I see there are articles and discussions on the topic of legacies with this senior class, and one player in particular. Some were probably ready to turn the page by halftime of the BBVA Bowl. Others will want to vent or defend for the next two years.

The one thing of which I feel certain, is that this particular class will be most linked with (blamed on) former coach Dave Wannstedt. I’m hoping it is the last of them. It should be. While there is one more more true Wannstedt classes to graduate, the 2008 and 2009 signing clases that make up this group seem to exemplify the promise and disappointment of the Wannstedt era.

This is really the last group to really feel that the ties to Wannstedt are still there. That draw reference to him.

“We wanted to start with a guy like coach Wannstedt, we believed in coach Wannstedt,” Sunseri said.

“For us to finish with a guy like coach Chryst, we feel like he’s the Dave Wannstedt kind of guy. Coach Chryst obviously is his own person and he brings different attributes to the table, but he’s one of those guys that loves this university, loves the players.”

When the comparisons are to Fraud Graham and Haywood, that can be considered in a positive light.

(more…)

When Pitt formally announced the early signings of Soto, Orndoff, Chapman and Jarrett to the football program, there was a curious fifth.

In addition to the freshmen enrollees, Chryst announced that redshirt freshman Dontez Ford, a native of McKees Rocks, Pa., and graduate of Sto-Rox High, has transferred to Pitt from Syracuse. Ford will work at wide receiver this spring.

Ford had made it known he was transferring before Doug Marrone took the Buffalo Bills job, so the two are unrelated.

Now, in the Big East transfers between conference schools is prohibited. So, what gives?

ACC rules.

(more…)

Over the years I’ve made no secret of my love of good beer. Along with bourbon, Scotch, and assorted other spirits. This past summer, after years of whining about wanting to do it, I finally started doing some homebrewing. I’m enjoying it, and now engaging in the predictable lament of not having enough time to do it as often as I would like. Brewing has a fair amount of gap. Time to idly daydream while waiting for the next step. There’s plenty of time to fantasize about doing it fulltime. Trying to make a living at it. Even the crappiest homebrewer has those daydreams.

One of the readers — usd121 — is actually living that dream. He is the head brewer at Voodoo Brewery in Meadville, PA.

Curt is debuting his first beer on Thursday. It is an IPA named HTP.

For those that can’t figure out the acronym, that’s Hail To Pitt.

(more…)