So, um, anyone know any good bars near this place?

In an effort to embrace and celebrate the traditions of Western Pennsylvania football, Pitt head coach Paul Chrystannounced today he will be taking the annual Pitt Spring Football Festival and Blue-Gold Scrimmage on the road to North Hills High School on April 14.

“I may be new to Pittsburgh, but I’ve respected and known about the traditions of Western Pennsylvania high school football for a long time,” Chryst said. “As a first-year coaching staff, we feel it is important to get out and engage the people and communities who have built that tradition. The spring game is a perfect opportunity to do this and we’re really looking forward to visiting North Hills in April.”

The gates at North Hills’ Martorelli Stadium will open at 11 a.m. The Panthers will host a youth clinic at 11:30 a.m., followed by the playing of the Blue-Gold Scrimmage at 1 p.m.

The stadium is not at the school. Not sure what the capacity actually is. Pre-2000 renovations, the seating was around 5300. I’m guessing it isn’t too different now.

Update: Not seeing any bars nearby, but there is a beer distributor rather close by. Hopefully tailgating will be allowed.

I got more into that game than I expected. I was trying to be mellow about it. Not take it too seriously. Just try and observe players, but mid-way through the first half I was shouting at the TV, fired-up up about the game and really wanting Pitt to win. It had nothing to do with last year. It was simply that I was watching Pitt play a competitive game and I wanted my team to get the win. I hope I never lose that kind of reaction.

This was a gritty win for Pitt. One that had a plenty working against them. On the road, bad shooting, iffy officiating, defensive breakdowns. Unlike a lot of games this year, though, Pitt got to the other side with a win.

Yes, it helped that Butler was hideous at the free throw line, but that sort of balanced out the one-way officiating. That aspect was extremely frustrating that Butler players could just throw themselves at Pitt inside and toss the ball in the air — and draw foul calls. Pitt players were standing straight, arms straight. And the foul would still be called. I don’t blame the Butler team for doing it all game. I blame the officials for giving them the reason to keep doing it.

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Guess it sums up the CBI. Both the Trib and P-G did not bother sending their beat reporters to the Pitt-Butler game. So, the articles from each paper were written by Indiana-based freelancers.