So, we can’t enjoy a weekend stress free, huh?

Potentially ugly news right now. Let’s start with the most salacious version of things — since this is the one everyone is going to focus.

Pittsburgh police said football player Stephen Williams was charged following an alleged domestic incident with a woman in Oakland on Saturday. Police said the woman flagged down officers as she stood on the street, bruised an holding a clump of her hair.

Hours later, police found University of Pittsburgh basketball player Ernest Zeigler III passed out inside his Hummer at an Oakland intersection.

Police said Zeigler failed all field sobriety tests, had a blood alcohol level of .129 and threw up in a holding cell toilet.

Oh, boy. Sounds really bad. For both situations. Ugly Saturday night for all. Yet, this is the only story on Williams, and Zeigler’s tale seems not to jibe with other versions.

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UPDATE: Pitt has issued a statement on the players situation, it is below the fold.

Really not much that can say about the assault charges that are filed against Devin Street, Ray Graham and Lafayette Pitts. I won’t outright call them a load of bull, but let’s just say there doesn’t seem to be much meat to the charges.

Pittsburgh police wrote in a criminal complaint that they were working an overtime detail early on Oct. 21 when they tried to disperse a crowd from the intersection of Oakland Avenue and Bates Street and three people remained in the roadway.

One those people, Karl Olsheski, told police he had just been assaulted. He refused medical treatment and said he did not want to file a report, he just wanted officers to stop the man who had punched him, according to the criminal complaint.

In an interview with police, Mr. Olsheski said he was walking in Oakland with two women when Mr. Graham stopped him, said, “What’s up?” and uttered a racial slur. Mr. Olsheski said that he replied “nothing” and tried to leave but Mr. Graham, Mr. Street and Mr. Pitts surrounded him and then Mr. Street slugged him on the left side of the head, according to the criminal complaint.

The players are being mailed their summons to appear. It is simple assault and conspiracy. The stories do not make clear how the three were identified or whether they were detained at the incident. They were not and will not be arrested in connection to the charges. They haven’t even received notice that they are being charged, since the summons are being mailed to them.

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Good lawyer, probably a bit of overdoing it on the number of charges, and a clean past help.

Back in May, Carl Krauser had a bit of trouble with the police. You may recall the laundry list of charges: escape, carrying a loaded weapon, possession of a small amount of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, public drunkenness and driving with a suspended license.

The escape, public drunkenness and driving with a suspended license charges were all dropped. That left the drug and weapon charges. The outcome? Two years of ARD.

Krauser, 31, of New York City, was approved for the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program Tuesday by Judge Kim Tesla. If participants successfully complete ARD, they can petition court officials to have their record expunged.

Court records show that Krauser will be on ARD for two years on charges of having firearms not to be carried without a license, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

As a first time offender, he was eligible for the program. That strikes me as a pretty good lawyer to be able to get him ARD when it involves an unlicensed, loaded firearm.

Obviously a huge burden off of Krauser. He had to give up his passport while the case was pending. That meant no way for him to sign an overseas contract with his legal status up in the air. Now, he can return to playing professional basketball in Europe or Asia.

Plus one injury.

To the surprise of, really no one, Coach Paul Chryst has lifted the suspensions of Tyrone Ezell, Shayne Hale, Rushel Shell, Ronald Jones, Chris Davis and Anthony Gonzalez. All six were already permitted to practice with the team this week. Not to mention being listed on the two-deep for the Cinci game.  So it mostly felt like a formality to make it official. That or Coach Chryst feels like this is some sort of tactical advantage to keep opposing teams unsure who will play — like his non-injury reports.

Anthony Gonzalez and Chris Davis did not make the travel team roster, however. If you are scoring at home, along with yet another position change, this is two straight seasons Gonzalez has put himself in a coach’s doghouse despite his athletic ability and potential. At this rate the only question with Gonzalez will be whether years later only Gonzalez looks back at his time with Pitt and think, “if only…” or will Pitt fans as well.

T.J. Clemmings who missed the YSU game with an undisclosed injury will also be back.

The D-line will have less of an excuse for this game with one starter and two more more back-ups available. Whether they can handle Cinci’s O-line and a mobile QB is still a big unknown.

Okay, football stuff coming later. First a bunch of links to touch on some other topics.

The daily bomb threats on Pitt’s campus last spring should not re-occur. The FBI has their man (sort of). It’s as weird as possible.

A 64-year-old, wheelchair-using Scottish man from Dublin, who already has served a prison sentence for emailing hoax bomb threats, was indicted Wednesday as the person responsible for emailing a series of 40 false bomb threats targeting the University of Pittsburgh during the spring semester.

A federal grand jury in Pittsburgh also charged the suspect, Adam Stuart Busby, with sending emailed bomb threats to federal courthouses in Pittsburgh, Erie and Johnstown and with threatening U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton.

Speaking at a news conference announcing the indictments, Mr. Hickton said Interpol had been alerted to the federal warrant charging Mr. Busby, who currently is in custody in Dublin on a Scottish warrant for similar crimes there. He would not speculate on any timetable for extraditing Mr. Busby from Ireland to face prosecution.

…

According to The Irish Times, Mr. Busby has multiple sclerosis and is a leader of the Scottish National Liberation Army, which seeks independence for his homeland. He recently was released from prison on a 2010 conviction in Ireland for emailing two false bomb threats in 2006 to Heathrow Airport in London. Those threats, which cited specific international flights, claimed to be from the Scottish National Liberation Army, according to the Times.

Since last month Mr. Busby has been held in custody in Dublin on a European Union warrant seeking his extradition to Scotland for additional charges of sending false threats, according to Irish media outlets. He is charged with making hoax threats in 2010, mostly by email to media organizations, that threatened then-British Prime Minister Gordon Brown with a noxious substance, and claimed buildings would be bombed and that the English water supply would be contaminated, Irish news media reported.

The FBI wouldn’t give a reason for why he targeted Pitt for the bomb threats (Editor note: I know this is somehow related to you, McClearn).

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So, yes. Joe Starkey noticed the poll I ran just after the Freeh Report and  a week before the Paterno statue was removed. Just part of his overall piece he wrote why Pitt should play PSU.

The topic lit up the airwaves, where the overwhelming sentiment was to renew at least for the two games. The blog PittBlather.com received more than 600 replies to a poll asking whether fans still want to see Pitt-Penn State.

The No. 1 answer (29 percent) was yes, depending on “what steps Penn State takes in light of the Freeh Report.” That was followed by 25 percent saying yes unconditionally and 21 percent saying absolutely not.

Now, Joe Starkey did me the unnecessary courtesy of e-mailing me several days before his column with some questions about the poll, and letting me know he was planning to mention it. (Not the content of his column, just that he was going to mention it.) So I knew something was coming.

Do I agree with what he said? That Pitt should play PSU “first in the name of collegiality”? No. To put it bluntly, screw that.

Playing the game to guarantee a sell out? Um, isn’t that just about the money? That’s not far removed from the reasons Penn State’s powers did what they did with pretending Sandusky wasn’t doing obscene acts with minors in their own football building. That’s the worst reason to play.

Overall, I am still undecided about my feelings on those games in four years. My impulse is still to play. The history. The connections within my family. That all means a lot, and comes into play. It colors my perspective rather strongly in favor of playing PSU.

But when I think about the actions by the powers at Penn State. All to protect the legacy of Paterno. To protect their reputation. To protect their cash cow. It becomes a bit harder to justify resuming playing PSU. Even for only a couple years.

A few links/stories not directly related to Pitt but putting out there.

Northwestern has been Under Armour-ized. It’s not good. It’s not Maryland bad, but in the Big 10 it is radical.

Want to see how a lot of teams will probably (or should) schedule in the ACC when they go to a 9 game schedule? Virginia Tech is a good example.

The 2015 Akron game that was listed on Tech’s website under future schedules has been canceled.

The Hokies’ nonconference schedule in the next few years looks like this:

2013: vs. Alabama in Atlanta, vs. Marshall, vs. Western Carolina

2014: vs. William and Mary, at Ohio State, vs. Western Michigan

2015: vs. Furman, vs. Ohio State, vs. East Carolina

2016: vs. Wisconsin, vs. Liberty, at East Carolina

By being pushed back, the East Carolina series would have one more home-and-home cycle in 2017 and ’18.

The Hokies also are scheduled for a trip to Wisconsin in 2017 to satisfy that home-and-home agreement…

Every year has one marquee non-con. VT relies a little heavy on local 1-AA foes for an extreme patsy for my tastes. The third game isn’t bad. Especially with the always dangerous ECU team out there.

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In the first 24 hours or so after the NCAA announced the sanctions on Penn State, there was a feeding frenzy expected for Penn State football players who had the freedom to transfer without sitting a year. Some top targets are almost viewed as rentals — juniors and seniors.

No surprise that PSU Coach Bill O’Brien is putting on a brave front, and talking of keeping the players together. It’s not so easy with the present recruiting class, as you would expect. But so far it seems to be working with plenty of present players saying they are not leaving.

Starting quarterback Matt McGloin, starting cornerbacks Stephon Morris and Adrian Amos, running back Bill Belton and wide receiver Allen Robinson all said they are staying at Penn State through social media.

Offensive tackle Mike Farrell, a Shady Side Academy graduate, and Fox Chapel product Miles Dieffenbach each told the Tribune-Review that they will remain at Penn State.

This shouldn’t be a big surprise. It also shouldn’t stop coaches at other schools from staying in touch with these players. This is a year-long courtship. Not a two week window.

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I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on. I will not pile on.  I will not pile on…

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Well, it has been an active 24 hours or so, hasn’t it?

The Joe Paterno statue has been removed. Reports swirl of unprecedented sanctions from the NCAA — that Penn State won’t fight — and quickly verbal commits start hedging on their future.

NCAA President Mark Emmert is going to be conducting a press conference this morning at 9am to lay things out on Penn State. This is all uncharted territory, but everything about this Penn State scandal is uncharted territory for college athletics and the NCAA.

Yahoo Sports reported on Sunday, citing two sources, that Mr. Emmert has been able to skip the normal enforcement procedure as part of a provision allowed in the NCAA constitution by getting permission from the NCAA’s board of directors. The board comprises 18 university presidents and chancellors.

Coincidentally, former Penn State president Graham Spanier endorsed the need for swift decisions by the board, like the type it has reportedly taken, at a summit of NCAA presidents last August.

“The board needs to be prepared to take stronger actions directly,” he said.

We’ll all find out in just a short while. Twitter may break on this one.

Maybe it’s because of all the scandal coverage is being devoted to Happy Valley. Maybe it’s because the school already punished itself in related events, including the firing of their head coach and forced resignation of the AD. Maybe it’s because it has been dragging on for some two years. Maybe it is because so many journalists happen to come from this school. Or maybe it’s because nearly two years later we still don’t exactly know who or how many players were part of the huge academic fraud scandal that happened at North Carolina.

Everyone knows about the agent-related scandal at UNC that ultimately cost Butch Davis his job. The other component that came out of the scandal was academic. And it has proven to be a huge infestation of a problem. One that involved an entire academic department and was wide-reaching through all of UNC athletics — though, with an extra emphasis on football.

Willis Brooks and Jay Smith, two UNC-CH history professors who are concerned about the case’s impact on the university’s academic integrity, said the enrollment and pay data suggest Nyang’oro had set up a system for athletes to get into classes they could pass.

“The only logic I can conjure is (Nyang’oro) was protecting seats,” said Brooks, a professor emeritus who served on the faculty athletic committee in the early 1990s. “And since the preponderance of people who took the seats are athletes, there is circumstantial evidence,” he said.

This included a class, “launched two days before the start of a summer 2011 semester and immediately filled with 18 football players and a former player. Academic advisers to the football players knew the class did not meet and only involved a term paper, but still placed the athletes in the classes.”

Newspapers looking into this found irregular classes dating back to 1999.

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I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’ve read a ton of stories and opinions related to the Penn State cover-up that the Freeh Report showed. After a while some blurred with others. Tabs closed. Maybe even some stories missed.

Three pieces stand out for various reasons, so I’m going to explain, link and excerpt a bit of them here. If you have your own favorite put it in the comments so we can take a look.

First up is Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins. Ms. Jenkins was one of the last people to interview Joe Paterno before his death. That piece  was not exactly hard-hitting. But then how hard do you go after a dying man getting cancer treatments? She basically let him make his claims of not knowing anything. Now? She feels a bit used and pissed.

Joe Paterno was a liar, there’s no doubt about that now. He was also a cover-up artist. If the Freeh Report is correct in its summary of the Penn State child molestation scandal, the public Paterno of the last few years was a work of fiction. In his place is a hubristic, indictable hypocrite.

And that’s just the opening graph.

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I’m going to need a shower after this. These are PDF documents if you want to read them yourself.

Press Release on the Freeh Report

Freeh Report

I’m still reading, digesting and then retching. The most damning thing so far is that Paterno, Spanier, Schultz and Curley all knew of the 1998 police investigation into Sandusky showering with the boy.

Annoyingly the Freeh report is encoded so you can’t copy from the document. It won’t stop anyone. Just wasteful. You can print it. Scan it and then you have an un-encoded copy to do individual pages.

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The Freeh Report on Penn State and the Sandusky cover-up/scandal comes out tomorrow morning. The early rumors are that it is going to be wide-ranging and scathing. Going after not just the football program, but Penn State and the whole culture at the school. As such, you see groups trying to get ready for it, or try and protect tarnished legacies (and keep trying it seems).

I’m going to read it. I will probably have some things to say about it afterwards. One name I’ll be looking for with some interest is Tom Bradley. The man who at one point seemed poised to be Pitt’s head coach (or UConn’s or Temple’s).

Back in 2010/2011 when Bradley abruptly seemed to be pursuing every available 1-A job on the East Coast, the speculation was that he realized he would not be the guy to succeed Paterno. Or that he had been too picky for too long, and just wanted to be a head coach before he became yet another PSU assistant who was never more than that. That he didn’t want to be like Bud Foster at VT.

Now we wonder and speculate if he was trying to get any job he could because he knew about the grand jury investigations into Jerry Sandusky. That he was trying to get out before the crap hit.

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Not good. Not good at all Carl Krauser.

One of the leading scorers in University of Pittsburgh basketball history is facing multiple charges for attempting to run from a police drunken-driving checkpoint in Beaver Falls.

Carl Isaac Krauser, 30, of 1744 Watson Ave., New York City, was charged by Beaver Falls police with escape, carrying a loaded weapon, possession of a small amount of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, public drunkenness and driving with a suspended license.

Playing at Pitt from 2002 through 2006, Krauser was the first player in program history to finish his career with 1,000 points, 500 assists and 500 rebounds.

Krauser was detained by police manning a drunken-driving checkpoint at 10:15 p.m. Friday on Seventh Avenue in Beaver Falls, according to the report.

As officers checked his license, Krauser stepped from his car and began to run, police said. He was located by police moments later in the Save-A-Lot parking lot, 400 Ninth Ave.

As he was being placed in a patrol car, a plastic bag containing marijuana fell from Krauser’s pant leg, police said. A second bag was found in a pants pocket.

As they prepared to tow Krauser’s car, police said they found a loaded gun under the front passenger seat.

A breath test showed Krauser’s blood-alcohol level was 0.067 percent, according to police.

That is a fail on just so many levels. One bad decision after another.