Browser tabs starting to pile up, so it is time to get some of the material out there.
Sporting News has general Big East preview stuff. A list of the “best.” No idea what their parameters were for picking the best blog, though I’m guessing they only looked mainstream media. That they picked Tampa Bay Online rather than Troy Nunes or any of the other excellent Big East team blogs out there. Here’s the “best” stuff related to Pitt.
Personality: Greg Romeus, DE, Pitt
Offensive coordinator: Frank Cignetti, Pitt
In man-to-man coverage: Aaron Berry, Pitt
Defensive line: Pitt
Bet to be a head coach soon: David Walker, running backs coach, Pitt
Backup QB: Pat Bostick, Pitt
Chance for a turnaround: Bill Stull, QB, Pitt
Think the Pitt QB issue doesn’t have everyone a little hesitant about picking them?
WE SAY: Pitt will win its first outright conference championship in school history.
Former Pitt All-American BILL FRALIC says: “My perspective, candidly, is there is no clear-cut favorite in the Big East. But here’s why Pitt can do it: The conference may be down a hair overall, and we have a great defense. The critical part of the equation is quarterback play. I’m cautiously optimistic that whoever plays—Billy Stull or Pat Bostick—there’s going to be a bigger impact at that position than in the past.”
The rest of us are cautiously terrified.
Sticking with previews, predictions and scenarios, Brian Bennett at ESPN.com hits Pitt’s best and worst cases.
Paul Zeise blogs a lot of Pitt player lists: MVPs, Best, Best Athletes, Best NFL Prospects, Best young players. Lists. Fodder to pass the time.
Scrimmage was canceled for today. All the contact drills from the day before apparently rendered it moot. It seems cheap tickets and a catiously optimistic fanbase result in a better season ticket sales.
Pitt season tickets are selling at a pace that would equal the second-most sold in the program’s history. Chris Ferris, the associate athletic director for marketing and promotions, said the Panthers will surpass last year’s 42,000 season-ticket sales. The record for season-ticket sales was more than 57,000 in 2003 when the Larry Fitzgerald-led Panthers were a preseason top 20 team and played a home schedule that included Virginia Tech, Notre Dame and Miami.
You know what would really help ticket sales for the rest of the season? Not stumbling out of the gate in September.
Here’s what Coach Wannstedt says about the upcoming year.
Q: What can fans look forward to during the 2009 Pitt football season?
A: I think that we’re going to have great leadership. I think our defense is going to be as good as we’ve been in a while. And I think we’re going to see more big plays in the passing game than we have in the past few years. I think our quarterbacks are better, I think our skilled guys are all improved, and I look for some big years out of those guys. We’re excited to get this year going.
Wins. Looking for wins in things to look forward to.
This was taken from the last link (Wanny’s interview) in Chas’ blog above:
“I’m so proud of last year’s class. We had 14 seniors and 13 of them graduated. 10 of them are in NFL camps”
that’s kind of impressive — hope that keeps up
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Penn State alumni and fans in metropolitan Washington, D.C will have an opportunity to see the Nittany Lion football team play in the shadow of the nation’s capital during the 2010 season.
Indiana University Vice President and Director of Athletics Fred Glass announced today that the athletic department has reached an agreement with the Washington Redskins and FedEx Field to move its 2010 Big Ten Conference home game with Penn State to the Redskins’ home facility in Landover, Md. The game will be played on November 20, 2010.
It is the Nittany Lions will first game in metropolitan Washington since an October 2, 1993 visit to the University of Maryland. There are more than 40,000 Penn State alumni in the greater Washington area, according to the Univerisity.
What exactly is going on here? Indiana forfeits a home game to play 2 hours away from the State Penn??
HTscriptP
So, Gas is right, why should you give a rat’s ass about a Penn State game with Indiana.
THIS IS A CONFERENCE GAME!
How the Big Ten lets this stand is beyond me. there should be an uproar from the Ohio State and Michigan camps right now. Essentially this is giving PSU 5 home games and 3 road games, completely unfair when you are trying to run a conference with a BCS berth at stake.
There should be outrage
BTW, I’m sure you know that Syracuse will play USC and ND (twice) in the upcoming years at the new Meadowlands .. I’m sure to attract the NYC crowd. I’m sure the Cuse will be getting a good payout.
Lets not forget, in 2009 the State Penn already has 8 home games and just 4 road games – unbelievable that this is allowed to continue.
9/5: Akron
9/12: Syracuse
9/19: Temple
9/26: Iowa
10/3: @ Illinois
10/10: Eastern Illinois
10/17: Minnesota
10/24: @ Michigan
10/31: @ Northwestern
11/7: Ohio State
11/14: Indiana
11/21: @ Michigan St
Jaime H has a very good point. The fact that State Penn slimes their way into having only 3 true road games is unacceptable. There should be more fuss made about this type of backdoor dealing. Everyone wants that perfect record at season’s end. The big 11 has become incredibly boring to watch and it’s practically criminal how they slide their way into position every year. Where’s the governing body? Why can’t the NCAA be in charge of Scheduling 2 games a year per team?
Speaking of governing bodies, Ed Rendell doesn’t have a hair on his ass for not stepping in and resolving a solution for the Pitt v State Penn rivalry. It’s a matter of state pride and it’s simply embarrassing that Pennsylvania is the ONLY state in which the two major football programs do not match up every year.
HTscriptP
