Remember that post I wrote just a few days ago that said Pitt was making all the right moves and fan sentiment was at a ten year high?  Well, I should have known better.  If you haven’t yet seen the news, this happened:

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So 2000 – 2014 eh?

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The good news is that nobody outside of Pittsburgh is actually talking about Pitt, including our friends at Sports Illustrated.

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The bad news is that since Pitt (and arguably Northwestern) are the small fry in this fish tank, IF the court finds that there is wrongdoing by any university, it’s very likely that we’ll get the worst of it, while the Alabamas, the Notre Dames and the Penn States of the world get, well you know…

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However, it’s also entirely plausible that Blazer was not acting on the behalf of any university at all, and he was simply trying to entice these student athletes to use his financial services after they turned pro.

giphy

And to think that just twelve hours ago all was well with the world.  If only.

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Last but not least, this Blazer dude is sleazy, and he is from Pittsburgh, and had dealings (apparently post-college) with both former Pitt RB Kevan Barlow and DeJuan Blair.    Greaaat….

So if you’re a believer in the power of positive thought, we can get out of this.  Just repeat after me:  “Plausible Deniability.  Plausible Deniability.  Plausible Deniability”.

Hail to Pitt (smh)

Michaelangelo Monteleone

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

104 thoughts on “Blaze of Glory”

  2. If it turns out that Pitt had to pay recruits to achieve the stellar performance of the Tod Graham/Paul Chryst era then I just give up. 🥺

    Liked by 6 people

  3. I’d like to see some evidence that Pitt has any connection to this guy. Because it sounds like he approached players at various schools on his own and tried to manipulate them into giving him kickbacks if/when they got in the league for money/”advice” he gave them while they were playing.

    Like

      1. The PSU coach contacted Blazer and made the introduction to the player… I’m sure that in some instances (hopefully in the instance of the Pitt player) he contacted the players directly. But, not in all.

        Blazer is under the gun to cooperate truthfully with the Feds to lighten his eventual sentence. If I remember correctly, he’s already been found guilty in a separate trial. He is awaiting sentencing and is cooperating in this matter to lighten his sentence. He may be believable.

        Like

  4. I guess the $10,000 he paid Penn States Maybin to stay wasnt enough. He declared for the draft anyway. I guess he really wanted out of Creepy Valley.

    I’m sure this stuff happens more often than we think.

    Pitt has no business being involved in cheating because its not smart enough. A bumbling detective could easily catch Pitt.

    Like

    1. Why couldn’t this guys just have been from Morgantown?

      Like

    2. If Pitt was involved in this it took anywhere from 5-19 years for it to be found out just sayin

      Like

    2. I hope so.

      I think that Blazer is a small player who was primarily out for himself… But, he has unique insight into this world and he worked ‘undercover’ for the Feds after getting caught for a period of several years. No doubt that he provided a window into this underbelly and other cases are ongoing…

      Like

  6. I hate to break it to you guys … The NCAA is shady. If you don’t think Pitt or anyone else has benefitted you don’t understand the NCAA. Anyone else from Pitt, 93′-98′, remember the sweet SUV Pistol Pete used to drive around in? Pitt very well may have not known per se … Keeping that plausible deniability thru handlers like this bum … But they know. I wish this was a surprise but it’s not … Not a coincidence that Jamie Dixon and TCU were linked …

    Dixon: “I’m shocked”

    https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/college-sports/collegesports/2019/03/09/jamie-dixon-responds-tcu-basketball-linked-corruption-probe-shocked

    I’m not. It’s why this myth of amateurism that the NCAA tries to invoke is all a sham. Allow agents. Allow endorsements. Allow sponsorships.

    At this point the education should be optional. Just pay the players like employees and treat the NCAA like the developmental league it is. . What do grades have to do with sports, anyways?

    Liked by 1 person

  7. obviously Blazer is the sleaze here. What Pitt has the fear is that if Blazer has proof that any school employees (admin, AD, coaches) had any knowledge and/or benefitted. It could well be that the contact was directly between the agent and athlete.

    Stay tuned

    Like

    1. wwb,
      I think it’s obvious that with the high dollar fashion that Coach Chryst wore everyday that someone obviously was paying him on the side! :>)

      Like

    1. I thought the lack of institutional control was due to the fact that Bush was driving an expensive vehicle and moved into an upscale house … and everyone was aware of it but did nothing. You are probably correct

      Liked by 1 person

  13. Can’t we claim we already put in place and suffered through our self imposed sanctions by hiring Barnes and Stallings and just forgot to tell everyone. Plausible.
    😦

    Liked by 3 people

  17. Summer 2013 conversation

    HCPC: I hear you may have been paying a few Pitt players early last decade. True?

    Martin Blazer: might be

    HCPC: Aw shucks, don’t worry about me. I might have some business for you

    MB: I’m listening

    HCPC: as you know, we have the best DL in college FB. Not sure you have been in contact …. and I don’t even want to know if you are. But we also have a handful of area 4 star prospects who, with a little shove (if you know what I mean), will stay here in Pgh

    MB: I’m still listening and will look into the matter. I suppose you are looking for a payout also

    HCPC: Golly no. Not at all. In fact, I am the Wisconsin HC in waiting, and Barry tells me it will only be a few years until I’m able to go back to my dream job

    MB: Good for you … so why are you so interested in keeping good players here?

    PC: Because these gosh darn Pitt fans are so cynical and their expectations are so high. Heck, they still think the program should be the same as back in the late 70s

    MB: Walt told me the very same thing!

    Like

  18. I highly doubt there is a clean P5 program out there. Some may try to be clean but there always people lurking around a program and there are always teenagers ready to make a dumb decision … if taking a lot of money is a dumb decision. Haha. It’s only illegal if you get caught …

    Like

  20. College FB and BB are minor leagues for the NFL and NBA. Occasionally money surfaces for players and coaches but nothing is done. Why mess with the golden egg. system.

    Like

  21. The way that is worded on Blazer’s testimony, it sounds like the players were already at their respective colleges when payments were made?

    Like

  22. Maestro – love your writing skill and style. Always a good read, even if the subject matter isn’t positive.

    I believe that scholarships should come with a reasonable stipend so kids don’t feel as much pressure to engage with some of the unsavory types who lurk around programs. Doesn’t mean it will eradicate the cheating, but it would go a long way to helping some kids out.

    I’ve got a dozen or so stories like the following that illustrate the need. Here’s one which comes from a recent “Cinderella story” Final Four program:

    An Asst AD at this program finds out that one of the players (not a starter) is stressed because of a money issue. He calls someone.

    The kid is then contacted by someone he’s never met and is instructed to go to a certain street corner. When he arrives, a car pulls up to the light and the passenger window opens. Out comes a package.

    The kid takes the package to his apartment and opens it. Its a small microwave oven and he is relieved because now he and his girlfriend have something to warm up their baby’s formula.

    Not an envelope of money or a new set of wheels or a house for the kid’s mom, etc. Just a $50 microwave oven and the kid has no idea who it came from or who to thank.

    An NCAA violation occurred and yet a good thing has been done, IMO.

    Its a crazy world folks.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I guess I should also state that as a Panther Club member, I could not be involved with anything like that or else I put the program at jeopardy.

      Rich – would be an interesting topic to discuss with Heather. Would be interesting to get her take on stipends – have to believe she is in favor.

      Like

  23. Thanks Joe and I think stipends could curb shady outside dealings a little but it still comes down to these crooked athletic handlers. It’s their jobs to steer the young players in a certain direction and a particular school. Look at those two out of the country players that both went to Kennedy Christian and then onto WVU. Two different countries yet the same handler. I’ll leave that up to everyone’s imagination as to how that happened.

    The NCAA is the biggest culprit here. There is never enough punishment handed down to schools that run a program that doesn’t follow the rules. Well that is until now, PITT will probably be the poster child for disciplinary action against infractions. Does anyone think UNC will pay any consequences? Seems like they never did and never will.

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  25. Tossing, you can’t seriously be in favor of outright paying college players and that education at a university should be optional. College players should be attending school to get an education first, and when it gets to the point that the football and basketball players are all on a salary, then these sports have no business being associated with institutions of higher learning. These players should have the option to just move to a developmental league or or a minor league of some kind which is paid for by the NFL or NBA.

    Playing players would not even the playing field, but would just let the rich programs get richer. Schools like Kentucky would simply outbid most other schools for talent. Each year several thousand basketball players become eligible for the NBA draft, and maybe 100 or so make it to an NBA roster. Should we let the interest of 100 or so players drive the entire sport of college basketball? College football and basketball need to stay at the amateur level, and the NBA and NFL should go fund their own minor league systems and agree not to draft college players until after at least two years of college.

    Like

    1. Right now everybody cheats. If paying players is allowed, costs will go up for schools and everybody will still cheat

      Liked by 2 people

      1. That’s more my stance Mike, it won’t completely deter cheating. The best players will always migrate to the most $$ cha ching.

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        1. If everyone is cheating (I have no idea if this is true or not) let’s bring in Jim Tressell. I always thought we hired the wrong guy from Youngstown. Maurice Clarrett can be an asst. coach. I agree with Al Davis, “Just win baby.”

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  26. VoR – 100%, I am. I think it should be optional. If kids want to take advantage of the education good for them. At the P5 level, student-athlete for football and basketball is a masquerade. The sports have become so big they are basically professional teams with the University as the owner of the team. Let’s treat it just like that. The farce of amateurism robs these kids of they market value in the name of “they get a free education”. Bullshazam (Navigating those pesky POV filters). Dante Taylor graduated from Pitt … what did the school do to help him find a job after? Not much looking at this … https://peepsburgh.com/2017/02/04/does-this-look-like-the-face-of-a-former-pitt-basketball-player-that-got-busted-for-selling-weed-to-teenagers-while-possessing-heroin/

    This is the story of many D1 athletes. The schools get them to pass their classes but they are not set up for future success with the degree, if they get one, moving forward.

    Look at the champions just this decade in football and basketball …

    Basketball … DUKE, UCONN, Kentucky, Louisville, UNC … and then you have UVA and Villanova.

    Football … Auburn, Alabama, FSU, Ohio State, Clemson …

    See a trend … Highest bidder already wins …

    Like

  27. Sorry, Tossing, but that is perverted view of life. Colleges should go the other way: give the NCAA some teeth, and then tighten up the rules so that it is definitely not in their interest to participate in this kind of activity. Cheating schools are perpetrating a fraud on their students, their donors and the community. The NCAA should impose the death penalty on any school that knowingly participates in this type of activity. Maybe I’m an old timer, but I happen to believe in fair play, and permitting this cheating to continue under the guise that somehow these kids are owed something by the colleges beyond their scholarships, room, board, stipends, etc. is wrong.

    Liked by 4 people

  28. Too much money on sports to come down hard on the national programs. Thats why the NCAA does little. It takes the FBI to uncover this stuff.

    The way it should work is that players should have to attend real classes and not get paid. for at least 2 years in every sport.

    or they should go straight to pro or the minor leagues. baseball and hockey draft kids straight out of high school but both sports have a minor league system.

    now we know the college system is broken. The NCAA loves the money with football and basketball. The NFL and NBA love a free minor league system.

    I can see about 30 schools splitting off their football programs and basically becoming the minor leagues for the NFL. Kids are associated with a school but they are semi pro athletes and get paid. The TV contracts pay for this league.

    With basketball, kids can either go straight to the NBA, to the G league or Europe. Or play a minimum of 2 years at a college taking real classes and not getting paid. No more 1 and dones.

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  29. We will get the death penalty…whereas PSU gets a slap on the wrist for destroying children’s lives for f’ing football wins.

    SMH

    (BTW, I am kidding about the death penalty…but I am still sickened by the lack of punishment PSU received to this day as well as the cultists that felt unjustly persecuted).

    David

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    1. Pitt will give themselves the death penalty.

      Everytime when Pitt received bad PR, coaches were fired and the programs were marginalized.

      Look for Pitt to double down on Compliance and limit access to athletes or raise standards.

      Pitt will be recruiting 2 stars in all sports very soon. Might as well drop out of the ACC then.

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      1. If they do that then all fans will abandon them. None of this happened on Narduzzi or Lyke’s watch. You have to think that counts for something

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    2. When Pedo avoided the Death Penalty, i really lost all hope for the NCAA. The Other scandals pale in comparison to what happened there. They should burn that stadium to the ground.

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  30. VoR – Perverted way? It’s a billion dollar industry that gets away with not compensating it’s employees … and a free education is not equivalent to what they could get in a free market. You’re hanging on to some dated, possibly nostalgic, warped mindset of a bygone era.

    The truth is that both the NBA and NFL … and MLB to an extent … see the college system as a farm league. These kids are professional athletes. You can try to argue otherwise under the veil of fake amateurism, but they are entry level professionals. Scholarships can be on the table for these kids but I don’t think it should be mandatory and I don’t think grades really matter much in the grand scheme of things other to say “see they are students”. Lol. In fact, I’m willing to bet more kids would get better educations under this format. Part of the negotiation when signing with the school is a 4 year scholarship … but you can use it at any time. If the professional career fails, come back and take advantage of that degree we offered you.

    TX – That comment about the 30 schools is exactly what I mean and I don’t see anything wrong with it. In fact, it’s how colleges operated pre-1940. Colleges could pay players to play for their schools.

    I’ve always said, let the kids have agents and start negotiating those LOA’s right out of HS. How much BS is it that you can make a kid sign his life away to a college without professional representation to negotiate the terms? And then hold them to it and say “you signed, you made a commitment” … Eye roll.

    Liked by 1 person

  31. ALL Players get paid a stipend folks. This is legal and it has gone on for years. It is all based on a percentage of cost of attendance. The SEC realized the magic formula and as a conference, raised their cost of attendance dramatically, so that they could pay their athlete students the most of any conference.

    Now, link the two and you have a dominant conference for athletics.

    I’ve spoken at several NCAA national conventions and there are no secrets. Everyone is cheating. Some more than others. It’s all about how you do it, not “that” you do it. This is why I keep wondering if Capel is being allowed to play.

    Reed entered the transfer portal…..michael came aboard…..Reed then removed himself from the transfer portal. I wish the portal worked that way for football.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. From the looks of it………. Reed has partially removed himself from the transfer portal. << I meant that as a joke so no one gets POed at me and yes, it’s a shame I have to qualify my comment like this.

      Like

  32. PS – it will not be 30 schools. It will be the P5 schools only in a couple of years, once the appeals are finished in the Alston v. NCAA case are done. The magic language in that case is that schools can pay players so long as the expenses are “education related expenses”. Need a place to stay 4k a month, car to get to your classes 1k per month, etc. Read the cases fellas.

    People like to talk like they know what’s going on. Most people, including AD’s do not. And before you start responding that “of course our AD knows and yadda yadda, the reason they don’t all know (and can’t figure out ramifications) is because if they talk about it amongst AD’s and Conferences, the next case the institutions lose, is collusion”. Think about it.

    Liked by 1 person

  33. TT,

    Not to be argumentative…but how many of those players from a % gets more out of that “free education” than don’t?

    you realize that only 2% of student become professional, right?

    So for a stunning majority, that free education is far more important.

    I don’t disagree with your comments that 2% could get a better deal in a free market.

    But let’s be clear you aren’t even talking about a sizable majority in college athletics.

    What will be sad to me is the day that when these guys “get paid” it will result in less non profitable sports programs to be cancelled (Pitt Tennis for example).

    Universities regardless of the non-profit status will not philanthropically spend the money they are making today on getting players and subsidizing the women’s rugby team.

    So while you are right, I see it having a overall negative effect on college athletics as a whole.

    Dave

    Like

    1. And to be clear. I hate the system as much as anyone. In my dream/naïve world of right, the student athlete would be just that…a student first, an athlete second.

      And the young aspiring athlete would be playing in a minor leagues system just like they do in baseball.

      But in that world Unicorns, rainbows and lollipops are everywhere.

      🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    2. It’s also worth noting that the value of a public school education at a place like Pitt is $100k over five years. That’s just tuition. Athletes also get room and board. I was stunned to see that in 20 years in state tuition at Pitt went from a relatively affordable $6k per year to nearly $20k per year. Wages certainly have not increased that much in that time frame. Has financial aid?

      Like

      1. A&M and Texas cost $10k tuition per year. And they are better schools in both academics and athletics than Pitt. And its not like Texas subsidizes these schools like California. This is Texas.

        So I dont know why tuition alone at Pitt has tripled since my day. Its not like they’ve gone on a crazy building spree. Wheres my OCS?

        To me they are over-charging students. 15% of their budget is provided by the Commonwealth. It was around 40% in my day so that explains some of it.

        They probably have too many programs and the profs are probably making on the higher end of the scale.

        But I’m just guessing why

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I hate the total cost of ownership argument … It’s an intangible value. $100K of education doesn’t mean much if you still end up working in a field where no degree is necessary. When parents pay for kids school, isn’t that essentially a scholarship?

        Like

        1. Not for the parents…unless of course they are top 1%. The counter to your argument is that the value of a college education is less about the education and more about the network. There are a lot of athletes that got a foot in the door with successful alumni because they were an athlete. There are also a lot that get plumb jobs for businesses owned by wealthy boosters because they played football

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          1. So the scholarship is for the parents, not the kid? Lol. Then the kid is even more underpaid than I realized. I’m strictly talking for the kid. Whether he gets a scholarship or his parent foots the bill it’s the same thing. No debt. College paid for.

            There are some athletes that get a connection and hook up. Not a lot. I think that is a romanticized vision based on a couple things you’ve seen.

            Like

            1. Yes okay for the spoiled kid whose parents foot the bill its the same but we are talking apples and oranges here. There is no way to quantify how many football players get a foot in the door or plum job. Now non rev sports I completely agree, very few hookups there. It does look good on the resume though

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              1. See I disagree. The non revenue athletes are taken more seriously in the job market. In the last year I’ve hired woman’s LAX, men’s LAX, women’s soccer, D2 baseball and a former professional BJJ competitor. I’m a sales manager and I love the competitiveness and work ethic, as well as the ability to work within a team or individually, of college athletes. It translates to IT sales very well. I don’t see football players and basketball players coming over.

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      3. No. Not if you are a parent who makes a decent living. My daughter is first in her high school class and had very good SAT scores, and she didn’t get a penny of financial aid. Total cost for 4 years, not including incidentals, is $140,000.

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        2. Even if you make $500k a year which is a darn good living you would have had to make sacrifices to afford that. It doesn’t even include housing and food and transport. You’re taking $200k all in. What if you have multiple kids?

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        3. I thought the scholarships were for the kid? Kids are even more underpaid than I realized! I get what you’re saying but also kind of to my point. The value of the education overstated.

          Like

    3. Dave – You’re correct, only about 2% go pro. I think that number is a little higher for P5 only but I get your point. I would counter with … while only 2% go pro, how many incoming freshmen believe they will turn pro? I’m guessing that number is north of 50%. Besides, if the incoming player wants to take classes, I’m not saying they should not be able too. It can be part of their compensation package the University offers. I would also like to see the numbers on the 98% that don’t go pro and what types of jobs they land compared to the general population of students. I’m talking football and basketball here. I’m guessing that the general population of students gain better employment. Not all but a majority. Not every degree is equal, unfortunately.

      Like

  34. here is the case

    https://unafraidshow.com/alston-ncaa-ruling-amateur-college-sports/

    and if it does cost universities more to pay these student athletes, the playing field will be further widened and some schools will give up on football altogether and remove themselves from conferences.

    Pitt is not going to go further into the hole to pay athletes. They already run a deficit of $10M each year that is reported.

    Only the largest revenue generating schools can afford to do this. Many of them are already doing this and being rewarded for their cheating.

    Pitt needs to find similar schools who share the same mission and financial realities.

    Few if any college players go pro in any sport. Its not like Pitt will suddenly become noncompetitive. They recruit 2 stars anyway.

    Let Bama and Ohio State field all the 4 and 5 stars. They already do.

    And maybe just maybe one of Pitt’s 3 stars will be the next AD.

    Like

  35. Tex – it’s total cost of attendance, not just tuition. Words are really important in these rulings along with their meanings. That is why the court opened a can of crap with “related to education”. I can relate just about anything to education if you give me a minute.

    Also, this is the same Judge that ruled in the image/likeness/obannon case. Lawyer’s ruin everything!

    Like

  36. As I mentioned above, I hate the total cost of attendance argument. It’s intangible. The cost of attendance doesn’t mean much if you end up taking a job that doesn’t require a degree. And I’m willing to bet the 98% of football and basketball players that don’t go professional are not getting the same quality of jobs that the general population of students are getting. No numbers to back that up but just a hunch. Besides, if a parent pays for college isn’t that essentially the same thing as a scholarship? I’ve never understood the argument or taken it seriously because even though a small number of athletes actually go pro, the percentage that think they can go pro is way higher.

    Like

  37. here is an excerpt from SBNation about Blazer situation (the story link is below)

    A key detail regarding Blazer’s testimony is that he has not alleged any wrongdoing on the part of Pitt thus far. The NCAA rules violations were on the part of the players for accepting money, which jeopardized their amateur status.
    But based on the former financial adviser’s claims, a member of the Penn State coaching staff allegedly violated NCAA rules by arranging a $10,000 payment to a player in 2009.
    ”The coach wanted the player to consider staying [in college],” Blazer said, per Norlander. “The player was leaning on coming out.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaafb/government-witness-in-ncaa-corruption-trial-claims-he-paid-pitt-football-players/ar-BBWeOVJ?ocid=spartandhp

    Like

  38. on the other hand, there is this:

    Adam Zagoria@AdamZagoria
    2h

    In an FBI-recorded video shown to the jury today Christian Dawkins quoted Sean Miller about making payments to Deandre Ayton during his recruitment: ‘I’m taking care of everything myself. I wanna bring you in. I’ll turn over everything to you.’

    Like

  39. if anyone is interested…

    The PBC Roundball is this Saturday at the Montour Athletic Center:
    6:30: WPIAL North vs WPIAL South / 8:00: PA All Stars vs. USA All-Stars
    $20 – tickets in advance call 412-506-7978 / Dunk contest between games

    Games will feature #Pitt commits Justin Champagnie and Karim Coulibaly

    Like

  40. These posts are making my head hurt. ☹️

    Off topic, I was in the car today and flipping between stations I caught Cole Tucker being talked to on the FAN. Cole said he is an Arizona Cardinal Fan and when he was in Pittsburgh for Fanfest he bought a Larry Fitzgerald Pitt uniform shirt… Nice connection between the Cardinals and Pittsburgh…

    Mueller (?) actually asked Cole Tucker whether he prefers ketchup or mustard on a hot dog. Must be a younger generation thing. But I didn’t hear one decent question to give any insight into Cole’s baseball playing…

    Go Pitt!

    Like

  41. I don’t know if this Blazer thing should be considered a Shakespearean Tragedy or Comedy if we payed for players because over the last 40 YEARS we haven’t done SQUAT!!!

    Liked by 2 people

      1. Ike,
        I appreciate your opinion, all POVers in our little circle know it well. However, in the world of college football around the country, NO ONE nationally looks at Pitt and says “Wow, they are awesome, they won their division”. Why? Because they all know we won a sickly weak division which is most likely the worst P5 division in the country right now and we did it with an impressive 7-7 record. This is why in all the national college football magazines we are rarely talked about. But hey, if it floats your boat, keep sailing in it good friend.

        Like

  42. Great off season discussion guys, like the civility. Huff the Third, I know and have many many good friends that are lawyers. Great people, mostly, it’s their job to muck things up.

    I thought I sent this post earlier but apparently, forgot to hit send. I will now spell my 3 letter name wrong on purpose. ike << oops…………

    Like

  43. Lets just face it. Pitt is a MAC school. I bet we lose to Ohio next year.

    We spend good money now and still place bottom last among all P-5 schools in the Directors Cup

    The winner of the MAC goes to a crappy bowl. When hasnt Pitt gone to a crappy bowl?

    We could at least be competitive in this conference.

    Drop a few sports. Pick up lacrosse and hockey.

    The wins will more easily come. Pittsburgh supports winners. Pitt draws 40k whether its Toledo or Georgia Tech.

    I’m being serious.

    Because Pitt is not serious enough to spend an elite amount and to cheat in order to become competitive in the ACC and be nationally relevant.

    Those are historical facts.

    Like

    1. Pitt won’t lose to Ohio next season. Narduzzi isn’t Chryst, he has proven to beat the MAC teams and the YSUs. The games might be too close for comfort, but the W is all that matters.

      I’ve been hoping for crappier bowls so far under Narduzzi. Easier to win for that coveted W. Going 9-4 in 2015 and 2016 via winning the Tropicana Bowl sure would have beaten the alternatives.

      Like

      1. If only we could have found our way into the BBVA Compass bowl

        Like

  45. Attention Reed, Michaelangelo, and others…

    The PG is advertising right now for a full-time Beat Writer to cover the Pitt Football Team!

    Go Pitt.

    Like

    1. If only I was 21, freshly graduated from Pitt and needed a job that paid me $28,000 a year… lol

      Liked by 2 people

  46. You’re better off telling things like they are on a forum like this. A blog like this probably gets more Pitt eyes than the PG rag and you dont have to make nice to Pitt to keep your job.

    Liked by 1 person

  47. We talk, we listen, we laugh, we bitch, sometimes we cry but at the end of the day, we are all PITT fans who care about PITT and each other!

    Liked by 2 people

  48. Think about the 98%. Many are kids from low income homes who would not be going to college without sports. For them, the opportunity is everything. Should they be sacrificed for the few who would get salaries?

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    1. VoR – Why would the dynamic change for the 98%? It would be the same pool of kids and an education can be part of their compensation package.

      Like

  49. Coach White has added another new player to the women’s BB team. She is Gabbie Green, a JUCO All American. She’s a 5’7”
    guard with 2 years to play.

    That makes 7 new players added to the roster. Five true freshmen and two transfers.

    Pitt loses 4 players to graduation, plus 2 transferred out, and one (Gribble) had to stop playing for medical reasons.

    Pitt will have 4 contributors returning, but with all the new faces, Pitt will be a totally different looking team next season…

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Nice, but it’s women’s basketball.

      Can’t wait for some real hoops news though. Not that I’m that concerned, but my #1 hope is simply the signing of Coulibaly, my #2 would be another rebounding big (don’t care if he’s a true center or not, but 6’8″ and up would be my minimum hope), #3 is an experienced guard, then #4 being another 3 point shooter.

      H2P

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  50. NFL draft starts tonight…wonder if Pitt will be referred to as running back U? 😎
    Larry Richert on KDKA this am stated that since Mean Joe Greene is the Steeler announcing the pick tonight he should have a Steeler shirt draped over his shoulder and when their #1 pick comes on stage Joe tosses him the shirt and says “here kid” like in the old Coke commercial.

    Liked by 1 person

  51. Tossing think of the current minor sports where one yr or partial scholarships are usually offered. This will happen with 2 and 3 stars, as the money is given to the top players.

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