Big Lead Sports Bar

8/03/2009

NEWS AND NOTES



--Fantastic news from Latrobe: Big Ben's off to a slow start. Although I didn't understand this quote:
"Tomlin said "that's a safe assumption" that it normally takes Roethlisberger a week to get his arm to mid-season form.
Wouldn't his arm be in mid-season form some time...I don't know...around mid-season? [PG]

--If you haven't yet read the tale of Stanley Cup-crasher Ryan Kraft, take a few moments and do so. And then check out the accompanying photo gallery. Is that Christine Simpson in the background? [Dayton Daily News]



--The Pirates' series of trades saved the team $7.3 million in salary this year, showing a final payroll projection of $47 million. And you said they were cheap! [PG]

--Jeff Reed and his Super Mario Brothers-inspired t-shirt are now writing for Whirl Magazine. This should be interesting. [Whirlmagazine.com]


--Mike Prisuta resigned from the Trib, but will stay on at DVE. So Jeff Reed is now writing and Mike Prisuta isn't? That's scary. [Bob Smizik Blog]

--Penn State's football schedule is always the topic of debate, especially in these parts. So I hope Sean at Sean's Ramblings is ready for mass quantities of Pitt-PSU bickering on his blog after mentioning the perceived weakness of said schedule. [Sean's Ramblings]

--Jay Mariotti wrote about the Pirates, which means we should all duck for cover. Thankfully, Elvis Has Left has taken Mariotti to task on many of his inane points, which makes for quite the entertaining read. [Elvis Has Left]

--Being that I attended Geibel HS back in the day, I always keep an eye on what's happening at my alma mater. The quick-hook to head basketball Marshall Biddington leaves a lot of questions to be answered, and the AD is not talking. How far we have fallen from the days of Ken Misiak, the Joe Paterno of WPIAL hoops. [Herald Standard]

--Lionsgate is going to be shooting the film "The Next Three Days" in the suddenly-trendy filming location of Pittsburgh, and they're looking for a five or six-year-old boy to play Russell Crowe's son. So if you're five years old and reading this, I say go for it. [WPXI]

--For all of you who keep asking me about the Ssshhhh! t-shirts, they are now available through the all-new Superstar Treatment Tees store.



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18 comments:

Adam said...

Look, I'll be the first person to tell you our schedule sucks this year, and that it'll probably come back to bite us in the ass like it did last year in football AND basketball.

But the truth of the matter is, Syracuse was a 10 win football team when we scheduled them. How the hell were we supposed to know they were gonna go fetal as bad as they did?

Penn State schedules one home-and-home every year. In 2006 and 2007 it was Notre Dame. In 2008-2009 it was Syracuse. In 2009-2010 it'll be Alabama, and Nebraska and Virginia are coming down the line as well. Some are hits, and some are misses. Watcha gonna do? You're scheduling these teams 5-6 years in advance.

But just because the schedule sucks this year doesn't mean we should just call up Pitt and say "What the hell, let's just swap you for Easter Illinois". It isn't that easy. Pitt isn't going to accept the one-and-done deal like said directional school and Temple did. They're gonna expect us to come to Heinz Field, and when you're Penn State, that becomes the problem.

It's not because we're infinitely better than Pitt that we don't schedule them, it's that we legitimately cannot afford a second indefinite home-and-home with Pitt every year in addition to the one we already have with other schools.

Penn State home games are the life blood of not only the football team, but the entire athletic department. Unlike a school such as Pitt, our athletics are completely self-sufficient from the university because of football revenues. We don't need the taxpayer money that other schools need to support our teams. We get that money though home games.

So unless Pitt fans want to start paying for the women's field hockey team's trip to Ames, Iowa this fall, they need to wake up and accept the fact that when Joe Paterno says we need 7 home games every season to pay for that kind of thing, he means it, and isn't hiding 30 year old sour grapes behind his comments.

If Pitt honestly wants to Penn State, they have 4 choices:
1. Join the Big 10
2. Get good enough to earn the home and home like they did in 1997-2000.
3. Take a one-and-done deal like Oregon St. did.
4. Accept the 2-1.

Whether Joe's still kickin' or dead and gone for 20 years, the status of the rivalry won't change until one of those four things happen.

Period.

Let the name calling and character assassination begin...

Steve said...

Thanks for being brief Adam.

Anyway...moving to a topic that is as equally unimportant; if the Pirates team remains as it is currently configured for next season, the payroll will be $23,162,000.

Yup, that's pretty damn cheap and would put them roughly $13M below the Marlins current payroll for the lowest in baseball. Add to that a probable ticket price increase and they won't look greedy at all.

"Your 2010 Pirates: It's about the money."

BURGH08 said...

I'm just shocked the success of the volleyball and gymnastic teams can't pay for field hockey. Someone told me they were great, so I figure that support from the gate would pull through.

Nice to see the talking points are down pat. If you read them an octave above normal speech and stutter through it you can sound just like Paterno.

Jeff_King_Fan said...

this wasnt in the news & notes, but has anyone seen any of Mort goes to Camp? does anyone else find his lack of personality annoying like me? he is so awkward and tries to be funny so hard, but it clearly doesnt work. Any chances of Mortensen getting "wes welker-ed" by ryan clark when he goes to Latrobe? it seriously hurts my eyes when i watch him do this stupid thing for ESPN. Also, look at the cartoon they put on the bus. It looks more like a Skip Bayliss caricature than a chris mortensen.

Steve said...

Mortensen's about as fun as eating fiberglass insulation. Especially when he tries arguing with a veteran player like he knows better just because he played high school sports and his son is a QB. I always enjoy seeing him get something wrong and then try putting back spin on it like "yeah, that's what I really meant". He should have just stayed in the Army or become a gym teacher.

Adam said...

I'm sorry. I forgot a couple of sentences are all "yinz" can handle at one time.

NickDawg said...

it just amazes me that as good as a school penn st. is, all the idiots that get degrees that come from there...Pitt playing penn st. isnt about what is just good for penn st or pitt for that matter. A Pitt - Penn st. match up would be good for the state of pennsylvania and college football as a whole. Florida and Florida st. seem to have no problem playing each other EVERY SINGLE year and thats why football in that state can't be matched. And they are both from different conferences. Those schools hate eachother tenfold of what Pitt and Penn st. feel about eachother but the schools realize how much the game means to the state and college football in general...so adam and all you penn st. elitists, suck it...

Judge Smailes said...

Let me preface this by saying I went to Penn State, I'm a huge Penn State fan and I hate Pitt. That being said, Penn State not playing Pitt is a crime. Not playing Pitt is a slap in the face to the Penn State alumni who live in western Pennsylvania. I used to have Penn State season tickets, but now that I have a family, I'm not paying to drive up to State College to see Coastal Carolina and Eastern Illinois. If we played Pitt, PSU fans in Pittsburgh could see their team play every other year. Believe me, it's not hard to get a ticket. Moreover, when we did play Pitt it was the most fun sporting event of the year. For those of you who remember, there was no rivalry like it and no more anticipated game. Penn State fans that don't want to play Pitt are either too young to remember how great the rivalry was or are just not real sophisticated sports fans.

Jeff_King_Fan said...

as a penn state fan i would love to see them play pitt in football every year, but last time i checked pitt has decided to join the WNBA. now i think thats weird, seeing as it is a completely different sport and is made up of women, but who am i to judge? now u pitt fans may not belive this, as i couldnt either. i mean seriously, pitt's football team joining professional women's league because they are so God-awful at college football. but according to www.wowpittisbadatfootball.com the panthers will be playing the Sparks next month.

BURGH08 said...

www.yawn.com

TheBoyzofBurgh said...

LOL, pitt in the WNBA!!!!

NickDawg said...

Jeff king...Pitt's football team in the wnba..that makes sense???... but thanks for proving my point above, I appreciate it...at least smails gets it...the only hoops team in the wnba in the state of pa is that god awful product Penn st. calls a varsity hoops team...your talkin wnba, any wnba team would wipe the floor with penn st hoop team....

Jeff_King_Fan said...

nick i completely understand your frustration. and like i said, i was confused too. i mean why would a football team be in a womens basketball league? it doesnt make sense to me either. the only thing i can think of is that the football program is so horrible & useless that they transfered to the WNBA with the hopes of competing against someone who would be more on their athletic skill level. glad i can help

NickDawg said...

I think we found Adam a boyfriend ladies and gentlemen...Adam and Jeff King, you Pitt haters were made for each other with your non-sensical ramblings that makes about as much sense as Jopa at a press conference...cheers

Jeff_King_Fan said...

Nickdawg,

every single person you mentioned in your last comment is a better football player than anyone at pitt

HotDog_Zanzabar said...

Ken Misiak is a lot like Joe Paterno. However, he never took Frazier off the schedule to get an extra home game with West Greene.

Adam said...

-I'll repeat, because clearly I didn't speak slow enough last time: Schools like Florida and Florida state get flooded with taxpayer money to support their athletic departments. Penn State does not. While they might be able to afford an extra OOC home and home series, we simply cannot. It's not that Penn State is so far above Pitt that they expect them to play in a 2-1 or 1 and done, it's that they're just not good enough to be the fixture of the home and home on the schedule right now. If you want to blame someone, blame the Pitt football team for not winning more games.

-Any so-called Penn State fan that won't buy tickets to watch the team because they don't play Pitt is an outright fraud. You're no better than a Pitt fan. Period. If you don't think Penn State is bigger than one rivalry that wasn't even that hotly contested-24-7-1 in Penn State's favor in the Paterno era-you're just not a fan. Sorry. Say how-do to modern college football.

Rob said...

Thanks Hot Dog, that is the quote of the day.