Please, please, please. Don’t make it this easy.
Q: OK, cut through the BS — what is your prediction for this team?
ZEISE: I usually don’t give predictions per se, other than to give a range of where a team should be and so here is what I’ll say. I see a team, who, if it plays well, should be 8-4. In other words, the talent level on this team is, from what I can see and based on experience and knowing what kind of schedule it is going to face, good enough that it is very fair to expect eight wins from it. So eight is the cut-off in my book and less than eight is underachieving while more than eight is overachieving. So if you ask me what I am expecting from this team I’ll say 8-4, though I could make a very strong case for 10-2 or 5-7 if you’d really like me to.
So, that isn’t a prediction. Just an expectation.
Then don’t. Don’t do a write-up for preseason magazine where the “Overview” part has you writing, “It is hard to imagine this team won’t get to at least eight wins.”
I actually like Paul Zeise’s writing. I think Pitt is rather lucky that both dailies have good writers on the Pitt football beat. Zeise, however, can’t pretend that his freelance writing gig is totally unconnected.
Like it or not, the preseason mags aren’t just about providing a synopsis on a team. People buy them to see what the expectations and predictions are. I’m sure Zeise did not have anything to do with the slotting of Pitt at #23 in Lindy’s. But he took the work-for-hire, and associated with them. The language can be parsed, to say there is no prediction. It sure seems that way, though.
I have, numerous times, and even down here in Maryland – right next to College Park, home of the Maryland Terps – there is a dearth of coverage for the local team.
PITT Football gets outstanding coverage by both the Post-Gazette and the Tribune Review, not only daily columns (sometimes even two or three) but associated Q&As, Blogs and Internet Chats. That is VERY unusual for a college football program to get.
I prefer to get realism and honesty from my established media. If I want homerism or cheer leading I can go onto blogs, message boards, etc and get it there (present Blog Owner excluded of course).
No, the local paper’s beat writers have a responsibility to parse emotion out of their writing and tell it like it is, even if that news isn’t good. On the other hand, the paper’s columnists have more latitude in what they can write, and most readers recognize the different venues each are using.
You assume a lot and you are wrong in all cases. Have you got Pitt confused with LSU, FSU, OSU, UCLA, USC, PSU etc.,? Pitt isn’t close to being a football factory yet. They’re working on it, but that is another topic for another time.
I’m not advocating homerism or cheerleading, even though I got carried away with the “Zeise yell†part. And I’ve never advocated anything less than the truth. I just tire of them hedging their bets all the time, like they’ll be covering WVU or PSU next week. These guys are replaceable parts without an original thought between them. I think it is pathetic that a Pitt sports article first appears on scout.com then a couple days later a rewrite appears in the local papers, usually the trib first and the post second. The biggest reason that these guys go to the game early is to eat the free food while it is still hot. Is this the outstanding coverage you’re talking about?
Zeise: “So if you ask me what I am expecting from this team I’ll say 8-4, though I could make a very strong case for 10-2 or 5-7 if you’d really like me to.“ What the hell is he talking about? Is this the outstanding coverage you’re talking about?
Here’s another article, a day later, along the same lines as Zeise’s article “Pitt better ‘prove it’†by Joe Starkey.
link to pittsburghlive.com
Or what?
Starkey: “This column made a terrible mistake Sept. 3, 2005, the day No. 23 Pitt opened against Notre Dame. It assumed the honeymoon period for new Panthers coach Dave Wannstedt would be a short one.
Wow, were we mistaken.†Is this the outstanding coverage you’re talking about?
Several hours from game time what worries us Pitt fans is: Are they mistaken again?
And who the hell does he think he is calling for the “Time for the Payoff in Wannstedt’s Fourth Season� Although Wannstedt has had 3 good years of recruiting, Pitt still has serious depth problems at many positions, e.g., all along the offensive line. Pitt needs to have another two or three more good years to fill all the holes on the team. Many of the players are coming off of surgeries and serious injuries. If the O-line stays healthy, they might be at best average? Pitt has number of players that just haven’t grown into their hype. Pitt also has a serious lack of experience at many positions. The pressure these sportswriters are trying to put on Wannstedt and Pitt is not helping the team and hurting recruiting.
And when is Zeise going to realize that Wannstedt or any other coach on the staff for that matter doesn’t play a single down of football, the players do. Wannstedt isn’t responsible season ending injuries to the players that realistically ended our post season play off hopes last year. He brought in the best trainer in the known world, Buddy Morris, to get them in football shape. If a number of key players get seriously hurt there won’t be a Payoff this year either. So if Paul Zeise intends to continue winding the clock on Wannstedt , I’d rather he just slither out of Pittsburgh and find a team that he actually likes writing about.