I do love increased transparency. Both papers had features on DeJuan Blair and LeSean McCoy. Credit to Ray Fittipaldo and the P-G, though, for explaining exactly how this happened.
First, there were the photo shoots, then a television interview and finally another round of interviews with print reporters. By the time their media obligations were finished late morning had turned to early afternoon, but LeSean McCoy and DeJuan Blair seemed to be reveling in their new-found celebrity.
The Pitt media relations staff has been busy touting the exploits of their young superstars and a media blitz yesterday was done in part to showcase two of the school’s emerging stars. Both athletes, who are just as comfortable in front of a microphone as they are on the athletic fields, are embracing the pressure that comes along with star status.
“You know me,” said Blair, a Hill District resident and former star at Schenley High School. “I love the media. It’s excellent to get into the limelight.”
“When you have success, this comes with it,” McCoy said matter-of-factly.
It has been 30 years since two freshmen have made such a big impact on Pitt athletics.
The rest of the story focuses on the historical parallels to 1977 with Sam Clancy and football recruiting class Jackie Sherill brought in.
The Trib story plays it straight and does a Q&A with the two.
Good stuff and a solid idea to promote the two. Not a lot more to really say about it, though.
In comparing them to 1977, the only thing that really stands out about it is that they don’t compare all that much to 1977. The players both of them were compared to had better numbers.
That said, it also shows the motivation for us as fans to be excited again by what we see. No, neither Blair or McCoy are (yet) the best at their positions in Pitt history. But they both rank top 3 roughly as far as freshmen seasons go. And as Pitt fans, we don’t need to wait for the next Tony Dorsett or Dan Marino to come through here. We need the first LeSean McCoy, DeJuan Blair, Larry Fitzgerald, etc. to come through here. It is better for this era of Pitt sports to define itself than for us to constantly look back to an era 30 years ago, that we won’t ever really know a true comparison to.