223 thoughts on “Pitt VS Louisville BB Thread”

    1. Bad idea, grape stains. And hard to erase those stains, worse than the stains left from losing by more than 20.

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  2. Now, that was funny UPitt. Are the Rockport inserts for plantar fasciitis? I walked the golf course too much.

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    1. Haha – Customs for you Bud….. I respect that. I never walked a course other than a Par 3 and I complained. Haha. 22 degrees in Fort Worth, TX. Buy Nat Gas. UGAZ. I’m in since 55.

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  5. Game just came on because of Auburn game. Bruce Pearl has em on a roll.

    Ugggh, pitt 12 Leweyville 26. Its early.

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    1. With all the “shoe” money Bruce has rolling in to Auburn, he sure does have them rolling.

      When is the Rockport rep going to throw some coins Pitt’s way?

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  8. Someone posted that Stallings wasn’t smart enough to put Milligan in at point last year. Well he’s only in there this year cause there is no one else. He F’n sucks.

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    1. I’m not sure whether it was me as I didn’t say anything about Stallings not being smart enough.

      I said that Milligan would have been okay playing with Artis, Young, Johnson and Jeter because little would have been expected/needed. I still stand by that. With this bunch he looks like what he is, a guy who has played very little D1 basketball. In fact he’s played very little college basketball for more than 2 years.

      You know who sucks is WIlson-Frame. Look at his halftime line and season stats. He jacks and misses a lot of 3s and does little else. That guy had so much unwarranted positive buzz from the local pumpers like Dokish and PSN. He’ll be 22 in July.

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      1. UPitt, what have you been told about “inventive” names!!! Besides I like Heather.

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    2. Based on years of reading message boards a majority of Pitt fans don’t care and worry more about their degrees being soiled by an over-emphasis of athletics. Puzzling, but explains how poor to mediocre Pitt athletics have been for pretty much ever.

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  10. Panthers Hanging Tough. I really feel like these kids and think they are on the cusp. Stalling’s coaching em up and proving his worth as a major league coach.

    I mean it isn’t like L’Ville’s program hasn’t just been totally hit by a mack truck and are coached by a kid who played not only 10 years ago.

    Yes, I’m being sarcastic on the first paragraph.

    We Suck.

    Heather – You are being embarrassed.

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  13. Love how you relish in the fact that is PITT getting the crap beat out of them Upitt. You should be ashamed as you think Heather should be. imo no offense intended. blah blah blah…

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    1. It is hilarious to me. Do you pay any attention Ike or just a homer. We are paying a career .500 coach retread 2M a year and this is your product. Let me make it easier for you to understand.

      You and the wife go to Capital Grille. You order a steak and sides and a nice wedge salad. You get a great 08 Cabernet to drink. Here is what happens.

      The waiter brings you a box wine from kmart. You get a head of lettuce not washed with blue cheese bottle and bacon still in the wrapper not cooked. The steak comes out and it is a skirt steak and it is burnt and the sides are beenie weenies. You get the bill and straight faced it is $260 with a 18% added.

      Exactly getting what we bought. A turd coach who sucks and always sucked back to his 45 years at Vandy.

      Enjoy your steak and boxed wine. I think it is comical how embarrassing this program is under Gallagher and Barnes/Lyke. It is a Traveling Carnival in Southern kentucky without a bearded lady and midget juggler. That is classier.

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      1. I get it Upitt we ALL get it. You say it 5,000 times every basketball thread. When is enough with you? I’ll say it one more time.. WE GET IT!! Can we move forward please?

        Why do you watch the games Upitt, honest question. You love the fact that PITT is getting beat up. You crying and whining like a small child isn’t going to change one dam thing.

        ok I’m done and now I feel better. Carry on with the constant hate drivel you have perfected so well. Oh and one last thing, how many shots has Heather missed tonight?

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        2. If I don’t complain who will? You seem to wait and see. Let me save you 3 years.

          Men playing little boys.

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      2. Two Christmases ago, I’m talking about 2016. As part of our annual Christmas ritual, I go shopping with my two grown sons and then dinner at the Capital Grill.. We ordered a cabernet from Argentina per our waiters recommendation. It was good, not over acidity as I usually fine with South American wines. The one thing which stopped me from ordering it again was the screw cap. I just can’t accept that on a good bottle of wine. Artificial cork gets me too.

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  14. Nether team is good but we can be excused because of the state of our program. The kids are trying but are no match for these teams.

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  15. This is hard to watch.

    Glad the announcers have pointed out that we have lost 10 in a row to lewville. And as an exclamation point, indicated we lost something like 106-51 last year. We are on the rise as Upitt points out.

    Forget a programmatic coaching change decision Ms. AD. Make a decision based on finances. Do I need to do the math again regarding season ticket sales? C’mon, it is a no brainer.

    I’ll repeat what I said the other night. There is not a player that I would pay to see THIS YEAR.It’s not even exciting. One guy dribbles, four guys watch.

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    1. There’s a lot of watching on defense and rebounding too. I don’t really see the effort that some see.

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  16. Pitt Greensburg has more talent.

    Huff – You would think if she had even 5% of a business mind that would be done. If this turd stays 4 more years the program will lose way more than his salary.

    Call him in and tell him you are giving him 3M to walk. Or you fire him for Stupidity and Mother F-ing players on live TV.

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  17. I was willing to give Stallings a chance but I’m losing patience fast. Why is Milligan,Wilson-Frame, and Boykins on the court? 2 Juco rejects and a low mid major bust. If your gonna get pounded Carr, Davis,Stevenson, and Stewart should be playing all the minutes if they are the future!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    1. Agree with that. I will point out again that WF arrived with a lot of positive vibes from the local pumpers. I haven’t seen any validity in it.

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  18. And last I checked, Heather is the AD. Do something Heather. You are the leader of this department. No more excuses. Some of you guys are blaming Dixon and Chryst 3 years later.

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  19. Happy New Year Ike…you know I like your up beat attitude but how could Pitt allow the utter fraud which was the payoff to a headhunting firm and the faux hiring of Stallings to occur?? And then they’re surprised only the worst talent of Pitt’s offers would come to play at Pitt? Nice guys all and limited basketball talent, but they stand no chance of beating an ACC team and in most cases will be slaughtered!

    One thing to allow it to have occurred….but then not to fix it is a travesty.

    Pitt needs a fresh start with a good young up and coming coach. They need to flush this entire mess away. The more Pitt let’s this travesty go on, the worse it’s going to be.

    No animus toward the kids or the coaches. Just reality!!

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    2. Dan, this is just the way it is for now. I don’t like it but I can see there is no other choice at this very moment. I come on the POV because I love PITT and want to discuss this pitiful BB play as an adult. Not cry about Heather all night like it’s going to make a difference other than driving me away.

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  20. Not one of the kids would start as a Sophomore or Junior anywhere. Stalling’s brought in nothing.

    Don’t worry Kevin. You are making 59K tonight.

    Coaching against a never been coach who is smoking you.

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  21. UPitt these are the kids we have. Whoever the coach is they are gonna play. I think those 4 could be good in the coming years.

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    2. Hire a real coach and he will bring in talent in 12 months. I’d cut this whole team. Give them 4 year degree paid by Pitt but they aren’t playing hoops.

      There are coaches out there if we paid who would have us in the tourney in less than 12 months. We won’t pay. We don’t care about getting embarrassed or making the tourney.

      Exactly why Heather is not prepared for this job.

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    1. Steve…I could not disagree more. The only thing that will happen with these players is that they will get older. You cannot coach or teach talent! You are seeing all of the talent these players will ever have. This from coaching basketball for 16 years. Believe me I wish it wasnt true.

      Stallings is a better than decent coach and these kids do play hard…but that’s it.

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    1. F-ing Comical and I agree. Sucking the Pitt Teet. Under Heather’s Watch. She won’t complain ever or push for anything. Hire a puppet and tell them when to talk.

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  25. Actually this years team is a little more fun to watch then last year’s team which had good players who did nothing.

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    1. Blame the coach. They made the tourney under Dixon.

      Fun? Against Montana State? Not against real talent.

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  26. Dan you may be right. You must consider these guys have all the pressure on them with zero senior leadership to help them. Also there is no good big man on this team even Luther is overmatched at center.

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  27. You know, Pitt must have a sign on the Cathedral, like, for a good time call1800pitt. Or maybe, take all our money, we don’t care. We are clueless.
    I do not blame a single kid on the team. They are what they are and we’re offered a scholarship. Any of us would have taken it. But pay a guy that much money, and that’s the best he can do? And his boss sees it occur?? Seriously??

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  31. BC is good. We are the new BC and no one cares. Not the fans, not the AD, Not the Chancellor, No one.

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  34. Well, we held em under a 100. Standing around and shooting the first three ball opportunity is not basketball.

    It’s an easy financial decision, make it. Do the math on empty seats. Don’t be afraid of litigation with Stallings. Give him a number and tell him you will be glad to litigate and play his very public cuss out of Luther to any jury. . He will file suit, so what? Litigation is the means to a settlement in these cases.

    Show what’s left of the fanbase that you are not going to accept poor performance. A couple of the current kids might be good in a couple of years and actually be serviceable on an acc team. Right now, I see no shining star moments from any of them.

    I actually like the Chuk during a stretch of play where he got the technical with the opponent big guy.. He didn’t back down. He looks like a good TE prospect if he gains some muscle.

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  35. Word circulating that Stallings yelled at lewville fans that at “least we don’t pay our players 100k” to go here. First response is that it was again embarrassing to the university, 2nd, why don’t we? 3rd it was very immature.

    LOL, i think. EOL – Embarrassed Out Loud.

    dilly dilly

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    1. Front page news on ESPN.

      They just reported this on KDKA news this morning with audio. Then they showed him talking about it in the post game. He isn’t going to let opposing fans “take shots at our kids”. Was this his first road game as a basketball coach?

      It will be interesting to see where this team goes from here. 0-2. Not being competitive for most of a game and losing by 26. Continued poor production from 2 guys who were considered to be the 2 best players entering the season. A coach who is lashing out at opposing fans. A road game in Blacksburg. A home game against Duke. No Luther to perhaps change the dynamic.

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  36. He wanted people to talk about something other than he and his team being Embarrassed yet again.

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  37. Yeah, that’s about right. Trying to find cause for letting him go, thus shrinking the buyout.

    good grief!

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  38. Pulled this from PSN –

    Stallings didn’t confirm his exact words, but acknowledged the exchange with a (louisville) fan, and said his response was in defense of his players.

    Maybe, just maybe he used a few curse words (ala Luther scolding) and Lyke will get another chance to fire KS.

    Fingers crossed 🤞

    Is that Lyke grasping at straws?

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    1. Stallings and open microphones.

      Couple it with poor play.

      Couple it with a Pete less than half filled for conference games.

      Couple it with likely bottom dwelling ACC play.

      At some point the very public embarrassment and economics (ht Huff) have to cause action.

      You know it’s a realistic possibility that Stallings could actually set the program back even farther if some of the “better” young players choose to transfer after this season.

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  39. For the record, I have once again become a Stallings’ fan

    John Lewis WDRB@JohnWDRB 8h8 hours ago

    Pitt coach Kevin Stallings on his comment during the game about UofL paying a player $100,000: “Somebody said something bad about my players. I probably said the wrong thing”

    Ni, I say he said the right thing …. screw all of these cheaters

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  41. I am not a Stallings fan at all (I’m not sure any even exist).

    That said, I don’t know how anyone cannot think what Stallings said to that heckler was anything other than completely awesome.

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  42. My wife damn near crapped her pants last night when I decided to watch the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills with her rather than continue watch Pitt after the 13 min mark of the first half. John Mellancamp’s daughter is fantastic looking.

    That is the state of our bball program now gentlemen….2017/2018 Rock Port Bottom.

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  43. Good for Stallings for what he did. F Louisville and its dirty, rotten athletic programs. They’ve been getting away with sh¡t for years. And what adult insults college players? You have to be a real scumbag to talk down to amateurs. Oh, the heckler paid for a ticket so he can say what he wants?

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    1. maybe the heckler didn’t understand that Pitt players were actually amateurs (may not know the meaning of the word)

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  44. Right, Stallings should be lauded and admired for chiding fans while his team was embarrassed on the court. He’s a real standup guy. Very courageous.

    Make sure you show up for the games to demonstrate your appreciation. Plenty of seats available near the Pitt bench from what I’ve seen.

    What adult insults college players? Having been to hundreds of Pitt football and basketball games, a lot of them.

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  46. At a minimum, it requires a call from our Chancellor to their President with an apology. What it tells me is that the pressure is mounting inside his pressure cooker.

    It is sophomorish at best. HE has had at least 10 hours to make something up about what a fan called one of our players but has been silent. My sense is that it may have been a personal attack on the coach. If that happened here, Reed would have banished the infractor for one month and that would be the end of it.

    Interesting that the reporter(?) who broke the story didn’t report any foul language or denigrating comment heard from a fan toward a player. I am trying to figure out which player the louisville fans were trying to get “off” his game. I couldn’t find anyone wearing our colors that would have been worth harassing based on their play last night, could you?

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  47. I think Stallings’ behavior is a sign of his personal maturity, at least he didn’t cuss out one of his own players this time.

    Or maybe it was a stroke of genius, he has effectively moved the media and fan focus toward ancillary banter and away from a truly horrendous performance on the court.

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  49. I wonder if you like Stallings or not has a bearing on how you view this incident. I am going to say it does.

    Same thing goes for the FB coach

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  50. His comments were quite comical but inappropriate for sure.

    It is easy to say just fire him but then what?

    Fire him now and there is no replacement available right now.
    Fire him after the season and Pitt makes another bad hire.
    We all know Pitt isn’t going to hire a guy that recruits the Fab 5. They have to build a program and keep guys for 4 years.

    I don’t see Gallagher and the BOT stepping up. Pitt is what it is, you can attack all the coaches after every loss. It isn’t going to change a thing.

    The pressure should be placed on Gallagher.

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  51. My solution would be, if the horrible performances continue, fire him after the season and hire one of the smaller school coaches that made a run in the tournament.

    Do I think Pitt and Gallagher could pull it off? Ahhh no. There is absolutely no recent history that tells me it could happen.

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    1. I would seriously doubt that what he aid would be deemed ‘with cause’ if he was actually being considered being fired …. which I doubt very much he is

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    2. Agree with your plan.

      To pull it off, AD Lyke needs to compile a list of up-and-coming coaches at smaller schools, possibly within the ACC footprint, and evaluate why they’ve had success at the smaller school. One good player, style of play, good coaching etc. Then, when allowed, begin to contact the coaches on the list.

      To pull this off, AD Lyke will need to be able to evaluate the candidate’s leadership qualities and coaching acumen. And, she’ll have to sell the candidate on Pitt and its commitment to winning.

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  52. Aren’t these three available now and probably still getting paid by their former schools? 🙂

    Mark Gottfried
    Tom Crean
    John Thompson III

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  53. We might as well move this team back into the Field House. They do not deserve the Pete. Don’t know if Dixon is to blame or just smart in knowing when to get out of town.
    They put up interesting stat on the broadcast last night. Only two teams had more freshman playing time than Pitt, Kentucky and Duke. The big thing in common is there are a lot of one and done. Theirs to the NBA and ours to transfer down in divisions.
    I have been a fan since the 60’s and watching the team grow through the Eastern 8 years and Big East was a great ride, but this total breakdown since joining the ACC has been brutal. If Stallings does not get some higher rated recruits for next year he needs to go and the checkbook needs to be opened up and a big name needs to be hired. Basketball can change with one big recruiting year, but I doubt KS is the man to do it.

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  55. At least he is frustrated by the situation.

    Yeah, he took the job, but most of the personnel issues started long ago with Jamie unable to recruit a Point guard or big man for quite a few years. To expect Stallings to magically produce an ACC caliber team with no ACC caliber players is more than unreasonable.

    The problems with Pitt BBall go far beyond Stallings.

    What he said to the fan has more than a grain of truth to it. When will the FBI case become public and will it do anything to clean up the criminal enterprise that is college basketball?

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  56. Do not know what the fan was saying about our players but sometimes stuff boils up. The kids will probably not get out of the ACC cellar and out BB fortunes are dim at best. The Pete will be empty except for Duke, at least for the first half.

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  57. He took the job GC. On day 1 it was his team. No one begged him to take other than Herman and the Recruiter buddy.

    Almost 3 years and Dixon still blamed?

    He is winning here.

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    1. This is only the beginning of the 2nd year. TCU opened the purse strings for Jamie.

      I agree that Jamie is the much better coach, but Stallings is just the fall guy for Pitt Basketball.

      No coach could turn the Pitt mess around with one recruiting class.

      The elite Kids don’t want to come to Pitt and never have.

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  58. It will take a lot more than a great coach to fix Pitt Basketball. It will take a big pile of money and a look the other way attitude, the first that Pitt doesn’t have and the second that Pitt won’t do.

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  59. Stallings is a basketball coach, not the Dali Lama or the Pope. He didn’t even use profanity during this particular tirade. A grown man took a verbal shot at him and he took one back, nothing wrong with that at all.

    #Rockport Bottom
    #Todd Haley’s Hip

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  60. The comment KS made is totally irrelevant to me. It truly did distract everyone from the train wreck of a performance though, it seems to have worked with a lot of you guys anyway.

    And it is absolutely not Stallings fault that he took the job and the money along with it, I’d have done the same thing. But a bad hire is still a bad hire and fans will ultimately vote with their wallets, like it or not.

    Point 3, Dixon had a great tenure at Pitt and was a first rate person as well, but he was unable to recruit his style players here anymore and that’s a big reason why we are where we are today, it was time for him to move on, no reason to keep rehashing.

    Finally, Pitt is a tremendous opportunity for a talented young coach. Occasionally you see a comment about no quality candidates wanting to come here, and That’s either trolling or drama queen whining. I just hope we have a plan in place next time.

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  61. He verbally abused his own player on national tv (Luther). That is when I stopped supporting the guy. That goes to Annies post about not berating players. He could have yelled about effort, but that wasn’t the case with Luther. My sense is that he was put on a tight leash about verbal comments and behavior after Luther.

    He engaged with a fan or several fans about a university paying off players. If he is that thin skinned, he is in the wrong profession. Funny that noone has mentioned what was said about him or his players. He has had 12 hours to come up with something. Regardless, please tell me one thing that a stinkin fan can say to him that would make him mouth back? Just one. I wanna hear it. Just one, somebody, Buehler?

    Let’s face it. The guy got off on the wrong foot in this town (not all his doing) and he keeps messing up.

    GC – The feds aren’t going to blow up ncaa bball. Yes, more coaches will get canned but at the end of the day, it just won’t matter.

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  62. When success and failure depends on shoe contracts and kick backs to players and coaches, the feds may have something to say. University brass have a fiduciary responsibility and can be held accountable. We are talking big money and criminal Enterprise.

    The NBA one and done rule is also a joke. No funny business going on there.

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  63. what he said here is far less concering than what he said at Vandy a few years ago to one of his players….. “I’ll ‘effing’ kill you” And that was well documented. If Pitt hired him after that, then surely this should be treated as a minor issue.

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      1. Not sure if that was it. I do remember that the students swapped “P-I-T-T Let’s Go Pitt” with “R-O-L-L-I-E’S Fat”

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  65. KS probably got upset when the fan said something along the lines that Pitt’s players suck and he could smell his stinky Rockports from the stands.

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  66. I get thinking KS is a bad coach and a bad hire but some criticism is ridiculous.

    The biggest BS criticism is him yelling at players. If the kids can’t take that they shouldn’t be playing sports. I had peewee football coaches say worse to me.

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  67. I see a comment that the elite kids don’t want to come to Pitt.

    That is not correct at all.

    The 1980’s changed all that. Curtis Aiken was a 5 star blue chipper.

    He was followed by 5 star blue chipper Top 10 player in the country Charles Smith, who went on
    to a very long career in the NBA and was involved with the NBA’s Retired Players Association after he retired from playing. Here is what Charles’s wiki article says:

    “As a college player, Smith was named Big East Player of the Year. He was a member of the University of Pittsburgh’s highly touted five-man recruiting class considered the country’s best.[1] Along with power forward Jerome Lane, Charles Smith and the Pitt Basketball Team became a major force in college basketball, opening the 1987–88 season ranked No. 4 nationally and rising as high as No. 2. ”

    That elite crew was followed by 5 star big men Bobby Martin and Brian Shorter.

    So that is not correct, with the correct HeadCoach…. Pitt can attract and has attracted some of the most elite HS players in America.

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    2. Ancient history Emel, also the coach who recruited those guys (Chipman) was let go for undisclosed reasons. Those were also long before shoe contracts and AAU affiliations.

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  68. And mind you that was when we were playing in the dilapidated Fitzgerald Field House.

    We play in NBA type arena now. It should be very easy to recruit urban kids to an urban campus.

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  69. Emel – You know my feelings towards Pederson and Pumpkin Head Barnes. Who do you think did more damage to Pitt? I’m leaning towards Barnes. Funny is he did all his damage in 16 months.

    Anyone care to vote? I say Barnes.

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    1. Wow Upitt…that is like picking who was more destructive…..Attila the Hun or Genghis Kahn.

      As far as destroying a program quickly, Barnes wins hands down. Cornhole’s destructiveness was more a slow kill.

      But both were allowed to do what they did….. by their paymasters. The BoT .

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      1. Pedey is worse by a nose hair. His mismanagement/incompetence led directly to Barnes being able to implement scorched earth policy.

        Pedey single handedly destroyed any chance for the football program (see treating Wanny like crap, Haywood, Graham)

        ACC move looked brilliant but now looking back on it…Jamie was left rudderless as it showed his inability to recruit in the new geography. Which ultimately led to his departure.

        I know people can say it was the right move to go the ACC and while I would like to agree…the lack of commitment on the Administrations part to athletics means there will never be a shot to reach a Jan 1 bowl (not I did not say a playoff game 🙂 ).

        Without Pedey….Barnes never exists at Pitt…so by a nose it’s Pedey.

        DaveD

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    2. hard for me to say UPitt. I am going to say this is a toss-up right now. Pedey set this up for epic fail. I know we all love the move to the ACC.

      But it set up Jamie Dixon’s inability to recruit. Which in turn led to him basically plateau-ing here. I said to my brother look at all of the up and comers…why won’t Pitt take a chance on a new BBall coach?

      They took what I think was the safest route of hiring a guy who could recruit in a high standard institution like Vandy. In other words regardless of the apparent backroom dealings, they misread what was needed here and didn’t want to take a risk on an up and comer and end up with a Ralph Willard. They underestimated the situation and now they are stuck with a questionable basketball coach with an empty bball program

      And honestly the FB fiasco was so much worse under Pedey…I mean the horrible firing (not saying they didn’t need to make a change but how it was done was terrible) of Wanny and then Haywood to Graham.

      That is what led to this current crap on the football field.
      Honestly I go Pederson first. He set up this perfect storm.

      But trust me it’s by nose.

      DaveD

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      1. Ralph Willard was more a victim of Pitt (like so many other coaches) than him being a bad coach.

        The proof. He was successful at both his other gigs as a HC.

        He had a .659 winning % at Western Kentucky with 2 NCAA appearance in 4 years there before Pitt.
        And he had a .621 winning % at Holy Cross with 4 NCAA appearances.

        So he was successful everywhere ……..**but Pitt **

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        1. Yeah Emel but perception is reality. Howland/Dixon made it work, but this administration looked at the safe play vs an untried up and comer.

          I am just suggesting instead of taking a chance they viewed Stallings as the safer bet. I don’t disagree with your statement, however, I am sure the view from the mountain top that is low on oxygen known as the Pitt Sports Dept likely took the advice of some buddy boy search firm that this guy is a proven coach that can recruit but was handcuffed by the limitations set at Vandy.

          Basically if he could do what he did there…imagine how successful he could be at Pitt.

          So instead of finding the next Howland/Dixon they went with the safe (?) play. And btw if my memory serves me correctly, they did not want to hire Dixon…it was forced upon them by players and the fact the guy they focused on stayed at WF (Skip Prosser). I may be misremembering this playing out this way but it sounds familiar.

          DaveD

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  70. any team playing in the ACC and with a facility like the Pete should be attractive … but success breeds success. If these kids can become competitive in the next year or so, it will do a lot for the program.

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    1. I don’t see this current group ever being competitive in the ACC. Maybe the A-10. And that would not be a given either.

      They need a massive infusion of quality players, that are both bigger and more talented.

      Anybody can press this team into oblivion anytime they want. Nor can they play in the half court. As their is no inside presence at all. Offensively or defensively.

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  71. I have a solution: Let’s hire Brad Stevens away from the Celtics! Look, I hated the hire but KS is getting another 2 years unless the team totally quits on him.

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      1. Good question…But I don’t believe they quit on him yet. They play hard, just very young and careless with the ball.

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  72. I’m going to summarize this situation with a statement that should please Reed a great deal …… Much Ado About Nothing

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  73. Facilities – We have 1 ACC Worthy Facility on Campus. That is the Pete.

    The other junk they built on the hill is cheap no identity rubbish.

    Honestly – Half of the MAC has better baseball and softball facilities.

    Tear Fitzgerald down and that pool from 1876 and build something.

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    1. I agree, Trees Pool was ok in the BigEast, as most of the schools didn’t even have a Pool, like St. John’s and others. It’s ancient compared to ACC pools. That whole building needs bulldozed.

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      1. You guys are on crack. It has a ‘modern’ configuration… 8 x 50 meters or 16 x 25 meters. Pretty standard stuff. Like you 2 could even swim 25 meters.

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        1. That ancient pool is even older than you Mark. Well maybe not. Opened in 1962.

          It was one of the last 50 meter pools built in America. That is how old it is.

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  75. The Charles Smith years are about as relevant to today’s recruiting as are Tony Dorset, Dan Marino years.

    We are in a whole new era.

    To think any coach can make a difference without deep, deep pockets and the tacit approval to bend the rules as much as possible is not realistic.

    Especially when you are Pitt, with all its baggage and little to no recruiting area. Few if any kids grow up wanting to play for Pitt.

    If it was so easy, why couldn’t Jamie get any decent point guards or big men to come to Pitt even when he got to the Big Dance every year.

    Like

    1. Jamie burned all his AAU bridges. And even with that, he managed 3 5 star recruits.

      Khem Birch
      Dante Taylor
      Steve Adams (yea i know he knew his coach in New Zealand), but we still count him.)

      Carl Krauser and LeVance Fields were both decent to more than decent PG’s.

      The last 3-4 years, nobody of the PG variety game, cause they didn’t want to sit behind the kid from DeMatha.

      Like

      2. Hardly a murderers row, I think you are making my point. Not easy to recruit to Pitt. The elite schools add more talent in one year than we get in ten.

        Like

        1. You said : ” If it was so easy, why couldn’t Jamie get any decent point guards or big men to come to Pitt ”

          ‘couldn’t get any’ suggests none. So I disproved your point.

          Like

          2. It’s also a bit of a vague question. Decent in terms of rankings or play?

            Damon Wilson was a consensus 4-star and Top 100 player with several offers from ACC and SEC teams. As a freshman Dixon had him positioned as a backup for Robinson. He also played with Robinson at times. Last year Stallings had him positioned as a designated fouler and garbage time player.

            Tray Woodall was a decent PG. While not technically playing PG, Wanamaker became a very good playmaker. However Woodall finished in 2013.

            Like

  76. ACC to me is like a beautiful woman we want to date.

    But……. We are unemployed, overweight, sleep on a buddies couch and are supposedly finishing our degree at CCAC Boyce. We are wearing High School Tee Shirts and an idea of going out is a sixer of PBR and Golden Corral. My point is we are not worthy of the hot beautiful woman and we are not willing to do what it takes.

    Like

    1. then why do you complain so much? I have been saying all along that we can’t compete with the big boys

      Like

        1. I think one man’s tweaks is another’s Fort Knox. In other words, they have reviewed what it would take and have decided this is the best approach.

          I think both sides are right unfortunately. In hindsight, the move to the ACC never should have happened because the administration was never committed to investing what it would take to be even viable (I guess you could call FB mediocre but it’s on life support for that given what has been going on lately).

          I believe Pitt has 1 – 2 more wins every year in the AAC in football and can still recruit in the areas they were strong in before the move for basketball.

          Yep I know people want to believe Pitt was Big 5 worthy but I just am not seeing it anymore.

          Honestly what you deem as a “few tweaks” is millions of dollars the power trust defines as a unpalatable investment.

          Unfortunately for us alums/fans.

          DaveD

          Like

    2. Golden Corral….are those dumps still around 🙂 Ponderosa and Bonanza were 2 other dreadful pseudo steak houses.

      Like

  77. The muckety mucks have to weigh things like, how much damage does keeping Stallings for another 3 years do to the program. Short term and Long term. Especially if they have no plans are spending Large Loot on obtaining a Name Coach.

    Because after 5 years of Stallings, the Season Ticket holders will be 90% gone and without a Name Coach being hired…to infuse some excitement and some hope……it will take a much longer time to rebuild that Season Ticket base.

    For comparison, Boston College, who I suggested a couple years ago, we could become in bball, and that has come true. After they left their long-time successful (in the BigEast) HC Al Skinner go (who had a 60% winning % at BC with 8 NCAA appearances, 3 Regular Season BigEast Championships and 1 BigEast Tourney Championship in 13 years), BC went into the dumper for next SEVEN (7) years. Winning as few as
    9, 7, 8 & 9 games in 4 of those 7 years.

    So if you add up 5 years of losing seasons under Otis and 2 more for whoever they hire next….unless it’s a wunderkind type of guy who hits the job running and brings in immediate 4-5 star talent, he’s going to have
    at least 2 more losing seasons. So there’s your 7 years of BC futility.

    So the question is, does Pitt want to wait for 7 years of BC type futility before they do something ?
    The fix is going to require much more money then, than now.

    How much does Pitt lose in Ticket Sales & concession sales in 7 years ?

    Like

    1. Huff had a equation on that and I agree. It costs you more keeping Otis. At least move him to Janitorial Staff and give him a new sweeper.

      Like

  78. Is there a building that can be built to hold FB, swimming, hockey, intramural, baseball and soccer? Good unique administration project that will set the future in college sports.

    Like

  79. It could be done but would need to be a main part for football with offshoot building with Pool and outdoor fields for Sports. Built along the river would work and have room! Could market it “From the Ashes” Old Steel Mill area up the mon 1 mile from the Hot Metal Bridge. Call it Sportsside across from Southside.

    Like

    1. Dishonest media, makes Conklin appear to be the Cat’s Meow. If we were that high is Rushing Defense, it was because it was so easy to throw the ball for over 300 yards a games against us.

      Like

  83. For the record as it seems people can’t read or forget. When Stallings was hired? I screamed my head off. When I found out how he was hired (same research firm as Barnes) I screamed even louder. I do not hold Stallings in any type of high regard. I sure wish they would have went with a younger upcoming coach from a smaller school that was known for their basketball program, or anyone else but Stallings.

    Heather Lyke underwhelmed me as well. I don’t know what I was hoping for in the AD case but the hire did seem cheap? Not a big fan of either hires.

    Obviously I’m a big overall PITT fan, football, basketball and I check out all the scores when it comes to PITT sports. Would love to see the PITT baseball program pick up. My point is, I can be critical at times when I feel it’s for a lack of hustle, preparation and well anything that is someones control. Heather and KS are beyond my control and just about everyone else that reads and comments on the POV. I’m resigned to the fact that it is what it is. Just like my old Benny story.. “Benny, there is nothing we can do”. My last point is, Benny cried for a less of time than many of the butt hurt posters on the POV.

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  85. I’m butt hurt from 35 years of mediocrity. The BoT has raped Pitt fans of their passion and hope. Pitt has given itself a self imposed death penalty in sports while the true rape factory in Creepy Valley was able to fully recover in a mere 4 years. Think about that. I’m sure Benny would agree.

    Like

  89. FB related comment – I heard today on XM84 ESPN College Sports Radio that UCF is currently a thriving campus because of the new on campus stadium they built a few years ago. All things UCF have skyrocketed. The comment was made by one of the hosts, maybe Rick Neheisel, that the Orlando part of Florida used to be owned by the Gators and Seminoles, recruiting wise, and now the UCF Knights are grabbing bragging rights.

    Interesting to hear…

    I may have to go check it out come next Fall. Anyone else want to join me at their 35,000 seat stadium for Pitt vs UCF next September?

    H2P!

    Like

      1. You know EE, I had a feeling that was you.. You’e always on the beam friend.

        btw, that’s how I got into the habit of signing my post at first. Seems I couldn’t grasp the concept of posting my name in the box.. ike

        Like

  90. @NRS (Not Rocket) – When your team is in the toilet, you don’t cuss out your players on national tv. He has plenty of time to cuss at them since they didn’t make the tournament and show no signs of making a tournament.

    I got cussed at a couple of times only as I played sports into college. Candidly, I didn’t care too much about what the coach said. That is why I don’t care about what gets said to whom on here. The point is that Stallings is a mess and doesn’t understand how to create a brand where the best kids want to play for him.

    Obviously, last years kids quit. Other coaches take the tape we have seen and show it to mentors, handlers and parents of kids. He has missed the boat. He is trying to fit Bobby Knight 1970’s style into 2018. Kids don’t respond to his crap any more. They don’t. When you understand the current 17-23 year old kid, you’ll recruit better.

    Doc Chipman did some crazy things and Pitt never got in trouble. Basketball and football is dirty. The NCAA is spineless, because the people they are told to oversee, pay them. It is a system that can’t work.

    Pederson crushed Pitt’s brand. Pederson didn’t discriminate, he sucked at managing all sports programs. Barnes crushed Pitt Basketball. He wasn’t around long enough to crush the other sports.

    Like

  92. The Green Bay Packers aren’t retaining offensive coordinator Edgar Bennett or quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt per Schefter, Mort and Rob Demovsky who covers the Packers for ESPN.

    So as Pitt searches for a DC, do they bring back Alex as the QB coach, filling the 10th coaching spot. Pay would probably be an issue…

    By the way, Alex was my choice for OC last year.

    Like

    1. During the interview Narduzzi could ask him: “So tell me about a time when you knew you were going to win and then didn’t… How did you handle it?”

      Like

  95. I think it was Emel yesterday who said sometimes things just fall into place, in reference to Conklin’s move to Wofford. Perhaps Van Pelt’s availability is yet another piece of the proverbial puzzle falling into place ? !

    Liked by 1 person

  96. LSU to increase Dave Aranda to 2.5M per year. Hell he makes more than Narduzzi. Meanwhile at Pitt we pay our DC when we had one 400K.

    Like

  97. Heather, please start talking the the Hurley brothers. I would prefer Bobby, but Danny is also doing a good job in Rhode Island. I think Bobby would rather go for Louisville before us. He likes horses. Danny may be a good fit. Both guys in the ACC would be a plus for the conference. Recruiting the Metro NYC for us would be big again.

    Like

    1. Danny didn’t even return the call when Barnes called last year. Didn’t want anything to do with Pitt.

      Like

  98. I’m not worried about the new DC in football. I would love to get Canada or someone with smarts and imagination for OC. Above all we need recruiters!!!!

    Like

  99. Possible conversation between KS and H.Lyke upon the teams return from louisville –

    Heather: You know Kevin, reacting to fan conversations the way you did last night doesn’t look good for our university.
    Kevin: You know I don’t have to sit here and take this from you and I won’t, but you have to take in all of this and you will.
    Heather: Where are you going Kevin?
    Kevin: To the bank. You know your university really needs to upgrade it’s payroll system to direct deposit.

    Like

  101. Pitt will never pay that kind of money to assistants. Thats head coach money. And schools that do this can only do this with big time boosters. Moreover, they have a football culture and have no problem placing sports over academics.

    Pitt did right by extending Narduzzi. They did right by probably promising a bigger budget for assistants and recruiting expense. Need to execute the plan now.

    Pitt can win without overpaying coaches. The vast majority of coordinators are paid under $1M unless you are an elite school. Pitt is not elite and will never be elite. Not without big boosters, a supportive BoT, an OCS, and a huge cultural shift. But Pitt can become a program like Stanford or Wisconsin if its serious about sports. I’d be fine with that.

    But right now, its SOP which means mediocrity or worse. Pitt is just along for the ACC ride. However I do see the administration becoming more serious given recent hires, coaching contracts, master plan for facilities. Pitt still has a long way to go.

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  102. The chasm between the haves and the have-nots is palpable. Pitt had a good offensive year in 2016, so LSU buys him @ $1.5M plus whatever the buyout was. Now, despite winning 9 games, they will let him go and pay his buyout. Meanwhile, they up their DC pay to $2.5M and will likely pay at least $1.5M for their new OC.

    And as you said, our HC isn’t being paid as much as their DC ….. schools like Pitt just continue to get played

    Like

  103. TX, what recent hires? Pitt went the cheap route every chance it got. Hired an untested FB HC and paid him almost min. wage for a P5 school. His new contract still keeps him in the bottom 50% of all 129 FBS coaches.

    Then in BB hired a retread and newly fired unsuccessful HC and pays him peanuts also.

    The Master Plan does nothing at all for the two major sports either.

    It is absolutely SOP.

    Like

    2. I am assuming that the BB retread is Stallings. I believe Stallings was only plausibly rumored to be on the verge of termination at Vanderbilt.

      Like

      1. He’s also the only guy who would take the job here. Pitt sports, especially BB, is a dumpster fire.

        Like

  104. Still a long way to go in the season, but Duquesne is now 2-0 in A-10 play. Last night Duquesne beat a decent GW at home team by 17. It was reported on the local news one day after Pitt’s loss to Louisville by 26 and Stallings’ taunt of a fan was teased on the break and featured.

    GW with some okay wins. Their worst loss may be to Rider by 2 at home. They also have a 19 point loss to Xavier on a neutral court and a pair of 20 point losses on the road to FSU and PSU. They lost to Miami by 9 at home before Christmas.

    Again, it’s very premature, but this morning I was imagining a future where Duquesne becomes the most respected basketball program in Pittsburgh.

    Like

    1. I would have expected nothing less from PSN. They are never shy about bringing out the pom poms in support of Pitt or its coaches. However I was bit surprised by Anson’s take on Cardiac Hill.

      Not sure where or how it ends if the adults paid to manage the program exhibit no self control and begin to taunt the crowd.

      In the end nobody knows anything about the people in the stands, what was said, and to whom it was said. For example somebody on Panther Lair continues to claim to have been seated at the game a couple of rows behind the Pitt bench. He claims that there was a UK fan seated behind him taunting Stallings by likening the beatings UK used to deliver to Vanderbilt to the one presently being delivered to Pitt. If that’s true it’s all on Stallings and the perceived nobility of it all rings very false and becomes self serving.

      Like

  106. Like someone mentioned, the story goes one way or another depending on your like or dislike of Stallings. I could care less but as I sit here this morning I had a chuckle to myself. I wish heather would step up and fire KS asap so she would be forced to bring in another BB head coach that would be hated immediately.

    Paying Stallings contract out plus a new coach equals bottom of the barrel type candidates. Plus with the despise for Heather, that puts her in a no win situation anyways. So I’m going sit back real easy and laugh like Bruce did when Scooter and the Big Man bust the city in half.

    Like

    1. The story was much ado about nothing but somehow keeps popping up.

      A new coach would be universally supported by the majority of Pitt fans for the first few years. The civil war among Pitt hoops fans has been about who is ultimately responsible for the current horrendous state of the program (not the mediocre state as it is in football). Hopefully a large segment of the fanbase would finally agree that the product they’ve seen on the court for the last year and a half has been a steaming pile and it doesn’t matter any more. The problem for some like Vukovcan, Dokish, Saunders and Zeise is that they’ll be left holding the bag. Vukovcan, Dokish and Saunders will return though, they’re Pitt cheerleaders through and through.

      The buyout, whatever it is, likely makes things very difficult for Lyke. However season ticket sales have apparently tanked, single game sales have apparently tanked, concession and merchandise sales have presumably followed. Continued poor team play, lack of player development, and coaching behavior (in that order of importance) makes it easier for Lyke to act.

      Like

  107. They are hiring well in soccer. Volleyball and wrestling are very good. The commitment is there. Football salaries were just addressed. Barnes is fully responsible for the basketball mess. Pitt now has facilities for soccer, baseball and softball. Yes Pitt still needs a track and a new pool. Progress is being made. Should not have taken this long and yes our facilities are cheap but functional. The real commitment comes with a feasibility study for an ocs.

    Like

    1. Tex – No one and I mean okay like 2300 total people even care about Soccer. Wrestling record stinks. Hired a never been HC.

      Volleyball Yes and watch him leave for more money. I guarantee it.

      Pitt – “Where everything is 10 years late”

      Like

  108. Less anyone of us forget:
    1. How did Pitt get Johnny Majors to Pittsburgh?
    2. How was Majors able to go out with limitless money and bring in 100 recruits from across the country?
    3. How, after Johnny left were we able to bring in Jackie Sherrill?

    ANSWER: Simple. Pitt had the Golden Panthers back then, who were big time Pitt football donors with big wallets. Once the Golden Panthers were dismantled we have been mediocre ever since. I knew a Golden Panther member, he loved our football team and wanted a winner…..and he got it!

    Liked by 1 person

    2. It’s time to resurrect a group the like Golden Panthers. I would certainly contribute all I could if I knew a big group of boosters would get involved to make sure our teams are on equal footing with at least others in the ACC. I vote UPitt as the new chairman. He certainly would be able to come up with a catchy name for this group.

      Like

      1. Currently We Have the “Golden Showers” They ruin anything they get close to in the name of holding back progress.

        Let me work on it Stub!

        Like

  109. Alumni and booster donations at Pitt are the bottom of the Barrel in the ACC and pretty much the bottom of the Barrel in FBS schools also.

    You cannot rely on outside money to make Pitt Sports any better then they are now.

    That has to come through a budgetary process at the University and as we have seen ever since 1983 when Sherrill left the University of Pittsburgh is not going to lay out any more money that they have to to support the athletic programs.

    Whatever we get from the ACC is what we spend with a little bit extra budgeted in but nothing that would push us over the top to do anything dramatic.

    The construction expenditures we see now in the athletic facilities have been budgeted five, ten years ago they have nothing to do with this Chancellor or this athletic director… that money is already been spent and it’s their job to try to find more money for the future projects and I very much doubt they will.

    Secondly there will never be an on-campus stadium so just forget that. Never.

    Like

  111. I remember getting something from Pitt saying the Golden Panthers were done. We had gotten access to tickets first and other information. I contributed what I could having a young family. After that, all I did was watch us on TV and go to an occasional game. Sad to say. When Pitt Stadium went away, I wondered what the heck is going on.

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  113. PITTASTIC,
    I really don’t have an informed answer to your valid question. I do know that during that time a school could bring in a crazy amount of recruits if they had the means to do so. However, not long after that the NCAA drastically reduced the amount of recruits and also added restrictions on organized booster money. My thoughts at the time were the Golden Panthers needed to dismantle because of the new restrictions/regulations added by the NCAA but I don’t have facts to validate that.

    Like

  115. Below are the comments to an article in Louisville paper where Pitino is quoted as calling Stallings a jacka$$. Finally, Pitino has drawn the ire of the fan base it seems.

    Marc Botts ·
    University of Kentucky
    who cares what pitino thinks? Perhaps Stallings should have simply flipped off the heckler?
    Like · Reply · 7 · 9 hrs

    Kyle Evans
    So Stallings is a _ _ _ _ _ and what are you?
    Like · Reply · 3 · 4 hrs

    Keith Swayne ·
    Works at Retired
    Thats rich, coming from him, of all people
    Like · Reply · 2 · 3 hrs

    Diane Timmel Harman ·
    Louisville, Kentucky
    Says the guy who flipped of an opposing teams fans!
    Like · Reply · 1 · 2 hrs

    Scott Smart
    Pitino should, by now, understand that he himself is a POS and needs to disappear
    Like · Reply · 1 hr

    Louis Green
    If Stallings is a jacka$$ then that makes the 2 of you jacka$$es.
    Like · Reply · 30 mins

    Fred Lander ·
    Works at Nielsen Media Research
    At least he is a honest and moral one!
    Like · Reply · 30 mins

    Ernie Ziroll
    Rick Pitino?? Judging someone?? Give me a break from this snake.
    Like · Reply · 24 mins

    Steve Hatley
    Stallings was known across the SEC as a vile @sshole when he was Vanderbilt. The powers that be at Vandy finally came to their senses and fired his worthless arse. It won’t be long before Pitt also tires of his juvenile, boorish behavior and losing ways and shows Kevin the EXIT door. I don’t believe he was hired to make them the doormat of the ACC.

    Like

    1. When future Louisville sanctions are in place, Pitt fans will have a brief window to laugh and make fun of them. They are going to get slammed. They will lose most, if not all of their players.

      Like

  117. ^^ Thanks Reed but there is something missing from that article. $$ and it’s old $$ More coaches should be calling out the schools that cheat. Everyone knows they do.

    Like

  118. Ike – Come on buddy. Of course they are cheating. I mean, it couldn’t be we just arent’ working as hard and don’t have leaders anywhere near as strong as they do. It can’t be they make it a priority. Has to be cheating.

    Like

  119. If you look at PSU’s commits, they got two players from Erie which I believe were the closest to the Pgh area. The only local Pgh area 4 stars I can think of went to ND or WVU. It was a down year as far as local 4 stars

    Like

  120. It’s money. And then an administration that supports sports. But it does come back to money. If the BoT wasn’t comprised of Nitters working against Pitt and Pitt could find Big pocket boosters, we would be cheating as well. And winning. But Pitt has always treated sports as a naughty step child. I’d like to not cheat majorly and win. Some programs do it and have good academics. But to win there’s always some edge you find that’s often outside the lines.

    Like

  121. Why is there no background information of BOT members. How they were elected, nominated, etc.

    I don’t believe Pitt has any members voted on by alumni as many schools do.

    The 1/3 voting government appointments is a disgrace.

    Like

  122. At least 4 members are alumni of Penn State. More have made donations to the school in Creepy Valley. Do you think tOSU would have any Michigan alum on their board. But then again, what modern university manages and leads with a bureaucratic 40+ member committee with 1/3 comprised of government hacks. And Gallagher reports to it.

    Liked by 1 person

  123. I few things I wonder about.

    How did Bill Belichick become a genius when he was thrown out of Cleveland for sucking at head coaching and went on to New England to win all the championships?

    I was wondering, where is steve pederson these days?

    Then I asked myself, why I was wondering where steve pederson is? I guess I was just hoping he was somewhat miserable somewhere.

    I don’t understand why all the big-time famous football stars that come out of PITT don’t form some sort of coalition to boost the football program upwards?

    I often think, who made the best choice? Boyd or Foster? Yeah Foster will play for another national championship but what were his contributions? and now, Boyd is on cloud nine. Foster may play in the NFL but he’s way behind Boyd in money made or will make.

    I was wondering, when we all agree that the University of Pittsburgh is not especially interested in forking over large chunks of money to field above average revenue making sports programs? Then go on to blame the head coaches of the football and basketball teams? We all no the reason why.

    I often wonder when I hear that PITT could never have another on campus stadium again in Oakland because of traffic and space issues. Didn’t the Pirates, Steelers and PITT play there at the same time at one point? Hell, the Pirates won the world series in Oakland.

    I wonder if anyone who went to that 7th game world series is still missing from all the traffic? This problem is very fixable I understand that there may be a really big Bates Street project in the near future. Hope PITT is on top of this concept. Then again, they couldn’t bring in the up for sale PAA.

    I think of what I’m going to tell all the naysayers that say PITT can’t win the Coastal division in the ACC? I’m thinking I better hurry up and think of something because it’s going to happen sooner than later… ike

    H2P!

    Like

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