We did an article about this last year but here is a follow-up piece by Sam Werner of the Post-Gazette addressing Pitt’s new athletic logo that is to be unveiled on Wednesday (no big surprise that it is the Script PITT from the 1980s) and how it does NOT represent the University as a whole…  a visual reminder here:

From Werner’s article:

“If the athletic department is the front porch, then the Pitt script logo, set to be re-introduced as the school’s primary athletic mark at a Petersen Events Center unveiling Wednesday, is a sign on the front of the house.

Often times, though, that sign may not represent every room in the house.

Like Pitt, many universities across the country have developed distinct university logos separate from their athletic marks, as they try to strike a balance between the visibility athletics can provide and the academic pursuits of the greater institution.

“Most of the time, the rationale is that, look, we have two different products here,” said Antonio Williams, a sport and fitness brand researcher and assistant professor at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind. “We don’t necessarily want to take away the academic rigor and prestige from the university side by associating with athletics. There may be certain liabilities by associating yourself with athletics.”

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The Cardiac Hill blog is running a “Bracket of Pitt” series that has  ‘all things Pitt” subjects listed much like we see during the college basketball NCAA tournaments.  Here is how they describe what they are going to do:

“The Cardiac Hill Podcast has a new segment; the Bracket of Pitt. It’s a 64-item bracket of everything Pitt. People, places, things, etc., basically if it has anything to do with the University of Pittsburgh, it’s in. I’ll be hosting the tournament primarily with Jim Hammett of Cardiac Hill. We’ll post the first episode here (and on SoundCloud) tomorrow with me & Jim discussing the bracket and you can vote for the matchups @CoreyECohen on Twitter; one vote per person. Each week we’ll put out a new episode discussing your results and advance the bracket accordingly! Let’s make some May Madness here at Cardiac Hill, we can’t wait to debut the #BracketOfPitt!”

This sounds like an original and fun idea and will fill up some of the Pitt sports dead time from now until the football Fall Camp opens up in early August.  Here is what the bracket looks like as a snapshot but click on this link to see the details.

Guess The Pitt Blather didn’t make the cut.

Reed has killed it for football coverage this spring. Much, much appreciation.

I’ll be making my first Blue-Gold game in far too long. Going as a fan/parent (bringing the boy with me) for this one. Hopefully I’ll be able to convince the kid to let me stop by for at least one drink before all the other activities.

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Since I, for one, am completely not used to this. This is NOT a noon game. Nor is it a 1 pm game. It is a 3:45 start time. Weird, I know. We’ll all try to cope.

And in light of the attacks in Paris last week, stadium security is back up to tight levels.

E.J. Borghetti, Pitt’s executive associate athletic director for media relations, said Wednesday that the university would take the same precautions as the Steelers did for their game Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. Heinz Field is owned by the Sports & Exhibition Authority of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County and operated by PSSI Stadium Corp., an entity linked to the Steelers.

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Fans and employees will be required to open their outerwear, and security guards will pat down those entering the stadium.

Some people also may be asked to empty their pockets, depending on the circumstances.

The school is discouraging bags at the game, although clear, one-gallon zip-closed plastic bags will be allowed.

Expect long lines and give yourself plenty of time to feel violated.
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No. Really. It might be a very good idea to get an early start tomorrow. Traffic will be an issue.

Which means despite Saturday morning’s Veterans Day Parade and Pitt tailgating starting on the North Shore at 7:00 a.m., PennDOT is closing the inbound Parkway West from 9 p.m. Friday until 10 a.m. Saturday. That’s three hours after the tailgating lots open and a half hour before the parade starts.

“This is a critical concrete pour tonight and Sunday morning on the bridges in Carnegie,” Cowan said. “So we are allowing the contractor to continue until 10 a.m. However, if they finish early, which they are anticipating they will, we will reopen the Parkway West early.”

In downtown Pittsburgh, the Veterans Day Parade will mean the closing of Liberty Avenue from The Point to Grant Street. With the Pitt-Notre Dame game sold out, fans are going to be looking for downtown parking spaces. Pittsburgh Operations Director Guy Costa says football fans can still get across the Golden Triangle to the North Shore.

“We will have police officers at the intersections to allow pedestrians to cross over to get on the other side of Liberty Avenue,” Costa said. “No vehicles, but we will allow pedestrians to cross.”

Get an early start.

The following detour will be in effect:

Inbound (eastbound)

· Motorists will exit I-376 at the I-79 south (Exit 64A) interchange towards Washington
· Follow I-79 south to the Carnegie (Exit 57) interchange off-ramp
· At the end of the off-ramp, turn left onto West Main Street
· West Main Street becomes Mansfield Boulevard
· Turn right onto Chestnut Street
· Turn left onto East Main Street
· East Main Street becomes Noblestown Road
· Turn right onto Mansfield Avenue
· Turn left onto Greentree Road
· Greentree Road becomes Wabash Street
· Turn right onto South Main Street
· Turn right onto southbound Route 837 (West Carson Street)
· Take the ramp to East I-376/North I-279 onto the Fort Pitt Bridge
· End detour

I don’t think this can be repeated enough. Seriously, plan to get to the game early.

Virginia is not a good football program. They were a unanimous pick in every publication, in every every preseason poll — coaches and media — to finish last. Not simply in the Coastal division, but the ACC as a whole.

They are a mess. Mike London is a dead coach walking. They are 1-3. That one win coming against the 1-AA William & Mary Fightin’ Jon Stewarts. And even then, they had to hold on for that win.

And yet…

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The Narduzzi Era at Pitt began yesterday and Pitt came out with a 45-37 win against the tough and persistent Youngstown State Penguins in front of 49,969 mostly yellow-painted fans.  Here are the official game stats in case you are wondering how what happened came about.

There is good news and bad news coming out of this ballgame.  Here are the highlights so that you can see some of each type of play we had Saturday:

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Parents visiting for a week. Kids heading back to school this week. The usual chaos of the transition of activities.

How about a terrifying concept of the worst case scenario for this season?

PITT: Can technically start the season with losses to Bo Pelini, Terry Bowden, and Kirk Ferentz. Good God.

My sphincter clenched upon reading that.

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Just a bit bland.

Did not expect this when the schedule for spring practice would be announced.

Pitt has canceled its annual spring football game.

Coach Paul Chryst said Thursday that he believes finishing spring drills with a regular practice will be better for his team.

“The thinking behind that is to get one more good work day out of (the players),” he said. “Most if not every spring game you end up really sacrificing a lot.

“These days are really valuable for us. I’m not in a hurry to get through spring ball, and I want to maximize every day with it.”

Spring practice will include the NCAA-limit of 15 practice sessions, beginning March 16. The final session is scheduled for April 13. All practices will be held at UPMC Sports Performance Complex on the South Side on the outdoor fields or at the indoor facility.

Is there a large element of truth to this? Absolutely. Coach Chryst has, at best, shown antipathy for the Blue-Gold Scrimmage. It has been clear that as a coach he sees it as a waste of valuable practice time. Decrying at the end of the scrimmage how they need more practice and wishes for more time.

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After the age of 13, I can’t say I’ve cared too much for autographed items. I have a few things tucked away that I have been given or came into. Waiting in line for an autograph, however, let alone the idea of paying money for it. No. It’s just never been a thing for me. To this day the whole concept of the market for signed memorabilia and pictures of players, is a bit odd. Autograph shows blow my mind. I guess like comic books and baseball cards, it is some part of our childhood that some people just do not let go. Just when you get older and have your own money you can spend it on those things.

With that, the whole Johnny Manziel autograph scandal-story (and the issue of his eligibility)  has spooked colleges as the season approaches.

Louisville has forbidden players from signing autographs, replacing its annual event with an open practice. Texas A&M will not allow players to sign anything but specially designed autograph cards.

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At West Virginia, officials took no chances last Sunday when players and coaches signed autographs for two hours. The school provided autograph sheets, posters and NCAA compliance handouts outlining regulations prohibiting the sale of items bearing the name of the athletes.

That presumes, though, that the WVU fan is capable of reading.

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I’ve seen this pop up periodically during the offseason. This whole, let’s find a rival now that teams have switched conferences. The Pitt Athletics blog got into it last week. The choices — despite technically being 13 choices in the ACC is really only limited to seven. The opponents in the Coastal Division plus annual game with Syracuse. In almost every instance, Virginia Tech comes out on top for Pitt fans.

I get why VT has been chosen. Geographically they are within the distance. There’s history from the old Big East. And Pitt has had their number, despite them lapping Pitt in the past twenty years in terms of success.

But a rivalry has to go both ways, and this one doesn’t come close right now. Heck, at best maybe third or fourth on the list for VT fans just in the ACC.

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I wish I could have posted this earlier, but I’ve been out and away from the computer since early this morning.

The Oakland Zoo is trying to win the Naismith Awards Student Section of the Year prize. Along with basically showing that they can mobilize their base to vote over and over in an internet poll, the Pitt general scholarship fund gets $10,000.

It’s been neck-and-neck. VCU has been the upstart trying to pull off the late win. Voting ends tonight at midnight.

Vote here and support the students that have been the reason the Pete has been such an awesome place to see a game.

UPDATE: The Oakland Zoo took 1st in the fan voting.

Over the years, Pitt fans have taken a fair share of (mostly deserved) abuse for the number of empty seats at the football games. Especially from Penn State fans who love to stress that they support their team no matter what. Well, after all that has happened, it seems that there might be a bit more of a struggle to sell tickets this year. Starting with that season opener to honor “the legends who stayed.”

To the point where for the first time ever/decades/years — no one is exactly sure — Penn State is offering discount tickets to Penn State employees. But of course, it isn’t because the tickets aren’t selling. No, no, nooooo. It’s to recognize and thank the employees in these recent times of turmoil.

Penn State spokeswoman Jill Shockey said there are about 10,000 seats still available for the game. Of those, about 3,500 have been set aside for employees.

“If more tickets need to be made available for the employee appreciation offer, Athletics has said they will address that,” Shockey said in an email.

Penn State’s Office of Human Resources and department of athletics are offering the ticket deal. The university’s retirement plan partner, TIAA-CREF, is supporting concession vouchers and giving the first 1,000 employees with IDs at the upper concourse behind the NA or NL sections a special gift.

The deal is 2 tickets for $79 plus $20 in concession vouchers.

A friend of mine forwarded the e-mail (he’s married to a PSU employee).

If you want to read the actual e-mail, it is below the fold.

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Ugh.

Depressed.

Frustrated.

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