The chat transcript from yesterday and the Q&A today. First, something that amused me in the chat transcript.

ether: How much would you account last weeks showing to a. Poor execution by the players b. Poor planning and adjusting by the coaching staff or c. Michigan State the having superior players?

Paul Zeise: Good question. If I were grading I’d give both the defensive players and defensive coaching staff a failing grade for that game. It seems like it has gotten to the point where every team that runs a spread and runs some option turns into the 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers. I mean, sooner or later you’d think Pitt would have some degree of success against these kinds of offenses and plays. But again, players have to make plays. The Panthers linebackers need to not just get to the point, but make the play once they get there. The defensive ends need to take better angles to the play. The secondary guys need to do a better job of getting into the action and stopping plays. Michigan State no doubt was physically superior to Pitt, but not 335 yards worth. This was hopefully for Pitt’s sake just a bad day.

[Emphasis added.]

Now, see what happens when the DC is directly indicted.

BringBackWalt: How is Paul Rhodes still employed? How many years now have teams run all over his defense?

Paul Zeise: The defense started off good this year. They’ve had two good games and one bad one. I’d say wait until the end of this year, now that there are some better pieces in place, before you try and run him out of town. He’s a good coach and I think you’ll see that again as some of these younger players continue to develop and gain some experience.

Since the question didn’t specify the kind of offense that runs over the D, Zeise ignores the issue of Paul Rhoads being clueless against the spread and option over the years this time. Instead focusing on this year and the first two games — against teams that don’t run the option. Unlike in the earlier question where the guilty DC wasn’t named, where it was conceded that the Pitt defense has never learned to defend the spread or option.

It’s two things. One, by all accounts, Rhoads is a rather personable guy and well-liked. It means the media doesn’t want to have to take shots at him if they can avoid it. It’s the sort of thing that has helped Dave Wannstedt in his career — until things reached a certain point of disappointment and frustraton is reached.

The second, is that Zeise is a beat writer. He has to see the players and coaches on an almost daily basis and depends on access to them to do his job. To that end, he wants to avoid directly bad-mouthing the players and coaches.

It’s a frustrating gray area for readers and the writers. Think about how many times in this season and in training camp there has been non-specific talk of bad chemistry in the locker room last year. How the beat writers from bothw papers own writing suggest they were well aware of the problems. Yet, if you look back at all the stories from the past season you will not find a single story about bad chemistry, locker room issues and such.

That’s the double-edged sword that is access. You get the access to write stories and provide more information. But that access also demands controlling how much is shared — lest the access be cut-off. Personally, I think the beat writers for Pitt are a little too secretive and concerned about access issues.

On the other side, they would then be busting and putting a lot more on the players. The kids who are still learning about dealing with the media and everything else with life. Plus, everytime they report something negative, there is that loud minority of fans who accuse the paper and the writer of having and agenda, bias or anti- the team.

Sorry, just went off on a tangent there about the media.

A lot of the chat also concerns the idea of moving Conredge Collins to RB rather than FB. The previous couple of seasons, there was probably no bigger champion of Brandon Mason than Zeise. Collins is now his latest. Probably a reflection of the kind of RB he thinks is best, as much as anything else.
In the Q&A for today, Zeise does his best to oppose letting the kids play yet. He comes off as neutral on Dorin Dickerson and Elijah Fields getting playing time, not caring about getting the back-ups any work, “Who cares about getting the back-up quarterback experience? What about the back-up center? Or third string safety? They might have to play some day soon, too. Walt Harris used to burn redshirts for two series of “experience” for the back-up.” He doesn’t want to see the younger players taking more work in the games. Essentially backing the coaches decisions and the status quo.

I’m open to the possibility that he sees that the kids aren’t ready yet in practice, but really doesn’t say that (except for Fields). It just seems as much about trying to not upset the present starters and not second-guess the coaches decisions on who to play.

It’s official. The local media really doesn’t have much for this game. The Citadel scored 3 points and 35 points in their first two games. Both games, though, saw them give up 35 or more points. So while there is potential on the offense, the defense has shown nothing to this point.

Here’s the thing, they are a military style institution with many of their alum serving admirably and with distinction in the armed services. It’s hard to mock them, especially in this present climate, without looking like a complete dick. A big switch from the 90s — when there were lawsuits over admitting women and a paralyzed former player, with a famous dad, who only now reconciled with the school — where the school was an easy target. Add in the fact that it is located in South Carolina and it only multiplied the ease with which to rip them.

Now, things are different. The Citadel may not be a national service academy, but the students who are willing to go through the process are accorded more respect. Plus, the loyal alum were even willing to shell out the cash to bring the Summerall Guard up for the game.

Well, good luck seeing the game if you aren’t going. ESPN360.com will be showing it, and the results can be spotty. On the bright side for those attending, an extra pre-game treat.

…the illustrious Summerall Guards will be performing twice at Heinz Field. The Summerall Guards will perform their full routine outside Gate A of Heinz Field before the game and will perform a six-minute routine on the field at halftime.

…

Consisting of 61 members, the Summerall Guards are first-class (seniors) cadets who go through a rigorous physical training and initiation process and are chosen for their physical stamina and drill proficiency.

Membership is considered a high honor at the military college. The platoon’s purpose is to exemplify, through a unique series of movements based on the old German close order drill and performed to a silent count, the exactness and thoroughness with which The Citadel cadet is trained. The series has never been written and has been passed down since 1932 from class to class, through strict rehearsal and memorization.

The Citadel is taking the money this season. This will be their second 1-A opponent they face this season.

It is The Citadel’s second game with a I-A team this season, its sixth in the last three years, and its ninth in the last five years.

In his first 14 games as the Bulldogs’ coach, Kevin Higgins has faced Florida State, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Pitt – not to mention defending I-AA national champion Appalachian State, Furman and Georgia Southern of the Southern Conference, the so-called best I-AA league in the nation.

“It’s a challenge,” is about all Higgins will say about the schedule.

Most teams in The Citadel’s position would be playing Mars Hill this week – defending I-AA champion Appalachian State did last week. Furman played West Georgia before losing to North Carolina, and Western Carolina ends its season with Florida, after starting it with Chowan.

The football team will earn $750,000 for the school against Texas A&M and Pitt this season, and has totaled about $2.8 million for eight “money games” since 2002.

By the time the Bulldogs play Arizona in 2010, they will have made about $5.1 million in 14 games against I-A teams in a nine-year period.

Well, The Citadel is not even a good 1-AA team, so they are in demand. Especially with the upsets and close games better 1-AA teams have given other schools this year. If you are going to play a 1-AA team, you damn well better be sure you can beat them.
The Citadel is coming off a tough 38-35 loss to Charleston Southern. The Citadel HC Kevin Higgins saw good things from the game.

“Our wide receivers only had two big drops against Charleston Southern. They did a much better job that game.”

So, they have that going for them.

Lots of straight stuff from Paul Zeise well worth reading in full. He has his Q&A up.

Q: I think Matt Cavanaugh’s NFL mentality is going to cost this team some wins. Just because you have a lead doesn’t mean you take your foot off the gas. He needs a killer instinct, what’s your take?

Zeise: The goal is to win the game, period. Whether you win by one or 30 it only counts as one win. I agree the Panthers got way too conservative on both offense and defense way too early in the Cincinnati game but by the same token, we’re not even talking about any of it if Revis and Brooks don’t fumble the football. I think it is important to note that Pitt was on a game-over type of drive when Brooks fumbled it late in the game. I mean, if they get a first down there, who knows where the drive leads, but at the very worst the Panthers are punting to pin Cincinnati way deep in their own zone. The feeling in that one was simple — let’s just get the heck out of here with a win and the play calling and prevent defense reflected as much. But the bottom line is, they won the game. The problem I have with Pitt getting so conservative on offense is the Panthers aren’t good at running the football. As such, the short passing game has to be used more than it is in order to compensate for it.

Seems like he was trying to hedge a bit here by talking about how the game could have been put away but for a couple player errors. He only hints that Pitt went into conservative mode on both sides of the ball rather early in the 4th, rather than putting the game away. I put some of the blame on Coach Wannstedt as well. Both have that NFL mentality.

It would have served Pitt and the team better to finish the job early in the 4th, then allowed the second units on both sides to get some time in there. As it stands, back-ups like QB Bill Stull, still haven’t had much of a chance. Something I was hoping would change.

Then there was the chat from yesterday of some interest.

that_guy: Stanton loves to throw quick hitters right off the snap. Pitt has a penchant for playing its corners 10-15 yards off the ball. Can Pitt afford to play its corners within 5 yards of the line to prevent that quick-passing attack?

Paul Zeise: No, I think Pitt needs to play a lot more press man coverage than they do but their philosophy is to keep every play in front and make teams go 70 and 80 yards the hard way. The problem with that is if a guy misses a tackle, well, those five yard gains turn into 20 yard gains. I understand why Pitt plays certain teams like that but in cases where a team has an accurate passer who throw quick strikes, I’d like to see them get more aggressive.

Dear God, that’s a scary prospect to have DC Paul Rhoads adjust to actually have the corners play up a little more. Again, this has been an ongoing source of agony for myself and the majority of the Pitt fans who have watched Paul Rhoads’ defense give up chunks of yards on long drives out of some compulsion to not give up the big play and maybe make a stop.

Stay with me here for those of you not going to the MSU-Pitt game. The broadcast map is a little bizarre.

If you live in certain markets in Michigan or Pennsylvania, you might be able to see the game. It will be shown on ABC there. The rest of you will likely get the Ohio State-Cinci thriller on ABC or other regional action. The game is actually on ESPN2 in other markets — split with the BYU-BC game. If you look at that map, you will see that the entire East Coast and Southeast will be showing the BYU-BC game, not the MSU-Pitt match-up. That means in NY, NJ, Maryland, DC and even markets like Philly, the only way to see the game is to pay for ESPN Gameplan. For the Midwest and West Coast, MSU-Pitt will be shown.

Mainly press release stuff.

Punter Adam Graessle is on the Ray Guy Award Watchlist for the best punter in college football. No shock, though, arguably he may not be the best punter in the Big East (of course a Syracuse punter gets a lot more chances to punt then most).

Speaking of Syracuse, the October 7 game in the Carrier Dome will be at noon and a ESPN Regional/Big East game of the week.

ESPN360 will be airing the Citadel-Pitt game at 1:30 on September 23. Guess we can rule out being able to see that game streamed on Pitt All-Access as well.

I’m not sure when Pitt dropped the price on All-Access. They originally priced it at $69.95 for the year or $9.95/month. That seemed quite high. Apparently the initial sign-ons weren’t quite what was expected as the price has now dropped. They are now offering it for $59.95/year or $7.95/month. I can’t say I’m surprised, though the price should be lowered a bit more. They had a table at FanFest and I saw no body even approach it for information.

The Pitt website is run through CSTV.com, and the All-Access is part of their service. CSTV just launched a publicity campaign about the service being offered.

Football and other sporting events from dozens of colleges and universities will be available live over the Internet through a service launching Friday.

Notre Dame games will be free, while other schools will charge $4.95 to $9.95 a month each for an “All-Access” broadband channel that includes live audio and video feeds of some games, news conferences, highlights, play-by-play animation and other features.

CBS’s CSTV Networks, which is running the service, will also sell access to CSTV XXL, the entire package of more than 100 schools for $14.95 a month or $99.95 a year.

The schools do have the ability to set the price however they want. For Notre Dame that is easy to give away free audio. With every home game nationally televised on NBC, and ABC/ESPN happy to fall to their knees to air the game, and essentially a national radio broadcast meaning if you can’t catch the game on a radio or TV, you’re not trying.

If you’re wondering about the chance of seeing games in streaming video. Well…

Because of existing television contracts, however, live video of football and basketball games will initially be limited.

Notre Dame, for instance, promises audio only for every football and basketball game, but video will generally be limited to less-prominent sports, such as hockey, baseball and volleyball, Bedol said. Video highlights of football and basketball will be available.

Bedol said every school will have some live video, but only half will show some football games and up to two-thirds will carry basketball games. Audio is expected for most of the schools, primarily for football and basketball.

He also said more schools should be able to carry video as they re-negotiate deals with television rights holders. In some cases, he said, video could be restricted to viewers outside a broadcaster’s coverage area, and a school might share online revenues with the rights holder.

[Emphasis added.]

I’m hoping this might make it a little clearer some of my annoyance at the BE TV Contract where all broadband rights remained with ESPN. Unlike the Big 11 and the SEC, who will have control of those rights. They won’t have to provide a cut to ESPN to show their own games on their websites or be flat out refused — like teams in the Big East until 2013. They will have the control and can make the decisions. That’s part of the key to the ownership of their own station. Ownership. Of. Their. Own. Content.

For a conference like the Big 11, their big games will still get the wide network and cable distribution. The other games, the games of key interest to their fans and alumni will be there for them. This is about being able to strengthen the ties and connection to those fans and alumni. Creating more loyalty. It also means being able to offer more value.

I don’t see a point in getting the All-Access. Watching coaches press conferences is not something I place a high economic value upon. The main value is access to the live games. Frankly, I’m not willing to pay that much for streaming audio. That’s really all they are offering. Extended highlights. Great. But it’s just streaming content. Not downloadable, not a keeper.

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.

A great little widget, that will be wildly overused in the next couple days in the blogosphere. Here’s some brief thoughts on who and what are “On Notice” for the Pitt game.

Send me your own submissions and I’ll post some of the best.

Pitt recruit (?) Herb Pope has transferred to Arlington Country Day School in Jacksonville, FL. – again

No wait, he hasn’t.

I have no idea.

You may remember last spring when all the Herb-Pope-J.O.-Straight-Drunky-Bear-Huggins stuff started popping up in newspapers, trustworthy blogs and not-so-trustworthy blogs.

Well, here we go — again.

Former Aliquippa High School star forward HERB POPE is now enrolled at Arlington Country Day School in Jacksonville, FL. The powerful prep school welcomed Pope with open arms, though they may be the only place to do so for awhile.

End of story right? Not so fast.

While the author of the story, Chris Dokish, is a friend of Pitt Blather and seems to have an in with Straight that newspaper writers don’t, there seems to be some holes in the report.

He gives us the news of Pope leaving, but never gives us a source or a quote. He moves onto other things, such as Pope being a royal prick; i.e. never making up his mind and starting fights in tournaments.

All the rumors began with a harmless quote in a Kentucky newspaper story that ran on Sunday. On Tuesday Jim Equels Jr. of the Beaver County Times didn’t see it as that harmless.

According to a story in Sunday’s Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader, Pope has transferred to Arlington Country Day, a prep school in Jacksonville, Fla. The source of the information is Country Day coach Rex Morgan.

Morgan was discussing one of his players, A.J. Stewart, a potential Kentucky recruit, with Herald-Leader writer Jerry Tipton. Included in the story was the following:

Morgan’s team also has another, more highly regarded prospect in forward Herb Pope. Louisville, Pittsburgh, UConn and Kansas State are on his list.

Pope’s potential caused Morgan to make a telling slip of the tongue. “No question he has the tools to be on the next level,” the coach said before adding with a chuckle, “I mean the next next level.”

Pope was unable to be reached for comment Monday, nor was Morgan.

That’s it? How on earth does that imply Pope has transferred? All the coach is saying is that Pope has the ability to play in the NBA, which he does – the NBA tends to ignore personality.

Yesterday the BC Times ran a story with the following headline “Pope is officially out of Aliquippa.”

It appears likely that Herb Pope, one of the top basketball prospects in the nation, has left Aliquippa for Arlington Country Day, a prep school in Florida.

Pope, a 6-foot-9 forward, was not in school on Tuesday, the first day of classes at Aliquippa. Quips’ coach Marvin Emerson said it is his understanding that Pope would not be attending for his senior year.

“Supposedly, he’s gone,” Emerson said.

That’s a rather wishy-washy story to run after such a definitive headline.

Today we have another wrench thrown into the mix in the form of an Aunt.

On Wednesday, a woman called The Times, saying she was the biological aunt of Pope.

According to the woman, the basketball standout “will be in Aliquippa.”

“I have custody of him,” said the woman, who identified herself as Amy Smith. “He will be in Aliquippa. He is at a tournament in New York now. That’s all you need to know.”

Asked whether Pope was enrolled at Aliquippa, the caller said, “That’s all you need to know.”

Perhaps the angry aunt should have been a source in the earlier stories.

Of course, this whole mess has the larger more credible newspapers jumping on the bandwagon.

Classes started at Aliquippa yesterday, and Pope did not attend. Aliquippa basketball coach Marvin Emerson said he was told by one of Pope’s close friends that Pope is attending Arlington Country Day School in Jacksonville, Fla.

My conclusion: No one has a clue. Regardless, I don’t want Pope at Pitt and I doubt Pitt does either. I’ll trust Dokish for now and assume Pope is gone. Stright probably knows more than he is letting on and may have told Dokish some of it off the record.

That’s just my speculation — everyone else is going it, why can’t I?

Well if you live in Charlottesville, you can go to the campus arena and watch the game — since few without a dish don’t get ESPNU.

Obviously that won’t help most people. So this might be of interest.

ESPN launched a new website Monday to package all the network’s college sports content.

ESPNU.com is designed to be a companion for the ESPNU television network, the company said.

It will include news, scores, columns, video and audio highlights, podcasts and the live streaming of games.

The streaming will include both live simulcasts of televised games and events that will be exclusive to the Internet, the company said.

[Emphasis added.]

Now, looking on the site, I couldn’t confirm that they will actually live stream the game on Saturday. For all we know, that is still a pending feature. The other thing to remember is that if they do, it will still be the somewhat less than smooth streaming if the prior previews I’ve watched of live game streaming on ESPN Gameplan and Fullcourt are any indication. Still, if it’s all there is, it’s better than nothing.

Well the news conference to announce it was “exclusive” ESPN360 content, so I didn’t see it. Here’s the media release from the Big East.

For football.

A minimum of 17 home games involving BIG EAST Conference teams will be televised on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2, including four Thursday night games and two Sunday night games on ESPN or ESPN2. In fact, this commitment represents the largest number of guaranteed appearances on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 in the history of BIG EAST Conference football.

At least one conference game will be a part of ESPN’s Saturday Prime Time package and two games – one on ABC or ESPN, the other on ESPN2 – will be on Championship Saturday in December.

In addition, ESPN Regional, the nation’s largest football regional network reaching more than 30 million homes, will broadcast nine games and will continue its Game of the Week package, which is syndicated throughout BIG EAST markets and beyond. Most games produced by ERT are also offered as part of the ESPN GamePlan pay subscription service.

Finally, the conference will also have a minimum of five home contests televised by ESPNU. The minimum number of football games involving BIG EAST teams on television increases further when taking into account appearances in non-conference away contests.

Now for basketball.

The BIG EAST will continue to be the only conference in the country to have each and every one of its men’s basketball tournament games televised by ESPN. There were record audiences for the 2006 BIG EAST Championship, including the final game, which was the highest-rated cable tournament final of the year (2.58).

In addition, ESPN Regional will carry a minimum of 80 games (66 conference and 14 home non-conference) and continue its weekend Game of the Week package, which reaches approximately 30 percent of the nation’s homes and has a total household reach of more than 30 million. Most games offered by ERT are also available nationally as part of ESPN Full Court, the pay subscription college basketball outer-market service.

…

Minimum 60 games on ESPN or ESPN2

• 49 regular season games – 41 conference and eight home non-conference
• 11 BIG EAST Championship games

110 additional regular season games broadcast on the remaining ESPN platforms

• 80 games on ESPN Regional (66 conference and 14 home non-conference)
• 30 conference games on ESPNU/ESPN360

Minimum of 10 conference or non-conference games on CBSThe above gives the BIG EAST a minimum grand total of 180 television games each year.

The BIG EAST will continue to be featured each week during the conference season on ESPN’s Big Monday. A new element to the agreement will allow ESPN to also feature a BIG EAST Conference match up on Thursday each week. The agreement also provides that each BIG EAST team have a minimum of 10 games telecast on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic or ERT.

Short-term (the next couple of years) very good for the Big East and its members. The money will be nice. Long-term, it puts the BE schools further behind the other schools in terms of growing revenue streams and control.

The agreement will also cover content to be provided on broadband and cellular services.

And guess who has the control?

The new contract extensions give ESPN, which is on the cutting edge of new media technology, the right to distribute its BIG EAST inventory on any new potential consumer-based platforms. “We will be on the crest of the wave of the future,” Tranghese said. “The BIG EAST is proud to allow ESPN to explore new ways to give the Conference even more national exposure through innovative technology.”

Thanks for giving that property away in this contract. ESPN controls the rights, content and control over the most important long-term media area.

That’s where the big growth areas and new revenue streams are. I know some of you think I’m being ridiculous about this, and my notes that Mountain West premiere’s its channel this week and that the SEC is planning its own cable channel along with the Big 11 in the next couple of years.

I asked this question back in June when the BE deal was first leaked.

It’s a real concern to me that this conference seems to lack any foresight or desire to try and see what is coming. All it seems to do is react and get into a defensive stance.

This next TV deal is supposed to be for a lot of money, and that’s great. But does it consider the distribution of content in other ways? Does it take into account possible broadband video and audio distribution, podcasts and whatever else is next? Or did it all get left in a vague terms that would require a lawsuit later to resolve actual ownership, distribution, fee rights and such?

At least part of it was answered. It’s not vague at all. Disney gets it all.

Pitt’s running into that now with its “Panther Access.” They are expecting $70/year subscriptions for people to get Internet radio broadcasts for football and basketball? ESPN won’t be giving away the internet TV rights to those things. They have their full court and gameplan packages to sell. But the SEC, Big 11 and Mountain West will all be able to do that. They’ll be able to offer conference and team packages for seasons online. They’ll be able to offer a download to watch the game later — an online TiVo.

Hell, guess what? The Big Sky conference is already doing it online. That’s right, the Big frickin’ Sky conference.

This season, the entire nine-school Big Sky Conference will webcast all football, basketball and volleyball games, using technology from Salt Lake City-based SportsCast Network LLC.

Fans will be able to choose which team’s audio feed to which to listen. Games will be archived and can be downloaded to portable devices like Apple Computer Inc.’s iPod.

“This is the future,” Big Sky Commissioner Doug Fullerton said. “The fan will decide what they are going to watch and when they are going to watch it.”

Northern Arizona does TV broadcast of its games online, and the rest of the conference is following suit. The Ivy league is also doing it.

“We can produce our own television and reach, literally, the entire world on the Web, without having to go through the issues of, is there cable availability? Is there satellite availability? Is there advertising support?” said Jeff Orleans, commissioner of the Ivy League.

He expects most of the league’s sporting events will be online within seven years.

Seven years. Remarkable coincidence. That’s how long the BE contract with ESPN runs.

You know the ACC and Big 12 have been paying attention to these movements. They have their contracts coming up and they will follow suit.

By the time the BE contract comes up for renewal, all the other schools will already have established their channels and their broadband outlets. The BE, once again, will be reacting and playing catch-up.

For those of you who are thinking that the good thing is that the BE will become that much more important to ESPN and more games will be shown on the mouse family, no. They still have their TV deals and will show plenty of games. That’s why the BE will only have 17 games aired, with only a few guaranteed for non-weekdays. Not an encouraging sign.
It’s just that the other conferences will have more control over their content and the revenue from it. The BE football will continue to be used like the Mountain West was to fill programming on the weeknights.

The kicking job is still up in the air, and it doesn’t make anyone feel better about it improving when the back-up punter, redshirt freshman Lucas Stone is now getting mentioned into the mix.

Senior WR Joe DelSardo was back with the team and practicing. He’s still suspended for the opening. DT Mick Williams was also back on the field after dealing with headaches and problems after sustaining a concussion early in training camp.

The Big East has the audio of the weekly coaches teleconferences (link on the right side of page, about halfway down). No archives, but they will keep each Monday’s conference up for the week. There’s something amusing about listening to the whole thing as you hear which writers are looking for their storyline. Not to mention, some strangely loaded questions — one WV based writer — with a long deliberate drawl — asked WVU Coach Rodriguez if “his boys were ready for the intensity in the Marshall game.” Nothing like a leading question to get the sort of quote needed.
This writer was after comments on the screwed up new rule in the game where the game clock will start after a change in possession rather than from where the ball is kicked.

Strangely, Bob Petrino didn’t get nearly that many questions you would expect. Petrino seems like a decent quote. I wonder if it’s because of the rest of the BE is still uncomfortable with the newcomers. Dave Wannstedt faced more questions. The most questions and plenty of media beyond simply the BE Beat writers was of course for Rich Rodriguez. They eventually had to cut off questions.

USF continues to have issues. More players suspended, and their starting QB has been dealing with back spasms.

Well this should be interesting.

The BIG EAST Conference and ESPN will announce a major new media agreement from ESPN Zone in New York at noon on Tuesday, August 29. The press conference announcing the agreement will be streamed live on ESPN360, ESPN’s customized broadband service.

Michael Tranghese, BIG EAST Conference Commissioner, and John Wildhack, ESPN Senior Vice President, Programming Acquisitions and Strategy will participate in the press conference. Bill Raftery, college sports personality and winner of the 2006 Curt Gowdy Media Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, will serve as host.

It seems that some of ESPN360 is generally available to view and some is “exclusive.” Meaning that your highspeed ISP has to be a partner with ESPN on this. Verizon appears to be a partner, but AT&T (formerly SBC) is not. The BE website will post details after the press conference.

We’ve been waiting on this for most of the summer. Rumors have been plenty, but not particularly clear.

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.