in Pitt Football 746 Words

Rainy Day Ramblings…

 

Michigan State University, known for its leafy campus, years of basketball success and a heritage that goes back to Abraham Lincoln, is dealing with a different image these days: allegations of sexual assault by a sports doctor and a separate sexual assault complaint against three football players who have been evicted from campus housing.

Michigan State on Thursday announced a police investigation involving the players, whose names haven’t been released. At the same time, it suggested there might be problems with how members of the football staff responded after the complaint was made in January. One person has been suspended so far, and an outside law firm has been hired to focus solely on staff.

Even the marching band was hit with unflattering news this week. Michigan State said the longtime director was suspended for a week last year for sending inappropriate text messages to a female musician.

“When you see one incident, and it’s isolated, it’s much easier to get a handle. But to be now piling up like this, it’s very troubling,” said John Truscott, an alumnus and public relations strategist in Lansing. “From a PR perspective, this is a classic crisis management case made worse by more negative information emerging.”

1. Pitt Panthers (OOC Schedule)

Sept. 2: Youngstown State
Sept. 9: at Penn State
Sept. 16: Oklahoma State
Sept. 30: Rice

The Panthers get the nod for the No. 1 spot because they’re the only Power 5 school that has to play two top-10 teams in Mark Schlabach’s updated Way-Too-Early Top 25. Not only that, but good luck in finding a more challenging nonconference swing in back-to-back weeks than on the road at No. 5 Penn State and then coming back home and tangling with No. 10 Oklahoma State. Each team has one of the top returning quarterbacks in college football — Trace McSorley at Penn State and Mason Rudolph at Oklahoma State — and the Nittany Lions will be especially motivated after losing to the Panthers a year ago.

Pitt Places Six on All-ACC Academic Football Team
The Panthers’ six honorees rank second in the 14-member football conference.

    PITTSBURGH—The University of Pittsburgh placed six student-athletes on the Atlantic Coast Conference All-Academic Football Team announced today. The Panthers’ six honorees tied for the second most among the ACC’s 14 football schools.

    Pitt’s 2016 All-ACC Academic Football Team honorees are senior offensive tackle Adam Bisnowaty, sophomore offensive guard Alex Bookser, senior linebacker Matt Galambos, senior safety Reggie Mitchell, senior tight end Scott Orndoff and senior quarterback Nathan Peterman.

    To be eligible for consideration, a student-athlete must have earned a 3.00 grade point average for the previous semester and maintained a 3.00 cumulative average during his undergraduate and/or graduate academic career.

   “We are extremely proud of our All-ACC Academic honorees,” Coach Pat Narduzzi said. “We want our student-athletes to be achievers in everything they do and these six young men embody that quality. Their work ethic and commitment made them standouts on the field and in the classroom.”

    Bisnowaty (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) was honored on the All-ACC Academic Football Team for the fourth consecutive year. Owning a bachelor’s degree in communication, he spent this past year pursuing his graduate work in health and fitness. Bisnowaty is a two-time first-team All-ACC offensive lineman.

    Bookser (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) started all 13 games at guard this past season and was Honorable Mention All-ACC. He is a communication major.

    Galambos (Collingdale, Pa./The Haverford School) was a three-year starter at middle linebacker. He ranks among the top 20 tacklers in school history with 283 career stops. Galambos is a media and professional communications major.

    Mitchell (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shady Side Academy) earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing and is now enrolled in Pitt’s Katz Graduate School of Business. He was a fixture in Pitt’s secondary during his career, playing both safety and corner.

    Orndoff (Waynesboro, Pa./Seton-LaSalle) is a three-time All-ACC Academic Football team honoree. As a senior he enjoyed one of the most productive seasons ever by a Pitt tight end, compiling 35 catches for 579 yards (16.5 avg.) and five touchdowns. He earned his bachelor’s degree in administration of justice.

    The most efficient passer in the ACC this past season, Peterman (Jacksonville, Fla./Bartram Trail) was at the helm of the highest scoring offense in school history (40.9 ppg). He completed 60.5% of his passes for 2,855 yards with 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions (a 163.4 efficiency rating). Peterman is pursuing his MBA in Pitt’s Katz Graduate School of Business.

35 thoughts on “Rainy Day Ramblings…”

  1. Narduzzi to MSU and we hire a already HC to take us over 8 wins. He takes his tweets and avgerage recruiting with him.

    It is actually due. Narduzzi has been here to long already. Isn’t Pitt Football coaching tenure 2 seasons?

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  9. OK, that was a fascinating podcast. Man did that hit on some really great memories that I know I’ve missed for awhile now. but… I have a confession myself. I remember you mentioning Kiski Prep a few times. That’s no so far from Greensburg and we had some kids that were not so nicely asked to consider that as their next school of choice. I wondered what brought you there? We really don’t want to get into which one of us all were the most incorrigible, but I could make the case. moving on……

    I could talk all day on Oakland, Pirate games, PITT games and just hanging out down there. I remember someone mentioning that it would be really cool if you could take phone calls Reed? I think with a podcast like today’s, the phone calls would have never stopped. The pic up top sure brings back many memories and the story of Mr Somebody in the wheelchair was really funny, although I don’t remember the maniac. The thing I remember the most was the smell of cigar smoke all throughout Oakland on game days.

    Congratulations to the all academic student athletes and Narduzzi with his help along the way. Surprised Caprara wasn’t in on that list?

    Lastly, Narduzzi loves PITT a little bit more than he’s getting credit for here! strictly imo. … ike

    H2P

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    1. Yep PT grew up in 5th ward a block from the hospital. Nice town that has a very small but city like atmosphere. Worked at the court house as well. U still there?

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  12. Pitt prediction- 9-3. Losses to Penn State, Oklahoma State, and Georgia Tech to start 1-3. Then run the table winning the coastal at 7-1. Agree with other posters the schedule is way to hard but our 3 toughest games are in the first 4 games of the season. UNC, Virginia, Duke, Syracuse, NC State are easy wins. UNC and Virginia Tech are rebuilding, Miami reloading but we catch them replacing their offense while Browne is experienced. Pitt struggles against FCS power Youngstown St. but wins by 3. Pitt finishes in the Top 20 and looks forward to a big year starting preseason Top 10 the next season with a seasoned roster.

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  13. Ike – I’m trying to see if there is software that would do just that – have a call in show. I know that when we were kids Ed & Wendy King were awesome on the party line.

    What might come first though is a round table call-in Q&A with some commenters that I can record and post up as a podcast – that is in the works.

    I think we gert 8 wins again total next year but I’ll do my formal prediction at the last week of fall camp. Last year I said 7 wins the year before 6-7 wins so HCPN has done better than I expected.

    Kiski Prep is an excellent school and made a point to take on some marginal kids on scholarship & turn them into great young men – which they did. I got kicked out of course – 6 days before graduation.

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  14. -Reed, when are you putting out your Pitt depth chart? I cant wait to see Paris Ford. He reminds of Troy Polamalu. What a recruit we got. I watched the All American game and Ford knocked out a Florida State 5 star player, he is a complete beast and way underrated

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  15. Reed, I think the call in/round table idea’s would put your blog over the top if it isn’t already there.

    Pretty sure Jim Thorpe went to Kiski Prep but I’m sure you know that.

    Anyone remember the King Biskit Flower Hour on wydd? Free form rock

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  17. Ike, we love Greensburg for it’s little city feel. Love the Palace Theater and the Summer Friday night concerts. Yes we still live close by in Hempfield near the High School . .

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  18. Reed.. a lot of gamers use a program named Teamspeak to communicate with both voice and or text.
    People here could join your teamspeak via the internet. It allows things like muting people and setting a password.
    Something maybe to look into.

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  19. WBB – We had close to 150 Pitt Alumni and fans out for a pre-game event and the Penguins/Coyotes game. Excluding the way the game ended, it was a great Pitt Night in Glendale. Pat Bostick and Tyler Palko were in attendance as well.

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    1. Fitz leaves Pebble Beach for Phoenix on Saturday afternoon and then returns the next day and his team finishes 2nd in the Pro-Am. Maybe Reed needs to invite him to golf outing.

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  20. Paris Ford definitely a man among boys playing last season. If he picks up the defense quickly, I can’t see him not starting for Pitt on opening day. I do believe a number of incoming freshman will contribute for Pitt this season.

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  21. I attended the last game at Pitt Stadium, a win over Notre Dame. I took the same picture of the front of the stadium and of the scoreboard with the final score. Tony Fisher, an ND tailback, who later played with the Packers, was a starter. He was a big time player from the high school in Ohio where I was an administrator, Euclid High School. We had quite a few Division 1 prospects, including Robert Smith who starred at Ohio State and then with the Minnesota Vikings. 1990’s and early 2000s.

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    1. Justin, FWIW, I live in Willowick, as you know, not that far from Euclid. It seems like all the really good area / city players are being gobbled up by Catholic schools.

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      1. Yes. It was for many years at Euclid too, except for about 10-15 years when the top talent stayed at Euclid High. VASJ was the biggest cuplprit but so was St. Ignatius and St. Edward. I live in MENTOR NOW. Good to hear from another NE Ohio Pitt fan.

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  22. Ike …dont think Jim Thorpe went to Kisk prep but Bob Mathias Olympic decathelon gold medal winner went there..was he the first athlete to grace a box of Wheaties?

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    1. Thanks BigB, hard to believe I mistook Mathias for Thorpe or the other way around. Somewhere in this thick head of mine I still think it’s possible though. I thought I remembered he went there very briefly, I believe Thorpe had some bad times growing up. Thanks again

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  23. Ike and Bernie – correct. Bob Mathias went there for a year to get his academics ready for college….

    Mathias continued to fare well in decathlons in the four years between the London games and the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.[1] In 1948, Mathias won the James E. Sullivan Award as the nation’s top amateur athlete, but because his scholastic record in high school did not match his athletic achievement, he spent a year at The Kiski School,[3] a well-respected all-boys boarding school in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania. He then entered Stanford University in 1949, played college football for two years and was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. Mathias set his first decathlon world record in 1950[2] and led Stanford to a Rose Bowl appearance in 1952. After graduating from Stanford in 1953 with a BA in Education, Mathias spent two and a half years in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was promoted to the rank of captain and was honorably discharged.[5]

    Here are some others:

    1920s
    Dr. Howard Hoffman "Howdy" Grosskloss '27
    Harry Stuhldreher '21
1930s
    Alf Brandin '32
    Cliff Montgomery '30
    Allen Kirkpatrick III '39
1940s
    Bob Mathias '49
    Beano Cook '49
1950s
    John Murtha '51
    Frank Urbany '51
1960s
    Marshall Goldberg '64
    Richard Kneedler '61
    Jack Hanna '65
1970s
    Tim Lewis '72  I went to school with Tim - great guy.
    James Moore '71
    Mark Miller '76
1980s
    Anne Vlahos Zachara '82
    Jeff Urbany '80
    Craig Spitzer '83
    David Conrad '85 - Actor
1990s
    Curtis Enis '95 - PSU Star
2000s
    Daryll Clark '05 - PSU Star

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        1. Yes it was his son. I was at Pitt when he was. Rumor was that he was on Pitt’s scout team but was nowhere near the great athlete his father was. Not a big kid. Quiet as far as I knew.

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  24. Now I’ve become obsessed with this.

    I found this:

    Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania · Page 22

    https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/88902876/
    -His starting plans did not include the r r’v Ur- v-:r ! sentative of the Lewis, George …. college fans who go to Washington i-1. from New Castle, but strange to say did not … Recalls Game He Played Against Jim Thorpe, tackle. … iMta Owen, coach of the Giants in the Pitt Freshmen Meet Kiski at Saltsburg Tht Kiski Prep School …

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