Here are some news links:

Chris Peak’s Latest 3-2-1 column

Peak’s Who are team leaders?

PSN’s Scrimmage Piece

Trib’s Jacques-Louis

Trib’s RB Big Season

P-G’s Narduzzi’s Best Defense 

P-G’s Punter’s Mustache

Here is what passes for news this fall camp:  “So yeah, Christodoulou’s go-to move now is imitating the double-knee slap, hiss and hand motion of the Purple Cobras, the team led by White Goodman played by a mustachioed Ben Stiller in the 2004 comedy “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.”

 

Michaelangelo holds a degree in Travel Writing from the University of Pittsburgh. He was a former staff writer for InPittsburgh Newsweekly, and currently resides near Atlanta, Georgia. He has been a Pitt fan since 1997 after he witnessed Pitt upset #22 Miami on Thursday night at Pitt Stadium.

144 thoughts on “POV Sunday Podcast; August 12th, 2018”

  1. Good podcast, Reed. I hope your surgery goes well, and it’s hard to keep a good man down! I wish that someone who covers Pitt would have the stones to confront Narduzzi about all this secrecy at camp and in scrimmages. What deep strategy does he think he is pursuing? Does Pitt place such fear in the hearts of opponents that they need to sneak in and scout the players and practice sessions? I would also like for someone to ask Heather about this if there is a private way to do it. POVers would like to know if all of this secrecy is sanctioned by the AD.

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  3. I know nothing about marketing, but for a football program looking to fill seats, this clandestine approach does nothing but quell enthusiasm.

    Here, in central PA, I can’t watch any news or read any paper without being barraged by PSUCKS. And yet, Pitt ehides from publicity.
    Strange.

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  4. Tossing, maybe other P5 schools close Fall camp practice, but other than game week does it really make a difference? I think that if Narduzzi were asked, he would come up with some lame excuse other than he doesn’t want the opponents to observe. That would be a bit embarrassing given that Pitt was 5-7 last year. Clearly, Pitt needs more publicity and closing camp is a missed opportunity.

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      1. In old days, 1995-2000 Pitt football practiced in the stadium for anyone that cared to watch.

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  6. VoR – I just asked a question, but opposing teams reading about strengths and weaknesses with position groups is 💯 an advantage. Besides, according to some here the PG has an agenda against Pitt. We can’t let PSU grad reporters leak inside info to Franklin 😉.

    Gasman – You went to a school that has to compete with professional sports for headlines and entertainment dollars. We didn’t go to a state school. Central PA’s professional team is essentially Penn State, thus the extra coverage.

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    1. And they have won and made good bowl games and won the Big 10. Give credit to Franklin when it was earned. He came in and shut up the naysayers that he was just a recruiter.

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  7. You all can believe me or not…………. Narduzzi is in charge down there and he has been asked about all these closed practices. Guess what? Don’t expect any changes soon. Here’s the thing and it has been touched on. Before Narduzzi, was the abnormal practice of having the daily activities open to the media.

    Also and this is what I hear…. Not just Narduzzi but higher ups don’t trust the media anymore either. They don’t play nice (the media)… and PITT Adm has grown weary of the slanted coverage.

    Plenty of good charitable things go on with this PITT football program and the entire athletic dept for that matter that is never covered and dismissed as far as reporting it. IMO, the mainstream media has gotten exactly what they deserve, shut out! ………. It’s a shame people like Reed and others with good hearts and intentions have to suffer for the embedded psu media in Pittsburgh. but what do I know?? . . ike

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      1. I agree with Upitt on this one. I think the media thing is just slanted towards the better team and Penn State has been better recently. Batko is a Pitt grad and Zeise’s son is a starter (maybe) on the team. Both papers essentially report the same stuff which means it’s info Pitt is providing. It’s Pitt’s responsibility to invite the local papers to those charity events instead of piping information after the fact.

        Now, I disagree that this applies to opening practices because Pitt will still direct the papers to put a positive spin on them and we won’t be getting useful information anyways.

        The best way to stay in the news is to just go out and win. Beat the other teams on the schedule and make the local media cover you.

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  8. Mark, they don’t want to. It’s called playing hard ball. The charity work being done by the PITT athletes that the media will not cover has PITT to the boiling point. You can’t beg coverage for a charitable event but some coverage would be nice… no? BTW, they did do something different. This is it!

    and in a completely joking matter……………. You are asking us all to rely on your knowledge? Dawson’s number is 63 not 62 even though i think you may have been joking?? Although I’m never quite sure about you but thank you anyways…. ike 🙂

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    1. I thought 64. Inwas a kid then. Haha. You are young man. Can’t even get that .50 cent coffee discount yet at Mcdonalds. Going to Atlanta and free tomorrow after 8pm if anyone wants to grab a beer.

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      1. You Mark! are one enigma my friend. You travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans, get to Pittsburgh for a Fran and JoeL tailgate please,…Love to raise a glass to you.. ike

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        1. I really want to buddy. Will you go work an event with me somewhere near Pittsburgh? PSU or Pitt or VT. Recruiting with you would be a pleasure. You are so positive I won’t miss with you by my side.

          Liked by 1 person

  9. Thanks, ike. That is the first real explanation I’ve heard that makes sense as to why the practices and scrimmages are closed. If the Pitt administration wants to thumb their nose at the media, well, at least it is an explanation. But Pitt has a lot of clout in this town, and Upitt is right that they should pressure the Post Gazette publisher and the local news outlets with pulling ads if there isn’t more positive coverage. How many Pedo ads do these news outlets get?

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  11. Pitt needs the media. Its not a wise strategy to ignore them or shut them out. I dont care if there is some hidden agenda or bias. You use them like they use you.

    I’m curious. What are the rules for mediums such as forums and blogs? Why cant Pitt get their message out through those portals? I am damn sure every school reads them.

    And y’all remember Joe D? That was really Steve Pederson (aka Cornhole). 🙂

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  12. With Pitt, its support it and they might build it. Why doesnt Pitt release the feasibility study performed by Populous last Summer 2017?

    Heinz has another 10-15 years left before major renovations…before the Steelers threaten to move to a new domed stadium in the suburbs.

    What Pitt saves on maintenance, they more than lose out on revenues from naming rates, sponsorship’s, licensing and other revenue streams (i.e. leasing of office and business space, retail, fees for stadium usage).

    And the common belief that a more intimate and on campus venue would provide a home to more than just one sports program and serve as a focal point for connecting fans, students, alumni and the community back to campus.

    Yes – Pitt could create a far better experience than Heinz and alumni and fans would reward them. You might just see the return of the Pitt Spirit.

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    1. That Colorado State Stadium is sick and a Multipurpose Stadium.

      Honestly we can build a really nice stadium for 300M or less

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    2. Never happen. They will get 35-40,000 no matter where they play. It’s been proven for 50 years through good seasons and bad.

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      1. But one of the major reasons why Pitt alumni dont give is because they arent connected to the university. Very little pride, spirit, and traditions that get them back to campus. Few good memories and experiences. Pitt students are treated like numbers and not as a family. If you build a venue,on campus, you have a chance to engage and connect. You have a chance to change the mindset and culture. This all can lead to increased donation rates and a ‘We Are Pitt’ attitude without the Cult.

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  14. The media snub has been in existence for a long while now and I don’t think anyone could argue with that?? It’s finally recognized by the PITT administration and is being addressed. I am seeing more and more coverage now that the season is approaching but it’s the off season volunteer work being done by PITT athletes that are never publicized like it is in other college towns.

    Narduzzi was the one who wanted practices closed unrelated to these problems but when confronted……… It opened up some eyes… The media wants spoon fed PITT info, they don’t want to go out and report the off field volunteer work that the PITT athletes do for the community. I guess that isn’t worth their while. They all want to talk about how great psu is.

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  15. Had a great time playing in a golf event today with Fran “The FRANchise” Lokar and some of his cousins. A good group of Pitt fans.

    We had 8 birdies but there were 14 teams and another team came in at 9 under. We missed several good chances for more birds.

    (EE— Fran plastered some drives today. He’s figuring out those new clubs…).

    Go Pitt.

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  19. Tx – We have completely different experiences. Few good memories or experiences? Man, I have too many to count … and most make me question how I’m even here typing this. Haha. Like that time as a freshmen I went to a Halloween party with boxing head gear on because I was too lazy to buy a costume … and got punch drunk, literally … and waking up at 6amish on Old Pitt Stadiums steps with a homeless man eating the O’s pizza that was sitting on my lap.

    I go back for tailgates and it’s 50 plus people I went to school with and their wives, who I also went to school with.

    I’m the oldest of 6. I went to Pitt and the rest of my family went to Penn State. Trust me when I say that my Pitt experience far exceeds theirs.

    Now, true, their memories tend to revolve more around football but I wouldn’t trade Pitt for PSU any day of the week … and that is said independent of the cult or recent history.

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    1. I get it. We all have experiences. But the experiences I’m referring to are ones that lead to school spirit and pride. Those experiences and traditions lead to alumni giving. Pitt has one of the lowest donation rates of any ACC school. There is something that is missing at Pitt that other schools have. Its really how the university treats you and engages with you. The slogan ‘We are Penn State’ is pretty powerful and part of their enormous branding. It permeates everything at that school.

      https://www.alumnifactor.com/node/5854

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  20. Pitt alumni donate they just don’t donate to athletics. Pitt alumni suck at donating to athletics and that’s because Pitt de-emphasized athletics in the 80’s. With that, everything you mentioned went by the wayside.

    Winning is the start of what you want. Students who went to Pitt between 2004 and 2010 probably have a bit of what you’re missing because of the success of the basketball program.

    Ike complained about Pitt’s relationship with the media but Gene Collier put out a nice peice just this weekend about Pitt’s athletic department and the culture that Heather is trying to create. It’s that type of stuff that students and fans will feed off of. That’s the pride you’re talking about. It starts with the athletes. They have to enjoy their experiences at Pitt first. Those are the athletes that it becomes easy to root for and the fans pick up on it.

    I believe that we’re getting there. Just like everything else I preach, there is a lot of history that has to be undone, however. It’s goong to take a while. A good football team will be the catalyst. I just happen to think we’re much closer to that realization than you.

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  21. Do not know how it is today at Pitt but when I was there it was a rather impersonal thing. When I changed majors and thought I was caught for a 5 yr tour the assistant Dean of the Business School showed me a way to graduate in 4 yrs as planned ( important as my financing ran out after 4 yrs) but other than that my 2 yrs in Pgh consisted of classes, study, membership in a professional society, some nights at the bars and a little time with a special girl but with all 3 of my roommates we never missed a home football game and about 1/3 of the BB home games( or the away’s at CMU). Many of us coming in from the Johnstown Center as Juniors never got the treatment of new frosh etc., we lived in Apts. and were more like commuter students on campus. Many of us never even went back for commencement in June. We had jobs and many were out of town (Trimester started my soph.yr.). Pitt unlike PS did not cutivate its’ brand at the Johnstown Center and I still think it could do more at its’ branches. There was one unifier—-the student body at the football games in a stadium we could walk to and only loose a Sat. afternoon from our schedule. Those are the good memories. H2P

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    1. What was that Asst Dean’s name.

      That was the title my father Dr. Paul Kohberger, PhD held in the ’60s until he died in 1969…

      And that sounds exactly like something my father would do.

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  22. @Tossing – you made tex and my argument for one of the main reasons for having an OCS. In your story, you woke up at PITT Stadium, not heinz flippin field. You bonded to the university and its football field. I think the majority of us oldtimers relate back to pitt stadium, not steeler stadium. That is the main reason we are diehard fans. We bonded.

    The Admin has nothing for the new students to bond to…..other than busses and fantas.

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    1. I have no emotional attachment to Pitt Stadium whatsoever except that I had a room for 4 years that overlooked 3/4’s of the field … and that I would hit golf balls into it at night and took enjoyment hearing the balls ricochet of the metal bleachers … I will neither confirm nor deny sounds of broken glass and an “MF’r” scream bellowing from the dark depths of the abyss one time.

      I doubt I’d be able to do that with a new stadium or have the view that I had either. It was a piece of crap, aging hole in the ground … and that dumb ass track around the field was one of the worst things I’ve ever seen in a stadium … it kept the fans so far from the field.

      Our experiences are based on the reality of the situation. I went to college 93′-98′ … the rock bottom of Pitt athletics … and I still had a blast. Regarding competitive football and basketball programs … you don’t know what you’re missing until you have it … Lol … I never had it. This from someone who went to almost every football and basketball home game. Because I love sport.

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  23. John, it was my pleasure to play with youou yesterday. Thanks for participating in a charity event to benefit a good cause and helping an old family friend. My family friend is 92 years old and is still sharp. I was shown a picture of him with my dad and uncle the week they were all discharged from the service at the end of WWII. Made my day.
    John also hit a closest to the pin prize…if Erie or Richman could have played with us we would have kicked a$$. Haha.

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  24. Regarding media/more open coverage of practices, Peak had an amazing article reprinted, or whatever, on the terrible problems with closed practices at Maryland. Coach is on leave, Canada is the interim. Point of the story is that closed practices can lead to some terrible abusive situations (such as one death) that occurred at Maryland that might not have occurred if the practices were not closed. What worked as successful discipline measures in practices in past years maybe have worse consequences now. Open, or at least more open, practices would discourage abuses. Seems that a lot of college teams have closed practices, with Clemson and South Carolina specifically mentioned in the article. South Carolina coach Muschamp says complainers are all whiners who just want more PT. Picture of Saban in the article revealed nothing about what Alabama does except to make the reader wonder.

    Remember the MBB coach at Rutgers who was flagrantly abusive to his players. One incident caught on video. Guy was bounced.

    One tease with Peak sources is that Pitt is working on a spread offense that will be sprung on PSU. Pickett is perrfect for such an offense, the notice says. Same thing for a weak or inexperienced offensive line that supposedly is why a lot of teams use the spread.

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    1. Justin – the Men’s BB coach at Rutgers was Mike Rice, Jr. former Bobby Mo HC and before that, a Pitt assistant. His father was a Duquesne HC.

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  25. My take on an OCS is that it is INEVITABLE. Yes, that’s right, INEVITABLE! Heinz is going to start looking old and shabby, soon, leading up to a period of discussion over rehab vs replacement. The Steelers will again threaten City and State gov’t to move out of the City if they don’t get tax dollars for the changes. And where will the teams play while extensive work is being completed?

    Also, Heather and the Pitt admin. cannot possibly be happy with their second class status at Heinz Field, and the lack of attendance could be partially remedied with an OCS where students and alums can enjoy Saturday afternoons on campus. Pitt needs to link football games with other on campus activities so that visiting alums can enjoy the campus experience when returning. An OCS could be built before Heinz rehab work begins, and the Steelers could play there for a year or two and pay Pitt some rent in the process to help with const. costs.

    Liked by 1 person

  26. I cannot imagine being a student and not being able to walk to my stadium like we did to Pitt Stadium.

    Still, there are some arguments I guess for Heinz. Multiple players mention being able to practice in a pro facility when the commit to Pitt. To be right there, learning about the Pro environment and what it takes. To me that might be the biggest argument…we need every way possible to convince recruits to come to Pitt, as apparent by our middling recruiting ranking. Seems to me that many recruits find Heinz as huge plus. Dunno…

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    1. Well, good points but they hold exactly one practice a year at Heinz to get kids who are new on the roster acclimated to it…otherwise they are in the Southside for every practice.

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  27. … while I don’t care about closed practices or scrimmages, I do think that the UMD story shows the importance of allowing media coverage access to the program. When programs can control the narrative and completely wall of the access, what happens behind closed doors can become alarming. See, well, the entire Big 10 …

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  28. I call total BS on the premise that Pitt is “upset” with the media for a few reasons.

    First in negativity…I am the only writer who writes negative things about the program. No other writer does and not even close.

    Second, Pitt has to look directly to themselves regarding no coverage on any extracurricular things the players do like volunteer work.

    I get every single press release and there are never any issued to point to player’s volunteer efforts, unless they are issued after the trip or volunteer work has already been done. Then the media writes about it.

    But the releases are rarely about anything else but prearranged interviews.

    You cannot cover or write about things you don’t know are going to happen.

    Just yesterday Pitt came out with a release about a team activity on their day off today but other then that it has all been standard releases we get every single fall.

    So spare me the bad, bad media not covering Pitt football, that is a load of crap. If they want to blame anyone for poor coverage they need to look directly at Narduzzi.

    He has completely handcuffed the Pitt Public Relations people…that is obvious as hell. And no, EJ has never once said anything about this.

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    1. Reed, I think more correctly, you are the only writer that covers Pitt truthfully and with objectivity. If it’s negative, you’re not afraid to say so, unlike the spineless Pitt mouthpieces that don’t want to bite the Pitt hands that feed them.

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  29. Reed – While I agree about an OCS, I would not be surprised if Pitt had their own stadium off campus. Pitt will be in Heinz for the next 15 years. At that point, as long as the NFL is still around, the Steelers will demand a new stadium. Pitt can either be a partner again … or carve out it’s own path. I lean towards them staying with the Steelers but I wouldn’t be floored if Pitt went rogue and built their own stadium … I highly doubt it would be in Oakland, however. They would have to start initial funding research now to make that work.

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  30. From: R.J. Sepich/Assistant Director of Athletic Communications

    Re: Video/Photo Opportunity: Pitt Football Visit to Topgolf Pittsburgh

    During its training camp off day on Monday, August 13, the Pitt football team will visit Topgolf Pittsburgh in Bridgeville from 3 to 5 p.m.

    Media members are invited to cover the visit for video and photography opportunities. Interested outlets should email E.J. Borghetti (eborghetti@athletics.pitt.edu) in advance so that proper accommodations can be made. Please RSVP by Monday at 9:30 a.m.

    The address for Topgolf Pittsburgh: 400 Presto-Sygan Road, Bridgeville, PA 15017

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  31. Reed – I agree about the media coverage. I doubt it’s a war between the athletic department and Pittsburgh media. The PG even put a Pitt grad on the beat for football. Now, I don’t think Duzz is to blame either although I admit he’s probably not the most likable guy to cover. I think it’s just relevance. Pitt just isn’t relevant enough to be front page news … yet. Hopefully, because all we can really do is hope, Pitt forces their hand by winning more. The basketball team used to compete rather well with the Pens. Steelers would be front and center in-season for big games.

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    1. Relevance is a big factor. I don’t have access to the engagement statistics for the local newspapers sites, but the average Pitt article probably has about three to seven comments, one to two of which are from PSU fans trolling the Pitt supporters. If that’s at all reflective of readership, I wouldn’t expect much to change in terms of how the local news coverage is oriented — unless Pitt forces their hands through its play on the field.

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  32. Agree that it is relevance, and about selling papers. The yellow seats ought to tell you something about readership and interest in Pitt. The papers are fighting for their existence. More people want to read about the Steelers, Penquins and Pirates. People that buy papers are dying every day. Just like the Pitt basketball team in its heyday, winning will create more and more positive articles.

    It is the same thing with TV news coverage. There is only so many minutes and Pitt Football is always going to come in tied for fourth with PSU, unless the product gets better.

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  33. I am going to be travelling again this fall and will have to rely on my PITTPOV buddies to keep me informed,
    especially with the game threads. It would be helpful if someone would reference every score, I wonder if Reed could set it up to start a new thread after every 50 entries. Really difficult on mobile devices when you get those long threads.

    I do plan to make the Albany game and those after October 10th.

    I am getting excited about the defense. It has been a long time since we have had a good one.

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  34. Narduzzi has his own theories concerning the closed practices and the media. The problem between PITT and the media is totally separate. I wouldn’t call it a feud either and that it has nothing to do with football, sort of. It’s all the behind the scenes volunteer work being done by these student athletes that basically goes unreported. You can believe this or not as I’m telling you all this as someone told me. Someone I trust. ike

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  35. Reed, it’s true the press and other media cover Pitt with mostly positive stories. But there are far too few events or publicity opportunities provided or covered. I was watching a local newscast I think the first day of camp, and Pitt wasn’t even mentioned in the sports coverage. It used to be that WTAE TV covered Pitt pretty well because Bill Hillgrove was affiliated with them. I don’t see that as much now. Pitt needs to generate more opportunities for publicity, and that falls on Heather’s media staff. How many times do Donald, Marino, Ditka, etc. come into town and there is not even a mention? Wouldn’t it be good for local recruiting to see Oakland Dan standing next to Narduzzi occasionally?

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  36. ike – I feel that’s the case with most teams and media, however. Then they see Ohio St, Michigan St and Maryland all getting exposed … and then you hear Will Muschamp degrading the media and anonymous sources … and you realize it permeates the entire NCAA and not an isolated Pitt thing.

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  37. Reed– Not sure of Asst. Dean I talked with when he came up to Johnstown but do remember conversation was in late Sept. 1959 because I had to make quick plans for a 2nd semester in Pgh. to graduate in 60. Putting the name in different perspective I seem to remember the name Dr, PAUL Kohberger.? I changed from EE to Ind. Relations and could not get the 2 credit IR seminar without 5th yr., he suggested I could graduate with all IR requirements but seminar and would have General Business on my diploma, a viable solution for me. Other than that case my only ties with Main Campus personnel were my profs and the clerk I gave a check to at the end of the line upon registration each semester.

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    1. I don’t doubt your paths crossed back then, from what I gather he was involved at every level. When I was bartending in Shadyside and attending Pitt I must of met hundreds of his students and fellow administrators.

      He died when I was 13 so I really didn’t know all that much about his day to day work.

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  38. It could be everywhere TT I don’t know. My story is actually a combination of two sources. O course both are very similar. The PITT administration has been approached many times about this closed practice policy of Narduzzi’s. The differences in the two stories I got is PITT bleeds outs info, times and places where the media could find a good deed in progress but the story is rarely picked up and or followed. The other one is Narduzzi didn’t want to budge on his position.

    This is another reason I give Narduzzi some rope moving forward. A third story has Narduzzi is some pretty warm water over this latest mess he created. and I got stories about that as well but enough gossip for one day. (hint) Somebody wasn’t as great at their job as some think. Don’t shoot the messenger Jay. That’s what I heard.. ike

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  39. From Pitt 60 “student body at the football games in a stadium we could walk to and only loose a Sat. afternoon from our schedule” Very very important and under appreciated!

    Well Said.

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  40. Our football Sat. routine ,up early and clean our apt. ,loosely stated, eat lunch and hoof it up center Ave. to Pitt Stadium. Post game down Center to the Bellefield, eat and study the night away. One exception was the 1960 upset over PS. I stayed on Centre to Craig, entered the overflow celebrating crowd at the Luna and staggered back up Centre to the Bellefield, oh and I did not do any studying when I got home. The poor students today probably spend almost as much time going to the game as I do driving from Johnstown by car.

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  41. ike – I don’t know of any P5 team that has open practices/scrimmages so Duzz is right on this one … in my opinion. Outside of that, I don’t think Pitt’s relationship with the media is much different than most teams. Maybe some have more media-friendly coaches but a lot don’t.

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  43. All the previou Pitt coaches held open practices. I can tell you personally that U of Hawaii did, UNC did, Texas Tech did and U of Washington did as I have been to practices in all those places.

    I think it is more prevelant then you think.

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  44. I have to correct something I wrote earlier.

    Pitt put out a May 25, 2018 press release about the annual Pitt athletes’ volunteer trip to Haiti. I was out of town so that release email got filed automatically after 48 hours of not opening it.

    When I went to search for local news coverage there was none I could find. However, Bob Buczowski’s death the same day, and the coverage of that, might have knocked the Volunteer info out of printing.

    This annual trip has been covered every other year by both the P-G and the Trib.

    Which is something else to consider in the media coverage by the papers. Each writer gets only so much space each day or week to print stuff about certain subjects.

    I think that is why there is so much fluff pieces in the news…they have no hard, real news to print so the make articles out of basically nothing.

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  45. Pitt’s opening practice will be against Albany Sept.1st. Narduzzi ain’t going to be showing PSU anything planned. That’s why playing a game like this often results in upsets because the P5 home teams want to show so little. Meanwhile the opposition comes in pumped to for the upset. I would hope Narduzzi and Watson aren’t that stupid so as to keep Pickett and the offense completely under wraps for the Albany game.

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    1. 42 minutes and the ability to watch actual plays being practiced is worlds away from a 25 minute “Photo Session” where you watch the kids exercise and maybe use the blocking sleds.

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  49. Reed – It sounded like qb/wr drills not plays. 42 mins is only 17 more than 25 mins.

    My point is that what Pitt does is fairly standard.

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  50. Two things:

    )1 I’ve seen some coverage of the Haiti trip in the past but not so much in the papers but it has been decently if not well covered by the media.

    )2 It doesn’t matter about the newspapers anymore anyways. It’s a dying if not close to death industry. I can’t even swat a fly to death with my rolled up Trib because it’s so thin. The fly laughed at me, buzzed me and then flew away after I hit him/her. I felt so emasculated.

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  51. I have not been to the Pitt Campus since Pitt Stadium was torn down. Maybe one day if one of the Grand kids goes to Pitt otherwise it is Heinz or wherever else the Steelers go. Sad to say.

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  52. Yes Tossing, but how many of other schools have little or no Alumni donations to their programs or play in front of tens of thousands empty seats.

    This has been my point all along.

    Pitt fans complain about the lack of media coverage and they don’t realize that there’s no way to get media coverage if it’s not allowed to you. You need to look directly at the Pitt Administration for the ills that the Pitt football team has today and it’s not just being cheap with money or things like that.

    it is the fact that they don’t reach out to the fans and the citizens of the city the way they should and to do that they need to open up those practices; they need to have people who are willing to write as much as they can about the football program on a day-to-day basis.

    If you look at the only people who provide in-depth articles, either projecting to the next season or talking about the last season or talking about what’s going on … but in-depth 1500 to 2500 word articles.. you’re going to be looking at blogs. Now under DW, Todd Graham and Paul chryst I was able to go up there and write articles that people loved to read and got people engaged.

    Now we can’t do that. Just look what happened at the last time I was able to see almost a whole practice. I came back and wrote a long article about the quarterbacks and about Kenny Pickett and how good I thought he was and how good I thought he was going to be.

    No other media writers could do that because they didn’t see him throwing to receivers in simulated game situations. I’m not patting myself on the back for being the only one; I’m saying it’s too bad I was the only one

    Closing practices hasn’t won or lost a single football game for Pat Narduzzi. He has no idea how much old fans want info about the team and players and he has no idea how to get more new fans involved.

    Quite honestly I get many emails all the time from people who live in foreign countries who are Pitt graduates and I’m always receiving notes from them saying how much they appreciate the POV because I’m the only source of detailed information about the program and about what’s going on with it.

    A lot of these people are in the military but there’s a lot who are working and living overseas and they read the Trib and the Post-Gazette and it’s all fluff pieces or it’s all small articles, but they come on the POV and they read in-depth stuff and they get the chance to watch the round tables ; they get to listen to the podcasts and I just wish I had more real honest-to-god content I could provide for them…and for free. But they discuss the program with me and sometimes on here.

    I think Pitt forgets about these people because it is like out of sight out of mind. But there are thousands of them out there. Last calender year the POV was read regularly in 30 different countries and over all in 102. 102 and not just a handful in each but a good amount.

    I’ll bet a dollar that if I took all those readers and sent them an email asking if they would donate to the athletic department it would really open eyes.

    Look at what happened when I asked for readers bios. We had 20 at last count. 20 people opened up their lives in front of thousands and thousands or readers and the emails I received about them were very numerous, positive and asking for more..

    Now, imagine if Pitt would do something like that…create a blog or endorse a blog (not mine though) and use that to educate Pitt people all over about what the program is doing and how they, the readers, could help.

    I’ve said this before but for every commenter on here there are thousands of readers. The Pitt Blather and this blog reach so many Pitt fans everywhere but we are underutilized. Open up the practices, ask blog writers to spread specific info and requests from Pitt and I think there would be more interest and action from alumni, fans and new people.

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  53. Reed – Winning squashes all of those concerns. Pitt could film and release the entire practices and it would not put more butts in the seats at Heinz. You could never convince me of that. It certainly hasn’t helped any other coach. The only thing that has helped are W’s.

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  54. i dont know why Pitt doesnt use mediums like forums and blogs to get their message out. They are not very marketing savy and allow the public then to dictate the message instead of getting out in front. Or allow a Nitter or Cuse grad to write a garbage article. If a fan wants the truth and reasoned opinion, you’ll find it here. Most fans can cut through the BS.

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  55. Starting August 26th the PG will be printed 5 days a week. Most of the editorial staff has left. It’s a real pile of crap now. Sports is barely covered. I’m not sure how much influence print media will have in the future. And get this, they still haven’t said which two days it won’t be printed. Somehow I don’t see sports coverage high on their list!

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    1. I agree with most of this … but sports is barely covered? IMO one of the PG issues is that there are too many sports writers on its staff

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  56. I have an honest question here:

    Do people truly believe that any Penn State graduates on the Pitt Board of Trustees are out to try to sabotage the university and the football program?

    I have read that on here many times. I just wonder if anyone truly believes that.

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  57. I once read Pedudo was on the BOT, if he is I believe it. He’s a class A jagoff! He found a way to sabotage the roadways with bicycles.

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  60. Are there any Pitt alumni on the PSU BOT?

    If none, then no PSU on Pitt BOT.

    It is a rivalry, is it not?

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    1. if the Nitters dont have Pitt grads on their BoT, why does Pitt allow the enemy on theirs??

      And they are the enemy since Pitt competes against those sanctimonious A-holes for state money, federal grants, students and athletic recruits.

      And why does Gallagher have two Pedos on his leadership team and ZERO Pitt grads who would actually have experience with Pitt and an urban schooling environment and with the mediocrity of sports we all love so well.

      And I for one believe in the Nitter conspiracy to destroy Pitt from within. Clever, clever they are.

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    2. Having individuals with Pitt experiences would definitely help the BoT better understand the unique challenges that Pitt faces and be in a better position to offer actionable solutions and recommendations. I don’t see any Ohio State grads on Michigan’s Board or the Presidents leadership team.

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  61. There is a Pitt vs nitters golf Ryder Cup planned at Champion Lakes in a few weeks –

    Kman – you & the Mrs’s should go represent Pitt with your golf games.

    Another interesting side note – on XM84 College Sports Radio, the two hosts this morning, Greg McElroy and Taylor Zarsor were discussing neutral site games and how Bama has played zero non-conference games away at the opponents stadium in the past three years. Both hate neutral site games and think all college games should be played on campus. They said it is an experience that students and athletes should experience.

    Pitt chose to tear down it’s on campus stadium and play its home game at a neutral site. Go figure…

    H2P!

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    1. Well played. Heinz is truly a neutral site. In fact, opposing teams are jacked up to be playing in the Steelers stadium.

      Tex

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      1. I wonder if the Nitters on Pitts BoT back in the 90’s were all in favor of booting football off campus.

        And I confirmed Anon. There are zero Buckeyes on Michigan’s Board of Regents. 70 percent are Michigan grads.

        Fewer than 40 percent are Pitt grads on the 36 member Pitt BoT. And again zero on Gallagher’s leadership team.

        Tex

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    2. Is it Co Ed? My lady can actually play.
      Me, on the other hand, should not make the squad. Much like The BOT issue neither of us attended Pitt and are probably not eligible.

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  62. Bicycle lanes are helping to bring young people to Pittsburgh. Oakland Shadyside, East Liberty are perfect for bikes. Electric assisted bikes are going to be a game changer. Hills no longer an issue.

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    1. Texas has really underperformed. Much like FSU. Shows you also need good coaching and not just stars. Ideally you need both.

      Tex

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        1. But they got bad fast after their quarterback left. That same quarterback, JW, who was provided cover by the university. He’s a scum of a human for the way he treated women. Should be in jail.

          Now Jimbo Fisher is at A&M. Another underperforming program that had another dumb arse for a quarterback. The same coach who kept a serial rapist on the team.

          Tex

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  64. GC, don’t get me wrong. I’m all for bicycle lanes just not on already overcrowded roadways. Pittsburgh transit is a mess due to geographic challenges and the added two wheeled traffic doesn’t help matters. imo Pave new lanes for them and not take up space on the ones made for cars. It’s like meshing oil with water, not a good mix again imo Can’t wait for bike lanes on Bates…

    Maybe close bigelow and ride ride ride.

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    1. I think people who bike to work need to get a life. I may buy a diesel truck just in spite. They can ride to Boulder and wear hemp and listen to Grateful Dead. Ride on the sidewalk. If you are dumb enough to be on a road while people are distracted and on phones then there is no helping you.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. UPitt you perfectly encapsulated how I feel about bicyclists. I really like the diesel truck idea!

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        1. Ever been to Europe and seen how it works in the Northern countries? They did what Ike suggests and planned for bicyclists to have access lanes in the future and it works very well. But there a lot of people live near where they work.

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      2. haha! I live in a rural area where a lot of weekend cyclers like to tour the countryside. Thats fine and all, but those of us who live out there use the roads to get places because everything is 5-10 miles away. Those folks are in our way – especially when they aren’t astute enough to ride in single formation.

        I own a bicycle and love to ride it – but I do it on rail trails. Pittsburgh has tons of them and they are awesome. But riding a bike on Penn Avenue? No thanks.

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      3. Upitt

        I have 1975 Ford F350 with a Cummins diesel and 6 foot chrome stacks. When I pass a bike I always make sure to roll some coal. I bet it makes them grow hair back on their legs.

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  65. By my sports barely covered I mean the serious decline of coverage of HS sports, stories about things other than the pro sport of the moment. The PG used to do a great job with multiple stories of interest in the outdoors, hunting, fishing, golf. Even investigating stories, not just depending on schools to force feed them drivel. Writers became lazy. No one wants to rock the boat.
    Reports should report, not just repeat. What’s Pitt going to do to them if they investigate, stop them from coming to games? Pitt needs the reporters much more than they need Pitt. A good reporter may need some access, but a great one can still come up with a way to entertain. Sorry, that’s my rant for today.

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  66. Loved Pitts’ past trustee mix of the industrial kings of Pittsburgh . I always remember Gwyllum Price the chair at Pitt and Westinghouse who in the 70s/80s would buy the stadium and give tickets to Westinghouse employees and families. They loved it. I loved those games. They were charged,even after Marino and co were gone and there were usually about 50k in attendance then through the Gottfried demise. Had season tickets then and saw it first hand. Unfortunately Pittsburgh is loosing or has lost most of its’ class of home grown financiers and Industrialists who even if not Pitt alum they had Pitt in their heart and the nobles oblige mind set. You find a lot of their names on our buildings.

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  67. Old age brain fart again.It was not Price in the 70s/80s and I can not remember the name of the man I am referring to although I do remember he was previously VP of their semiconductor division and while working for RCA I stole half his technical staff out of their HQ in Elkridge Md, a few yrs before.

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  68. Without proof, I do not believe that psu alum have ever intentionally sabotaged a Pitt sports program.

    However, considering the sheer size of the student body, and knowing that a percentage of graduates are of a cult mentality, it is not outside the realm of posibility.

    Because of the size of their school, every year there are more and more psu alumni in the workforce. Even if only 1% of their graduates are cultists, that would still equate to a large number.

    Some of them would be in an influencing position with the media, the local and state governments, and in various aspects of other universities.

    What those individuals do with their power, I suspect few truly know.

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        1. And at the time the worse DHS Sec. ever. I did a few briefings with him regarding the Coast Guard’s Emergency Response Operations updating (to the Incident Command System) and he had a blank look on his face the whole time.

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  71. Edsall was a jerk but Durkin seems to be a real disaster. The Terps got rid of Friedgen after 2010 for this after a winning season.

    “Maryland rebounded in 2010 to finish with a 9–4 record, including a win in the Military Bowl,[74] and ranked 23rd in the AP Poll.[75] The ACC named Friedgen Coach of the Year, while freshman quarterback Danny O’Brien became the first Terrapin ever named ACC Rookie of the Year.[76] Citing lack of fan support, the athletic department bought out the final year of Friedgen’s contract for $2 million.[77]”

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    1. Curiously, both Wanstedt and Friedgen (2 alums) were axed about the same time …. and in both instances, the program suffered

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  73. I just saw in my emails that Heather Lyke will be doing a 2 hour presentation on Pitt sports at the Rivers Club on Wednesday, August 29th from 5-7 pm. She will be discussing the upcoming football season, new head coaches, the state of Pitt sports overall and her plan for the future. There will also be a Q and A session.

    I received this email because I am a member of the Allegheny County Bar Association, but non-members can attend for $20. Admission includes goes d’oeuvres and soft drinks and a full cash bar will be available.

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  75. Upitt, I don’t believe you live in Pittsburgh, but this is what we are getting from the Mayor Peduto crowd here. They never saw a bicycle lane they didn’t love, and it has become ridiculous. They recently passed a law in PA that requires a 4 foot space around these bicycle wackos, which means they can’t be passed in many cases. So drivers must follow them along while getting the finger as they clog up the lanes. Downtown is getting worse, and it is hurting business.

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    1. This may deemed to be out in left field ….. but do you think legislation like this has somewhat to do with trying to lure Amazon here? Pgh is allegedly on short list and it would provide a major boost to the area

      wwb

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  76. I was at the car dealers yesterday for an appointment and got into a conversation with a younger couple whose kid plays FB (rsFR) at Maryland. They told me that they weren’t surprised something like the death from heat stroke happened and that a bunch of the parents were talking about going to the UM AD and complaining about Durkin’s treatment of his players before he was relieved of duties.

    Apparently he was harder on the African-American players than the others.. but even with that everyone seemed to dislike him.

    The lawyer Jordan’s family has hired is the biggest liability lawyer in Maryland …

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  77. A young player died due to not having limits on what was clearly abusive in treatment. When the signs of distress of a player become evident, all involved have to address that ASAP. The head coach allowed a S&C coach with a suspect behavior to use intimidation and punitive ways to get results. While head coaches can;t be around for many of the individuals working out, the approach and process certainly is under his domain. Thus he has to go since it was his lack of balance in the S&C program that led to an unfortunate death. . Plus the the time between signs of serious problem and the time the appropriate action was taken is also a big question. No coach wants a player to die here, but it should never happen unless there was a medical issue that was not known. Gilbert and Hill were not allowed to play due to medical issues. Pitt put their future over a any other consideration. of a football program. Hill is still in school working on his degree and can have a productive life.

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    1. I remember when Hill was declared medically ineligible, he said that he wanted to stay very involved with the team. I have no idea what his major is or his aspirations, but it would be nice to see him turn up as a GA in the next year or two.

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      1. Not trying to be a downer here, but why would we automatically believe the young man would be a good coaching candidate or GA? The reason you become a GA is because you want to be a coach, right? Now, if the youngster truly desires to be a coach, that is different, but to just indicate Pitt should just hire him because he may be a good kid, seems like…..Pitt.

        Depending on your slant, it could be a compelling recruiting story of how Pitt takes care of their own first.

        But at the end of the day, an employee needs to be a contributor. Pitt needs coaches that are hungry and will outwork everyone. When you don’t win a lot of games and championships, you need to work harder than your competition. That is where we are at right now.

        Funny how Narduzzi just recently threw his prior DC under the bus but when the guy was here….he was great! I don’t like excuse makers generally.

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  78. Player abuse !! I bet some us old farts on this blog who participated in local high school football could tell stories of “abuse” which would match or surpassed what went on at Maryland…I need to do some research but I remember reading stats a while back that had the late 60’s and very early 70’s as the period in W Pa HS FB which experienced the greatest number of catastrophic injuries…

    Let me throw this out as our practices always started this week in August with 2 a day practices( I had a 3rd practice for kicking)..given 1 ladle of water out of a metal dairy milk can and fed salt tablets….practices were brutal starting in pads on day one…no buddy bitched and no parents complained back in 1965-70. No room for whiners, complainers or pussies (male version)

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  79. To put it mildly, I witnessed and participated in drills daily that would get a coach into huge legal problems today. Back then..no questions asked. You did what you were told to do by the adult-coach…I survived with most of my faculties…I think !

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  80. Hells Bells Bernie, it started in midget football. If you had any hair sticking out the back of your helmet the coach would ask you if you wanted 3 down or 2 up? He then would yank your hair like it was a life raft. At 12 years old they took a buddy of mine a little on the heavy side and weighed in at something like 120 lbs. They took him to a dr’s office and stuck him in a sauna for a few hours on a hot fall afternoon than ran him around the field with winter jacket and his helmet on all practice. Apparently Archie had a good heart and didn’t die. All this for a midget football game.

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  81. Big B….I forgot about the salt pills! Couldn’t agree more w your comments. I hated football camp with a passion. Our coaches were tough and ruthless but that was the way it was in WPA HS football. We were very limited in our water intake and there was never a 90 degree day they did not eat popsicles in front of us. Constantly screaming at us, challenging our masculinity, nut cracker drills galore w the smallest vs the largest….no one could get away w that today. But Durkin and MD were worse. I remember arriving home nightly and falling down on my front lawn, unable to make it in the House. God, I loved baseball season!

    The only respite we got was watching the cross country team on their 18th mile of lappers (last guy sprints to the front)!

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  82. I never experienced a Maryland practice and don’t know the specs of all the allegations except for the heat stroke victim but in 1968 you dealt with it..but I also remember being allowed to drive to school on an early release day once FB season was ended,,in the trunk- my hunting clothes and my16 ga. double barrel…part my growing -up.

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  85. WPA football was the same in the early 80’s (as in the 60’s, 70’s) as well. Salt pills, very little water during practice, and lots of sprints at the end of each practice. Two a day plus a 3rd in the evening for special team drills. Man, I always felt bad for the bigger linemen guys. The only respite we got was watching the cheerleaders and majorettes practice in between our practices…

    Upitt and Altoona – diesel trucks are good. I had one to tow my camper. I’ve also biked to worked on and off in the warmer months for nearly 30 years (mostly on Fridays). Keeps ya in shape as you age.

    Now, D-town has lots of bikes paths that are not on roads. They use the river and creek corridors etc. 80% of my ride is off road. But, once you get to downtown you get on bike lanes on regular streets. It works well out here. Oh, and bikers are not allowed on sidewalks within the City/County of Denver so that’s not an option. The thing is, a biker is one less car on the highway. So, you should hug a biker and thank him. Haha!

    And careful being aggressive around bikers… A guy in a pickup truck purposefully turned his truck to the right as he was passing a bike in order to push the biker off the road. Probably thought it was funny. The biker was injured. The biker had a GoPro cam on. Evidently the law says that you cannot use your vehicle as a weapon. As a result of this and other aggressive driving, the pickup truck driver is doing time (happened in the Denver area). Justice was served.

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  86. My solution to the screwed up downtown Pgh. traffic and bike lanes is to avoid the city when going to games. I have it worked out ,Allegheny Valley Expressway to General Grant Garage in and out.Only have to put up with about 200 feet of city streets. This of course eliminates a Pittsburgh resturaunt for my after game meal but I can deal with that and the idiot wanna be’s like Peduzzie can sit in their own traffic jams while a suburban resturaunt gets an additional group for dinner.

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  87. Reed Kohberger
    August 14, 2018 at 9:25 am
    “I was at the car dealers yesterday for an appointment and got into a conversation with a younger couple whose kid plays FB (rsFR) at Maryland. They told me that they weren’t surprised something like the death from heat stroke happened and that a bunch of the parents were talking about going to the UM AD and complaining about Durkin’s treatment of his players before he was relieved of duties.

    Apparently he was harder on the African-American players than the others.. but even with that everyone seemed to dislike him.

    The lawyer Jordan’s family has hired is the biggest liability lawyer in Maryland …”

    What exactly do you mean by the sentence which is the 2nd paragraph above copied and pasted? As written, can be taken as offensive or worse. Please clarify as I am sure I just am not understanding what you mean.

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