CARPETBAGGER
1. any opportunistic or exploitive outsider:
Color me completely unimpressed with Scott Barnes hire as the Pitt Athletic Director in the first place and then his subsequent leaving yesterday. It was readily apparent from the start that he had no real vested interest in the University of Pittsburgh but so also little in the Athletic Department that he was hired to grow.
He showed this from the beginning of his time at Pitt and the it was evident that he was biding his time until he could leave. We’ll talk about why he left in a bit but spare me the “needed to get home” angle. That may well be true with Barnes but executive employees all over the United States want to “go home: again but almost all wait until the end of their careers, when they have reached the pinnacle of success elsewhere, to tip the balance scale that way.
Here is a piece from the Post-Gazette that shows the timeline for Barnes’ time at Pitt. It is published as a sidebar to an apologist article written by Barnes’ apparent #1 fan :
Scott Barnes’ Tenure as Pitt AD
April 23, 2015 – Hired at Pitt
June 15, 2015 – Officially takes office as AD
June 24, 2015 – Fan experience committee announced
This is a wonderment issue because aside from the trumpets and fanfare of the announcement I can’t find one thing that they actually did that hadn’t been done in some form or another before at Pitt athletic matches. They didn’t have an impact on getting beer sold so what exactly did they do? We had some paint splashed on the mid-field area to personalize the field a bit.
July 31, 2015 – Contract extension for women’s basketball coach Suzie McConnell-Serio
Routine, no other bidders for her services
Aug. 13, 2015 – New contract for softball coach Holly Aprile
Routine, no other bidders for her services
Aug. 30, 2015 – Pitt script adopted for all sports
BTW – started by Steve Pederson and finished by Barnes. It happened on Barnes’ watch so he gets credit but it was in the works for some time. Credit him for the public relations campaign associated with it – that went well but it wasn’t his efforts that started it.
Sept. 10, 2015– Backyard Brawl renewed for 2022-25
Whoopee – didn’t seem like people gave our old AD any credit for getting PSU back on the schedule for a series… This is what an AD is supposed to do; scheduling games seven years in the future is how things work and this was a no-brainier on both schools’ part. The tough thing about getting PSU back on the schedule was that it wasn’t really all that an important issue for Penn State thus that made it harder to accomplish.
Dec. 4, 2015 – Pitt hires Jay Vidovich as men’s soccer coach
Routine
Dec. 10, 2015– Contract extension for football coach Pat Narduzzi
Routine at any school after an initial outside job offer to a new head coach. The key is to see what sort of buyout clause Pitt has with Narduzzi if the bigger programs come calling, which I believe they will and soon. That will be the key when push comes to shove over his services. This decision could also be seen in a negative light as it set a precedent for a knee jerk reaction to what apparently wasn’t a formal contract offer with no interviews taken.
It wasn’t a bad thing to do by any means but I’d certainly would consider this anything to put a feather in his cap about. Again – an extension with an accompanying raise it pretty standard in this situation – but the real issue is whether Narduzzi agreed to a heavier buyout clause when he signed that extension.
Jan. 19, 2016 – “Town Hall” event for Pitt fans outlining strategic plan
“Barnes laid out goals for focusing on fan engagement, expanding the revenue base, improving athletes’ graduation rates and re-allocating resources. So far, Barnes said the athletic department has failed to solicit sufficient donations from Pitt’s alumni.
“[Moving to the ACC is] a significant lift,” Barnes said. “How are we going to bring the resources to compete at that level?” Pitt is second in the ACC in total alumni, but second to last in total alumni donations. “I’m licking my chops,” Barnes said. “That is an opportunity.”
Through fundraising, the Athletics Department plans to fund $8 to 10 million for facility improvements. A $4 million renovation is already underway at the swimming and diving facilities at Trees Hall, set for completion this fall.”
But from what I gather those fundraising efforts have fallen well short and that money expended on the current renovations was already in the Pitt budget.
March 21, 2016 – Jamie Dixon steps down as Pitt men’s basketball coach
Honestly, I think Barnes’ purposefully made it easier for Dixon to leave contrary to what has been written about Barnes ‘loving Jamie Dixon’. He wanted to piss on something at Pitt as soon as possible to leave his mark on things and the basketball program was there for the wetting. We saw an indication of his somewhat immature need to establish dominance in the department and the media right away when he showed his arrogance and stupidity at Stallings initial press conference.
March 27, 2016 – Kevin Stallings hired as men’s basketball coach
This is a ‘to be seen’ issue and I have no real comment on it as I don’t follow Pitt hoops that closely. I will address his complete foolishness in his after-actions below.
May 18, 2016 – Pitt unveils new script uniforms
Again, negotiations with the contractual apparel companies for this took place before Barnes arrival. Fans like the new uniforms and that is a good thing. But this is something that isn’t new in Pitt athletics and will be done again and again.
I think fans believe that Pitt itself makes the call on when to do up a new rendition of uniforms when that really isn’t the case. Unless a school is one of the big, easily recognizable programs (PSU, Alabama, Ohio State, etc…) this happens on a regular basis. The apparel companies need constant turn-over in the uniforms for school ‘gear’ sales to fans. Give us 4-5 years, will see new ones again with a different AD.
The Dixon situation wasn’t the only cake target in the urinal at Pitt for Barnes. New executives almost always feel the need to change things and sometimes just for the sake of change. I don’t know exactly how well all these new staff positions and new Internal and External Affairs units have worked out but I have seen this exact same thing happen numerous times. That is what a new boss does.
But regardless of what he did or didn’t do right away what we have seen is a raft of departures from the athletic teams coaching staffs. While we can try to excuse things by saying that it happens all the time at other schools the truth is within his first 18 months Pitt lost a successful BB head coach, and two offensive coordinators from the football team at a time when continuity within Pitt sports was paramount after all the crap the university had been though over the last six years. That is on him specifically as his main job was to enhance the athletic programs and not just change them.
June 27, 2016 – Barnes announces beer sales at Heinz Field for 2016 football season
Yeah us!! Good thing but none in press box… 😦
Aug. 18, 2016 – Barnes announces a record 55,630 season tickets sold for football
Hmmm, that is something but it is all about Pat Narduzzi. How many of those new purchases are block sales to organizations and corporate entities? It is nice to have more tickets sold but I wonder how many were discounted?
It sure didn’t impact the all-important number of fans actually in attendance which, to me, seemed low given the year we just came off of. With the exception of the PSU game I was surprised at the number of empty seats for the other home games – especially the later Duke game, listed at 35,425 and the Syracuse game listed at 34,049. Sorry but there were not that many people in those seats.
Sept. 22, 2016 – Oregon State AD Todd Stansbury leaves for Georgia Tech
Dec. 14, 2016 – Barnes meets with Oregon State officials
Dec. 21, 2016 – Oregon State offers AD job to Barnes
Dec. 22, 2016 – Barnes named Oregon State AD
So it all came down to punching a ticket and filling in a school’s name of the blank spot on Barnes’ resume’. I truly believe that. He is but a blip and soon to be footnote in the history of Pitt athletics and I for one don’t care a bit that he’s left.
I believe he showed his true colors with his supreme arrogance toward fans and the local media at Stallings’ press conference – it was especially untoward and distasteful after he took the easiest and most financially profitable course for his headhunting buddies in executing the Stallings hiring.
Time to move on Pitt. Let’s hope Dr. Juhl can do a better job than he did the first time around, He kind of swung and missed on Barnes.
pittpov.com 
Football attendance was pathetic. I usually don’t care that much because it is what it is, but the fact that Pitt ran out of the tunnel to 10,000 people after the huge Clemson upset was freaking ridiculous. I have no idea if a new AD can do much to fix it. A football game at most colleges is a weekend long event. At Pitt it’s your Saturday afternoon. People tailgate, come in late, & leave early to get a head start on their Saturday night plans. There are 10-15,000 there to watch the band & see the team run out pregame & even less to sing the Victory Song at the end.
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I’m not sure Pitt football will ever be supported on game day. Moving to Heinz was a mistake that cannot be undone. The administration was unwilling to invest $55 million in Pitt stadium for renovations i just can’t see them shelling out $200 million plus for a new on campus stadium.
Merry Christmas to all and the best of luck to whoever they find as the next AD.
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Pulled this from 247Sports –
http://pitt.247sports.com/Gallery/Time-magazine-ranks-college-footballs-top-25-teams-by-academics-49980412/GallerySlides/433919
Pitt ranked 20th for CFB in academics.
HTP!
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Attendance INCREASED with the move to Heinz Field. So did the winning. This notion that Pitt needs an OCS to become better isn’t even remotely accurate.
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I was at Pitt Stadium when many came 1963…when few came .. (other than PSU or Notre Dame) 1965 -1974
…when many came 1975-1983…
and back to when few came …1984-the end.
Even at its worst, Pitt Stadium seemed friendly and created a terrific game day experience.
Heinz gives us nothing. It was the single worst decision ever made by the powers that ran Pitt Football.
I have no solution. I was there Nick…10,000 post Clemson. 26,000
at VA Tech. Barnes was a disiaster. He gave Pitt 0. No passion, no reason to come, the disaster of how Stallings got here (and I like Stallings) , poor negotiations for a bowl for a football team that deserved much better…
I have No answers… I just believe an on campus stadium is the only possible hope for a resurgence in Pitt Football attendance!
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TCU is interested in the most successful Pitt men’s basketball coach ever, and Herman lowers the buyout. How’s that for using your leverage?
The Stallings intro presser rivaled the Wanny goodbye presser in terms of how-not-to-conduct-a-televised conference.
The denial by Herman a week or so ago evinced not only a lack of honesty, but a lack of any integrity whatsoever.
And while smug Steve at least made an effort to interact with fans – despite knowing he was loathed – Barnes acted as though he was in his own elite stratosphere, above the folks he was asked to serve….because, really, the fans drive athletics through their contributions.
Good bye, Herman. Can’t wait until he uses the front door quote in Corvallis.
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Ps. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all who are left that share passion in the University of Pittsburgh. Our numbers are dwindling
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Happy holidays to all.—Keep in mind folks that virtually every Pitt game can be watched either online or on TV. That wasn’t the case back when Pitt won the National Championship and many years there after. We are not a state school and we will never draw like a OSU, PSU or Michigan with the current options available for viewing today. You don’t have to be an alumni of those state schools to want to attend those games. Just being a resident of those states gives you ample reason to root for and attend those state school games. If Pitt goes undefeated and is close to winning a national championship then maybe we can come close to selling out most of our games. Please note I said MOST not All even under that scenario.
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Good point jrn.
I too wish each and every one of you a Merry Christmas or blessing however you celebrate your holiday time.
I’m going to make some changes to the Pitt POV after the new year, ones that will be beneficial to you readers and on my end also.
We’ll always be a free site so that won’t change and we’ll always be a fun thing to have in your life.
This idea to split off and create my own site has been a resounding success but we’ll branch out to some other formats and try some new things.
Details after the new year. ..
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A very heart felt “Happy Holiday”to my Christian brothers and Jewish friends the special time of year!
God bless.
Pittman4ever
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Nick have you been to any of the games recently and noticed other than the PSU game Heinz was pretty empty this season. Actually the attendance was bad, I’m not sure how Pitt counts attendance for game day but it seems very inflated and i do believe Reed has indicated this previously.
In addition a lot of PSU fans purchased season tickets for that one game due to Pitt’s season ticket policy.
I have been to a lot of college football games in my 58 years, nothing beats an on campus stadium atmosphere.
Oakland was fun, walk the campus before the game, tailgate then hit the bars after, you don’t get this on the north shore.
Pitt stadium could have been redone with luxury boxes and a dome and they could have played basketball in the facility but Pitt took the cheap way out by relocating to Heinz.
Baylor built a beautiful facility with a capacity of 45k expandable to 55k. There are some positives to Heinz but at the end of the day college football was made to play on campus for the experience.
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Merry Christmas, brothers.
Maybe next year Pitt will be more than an afterthought in the eyes of some.
H2P
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Wow, Reed. Bringing the heated rhetoric . Love it and I don’t disagree . Here hoping that the Gallagher administration , withan a little more experience now, gets it right this time. Happy Holidays and H2P !
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Gasman – beat NW and Pitt will be 2-0 vs the B1G Joke conference, which some pundits say is the best this year.
We as Pitt fans can remind the Pittsburgh news media of this fact, over and over and over…
HTP and Merry Christmas!
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Certainly Pitt Stadium was a real plus for students and alumni.
But for the normal fan Oakland was ironically a zoo! Horrific stopped traffic coming and going, parking nightmares, and walking Cardiac Hill. That’s 3 strikes against it and a strike out.
The Panthers can’t fill a stadium with only students and alumni. Pittsburghers have to show up and Oakland was a nightmare.
So, what’s the solution??? That’s the answer we don’t have!
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Don’t think it’s the long term solution but tarping off sections of the stadium to make it more intimate would seem to be a no brainer start.
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Oakland can not handle the traffic for an on campus stadium. With only one major access road that is either closed or backed up the in and out for non campus fans would be awful. Had our wonderful civic leaders not spent the transit funds on extending the “T” to Rooneys kingdom, and put something in from down town to Oakland the idea may have had a chance.
I too have attended games where the on campus experience was fabulous (Several SEC venues), but recreating that on an urban campus is pretty tough.
Put a competitive product on the field and people will come.
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Since an OCS will never happen unless there is a significant increase in demand for Pitt tickets, the new AD has to be a promoter and in this town Pitt has to be Champion caliber.
Since Heinz will be our home for many years some radical changes are needed. Here are some suggestions for the new AD:
Flip the home field, so that it is the one you see on TV. Create an Oakland Zoo putting the students in premier seating behind the team bench. This also puts the home field on the side with the great hall.
Give priority for that side to Pitt grads. Don’t be so greedy with the donation requirements and give a deep discount to recent grads, so that they can get good seats and form habits with their buddies.
Put canvas over the upper endzone and only sell those as single day tickets for the big games. Somehow figure out how to fill the lower bowl with people that attend every game or give their tickets to someone who will. This will take some work and creativity.
Make a deal with one of the hotels to create Pitt weekend discounted packages for out of towners. A Pitt banquet the night before, with Pitt celebrities, a Pitt breakfast, game transportation, Campus excursions on Friday and Sunday for those that want to spend the weekend. Trips to the Friday pep rally, make it a weekend event. The City is fun and a great place for tourists. Make it good enough that locals will want to join in and stay over once or twice a year.
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I saw that the Texans won, but didn’t see the game…how did Tom Savage look?
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I read some years ago in a Pitt sports history that Pitt Stadium was built with footers strong enough to support a second deck if one were ever needed. Second deck never happened, of course. By the way, Heinz Field was ranked as third best of all 31 NFL stadiums. The tailgating at Heinz Field is pretty spectacular. Just not enough fans in the seats. Walk-up crowds do not occur with any regularity. The zeal for Pitt on this site and others does not exist, IMO, beyond the sites. I am talking about zeal, not mere interest. Pitt was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Pitt shaped my life for the better. That is why on Christmas Day I am taking time out to respond to your great site on Pitt football, which to me seems also to show, deep down, a real respect for all things Pitt. Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah (sic), and Happy New Year to you and all who follow you here. My personal feeling also wants to say, God bless us every one.
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Pretty much agree with Reed’s article. Barnes was a carpetbagger since day one. I am concerned that the same committee is searching for a new AD, they shit the bed on the first. IMO it is essential to have someone with pre-existing ties to Pitt or be aware of our history. It would be nice to find someone from east of the Mississippi. That is one reason I am not sold on Tressel – yeah he raised money at tosu but that was his school where they have crazy amounts of money. What are his connections here? Experience as an AD.? None.
There were problems, mostly with traffic at Pitt Stadium but overall attendance came down to winning, Pitt is still treated as the red-headed child of the Eyewitness News Team by the Steelers. The mid-field logo is still half the size of all other D! logos, have a drab PITTSBURGH in one end zone and the other looks like tihis ///////////. It doesnt feel like a friendly stadium on Saturday, just Sundays, i have some ideas on one possible plan for an OCS, maybe I will bore Reed and y’all with a longer pontification in the offseason – will require Pitt AD and leaders to think outside the box.
i cant wait for the changes to POV – a televised Podcast from the Bat Cave with Upitt and Darkie?.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah or whatever may apply – Happy Festivus to Dr Tom.
HAIL TO PITT.
ps Reed with all the drunks as sportwriters over the years, think flasks,
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Right Jimbo, Pitt is a city school and that gives it advantages and disadvantages. Pitt needs to take advantage of those things that make it different and special. Take advantage of being in a great city and use the amenities that are not available to other schools
I think the way Pitt ties in seating availability to donations and a point system, has also become detrimental to attendance and fan enthusiasm. Selling all those corporate tickets leaves a lot of empty seats and premier seats filled with the other teams fans sitting right next to you does not enhance the experience.
We need a new model and a different way to raise funds without macing the few fans we have.
Barnes bragging about 55,000 season tickets sold was a joke, I called him out on it at the time. Real fans that invest in season tickets show up, or give their tickets to someone who will.
On Barnes, hurray that he is gone. I think Tressel could be our Barry Alvarez, but don’t think Pitt has the guts to pull the trigger. Will go with the safe pick. Still waiting to see if Gallagher really wants to Make Pitt Great Again. Sorry for that.
Tressel has won a National Championship and knows what it takes to compete at the highest level. Has the respect of his peers, and wants to overcome his mistakes. Did not fight his punishment, or threaten to sue, and it was a blip in tOSU’s success.
Athletic success is more than a coaching staff, it is the organization structure and administrative personnel behind it. If not Tressel we need someone that knows how to get things done, take advantage of our strengths and minimize our weaknesses. Make the Pitt Game Day experience something that is unique to Pitt, take advantage of the City environment and quit lamenting that we are not the SEC. Take advantage of our relationship with the Steelers and quit crying about how cheap the Rooney’s are and how bad Heinz Field is. It is not the venue that is holding us back. It is the thirty years of futility that we have to overcome.
Pittsburgh loves Champions, that is what it takes in this town to be rewarded with attendance.
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PittPT, Savage looked pretty good. His line did not give him a whole lot of time, but he managed the game well and made some throws. Cinci did not have Burfict, and have lost a ton of receivers. Boyd looks pretty good. Announcer commented on his third down catches. Texans were without their star pass rusher.
Savage got a little beat up and was limping, but lead a game winning drive, two wins in a row for him.
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I’m curious as to what measurements Time magazine used to rank the academic programs of the universities. WVU is ranked #13, ahead of us at #20. Don’t believe it…..
Happy holidays to all of you, and thanks for the blog Reed.
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Was Northwestern even on the list? Yeah, West Virginia is academically a much better university academically than Northwestern (let’s leave Pitt out of the discussion because hey we’re biased). Where on Htrae it’s better?
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Annie – Time magazine used the NCAA academic graduate rate for the teams in the top 25. I used the arrow to the right of picture & got to first/last page where explanation for ranking was given.
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First order of business of new AD should be working with the news media, radio and TV, to stop having them treating Pitt as the red headed step-child.
To increase attendance we can’t just depend on students and alums, we need to stir interest in the local fan base. This will never happen as long as media( and I mean The Fan) is allowed to use us as a whipping boy. This is our flagship station and they constantly put us down. Get tuff with those bozos. Threaten to pull UPMC ad dollars. There are way too many guys on there who have an overblown sense of importance. Not asking for preferential treatment, just a fair shake. Quit playing nice, hardball them. Casual fans will never come out if all they hear is Pitt is a joke!
I too long for OCS but infrastructure will not allow it. SS area mentioned is a joke idea. Talk to any engineer, they will look at you like your nuts. The hills,valleys, and rivers which made us great also limit in the modern age.
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Annie – Sorry arrow on left not right.
http://pitt.247sports.com/Gallery/Time-magazine-ranks-college-footballs-top-25-teams-by-academics-49980412/GallerySlides/433878
Hopefully this is the link with explanation.
Good topic to discuss. Why is PITT so low? Maybe a high turnover rate in exhcPC & Narduzzi years.
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Lol @ this article and all of you letting your fandom get in the way of your objectivity. Reed, this was a hit piece. It is not an accurate reflection of how much Scott Barnes actually did. I know a couple people who work in the Athletic Department and they said the difference between Barnes and Steve Pederson was night and Day. His off-field work for athletics, student athletes, and fundraising was excellent, and he basically had to undue all the shit Stevie P did.
This article is all because he let your beloved basketball coach go and used a buddy’s search firm to find a coach. Sure it looks bad, but when it comes down to it, Dixon’s predictable play hard within the system style wasn’t good for Pitt anymore because we moved to the ACC, a scoring conference. His recruiting sucked for the last 5 years and Stallings inherited that product and still is 10-2 right now, exactly where Dixon would have probably been too (maybe switch the Duquesne loss with Maryland’s). The offense is already more exciting and Stallings’ recruiting class is the best we’ve had in 6 years.
So get real, calling the man a carpetbagger? I really hope you met him in person to be able to say that with full confidence. Sounds like this guy has family matters that forced his hand, so let’s not jump to conclusions. People complain about The Fan not doing Pitt any favors with the public perception, but these types of pieces are just as damaging.
I appreciate the work you do Reed and I’m a frequent reader, but you have been ho hum on football for the last two years even though these are the best seasons they’ve had this decade (and it looks like the program is about to turn the corner). You make Barnes sound like he was worse than he is and give him no credit for doing things that many fans have been begging for since Steve Pederson ruined the Athletic Department.
Side Note: The olympic sports have made huge strides in what has been the toughest overall olympic sport conference in the ACC.
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JoeKnew, totally agree. But Pitt has to do its part, no more Epic Fails, no more Houstons or Navys etc.
One reason I keep lamenting the WPIAL recruiting results is not just losing the quality players, it is because it is a litmus test for how Pitt is perceived locally. Local kids are not growing up wanting to play for their home town team. We lose all their family and friends that could become life long Pitt Fans.
Pitt has to stop being its own worst enemy. Selling corporate tickets and giving the best seats to the well healed is not how to build a fan base.
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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years to all………
By Canada coaching the bowl game, did this bog down the OC search at all? I would surely think not but I’ve heard that mentioned elsewhere.
About the amount of season tickets sold compared to the actual attendance this past season. I thought the same thing. (under-rated) SB bragged about the small amount bought by non-PITT fans,? He was full of it. A ton of tickets for the other than the psu game were thrown away or given as gag gifts.
Concerning corporations gobbling up tickets? I’ve seen this first hand for years. My club seats are on the visiting side and we have the first four seats in 3 different rows. Only a rare occasion were their people sitting in the seats the rest of our rows. When there were people they were always for the visitors. Nice people but surely not PITT fans. This is a bad idea. I’ll take visitors over no one sitting there though.
rkb has some ideas? Would love to hear them. I just don’t know about the room needed and certainly the infrastructural deficiencies in Oakland…..but if PITT can’t get a new stadium somewhere besides Heinz, I believe the cry should be for the T to extend out to the campus, close down the block of Bigalow Blvd and the widening of Bates Street. Thus making it easier to get to the campus to hang out then jumping on rapid transit to the schitt hole known as The Giant Ketchup Bottle.
Speaking of which, The Great Hall is a great joke, imo. The freaking over-rated cave isn’t even heated in the winter. One of the biggest reason I still get club seats. It’s not the beer fellows and young lady, it’s the amenities.
Understand that Burfict sat out yesterday? In the concussion protocol? First time DeCastro pulled and Burfict took out his legs down low. The next time the idiot tried the same thing. DeCastro knocked him out with a vicious head butt down low. imo he was on queer street and should have never been allowed back into the game.
A podcast on Sunday mornings taking phone calls would be really neat, I hope that is a possible change for next year..
Again, Have a very Happy Holiday and an even better New Year…….ike
H2P
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I will stir the pot:
Hire Tressel. A man with a chip on his shoulder will outwork all others.
Besides, A little redemption is good for everybody.
And while I loathed Smug Steve, can anyone prove to me that Herman was any better?
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gc, Thanks for the review on Savage and Boyd’s performance ! So which position gets filled first, OC or AD? History says OC but, I dont understand why the last AD search took so long. Since its apparently been common knowledge that Barnes was looking, Pitt should have been accumulating a list of potential candidates already.
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Timmeh – Exactly which Oympic sports are good under Barnes? Baseball had a losing record. Other than Wrestling they all stink.
Barnes was atrocious.
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Dixon contract was up in 2023. Quick calculations at 3 million per at 7 years totals 21 million. In addition the buyout of 10 million was a issue that TCU wouldn’t eat. So Pitt rumored to get 5 million and get put from under that albatross of a bad contract. So 26 million is free to be repositioned and the savings can pay for assistant coaches and upgrades. Dixon wanted out., never think that wasn’t the case. He was no longer in total control of the program under Smiley and balked at tougher schedule and ACC conference. Good F”n riddance. Left the program in poor shape and Stallings may or may not be successful, but Dixon was done and knew it. As to Barnes, he was a quality AD and did in fact upgrade many areas of neglect under Smiley. Hopefully Pitt hires a AD with the understanding of what he set in motion.
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I have explained my feelings on Pitt Stadium and an OCS many times before. I think there is a glimmer of hope with the new infrastructure bill that I hope Congress implements using private developers who are in it to get a tax break and make money passes. H2P
Merry Christmas and happiness to all.
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Forgot to say GO STEELERS
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While waiting for ham to heat up:
Comparing Barnes or any AD in the whole wide wide world is a waste of time. “the steve” would win that debate every time as the absolute worst! So telling anyone that Barnes was a better AD then “the steve” and liked better by the administration employees is a well know assumption.
But…Barnes was just plain fairly good. He did some things but didn’t have his heart here at PITT, Just like Jamie no longer wanted to be here.
Not a Blather guy and really haven’t read Reed’s comments the past half dozen years, I have noticed more of a critical poster then years gone by. Thinking you’re a lot closer to the football program Reed and may have some inside info, maybe swung you towards more of a objective investigator then subjective? Which ain’t a bad thing…….ike
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Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah. Maybe if we keep improving a little in each hire we’ll wind up with someone good. But it seems that Pitt never makes the splash hire (except for maybe Narduzzi) so I suspect Tressel won’t be coming here.
I agree with jrn about the availability of TV’s etc, hurting attendance, that and the fact that the Pens are great now too doesn’t help.
Thanks for the site Reed and looking forward to Wednesday and the new POV.
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What was set in motion began with the ACC acceptance which Cornhole just had to pick up the phone and say yes after BC put the kibosh on UConn. Now if Pitt wants to be relevant in the ACC and not become another BC, it will take commitment to all sports programs and not just football. That means paying for excellent coaches, having state of the art facilities, and developing a national brand…or at least one recognized East of the Mississippi. It takes money which means the new AD has to be a prolific fundraiser. The AD needs to have a vision and give fans a reason to believe. Fans want a winner and a great experience. Its entertainment and bragging rights. Pitt needs to find its identity and understand what it wants to be. Gallagher knows. He’s the first Chancellor in years that mentioned the value of the front porch. After that its all execution.
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@Reed You nailed it with regard to Barnes. Thank you for that timeline with honest commentary. With Gallagher around even Pederson could have finished the script rollout (which started under his watch) , done the facilities upgrades (which were presumably budgeted under his watch), extended the contracts (which were hired under his watch) and restarted the brawl (since he did it before with PSU). He probably also could have retained Dixon. Not that all fans would have been on board with that at the time.
At the time that Dixon left I took it on face that he was leaving entirely on his own. However in hindsight I suspect Dixon did not react favorably to Barnes openly pushing him to change his scheduling. I suspect Barnes also suggested to Dixon that a style change might entice fans. In any event Dixon left and I now believe he was assisted. Barnes hiring of Stallings and the process around it completely turned me off. I am sure I was not alone but Barnes never appeared the least bit contrite. When the athletic department started bothering me about my basketball ticket renewal I wrote them an email and told them my reasons for not renewing. The response was that they understood but that Scott Barnes was doing a lot of good in the department.
I was amazed to find real support for Barnes from posters on Pitt POV and Pittblather the other day. Then I was blown away that Zeise wrote yet another favorable opinion piece on Barnes in the PG. No real evidence of facts. DiPaola didn’t provide a ton of context in his Trib piece but at least he didn’t spew a lot of groundless puffery.
Zeise pumped the Vidovich hire but the men’s soccer team only won 2 matches last season. Meanwhile his old school, Wake Forest (where he hadn’t coached for 2 full seasons) lost in the NCAA finals. He may have “built” that program but it seems fine without him.
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Upittbaseball- You have always been a critic of Pitt athletics no matter what so I will say upfront I take everything you say with a grain of salt. I do understand that you have been frustrated with our previous administration’s lack of support to the sport programs (so was I), but we finally saw what a competent administration (even if you do consider the impact to be minimal) could do and you still are unhappy. I think Paul Zeise was right in saying Pitt Athletics has never been in better shape and now finally has the building blocks in place to become successful in the future. Obviously, Barnes has to get some credit for that, but you and Reed will continue to bash the guy because of one dumb basketball PR move.
Sure, baseball was below .500, but my comment was relative. Didn’t the volleyball team (Barnes hire) just make the NCAA tournament? Didn’t softball make the NCAA tournament two years in a row? Didn’t he hire a previous National Champion coach for men’s soccer? Are these not the things you have been babbling for for years on POV and the Blather. Let’s not act like these other programs didn’t receive more attention under Barnes’ watch. He made pretty good hires other than Stallings (and I concede the jury is still out on Stallings).
My point is, everybody was so quick to turn on Barnes after the basketball hire that they really don’t give him credit for anything. It’s annoying to hear, especially when I have been told of many things he has done behind the scenes to put Pitt in a more competitive position in the ACC. But sure, continue to bash him for the hiring of Stallings….because that makes sense.
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Watching Stillers at Heinz – endzones and yard marking look fantastic, NFL logos in endzone. Compare to how the stadium looks on Saturdays – a disgrace. Barnes and Pitt never complain – you will reflect how you are treated – lack of respect – Grow Ballls. Fork you Barnes.
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Steelers!! Wow
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Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all Pov’rs near and far.
Steelers with the late Christmas present. Crazy playing on Christmas Day, use to be only the NBA did that.
Hope everyone had a peaceful and joyous holiday !
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Anyone know the story behind HCPN’s text: Pride comes before the fall?
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Sorry, his tweet.
Damn I can’t even get the lingo right
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All I know is that psu fans are taking exception.
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It’s from Proverbs 16:18, but I don’t know who he’s talking about.
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Barnes was dismissive of fans – period. Unless you sit in the courtside seats you were nothing but Noise to him. Good riddance to mediocrity despite what his Fan bois say about him.. The only reason we are going to extend our BB season tickets is because he left.
We tried to talk to him at a Women’s BB game but he looked right through us as if we were not there. We are Gold level season ticket holders for many years in all 3 sports and attend 90% of all games in all 3 sports….and felt very disrespected. ADSP at least smiled at us and made a few seconds small talk as we shook hands. Didn’t like the job he did at all; but at least he was not a social neanderthal.
As far as Heinz experience – gc hits it right on the nose. Make 45,000 fans LOOK like a full house on TV…this is not hard with some creativity (that # is what all say a OCS would hold…) :
1) Really upgrade the Fan experience for non alums i.e. the casual fan is a must requirement. Adjust the way tickets are now sold so Joe and Jane Sixpack can get good 100 level seats along the sidelines.
2) Move the TV camera’s to point to the Home side. Or reverse the home side.
(We sit on the Visitor’s side now, have been in the same section on the 25 for 8+ years and have noticed the decline of regular patrons and the increase of corporate/visitors. On game day, except for PSU, our section is now regularly 50% + empty – up until a few years ago we had lots of regulars and the section was always 75% full at a minimum. It has declined under Barnes watch. The home side is usually 75% full – was shocked to see how empty our side is when I watched the Syracuse replay…we never knew.)
3)Tarp up as much of the Upper deck as possible. Spend some $$ to make the field look like a proud P5 program field on gamday, not a Steeler afterthought.
4) Make a Pitt game a destination event for the entire weekend. Maybe involve the little used Convention Center for Opening Day and/or Homecoming festivities
5) If The Fan won’t act like a real flagship station and stop making editorial fun of Pitt at the least – screw them and try to get Pitt friendly ad sponsors to act accordingly. Pitt AD needsto grow some here. The PG will never give Pitt a fair shake, they need a whipping post and unfortunately Pitt is it for them – no way they ever treat the area’s Pro teams as badly.
H2P and Merry Christmas, Happy Hanakkuh, and have a safe and sane New Year!
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Also, Pitt Athletics offering ACC BB tickets at $25 a game, even for one day, is real slap in the face to Season Ticket holders….at the least they could have offered us an upgrade to better seats that are not sold b4 they did this. WE paid $33 to $44 face for those same tickets. Thank You Mr. Barnes.
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Gasman – This is literally a Proverb, in this case Proverbs 16:18, as someone pointed out earlier. In the KJV:
18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
“Pride comes before the fall” is a common abbreviation.
The interpretation is fairly straightforward: those who are wrapped up in themselves will be hurt. The mechanism is a little unclear, and the implication in context is that it’s just because God doesn’t like it. God likes you to be humble in all that you do.
Outside the Biblical context, the cliche still has a ring of truth: overconfidence leads to mistakes. Of course, both the Bible and the modern cliche are kind of vague on the point at which “confidence” becomes “overconfidence”, though true to say that you can identify an overly-haughty spirit before the fall.
As written, it’s just plain false that pride always goeth before destruction. The LORD has shown himself pretty good at humiliating those who are already humble. As a general piece of advice it’s pretty useless. But as a way of expressing from one person to another, “Hey, I think you are being overly confident here, and you are missing mistakes that you are making”, it’s as good a cliche as any.
Maybe HCPN is sending a message to his team – “you are overlooking NW and you can’t if you want to win.”
The “fall” is the devastation a 2nd straight bowl loss under this coach could bring – recruiting, fan base, coach retention, branding,
etc.
Know your enemy and know they want to win this game too.
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With the way the Pitt defense has played all year long it’s hard for me to believe that this Pitt team could be overly confident about any game they play. Now maybe some of the “younger guys’ on the offense might be feeling that they are invincible in certain cases. But if I were Narduzzi, I’d just have a large sign made up showing the 61 POINTS to SYRACUSE plastered all over the locker room to give this team a sense of reality going into the NW game.
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I’ve been to VT, UNC, Duke, GT, Virginia & Syracuse OCS. I just fail to understand the complaint that Heinz Field is such a catastrophe by comparison. Maybe a royal PIA for students living on campus but otherwise forget about the argument.
The game day experience is what you make it. The North Shore is soooo much better for the out of Towners than any venue in Oakland would be. First off you have easy access to Heinz Field from ORB, the Parkways East, West & North plus Route 28 down from the PA Turnpike. By comparison, Oakland is an ingress-egress nightmare. And talking traffic nightmares The Clemson game was horrible. We parked across the reservoir from the Clemson campus, where the Alumni event was held. By the time we walked back to the rally point for the buses to take us back across the bridge to our parking lots, waiting for loading on the bus, (actually we ended up walking all the way back across the bridge to avoid that long wait) and waiting in traffic from there, it was like two hours to finally get to an open road back to the hotel in Greenville where we were staying. This tends to be a common issue with most OCS venues, horrible traffic!
Then, when you consider public transportation as an ulternative, also no comparison, the T already has a terminal at Heinz plus the Gateway Clipper Fleet provides an unique additional mode of transportation from the Southside, Uber, taxi, Lyft, what’s the problem? Talking bars & restaurants is also no contest. You have many great restaurants within easy walking distance of Heinz Field, better than anything Oakland can offer. And if you are parking or staying in a downtown hotel, it is an acceptable walk to the stadium right from your hotel. And the number of parking garages and bars, restaurants is limitless in downtown.
Of course there are plenty of hotels right on the North Shore to stay at to begin with, if you’re adverse to the longer walk across the downtown bridges.
Then if you like to gamble, tell me where else in the ACC do you have an opportunity for an easy walk to a casino from an OCS?
Throw on top of that the AE Stage, fireworks from the river barges for special occasions, fantastic sight lines from the field for Mt. Washington and the downtown city skyline, remind me again what the complaint is again????
Then I LOL, when people call Heinz Field a “dump”! I ask compared to what? I’ll take a Heinz Field contoured yellow seat with my own cup holder 10 out of 10 times compared to the “bleacher” seating of every other OCS that I’ve visited. And the new seating at the end zone is even better, not to mention the luxury boxes option. Then the concessions, number of TVs in the concourses, restroom facilities, escalators to the upper decks, retail outlets for gear, last but no least, now we have beer! Come on man, NO COMPARISIONS.
Now if you want a “valid bitch”, the Pitt branding could be tons better at Heinz Field on game day. That needs to be addressed by the new AD. Get Pitt Script in the one end zone & a couple on field ACC logs for Pete’s Sake. How hard is that to do?
Of course, there is no OC experience on the North Shore but if you want that then go to Oakland before the game for crying out loud. Go visit the Cathedral, get your picture with the Panther statue at the student union, pick up some gear at the Pitt OC Store, get a dog at the Dirty O, grab a beer at one of Oakland’s dive bars, whatever. But please, get over the no OCS being the reason that attendence at the games sucks, it’s not a valid argument!
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@ jrnpitt, & another sign right next to the Syracuse one that reads, “Never Forget Houston”!
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Actually, Narduzzi’s tweet was a veiled reply to one Twitter feud that began yesterday between our Legacy Pitt recruit Darian Street and PSU commit Lamont Wade.
Both are trash talking each other concerning their previous head to head competition. Also now related to the Pitt- PSU NON rivalry, since both are committed to their respective colleges.
Seems like Narduzzi is just suggesting that both pups are barking kind of loud, considering that neither has even taken a single practice rep in college yet. Thus the quote, “pride before the fall” reference.
IMO, Wade is pretty full of himself up to this point. I’m not sure about Street’s situation since he isn’t nearly the elite recruit that Wade was, so not much limelight exposure fro him like Wade got.
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I believe the Narduzzi tweet is in regards to Lamont Wades and Miles Sanders photo of them standing on a Pitt logo with the caption of “We Are”….
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Tommymac and Dr. Tom, nicely done! Excellent reads this morning. While there are valid complaints and improvements that can be made, it is far past time to embrace what we have and make it better.
Getting in and out of Oakland is a nightmare on normal occasions. The infrastructure around Heinz that Dr. Tom mentions is fantastic and getting better. Plenty of Parking, Restaurants, Hotels, Casino, Science Center, History Center, Cultural events, Gateway Clipper, Inclines. Easy to have a great weekend in Pittsburgh, and take an excursion to Oakland to soak up the nostalgia. I know people that ride bicycles up and down the river to the games. Try doing that up Cardiac Hill.
The athletic department needs to put together entertainment packages and get creative with promotion.
Fireworks nights always work, could have easily done it after the Duke and Syracuse games, and a James Conner bobblehead would have been a home run. Free concerts at the AE for the students after the game would get them to stay till the end. Also the buses shouldn’t be available until twenty minutes after the game.
Half price season tickets to recent graduates adjacent to the student section to change the culture. These grads have no money and lots of college loans to pay off. Make it easy for them to be life long fans. Maybe even free tickets for their first year out, as a graduation present.
We need more young people that cheer and are loud next to the field, not up in peanut heaven.
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I guess L.Wade and M.Sanders don’t realize what the true meaning of “We are…” in 2016 is –
“We are the LOSERS in the Pitt vs psu non-rivalry game.”
HTP!
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Yeah, but they don’t care about us.
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They will when their top 5 team loses to Pitt in the midst of their “white out” atmosphere next September.
Remember “White Out” does not cover up all mistakes – especially the ones we’ve witnessed in Creepy Valley.
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Reed, you had me at carpetbagger!
Timmeh, the term fits Barnes perfectly…the man made zero commitment to “Dear old Pittsburgh, Alma Mater”. Like the fraudster at ASU, how could any employer ever trust him? His “commitment” means nothing. I say good riddance.
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Still recovering from Stiller game. Baltimorons were dancing on my front lawn late 3rd quarter. A tad premature….let’s crush Northwestern and make this a perfect ending to a very good year!
Sometimes as an avid Pitt fan, I feel like there are only 20 of us that actually care!
Can we hire Tressell as both AD and OCS? He sure knows how to beat the Peds!
For those of you praising Barnes for his good work behind the scenes….that’s what he was F—king paid to do! He had no passion for Pitt at all and Reed was 100% correct calling him out on it!
If you don’t have passion for your job, you are wasting both employer and employees time and $$!
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I have had no better feeling of happiness as a Pitt fan then attending 3 Pitt victories in State College, The losses I witnessed were accompanied by very bad officiating as evidenced by other visiting teams who were also ripped off. I can cite instances of this if necessary. Thank goodness for instant replay in today’s games. H2P
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NBC Sources reporting that OC Joe Moorhead from Penn State is a leading candidate for UConn job.
He was the UConn OC and QB coach around 2009 – 2010ish.
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Amen,Dr Tom.
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Steelers overcame a day when Ben wasn’t sharp with two interceptions.
But in the end he and the offense really came through.
Similar to Pitt, the offense is the driving force.
Are there any injury updates? Really like to see Jarrett have a big day.
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https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/best-nfl-stadiums-football-ranked
—- Just again for the Stadium-Heads, especially with the how nice the new seating makes that previous open-end look now at Heinz, everyone — all writers across the country list Heinz Field as minimum top-10, often top-5 of all Venues for the entire National Football League.
—- Heinz is less than 5 miles from the Cathedral of Learning: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Heinz+Field,+Art+Rooney+Avenue,+Pittsburgh,+PA/Cathedral+of+Learning,+4200+Fifth+Ave,+Pittsburgh,+PA+15213/@40.4422166,-80.0093057,14z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x8834f40214bce405:0x8590d1891f55b9c8!2m2!1d-80.0157603!2d40.4467648!1m5!1m1!1s0x8834f228a3e31c8b:0xcb999890de87ffa6!2m2!1d-79.953239!2d40.4442526
— Boston College, NC State, Syracuse, Wake Forest, Virginia, Duke, Georgia Tech, North Carolina …. all those ACC teams with their own on-campus stadiums…. Pitt just can’t compete with them lol
—> The consensus here is all that Scott Barnes didn’t do anything for Pitt a new Quality Athletic Director couldn’t easily exceed……so why is anyone upset?? — Chancellor Gallagher will upgrade, so it’s good for Pitt so it’s a total Net-Gain.
#HailToPitt!!! 🙂 🙂 ——– Crush the Wildcats!! — Who else is Excited to see James Conner pull an anti-McCaffrey and go run wild in his final game as a Panther!!
@Upittbaseball how you betting???!! lol
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Weather forecast Sunny 43 degrees 10 mph wind.
A good day to run the ball.
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@EE .. I am nominating you POV Chaplain of this rag-tag bunch… our own Father Mulcahy ( from the MASH ) .. any 2nds…
On another note..BigB turns 65 tomorrow..have a drink on me- I will buy you one when we hook up under the POV battle flag in 2017
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Two days till our next cat fight! So far, after the fur has flies, the Panthers have come out on top in both previous feline fracases!
Wallop the Wildcats!
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Look at this Crap Field. Funny we don’t play on it.
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^^^^^ I want this soooo bad for Pitt — Tressel as AD lol
Youngstown State is in the FCS National Championship —> His No-Show Clause is gone so Chancellor Gallagher can hire him with no questions asked. #MightHappenShouldHappen 😉 haha
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Large crowd today at the St. Petersburg Bowl.
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An OCS is so critical to the lifeblood of a university. There is a reason every power5 team has an on campus stadium (except miami) and most next conferences do too. OCS’s are there to provide an undergrad a lasting identity/memory with their school. It is theirs. Heinz Field is not. An OCS gives the students a place to identify with for the rest of their lives. Did anyone else notice that the people that are the most die hard fans are the ones that identify with Pitt Stadium. Executives in higher ed know that football Saturdays on campus create lasting good memories that turn into fundraising.
With regard to the latest rankings, I will say again. They are a scam. They are manipulated, sliced and diced. I question anyone who actually pays attention to rankings as the “end all”.
With regard to a new AD, I like Tressel. He has won at a huge program and at a small program. He knows how to raise money. He could give 5 solid years and act as a mentor to Narduzzi. Why wait. Let’s go get us one. No search firms. They are a waste. People get search firms in order to point fingers if the decision is bad. If you are an exec and can’t be responsible for your own decisioning, you shouldn’t be an executive in the first place.
On Barnes. I always say that adminstrators ne cognizant of time place and circumstance. Barnes wasn’t here long enough to make a difference. This place was not for him. That was evident from day one. He is not a Pitt guy or east coast guy. The circumstances were bad for him. He didn’t come here before the FB coach. Because of this, he would never win in a political battle between the HC and the Chancellor. The HC was on the Chancellor and the chancellor was going to protect his hire…..why? ….because the chancellor wants to look good. Always looking at a legacy!! His legacy would start with an ocs!
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Ryan Field @RyanFieldABC 44m44 minutes ago
More and more empty seats at these bowl games. Players now voluntarily skipping them. Time to put an end to this charade, or have only a few.
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† W 🍊lverineDev 🍊tee @UMichWD 38m38 minutes ago
Update: @quicklanebowl / @espn suits now kicking FAMILIES OUT OF SEATS AGAIN TO FILL IN ENDZONES
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Yeah ESPN….we need more 5-7 & 6-6 teams in bowl games…
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Huff nailed it with OCS. Its memories that lead to donations and school spirit and connections/engagement. Memories tied to campus and not a big Ketchup bottle on the North Shore.
And a new OCS doesnt have to be solely bleacher seating and all the old crap (non-amenities) you remember from old Pitt stadium and current OCS’s across the nation that are 50+ years old. The biggest drawbacks are land acquisition and traffic control/flow. An OCS will not help with attendance (winning does) but it will lead to increased donations (better experience and connection with alma mater) and it can be used by the entire student body. How many students use Heinz today? Do any other Pitt programs use Heinz?
Bring in Tressel. He’ll raise $500M in 5 years to build an OCS. The other $500M will be bonds. Yes – it will take $1B to make it happen. We’re a city…always more expensive in a city with unions and swamp monkey bureaucrats. But, multi-purpose (athletic…not just football, academic, and business) makes the most sense. It can be used 24/7. And yes build a retractable dome. Make it unique. Full of character. Cater to the surrounding neighborhood and the college experience.
Pitt will be the only P-5 playing off campus in 10 years. In 15 years, we’ll be playing in the Rooney’s new domed stadium in Washington County. We have a choice. But planning starts now with a feasibility study.
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Sorry for the delay guys – out of town visitors were the priority the last few days. Am doing a Know the Enemy piece now.
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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C0ot1b4UAAAQVay.jpg:large
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Tressel would be a great get. Experience in higher ed admin at Akron and YSU, local and national name recognition and he can raise huge amounts of money. This makes too much sense.
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Tressel also served as AD at YSU for several years
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Maryland is the 1st B1G Joke team to fall in the bowl season, losing to ACC’s Boston College 36 – 30
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TX Panther, nice picture, but where is the infrastructure? Parking for 20,000 cars, restaurants, hotels, public transportation, access to the interstates? The ship has sailed, the horse is out of the barn, College Football attendance is down for the 6th straight year nationally. The government is broke. It just ain’t going to happen.
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Thanks gc. But thats what a feasibility study is for. There are 15k parking spaces in Oakland today. Not everyone will come by car directly into Oakland and not everyone will want to tailgate in a lot or garage. Walking the campus, attending a function on the lawn and bar hopping come to mind. For transport, Think train, bus and shuttles (park n ride). In 10-15 years, you may even be able to teleport in. 🙂
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Who says the government would have to pay for any of it. I dont want any government hands on building an OCS (or student multi-purpose center…SMPC). Any half decent AD could raise half the funds needed via private donations. The rest would be financed via low cost bonds.
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Heinz, PNC Park, PPG Arena, the Pete all built with government support. Pitt can’t function without state support. You are living in a dream world. Even a Tax-Free Bond issue is government support.
About the time we can teleport in like StarTrek is about when we’ll have an OCS, but we won’t need one, because we can have a virtual stadium.
This imaginary AD that will raise the funds, I want some of what you are smoking tonight. The Penquins had to threaten to leave Pittsburgh before they got funding, as did the Pirates and Steelers. These are successful for profit organizations. Pitt isn’t going anywhere.
By the way where is this train that you are talking about, we can’t even get the T to come to Oakland. Also there isn’t even enough room for a bus stop around your stadium.
Have you been to Oakland lately, it is a traffic nightmare, even getting in and out for BBall games can be really tough.
Heinz has a billion+ of infrastructure, parking hotels, restaurants, all within walking distance. Public transportation and interstate highway access. People still complain how tough it is to get in and out.
Look, I miss Pitt Stadium too, nostalgia is great, but an OCS is never going to happen. Football is just not a big enough priority for Pitt.
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@gc – The higher ed spae is getting creative in the borrowing arena. In the last 5 months, progressive universities, okay one that I worked with has created a bond “shelf offering” that had never been done in higher ed before. This creates the ability to access hundreds of millions of dollars at interest rates that are nearly free.
Not @ gc – Lists of why nots are why universities stay mediocre. Lists of difficulties and challenges, followed with plans for success, give the risk taker an advantage in the higher ed space. Universities are great for creating committee’s and search committee’s and sub-committees and on and on. They don’t work and are highly unproductive.
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Huff, not really sure what you are getting at. But before you borrow money, you have to have a Board of Trustees that believes in the plan. Don’t think that anyone is even committed to a feasibility plan.
Add to that that enrollments are down statewide, football attendance is down nationally, state contributions to higher ed are flat at best, and there are always a whole list of proposals for other capital expenditures.
UPMC and Pitt already shuttle employees to and from off campus parking lots, The infrastructure no longer supports a stadium in Oakland.
Your last sentence is another reason we will never see an OCS. While some may want an OCS, there will never be consensus by the Board of Trustees that we need an OCS.
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With the new VR technology on the horizon, cheap 60 inch HD TV’s, the increasingly invasive security protocols at public arenas and stadiums, per person cost of going to a game rising into 3 figures, parking lots disappearing as real estate values rise and the proliferation of other sports and attractions to catch the public’s eye – ALL stadiums are anachronisms. Dinosaurs. DoDo birds.
Look at the attendance at the Bowl games this weekend – 100’s of fans came out. There were thousands of empty seats at the Steeler/Raven game – people gave Pitt fans heel for nor coming out to a Thanksgiving weekend game – how come the Steelers could not fill up the Stadium for their main rivalry game and one that was a defacto playoff contest????
The Billion $$$ cost for an OCS is NEVER going to be paid by anyone in their right mind. Pitt needs to learn to deal with what they have now and make it the best it can be. In 15-20 Years they will get a brand new 15-20,000 seat stadium possibly where Highmark field is today, (or hell, maybe we will get an OCS by taking over and expanding CMU’s current venue) – one that is made for VR HD TV and the new 21st Century viewing paradigm. I’d rather see Pitt be a leader in a high tech solution than waste money to perpetuate a 20th Century model that is on the way out except for rare cases.
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Big B…Happy birthday. I hit 66 12/23. Figured we might be about the same age.
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Happy birthday, BigB. Are you still practicing PT?
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football will always be played on a field and that requires a venue. I think smaller and more intimate is the way to go. As well as domed so you can incorporate the latest technology to experience the game. Its about bringing people together for the experience. Experience = memories = donations. A SMPC does that.
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Last I heard, the Steelers don’t fundraise or research. Two distinct missions. Two different needs for a venue. One promotes further giving. One just promotes itself and hopes the team stays competitive.
Game wasn’t full because professional football is not a priority after all of the shenanigans from the players boycotting the NATIONAL anthem! Also, it was Christmas Eve and late! I would have been in the doghouse had I tried to go to any game late on Christmas Eve.
OCS, impossible or is it OCS I’m possible?
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When bowls began to invite 5-6 teams and a dedicated too many games they lost me. The monolith of college football needed the programming but cheapens the event.
Pitt brass failed to appreciate the campus as the attraction almost as much as they team. The new downtown Pittsburgh minus department stores isn’t appealing.
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