ANybody know if the game will be on in Central PA. At some point I still believe our players will play.

We’re going to test the theory that playing a tougher non-con schedule toughens you up for conference games. Tom Izzo does this all the time for Mich. State hoops. Sure they take a few lumps in the non-con games but they’re always either 1rst or 2nd in the conference standings at the end of the season and get a high seed for the tourney. If this doesn’t prove out, then there’s no reason to play two let alone 3 tough non-con games. You can do it the PSU & OSU way, play 3 rent a wins and maybe 1 tough non-con game (preferably at home). If Pitt’s players believe in their abilities and their team, we should have no trouble with Cuse. After all this is a team that got shredded by Washington who isn’t exactly a top notch team.
@Justin, you should be able to get if you have Direct TV, as MASN will have it on. If you don’t have Direct TV, find a bar that does. A lot of them do. Good luck.

Further programming note. Pitt/Cuse can also be found on SNY and ALT and I think someone posted yesterday ESPN3.

Great points, Virgil. I am sure all Pitt fans will most likely pack it in if they manage to lose to Syracuse. As tough as an enviroment this might be to play in Saturday, it can’t be worse than Utah or ND. Pitt needs to stop beating themselves. Wannstedt is taking too much blame for this mess at 2-3. His coordinators deserve just as much in my opinion.

“Coordinators deserve just as….” Exactly what I have been asking about for about a week. How much play calling is up to Phil Bennett? Let me put it another way if Bennett wanted to call for a blitz does Wanny say NO!! We shouldn’t be blitz happy, however, our defensive schemes are boring and very predicitable.
Does Cignetti have any say regarding our pass to run ratio? Is it Cignetti or Wanny who has not called for passes in the middle of the battlefield? In other words why are we so inept that Syracuse is favored by a point?

“And here’s the rub. A loss is possible.”
– Bob Smizik

You just can’t get this kind of analysis anywhere else.

Smizik will say anything to be controversial. Pitt may win on Saturday. But the oddsmakers do not think that will occur, and the power ratings, like Sagarin, believe it will be at least a touchdown Syracuse’s way. That is all we know right now. We have to play the game. It just does not look good.

And regarding coordinators, few could probably even name them at Penn State, Ohio State, or even Notre Dame. In college football, the head coach is everything. Assistants come and go. When a program has a successful head coach, nobody gives a rat’s ass about the assistants. But at programs like Pitt, where we have, since 1989 at least, had good reason to question the caliber of the head coach, where we always look for any ray of hope or blame, that we even talk about assistant coaches. As if magically one of them can rise up and make up for what is lacking at the top. Or, since we are stuck with Wannstedt, we can ax one of them and bring in a coach that will turn everything around. Pete Carroll lost assistants right and left at USC. The program did not miss a beat. But at Pitt, we are on our second DC and second OC, and are 1 point dogs to Syracuse. And the reason is obvious, and it isn’t the coordinators.

Right on PittStrugglesToBeIT,
I believe Wanny hired very experienced guys like Bennett to do the play calling or scheme designing. (of course they had to agree with Wanny’s basic philosophy)
IMHO Pitt isn’t blitzing much due to the fact that the LB’s outside of Gruder aren’t any good. That is to say if Williams, Roberts & whoever are clueless in a base defense, how on earth are they going to exercise a blitz properly. And if you blitz DeCicco, you’re taking your best cover LB/hybrid out of pass coverage. Also when you’re playing these spread offenses with 3 step drops, blitzing doesn’t work real well unless you’re playing your DB’s in line of scrimmage tight coverage. The loss of Fields is bigger than most people thought, as with him & DeCicco on the field at the same time you now have 2 LB sized players who can cover the middle of the field where teams are killing us, since the LB’s can’t cover well. And Fields was the most athletic guy on the D, too bad he was clueless in other areas.
Since we’re playing a team with a vanilla offense, I’d really like to see LB Shane Gordon get some playing time, I understand he is a bigtime hitter and a possible play maker, something this defense sorely needs.
This year seems to be jinxed, first the Sheard thing, then we lose All-American Romeus, then some more off field problems, then we lose Mason for the year, which was huge since he was the best athlete we had at LB, the O-line was a mess. We have to win this game to keep this ship afloat. You only see what kind of players and team you have when you have adversity. This team has had a boatload of that,so we shall see what this team and it’s coaching staff is all about.
Let’s go Pitt !

Dave Wannstedt is the head coach and boss period. He is personally responsible for everything including wearing the correct cleats. I think our assistants are as good as any. They are not the problem. Because of it, Saturday will be a very ugly day for Pitt Football.

I am as pessimistic as anyone right now and I am insanely sick of the terrible coaching, boring play, same repeated mistakes, and awful personnel decisions.

Still- I just have a strong feeling that we are gonna beat the everliving shit out of Syracuse on Saturday.

If anyone is watching the SFU and WVU game – both teams are creative (on offense and defense) and fast. They will run over Pitt.

Wow !! Rivals has a stupendous interview with Coach Dixon showing right now, If you want to retire for the evening with a smile on your face about Pitt athletics be sure and read it. Besides, it is a healthy departure from all the negativism found in reading the Pitt Bloggers. I’ve never read such depressing thoughts about one’s hometown team. Why itis almost as nauseating as reading about politics. Rev. George

Rev. George- if I’m ever in Columbus Im going to stop by the rectory with a case of Corsendonk for you- brewed by the Belgian monks for over 800 years. Hail To PITT!

Wannstedt will probably pull out a win because whenever he is under the gun, he does enough to get by to annoy on another day. Does he realize how unhappy the fan base is? I do not know. I do know from reading this board as well as the post-gazette, espn., etc., his supporters are not vocal like they used to be. If Wannstedt would let Bennet and Cignetti do their thing, this team would be 4-1. Blame Wannstedt’s stubborn ego.

Pitt fans are really dumb

@TonyinHouston, you are right. Without 13-9 Wanny would have been gone. The extension he received before the game was meaningless. Most schools will give an extension to a coach despite being on the hot seat almost as a gesture of good will. Weiss received an extension before he was canned at ND. Also, even though Nebraska hated SP, they gave him a nice extension not too long before he was fired. If Wanny loses to WVU, followed by the BGSU loss to start the season and Sun Bowl to end it, then I say he would have been gone. Instead we’re stuck with the bumbling fool for life.

@BnG – Pitt fans are so dumb, they are really dumb….fo’ real.

markp….i watched the sfla game last night, i was not impressed with sfla at all…they looked alot worse then pitt, they switched the offense around and it looks alot easier to defend…WVU has weapons on offense, but dont tell me they are faster then pitt…pitt has speed..
I wonder if other teams have so much negativity about there team..

Antoine – what about the contract extension DW got last season – is that ‘meaningless’ also?

The one before 13-9 sure meant something as DW has a contract locked up until 2014.

Oh that damn Wanny,
Did you see Wanny miss the block that would have given us a first down? Did you see him miss the tackle that let Dayne Crist score? Did you see him fumble the snap on the field goal attempt?

God help us if he coaches through the 2014 season.

USF will kick our ass later this year, you know why? Skip Holtz will out coach DW. I also think that will happen this Saturday. God I hope Im wrong but it is what it is…

Have to agree, mike. USF has bigger issues than Pitt. Daniels is not comfortable in the new offense and he was erratic last year anyway – great against WVU, awful against Pitt last year. They also have one healthy, decent receiver and no running game. Now, that could all change by the time Pitt plays them on Nov. 20, so they shouldn’t be taken lightly.

WVU had one real scoring drive. Otherwise, USF shut them down. The other points came off of USF’s (mostly Daniels’) mistakes. Devine was not a factor. But, they’re finding ways to win, so Pitt must get its act together on offense because I have a feeling we’ll need to put 20+ points on the board to win. And WVU’s D is pretty good.

Aside to Dan: I would prefer St.Pauli Girl N.A. thank you. Henceforth, I will hold (if I can) my comments about the Panthers grid performances for post season. But, I really think the Pittites have a good shot to win the BE, go to a decent bowl and rightly claim the season as successful. Keeping one’s head above water during a season of torrential adversity is no mean achievement. I’m referring.of course to season ending injuries(Romeus, Mason,( and disappointments(Gaskins) and slow growth(Sunseri,Baldwin and Greg Williams). Hopefully, these gentlemen will recover and or be reinvigorated. In the meantime, the ever loyal Coach Wannstedt is Pitt’s coach and the fans (if indeed, they are fans) shold voice or type their encouragement. Rev. George from Columbus where no Buckeye follower would DARE to be critical of the hometown “Professionals”. Oops, I mean “collegians”.

Post Gazette reports that K. Williams and Tags are likely out for Saturday’s game against the Cuse. This is unfortunate because both players looked very solid (albeit in limited action) against ND.

It goes without saying that Sunseri has to play sound for Pitt to win this game or any other remaining game for that matter. He doesn’t have to be great…he just has to play sound. I think he has made some strides the past two games. The second half against FIU (not saying much because it is FIU) and ND were an improvement. Let’s hope that things are starting to click a little bit. He hasn’t been placed in the best of situations. A first year starter playing 3 of his first 5 games against Utah, Miami and ND is no easy task. Plus, our play calling has been, in my opinion, really, really bad. This is his 6th start, time for him to start figuring things out and maybe with that the coaches will open up the playbook.

This team has talent…enough talent to give the Cuse a beatdown. I’m not sure why, but something tells me we take care of business this weekend.

Don’t confuse negativism with reality!!!!

Germans blitzkrieg into Poland:
Optimist “well, we’ll have more German beer”
Negative “I don’t like their beer, I like Belgian”
Realist “we are in really big trouble”

Wanny is and has to be accountable for the actions on and off the field of the players and the coaches.

The coaches are responsible for coming up with strategy (game plan, in our case it is always vanilla) and tactics (adjustments, do we really make adjustments?) as the game goes along.

I really think the performance on the field and off shows that we are a program that might have a chance to win the big east every 10 years. WLAT won it in 2004 and there is no way this team this year wins the conference.

Our offense and defense are too predictible and it shows. Don’t be surprised if you see SU throw a few new looks (coaching).

Wanny has been and always will be a conservative coach who plays field position and plays not to lose.

As long as Wanny is in charge we will be mediorce at best.

If we lose to SU which is a very distinct possibility the season is essentially over, this is the must win game to right the ship.

I’m going to game so I will be there to witness what transpires.

Worst comment heard on the radio this morning pertaining to the Big Least, “oh, you mean West Virginia and the little seven”. aaaaahhhhooouuccccchhhhhhh!!!!

@Reed – The 2nd extension was done (as admitted by the admin/wanny) that coaches need to be locked up for atleast 4 years to ensure the recruits the coaches will be there for the duration of their playing time.

But much like the 1st contract extension, this one didn’t mean much as the salary didn’t go up, but the bonuses did.

Remember, Wanny is doing us a favor by being here. He loves Pitt so much that he even turned the job down the 1st time he was offered this a few weeks before accepting it.

Just like our fans know (sarcasm alert), there is no way we could find someone to take this job. No coach would ever want to coach a team with an auto BCS bid in a watered down conference, no one. So maybe when Wanny resigns we can let the offensive and defensive captains run the team since no other person in the world would want to coach here.

“Pitt fans are really dumb”

BnG, I for one don’t appreciate and don’t find humor in your comment. My guess is that the overwhelming majority of posters on this blog are Pitt fans, and they impress me as being a very bright group.

Mike and TampaT – I hope you both are right – but it is frustrating watching the team play like it does (predictable)- getting mentioned as the #3 most over rated team in college FB(MSN – Lisa Horne) and the comments made about Pitt on the game last night.

Hey, ya, Smizik is a negative, but his words, “and the rub is, they could lose” or whatever he said, ya….and the problem with that comment is???????????????

While SU and Pitt do play similar styles, Marrone is smart enough to know that Pitt has more talent than SU, so I’d expect a few wrinkles you haven’t seen before. While Pitt has more talent, this one will be decided by turnovers – because the SU defense is good enough to keep them in the game.

markp: Don’t you find it funny that the same media folks who rate and raved about Pitt in preseason, now call them overrated?

I don’t think anyone here, me included, is happy about the way the season’s gone. But like Rev. George – a man of FAITH – I have hope that it can be turned around, and the stated goal of winning the BE can be realized.

I too will reserve judgement of Wanny’s tenure for a later date. To this point, he’s made steady progress on and off the field, he’s renewed interest in Pitt football and he’s sold out the stadium two years in a row. That can’t be denied, despite his flaws and frustrating ways.

Now, to be critical of his game planning and in particular his gameday coaching is another thing. That obviously has to change or next season will be spent with him on the hot seat and with more critics than ever.

Reserve judgement to a later date, it’s been 6 years???????? Steady progress on and off the field, 4 arrests in succession, and one of the worst starts for a Pitt football team since Foge blew it a couple years in a row, with some of the most talented college teams ever assembled. Sold out, ya, I guess, by sales, but, don’t confuse sales for attendance, lucky if there were 35k for F.I.U., lose tommorow, they can play Rutgers and Louisville in the Wolverena!! Renewed interest, yes, he did do that, and now, I have asked 8 people at work if they want two excellent seats for the Louisville game, 7 no’s and 1 “I’ll get back to ya”. Also, more people interested in watching Michigan-Iowa and Nebraska-Texas. Sorry brother, I respect you and your opinion, but, I can only say what I see.

He is a blundering idiot, period. He has been mediocre at best everywhere he has been as the captain of the ship.

Id put some of WPIAL’s best high school coaches in and this team would be 4-1 or 5-0… people are discounting how much of the MIAMI game was dude to an absolutely unwinnable strategy and poor game management by the buffoon

“I don’t think anyone here, me included, is happy about the way the season’s gone.”

DAN: All of your examples are from THIS season, which isn’t over yet. I’m just saying I’m not writing it off yet, like many have. You seem smarter than that too.

Anybody who witnessed the Miami massacre and can still say that the jury is still out on Wanny’s “progress” needs counseling themselves. That was the watershed moment for Dave. He laid an egg in front of all his friends who are abandoning him via benign indifference by the day. (They won’t criticize him, nor will they defend him any longer – they just remain silent). He is a desparate man (as evidenced by his crazy behavior on the sideline for the FIU game).

It is entirely possible he may still win the Big Least which would be tantamount to winning the blue ribbon at the county fair for being the tallest midget. Nobody will be surprised if he loses three or more games either. What difference does it make? Pitt’s reputation has been established and there is zero momentum on their side. No margin for error. The odds of pulling off a stunning reversal of image are slim and none, and slim just left town.

Wanny had his chance and he blew it, on national TV in front of all his friends. The rest of the story is nothing more than reruns of The Honeymooners – Ralph is a really nice guy but he will always be a renter.

P.S. Do I have to keep adding my statement of “I was not a fan of the Wanny hire, but it appears we’re stuck with him for a while. So, I’d rather focus on how to win with him and in spite of him.” to every post I make? Or, can that be taken as a given?

I’m not writing off this season yet either, but how many more excuses can be given? We’ve been waiting 6 years to break through and this was supposed to be the season. Are we going to give Wanny another 6 years to try? If we can’t overcome these issues which every team has to some degree (inexperience, injuries) and win the Big East this year, Wanny doesn’t deserve another year to try and come up yet with more excuses on why what should be realistically possible is impossible.

“He is a blundering idiot, period”

DeVanzo, please help me understand. You are stating that a guy who coached a team to 10 wins, a guy whose team was rated the 15th best team in the country out of a pool of approximately 110 teams is a “blundering idiot”, and you would like this board to take you seriously??? Er…, ah…, OK. But please be patient with us. We can’t all be as intelligent as you.

Justin, the game will be carried in Central PA on Channel 15 (I think it is the “WB” or something like that)…Here is what we should do: We should fire DW and the entire staff, while we are at it get rid of the AD too!. Then would should beg Mike Leach to become our coach for one third of the salary he made at Texas Tech (which is about what DW made in relation to him in 2009). We could warn him that most of our fans prefer blogs to stadium seats. Besides, the yellow seats at Heinz Field are just plain cheerful looking! Then Leach could work out a deal with Jabaal Sheard to have him throw “tiny” Tino through a few doors until he gets a concussion. Leach could then lock “tiny” Tino in an equipment room for the rest of the year. Then, we could have our exciting offense! Next, the Univeristy of Pittsburgh should beg, with all of its heart, the Big 10 to allow us in. This would work because that is all you need to do to switch conferences. We could sweeten the deal by saying we will play PSU at PSU every year!!!…Ahh, now I feel better because I am in the same “reality” as some of the posters have been here lately.

The line shifted, Pitt’s now a 1 point favorite instead of underdog.

…. not that I gamble or anything (sorry if this was posted already, I just saw this at work and can’t exactly read through the other comments).

Tampa, I’ll just say it, yes, I have written off the season. The way they have played does not have me optimistic for the rest of the season. I think it will be a tough game tomorrow. We’ll have our hands full with Rutgers. We should beat Louisville, I guess??? At UCONN and S.Fla, hands full totally, and then WVU and Cincy. No, I don’t think it looks good, in a conference that has now definitely without question fallen below the MNTN West, and, is on par, maybe with the WAC. I’ve said it a ton of times on here, we all bleed blue and gold on here (otherwise we wouldn’t have found and searched out this site), so, we are the die hards obviously. I hope I’m wrong, I hope the ship is righted, we end up going 7-0 or 6-1, win the Big East and play Alabama or Nebraska in the Orange Bowl or something. After watching the way the team has played and been coached, I cannot in my wildest dreams see that scenario playing out. Will I still cheer, will I still hope, of course, but, my interest has gone from a 10+ down to a 1 or a zero. Sorry, possibly my own fault, got caught up in all the expectations!!!

DAN: We’re not that far off in our thinking. The difference is that I think if Wanny can see the light, take off the headset, and bring Cig and Bennett out of the booth and onto the sideline so adjustments can be made during and after each series instead of at halftime, your “wildest dreams” scenario could happen.

I watched Kelly school Crist after each series and then I saw Tino come off the field to zero coaching. That’s why Kelly owns Wanny – in-game coaching. Wanny can’t do that and that’s his major flaw IMHO.

Does that mean he must go? I don’t know. But I do know that I don’t give a crap who the coach is or whether I love him or not. All I care about is Pitt winning football games and being able to say “Hail to PITT!” with pride. We were starting to get there with Wanny, so I too bought in. So, I’m giving the guy a chance to keep me – for now.

HbgFrank: All I can say is “priceless.” LOL

BigGuy… ive done this to you two times in other posts, but here goes try number 3!

“coached a team to 10 wins”
went 10-3, favored all 13 games, lost 3 games to a team that didnt make a bowl game and two teams that got beat in their bowl games…didnt beat a team in the RPI top 30…played zero ranked non-conference oponents…creampuff schedule?

“a guy whose team was rated the 15th best team in the country out of a pool of approximately 110 teams”

really? using a poll? come on man! We were ranked preseason number 15 this year… howd that work out? The point is, he is 1-5 against REAL teams in the last 6 games… and I think Pitt had more talent than every team except Miami. Hooray! We beat an 8-4 ACC team in a midtier bowl!! Wanny is the man!

“is a “blundering idiot” ”

YES

“and you would like this board to take you seriously???”

Yes, i think ive shown through many analyses that my opinions are well founded and make sense.

“Er…, ah…, OK. But please be patient with us. We can’t all be as intelligent as you.”

Acceptance is the first step!

Hail to Pitt brother… but I standy by my Wanny must go message

Don’t forget ND, DeVanzo. #10 average recruiting class over the past 5 years and the #2 class in 2008 that included 5-stars Floyd, Crist and Rudolph along with a number of 4-stars whose names were prominent in Saturday’s game. I’d say that was a more “talented” team too.

Otherwise, I’ll let you and BigGuy argue the other points. Agree with some. Disagree with others, as you know.

That team was not recruited for that system… and was clearly adjusting to it

do you honestly think Pitt should have lost that game on personnel alone?

The point regarding Sunseri on the sidelines is valid, Wanny uses the same recycled conservative gameplan week in and week out.

They are slow to adjust as the game progresses. I have to agree that Wanny is an idiot, you have to conceed the point that we are too conservative on both sides of the ball, clock management at the end of ND game was an issue and we play for field position.

Look I love Pitt football but Wanny is a relic stuck in the 80’s and last season is about as good as it gets.

He has had 6 seasons I think Wlat did more with less!

WE ARE A MEDIOCRE!

Talent is talent and ND is heavy on offensive talent, not unlike Kelly’s Cinci teams. His system is not that different from Weiss’. He’s just a far superior in-game coach. Pitt’s D played pretty well against that talent after adjusting to the tempo.

The game was lost on special teams for the most part – missed kick, fumbled snap on a kick, missed block on a fake punt, poor punt fielding. I know, that’s all Wanny’s area. That’s why I’d like him to be the CEO-figurehead-recruiter-ambassador and not the gameday coach.

DeVanzo, if you would say that DW makes mistakes or, perhaps, Pitt could hire a coach who would win more games due to a greater knowledge of the game and due to better reactions and decisions during the games, we could have a nice discussion. But when you say, “He is a blundering idiot, period”, you lose all credibility with me. I can’t take you as someone who is rational.

Wanny is not getting the job done. He is recruiting better, but then he uses the wrong playrs and swithces them around like Dickerson or keeps Bostick on the bench no matter how bad Sunseri does. He shows lousy play selection and adjustments. Wanny knows horrible clock management. Anyone who is a student of the game knows that if he is making these mistakes year after year, at his age he is not going to get better.

Walt Harris was not better than him, becasue he could not get the bigger players to man the trenches. He did what he could, but his reruiting repelled top athletes for the most part. His wins came in shootouts with Furman. He beat no teams ranked at the end of the year except one VA TECH team ranked about 18th.

Dave has served his purpose and he is going backwards now killing much of the progress we had made. Graham would have to double the rushing record for Wanny to let him start? The recuiting will go back down if Dave keeps under performing with the better players. It is no sin to move on. Any job is going to be based on performance and few jobs give an employee more than 6 years to show something. Some of the pro Wanny argument are pretty sad, but we all like the guy. No need to paint people who wish to move on as some form of traitors.

Lastly, a new coach does not have to be from Pittsburh to suck less or stay longer. Lets just start looking and Pederson needs to tell Dave to stop making these bonehead mistakes. That is something Pederson can do now. I wrote him and he emails back. You can be civil and show your concerns for how things are heading with Dave at the wheel. Pressure is what Steve will respond to povided Dave keeps losing fans and Steve’s faith. I have backed Dave a long time. But that is no different than any other hire at any other job. It’s not personal.

a spade = a spade

ive never seen that level or poor coaching or cluelessness at a WPIAL high school game… hes an idiot is a shorter way for me to say he is so completely unqualified to be a head coach that it makes my headspin and he has no creativity or tactical/strategic advantage and lacks any kind of command/leadership skills under pressure and he makes his assistants wear different color polos so he stands out… idiot is just easier

dont believe me on the polos? watch the game… in my circle we call him the “bride” now as well because he makes his a-coaches wear different dresses

not commenting on Wanny but Les Miles is a blundering idiot and his team is constantly ranked high, even has a national championship…it isn’t always what your results are, but rather what you do with your talent.

Dan: Perhaps you are offering Pitt game tickets to the wrong people. I, for one, would be delighted to have 3 tickets for the Louisville game and guarantee those seats will be filled with Ohio Pitt fans. My problem seems to be the time of the games and the fact that I “work” Sunday mornings. If you are interested in furthering this conversation please let me know by looking up my # in the Columbus Directory. Privacy matters make communication well-nigh impossible. I’ve been scammed big-time before.

No, what we should do is keep DW, his entire staff, and the AD for at least another 6 years. We could sweeten DW’s salary, bump him up another million or two. It’s fun watching a team regress. Hey, we beat N.Carolina in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, he and his staff deserve as much. We must look past all of the flubs, unexpected losses, and embarrassments, that’s just the way it is. Like the Miami game this year on national t.v., don’t read to much into that, even though there were over 400 past football alumni and recruits on hand, and a national t.v. audience and we crapped ourselves, hey, it was the “U”. Even though they made us look like we were running in wet cement, they’re the “U” (wonder if that is the same “U” that then got routed by FSU, must be a different “U”. We don’t have to worry about snubbing the Big Ten, allthough my wish last spring, I now realize, we have absolutely no business being in the Big Ten. We actually may have been on the short list, (even though they have tv locked up in Pa) a lot of higher ups had us on the list, and, if we would have been 12-1, 11-2 with at least one win over a somebody, anybody, and a top 10 finish, along with our hoops, top research univ, we just may have made an attractive candidate, but, alas, we are just right where we be long, yes, we are right were we belong with UCONN football and USF, and don’t forget the Cards!!! I actually like Tino, and thank goodness they didn’t have him ready as a capable starter for the beginning of the year, they have a whole year to sort that out. After all, we are the only team to ever have a new QB playing, we’re also the only team to have injuries too, did you know that, yep, no one else ever has to deal with these issues. And, when they do, they all go 2-10, 1-11 and even 0-13!!!! They never ever have just a game or two to get adjusted, and go on with the season without missing a beat. Yep, every time they lose a player or two, back to the beginning and start over. “just gotta keep workin harder!!!” “we’re gonna get this thing right!!”
Besides, who wants to go to a BCS bowl, that won’t be any fun having to see us on sportscenter and fox sports every night a week before the game with the match ups and stories about Pitt. Who wants that kind of attention. Too much pressure for me, maybe we’ll get to the Pinstripe Bowl, hey, NYC around Christmastime, that’s kinda cool. As for attending, I realize most posters on here, as I’ve posted before are probably the die hards and probably do attend most of the games,(i’m assuming die hards because you would almost have to be to find and search out this site and take the time to post), anyhow, some of us even attending the 72-0 OSU game and the 60 to something Va. Tech games years ago, so really no one on here is probably, for the most part the problem. It’s those darn bandwagoners!!! Admittedly I’m a bandwagoner baseball fan, as I would bet, some of you are, and may bandwagon the Steelers or Pens, as is human nature, bandwagoning is quite normal, as you can really only attach yourself and afford to attend one, or at the most, two sports. (If you can attend all Pitt football, Pitt hoops, Steelers, Pirates and Pens, could you loan me a couple bucks??) but, I digress, so, Pitt does have some bandwagoners. Here’s how it goes, three things happen with attendance for Pitt that has been true since methusala, Pitt Stadium, Heinz Field, either or. ONE—Sell outs for ND, Penn State and West Virginia pretty much no matter whether Pitt is 12-0 or 0-12. TWO—this is where the bandwagoners come in—if Pitt is having a decent team and look half decent, 45-55k for a half decent opponent, and if Pitt is doing really well, maybe even for some creampuffs. THREE—20-30k if Pitt is stinking up the joint, the die hards, maybe some high school football players and band members that got some free tickets, and some families with nothing else to do. So, to consistenly get nice crowds, whether we like it or not, Pitt must win, and produce a brand of football that is somewhat fun to watch. You must get the bandwagoners to say, “hey, I wanna go to that Pitt game next week” with excitement in their voices. Again, we may not like that, wish we had 65k die hards, but, that is not the case. So, after all this, I more I think about it, let’s just give DW, his staff, the AD, the Chancellor and everyone in the admistrative staff a large increase in salary, and, let’s give them that lifetime tenure that they really deserve. ha-ha-ha-ha Have a great weekend all, here’s hoping to big win tomorrow and a course correction, I’m all for it!! Hail to Pitt!!!

Fair’s fair. Excellent post, DAN, despite the length and sarcasm. Many good points on the frustrations with Wanny, and the difficulty of being a college program in a major sports town. USF struggles with fandom much the same way here in Tampa.

With you 100% on your last sentence.

Hail to PITT! Crush the Orange!!!

It is time for Ray Graham to get majority of the carries. I am tired of hearing Dion deserves his. He doesn’t have the vision and the explosiveness that Ray Graham has had to date. You are short-changing this team by not putting the best guy out there. Dion should only play to give Ray a breather. Then, if Dion rips off some good runs, then you let him start to “share” carries or take carries away from Ray.

2-3 exactly where I thought we’d be. Not happy with some coaching decisions. Looking forward to tommorow.

Excellent post ….thrilled to have all the Dan’s..especially Dan 10…but lay off the speed.
The frustration, angst and anger this past week is no different than the past 4 years. The head coach is not an idiot however and even I take offense at that. He is however stubborn as a jackass and believes his way is best. I hope Pitt wins tomorrow and will be watching but not emotionally involved. However, if things go as they have been, Pitt has absolutely no chance to win this game. Unless there is a coaching change at gametime it says here Pitt 12 (we miss two extra points and a FG) Syracuse 23. If I was a betting man, I would be the mortgate on the Orange. Sorry, in advance, for all the angst to come…wish it wasn’t so. BBall starts soon.

Hey, sorry about the length, just killin’ the last 20 at work. To everyone, the rev, Tampa, Dan, everyone, a lot of us are just frustrated and especially to HbgFrank, I had too much time on my hands, and my sarcasm was not at you, with you, I mean that. No contempt here, enjoy everyone, just been a frustrating year, let’s hope we go get em’ tomorrow. Hail to Pitt, all have a safe and good weekend!!!

p.s. thank goodness Pitt has all of the posters and Chas’s blog on her, definitely the die hards, especially people from out of town, who may or may not get to make games. We are the die hards!!!

Holding down Pitt in NYC and at the HILL every game…. except when I come home… like I came home for MIAMI… ugh

Hill tomorrow anybody?

Hail to Pitt