Greetings from NYC.

I’m looking over the Nike itinerary and part of the time is a chance for 1-on-1 interviews with the presenters.

As Ruben Brown is presenting the Pitt unis, I now have to figure out what to say to him other than, “Gee, you sure are big.”

Suggestions welcome.

Not sure why Pitt is not putting this info out there, but instead Miami has put out the Nike Press release in advance of tomorrow. Looks like they may have jumped the gun.

Ruben Brown will be presenting the Pitt uni. Here’s the basic description.

• Pittsburgh: Notched Team Gold jersey numbers and stencil stripe on the helmet evoke steel I-beams in reference to Pittsburgh’s steel industry.

Reserving all judgment until I see it, but that sounds a lot like the iron beam Pitt logo.

They have info on all the other unis. Huggins is doing the intro on WVU. Wonder if he’ll entertain any questions on Joe Mazzula pissing in the street.

Got to head out soon to the airport. Reminder for all of you in NYC, hope to see you at the Spring Lounge tonight around 7 pm. If you want to shoot me an e-mail with a cell number, I can text you. Especially if we head elsewhere.

Most surprising thing I read. A beer truck breaks apart on the South Side and there is no party.

Thin air? Really? Must useful information as to why they can’t worry about it. It takes at least 4 days to adjust. Coach Wannstedt is right on this. One extra day means nothing.

Puffer profile on Tino Sunseri. No pressure, kid.

Remember the 13 straight wins for Utah when they have 8 days or more to prepare? Well they also have a 17 game home winning streak. Well, much like the questionable value of that, 14 of the 17 wins came against teams that were below .500.  Again, it isn’t that Utah is overrated or a paper tiger. It is that these win streaks and numbers that a SID puts out are not worth very much.

Yes, Utah has a good offense. Not to mention a fast defense.

Ray Graham might be healthy enough to back-up Dion Lewis. Odds of seeing him on the field: slim.

As expected the only true freshmen to make the 2-deep were DT Aaron Donald and CB K’wuan Williams.

No one seems to be buying the whole argument that the O-line has looked iffy because it is going against Pitt’s D-line.

In case you hadn’t hear, the O-line is a big key to Pitt’s season.

Why didn’t I do any Q&A’s with Utah people? I didn’t have to.

Cardiac Hill has a one with Dick Facer of the Desert News. So does 93.7’s Chris Gates.

Anson at Cardiac Hill wasn’t done, as he also did one with Block U blog. Oh, and so did Bryan at Pitt Script.

Time to get going. Have to finish some things, and catch a flight.

Simulations are interesting, and seeing them used increasingly in sports creates an interesting question regarding the information input into the system.

The guys at WhatIfSports ran plenty of simulations for all the upcoming games this week. Including the Pitt-Utah game.

The Utes, expected to be TCU’s top challenger in college football’s top non-AQ conference, lose a tight one to Pitt, the Panthers winning more than 61% of the time but by an average of just a single point.

The score averaged out to 33-32. Not exactly the defensive battle expected.

The statistical inputs to the thousands of college football simulations are based on rigorous analysis of each team’s roster, depth charts and statistically based player rankings. Roster modifications are made in cases of injury or suspension and those player’s are removed from their team’s game simulation for that week.

Under normal circumstances, I would question the value of the simulations for the first game simply because the information is stale. It is based on the previous season.

In the case of this game, where the simulations result in a very, very slim win for Pitt it seems useless. Even slightly over 60% of the time with a Pitt the margin shows what a toss-up this game is.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but this past Saturday was the last Saturday I expect to be doing house and yard projects or work until sometime in April. In just a few days, the season kicks off and Pitt is a big part of that start.

It should be one of the most hyped games of the week, but since it is on Versus rather than the Mouse Monopoly it is getting considerably less hype. Oh, well.

Papers keep running previews. Some  focusing on the Big East, and Pitt still is the favorite.

There’s an interesting theme I’ve been noticed, that didn’t crystallize for me until last night. I read this simple conference prediction rundown on DawgSports.

Pittsburgh. I have a special level of disdain for the Panthers—Georgia has a frustrating history with Pitt—and I have little inclination to repose faith in Dave Wannstedt, but Brian Kelly, Jim Leavitt, and Rich Rodriguez all are gone from what was never a deep league, putting the Panthers in a position to finish atop the conference.

Yeah. A frustrating history. Fun.

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