With holes in the upcoming 2008 schedule you know the Pitt adulators will come out of the woodwork and sure enough they have.
Quick, without going to Google, what's the nickname of the Coastal Carolina athletic teams? For those of you who don't, it's the Chanticleers. Why, you wonder, are you being asked this question? It's so you'll be prepared when those Division I -AA Chanticleers, who are Penn State's appetizer for the 2008 season, roll into Beaver Stadium.
Bracken is absolutely right to chastise the Athletic department for scheduling such heinously overmatched teams. As a season ticket holder I'm extremely perturbed at the Florida Internationals and Buffalos of the schedule but swallow those rather bitter tasting pills at the chance of seeing the Fighting Irish. But looking ahead to the 2008 schedule the best OOC game is Syracuse.
2008
Aug. 30 COASTAL CAROLINA
Sept. 6 ARKANSAS STATE
Sept. 13 at Syracuse
Sept. 20 TBA
Sept. 27 ILLINOIS (1)
Oct. 4 at Purdue
Oct. 11 at Wisconsin
Oct. 18 MICHIGAN
Oct. 25 at Ohio State
Nov. 8 at Iowa
Nov. 15 INDIANA
Nov. 22 MICHIGAN STATE
While I'm happy to be playing an old eastern rival, Syracuse has not been lighting the college football world on fire lately. If they are the meat in an otherwise vegan-esque sandwich I'm going to be disappointed, to put it mildly. That looming TBA has become very important thanks to the rest of the crappy schedule. But this is where Bracken and I part ways.
But this is less about those Jello-molds than it is about the opportunity that is available to the Lions to resume the annual rockfight with Pitt.
Would someone tell me what a rockfight is? But I digress… we've been through this before but scheduling Pitt as the marquee matchup in that schedule is a gigantic mistake. I understand that we aren't going to see a Florida or Texas fill that spot but I would much rather play a one for one with Georgia Tech, or Oregon before scheduling Pitt again, especially when there is no OOC highlight. Scheduling Pitt as the "big game" makes me want to poke my eyes out with a pen. Bracken then says something that puts a smile on my face:
There is a faction of Penn State fans that feels that the series no longer holds value, that Penn State should do nothing to help Pitt, that playing the Panthers is no different, or better, than beating up on the Coastal Carolinas and Florida Internationals of the world.
That's exactly the kind of arrogance that pushed the series to the curb like a '72 Pinto with a blown engine. It also underscores the deep-rooted feelings this series always engendered and made it one of the great rivarlies in history.
Somebody's been reading our blogs. RUTS, BSD, and I seldom come to a unanimous conclusion on things (just take a look at our B&W Roundtable) but we definitely agree on the scheduling of Pitt: thanks, but no thanks. Sure, we'll be more than happy to have Pitt on the schedule but not as the big out of conference game and not a one for one. As Bracken so eloquently puts it scheduling Pitt is no better than scheduling a Syracuse or Coastal Carolina. Is that arrogant thinking, sure but it doesn't mean it's not true.
Think about this: For $120, Pitt fans can buy a season-ticket package for a home schedule consisting of Eastern Michigan, Grambling, Connecticut, Navy, Cincinnati, Syracuse and South Florida. And if you do take that package you can buy a second one for $10, which is about $1.43 per ticket.
Exactly our point – Pitt needs Penn State to sell tickets PSU doesn't need Pitt. That's the bottom line.
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6 comments:
You are exactly correct; Pitt needs Penn State more than Penn State needs Pitt. If Pitt wants to act that way (2-1 at HV, perhaps), maybe it would make sense.
Penn State will sell 107,000 tickets for Pitt, or Buffalo, or Coastal Carolina, etc. Pitt will only sell tickets for Penn State. And even then the only way for a sellout would be Penn State fans buying tickets.
The more I think about it, the dumber that article actually is.
Nobody under the age of 30 cares about Pitt. Sorry, they don't. It's a nice relic, and our parents can tell good stories about the game, but it's over. It's a great way for sportswriters in their 40's, 50's and 60's to fill column space on a monthly basis, though.
And you know what? It's hard to actually describe, but the Pitt fans don't respect the game. They want a big game on the schedule more than they want a true rivalry game against Penn State.
Also, why are all of Bracken's reasons for playing Pitt beneficial to Pitt? Not to mention that this statement was pure fucking stupidity:
Pitt needs the rivalry, college football needs the rivalry, Penn State needs to avoid loading up on too many donuts in its schedule.
Yeah, Pitt needs it. Not a reason for Penn State to schedule them.
College football needs it? Why? It's nothing more than a regional rivalry. College football doesn't need the game any more than it needs Clemson vs. South Carolina. It's a local story.
Donuts? Playing 6-6 Pitt is going to suddenly make our strength of schedule (which really only matters if you're in the top 6-8 in the country) skyrocket? Please.
Beneficial to Penn State:
1. Play before the fans in Pittsburgh
2. Have one slot OOC filled every year to prevent this fucking scramble for #119.
3. Prevent derision from rest of universe.
Seriously. Rivalry games don't have to be competitive over the short-term. They just don't. UT owned A&M for long stretches. How many times has GT really been up to Georgia's caliber? Colorado vs. Colorado State - competitive recently, but historically?
I agree we dont need nor want pitt. But I also dont understand why our AD is being so tight with them? Why are we signing 1 and 1's with Syracuse or playing road games at Temple? I remember they signed the Orangeman contract and i wasn't too impressed, the orange were already on the way down. Some talent is coming of the WPIAL to go to Columbus and THEM. Wouldn't spanking Pitt year in and year out help with that more then trashing Cuse? What if we signed 2 years at a time so if a better tier 2 OOC became avail we could jump on that?
This is just my guess but I think Syracuse was always a fair arrangement - by that I mean evenly played between the two locals. Pitt has played twice and almost three times as many games at their place than at Happy Valley.
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