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Requiem for Pitt AD Steve Pederson

Dec 182014

Well then, I think my hypothesis that Pitt football can become a Wisconsin got a huge shot in the arm last night. Pitt ~~BAMF~~ Chancellor Patrick Gallagher saw fit to relieve Steve Pederson of his duties as Athletic Director, a position he’s held for 13 years, resulting in no conference championships for the most important team in any major collegiate athletics department, football.

“Before beginning a robust national coaching search, Steve Pederson and I spoke this morning and we mutually agreed that this would be the appropriate time to make a change in athletic department leadership.

“With major decisions to be made about the future of football, I thought it was in the best interest of the University of Pittsburgh for Chancellor Gallagher to assemble his own team,” Pederson said. “I am a Pitt and City of Pittsburgh fan, and want what is best for everyone moving into the future. I will miss the daily interaction with our great staff, coaches and student-athletes, but will enjoy watching them accomplish great things. To our friends and supporters, thank you for making this a great home for our family.”

There were positives to Pederson’s tenure:

“Since arriving at the University in August, I have greatly appreciated my collaborations with Steve. Our athletic department has advanced in many significant ways under his leadership. Steve was an instrumental figure in Pitt’s move to the Atlantic Coast Conference and thanks to his efforts our athletic facilities, especially the Petersen Events Center, rival any in the country. I want to thank him for his many important contributions to Pitt and his unwavering commitment to our student-athletes.”

It can’t be underscored how important it is that Pitt made it into the ACC ahead of Cincinnati and especially UConn. Pederson also had two successful hires. He brought Ben Howland from Northern Arizona, though I’ve heard that Sonny Vaccaro had a lot to do with that hire, just as he had a lot to do with Howland leaving to go to UCLA. Pederson also hired Walt Harris to resurrect the football program. That we now bemoan a 6-6 record is testament to the yeoman’s work that Harris did. Continue reading »

Pitt-Penn State: The Hatreds We Keep and Cherish

Basketball, College Basketball, College Football, Football Comments Off

Dec 042013

The Post-Gazette’s Paul Zeise wrote the following in his build-up to the recent Pitt-Penn State college basketball game:

It used to be Pitt-Penn State in anything got people riled up no matter what the sport but to be honest, this is just another game. In fact, the athletic department issued a note today that tickets for the game still remained, which is amazing.

But that is the anatomy of how to kill a rivalry — join different conferences, don’t play each other for more than a decade in football and stop playing in basketball and eventually the fans will stop caring.

I hear people say that in 2016 when the two schools meet again in football it will be like old times but I don’t buy that. This young generation of fans has no reference point for the rivalry, they, unlike us, didn’t grow up with it, didn’t grow up with classic games and families split down the middle and rooting against each other one day per year.

Zeise may be right that it won’t be exactly like the old times but I doubt it’ll be all that tame either. I can guarantee there will be tons of fans like myself – in their mid-30’s (shit, I’ll be in my mid-30’s?!) and 40’s – who will remember it. Lots of people who did grow up with the rivalry who still remember it.

RenewingtheRivalry-PittPennState

On Pitt Basketball’s 2013 Outlook

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Aug 192013

As I was leaving the Pirates game on Friday, I ran into the couple that sits next to me at Pitt basketball games. They seemed pretty pessimistic regarding Pitt’s chances in this upcoming season. It’s a feeling I get from some others regarding Pitt’s first season in ACC basketball.

I can probably be forgiven for being a bit of an eternal optimist but I don’t see the cause for major despondence. Part of people’s trepidation, I think, rests with not being as intimately familiar with the ACC as we were with the Big East. Another rests with the two behemoths of ACC basketball, Duke & UNC. But as I’ve detailed before, the ACC is very top-heavy. Outside of UNC & Duke, who are we to fear? Clemson, Florida State and NC State aren’t exactly setting the college basketball world afire.

Pitt coaching staff

But perhaps the major reason for trepidation is conflating Pitt’s now-annual March swoon with its ability to compete within the ACC regular season. We’re all disappointed by those losses but it bears noting that Pitt’s ability to excel in the ACC regular season is completely divorced from its seeming inability to compete in March Madness.

Pitt picked 5th in ACC Coastal Division

College Football, Football 1 Response »

Jul 242013

The ACC media poll is out and Pitt was picked fifth in the Coastal Division. Wait, who’s in the ACC Coastal Division? Let’s take a look:

Coastal Division (First place votes in parenthesis)
1.	Miami (65)	736
2.	Virginia Tech (27)	654
3.	North Carolina (22)	649
4.	Georgia Tech (6)	522
5.	Pitt	313
6.	Virginia	230
7.	Duke	228

I can’t say I disagree strongly with these rankings though I’m not sure that UNC or Georgia Tech really deserved any first-place votes. However both programs are in a stronger position than Pitt (for now). Considering that it’s only year two of Paul Chryst’s tenure, breaking in a new starting RB tandem and a new QB, I’ll be happy with 7 wins and a bowl game. Continue reading »

Pitt’s Ability to Compete in the ACC

Basketball, College Basketball 4 Responses »

Feb 132013

I recently met up with an old friend who has since moved down to the Carolinas for work. He asserted that Pitt would have a tough time in the ACC as compared to the Big East. I’ll agree that ACC football will be tougher than Big East football. But where I part ways with my esteemed colleague is in Pitt basketball’s ability to compete.

While Pitt doesn’t have the same long history as Duke or UNC, outside of those two behemoths, who are Pitt fans to fear? To the Wikipedia Cave!!!

Since the ACC expanded after the 2004-2005 season, no team from that conference has advanced past the Sweet Sixteen except UNC and Duke. NONE. Continue reading »

Projecting out Pitt football schedules

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Jan 112013

… Or Yes, We Like to Get Ahead of Ourselves at Pitt

Ok, so the ACC released their schedules for the 2013 and coupled with a scheduled home game against Notre Dame, there is awesomeness all around for Pitt fans:

2013
Home	Away
Villanova	at Navy
New Mexico	at Duke
Notre Dame	at Georgia Tech
Florida State	at Syracuse
Miami	at Virginia Tech
UNC
UVA

But since I’m a Pitt fan and we forever live in the land of hope and tomorrow. Here’s a projection of Pitt’s home schedules in the next couple years afterwards:

2014
Home	Away
Delaware	at Notre Dame
Iowa	at FSU
Akron	at Miami
Duke	at UNC
Georgia Tech	at UVA
Syracuse
Virginia Tech

The ACC is a Better Fit for Pitt

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Nov 202012

For years after the ACC first raided the Big East for Miami and Virginia Tech, Pitt partisans dreamed of a move to the Big Ten. TV markets, however, dictated that Pitt would/will never get an invite. The Big Ten Network is already in the Pittsburgh area because of Pennstate. Ratings themselves don’t necessarily matter. If you have expanded cable, you get the BTN whether you watch it or not. So you’re paying for it no matter what. The B1G gets paid, period. I still prefer the ACC.

In football, we can still maintain a strong northeastern and mid-atlantic presence against former Big East schools Syracuse, BC and VT. We get a better toehold in Florida with the additions of games against FSU and resumption of games against Miami-FL. We can expand our recruiting south to places like the Carolinas. And historically, Pitt hasn’t needed a rivalry presence to recruit Ohio; the River City Rivalry with Cincinnati stretches back less than a decade. Moving to the B1G would open up the midwest more but that’s about it.

Loose-leaf observations from a tight-bound notebook…

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Nov 192012

SEC vs SEC title game scenario. Because you know it’s going to happen.
- ND loses to USC.
- Alabama, Georgia and Florida win their last respective games to finish at 11-1.

SEC Title game: 11-1 Alabama vs 11-1 UGA.

BCS National Championship: 12-1 SEC title game winner vs 11-1 Florida.

Bam. Done. You’re welcome, CFB nation.

Does this mean I have to root for ND to beat USC just so that we have some variety? Yikes. ND is already a lock for a BCS bowl game and deservedly so but they’re going to get waxed by any of the other contenders.

Brian Kelly is a dbag but man, can he coach. I said it when he left Cincinnati that he would reawaken the echoes. Looks like he has done that.

Maryland and Rutgers to the B1G. Makes financial sense for both but athletically, they’ll be whipping boys going up against those huge schools.

I don’t regret one bit that Maryland and Rutgers might be going to the B1G while Pitt is going to the ACC. The B1G was a pipedream of Pitt fans for many years but we fit better athletically within the ACC.

If ever you doubt that college football is more innovative and interesting than pro football, check out Chris Brown’s site, Smart Football.

The Big East Was Doomed Years Ago

College Football, Football, The Bigger Picture No Responses »

May 092012

Or… Why Joe Paterno is Laughing Himself Silly Down in Heaven

In the wake of Big East Commissioner John Marinatto’s (forced) resignation, there’s been a lot of revisionist history about what should have been done to strengthen the league. I don’t think anything substantive could have been done post-2004; certainly nothing that would have prevented further defections.

It’s been written that the conference dithered too much in the wake of the 2004 ACC defections. The additions of Louisville, Cincinnati and USF stabilized the league but that was it. UCF or Memphis might have been decent additions at the time but no available school would have radically shifted the balance of power nor provided the anchoring presence that the University of Miami once did.

A league needs an anchor tenant (or two) around which to build its brand. The ACC already had a high mid-level brand in Clemson and got an anchor tenant when they admitted Florida State in 1992. Prior to 2004, the Big East wasn’t the clear-cut worst BCS conference; it was relatively on par with the ACC in football and could have even tried to poach FSU and maybe UMD and UVA, two decent mid-level brands. But instead, the ACC acted boldly and snagged the Big East’s anchor tenant (Miami), a high mid-level brand (Virginia Tech) and a large market (Boston College).

So I would contend that the Big East as a major football league has been doomed to die a slow death since losing the Hurricanes. I, for one, am very relieved that Pitt is off that sinking ship.

MST: Duke and Coach K say yes to Pitt/’Cuse. Rest of ACC says NO!

Basketball, College Basketball, College Football, Football, MST, The Bigger Picture No Responses »

Sep 182011

The college sports world was thrown into turmoil this weekend when it was revealed Pitt and Syracuse had applied for and been accepted for membership in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Speaking to Andy Katz of ESPN, Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski said that adding the Panthers and Orangemen would be a coup for the ACC.

“It’s actually pretty exciting,” Krzyzewski said. “I think it’s great for our conference football-wise, even better basketball-wise. Wherever this is going to end up, four big-time conferences or five, whatever it is, you want to be perceived as No. 1 in football and basketball.”

It is widely known that Duke and Coach K opposed the ACC’s previous expansion plans, a position that solidified the other universities’ resolve to add Miami-FL, Virginia Tech and Boston College. So even though Pitt and Syracuse bring top-notch basketball programs to the ACC, Krzyzewski’s remarks still caught ACC administration off guard.

MST has since learned that the ACC’s Presidents and Athletic Directors have had a sudden change of heart upon hearing of Coach K’s welcoming words. Using a little known by-law known as the We Hate Duke Corollary, they have since re-voted to reject Pitt’s and Syracuse’s applications to the conference. The ACC’s expansion focus will now shift to schools that will most definitely piss off the Blue Devils.

“It’s actually pretty exciting,” Krzyzewski said. “I think it’s great for our conference football-wise, even better basketball-wise. Wherever this is going to end up, four big-time conferences or five, whatever it is, you want to be perceived as No. 1 in football and basketball.

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