10+1 = Football?

The ACC inched closer to playing actual college football today. They did this by doing four things: Adopting an 11 game schedule, adding Notre Dame on a one-year basis, pushing the start of the season back to September 12th and adding a big, fat coronavirus caveat.

Per ESPN:

“The ACC board of directors voted Wednesday to proceed with an 11-game football season that begins the weekend of Sept. 12 — and includes FBS independent Notre Dame playing a full league schedule — but only if public health guidance allows.” (Emphasis added)

Heather Lyke was quick to temper expectations, with a statement she released just minutes ago:

“The announcement of an ACC scheduling model is an important first step as we continue to build a framework to safely play the 2020 season. The focal point of our planning has been, and will continue to be, the health and well-being of our student-athletes. The ACC’s Medical Advisory Group has been an exceptional resource in helping us plot a course in an ever-changing health environment. We will remain vigilant as we work through the additional details that need to be resolved before a season can commence.”

So in essence the ACC has given its the states in which its member institutions reside 45 days to to get their collective acts together. The Vegas action on whether or not the ACC states actually can get their acts together would be hot — if casinos were taking bets on COVID (and who knows maybe they are). Continue reading “10+1 = Football?” →

D-Line Kool-Aid

Pitt picked up a verbal from four-star DE Elliot Donald on Friday, and I don’t need to belabor the point that this was a win.

Depending on the scouting website you use, Donald is top five or six in the state and top 10 nationally at his position, and Donald’s pledge catapulted Pitt to 26th in the rivals recruiting rankings and 27th in the 247 composite rankings.

I bring the 247 rankings into the discussion for two reasons. First – they don’t get enough press on this site, which has historically stuck to “if it ain’t rivals it’s trash” ethos, and second – I’m about a reference and article that uses the 247 rakings, so there is a bit of selfishness going in here as I attempt to legitimize them. Continue reading “D-Line Kool-Aid” →

Checking Out

Hello everyone. I’ve put a lot of thought into this lately and I want to tell you that I’ve reached a decision to not write anything for the Pitt POV anymore.

..for at least a week….

But it’s only because I’m on vacation. 🙂

Enjoy the week and please remember no politics, no religion and no swearing rules are in place.

Hail to Pitt

Michaelangelo Monteleone

How Bad Is it?

There has been a lot of talk about COVID 19. A lot. And while the POV is primarily a sports blog, when a pandemic or world events threatens sports, there is a lot of overlap, and that is why I am writing this article.

I have, for some time, been trying to figure out for myself if the hype around COVID-19 is real. The TV & Print media climate (on both sides I’ll point out) in the United States is not helping. Neither does social media. Certainly there are some basic facts that are real – 130,000+ deaths in the US vs ~35,000 for a standard flu season. But there is also a segment of the population (including some close personal friends of mine outside of this blog) that continue to drive the narrative that COVID 19 is not as bad as some folks would have us believe.

And so I decided to take the politics and media out of it and do my own research, which I am about about to share with you. Keep in mind, it is EXTREMELY important to take the politics out of this. In some cases I’ve forced myself to absorb a viewpoint from a media outlet that leans opposite of my own personal political leanings. This has been difficult, and yet educational. At the end of the day though, I have avoided quoting or using data from media outlets in, as so to not politicize my findings. I would ask that you do the same if you are posting and sharing links.

If someone chooses to post a link from a particular outlet, I need two rules to be followed: 1. The link needs to be fact based. And any “facts” quoted are fair game to be (civilly) debunked. And if they are debunked – with facts cited from a credible source – well then you get to suffer the ignominy of that in the eyes of your peers, and I may also choose to delete your comment. 2. You as a reader need to approach any link posted with an open mind, and comment on the content – and not the politics of the media outlet. I will be ruthless in striking down comments that stray from these guidelines, and I reserve the right to be the sole arbiter here. I don’t need to keep writing this blog, after all.

With that being said, lets get onto the original premise of the article. Just how bad is COVID? And should “they” really be considering cancelling the college football season because of it? Continue reading “How Bad Is it?” →

Month: July 2020