Alright, alright, alright… the time is now for us to put down our thoughts and predictions about our opening game against the Youngstown State University Penguins.  A lot of newcomers have joined this blog since the end of last season so thanks to you guys for coming onboard and please don’t hesitate to join in.

Onto the main stage event.  As I write this it’s 30 hours to game time and maybe 27 hours or so to meet up with old friends and make new ones while we talk about the present, past and future of the football program and in particular this 2015 team.

We all know about the rather dramatic changes the program and the athletic department have gone through since Dec 17^th when Paul Chryst left for Wisconsin and when our new Beloved Leader, Chancellor Mark Gallagher, dropped the ax on the neck of AD Steve Pederson’s tenure at Pitt.

That has discussed over and over and now it’s time to move on to real football.  With that, here is your chance to give the sporting world your Pitt vs. YSU game predictions.  Please add on your thoughts on why you feel your prediction will come true and, if you feel like it, throw in some individual player’s work that you think will help make it happen.

I’m asking for your thoughts so I’ll start off with mine…

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Oh, ACC. I know the transition has been difficult for the last decade plus. To go from a basketball-centric conference to… well, slightly less of a basketball-centric conference.

Trust me. we get it. After the time spent in the Big East, we Pitt fans understand that there can be a slight incomprehension echoing in the conference offices about staying focused on football season.

Still, to release all the ACC college basketball schedules in the afternoon, the day before college football kicks off the season? Not a week ago or two weeks. Just some 30 hours before a game involving one of the teams from your own conference kicks off the season. That is some Big East level idiocy.

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The Pitt Media Dept. has been sending out some press information that most Pitt fans don’t get to see firsthand, so here are some interesting links, info and videos that you might enjoy.

First off, The ACC media guys made public a booklet you may want to keep handy when we are discussing Pitt, our ACC opponents and our chances of a conference championship this season.

It is the 2015 ACC Football Media Guide and is available as linked.  Pitt’s information is on pages 77 – 80 and all the teams are covered very extensively. It is an excellent piece of work from the ACC and covers everything imaginable.

Here are some other important and interesting links sent out by Mike Finn, who is the Associate Commissioner for ACC Football Communications.

Here are the Week One tailored press releases:

Total (Press)Release:  http://theacc.co/FB15release

Full Release:  http://theacc.co/FB15release-pdf

Standings & Schedules, Notes:  http://theacc.co/FB15release-schedules

Game Previews:  http://theacc.co/FB15release-previews

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I will probably get more into this tomorrow — because this is hilarious — but in his own words. Head Coach Pat Narduzzi explains how he took out Syracuse Head Coach Scott Shafer with a Kiwi.

Finally something to help the annual Pitt-Syracuse football game have some meaning.

It never fails. It happens every time I see “redemption” in a title somewhere. I end up with “Redemption Song” stuck in my head the rest of the day. Sometimes it’s some version from Bob Marley. Other times, Joe Strummer.

It starts with Head Coach Pat Narduzzi. His debut game with the big headset. He sets out to prove that he is not simply one of the best defensive coordinators. That the time it tood to become a head coach was because of waiting for the right opportunity, not because he was passed over at other jobs.

He can chalk up the nerves to the way it is for players and all coaches every game, but this one is different. You can talk about all the preparations, the waiting for the moment. It is still something new. It is the first time.

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Pitt begins a bit of a redemption tour this Saturday when Youngstown State comes to Heinz.  This is the first of three games against opponents that embarrassed Pitt during the post-Wannstedt era of mediocrity. First up is the aforementioned YSU squad that defeated Chryst in his first ever game as a head coach. Next up is Akron, whose defeat of Pitt last year is far and away the most confusing loss since Bowling Green in 2008. Last but not least is Iowa, a team with two fourth quarter comebacks in their last two games against Pitt. (more…)

Busy day.

The Jonathan Milligan transfer is real.

The University of Pittsburgh men’s basketball team has added JUCO guard Jonathan Milligan for the 2015-16 season head coach Jamie Dixon announced Tuesday.

“We are fortunate to be able to add a guard of Jonathan’s caliber at this point in the year,” said Dixon. “He is a promising combo guard who received a lot of high major interest out of high school and while he was at Kilgore College. He has the ability to score from a variety of spots on the floor and break down defense by getting into the lane. He also has the quickness and instincts to be an outstanding defender in our program.

Milligan averaged 14.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game last season while leading the Kilgore College to a 21-9 record and a Region XIV Tournament appearance. He increased his scoring to 17.5 points per game in conference play en route to claiming first team all-region and Region XIV all-conference accolades.

I love that the press release manages not to mention that he had to be released from his NLI with FGCU.

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It’s Tuesday and we have to get off our collective asses and figure out where we are going to meet so we can put faces to internet handles/names…. and for you guys to buy me many drinks.

Here is what I see our options are:

Our prospective waitstaff

Tilted Kilt

353 N SHORE DR
PITTSBURGH, PA 15212

 Northshore RiverPros: Women servers almost unclothed (see above); close to Heinz

Cons: Small side area to overflow into – but it is covered in case of rain.

Tilted Kilt Bar

Bettis Bar and Grill

393 N SHORE DR
PITTSBURGH, PA 15212
(412) 224-6287

Pros: Has a big outdoor area that we can all meet in if the main bar is too crowded; short walk to Heinz.

Cons; Gets very crowded

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Great. Now all my gear is retro/throwback and my throwbacks are now modern. So, the script is officially going to come back for all Pitt athletics.

The goal is to have a roll-out for new apparel this spring, and have all of Pitt’s athletic teams in new script uniforms for the 2016-17 school year. The school’s colors will remain navy blue and gold.

“When that Pitt script is showing, we want people all over the country to understand that’s the University of Pittsburgh,” Barnes said.

Barnes admitted that this rebranding process was a bit different than the one he undertook as athletic director at Utah State in 2012, which was a 15-month effort that involved countless meetings and focus groups. Because the script logo was added back to the helmets last season, Barnes had to work a bit quicker and more anecdotally here, but he thought the answer was pretty obvious.

“That brand is a no-brainer, I would say, to our alumni base and our constituent base,” Barnes said. “It didn’t take long at all because I heard it every day in emails and on Twitter.”

Former athletic director Steve Pederson returned the beloved Pitt script logo to the football team’s helmets in October, but the roll-out was hurried and poorly executed.

The script logo was on the helmets, but the rest of the signage, apparel and media had the old arching block “Pitt,” the athletic department’s primary logo since 2005. The plan at the time was to keep the script logo for football, but maintain the block logo for all other sports.

“If you could ever be half-pregnant, we were,” Barnes said.

As if Barnes couldn’t endear himself to the Pitt fans early, an extra shot at former AD Peterson to boot.

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