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Pitt, PSU & WVU College Football Predictions

Aug 222014

… Or I’m Actually Going to to Predict the Results of Kids Playing College Sports?!

Aye, ’tis folly of the highest order to deign to predict the outcomes of college sports, especially the footballs. But that’s what makes it so fun. I did my best not to let my prejudices for (Pitt) or against (EVERYONE ELSE!!) affect my predictions too much. You be the judge but please remember that you suck. And I will block you on Twitter if I haven’t eaten yet and you’re annoying me. Just let me get something to eat first before you word-vomit all over me after a tough loss.

First up, let’s do Pitt…

I tried. I honestly tried to be realistic in the third column below. But historically realistic would also include at least one “HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!” loss and one “SERIOUSLY, WHERE DID THAT COME FROM, WE RULE!!” win. But I want to believe that Paul Chryst is building something so I excluded the stupid loss. And no, I don’t think that beating Virginia Tech is a huge, off-the-wall win. They’re a fine program but one with which Pitt has traditionally been competitive (including last year in Blacksburg).

Date	Opponent	Location	Optimistic	Pessimistic	Middle
8/30/14	vs Delaware	Pittsburgh, PA	W	W	W
9/5/14	at BC *	Chestnut Hill, MA	W	L	W
9/13/14	at FIU	Miami, FL	W	W	W
9/20/14	vs Iowa	Pittsburgh, PA	W	L	L
9/27/14	vs Akron	Pittsburgh, PA	W	W	W
10/4/14	at UVA *	Charlottesville, VA	W	W	W
10/16/14	vs VT *	Pittsburgh, PA	W	L	W
10/25/14	vs GT *	Pittsburgh, PA	W	L	L
11/1/14	vs Duke *	Pittsburgh, PA	W	L	W
11/15/14	at UNC *	Chapel Hill, NC	L	L	L
11/22/14	vs Syr *	Pittsburgh, PA	W	W	W
11/29/14	at Miami *	Miami, FL	L	L	L
			10-2 (6-2 ACC)	5-7 (2-6 ACC)	8-4 (5-3 ACC)

Next up, the State Penn:

A Case for Sports Pain

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Feb 132014

Or… Justifying Wednesday Night RAW

It’s probably an understatement how raw I feel at the moment. Here’s the reason. Don’t make me talk about it. In fact, I think this tweet perfectly encapsulates how most people should deal with me after a close loss:

Not accepting anything from anyone who magically comes outta the woodwork to diss Pitt or claims some long held loyalty to Syracuse. #raw

— Malcolm Fitzgerald (@ajollybengali) February 13, 2014

This next tweet doesn’t describe how I feel after every loss but it most certainly applies tonight. Yes it does, yes it does, yes it does.

THEY GOT FUCKING LUCKY!

— Malcolm Fitzgerald (@ajollybengali) February 13, 2014

Anyway, I know I take sports pretty seriously. It opens me up to feeling really horrible at times. It also affords me ridiculous feelings of elation and euphoria. I’ve said that I do consider myself a pretty lucky fan overall so I’m not lamenting my current position. Too much.

Those who understand will, even if they’re on the opposite side, at least have some sympathy. However, some folks won’t/don’t/can’t understand how or why sports can bring a person so low. The best they can do is give a jagoff like me a wide berth when I’m pissed off. But they do so shaking their heads. I don’t think it’s lack of empathy. Perhaps, lack of imagination. In a way, I pity them.

Lies, Damn Lies and My School’s Recruits Rule!

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Feb 072014

Or… Happy NLI Day!

College football fans are undoubtedly still basking in the glow of National Letter of Intent Day. Wherein they celebrate recruiting classes sure to lift them to the promised land.

People get bent out of shape over recruits, recruiting wars, verbal commitments, recruiting rankings; both pro and con. My belief is that they matter only insofar as there must be a great developmental and game-day coach behind them. It doesn’t matter that Charlie Weis pulled in Top-10 classes at Notre Dame; he just isn’t a good head coach. But put those same classes in the hands of Nick Saban or Urban Meyer and the team will excel to a much greater degree with those same kids.

On the flip side, statistics mean nothing to the individual. That’s why it’s not hard at all to point to players who weren’t highly-ranked who went on to great college success. Antonio Bryant was a 1-star recruit out of high school. Pitt offered him at the last minute and his only other offer was from Louisville. He won the Biletnikoff Award at Pitt and might have won two if not for an injury in his last season.

Antonio Bryant, Biletnikoff Award Winner & 1-star recruit

My 2014 Pitt and College Sports WishList

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Jan 022014

I consider myself as a lucky sports fan. At least I’m not a Cleveland sports fan. I can find hope without looking too hard. BUT! C’mon, everyone wants some of their teams to do better. So here’s my wishlist for college sports in 2014.

Pitt football

Better recruiting on Defense. I expect that Paul Chryst and his staff will continue to build the offensive lines and reel in quality offensive recruits. That’s evidenced by getting 4-star RB Chris James as well as offensive linemen Mike Grimm and Alex Bookser. But I just don’t see those studs coming in on defense. Matt House took some pretty harsh criticism for the defense this year. Some of it was deserved, some not. But Pitt’s whiffed on some local kids who would have helped out a lot on defense. And that comes down to House’s and the defensive staff’s ability to recruit. He has to get better there. No amount of coaching ’em up will help if there aren’t capable players behind the schemes and instruction.
Paul Chryst’s growth as a coach. Chryst needs to become a better game day coach. Some of that is getting his guys in and up to speed. Some of it is just better in-game adjustments. There are times where you see what his offense is capable of. Games vs Duke and ND. The near comeback against UNC. The bowl game vs Bowling Green. I like Chryst and believe he can become a great long-term coach but he has continue to grow as a coach.
Tyler Boyd contending for the Biletnikoff Award. He had a monster season and with the emergence of Manasseh Garner and return of JP Holtz, I expect that Boyd will continue to put up big numbers. (Especially if he’s left in to return punts or kickoffs).
8-4 regular season record. Simple and easy. Winning more will improve recruiting, improve the morale of fans and draw more people to Heinz Field. It will show tangible proof of the growth/regeneration of the program. Avoid pulling a Pitt more than once next season and 8 wins is doable. Navy should have been a win. Same with Georgia Tech. That there would have given Pitt an 8-4 regular season record.

Pitt basketball

A strong ACC season. The ACC is not as strong as the Big East once was. It isn’t. Not this year at least. It ain’t no picnic either but Pitt’s been down this road before. I expect that Pitt, warts and all, should be in the top half of the conference. Outside of Duke, UNC and Syracuse, whom should Pitt fear? NC State, UVA, ND, UMD – good teams, yes. But not other-worldly programs. Fourth place is there for the taking. Continue reading »

Pitt Pulls an Anti-Pitt vs Bowling Green

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Dec 272013

“Pitt” – it’s a noun, an adjective and a verb. It describes the football or basketball teams’ propensity for finding a way to mess up in a truly heart-breaking fashion. It’s not exactly choking, though that’s part of it. It’s finding a way to give fans hope and then failing to finish off an opponent in such a way as to engender crying while having a heart attack.

For instance, last year’s game versus Notre Dame. Pitt nearly upset Notre Dame a year ago, blowing a 14-point fourth-quarter lead in South Bend then allowing the Fighting Irish to escape in triple overtime, a victory that kept Notre Dame’s perfect regular season alive. Not only did Pitt lose that game in truly Pitt fashion, but it led to a chain of events that forced the country to watch Notre Dame ‘compete’ for the national title. Seriously, America, we still apologize for not beating ND last year.

This year, Pitt has had a number of close losses. Some have been straight choking dogs, like the losses to Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech, where Pitt couldn’t do a thing all game and just got beat. That’s not pulling a Pitt, strictly speaking. That’s just incompetence. The losses to FSU and Miami were just straight up beats. To pull a Pitt, the team has to show life, give hope and then find a craptacular way to crap it all away. (And yes, using crap consecutively was necessary).

Paul Chryst’s Pitt showed growth this season.

Pitt-Penn State: The Hatreds We Keep and Cherish

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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

A Pitt Football Story Concerning JFK’s Assassination

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Nov 222013

Fifty years ago, Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated President John F. Kennedy, Jr. The nation grieved, people openly wept, sports events were cancelled. Conspiracy theories were hatched.

At the time, Pitt football was 8-1 and slated to play their season-ending game vs Pennstate. The game was postponed for two weeks. Ranked 5th in the polls at the time (with only a loss to Roger Staubach’s #2 Navy), Pitt was in line for a major bowl berth, possibly the Orange Bowl.

However, due to the postponement of the PSU game, the major bowls feared inviting Pitt before that last game. Plans and invites had to be made, I suppose. What if Pitt lost? After all, who in their right mind would invite a 2-loss team to a major bowl. <cough cough sputter sputter> So Pitt didn’t get an invite. The #5 team in the nation didn’t get a bowl invite.

Golden Panther on the prowl with tail up

The Fallacy of East-Coast Bias

College Football, Football No Responses »

Sep 302013

A quick relatively unformed thought:

The idea of East Coast Bias is so full of shizzles that it befuddles me.

Pitt once had a team, go 9-1, ranked #3 in the country that wasn’t invited to a bowl game.

Pennstate once went 2 1/2 years without a loss. And did not win a national title.

(Incidentally, there’s a hint of irony to the fact that Joe Paterno compiled three undefeated seasons but it was a 1-loss team that was his first “National Title”).

Pitt vs Pennstate at Pitt stadium, 1958

The New & Improved Pittsburgh Football Club

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Sep 232013

A modest and hopefully uncontroversial proposal, if I may, concerning the coaching staffs which make the UPMC Sports Complex their home.

Fire Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley. Ok, so that’s probably not so controversial among Steelers fans. Next, transfer Haley’s play-calling and strategy duties to Pitt head coach, Paul Chryst, a man known for productive offenses and the ability to effectively utilize the talents of existing players rather than trying to shoehorn them into one particular system. Chryst will continue to advise offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph but Rudolph will take on added responsibilities, something that should benefit his career immensely.

Pitt HC & soon-to-be Steelers OC Paul Chryst

Chryst will still remain the head coach at Pitt. However, since he isn’t exactly comfortable in front of the media (though getting better), Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin will take over Chryst’s media duties. (That groan you hear is from Pittsburgh sportswriters being forced to deal with Tomlin on two fronts). Chryst may also need to grow a beard.

Apologies Work

College Football, Football No Responses »

Sep 192013

… if they’re sincere enough.

Todd Thomas, the junior linebacker for Pitt, threw a hissy fit in training camp after he put on second string for one practice. Thomas quit the team but soon realized he had made a mistake. After a week, Paul Chryst told Thomas he could come back to Pitt football if his teammates accepted him.

After he informed the coaches of his wishes to return, Thomas said he had to talk to his teammates, particularly the seniors, and convince them he would come back as a committed member of the program.

They told Thomas he could come back, but only if he returned with an improved attitude, as well.

“The way I carried myself wasn’t really appropriate,” Thomas said. “So I just came back, did what I had to do, showed them that I could change and now I’m back and I’m thankful for that.

“I’m thankful to all the players, the freshmen on up, to coach Chryst and the staff for letting me come back.”

A sincere apology, eh. I like that.

This is a piece of what I’ve written before that college athletes are kids. Thomas did a stupid thing by quitting. He has always seemed like a good kid and according to reports at the time, even his high school coach was surprised by the abrupt decision. Fortunately, he repented quickly and came back to the team. He put his head down, worked hard and eventually re-earned his spot in the starting lineup.

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