A few months back, Chas posted about the Cinci-Xavier game and who to root for. In the comments, a few people said they think Miller will coach at Pitt someday, to which I said won’t happen. I don’t want to get into that argument again, especially since his name will be in the hat for the gig at Michigan.

Various reports are linking Xavier head coach Sean Miller to the vacant head coaching position at the University of Michigan. Xavier finished this season with a 21-11 record, an A-10 Championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. In two season at Xavier, Miller has a overall record of 38-23. Miller’s strength is his ability to recruit, in fact, Ohio State coach Thad Matta told the Cincinnati Post that Miller “taught me everything I know about recruiting.”

He’s also on the list compiled by Michigan Sports Center.

In all seriousness, Miller would be a great choice. As I hinted, just look at what the last Xavier coach is doing now. Imagine if that type of thing could happen to Michigan. Bring in a new coach from Xavier and quickly become an elite program. The only thing is would he want to come to the Big Ten to coach against a friend in Thad Matta. That could work for or against Michigan.

Other names include John Beilein, Lon Kruger, and Steve Lavin, among many others.

Be excited — under 14 hours to tipoff.

Somewhat uneventful day today, at least in the afternoon games. All of the better seeds won and by pretty large margins. You probably knew that already since most people are like me — get to a TV or computer as often as you can.

Pat Forde gives us the best and worst case scenario for each team. Pitt’s includes the best case of making it all the way to Atlanta while the worst case would be losing to Duke.

PITTSBURGH (3)
Best case: Panthers finally break through the Sweet 16 ceiling, riding their punishing defensive style to a validating Final Four. UCLA cannot handle Aaron Gray in the regional semis, and Pitt outmuscles Kansas in the regional final. Push to Atlanta lessens the Iron City dread of another oncoming Pirates season.

Worst case: Pitt team that lost three of its last six grinds to a halt in the second round against Duke. Gray is outplayed by the more skilled Josh McRoberts, and nobody can hit a key perimeter shot. Media vows to keep Panthers out of the Top 10 until they can prove something in March.

We can’t lose to Duke if they don’t even make it though. They hold a 40-38 lead at the half in what has been basically what we expected…a close one.

In the Western Pennsylvania market we can’t see the Marquette-Michigan State game but so far MU has looked really bad. Took them almost 10 minutes into the first half to put points up. UCLA was challenged by Weber State for about 10 minutes before breaking that one open at the half.

Pitt and Wright State in about an hour and a half. Have fun.

I’ll be watching, and making the occasional comments like I have lately. Feel free to comment away.

7:04: Just dawned on me that the “Allstate Arena” is what used to be called the Rosemont Arena. I saw the Dead there, several times in the early 90s. God, I feel old. Dave O’Brien just pointed out that this is a 6pm local time game, so the crowd is still eating dinner. No they are not. They’re stuck in traffic.

7:09: Pitt leading 4-2 at 15:44. Missed some shots. DePaul has come out looking sloppy and not particularly sharp (to be kind). Wesley Green is a big guy. I’d like to see him take Majerus’ suggestion to take Gray off the dribble that far out — just for the comedy value.

7:20: Pitt leads 11-7 with 10:49 in the half and Benjamin going to the line. Benjamin seeing some good minutes early — and playing well. Just a thought as I watched Biggs take two jumpers including that air-balled wide open look. Early impressions of players is not always fair. Antonio Graves still seems to be taking crap for his admittedly poor play as a younger player. He has been a very, very good player for this whole season; but a lot of people can’t let go of how he played in the past and almost seem waiting for him to revert. Biggs is well on his way to having the same problem. He is not making anyone feel good about his future.

7:27: Fields not playing particularly well tonight. Not holding onto the ball. At least 2 or 3 turnovers, and lucky not to have more. Definitely nice to see Gray trying to be more aggressive. It helps that DePaul is playing more 1-on-1 and giving Gray more space than he’s had.

7:38: Thank you Graves for helping make my earlier point. That was a great move to strip Chandler, floor dive and slap the ball to Benjamin ahead for the slam.

7:44: 28-18 Pitt at the half. It is not exactly guard play tonight. Kind of ugly, but Pitt is doing okay. Have to love that the refs are letting them play. Not saying NBE called the conspiracy, but…

Benjamin has apparently responded to the positive press by playing even harder. Fields seemed a bit sloppy at least to start. Gray probably had to stifle a s**t-eating grin to see that DePaul was going 1-on-1 without anyone dropping to double team everytime he got the ball. Graves is playing solid defense and also getting rewarded on the offensive possessions.

One thing to worry about in the second half. DePaul was only 1-8 on 3s. If they start falling as can often happen from one half to the next, the whole game will change quickly. That will force Pitt to defend further out and free the inside for Chandler and Mejia to drive or just get the ball inside.

8:06: Pitt still leading, but DePaul is more determined this half to try and drag Gray further out from under the net. Graves is playing some great defense in this game. Kendall is looking a little better this game. Mike Cook really is making an effort to crash the boards for rebounds this game. Too bad he forgot to warn his teammates — there have been a couple collisions and balls knocked away from each other.

8:16: Pitt now up 40-26, 11:55 left. DePaul has remained cold behind the 3 (2-14 now). Majerus comments makes it hard to give be positive to Kendall. Way too effusive, but let’s be honest. Kendall is definitely playing a better game tonight. The kind of game I expected to see from him most of the season. Fields has settled down and playing a lot better.

8:21: Pitt calls a good time out when Benjamin was trapped in the corner (11:13) with two guys on him. Nice work by Benjamin not to pick up the pivot foot. Annoyed not to see anyone from Pitt coming near to help.

8:28: Majerus is killing me. He gets his talking points, and by God, he won’t leave the page. The Syracuse game was Ronald Ramon. Tonight it’s Kendall. Look, for the last 2 weeks, the best defender for Pitt has been Antonio Graves. Just because you have the quote from Dixon — which he made during the BE Media Day — does not make it reality at this point. Kendall is having a solid game — his best game in quite a while (and maybe his parents should make some more trips to games) — but keep it in check. Up 44-30 with 7:47 left.

8:37: 48-41 Pitt with 3:40 left. Burns has been the only guy hitting shots for DePaul. Need to go at Chandler and force him to pick up that final foul. At least eliminate another offensive threat.

8:44: Thank you Mike Cook. He went at Chandler and forced the 5th foul. Even if Chandler was having a bad night (and he was) it eliminated a major scoring threat.

8:55: Solid win for Pitt. 59-49.  I made no secret about this game making me nervous. I’ve seen DePaul when they have been on this season to worry. The Pitt defense did a great job on shutting down one of the best duos in Wilson Chandler and Sammy Mejia. Two players averaging nearly 32 points held to only 19.

Pitt played a solid game and clearly was happy to have the refs keep the whistles in their pocket. I’m not complaining. That’s the Big East.

Have to give credit to the MSU Football people in their Athletic Department. They don’t skimp on providing transcripts and information. They have transcripts from player press conferences.

After last season, QB Drew Stanton (naturally) thinks this is a better team.

On being a better team now than a year ago last season…
I think we are (a better team now). I think offensively we’re very happy with where we are right now, especially with the young guys stepping up on the offensive line, and some of our younger receivers stepping up, and then the production we got out of A.J. (Jimmerson). He stepped up and had a great game running the ball and catching the ball. I think that the younger guys are starting to step up, and obviously the veteran guys are comfortable with where we’re at right now within our game plan and understanding everything that’s going on. We get into a rhythm, and it goes back to us executing within the game plan – whatever the coaches come up with in the next couple days, and then us digesting that.”

On being better as a total team…
“As a complete team, we definitely are better. Special teams have definitely played a factor for us, that we’ve been able to come out on a positive note. With (Brett) Swenson stepping up, it’s that much easier on the offense and the defense. Our defense has been in some adverse situations and has responded real well. For example, last week, in the first play when I threw that pick, they didn’t give up the touchdown; they came in and held them. Then also in the second half with the fumbled kickoff they did a good job of only giving up a field goal there. Our defense is coming around, they’re doing real well and we’ve got some playmakers over there this year. Offensively, I am happy with what we’re doing. We just have to continually get better, get our timing down. The major thing that we want to do is establish a run.

Strangely, Stanton was asked a few questions about Pitt CB Darrelle Revis, while the guy Revis will be covering, Matt Trannon didn’t get any — directly.

On Pitt being the first road game of the season…
“I wouldn’t say it kicks the adrenaline up, because that happened at the start of the season. Our goal going into the year was to approach every game the same way and not take anyone lightly. Any game you go into the environment is going to be hostile, regardless of if it’s a home game or a road game.”

On people saying he hasn’t lived up to his potential at this point in his career…
“I wouldn’t say it is out of my control, but I can only do what I do when it fits into the team’s plan. People can talk and say what they want to say, but I don’t let it get to me at all. It motivates me a little bit, but I don’t want to get into the situation where it is just me out there trying to prove myself. Like coach says, if we are going to do something, we are going to do it as a team and I will do it with my offensive line, the quarterback and the rest of my teammates out there.”

…

On how Pittsburgh will approach him coming off a big game…
“I am pretty sure Pitt will have watched our offense and adjusted so I am pretty sure I will be challenged a few times this game. Both of their corners don’t seem very physical – they won’t really come up and hit you – but they do a solid job of tackling. I think we are up for the challenge though.”

Yeah, it’s not Trannon’s fault he’s been invisible the first 3 years when it counts. It’s others.

Not only do they have player talk, the OC and DC for MSU have an interview on the site.

How important is it for MSU to be balanced on Saturday and not become one-dimensional on offense?
“It just depends what Pitt wants to do. If they want to make us one-dimensional and keep letting us do something and not take it away, we’ll continue to do that. I think it is important that we run the football and try to establish something to keep their true nickel, dime defensive backs off the field. We must have success on first down because that can dictate the entire tempo of the game.”

…

How important is it to have the three-headed attack at running back?
“I think it’s hugely important because in a single-back offense, I don’t think one back can take the punishment that he’s going to take for 65 or 70 plays. Two guys can do it and if a second guy gets nicked, we need to have a third guy ready to play. That’s exactly what happened to us last week. The third guy played an important role against Eastern Michigan. It’s important that A.J. Jimmerson produce when given an opportunity. We really like the three-headed attack at running back.”

The one thing you can say about MSU’s approach to offense under HC John L. Smith is that they have been willing to be flexible with the personnel and what they do. The defense or lack thereof has been a bigger issue.

On defending split end Derek Kinder:
“Pitt has two receivers, Derek Kinder and Oderick Turner, averaging more than 35 yards per catch. Turner has three receptions and two of those have gone for touchdowns. Kinder has 249 receiving yards while averaging nearly 36 yards per catch, so he is a big play kind of athlete.”

The Pittsburgh media has labeled the Pitt offense as one dimensional, so do you expect the Panthers to attempt to establish the running game?
“I think in both of its games, Pitt came out early and tried to run the ball. They threw their play-action pass, caught a break here and there, got a big play and got into the end zone. It looks like they’re just doing what they do best: a little bit of everything.”

They are very wary of Pitt trying to break the big play as has happened in the first two games for Pitt. Hopefully the corners will play a little soft with the safeties dropping back to open up room for some passes to the tight ends and the running game to do something.

Crap, I would rather have more doubters. After last year, seeing people falling over themselves to pick Pitt in the ND game and preseason gushers, I’m feeling gun shy at anything that seems too laudatory to Pitt.

Bad enough Pitt is a 2 point favorite, essentially declaring this a toss-up if you assume the home field is worth 3 points. It’s reading borderline effusive praise that makes me nervous.

What will happen: With so many big games this weekend, this one will reside beneath the radar. Too bad. It’ll be high-scoring, entertaining, and won by Pittsburgh, the one team at Heinz Field that’ll make key defensive stops late in the fourth quarter.

CFN Prediction: Pitt 37 … Michigan State 31 … Line: Pitt -2

Admitedly, Michigan State has caused the doubt on their side.

I get especially when its those who are paid, ostensibly to offer gambling-esque advice.

Game number two has Pittsburgh hosting Michigan State. The Panthers are a completely different team than the club that began last season by dropping its first three games. They blew away Virginia in the opener, 38-13, and followed that up with a 33-15 win at Cincinnati, Quarterback Tyler Palko has been impressive in the early going, throwing six TDs and only one interception. Michigan State, on the other hand, got by a pesky Idaho squad, 27-17, in its opener and blew out Eastern Michigan last week. QB Drew Stanton has four touchdown passes and only one pick. The Panthers have one main advantage heading into this game. The Spartans most likely will be looking ahead to their matchup with Notre Dame the following Saturday. Based on the results from the past six years, Michigan State has done just that. The last time MSU covered in the game prior to facing the Irish was back in 1999. Go with Pittsburgh minus the points.

I doubt Michigan State is really looking ahead. Not with a road game and everyone already questioning them after the effort from their first two patsy games. That just seems like a rationalization to pick one way, when you just have no clue. And let’s be honest, we don’t know.

MSU hasn’t played anyone, and their winning hasn’t looked overly spectacular. They let Idaho keep it close. Central Michigan forced a scream fest from John L. Smith at halftime. Their coach says their focus is on Pitt (of course every coach always says they are just looking at the next opponent, never ahead).
Pitt has beaten a predictably bad Cinci team in a very uneven performance of their own. The win over Virginia lost some of the luster when UVA eked out a 1 point home win over Wyoming.

I’m just saying, that if there is one thing I am sure of, it is that no one has a frickin’ clue how this game will go.

No one’s sure. The Spartans struggled to eke out a 27-17 win against the Idaho Vandals (who were blasted the following week by Washington State 56-10), and then the win against Eastern Michigan caused just as much head scratching.

It was like three games in one — a blowout early for Michigan State, a stunning rally by Eastern Michigan and then a blowout late for Michigan State.

The Spartans took a 24-3 lead before the Eagles scored 17 points right before and after halftime. But it was all Michigan State after that as it reeled off 28 straight points to finish a 52-20 rout.

What a shock. Michigan State uneven, unpredictable and potentially explosive. All in one game. Game. Season. History. All kind of the same.

By Sunday morning, Michigan State should have returned to reality. Strip away the excitement of Trannon’s outing and the display of firepower after halftime and you still have a group that hasn’t shown evidence of being the much-improved team it claimed to be in the preseason.

What does it say about the Spartans when they need an expletive-filled halftime speech to fire them up against a team that historically has been one of the worst in the Mid-American Conference? Yes, the Spartans responded, but it has to be unsettling to MSU fans to know that coaches and team captains had to light a fire under certain players to get them going in only the second game of the season.

Apparently, they aren’t that unsettled.

Let me take another run at the ESPN-Big East deal. Frank the Tank, did a much better job than I did (and in less words) in partially explaining my displeasure at the deal. I have annoyance at how many of those “guaranteed” games will be weekday program fillers, while the news coverage has focused on the total number of games or the big jump for basketball. Let’s face it, though, the basketball side of the Big East is not a concern or really an issue as far as health, publicity and strength.

My main ire, though, is over the future distribution channel controls. The broadband and cellular offerings and content. Those will stay with ESPN. Understand, very clearly, the allure of having one’s own channel is not simply as some conference vanity project. By sticking with ESPN regional, Pitt has remained without control over the distribution and content of its own games. That means the Big East schools and the conference will not be able to offer streaming of the video of the games through their own sites. That will remain with ESPN and they will reap the money from it. Not to mention any other digital packaging that develops or evolves. Conferences with their own channels and control of their distribution will make more money.

For the Big 11, they can still offer games on the ESPN Gameplan or on a local station if they aren’t showing it on their channel or any of the Mouse stations. They have the control over it ultimately. They produced it. They own the production.

The Big Ten Channel will be available to satellite and cable distributors nationwide and will be available through the Internet, i-Pods, cell phones and other technologies, the league said.

That will be the same for all of the conferences that go to their own channel. They won’t be seen any less. They won’t get promoted by ESPN any less. They will however be bringing in more money in the long term as the technology keeps developing.

This is why all professional sports teams are now creating their own channel. They aren’t necessarily going to make any more money at first than if they had stayed contracted with the regional Fox Sports channel. After all, they have to now pay salaries and get ad revenue and all that fun stuff. It’s that they have full vertical control of the product — right down to distribution formats. It’s about long-term revenue creation.

The Big East loves to tout how it was the first to recognize the importance of cable and the dealings with ESPN. Unfortunately that is some 20+ years ago since the last time they were forward thinking about the media distribution. Now, they don’t look forward only react to the immediate situation.

Crap. Looks like those of us not living in the Pittsburgh area will be on the road really early for the Michigan State game.

University of Pittsburgh athletic director Jeff Long announced today that Pitt’s Sept. 16 football game with Michigan State at Heinz Field, originally scheduled for 3:30 p.m., has been switched to noon.

“In our previous five seasons at Heinz Field, we had dealt with two scheduling conflicts,” Long said. “In each case, cooperation between all of the parties involved created a resolution that ensured an enjoyable experience for the fans attending games at both Heinz Field and PNC Park.

“Since May 31, when we learned that ABC had selected the Pitt-Michigan State game for a 3:30 p.m. broadcast, we have been working quietly and constructively with the network and the Big East Conference to find a resolution to the conflict this created with the Pirates’ scheduled game against the New York Mets that evening.

…

The Michigan State-Pitt game will be seen exclusively on select ABC affiliates in Michigan and Pennsylvania and in other parts of the nation on ESPN2 at noon as part of a regional telecast with the previously scheduled game between Boston College and BYU.

The good news for Pitt is that there will be no penalties that the athletic department needs to pay.

Long said the Big East Conference and its television partner, ABC/ESPN, will not penalize Pitt financially for moving the Michigan State game time. Long doesn’t expect the earlier kickoff time to hurt the Panthers at the gate.

In fact, he expressed confidence that Pitt could draw a wider television audience by playing opposite the Boston College-Brigham Young game on ESPN2 regional than going against Oklahoma-Oregon or Louisville-Miami at 3:30 p.m. on ABC regional.

“This was not a decision that was made to enhance our television,” Long said, “but, actually, as things worked out, this will result in a wider exposure for us.”

If there is any silver lining in this — and believe me, the prospect of rolling out of the house around 6 am on Saturday has me having a hard time seeing it — is that the multitude of top-flight college football games that you can now catch on TV.  Consider the possibilities of 3:30 — Miami-Louisville, Michigan-Notre Dame, and Auburn-LSU — and in the evening — Nebraska-USC and Florida-Tennessee — and see the good news.

Make no mistake, though, the Pitt Athletic Department screwed up and was lucky to not eat a big penalty. No one is buying AD Long’s claim that Pitt has been working quietly behind the scenes since the end of May. Long continued with the hind-quarter covering.

“This serves as good notice for us to put our heads together with the Pirates, with the Steelers, with the (Sports and Exhibition Authority), to make sure going forward our plans are more firm should we get to this point,” Long said. “The partnerships, from my point of view, have been strong, have been good. I think there’s a spirit that we’re going to work together. We have a sprit of cooperation and I’m thankful for that.”

Uh-huh.

Keeping things easygoing while I watch the final round of the PGA Championship.

Kevan Smith gets a nice write-up.

“I found out Stull broke his hand, and Dexter has two bad knees, so I’m second guy right now,” Smith said. “That gets butterflies in your stomach, just thinking about it.”

Smith is showing no signs of anxiety. In Tuesday’s scrimmage, he completed 11-of-17 pass attempts for 130 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions, while working with the second- and third-team offenses.

“My head was spinning a lot in the beginning, but now it’s really slowing down,” Smith said. “I’m definitely making progress. The speed that I’m learning, and how I’m grasping it, shows my development and how fast I can grab things. If I keep learning at this rate, hopefully, good things will happen.”

Coach Dave Wannstedt singled out Smith for praise after the scrimmage.

“The guy who has learned the most, who was thrown into the fire as quick as any of them, is Kevan Smith,” Wannstedt said. “He’s come out here and has been the second-team quarterback from Day One. He has been very consistent the entire camp. He has been a real pleasant surprise and no one’s talking about him.”

Smith is silencing all the major-league scouts — and even his own family — who insisted baseball, not football, held his best chance as a future pro. Focus on baseball, they said, and the 6-foot-3, 215-pound catcher would have been a top-10 round draft pick last June.

No indication as to whether he’s going to play ball with the Pitt baseball team. You have to imagine Joe Jordano would love to have him “walk-on.” It had to be tough, though, to do his own thing when his own father is at least “hinting” baseball was the way to go. Suggests a very strong-will and desire towards football.
From all accounts, Smith is a natural talent, and if he prefers football over baseball it makes sense to pursue it. Not to mention, that it’s generally been a bit easier for two-sport athletes to move from football to baseball than the other way. At the very least, the baseball organizations will still take a chance on you in the draft and with a signing bonus if you play football first.
An interesting piece looking at the QBs for Pitt, PSU and WVU.

Palko had to learn some things the hard way: Being a backup to Rod Rutherford as a freshman, taking a redshirt the next year and learning that, after a standout sophomore year, he couldn’t win games by himself last season.

“That’s my personality a little bit,” Palko said. “I’m not a selfish person, but if something needs to be done, I step up and try to make it happen. In football, one guy can’t do everything. I’m a little bit of a hard head. Sometimes I have to learn the hard way.

“My way’s worked. It’s not going to always work. There’s that old saying, different ways to skin a cat. My sophomore year, there were times when I handled it the way I handled it in high school. Hey, high school worked.”

Palko admits that last year didn’t.

He went from hometown hero to scapegoat, took the lumps that went with the position. There were questions about his arm strength, his decision making, his leadership. He has learned to listen to his coaches, not his critics.

“I think it helped him a lot,” Pitt linebacker H.B. Blades said. “Now he knows. He handled adversity last year. Tyler’s a great player. He knows that. We know it. He found out through the media not everybody loves you. I think he took too much of the blame last year.”

He left out questions as to whether he was playing hurt or such. Honestly, there are still some questions about his arm strength. Especially throwing to a sideline, 10-15 yards downfield. The ball tends to float a bit at that spot — which may be more about the way he throws to that spot — unlike when he throws over the middle or even a deep ball along a sideline. Hopefully they have worked on that some more.

The part on Morelli skips over his mental acumen issues. Which leads to a contrasting figure.

Finally, Luke Getsy, in his second year starting at Akron gets a story on ESPN.com. (Given that I live in NE Ohio and a Pitt alum, I probably pay more attention to stories on Getsy than I should.)

Some quarterbacks get by with bionic arms and chutzpah. Getsy does it with preparation.

“You’ve got to be prepared for everything,” he said. “If I move this way, I’ll be able to make a play here or there. It’s kind of an instinct thing, but if you don’t know what’s going on around you, bad things happen.”

Getsy’s instincts were telling him to leave Pittsburgh, his hometown school, after losing the starting quarterback job to Tyler Palko in September 2004. But he was hardly prepared for his next move.

He had never been to Akron. He didn’t know much about the MAC. And because then-Pitt coach Walt Harris wouldn’t release him from his scholarship, Getsy had to pay his own way.

The scholarship situation also prevented him from contacting other schools.

“I pretty much had to go on hearsay,” he said.

He knew Akron coach J.D Brookhart, who had been Pitt’s offensive coordinator during his first two years there. But as Getsy packed his bags, left his hometown behind and headed for Akron, sight unseen, he knew it was a leap of faith.

Turned out to be the best scramble this quarterback would ever make.

“I wouldn’t trade my past for anything,” he said. “I wouldn’t trade the position I’m in now for anything.”

When Getsy was battling Palko for the starting QB spot in 2004, it seemed unbelievable that the much heralded Palko could be in a dogfight through training camp with Getsy for the starting position. It did refelct well on Getsy’s guts, smarts and preparation to make it a battle. The best thing for Getsy was probably that Coach Harris has always preferred the arm strength and physical tools at the QB spot (for those whow remember the epic David Priestly-John Turman QB battles). That probably got Harris to make a decision before the end of training camp and give Getsy just enough time to leave Pitt.

One of Getsy’s most gratifying moments came after the MAC championship, when he and Brookhart received a congratulatory letter from Harris, now Stanford’s coach.

“We have a lot of respect for each other,” Getsy said.

“Luke understands how much Walt gave him,” Brookhart said. “We’re men and we make our mistakes and don’t handle things right. They worked it out and they’re again on speaking terms, so that’s good.”

Getsy enters the fall with high expectations. He wants another MAC title and for Akron to make a statement nationally. The Zips get a chance right away with an opener at Penn State.

If all goes well, could Getsy become the next MAC quarterback playing on Sundays?

“Someone would be crazy not to give this kid a shot in the NFL,” Brookhart said. “I’ve never been around one like this, who knows it the way he knows it and gets it and make decisions and sees things.

“The intangibles, he’s off the chart.”

There were some hard feelings on both sides when Getsy left.

Pitt’s screw-up with the schedule is starting to be noticed outside of Pittsburgh. What do you expect? It’s mid-August and training camp stories get repetitive after a while.

Someone in the Pitt athletic department needs a calendar.

The school scheduled its Sept. 16 game with Michigan State at 3:30 p.m. and the game was scheduled for ABC regional telecast. Heinz Field, though, shares parking spaces with the Pittsburgh Pirates’ home field. The contract calls for any football traffic to clear out two hours prior to a home game.

Yep, you guessed it. The Pirates have a game scheduled at 7:05 p.m. on Sept. 16. Pitt will probably have to reschedule the game for noon. Both conferences (Big East and Big Ten) plus Michigan State will expect someone — yep, you guessed it, Pitt — to make up the difference in television money lost because of the switch.

I’m guessing this is not the kind of story on Pitt the Athletic Department is hoping to see making news.

It really seems Pitt would be more interested in changing the time of the game rather than do anything about parking.

Further complicating the scenario is a new partnership between Pitt and the Pirates. PNC Park hosts the Panther Zone, site of pregame activities for Pitt students, for all home games. It also is the starting point for Pitt’s March to Victory and the Panther Prowl to Heinz Field.

…

Molin said he talked to Michigan State athletic officials yesterday to inform them of the conflict. He said Pitt would continue to look into changing the game time “until someone tells me for the record that it can’t happen.”

While alternative parking and using shuttle buses is mentioned, it doesn’t seem to be the desired option by the Pitt Athletic Department.

Now, the pressure is on the Pitt Athletic Department to solve this problem. They, essentially, are responsible for the mess. If I’m in the Pirates organization, though, I see a big opportunity here.

Let’s face it, the crowds haven’t really been there this season, despite the boost in season ticket sales tied to possibly getting tickets to attend the All-Star Game. More importantly, the other revenue streams — parking and concessions can not have been that good with all the no-shows. Plus, anyone with half a brain knows the team will draw really poorly next year after this season.

So, if I’m in the Pirates organization, I want Pitt to keep the 3:30 start time. I then want to let the Pirate ticketholders to be very aware of that. Highly recommend they come early to the ballpark to avoid the traffic congestion when the Pitt game would be expected to end around 6:30 or 7 pm. Do whatever it takes to get people coming to PNC Park early. A big boost for the concessions as people get to the park early and eat dinner, snack and drink there.

So, the Pirates should work with Pitt on some of the parking. Maybe let them have part of a lot. It wouldn’t hurt the Pirates in the PR area — which they always are in need of help — and it would make them appear altruistic while really serving their own finances quite handsomely.

A dumb screw-up by the Pitt Athletic Department.

Pitt may have to move the kickoff for its Sept. 16 home football game against Michigan State from 3:30 p.m. to noon because of poor planning by the athletic department. If that happens, and at this point it is a definite possibility, it likely would cost the school thousands of dollars in television revenue and penalties as well as from the dropoff in ticket sales generally associated with earlier kickoffs at Heinz Field.

The sticking point is a lack of available parking spots because the Pirates play host to the New York Mets at 7:05 that night and, by contract, are guaranteed to have a large number of the parking spaces in the lots between the two stadiums available to their customers at least two hours before the first pitch. That means many of the parking lots that Pitt sells pre-paid parking passes for will be locked when Pitt fans arrive for the football game earlier that day.

The MSU game is supposed to be a regional ABC game. If Pitt has to move the time, they’ll have to pay penalties to ABC and to Michigan State (and likely the Big 11). Not to mention losing a big telecast opportunity.

I’m not sure how many parking lots/spaces would be lost. I would guess there is actually enough parking in the area to accomodate, but Pitt would have to shift some people — and the lots in question are definitely some of the pricier lots — meaning better paying fans and a decent amount of anger from them for being moved somewhere much further away.

Part of the major problem was that Pitt never communicated with the Pirates over the time. The Pirates claim they only found out about the game time problem recently by reading the paper. Still, why do the Pirates need that much parking for a mid-September game when they are on pace for what, 100 losses? Normally, they’d have what? Maybe 15,000 actual people in attendance? Answer: it’s a giveaway night.

In the past, the Pirates have moved their games in order to accommodate scheduling conflicts with the Panthers. But the Pirates aren’t budging this time because 1. It is Jack Wilson Bobblehead Doll Night. 2. They expect a crowd in excess of 30,000 fans that night. 3. The conflict is Pitt’s fault.

Please note, it’s Jack Wilson. Not Craig Wilson who they gave away to the Yankees. Jack is still with the team. Really, hasn’t the whole bobblehead thing played itself out? People really crave these things? And if it’s such a primo item, why would they have planned it for a Saturday night game when they should expect to draw somewhat decently. Isn’t that the sort of giveaway you use for a weeknight game?

Right now, everyone is claiming that it is an impasse that doesn’t seem to be resolvable. My thought is that Pitt cut a deal with the Pirates for use of the parking lots. It’s going to cost Pitt, but it is very clear at the moment, that anything done is going to cost Pitt money.

I really don’t want to bother writing much about Joe Pa, and Penn St., but what the hell. I can’t let this Joe Paterno press conference quote from today go past without preserving it from disappearing down a memory hole.

…Akron is awfully clever. The guy who is the head coach at Akron was on Pitt’s staff when they embarrassed us out there. It wasn’t even close. As I said, the quarterback is awfully good. There are a lot of quarterbacks around the country and I think we are playing against all of the good ones.

And yet, he would rather keep the embarrassment from the last game then renew the series.

Shocking.

With Maurice Clarett, many ask how a kid with such potential to earn a fortune in football could piss it all away. I’m now wondering how he managed to hold it together as long as he did.

Maurice Clarett was arrested early Wednesday after a highway chase that ended with police using Mace on the former Ohio State running back and finding four loaded guns in his sport utility vehicle, a police spokesman said.

Officers used Mace to subdue Clarett after a stun gun was ineffective because the former Fiesta Bowl star was wearing a bullet-resistant vest, Sgt. Michael Woods said.

“It took several officers to get him handcuffed,” Woods said. “Even after he was placed in the paddy wagon, he was still kicking at the doors and being a problem for the officers.”

Safe to say that the entire Buckeye Nation is just hoping he goes to jail very soon and for a long time. Just so they don’t have to take more crap for having to acknowledge he was ever a part of their team. Right Lee?

[Editor Note: Okay, Lee not only lives in Altoona, he works in State College. His office, of course is just slightly filled with Penn State homers. Lee, graduated from Pitt and did masters work at Ohio State, so he carries dual loyalties, and completely annoys his co-workers with his teams. Rather than do real work, they demanded his analysis of the season from Penn State, Ohio State and Pitt. What follows is all Lee, and thus is credited as his post.]

But enough about me and the pride of the Big Ten. Let’s first focus on what I’m technically being graded on here.

You are… Penn State

Offense: Penn State’s surprising season last year has made many college football fans forget that it is still coached by the same staff that refused to play the eventual 2005 league MVP Michael Robinson at quarterback for at least two years and then barely started him over Anthony Morelli last fall (remember that?). For most of what could have been a great career, MRob sat behind the slow, immobile, pocket-passer Zack Mills and watched him get literally no protection from his offensive line (a mobile QB like MRob could have helped such a situation, I’m told). For the life of me, Anthony Morelli reminds me a lot of Zack. A great arm, but somewhat limited mobility. So ask yourself, can Jay “I’m here because I’m the best quarterbacks coach available” Paterno do a better job of coaching Morelli than he did the fellow pocket-passer Mills? Somehow, I doubt it. Hopefully, Morelli will spend more time with my boy, Williamsburg (Blair Co.) native Galen Hall, than JayPa.

As a former offensive lineman, I can’t help but focus on the trenches. And I question whether Morelli’s o-line in 2006 will be a whole lot better than some of Zack Mills’ lines. I agree with Bob that Levi Brown is probably going to wind up first team All Big Ten. But you can’t hide the fact that every other person on that line will be new. And experience counts with o-lines. Just ask Pitt. I always hated lining up with a sophomore beside me. So I think that Morelli’s going to be running for his life some this fall — especially against some of the better defensive lines of Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Michigan. Surely, Morelli can’t run like MRob. But, maybe some quick-outs or screens to those wonderful wide receivers or Hunt will help. Those receivers remain the one tool that Mills never had.

(this is borderline epic, so) and, much, much,

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