Hope Pitt has to stay the entire 27 months.

What Pitt did is no better than what Miaqmi, VTU, and BC did. Pederson and Nordenberg behaved in a secretive and underhanded manner.

Nordenberg was head of the committee to keep the BE together, for cryin' out loud.

In any event, they'd still be looking in from the cold if UConn hadn't said no.

Stevie P's good at building non-football facilities, I'll give him credit for that. But the man would rather have a woman's softball field on campus than a football stadium. There's your football stadium - right where the baseball and soccer fields are. Or, where the track facility is supposed to be.

And you don't need proximity to an interstate, or interstate exit, or loads of surface parking, either. I think people can make do with 7 Saturday's parking per year. When ND or PSU came to Pitt Stadium, people had no problem attending games.

By the way - How's that interstate and those surface lots at Heinz workin' for ya', attendance-wise?

Unrelated topic -

Prosecutors won't charge Lance Armstrong.

When your opponent has ex-President's, Supreme Court Justices, Senators, Congressmen and billionaires in his corner, the smart, career-minded prosecutor backs off.

Justice can easily be served on the next poor defendant. No need to be greedy for justice.

Well, Bob. I hope you're happy now. That just wasted one of my complimentary views of Newsday.com!

This notion that Pitt wronged the Big East is pure 100% B.S. It is the other way around. The Big East football teams were begging the Big East commissioner to improve the football side of the conference for stability. Nothing was done. Furthermore, Pitt had informed the Big East months before it's defection that would listen to any other interested conferences.

I am not that concerned about playing in the ACC in 2012. The ACC is really not miles better than the Big East in football, but I wouldn't mind one more shot at the championship in the Big East football conference. Also, its not as if the Big East basketball conference is exactly chopped liver. Aside from DePaul, it was the one positive of the 2003 raid.

@Scooter, Pitt did what they had to and the smart thing. The BE didn't try to improve the football side of the conference until iy lost 3(4 if you count TCU) teams. As far as UCONN saying no, that didn't happen. I hope they can go in 2012, but I like Mr. Pitt's thought about one more crack at the BE football championship.

The Big East football teams were begging the Big East commissioner to improve the football side of the conference for stability. Nothing was done.

You're right. Nothing was done. Pitt and Syracuse continued to let the conference down with their mediocre performance. If they were better teams they might be allowed to leave. Yes, it's great for Pitt to have one more crack at the championship but alas, Cincinnati and Rutgers are still providing barriers.

I bet the ACC can't wait.

Meathead,

Obviously I cannot debate you in Pitt's football performance. They have underachieved, indeed.

What a fan does is pick a team and hope for that team to do their best. That is all. Hopefully, Pitt will do better in the future. However, I have a feeling you wouldn't give them credit even if they won the Big East, National Championship and had a player win the Heisman.

The prevailing thought for the powers of the BE was that this was a basketball conference and the football teams were being placated as a courtesy ... even when the football schools (save Georgerown and Villanova) comprised the best and most popular basketball teams over the past decade and more.

Pitt had a choice to deemphasize its football program and stay, or join a stable conference when provided the oppoertunity. This will become evident in 5 or 6 years when the BE football conference will no longer exist (or at least lose its BCS affiliation.)

Personally, I wish the Big East would have worked for us.
Great league...
PITT, Penn State, Syracuse, BC, Maryland, VT, WVU, South Florida, Cincinnati, Miami, Louisville, and Central Florida.
A guy can dream.
Go PITT!

I pretty much gave up on Pitt (and college football) the night Ohio beat them. Perhaps some day they will win me back.

The Big East failed when Syracuse, Pitt, Rutgers and West Virginia allowed Conference USA to take over their conference. Pitt is lucky the ACC wanted them.

Pitt is lucky the ACC wanted them.

Now that is something I can agree with.

That Ohio loss was a tough one. So was Bowling Green, Navy, Cincinnati (2009), Connecticut (2010)...

Maybe Pederson had a premonition but Pitt's non-conference sched the next few years in football is speckled with ACC teams like NC State and Va. Tech. Maybe they'll switch those to BE teams when the move is finalized. Obviously we'd like to see the Brawl with WVU continue.

Maybe because he's such 180 from Flim Flam Man Graham, but Chryst's understated style is refreshing. Like what he said, paraphrasing, that he's been honest with kids who looked like prospects to the laymen's eye that they won't play much given their size, speed, etc.

I read where he said at Wisconsin that "they grow big Palookas up here," meaning linemen who easily top 300. He likes those rode graders.

Scooter
Not sure you are clearly understanding or assessing what actually happened, becausse of your dislike of Pederson (which I similarly share). As much as I'd like to see SP move on with his life's work, the fact can not be denied that the commissioners of the BE are totally and singularly to blame for abandoning the football playing members of its conference. An 8-team football conference is a joke and any commissioner that doesn't understand that should do the right thing and resign. All the football schools were demanding expansion, that's the fact, hatred of SP aside. Instead the commissioners failure to listen and act forced Pitt and Syracuse to take matters into their own hands. Miami, VT, and BC left a perfectly viable legit conference, that is the major difference. As for onfield facilities, getting into Oakland and finding parking for 12,000 fans at basketball games is a nightmare, anyone who doesn't understand what this would mean to Pitt fans tyring to do the same thing with 50,000 to 60,0000 people is just not being honest with Oakland's lmitations.



I would not dispute that an eight-team league is bad. But is a 12-team league that includes Houston, SMU, San Diego State, etc. any better? I don't think so. In fact, it might be worse. It's easy to pile on the Big East commissioner and his predecessor but they were between a rock and a hard place. There were almost no viable candidates for expansion that would have strengthened the league. Do you think Pitt and Syracuse would have stayed in if the Big East were a 12-team league that included the above-mentioned schools? I would hope not. -- Bob Smizik

Why is the Pitt football program always behind the times? Always playing catch-up?

ACC football in two years may be worse than the Big East is now. This after watching WVU annihilate Clemson.

Someone has been making horrible decisions



And what would you have done differently? Please don't say Big Ten. It was not an option. -- Bob Smizik

If Pitt does get to leave early they only have to thank their neighbors in Morgantown. They took the bull by the horns and said the BE is not what it was and were moving on-- " To the west side with bigger apartments"

Taxing Matters
Couldn't agree more. The football program has been mediocre-some of that has to do with shrinking population and aging demographics in its prime western Pa recruiting region (I'm old enough to remember the day when there were mills up and down the rivers and the high schools graduated a surplus of athletic talent), some of it has to do with bad athletic dept. management and coaching and some of it has to do with JoePa and Penn State sucking all the oxygen out of the recruiting room-he ran what was maybe the best program and was the best coach in the country for years-why wouldn't he get the best local recruits?
With the pending ACC move, some stability in the coaching staff and the unfortunate, if not tragic, end to the Paterno Era at PSU, Pitt fans have reason to hope for better times ahead.

Can we stop with this blame Pitt and Syracuse stuff? Every single BE commisioner came from Providence and the BE HQ is in Providence. It always has been a basketball conf only interested in doing the minimum to keep BCS status and BCS money rolling in. It will stay this way as long as the basketball schools are calling the shots.

Sure, Steve. "Keep an eye" on whether WVU can break a binding contract so you can piggyback on their 'success.'

I have long maintained that a carnival barker like Graham did not fall from the sky. Rather he was courted and wooed by a fellow con running Pitt athletics. Ethics or morals? Don't make me laugh.



After Haywood was fired, Pederson haters whooped it up that he would have less or no input on the next hire, that a committee had been set up, that he had lost the confidence of Nordenberg, that he soon would be fired. But now that Graham hiring didn't work out, it's all Pederson's fault. Can't have it both ways. --- Bob Smizik

As a Maryland resident, I'm glad Pitt will be coming to the area more often.

Historic type rivalries? The more I hear Pederson, the more I think less of his leadership at Pitt.
The guy has no idea what Pitt football is about to their fans. He is clueless of everything Pitt. He may be a good AD when it comes to building things on campus and I agree he did a good job with the Pete, but when it comes to what Pitt is about(the legacy) he just doesn't get it.
WVU is a bigger rivalry than Miami or VT can ever be and as far as Penn STate after all these years I say dump it.
I am a 58 yr old lifelong Pitt fan.
You may not agree with me SP but the fans know more than you ever will what will and will not work.
Just ask them. I'm sure they would love to get involved.


Tell us, o great one, what will work for Pitt? Exactly where has Pederson gone wrong on conference realignment? --- Bob Smizik

I wrote this on a previous blog post Bob but it was toward the end so I'll repeat. I friend of mine is an attorney and a big WVU booster. He has repeatedly stated that there is nothing that the Big East can legally do to compel WVU to play in the Big East next year. He is 100% positive that WVU will be in the Big 12, but will have to pay a bigger exit fee than the prescribed fee of $5 million. He also stated that Pitt and Syracuse are of a similar mindset, but are happy to sit back and allow WVU to play the bad guy and take this issue on head first.

His bottom line is that WVU will go to the Big 12, and with that precedent set, Pitt and Syracuse will then exit to the ACC shortly thereafter.

Wow, some revisionist history per Scooter.

The problem from the start of the BE Football Conference was that it began as a successful basketball conference with leadership provided by a continuation of Providence AD officials. The power and voting majority remained the basketball schools and their protection, not the football programs.

The BE was reactive rather than proactive which is how it kept getting caught in awful situations beginning with the decision of Miami to move closer to home for a conference. Miami wanted Boston College and Syracuse to join them. We all know how that turned out and the Virginia legislature pressuring UVA to cast the deciding vote to have VT join the ACC. BC then was quite vocal about raising the departure fee to $5 million and to have a longer exit timetable. Pitt and WVU were on board with that too as both Pitt and WVU's presidents and AD's tried to keep alive the BE and pushed to have the football side expanded. But, nothing beyond replacing the departing 3 teams were done by the BE leadership.

Pitt and WVU have been very persistent in pressuring the BE leadership to change their thinking. Finally the opportunity and the invitation came from the ACC but to Pitt and Syracuse (both regarded as higher academic institutions than WVU), so they accepted and got out of the mess that the BE has become. By the way Nordenberg was not in charge the past several years so that was incorrect too.

Sure UCONN could be seen as a potential ACC team too but Pitt didn't squeak under the door before UCONN. Boston College made it clear to the ACC that they did not want UCONN as they wished to be the only New England team in the ACC. So don't claim that Pitt did anything to prevent UCONN from being an ACC member, look North of UCONN.

Thank God Pitt has found itself in a far better conference that has history, good solid academics, good athletic programs, and stability. Oh, yeah, did I mention better bowl game lineup and opportunity for more than one team in the BCS? Incidentally the split for ACC members is far in excess of what the BE splits.

Bye Bye BE, the sooner the better.

Bob, I wasn't talking about the ACC conference realignment but that he said about Pitt's historic rivalry with Miami and VT. There was no HISTORIC rivalry with these teams, typical conference rivalries YES.
He doesn't think the WVU rivalry compared to those two was historic?
In my opinion he is clueless of Pitt lore.

I dislike pederson, but i like the move to the ACC. If the big ten were an option could you imagine getting slaughtered by wisconsin, ohio state, michigan, and michigan state year in and year out? We would be the indiana of the big ten in football. if you think Pitt could compete with those programs you are really stuck in the 70's and early 80's still.

ACC may not be the SEC or PAC-16, but it is better than the big east. Facts are facts, Pitt is not a powerhouse football program, conferences were not clamoring for them..I am betting if the basketball team had not had such success the last 11 years Pitt would not have been mentioned in the ACC expansion. Be thankful we are getting out of a pathetic big east. I would much rather see north carolina, Vt, the U, maryland coming to heinz field than san diego state, houston, and a beat down by boise state.

I can see that WVU has a beef, but Pitt and Syracuse can't look for the same remedy.

Since Pitt has closed down my season ticket section and wants to "upgrade" my tickets to some remote corner of the stadium, I will see a lot fewer Pitt games. Why buy season tickets when I can get those lousy seats on StubHub for less money for most games.
I have had those tickets since they moved to Hienz Field. So for me, a move to the ACC coincides with seeing fewer Pitt games.

The ACC is better than the BE with Houston, Boise State, SMU and Navy, but that 12 team BE would have been better than an 8 team football league that is hamstrung by its relationship with Notre Dame. Ripping Nordenberg and Pederson for doing what they said they would if the BE didn't expand is just typical Pitt trash talk. ND wanted to play in the best basketball conference in the country but have no connection with the BE in football-and the basketball dominated BE conference, which included most of the other great Catholic institutions of higher learning, saw that as a perfect solution. It may well have been perfect for ND, Nova, Marquette, Georgetown, but it was not a good solution for Pitt, Syracuse and WVU, all of whom had aspirations for their football programs that the BE couldn't satisfy.
The outcome served all of the schools' interests-ND keeps its preferred association with Georgetown, Nova etc and the three aspiring Eastern football powers move on to better -or in WVU's case-much better football conferences.

The Big East began when Miami agreed to join a conference that fielded teams hundreds if not thousands of miles away from it. The Big East ended when Miami was invited to join a conference that made better sense.

The best hope for the Bad East was for its teams to get better. They didn't. Having Cincinnati, Louisville and Connecticut win your conference should have been embarassing to the Pitts, West Virginias and Syracuses of the conference. Blaming Providence for the conference's problems is a joke.

The ACC chose Pitt and Syracuse for basketball or for geography. Neither school adds anything in football. Providence must be running the ACC too.

written by Scooter, February 04, 2012 - 01:51 AM
Hope Pitt has to stay the entire 27 months.

What Pitt did is no better than what Miaqmi, VTU, and BC did.

Actually, each of those three have completely differently stories. The "U" under Donna Shalala was complicit in the raid, recruiting both BC and Syracuse to come with them. Had they simply chosen to go on their own and not engaged others, their actions would not have been so reprehensible.

VT - the Hokies were the proverbial pound puppy peering into the window of the butcher shop. Virginia's governor prevailed upon UVa to block any move that did not include VT because he was concerned about VT being left behind...as he should have been. Kudos to him for applying leverage to protect one of the commonwealth's schools. As a result, the Hokies, who had "wandered" for years as both an independent and member of second tier conferences, found themselves in their Promised Land. I don't care for the Hokies, but cannot hold them in the same light as Miami or BC.

As for BC - I'm not sure what's worse - plotting at the beginning - or maintaining allegiance to the BE after being shut out and then bolting. It is nothing short of amazing that they felt the matchup with Miami was more important to them than the relationships with ND and all the other Catholic schools.

Pederson and Nordenberg behaved in a secretive and underhanded manner.

Both made it clear to the BE that Pitt was dissatisfied with the lack of progress that the BE was making in addressing the LT security of the football part of the conference. In writing BTW.

Their move - along with WVU - to block Villanova's proposed move up to D1A via a untenable stadium solution in Chester, PA was a clear message that the standard for football had to be higher.

Nordenberg was head of the committee to keep the BE together, for cryin' out loud.

You should read this if you haven't already:

http://pittscriptblog.com/2011...a-lie.html

In any event, they'd still be looking in from the cold if UConn hadn't said no.

Where do you get this crap? BC blocked UConn. Uconn would have said, "Stop it! You had me at 'Hello'!"

Stevie P's good at building non-football facilities, I'll give him credit for that. But the man would rather have a woman's softball field on campus than a football stadium. There's your football stadium - right where the baseball and soccer fields are. Or, where the track facility is supposed to be.

And you don't need proximity to an interstate, or interstate exit, or loads of surface parking, either. I think people can make do with 7 Saturday's parking per year. When ND or PSU came to Pitt Stadium, people had no problem attending games.

Hey - why let the facts get in the way?
I took my HS daughter for a tour of Pitt last Sat AM and actually drove around the Pete, the Fitz, Trees Hall and the new baseball/softball/soccer complex. Its a maze up 'ere and the surrounding streets are a challenge to get from point A to point B without an event going on. Steve Pederson did not create that mess BTW.

By the way - How's that interstate and those surface lots at Heinz workin' for ya', attendance-wise?

Has nothing to do with the stadium. Its the level of play, the matchups and the importance of the game. I've been a season ticketholder for years, attending approx 4 games/yr - one of which was the 2009 UCinn game for all the BE marbles. It was a great atmosphere, befitting of D1A CFB. Have witnessed the same with some past ND, VT and Miami match-ups.

I can't stand this worthless blathering about Pitt needing a stadium in Oakland. Pitt stadium stunk...it was a horrible place to watch a football game. Attendance at football games has absolutely nothing to do with the location of the stadium...it has everything to do with the performance of the team. Anyone who can't see that is blind, stupid, and ignorant. Just look at the Pirates last season - stadium was packed when they played well last June.

Pitt has been miserable for a long time. As a Pitt grad I'm looking forward to this fresh start with a new conference and a new coach. If Pederson listened to some of the neanderthals on this blog, we'd have Wanny as a coach forever and still being watching games at that dump called Pitt stadium...now that would be something to look forward to.

What all of these conferences promise financially do not always happen with bigger splits of the purse. Article in yesterday's Wash Post discussed Maryland's situation of dumping 5 sports due to the millions in debt of the athletic program - - diving, M/W track and swimming. Not revenue sports, but viable M/F athletic scholarships for non-BB or FB. However, these sports were to exist because of the millions FB & BB were to provide from conference payouts. The millions are promised, but the budget to remain competitive is outgrowing the purse splits - - if you do not win, lower alum contributions and less seats sold - - not the finances expected. MD has trouble selling out its stadium regularly.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/university-of-maryland-swimmers-struggle-to-save-their-program-from-elimination/2012/02/02/gIQAUh9UlQ_story.html

ADs & U Pres are overselling the finances on these conf issues with all schools. With the AQ conference tag possibly being done, mega-FB schools will still rule the bowls, TV $s and financial windfalls.

After Haywood was fired, Pederson haters whooped it up that he would have less or no input on the next hire, that a committee had been set up, that he had lost the confidence of Nordenberg, that he soon would be fired. But now that Graham hiring didn't work out, it's all Pederson's fault. Can't have it both ways. --- Bob Smizik

TOTAL REVISIONIST HISTORY -- the committee search resulted in the recent hiring of Chryst not Graham.

Why do you keep making up lies to support Pederson?

Fact is that the 1st thing Pedersen did in is initial (and successful) stint as Pitt AD was to replace a another Pitt employee that had a great inital stint but unsuccessful second one (JOhnny Majors.) And it is now time for Pedersen to be released.



Whoa, whoa, whoa. I might make mistakes. I do not tell lies. My recollection, and it's pretty strong, was that after the Haywood firing, Nordenberg added Jerry Cochran and Donna Sanft to the search committee. Many took that as a swipe at Pederson, as he would not have the final voice in hiring the coach.
You wrote that I have told multiple lies to support Pederson. You named one, which I believe is not the case. What is another? ---- Bob Smizik

Bob,

If Steve Pederson is incompetent to the point that Pitt has to hire a committee to do what should be one of his most important duties as Athletic Director (namely hire the Head Football Coach), what is the point of paying him over $600,000 per year.

You are the one who wants it 'both ways' with Mr. Pederson.

http://www.cardiachill.com/201...-directors





I am not totally familiar with how all schools run job searches. Penn State, for example, had a committee to hunt for a successor to Paterno. Whether that is the exception or the norm, I'm not sure. I also believe that some institutions hire a search firm to help with new hires.
In any event, I don't think that fact a committee or an outside search firm is used means the AD is not worth his salary and it certainly is not necessarily a sign the AD is incompetent. -- Bob Smizik

Those who think Pitt might get an on campus stadium in the near future forget that Fast Eddie Rendell is no longer governor and the monies that flowed like water at Falling Water are nowhere in sight! Tom Corbett was elected to be penurious...witness our Port Authority situation. Walking is healthy and a lot more people are about to do it.

One of my clients is a state school like Pitt and has been told a 5% cut this year and 18% next....yep the cash cow ran out of milk. No $100,000,000 of our tax money to build Pitt a playpen for football.

In addition, a new stadium would be a huge footprint and need an additional 20 acres for parking. There's no room at Pitt now.

And like others I agree Pitt Stadium was bleacher bum splintering bad experience with a heart attack walk approach and no amenities. Only worthwhile asset was the gigantic popcorn machines that spewed out a room full of goodies.

Not sure where all of this retro romance with Pitt Stadium is coming from. Even when Dorsett was there they only sold 40,000 to 45,000 tickets for the non Notre Dame/Penn State/WVU games.

@I am not totally familiar with how all schools run job searches. Penn State, for example, had a committee to hunt for a successor to Paterno. Whether that is the exception or the norm, I'm not sure. I also believe that some institutions hire a search firm to help with new hires.
In any event, I don't think that fact a committee or an outside search firm is used means the AD is not worth his salary and it certainly is not necessarily a sign the AD is incompetent. -- Bob Smizik


Deciding to fire a coach is a serious undertaking and has many implications. It was not like Dave Wannstadt ran off unexpectedly to take another job, was caught in a scandal, or developed some unforeseen illness.

It was the the height of utter incompetence to decide to fire Dave Wannstadt without first knowing what your plan was.

Again, Steve Pederson decided to CREATE the need of finding a new coach. His lack of planning is what led to the Haywood/Graham fiascoes.

Basically, he is a poor administrator and planner. Examining his time at Nebraska is further evidence of his deficiencies.

But, is America a great country, or what?

Where else could an incompetent carpet-baggier like Steve Pederson earn $600,000/yr.




I answered your point about Pitt's hiring practices. So you most the goal post and make it the firing practices. Neat.
Pederson is not perfect. I never said he was. He might have made a mistake in firing Wannstedt.
Overall, I think he's done a good job. I think you need to get over the fact he's making $600,000. -- Bob Smizik

I answered your point about Pitt's hiring practices. So you most the goal post and make it the firing practices. Neat.
Pederson is not perfect. I never said he was. He might have made a mistake in firing Wannstedt.
Overall, I think he's done a good job. I think you need to get over the fact he's making $600,000. -- Bob Smizik

The firing/hiring practices cannot be so cleanly separated in this instance. Again, Steve Pederson CREATED the need for the hiring and his poor planning led to 'Coach Freddie Cruger' and 'Coach Jet Fuel'.

As far as Pederson's salary, you are correct that Pitt has every right to waste their money how they choose.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

From a personal perspective, I did undergrad at UNC so I am hoping for a Carolina football game in my hometown of Pittsburgh as soon as possible.

From Pitt's perspective, it also makes sense. If WVU is gone, the Big East is worthless. They have to move on as soon as possible to maintain relevancy.

Bob

I have extensively reviewed the pederson argument above.

If its is acceptable for pederson to hire an outside firm to hire and find a coach, why not hire a committee to fire a coach.

The athletic director has to take responsiblity when things go wrong.
Pederson should never have fired Wannstedt, and that is clear.



How do you know Wannstedt wasn't fired by 'committee?' I'm sure Pederson ran it past his superiors. -- Bob Smizik