“There is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first or last time, I owe him my best.” Joe DiMaggio. Source: The Sporting News (April 4, 1951).

This game means a bit more to me than others. Last year I decided that I would bring my daughter to at least one game each season. Hopefully, so she would have a good time and to learn a little more about the school and team I love. This is the game I’m taking her to see this year.

This is important since we live in Ohio and get nothing but Ohio State propaganda (along with an uncle that is a bit rabid about tOSU). Add in the threat of a couple grandparents that are Penn State grads and there is danger all around that she could learn the wrong lesson with the young, impressionable mind of 6-year old.

One of my fellow ticketholders is bringing his 6-year old son back for a second go round. He first brought him to the opener with Bowling Green. They live down in Morgantown and he has spent nearly a year re-educating the boy and bringing him over to Pitt. No small feat right in the belly of the couch-burners.

The poor kid was forced to watch Pitt lose to Bowling Green — and he took it hard. Tears and everything. It was like he was the embodiment of our collective id in his reaction.

The kids are coming. Many, many others keep trying to raise their kids the right way. Please, Coach Wannstedt, give us all something to justify the effort.

Three MAC teams (sort of, it’s still kind of weird to think of Temple as a MAC team) face Big East teams on Saturday. Temple is looking for payback on UConn after their own refs and the Big East replay ref jobbed them last year. Akron is excited about the idea of taking out a BCS team. They don’t actually say it’s Syracuse, just a BCS team. Then there is Buffalo.

UB’s players and coaches have talked all week about the significance of the game, and how it would boost the Bulls’ standing in the Mid-American Conference and nationally. If they needed a reminder, all they have to do is think back to last Saturday when the MAC’s Bowling Green knocked off the then 25th ranked Panthers.

Several of the Bulls watched the game together last Saturday in which the Falcons defeated the Panthers, 27-17, and Bowling Green caused quite a stir.

“We got excited,” said senior left tackle Ray Norell. “Any time that a MAC school goes in and beats a Big [East] team, it’s huge. We’re hoping we can go in there and play as hard as we can and we can come out with a win, too.”

The Bulls had two reactions to the Bowling Green upset: They should be able to match up against the Panthers and the Falcons are better than they thought.

…

“Right now, our confidence is high,” [junior defensive tackle Dane] Robinson said. “Coach Gill tells us, ‘You have a right to be confident,’ not cocky because it’s only one game and there are 11 more and we have to do it consistently. Pittsburgh has some questions that need to be answered and that may be something that plays into our favor.”

Those questions. How does Coach Wannstedt expect to answer them?

“They can expect us to hold onto the football,” he said. “That would be the most important thing. We have to protect the ball and not give up any easy scores. As long as we do that, we’ll have a chance to beat everybody we play.”

That and apparently change the pregame meal seems to be the extent of the changes necessary according to Coach Wannstedt. How about scoring more points?

Bulls QB Drew Willy directed an efficient dismantling of Texas-El Paso with ample support from TBs James Starks and Brandon Thermilus and long connections with WR Naaman Roosevelt. LB Scott McKillop and the Panthers defense should be able to limit the big plays, but their offensive counterparts must stop putting them in difficult positions. Ball security will be the top priority for Pitt QB Bill Stull and RB LeSean McCoy as they challenge the Buffalo stoppers, led by hard-hitting SS Davonte Shannon.

The Trib’s Kevin Gorman does a guest commentary for Rivals.com/Pantherlair and calls buffalo crap on the turnover stuff.

The Panthers went to great lengths this week to blame their season-opening loss on turnovers, in an effort to deflect legitimate criticism about their confounding choices on critical calls and inability to score more against a team that allowed an average of 402.5 yards and 30.2 points last season:

…

If that’s not placing the blame on the players instead of the coaches, I don’t know what is. Wannstedt was emphatic this week in calling turnovers “the difference between winning and losing.” He should know, considering how turnovers have affected his record in three-plus seasons at Pitt.

The Panthers are 16-20 under Wannstedt, and most of those victories have come when the Panthers won the turnover margin. It’s not quite the simple equation as winning the turnover margin equals winning games, though.

Pitt is 3-4 when the turnover margin is even, has lost three games with a plus-margin and won one game with a minus-margin. The Panthers are 4-3 in the seven games they haven’t had a turnover, beating Connecticut in 2005, Central Florida in ’06 and Eastern Michigan and Syracuse in ’07 but losing to Nebraska and UConn in ’05 and UConn and West Virginia in ’06.

Sometimes, it comes down to what you do with the turnovers.

As much criticism as OC Cavanaugh takes for the offense, it has been pointed out that this offense is also the offense Coach Wannstedt wants. Low risk, limiting opportunities, just run clock, field position and mainly trust in the defense to control the game.

To that extent, any turnovers by Pitt’s offense are killer since they disrupt the entire game plan. And that, many — including myself — would see as a major flaw in the gameplan. Turnovers happen. Especially at the college level. Wannstedt’s gameplan depends not just on Pitt winning the turnover margin, but not turning the ball over at all. Each turnover by Pitt effects field position, running time off the clock by the offense, making the defense do more, and one less chance to score a field goal.

The prove it/disproven theme continues in this AP piece.

All week on this blog, it’s been about all the shortcomings of Wannstedt the coach coming back at once. The excuses, putting it on the players, overvaluing experience/not trusting the younger players, old NFL mentality, etc.

In Paul Zeise’s Q&A and chat from Thursday, all of these things came up and there was no disagreement from him. Zeise has also noticed the anger from the fans has reached all-time highs.

Q: Is this the angriest you have ever seen Pitt fans since you started the Q&A?

ZEISE: Actually, yes, and by a lot. I mean, I have lost track of how many e-mails, phone messages and whatnot I have received, plus you read the message boards, listen to talk radio — there is a lot of anger and I think it is three years of frustration finally boiling over. I mean, when Walt Harris had his low moments, there would be anger but at least 30 to 35 percent of the correspondence was defending him. I don’t know that I have received one e-mail this week that was even remotely positive or trying to defend the coaching staff. It has ALL been negative, so that’s why it is pretty easy to figure out that this has been as bad as it gets for the coaching staff and the program in terms of an unhappy fan base.

“Think it is three years of frustration finally boiling over.”? Nay, it is. It is so completely an overwhelming and stupefying frustration and anger. Look Pittsburgh and Pitt fans have no problem with a power running game and strong defense. Everyone gets that. It’s comforting and familiar. But when it is so clear that, it isn’t happening that way. When it is college football, not the NFL. It becomes too much to take when the head coach is the only one that doesn’t see it or can’t admit it.

Another fun fact for the Wannstedt era. In Pitt’s 13 1-A wins under Wannstedt, only 3 came against teams that finished above .500 (Cinci twice and WVU). So, for the most part, if you lost to Pitt, and were not Cinci, it was a very, very good chance that you were a bad team. I guess Buffalo will find out a lot about itself tomorrow night.

In an otherwise forgettable college football preview issue for ESPN the Magazine (disclaimer: I have a free subscription with my ESPN Insider account) there was one useful little factoid. The % breakdown of the student section size of each home stadium for each conference. In the Big East, as a % of the stadium capacity, Pitt sits at 5th with 15% (WVU is 1 with 21%). In terms of student section size, Pitt is 3d behind WVU and USF.

The fact is, that as much as the on-the-field product has been shaky the last few years, the fans in the stand have matched it. If the coaches and players are expected to be much better this year, it is incumbent on the fans to again match.

The athletic department has been doing what it can. It has aggressively kept the prices for tickets and season tickets low and even cut the real costs a bit. It has paid off in more ticket sales.

Pitt has sold about 12,000 more season tickets this year than last year, but the athletic department still has some work to do to reach its goal of selling out Heinz Field for every game.

A little more than 34,000 season tickets plus an additional 7,000 student season tickets have been sold, athletic director Steve Pederson said. Heinz Field’s official capacity for college football is 65,050, but the most season tickets Pitt could sell is around 55,000. About 5,000 tickets per game are held for opponents and another 5,000 for corporate sponsors.

In 2003, the only time Pitt has sold out its season ticket allotment, 42,544 non-club season ticket packages were sold, along with 10,000 student ticket season packages and about 5,100 club seat season packages for a total of 57,644– about 16,000 more than this season.

…

Pederson is optimistic that with the fan initiatives and the Rib Fest, the crowd Saturday will be close to 50,000. He said the 3,000 remaining allotted student season tickets are still “selling like crazy.”

Pitt is offering a special deal for those who purchased a single-game ticket ($25) for the opener. They will be allowed to roll that price into a season-ticket plan ($99) and purchase the remaining five games for $74.

“We know there are people out there still trying to feel us out and that plan sort of gives them a chance to come and see us and then decide,” Pederson said. “We’re hopeful that they have a good time and like what they see and then decide to buy the rest of the season.”

The athletic department is doing a lot of stuff before the game to try and create a better atmosphere that will get the students down to the stadium and want to be there.

With that in mind, Pederson issued a directive to his staff to discover what Pitt’s students wanted, and athletic department officials met with members of Student Life and Pitt Program Council for feedback. That led to an aggressive marketing plan with fan-based initiatives intended to give students a greater voice at games.

For one, Pitt will transport students directly to the North Shore instead of Downtown this year until 90 minutes before kickoff. There, they will have the “Great Lawn Tailgate.” The university has purchased 75 portable grills and is offering $24 tailgate packs for students to have cookouts in the grassy area next to Jerome Bettis’ 36 Grille, a short walk to Heinz Field.

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt was excited to learn of the initiatives, knowing that a strong student presence will add to the atmosphere at the game and help the Panthers recapture the game-day traditions he experienced at Pitt. One includes having student organizations with wooden signs standards forming a tunnel for Pitt players to run through to the student section.

The tailgate packs are supposed to feed up to 8 people. The wooden signs with student groups on the field. Wow. That takes me back to my days at Pitt. When all the frats and sororities would be out on the Pitt Stadium Turf doing that. Looks like, it’s a bit more inclusive. Bad idea, though, if college NAMBLA gets signage.

The fan initiatives weren’t directly solely at students. Pitt also guaranteed parking passes for all season-ticket holders, and Pederson said 7,500 parking passes have been sold, an increase of 2,500 from last year. Parking on the North Shore remains available.

The Pitt marching band will move its “March to Victory” down General Robinson St. one hour before kickoff to help alleviate traffic problems. Art Rooney Ave. will be the site of what Pitt is promoting as the “World’s Largest Family Tailgate,” with a food court and a 9-by-12 video screen with a live feed of PantherVision from the stadium scoreboard.

“We are really trying to transform this area into a destination, not just an area you pass through on the way to the stadium,” said Chris Ferris, Pitt’s assistant athletic director for marketing and promotions. “I really think the North Shore is going to be electric on Saturdays in Pittsburgh.”

That’s great. I think. I’m sure for one of the games I’ll bring my daughter down, and that will the sort of thing I should check out rather than keep her in the parking lot while I drink hang out with my friends.

That said, I don’t know how important the weekly fanfest stuff is for the families. It has a place, and can’t be discounted, but what matters is getting the students connected and involved.

This group of Pitt student fans is no different from any other. We have always found and made excuses when at Pitt. Whether the hill was too steep, lousy benches, just too drunk to leave the couch. Whatever. It’s not like Pitt is the only place that doesn’t have the stadium right in the campus. USF, Rutgers and UConn all have that same issue right in the Big East. South Carolina’s stadium is two miles from campus.

Look, as an alum not living in the ‘Burgh I am not wild about an off-campus stadium. I love being able to wander the Pitt campus, especially on a game day. The vibrancy and excitement is great. It doubly sucks that the first game of this season is at noon, so there is not even a chance to pop over there in advance just for a partial taste. That said, it is just an excuse to say that is what hurts the gameday atmosphere. The gameday atmosphere is up to us to create.

That goes for the students, the alum and fans. Cat Basket, which had some involvement in suggesting ways to involve the students more on gameday is issuing a challenge all the fans.

It starts with the students. They help set the tone. But it also means that there needs to be more from the rest of the fans.

My condolences to the Beiswenger family and the brothers at Delta Phi on the passing of Jared Beiswenger. A recent Pitt grad, passionate Pitt fan and a regular reader of this site.

“He was a die-hard Philly fan,” Placone said. “He went to probably more than 20 Phillies games this season alone, and he wouldn’t miss the Eagles on Sunday for anything.”

Placone also remembered how hard Jared took each loss that his favorite teams faced.

“It was impossible to even talk to him after a game was over,” he said. “He’d be too angry to even acknowledge your question.”

Luke Fidler, another one of Jared’s fraternity brothers, remembered Jared’s competitive spirit and hatred for losing.

“I’ll always remember going to Pitt basketball games with him,” Fidler said.

“He was the craziest fan I’ve ever been with at a game, and the Zoo definitely lost one of its biggest fans,” he said.

Jared always got his choice of seats at Pitt basketball games by arriving at the gate several hours before tipoff, Placone added.

“He liked to wear an Adidas headband, harking back to the Julius Page days,” he said.

He was planningto teach English in Peru via TEFL, and was supposed to be going in August.

Dead period for recruiting. No organized practices permitted. Spring semester long past. That means it’s time for coaches and ADs to hit the chapter functions.

There’s the Mon Valley Panther Club holding its 25th annual banquet tomorrow. The three major coaches — Wannstedt, Dixon and Berenanto — are expected to attend.

A couple weeks ago, AD Pederson went to the Johnstown chapter’s banquet which returned after a 9 year break.

“These last six months have been pretty amazing,” Pederson said. “My first day here was the day we beat West Virginia (in football). A few days later we were beating Duke at Madison Square Garden (in basketball).

“We went through the tough injuries in basketball but (coach) Jamie Dixon did an unbelievable job of pulling everything through some tough times and getting us through a Big East championship,” he added. “(Coach) Agnus Berenato takes the women’s team to the Sweet 16, the first time in our history. Then, we had the only wrestler in the United States that goes wire to wire. Keith Gavin was the only undefeated wrestler in all of Division I wrestling.”

Both Coach Wannstedt and Offensive Coordinator Matt Cavanaugh were at the Central PA Chapter event last week.

He is confident in his university, his program, his team.

And, apparently, he sells that as good as anyone sells. Certainly, his first three recruiting classes have been applauded by the national experts, including the one two years ago that landed quarterback Pat Bostick from Lancaster, running back LeSean McCoy from Harrisburg and even William Penn offensive lineman Greg Gaskins.

Cavanaugh just watched the coach work the room Wednesday at Heritage Hills.

“I know what’s in his heart,” Cavanaugh said. “He said, ‘The one goal in life I’ve got remaining is to bring my alma mater back to national prominence.’

“He’s got no aspirations of going back to the NFL. He doesn’t want to work at another university. He wants Pitt to get back on top and that shows in everything he does. How he motivates the team, how he recruits, how he handles the media, how he talks to alumni.

“I believe it’s going to happen.”

I knew it was good for me to write about Pitt’s season having already been enough. Win or lose against Michigan State, it was enough. I’ve already reread that post five times – I’m positive it’s kept me from saying something I’ll regret later. I’ve had about 40 hours to digest it – I think it’s time to move on.

Having said that…ouch. That’s a tough one to lose. I can’t wait to hear the people saying Dixon still can’t win the big ones – I don’t think any coach can win when your team shoots like that. He wasn’t the one shooting 2 of freaking 17 on three pointers. Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin both played like crap and there’s no denying that. I’ve been pretty tough on both all year (especially Ramon) and this game didn’t help their cause. Still, thanks to them for giving so much to this program over the years and I hope them both the best in whatever their life takes them to next. It’s not like the seniors were the only ones to drop the ball though – everyone except for Fields played like #%@&. I’m not even mad anymore because, well, it’s over.

But hey, when Drew Neitzel is going to hit every shot he takes then you’re already fighting a losing battle. As Chas mentioned, Neitzel frustrated the hell out of everyone by both his crazy shots and his attitude. Someone I watched the game with, not a Pitt fan, commented on how much of a jerk he was and somebody from Pitt needed to foul him hard at the end of the game. I responded with some harsher words (one f-word followed by a different f-word) but whatever. Just add him to the list with Gerry McNamara and Chris Quinn – certified Panther killers.

Please don’t bring up the argument that they were worn down by the Big East Tournament. I’m not buying that excuse at all. These are 18-22 year old kids in the best shape of their lives. Sure four games in four days was tough but it was a whole week ago. The game against Oral Roberts was so easy and boring that it was like a day off anyways.

It also would have been nice for them to win for the simple fact it would have given us something to write about for another week. Blogging the offseason sucks.

Most of the conversation you’re going to hear when if Pitt loses is “Was it enough?” A lot of people will tell you it’s not enough unless they finally make it past the Sweet Sixteen. This year is a different situation though. The Mike Cook and Levance Fields injuries took this team from Final Four potential to just another average group. We were supposed to be lucky to finish .500 in the conference and nobody could have ever imagined the amazing run at the Big East Tournament. We avoided getting upset by Oral Roberts and now we play a traditional power in the 4-5 match-up of the second round. As the guys on ESPN Radio put it, there won’t be any shame in losing to a good Michigan State led by Tom Izzo, a coach that has had plenty of NCAA Tourney success.

However… this is a different team. Sure they have flashes of Pitt teams from the past eight years, but they also play a faster, quicker, and more athletic brand of basketball. At this point, Fields is looking better than ever, even with the hair flowing a little longer. They are physical enough to match up with Michigan State and yet fast enough to possibly hang with run-and-gun Memphis. Izzo says he would give Jamie Dixon a Coach of the Year vote:

“If I had a vote for national coach of the year, he’d have to be right up there, for surviving what he went through this year in a tough conference,” Izzo said. “With the injuries he’s had … he’s battled that. He’s had 25-point losses and turned it around. I think that’s the mark of a great coach, getting knocked down a few times, yet getting his team back.”

Maybe I’m writing this so I can look at it later and read this instead of saying something stupid with the thoughts of the game fresh in my head: even if we lose tonight, it has been plenty enough to call this a successful season. I’m getting a little worried though.

Also, has this been the most exciting Pitt basketball season in recent memory? Washington’s overturned buzzer-beater, Fields’ trey to beat Duke at MSG, Ramon’s buzzer-beater over West Virginia, the crazy comeback at Syracuse, and then four wins at the Big East Tournament.

…or just the Pennsylvanian voters?

The PA Primary is April 22 — looks like someone is trying to get on the good side of our voters’ minds. His entire bracket can be found here.

“…he sucks too.” Chances are you’ve heard that if you’ve been to a Pitt home basketball game in the last few years. If not, let me explain: after each visiting player is introduced, the students yell “sucks!” and after the opposing head coach is announced they yell “he sucks too!” All while holding up a special Zoo newspaper in front of their faces.

Why bring this up? I got to thinking about it after reading “Over The Top” by Grant Wahl in Sports Illustrated. Basically it explains that excessive vulgarity and taunting by fans (mostly students) is getting out of control to the point where it’s become dangerous. Whether it be UAB fans angering Memphis players enough to almost make the players storm into the stands, or maybe the parents of a visiting player hit with objects thrown by fans (i.e. Indiana’s Eric Gordon whose mom was hit with a cup of ice in Illinois). There’s a line and it’s being crossed more and more.

How about in Oregon? Stan Love, father of UCLA’s Kevin Love, received a horrible welcome when UCLA played the Ducks.

Stan says his family was pelted with popcorn cartons and empty cups, as well as a barrage of profane ­insults (“every filthy word you can think of”), including screams of “whores” that made Kevin’s grandmother cry. “There were six-year-old kids with signs saying KEVIN LOVE SUCKS. It was the grossest display of humanity I’ve ever been involved with.”

Did I mention that Stan is #6 on the Oregon all-time scoring list?

“To think I’m sitting at the school where I played ball, and just because my kid ­didn’t pick Oregon he gets abused like that? I’ll never go back there.”

To put that into perspective, that would be like Pitt fans doing this to Brandin Knight (14th leading scorer in Pitt history) if he were to have a kid that played for Georgetown. Way to go there, Oregon.

So how about our very own Oakland Zoo? They got mention the the SI article:

There may not be nearly as many ­incidents of racism and anti-Semitism in college arenas as there were in the 1960s, but in the year 2008 many fans are waving anti-gay signs, which often appear on national TV broadcasts. Last month a Pittsburgh fan held up a BROKEBACK MOUNTAINEERS sign when the Panthers met rival West Virginia.

But is it really that bad if it’s not directed at one player in particular? Well it’s certainly better than singling out one opposing player, such as fans have done for Levance Fields (“taser!”) among others. Sometimes it is a bit much, even at the cheers directed at the entire team, especially if the f- and s-words are involved. At West Virginia last Monday, the “F— you Pitt” and “Eat s— Pitt” chants were audible through the television. Members of the Zoo have dropped occasional f-bombs but nothing to that extent.

Back to the “sucks” chant though — it’s been clear that the team and Jamie Dixon aren’t really the biggest fans of it. The Oakland Zoo spent some time trying to figure out something new to do during pre-game intros. Eventually they decided on singing the Victory Song which began on January 2 against Lafayette. The “new tradition” lasted for about 15 seconds.

The fact is that “sucks” just isn’t a vulgar word compared to other things heard in college arenas. The audio folks at the Pete have started to play music while the visitors are being introduced, which seems counterproductive in some way. There’s nothing like helping to get the other team pumped up while being introduced in your own building.

Maybe it’s because I’m not that sensitive to swearing that it doesn’t affect me as much. Sometimes the personal attacks can be too much though, but I also think sometimes people are too quick to call something “hurtful”. It comes with the territory of playing D-I hoops, especially in a big conference.

It certainly crosses the line when things are thrown at visiting fans and players’ parents. To my knowledge, nothing like this has happened in the Pete and I hope it stays like that. Also crossing the line? Throwing things onto the court, which happens much too often and recently in Arizona (video link). Lastly, it seems as though WVU prides itself on the reputation that a Pitt fan can’t walk around Mountaineer Stadium by themselves without having things hurled at them and possibly being punched. How far is too far? That is.

Flash back to last year: Tom Crean called Pitt-Marquette a rivalry. I didn’t think it was last March and I really don’t think so right now either. Maybe he does it to pump up his players…who knows. What makes a rivalry? Location of the teams — sure it’s Big East, but Pittsburgh and Milwaukee aren’t too close. Great games in the past — we’ve surely had some, but not enough. Passionate fan bases — both teams have a solid following, but I don’t think there’s enough hate between the fans.

Next, a quote.

“My rule was I wouldn’t recruit a kid if he had grass in front of his house.
That’s not my world. My world was a cracked sidewalk.” —Al McGuire

Come on, you know that’s cool. It’s also the basis for the name of the best MU blog out there…Cracked Sidewalks.

They’re not letting Levance’s offseason problems go away.

Fields missed more time for the foot injury than he did for punching an off-duty police officer, allegedly grabbing for the officer’s weapon, and ultimately being tased in an incident outside a strip club last September.

The fans are going to give him a tough time on that tonight — it’s a guarantee. He’s said in the past though that he’s used to it now and it won’t bother him.

Cracked Sidewalks speaks highly of the great rebounding between Blair and Young. Physicality is the answer.

With Fields back in the mix, MU will need to hit the floor with the same toughness and energy we saw in Newark earlier in the week. Marquette summoned up the moxie and energy that was missing for much of the Big East season as they silenced the chippy Pirates. The Golden Eagles dominated the Pirates on the glass, held them to just 38% shooting, and had an impressive 13 assists on just 30 made field goals.

By the way the over/under on the number of times Dominic James hits the floor is being set at 5 ½. He flops to the floor like he’s been shot (Duke Blue Devil style). I’m taking the over.

I’m headed to North Allegheny HS before the MU game to watch Zeke Marshall (6′ 11″ center from McKeesport) tonight. Hopefully I’ll have some type of “scouting report” (notice the quotation marks) since he is a possible Pitt recruit.

First things quickly:

— If you haven’t heard or read about Kevin Hart, Google his name and read all about his story. Holy crap it’s amazing — he had a big event where he committed to Cal over Oregon. He wore the hat, people clapped for him, all was good. Until it was discovered he’s had no contact with either school, neither head coach knows who he is, and he basically made the whole thing up. Only in Nevada… (Part I, Part II)

— I think it’s great to see other Pitt blogs that offer more and more outlets for fans to look in to. Check out Pitt Panther Prowl, which is filled with intelligent posts and makes a good point about Wannstedt’s recruiting compared to Howland/Dixon.

Since Ben Howland took over at Pitt (Jamie Dixon being his primary recruiter), and on into Dixon’s tenure, name one McDonald’s All American who has signed with the basketball team. There is no doubt that there have been a few studs, such as Chris Taft and DeJuan Blair. But who are the top 10 recruits the basketball team has had? … But Dixon certainly took players that, as high schoolers, were believed to be inferior athletes, and he got them to play at an elite level. This is the trademark of Dixon’s teams. He takes players that have the skills to fit his system, and he squeezes every last ounce of talent out of most of them. His coaching has made up for the fact that he can’t get the same recruits that Duke, or even UConn can. And if he continues with the success he has had, the future will hold better and better recruits wanting to come play at Pitt.

When Wannstedt becomes a better game day coach (and I think he started to turn that corner near the end of this season), the recruits will be put into better situations to succeed. If not, we’re going to have very good players under a bad coach, and we’ll continue to see these 5-7 type seasons.

Now, to tonight’s game against West Virginia. You’re wondering about the “42 Weeks” thing, right? That’s how many consecutive weeks the Pitt basketball team has been ranked, reaching as high as #2. A loss tonight will certainly end that. WVU plays well against ranked teams:

Now, they get a visit from the Mountaineers (16-6, 5-4), who have performed well against the three ranked opponents they’ve faced. They’re just 1-2, but their losses came by a combined three points — 74-72 to No. 7 Tennessee on Nov. 24, and 58-57 to No. 9 Georgetown on Jan. 26 after a controversial non-call on a potential goaltending call at the buzzer.

Both teams are 5-4 in conference and the repercussions of this game could easily be felt when it comes to the seeding of the Big East Tournament. Also, beating a good team like this looks good on our NCAA Tournament resume (and so does Duke defeating UNC last night).

The hoops rivalry with West Virginia has never really seemed as intense as the football side, but WBGV still lays down the hate.

Things they hate about Pitt (full list on their site):

• That it’s located in Pittsburgh. Seriously, I’m for pollution as much as the next guy, but these guys are out of control. [Dennis says: Umm…you’re from the same University located in Morgantown, right?]
• Andrew Carnegie. He didn’t leave ANY money to his children. Or me. What a horrible parent. [Dennis says: Funny?]
• Oakland. The whole thing is confusing. Are you poor, roughneck, trashy Pittsburghians, or fruity west coasters? [Dennis says: We’re Pittsburghers, thanks.]
• Jamie Dixon. On the advise of my politically correct lawyer, I’m not making a hilarious joke here.
• The stache. [Dennis says: 13-9.]
• Pittsburgh Tuxedos = carpenter jeans, Timberland boots, and Ben Roethlisburger jersey. [Dennis says: Better than the required attire in Morgantown — camouflage.]

Today is their day for payback, revenge, retribution (and even murder).

…the 2007 College Football Blogger Awards are here. Lead by the big boys in the CFB blogosphere, the nominees are out. They are spread out on EDSBS, MGoBlog, Dawg Sports, Burnt Orange Nation and Rocky Top Talk. Just a few thoughts:

— For a second straight year, Pitt Blather is nominated for the Best Big East/Notre Dame blog. This is a testament to Chas who I personally think is one of the best bloggers in the business. (Albeit a low income business for most, it’s a business nonetheless.)

— The actual awards are a great way to let let some people who might not be “in” with the vast number of great college football blogs on the web. It also allows newer and lesser known blogs to get some deserved attention.

— Since you can’t win a category if you won last year, Every Day Should Be Saturday and MGoBlog won’t sweep every award.

— My vote for Best Big East Blog will go to Card Chronicle. I try to visit a few times a week; always a good read.

— Funniest post? Enter the Octonion, the secret meeting between the Big East mascots with Roc the Panther being hilariously humanized.

— Eleven Warriors, an Ohio State blog, is beautiful. My vote for best looking site.

— The Birddog, focused on Navy football which I started to read the week of our devastating loss to them, is my choice for Best New Blog.

Soon enough, EDSBS will have directions so that you, me, and my dog (Finnigan!) can vote and award some winners.

I’ll be the first to admit that I usually over-react to Pitt athletics. No other sports team/program has done this to me, and I think it’s mostly because of writing for this blog. When we win I’m at the highest of highs and I think Pitt is the greatest in the world. When we lose, however, I tend to think the sky is falling.

The loss 13-point-destruction at the hands of Rutgers doesn’t do that to me though. I think Chas gave plenty of reasons to calm down a bit. Hey, it’s the Big East — even the teams near the bottom can surprise you. They’re definitely on a hot streak and we’re banged up pretty well. All we need to do is hold the fort down until Fields gets back and we’ll be in good shape. Plus, more and more news keeps coming out of Fields returning sooner than originally thought.

Unlike football where one loss can completely ruin a season, this is basketball. Everything will be alright — step off the ledge…

Panther Club members and football season ticket holders should have received/will shortly be receiving an invitation through the mail. The invitation is for a “National Letter of Intent Event”:

Join the Pitt coaches as they provide exclusive insight into those football student-athletes who signed binding letters of intent to attend Pitt earlier that day and show video highlights from each student-athlete’s high school career.

When: Wednesday, February 6th

Time: 6:00 PM, Doors open at 5:00 PM

Location: Heinz Field, East Club Lounge

I’m contemplating whether to go or not. On the one hand, it might be interesting to hear what the coaches have to say about these guys. On the other hand, I just don’t know if it’s really worth it to drive down to Heinz Field, especially if it’s not really all that exciting and they don’t tell us anything we don’t already know.

You’re allowed to take yourself and a guest, but you must provide your guest’s name so that Pitt can be assured no NCAA rules. Anyone out there (who is not a family member of a recruit, not in grades 9-12, and not a high school or JuCo coach) that wants to accompany me? Right.

Ironically (If I’m seeing this correctly), there is a picture on this invitation of Paul Rhoads speaking at a previous event. It’s safe to say he won’t be there this year.

Got this in the mail a few days ago — sounds like it’s being sent to all football season ticket holders.

The inside reads:

This is just the beginning of something very special
at the University of Pittsburgh.

Thank you for your continued support of our program.
Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season
and a very Happy New Year!

Steve Pederson, Dave Wannstedt, and the Panthers Football Team