PITT FOOTBALL: WEEKLY NOTES & SPRING GAME PREVIEW
April 17th, 2008 | by Reed |A lot has happened since I last posted on the progress of Spring Camp. Some good; mostly bad. First things first…
We have all read about the weekend adventures of Sherod Murdock (rsFR), our apparently overly emotional defensive back. The whole story hasn’t been told yet, and without speculating too much I can say that something very weird happened in a PITT dorm room (supposedly his own) that resulted in the dormitory being locked down. The more believable aspects of the circumstances that I’ve read say this; it entailed a blade of some sort, the Pittsburgh Police SWAT team responding, Coach Wannstedt having to be called to the scene at 3:00 AM to reason with the kid and Murdock being hospitalized for 48 hours after the incident. The hospitalization is totally believable as that is the average length of time it takes for a hospital staff to remove a Head Coach’s foot from a player’s ass.
I do wonder that if DW had to be called in to talk Murdock out of whatever he was doing, hopefully Wannstedt waited until Sherod put the knife down before he kicked Murdock off the team. One would think that our Head Coach would be smart enough to realize that on occasion timing is everything.
Furthermore, and at a position we can least afford losses in, Jason Pinkston wailed on a fraternity kid. That incident is under investigation at this point, and no charges have been filed. But, if we believe what we read on the Internet, I would expect them at some point. This Pinkston situation is so much like the lead in for a comedy routine I can’t even start… “An offensive lineman and a FIJI walk into a bar…” Without debating whether a fraternity member deserves to be punched just on the strength of his social associations, this isn’t proper behavior. Seducing his Tri Delta girlfriend would have been simpler and much more effective - and probably taken less time.
None of this is anything good, but really, it’s to be expected at some point. I am proud that PITT seems to have less of these highly publicized incidents then other local teams -but disheartened that we read about it at all. But on another note: If any publicity is good publicity, we have made the list for the “Fulmer Cup” which is awarded to the school which ends up with the majority of these incidents each year. PSU is very “relevant” in that competition on a continuing basis.
The fallout from all this for the rest of the team was an early morning workout that, from the sounds of it, was pretty intense. At one point during the disciplinary application Wannstedt was being interview by a radio station and had to give the phone to Matt Cavanaugh to finish the radio piece while he got back to punishing the kids who had nothing to do with the two incidents. It probably was for the best though - leadership takes all forms and we have some senior personnel that need to be reminded that, while they can’t hope to halt every transgression by others, they can apply peer pressure in the hopes of avoiding untoward situations. One player who benefited from the workout was Nate Byham, who after running the required early morning ‘gassers’ (One gasser equals the width of the football field times four), reported to his Grandfather that his knee feels fine. OK!
The Blue & Gold Spring Game is just around the corner. I’ll be driving up for it and have made arrangements to meet up before the scrimmage with some other PITT fans who discuss PITT football and every other subject imaginable on Scouts.com’s Inside the Huddle message board. Of course, everyone posts anonymously and no one knows anyone else or what they look like so there is an excellent chance we’ll just walk on by who we are supposed to meet.
I’m looking forward to the whole day, and Steve Pederson has done a great job in getting both the word out about PITT football to the national media, and to the fans. There are a lot of activities scheduled and the scrimmage itself will be broadcast nationally on the NFL Channel. That is a major accomplishment on our AD’s part, and shows a real proactive stance that he’s taking in regards to the 2008 season. I believe that other than the U of Florida Spring Game no other schools are having their scrimmage shown like we are.
I’m of two minds about this actually. If our team holds to the type of offensive play they have shown in the first two spring scrimmages - it could get ugly. If I were Pederson or Wannstedt I’d generously bribe the announcers to continually harp on how great our defense is going to be so the people who are watching don’t turn the TV off in disgust due to our O line’s Keystone Kops imitation.
One last point about the preseason efforts to attract fans…Pederson has offered what I think is an amazing deal - even better than the general season tickets at $70 for seven home games. If one is a Graduate student or a Professional Student (and that doesn’t mean remaining an undergrad for 10 years to avoid the workplace) then there is this offer:
GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL STUDENTS SPECIAL OFFER!
Season Tickets for some of the Best Seats in the House for only $99
Dear Pitt Graduate and Professional Students:
Thank you for making the University of Pittsburgh a special place. While you may not have experienced Pitt football as an undergraduate, we want you to be a part of the excitement at Heinz Field this fall.
We have reserved some of the best seats in the house at Heinz Field, the spectacular Club Lounge, for graduate and professional students at a special price only available to graduate and professional students. We hope you enjoy all six (6) home football games this season in the Club Lounge at Heinz Field. We have an exciting team and great home schedule in 2008.
We look forward to seeing you at Heinz Field in the fall!
Click below to learn more about the Special Graduate and Professional Student Season Ticket Option or call the Panthers Ticket Office at 1-800-643-PITT