by Patrick Sehn
psehn29@yahoo.com
There's an old saying. When you get thrown out of the mosh pit, you get back in the mosh pit. So, after a week's absence, it's on to round 2. We've cleaned our bruises, the swelling's down, let's get right to it. First off, it's time for reader mail.
The Jason Mailbag
Our first ever email comes from Chris in Nebraska. How exotic. He writes:
"I'm a Steeler's fan out here in Nebraska. So, of course I'm a Husker fan. Now that the Steelers' season is done (damnit!), I was wondering what Pitt fans think of Steve Pederson. When he got sacked here, it was similar to Saddam getting overthrown. All we had to do was track down & eliminate his lackeys, which we did. I'll admit he got some things done & built, but he created an atmosphere where longtime Nebraska employees could not stand it anymore.
All I've heard about him at Pitt is that he didn't like the term "Pitt." Also, he may be the reason Mark May was so anti-Nebraska for a long time."
It's funny. Plenty of people were upset to see Pederson leave Pitt when he did. However, the reaction from most people when he came back ranged from surprise to confusion to anger. I, for one, can tell you how shocked I was that they hired him so quickly. Did the powers-that-be even look elsewhere? Who else was interviewed? This was confusing to me. I know Peterson, who's from Nebraska, wanted to take a job back home, but he jumped ship. In turn, we rewarded his betrayal and completely miserable failure at another job
with another job offer. This angered me. Then he immediately extended Wanny's contract. This didn't assuage my anger. I guess what it comes down to is this: Pederson did a pretty good job here his last go 'round. He helped put the football program back on the map, and the basketball team hasn't missed an NCAA tourney since before the Peterson Events Center was built. Give him the benefit of the doubt, for now. Keep in mind though: he couldn't push Nebraska, an already established program, to where they needed to be. I'm not so sure it will be any easier this time at Pitt.
Next email:
I think you're really sexy.
Sincerely,
Stephanie
I swear to you, I found that in my inbox the day the last Mosh Pitt went live.
Lastly, the
Duke from Dukes Court was kind enough to write and offer me some suggestions to make the column a little better. I'm extremely greatful. I'm going to end the first installment of the Jason Mailbag by following said advice.
"Add more pictures"
Mondesi is also a strong advocate of pictures. So since everyone wants something to look at, here's Pictures for the Sake of Having Pictures:
Terrelle Pryor was spotted at another basketball game this week. This time in Michigan, again with Chaz Batch.
Probably a couple years old, but what are Chevy Troutman and Carl Krauser up to these days, other than the occasional XPlosion game? Where are their shirts? Is Jeff Reed hosting this party?
Very random, I know. I just think it’s important to know that Orlando didn’t always wear a bow-tie.
One last flashback pic. I think it’s fair to compare Blair to Mobley. Mobley had a couple inches on Blair, but they’re both aggressive big men who play the same style of basketball.
-Men’s hoops had a fairly interesting week. We saw a completely uninspired showing against Cincy, followed by a dominating performance against St. John's in the Garden. It’s encouraging to see Sam Young step up and take over a game like he did on Wednesday night. Let’s hope he can carry that performance through to the rest of the Big East schedule.
-I saw “There Will be Blood” at the theater. Not as much blood as you would think. I will say, it kind of reminds me of the way I’m looking at next football season. Wanny gets this year and maybe next to prove he can do more than recruit, or else...
-Here’s a couple of links I came across this week:
-This one is actually a link to the Pitt library system. It has the media guides for football and basketball from 1950 until now stored digitally and free to download. Sweet. You know you’re geeked on Pitt sports if you spend more than 5 minutes on there.
-Rivals.com predicts their NFL all-pros for the year 2017. A couple of current and future Pitt players made the list.
-Go to a Pitt basketball game this year, you’ll be sure to encounter someone handing out flyers in support of the Pittsburgh Xplosion. Apparently John DeGroat had a pretty good week. His three game scoring total was 76. That was enough to earn him the coveted "CBA player of the week" award, the second consecutive week he's taken home that honor. He'll be representing Pittsburgh at the All-Star Classic Tuesday night in Yakima. Good seats still available.
OK, ladies and gents. Have a good week. Hail to Pitt!
