in Pitt Football 214 Words

POV on Pause for Awhile…

My family and I are caregivers for an old friend of ours who has had terrible health problems and many surgeries. So, we have rearranged our home so that we can give him the care he needs (he’s single) and he can have privacy at the same time In a semi-apartment. That will be ongoing and will take precedence…

He wanted to show his gratitude by offering to buy Pitt FB season tickets for all us so I almost kicked him out. Just kidding! (Kind of)!

So, I will be super busy and I’ll ask more readers to kick in some articles to post. Maybe one on baseball?

Tex really stepped up and delivered on the soccer front – we all thank you for that great insight Mike. I also have some reader’s articles already drafted so I’ll pop one of those up soon.

BTW – I banned three new commenters (trolls) and have had to delete some comments that WordPress sent me to moderate. All were either political or racial. I can’t stress enough that the standards I set will be enforced. No sex, politics, racial or religious issues will be on here.

There are tons of things to discuss besides those.

Thanks and I’ll try to get a post up tomorrow.

Reed

61 thoughts on “POV on Pause for Awhile…”

    1. Agree with Kman. You have a big, kind heart that surpasses most people’s understanding.

      I’m taxed with a busy week at work and will try to craft a short baseball article. SOP or Diamonds in the Rough – which is it going to be?

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Regarding Farmer’s comment on the previous thread about Zion’s parents getting paid, IS ANYBODY REALLY SURPRISED??

    Liked by 1 person

    2. Not surprised that payments were made. But I am surprised that they actually presented bank statements in court as proof of the payments. I always thought any payments would be in cash. And absent someone involved squealing, these payments would remain unproven rumors. Like the parents paying to get their kids in elite colleges through bogus athletic scholarships, I’d sure like to see some players, parents, and payers serve some serious time.

      Like

    3. “ disagreeing with censorship is racist”

      Another galaxy brain take.
      This is why I come here

      Like

  3. Also the baseball team seems to be stuck in a post- covid coma, unable to compete with anybody. Too bad, I hope cancelling the Akron game gives them time to shake it off and get some meaningful practice in.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Team really needs to play regularly to stay sharp…. PITT baseball has provided some unexpected great moments and was one a roll …. hope they can jump start that mojo !

      Liked by 1 person

    2. I hope it wasn’t because they did not want to look of losing to a MAC team is the midst of an awful skid.

      Like

      1. Spelling handicap on a cellphone – should read “ I hope it wasn’t because they did not want the look of losing to a MAC team in the midst of an awful skid”.

        Like

      2. What was the reason Pitt gave

        Weather was nice

        They needed a tuneup game before Wake

        Team already had covid

        That’s what frustrates me with pitt. Real poor communication and secrecy. And they wonder why they can’t get people to donate or grow new supporters.

        It’s these little details that matter. Fans want to know why.

        We can then debate the reasons. But come on Pitt.

        Like

  4. CBS Sports has an article posted that ranks the head coaches of the 65 Power Five football teams. They rank Coach Narduzzi at 31. The salary ranking that was posted yesterday had him being paid at the 30th spot. Hmmmmm.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Based on a 26-24 record

      One participation trophy

      1-3 bowl record

      No top 25 rankings

      Sub .500 record versus ranked teams

      Most blow out losses since Johnny

      What were the criteria?

      Like

      1. I see. Not purely objective like top 25 team rankings, recruit star ratings, best venue rankings, etc. Newsflash! Almost everything posted here is subjective. Me thinks the CBS Sports folks might be a tad less biased than some I know. But that’s okay. It’s, as they say, what makes the world go round.

        Liked by 1 person

  5. Tex, first taste of Balcones True Blue

    I’m far from expert but find it VERY GOOD!

    Odd, beginning to hate Heather and the Duzz with every sip 😉

    Normally I like meatballs with spaghetti but I think I’ll go with sausage in the sauce from now on…

    Like

    2. I’m glad you liked it. Some aren’t fans of it. It is different. I personally like stuff a bit different. Change is sometimes good. And needed. Wink wink.

      Like

  8. Yes speaking of friends……. Reed is a good one that truly goes out of his way to help. Thanks for continuing to serve the people of this great country my friend..

    Posted last article.

    You guys that may be worried about Heather and Narduzzi, relax. Tex is making a personal one on one call to Riddick to straighten all this out along with a surprise for Heather. All you unhappy campers need to stand down and let Tex take care of PITT athletics…… cause Tex has never said anything that isn’t true.

    Ring Ring…………..

    Like

    1. You would be surprised what one phone call can do

      And I wouldn’t be the first or the last person to call him about entertaining the opportunity

      He’s publicly stated that he wants to go back to pitt to help and serve them

      Like

  9. So as Farmers points out, Narduzzi’s pay is consistent with his ranking among P5 coaches. What a coincidence! Tex, I guess you’ll just have to live with it!

    Like

    1. Again what are the criteria

      He surely makes the most per win

      And he surely consumes the most dollars as a percentage of revenues.

      He’s given Pitt one participation trophy and one bowl win in his six years

      His teams are regularly ranked in the mid 50’s per rpi. His pay should be comenserste with those results. Assuming Pitt is able to even support that pay level given Pitts income.

      As a small business owner I never paid myself 20 percent of top line sales. I couldn’t afford to. How can Pitt?

      Like

      1. Don’t fret, Tex. Only Pitt fans would defend a coach who has never beaten Notre Dame, suffered two blowout losses to Clemson, along with Penn State, UCF, dismal performances Virginia Tech and BC in 2019. If they’re pleased, I’m ecstatic. Here in Houston I’m surrounded by Texas A&M fans (SEC), UT fans (Big 12) and UH (AAC). None put up with the kind of mediocrity and unmet expectations Pitt fans digest with big smiles.

        Like

        1. I hear ya. Longhorns fired both their football and basketball coaches in the same year. Pitt would never contemplate such a drastic move. Fans would use the excuse of stability and patience and the next guy could be even worse. Ok. Pitt fans are the most risk adverse people I know. Must all sell insurance.

          Like

    1. They received a ton of pushback from fans and boosters

      But they still have a problem. They can’t financially afford to keep them.

      So they will either continue running a deficit and use borrowing to subsidize these sports or will need to find new ways to generate revenues to support them.

      Like

    2. https://sports.yahoo.com/stanford-restores-11-sports-outcry-195654668.html

      They didn’t say where they would find the money. They didn’t have the money before.

      They will have another problem on their hands if they raise tuition and fees

      And I always find it comical that every writer mentions the size of a schools endowment as somehow being proof that a school can afford to keep or add sports

      I guess 99 percent of people don’t understand the bylaws behind endowments and the purpose

      Fact is nobody whose money is in Pitts endowment earmarked for sports. Nobody.

      Like

      1. But they still have to find a way to pay for it.

        I think the article said that they could have saved $200 million dollars by cutting them? Where are they going to find that kind of dough.

        They will have a bigger issue if they raise tuition or fees

        Most likely they can’t borrow the funds. There are caveats and other strict stipulations when schools transfer monies or use debt. Pitt has liberal policies but thats another discussion.

        So they will need to find boosters and sell more tickets. No other viable options.

        Like

  11. AKRON, Ohio – The Akron Zips road game against No. 16 Pitt at Charles L. Cost Field in Pittsburgh, Pa. has been canceled, the two schools announced Monday. Zips head coach Chris Sabo and Panthers head coach Mike Bell mutually agreed to the decision.

    Akron is slated to travel to Oxford, Ohio for the final Mid-American Conference series of the season against Miami at McKie Field at Hayden Park on Friday-Sunday, May 21-23. First pitch is slated for 5 p.m. on Friday.

    Pulled from the Zips website –

    I find this odd other than the Zips haven’t won many games this season and Pitt hasn’t won many lately. Someone was going to lose unless the game wasn’t played – mutual agreement? Pitt bats needed this game and the pitchers could have used the success, unless there is belief the ship is sinking.

    Pitt is limping into their final ACC series of the season vs W_F at Cost Field starting Thursday evening. Pitt needs to win this series badly for numerous reasons.

    Go Pitt!

    Like

    1. The game probably would have hurt Pitts rpi even if they won. The sos would drop. Why doesn’t pitt just acknowledge that.

      Right now pitt is a third seed at a far away regional based on rpi and last ten games. The committee looks at those things.

      Like

  12. Former Pirate catcher Renaldo “Renee” Stennett passed away yesterday. He was one of the guys that was always fun to watch and helped to hook me on the sport.

    RIP

    Like

  14. Reed, your picture is in the dictionary under best friend.

    Stennett was a great second baseman, probably second best Pirate at the position after Mazeroski.

    Like

  15. Reed, your a good man. The older we all get the more we find people around us who are in need of human kindness, caring and companionship. One day each of us will need that care as the sand continues to drain -from the top of our hour-glass.

    Liked by 2 people

  19. First Amendment rights are basically: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

    Notice the ‘Congress’ part.

    Spare me the heartbreak caused by my wanting a no-pay discussion board, run on my physical and financial efforts alone, to be one less crap filled thing coming people’s way when they come on board a sports blog.

    Back in 2017 I asked for donations to offset my expenses covering Pitt football. I stopped that after one year because I felt if I accepted $$ from a reader I was then obligated to allow anything he wrote. That loss of posting control was noticed and readers and commenters complained.

    I have said before that we have about a 1000 to 1 reader to commentator ratio on here. I get emails galore begging me to do, and keep doing, what I do with my censorship – and that is exactly what I do, censor along standardized guidelines.

    Don’t like it? Then don’t let the laptop cover hit your ass on the way out…

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Seriously Reed. There has to be some pitt college kids that would jump at the offer of being a moderator and putting on a police hat.

      There are plenty of responsible kids who have a passion for sports and might even be familiar with the POV.

      You set the ground rules for them. And they’ll execute them. Might not be real time to remove comments not caught by the filter but you won’t have the stress and aggravation anymore.

      I’ll personally chip in money to make that happen or help you find a few students that would do it. Don’t feel like you’re alone on this one.

      Like

    2. Reed, you provide a valuable service. You should feel no compunction about putting up a PayPal link to accept donations. Why not? Keep the same standards, you don’t need to worry about someone who donated getting offended. Someone else will step up.

      You have the only sane Pitt discussion board in town. Having been a member of Chris Peak’s paid site and continuing memberships with his free boards, I know the quality of honest discussion here beats the others.

      Even those of us who would like Pitt to play by the same rules its conference rivals play by respect your discipline first approach.

      Take the donations. Don’t worry. By getting a little pocket money you may be more motivated, even if only subconsciously, to keep the board up.

      Where are we gonna go when Narduzzi lays a brick at Tennessee and coaches away a perfectly winnable game?

      Like

      1. Not sure what peak charges but a paid site virtually eliminates trolls and you have more civil conversations and less name calling and flaming.

        A measly ten dollar annual subscription with a registration for online viewing and commenting would prevent 95 percent of the trolls. You probably still need a filter and some moderator to approve what gets flagged but I think that’s the best solution.

        You really can’t get this degree of value added content anywhere. Particularly for secondary sports including Dans knowledge of basketball.

        I can’t wait for that baseball regional so I can do some on site reporting. I can’t wait to have someone do a lacrosse writeup. I luv that sport. It’s soccer and hockey combined.

        The more you learn about sports, the more comfortable you get, the more you see and appreciate, the more spirit you receive.

        Football is so draining on the soul. Some of these other sports are our rescue lines.

        Like

  20. Worst case Reed. You could charge a nominal fee like a subscription in order to comment. Most trolls won’t pay or go through the effort at registering to just troll. It’s the path of least resistance for them.

    Heck you could even have a subscription plan allowing readers to comment up to ‘x’ amount of times before the next price point hits. I would probably qualify for the $100 monthly plan based on usage. 🤠

    Like

    1. Your getting a little too excited, Tex. A donation option would work just fine. I like your idea of getting a student(s) to run the board…would be interesting to read their perspective on the coaching, facilities….etc.

      Like

  22. There really has been only four happy moments that I recall for pitt football in the last 15 years

    13-9
    42-39
    43-42
    Fitzgerald against A&M
    Maybe the palko f bomb game

    Far more painful ones.

    Like

  23. I wonder if I could do a thing where any money from subscriptions would automatically go to a charity…like the Democratic National Committee!

    Oops, Broke my own rule.

    Folks, the bottom line is sometimes I just need to vent and get it out of my system. But thanks for the suggestions…

    Like

  24. Vent away. But charging I think is best. And getting a few college students to review the flagged comments. The sports desk of the pitt news can recommend people.

    Like

  25. OK – I’ll charge according to a Negatives Index – the more negative you are the more $$ per year. An example:

    Ike – $5.00 per annum
    Tex – $5,000 per annum.

    I think that’s pretty fair.

    Liked by 3 people

    2. Ike should be near zero dollars charged. 🤠

      Just kidding Ike. I know there are some days you drink the vinegar. I’m the extreme with football and some other things. But not everything. See volleyball and soccer. And for the most part baseball.

      There’s really only two people that I have a very difficult time with.

      Like

    3. “the steve” never had a more harsh critic than me in his life. Like Tex with Heather, not a day would go by without me expressing my pure animosity towards that man and my feelings remain the same to this day. I felt the need to express these feeling for some things smiley decided to change. A lot of things. Personally I don’t see what Heather has done to garner all the wrath directed at her. Part of the reason I’m suspicious is that this goes back to day one before Heather made it to Pittsburgh. She never had a chance with some of you.

      ike

      Like

  26. About my point last comment…………. despite the fact I couldn’t stand “the steve” I never let it get in the way of MY PITT football team. Last I heard being loyal is a good thing?

    Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.