines. I agree with Bob that Levi Brown is probably going to wind up first team All Big Ten. But you can’t hide the fact that every other person on that line will be new. And experience counts with o-lines. Just ask Pitt. I always hated lining up with a sophomore beside me. So I think that Morelli’s going to be running for his life some this fall — especially against some of the better defensive lines of Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Michigan. Surely, Morelli can’t run like MRob. But, maybe some quick-outs or screens to those wonderful wide receivers or Hunt will help. Those receivers remain the one tool that Mills never had.

(this is borderline epic, so) and, much, much,

(more…)

Today is the local media day for Pitt. It is also time for the free preview of Panthers All-Access. It runs to the 15th before payment will be required. Right now there are 4 clips for viewing. A profile/interview with H.B. Blades and three with Coach Wannstedt talking about the team overall and expectations and the offense and defensive units.

Coach Wannstedt’s press conference will be carried live on the All-access at 9:15 am.

All-Access uses Windows Media Player, so Apple owners will feel discriminated and persecuted.

Story today focuses on how many players came from successful high school programs and never experienced a losing season until last year.

Given the pedigree of three of Pitt’s most important players, it is easy to understand why all three gave a puzzled look when they were recently asked at Big East media day what’s the best way to recover from a losing season. The Panthers were 5-6 last season, which marked their first losing campaign since 1999 — the same year Palko led West Allegheny to the first of three consecutive WPIAL crowns.

There’s some stuff about how last year with a couple good bounces the team could have been 8-3 and how the prior year the 8-3 regular season could have been 5-6. Which is essentially rebutted as an acceptable excuse.

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt understands better than any of his players. Good teams might be a couple of bounces from a losing record, but great teams, the kind Wannstedt is trying to build, dominate most of their opponents and leave little to luck or chance.

“We are just starting to try and reload and build enough depth at every position that we can compete regardless of our injuries or whatever,” Wannstedt said. “I need to find the 22 best football players very quickly in camp this year, the 22 guys who give us the best chance to win, then fill in the spots behind them and go from there. We need to get to the point where we line up and beat people because we are better than they are.”

3 1/2 weeks to opening night kickoff.

Recently TWC took over from Comcast as our cable provider in the area. This was fantastic news. Not because one monopoly cable provider is better than the other in the area as far as selection, prices and such. It has to do with the whole “On Demand” shows. Not the movies you pay for, but the free programming. Comcast had a surprisingly large selection of kids stuff. TWC apparently does not. It has saved us a decent amount of coin in renting or buying DVDs for the kid.

So why am I happy? Because it was the final straw for the wife, and we will be switching to DirecTV. She had been resisting the move despite the chance to get more of the channels she liked (history, documentaries, biographies and stuff), and getting the DVR. All because of the stupid On Demand. The difference in the price between cable and satellite for the packages we have are maybe $1. This includes getting the sports package which includes ESPNU, FSN-Pittsburgh, the YES network and a slew of other regional sports channels.

I will now not only be able to catch a lot more games on TV, but be able to easily record them and rewatch them on the DVR (which I’m hoping she won’t realize I will be doing until it’s too late). Including the games I go to.

Happy, happy. Joy, joy.

Camp opens on Tuesday, and the questions are many. The primary questions are about how many freshmen will not simply end up on the 2-deep depth chart? It’s about how many freshmen will be starting?

“It’s been proven that, in today’s game, with the limited amount of scholarships and things turning over faster than they used to, you have to have your freshmen make an impact in some capacity,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “Regardless of how good or bad your team is, freshmen are forced to be part of it. The question is: Are you playing freshmen because of a lack of depth or a lack of talent, or because they’re truly the best players and they truly give you best chance to win?

“That’s what we have to identify.”

It’s nothing new for the Panthers, who relied on a handful of freshmen last season. The most notable was tailback LaRod Stephens-Howling, their leading rusher with 434 yards on 96 carries.

“We had six tailbacks last year,” Wannstedt said. “The reason LaRod played wasn’t because of depth, it was because he was fastest guy and could make plays. Those are scenarios you like.”

Others were forced into starting roles on the offensive and defensive lines. C.J. Davis and Dom Williams split time at left guard and John Bachman was a backup tackle. On defense, end Gus Mustakas finished second in sacks with three, while interior linemen Corey Davis and Rashad Duncan received extensive playing time.

The question of whether the young kids are playing because they are the best or because there’s no one else appears to be a theme for today, and likely throughout camp.

The Panthers have one of their most-talented recruiting classes in years, which is just what the doctor ordered for a team whose depth had become shallow over the past three years. There are many positions where the Panthers are thin, so a number of the freshmen are going to have to play. One of the problem areas is the defensive line, and freshmen defensive linemen, regardless of talent, usually struggle because they face experienced offensive linemen who are stronger and understand technique better. “The hope is the freshmen come in and win their positions because they are just that good,” Wannstedt said. “If we start having to fill positions by default, that’s a very bad sign. I don’t have a problem playing a freshman if he is the best player, but I’d love for us to be able to say each freshman that is in the lineup did so because they outplayed a very good group of players. If that’s the case, we’ll be fine.”

I don’t have any questions about the team leaders in Palko and Blades. Seniors and the best players on each side of the ball willing to be vocal.

Zeise highlights 5 positions that are essentially wide open. Left Tackle, Defensive Tackle, RB, WR, CB (opposite Revis). I don’t think he has any clearer an idea as the rest of us.

Now despite the fact that freshmen will be in mix for starting and immediate back-up rolls because of talent and need,  and the fact that for the first week or so the camps will be split between freshmen/new players and returning players Coach Wannstedt is going to start early on figuring out the 2-deep.

“Training camp is to get ready for the season,” Wannstedt said. “It isn’t to get in shape, it isn’t to get stronger or learn the plays — that’s what spring ball and offseason conditioning is for. When we start on Tuesday, you’d better be ready to play as if it is the day before the Virginia game. So we will take that first week and try to get a long, hard look at every player. But once we bring them together, we’ll have a depth chart in place and we’ll start getting ready for game time.

“Now, the depth chart will be a tentative one as competition is ongoing throughout the season, but at least we will have a framework. Last year, we waited too long into the camp to put together a workable depth chart, and I think it hurt us early on.”

The article also noted that FanFest will be on August 24, and also an Alumni Day for past players to come to the South Side complex.

Wannstedt said Aug. 19 will be football alumni day at camp, when every Pitt football alumnus is invited back. They can sit in on pre- and post-practice meetings, interact with coaches and join the team for a barbecue lunch after the workout, which ends at 12:45 p.m. He said this will become an annual event that will be linked with the football alumni golf outing, which will be the day before at Montour Heights Country Club.

“We want this to be a program that has a family atmosphere, and this is just one more way to do it,” Wannstedt said. “Once you are a Panther, you are always a Panther, and we want you to be a part of this because it is your program, too. It will be good for our players to be able to talk with some of the older guys, especially those guys from the days when Pitt was competing for national championships.”

Cool.

Well, it seems that Pitt missed on a couple recruits. Both “hurt” for different reasons. Tight End, Andrew Devlin chose UVa this weekend. It always sucks to lose a local recruit, but I’m not too bothered to lose him, as he seems intent on playing TE and that isn’t exactly Pitt’s biggest need position. Pitt has Strong through next season. Sophomore John Pelusi (who will likely be redshirting this season due to injury) and Nate Byham is only a freshman.
The more annoying loss was Kevin Rouse, who chose Iowa. Rouse plays Inside Linebacker, and while it was arguably more of a reach to get a kid from Illinois not to go somewhere in the Big 11 he seemed like a bigger need get.

I can’t help but wonder if some of the disappointment in recruiting to this point in the year isn’t based on the raised expectations. Last year, it was almost complete wonderment after a couple years of bland — at best — recruiting efforts. Here was Pitt cleaning up on recruiting and there was amazement. This year, it’s not quite so seemingly easy. The new coach smell is not there, and the team and coach needs to show something on the field.

Winning is always the best recruiting tool.

Far be it from me to mock another school for having a decrepit football program, but…

Here’s how bad it is for Kentucky? Jim Beam, a personal favorite choice of mine, doesn’t even bother providing a “football” screen saver for the state in which the bourbon lives. Even more insulting, they provide one for Tennessee (no, they don’t have one for Pitt, but then they don’t have any for PSU, ND, and a host of others). Limited choices really — Florida, Texas, Ohio (St.), Michigan, and Georgia.
Just seems sad. Very sad.

A couple stories on a few Pitt players in the NFL.

Larry Fitzgerald wants to get better on and off the field.

What’s really important to him, Fitzgerald said, is to remain low key and humble. He said he doesn’t go out much, and instead, he devotes time to some eclectic interests.

Last year, for instance, he hired someone to come to his home and teach him how to cook. He’s dabbling in real estate, and he intends to take some Spanish classes this year.

“It’s important to be well-rounded,” he said. “Football players get this stereotype that we’re just dumb jocks and that all we can do is run and stuff like that. I just try to change the mold up. There are a lot of things that interest me besides football, but this is what I love to do, and, hopefully, I can do it for a long time.”

Fitzgerald’s parents, Carol and Larry Sr., emphasized the importance of education and developing varied interests, he said. Fitzgerald’s grandfather called him recently to remind Fitzgerald that his younger brother, Marcus, is due to graduate from Marshall this year, and that a cousin also is graduating from college.

“He (his grandfather) is like, ‘You know, you’re the only one in the family who hasn’t gotten a degree,’ ” said Fitzgerald, who plans to tackle that in the coming years.

Fitzgerald has grown up on the field, too. Coaches said his practice habits are improved. He constantly asks receivers coach Mike Wilson, a former San Francisco 49er, how future Hall of Famer Jerry Rice did certain things.

Hopefully Pitt will make sure to do what it can to maintain ties to Fitzgerald.

Another great Pitt receiver is taking it out on a former Pitt cornerback in training camp practices.

Bryant had the cart flying Friday morning. He took off down the right sideline and was well covered by left cornerback Shawntae Spencer. In a sucker move by the more experienced wideout, Bryant slowed to a jog to dupe Spencer into thinking the ball was coming, then sped up to catch it in a laid-out position.

“Coming off the field, me and Antonio were talking about the deep ball,” Spencer said of the first highlight pass. “I had him covered and he slowed down and started jogging. I looked for the ball. He took off and the quarterback threw it. He said ‘You had me covered. All I could do is make you think it was thrown.’ ”

Darned if Smith and Bryant didn’t do it again in the afternoon practice. This time, Smith found Bryant down the middle for what turned out to be an 85-yard touchdown romp in which the ball was in the air about 45 yards. Spencer was again the victim in coverage.

While developing chemistry with Smith is important — vital, even — Bryant said he is also trying to make his teammates in the secondary better, in this case by schooling one of them. Spencer should have known better, since both men were college teammates at Pitt for a time.

“He’s a scrappy guy,” Bryant said of Spencer. “I like going up against him. He gives it 100 percent. He never gives up on a play. Shawntae is going to face a lot of talented receivers this year. I’m doing my best to be there for Alex and help our DBs look good. It’s all about team.”

Spencer is being moved to left corner this year.

While Pitt won’t release it’s non-con b-ball schedule until all the contracts are signed and the dates are assured, other schools keep doing so. Dayton released its non-con schedule and confirms they play at the Pete on Saturday, December 23.

Pitt’s decision to play a much more challenging non-con continues to be noticed and praised — even as the past cupcake schedules are reviled.

The non-league schedules assembled by many BCS programs tend to include more creampuffs than carnivores.

Among the more egregious offenders in this department over the past several seasons has been Pittsburgh. Since ascending to national prominence under Ben Howland during the early 2000s, the Panthers have played a vast majority of their non-conference contests within the friendly confines of the Petersen Events Center, where they have enjoyed a considerable home-court advantage against largely inferior competition. (Before a memorable upset at the hands of Bucknell in Jan. 2005, the Panthers had won 48 consecutive OOC games on their home court.)

Last year’s team was no exception. The Panthers didn’t lose a game until Jan. 21, starting the season with 15 consecutive wins. But an out-of-conference strength of schedule that ranked No. 227 out of 334 elicited questions from a number of pundits — and not until the Panthers started recording scalps against Big East competition were the naysayers silenced.

If early reports are any indicaton, this kind of scheduling could be history in Pittsburgh. Though the non-league slate has yet to be finalized, it appears Jamie Dixon will test his club with one of the tougher OOC schedules in Division I.

The Panthers have a signed an agreement to play a home-and-home with Washington. The Huskies will travel to the Steel City on Feb. 17 and Dixon’s side will return the trip during the 2007-08 season.

Pitt will not confirm its non-conference opponents until all of the individual contracts are signed, but the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has reported a number of the other opponents the Panthers appear to have secured. The list includes perennial dancer Wisconsin and back-to-back NIT champion South Carolina, along with NCAA hopefuls Dayton, Florida State and Massachusetts.

Is it the same kind of uncompromising baptism-by-fire undergone by schools like Gonzaga or Temple? Maybe not. But it’s a welcome change in philosophy for a program whose confection-laced schedules had become the target of perennial criticism.

It will probably take Pitt a few years before they live down the sheer badness of their recent non-cons.

Here’s the kind of player profile you don’t expect to find. Focus on the redshirt freshman, walk-on, back-up punter who is also the only player on the Pitt squad from West Virginia. Say hello to Lucas Stone.

There is exactly one West Virginian on the Pittsburgh Panthers football roster. Lucas Stone knows all too well who that is.

“I am the only West Virginian on the Pittsburgh ball team,” said Stone, a redshirt freshman for the Panthers.

While Stone wasn’t able to attend the ‘Backyard Brawl’ last year at West Virginia, he certainly knew how big that game was to both teams.

“I caught a little good-natured stuff coming my way, but it’s all fun among the team,” said Stone, a 2005 graduate of Bluefield High School. “But when we get down to WVU, it’s just serious.

“We don’t want to lose to WVU. It’s the last game of this season, we will be ready.”

Unable to travel with the team or play last season as a redshirt, this one will be at Heinz Field on Nov. 16, and he could play a role.

“I’m the backup punter right now so I will get to travel,” Stone said. “You don’t really know about playing, you just have to go out there and see what happens. It should be a real good game, I’m looking forward to it.”

Small correction, the WVU game is the second last game.

The article notes that Stone wasn’t a Hoopie fan. His father went to Virginia Tech, so he was a Hokie fan in Hoopieland.

Sorry, on top of some of the server issues this morning, I had other things to distract.

Not that it’s exactly a big news day.

I used to rag on BC for being in a city that ignores it worse than Pittsburgh does the Panthers. At least Boston has the excuse of having all 4 major pro sports in the city. Cinci gets it even worse when it comes to football, and everyone knows it.

During last month’s Big East media day in Newport, R.I., University of Cincinnati football coach Mark Dantonio looked around the room and didn’t see too many familiar faces.

“I didn’t see either newspaper from Cincinnati, I didn’t see one TV camera from Cincinnati or one radio microphone,” Dantonio said. “I saw people there for the other seven schools, but not Cincinnati.”

In the Queen City, the UC football program is but a pawn in the pecking order of attention, definitely behind the UC basketball program and the two major professional sports franchises, the Reds and the Bengals. The Bearcat football team is also arguably behind Xavier University basketball, auto racing and even high school football.

“Nobody’s talking about us,” Dantonio said, just days before the Bearcats open their fall camp on Monday. “It sends a message to our players. It’s personal. That’s what you want to make it.”

The media organizations all claimed it wasn’t worth the expense to go to Media day. And even when the coach is making the rounds on local media, the reaction is, uh, muted.

Dantonio appeared on McAlister’s show midway through the three-hour show. McAlister had solicited fans for questions on his blog and on the air, but received only one e-mail prior to Dantonio’s appearance. After Dantonio’s nearly 11-minute interview, McAlister didn’t receive a single call on UC football. Piecoro did have one call following up on Dantonio’s appearance on Thursday.

Well, uh, maybe the interviews were just so complete there was no need to ask any other questions?

Then there was this story on the Div. 1-AA Panthers of Northern Iowa. They have a new player on the team.

Lindgren, Curt Bradley, Ross Hannam and Johnny Gray look to provide an experienced foundation at wide receiver, but newcomers such as Pitt transfer Terrell Allen will deepen the diverse talent pool at his arm’s disposal.

With a priceless quote from a guy kicked off the Pitt team for “chronic disciplinary problems.”

“I’ve never been the go-to guy so that really doesn’t matter to me,” said Allen, who once was rated the nation’s 22nd-best receiver prospect by SuperPrep. “If we run the ball, I’m going to block. If we pass, I’m going to catch it, but if I don’t get it, I’m going to help whoever else has the ball. It’s about team unity and winning, and this is a winning (program).”

Allen was originally heading back to his home state — South Carolina — to play 1-AA football. Not sure when he made that left turn at Albuquerque.

Darrelle Revis was put on another awards watchlist.

Pitt junior cornerback Darrelle Revis has been named to the 33-player “watch list” for the 2006 Thorpe Award, annually presented to the nation’s top defensive back.

The 2006 watch list was derived through a point system based on preseason All-America teams. Revis (Aliquippa, Pa./Aliquippa) was named to no fewer than five preseason All-America teams, including first-team honors from Athlon Sports, Lindy’s and Street & Smith’s.

In addition to the Thorpe Award, Revis was earlier named to the watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, which is presented to the nation’s top defensive player.

The Thorpe award watchlist has 32 candidates. The only other Big East candidate is Senior Strong Safety, Eric Wicks from the Hoopies.

Getting a database error

UPDATE (9:15): Whatever it was it’s fixed. Very annoying. In the future when there is a problem, with the site I think I may use the old blogspot site as a fallback to at least update on the problem.

One of the better shirts on the market. Yeah, it’s a couple years old, now. But hopefully we can have reasons to repeat that sentiment often this fall.