In case you still haven't seen it...

Every time I see Derek Kinder's block I feel so happy.

Ugly

As I feared, Pitt collapsed in the second half yet again and showed exactly why it was an 11.5-point home underdog.

The key for both teams entering the second half was which team would make better adjustments on defense.

Jeff Castillo's plan: Blitz Tyler Palko like crazy and give him no time to throw. Something was done right, anyway, as Palko was considerably less efficient in the second half, and started getting visibly frustrated at his offensive line for getting overwhelmed by Mountaineers, at his receivers for not cutting back on longer routes.

Paul Rhoads' plan: Honestly it didn't seem like Pitt's defense did anything differently in the second half except make fewer stops in the backfield. To be fair to Pitt's defense, they actually did get off the field a couple of times in the second half, but Palko's magic had already started to run out and they couldn't capitalize offensively. West Virginia gave the ball back to Pitt twice in a span of three possessions in the third quarter, and if the offense had been able to march up and down the field like it had in the first half, Pitt could have been in the game for a little bit longer, but I won't conjecture. What's done is done, and a team of Pitt's caliber probably shouldn't even have been winning at the half against a team like West Virginia, as fun as it was while it lasted.

In any case, college football season is now over for me. I hear there's a couple of teams playing on Saturday or something but I've always had a hard time watching college sports if Pitt isn't involved, with the exception of the NCAA tournament (and that's just because I usually have money riding on it; when my bracket gets busted, I usually stop paying such close attention).

I will wish Rutgers good luck before I go. Beat those fucking Mountaineers. And I'll wish Tyler Palko and H.B. Blades the best of luck in their future, wherever it may lead them. I hope it's in football, because both of them are talented enough to play in the NFL, and I do need more reasons to be biased in favor of one NFL team or another when I can't decide who to choose in the weekly picks. Sadly, Palko is getting the Drew Brees treament from a lot of scouts (not big enough), but hey, Drew Brees turned out alright.

Halftime

Pitt by three at the midway mark, and I don't think I could be much more satisfied. The game's been a little more high-scoring than I would have expected, but that's partially because the field was drier than expected, given that it stopped raining at around 5 and just started again in the final minute or so of the first half.

To be fair to WV, they're not using the ground game to beat us anyway. They are using Steve Slaton, as expected, just they're using him downfield in the passing game. And credit to them for exploiting this weakness in Pitt's defense. Paul Rhoads had better figure something out to deal with him. Maybe even cover him with Darrelle Revis.

Credit has to be given to Tyler Palko, too. It looked for a little while like WV would start pulling away, but Palko hasn't missed a beat, and he's a main part of the reason Pitt has the lead right now. Not that it's surprising, but he deserves some kudos for his performance in the first half.

But speaking of Darrelle Revis. Play of the year.

I'm nervous right now, given Pitt's tendency to collapse in the second half (see: Michigan State, Connecticut). I'm really hoping the rain gives Pitt an edge here, but we'll see. So far, I couldn't have asked for much more than what the Panthers have given us. Not a bad half for these 11.5-point home underdogs.

The 3000th idea for a college football playoff system

Ok, here we go. I'll state before I begin that this is both wildly optimistic and will never happen, but lets have fun with it anyway.

12 teams, much like the NFL playoff system in structure, and 11 of the teams are the conference champions, with 1 wild card. For the rest of the teams that don't make the system (i.e. the enraged SEC fans that will eventually hunt this down and scream at me), they can still play in their horrendous and meaningless bowl games and have their AD's covered in millions of dollars (I don't understand why this makes fans happy, but whatever). In fact, I'd play the whole tournament in one spot: the travel seems to money be a key point of the money fake reasons why they won't allow them money to have a playoff. Lets give it to the #1 overall seed, they can host it on campus for the 3 weeks it would take.

Here's how my system would look right now:
1) Ohio State (B10)
BYE

8) BYU (MWest)
9) Houston (CUSA)

5) Rutgers (BEast)
12) Middle Tennessee (Sun)

BYE
4) USC (P-10)

BYE
3) Florida (SEC)

6) Texas (B12)
11) Central Michigan (MAC)

7) Wake Forest (ACC)
9) Boise State (WAC)

BYE
2) Michigan (Wild)

Is it sort of unfair to teams in big conferences? Absolutely. You know why? Because they have a chance to prove it on the field during the season, and they didn't do it. LSU lost twice, Auburn lost twice. Simple: Win your games. The counterpoint is: Finally the small schools get a chance to prove themselves on the field. Any given Sunday and all that. I'd love to see teams like Central Michigan get a chance to play with the big boys.

Besides, a key factor of the NCAA success in college basketball is the fact that there are George Mason scenarios, Valparaiso, Tennessee-Chattanooga, Hampton. With this system, theres a chance for meaningful upsets like that. And really, most of the time, you are going to end up with the 5 or so teams that everyone thought was the best over the year anyway. Theres yet to be a year in the BCS era where the top 3 teams were all thought to be from one conference.

As far as teams that miss out, they can go play in the Rose Bowl and Cotton Bowl as they traditionally would. In fact, they can finally actually you know, stay in tradition, and invite the schools they typically would. No more Big 12 teams in the Rose Bowl.

Another criticism thats been made of my system by friends I've shown it to is that the NCAA tourney doesn't invite just conference champs. Well, yeah, but the NCAA tourney also allows 65 teams and NEVER claims to have crowned the best team champion. College Football has been so obsessed with crowning the best team champion that it has a formula devoted to it.

Anyway, when this happens, then I'll pay attention to College Football. Until then, I'll stick to sports that actually have a playoff system. You go enjoy your Fort Worth Bowls, 6-5 teams that have no cultural relevance.

Rich Rodriguez wishes someone would give him dome (aka, "why the Panthers have a shot tonight")

18.5 hours and counting until the 98th edition of the one and only Backyard Brawl. It ain't what it used to be, sure. Players no longer refer to the other team as being filled with "Western Pennsylvania's garbage," and Pitt Stadium public address announcers no longer broadcast to a stadium full of fans that "there is a tractor in the parking lot with its lights on. License plate E-I-E-I-O."

But a rivalry is a rivalry: the war of the words between Hines, Peezy and the Cleveland Browns is in full swing, and both teams are 3-6. Tonight's game still means something to a lot of people, myself included. While Pitt's season was basically over on October 21, West Virginia needs a win to keep their BCS hopes alive. With a victory at Heinz Field tonight and South Florida next weekend, the stage would be set for essentially, a winner-take-all showdown in Morgantown between the Mountaineers and surprise-of-the-year Rutgers.

Screw that, though. I'd rather we drove a stake through the heart of West Virginia's season right now. Pitt are 11.5-point underdogs tonight, and justifiably so. I really don't have a whole lot of faith in this Pitt team, either. While technically it's not really important that they crapped the bed against South Florida and Connecticut, it certainly doesn't instill much faith. However, there is one reason Pitt has a remote chance in this game:

Rain.

And more rain.

The weather forecast is going to be Pitt's only advantage tonight. The fact that West Virginia's offense is built almost entirely on speed is no great secret. In two of the last three Backyard Brawls, West Virginia blew Pitt out, 52-31 in 2003 and 45-13 last season. They piled up 307 yards and 451 rushing yards, respectively, in those games. Those numbers are not typos. West Virginia's speed running game has made Pitt look downright silly.

However, the other time these two teams have played in the last three years came on Thanksgiving night, 2004. The weather forecast for that day was eerily similar to today's, and by game time, Heinz Field was starting to resemble post-Katrina New Orleans. The Mountaineers still picked up over 200 yards on the ground, but this was primarily because Pitt's effective pass rush rendered Rasheed Marshall's arm mostly ineffective. 104 of West Virginia's rushing yards came from Marshall, many of which were on broken passing plays. West Virginia also fumbled twice, and the Pitt offense did just enough to slog its way to a gritty, 16-13 win that helped Pitt land its only BCS berth ever despite two conference losses, in one of the more bizarre Big East seasons since the beginning of the BCS.

It's true that the sloppy field conditions that night were aided by the WPIAL football championships, four of them, that had taken place on the field the previous weekend, a factor that won't have an effect this go-round because those games are being played this coming weekend. However, Rich Rodriguez, best thing to ever happen to the Big East, in his infinite wisdom ordered his team to practice inside all week long. Dave Wannstedt, on the other hand, had the Panthers practicing outdoors at their facility on the South Side all week long.

Rodriguez further proved to be a disgrace to the concept of the sport of football by stating his desire to play indoors ALL the time:

"You know, if I had my personal preference ... in the ideal world, if somebody wants to give out a whole bunch of millions of dollars to West Virginia, we'd have a dome over ours. With a roof. So, if we had wet weather or cold weather, we'd just close that dome up and have a fast surface."

A dome WITH a roof. Thus completely destroying the whole point of football being a cold-weather sport.

Another factor that could conceivably be a difference is that Tyler Palko is a much better quarterback today than he was in 2004. The Pitt running game boasts much more skill than it did in 2004. The receiving corps is much deeper than it was in 2004. In short, Pitt has narrowed the talent gap between itself and West Virginia, at least offensively. Whether the weather plus Pitt's more competent offense is enough to overcome West Virginia is to be seen.

My prediction: Pitt makes a game of it, but West Virginia is still just too talented to lose a game like this. 28-24, Mountaineers.

Make me wrong, Tyler Palko & co.

Little Thoughts

Some musings on the past few days in the world of sports as it pertains solely to me. Since I'm the only person who writes in this blog these days anyway and could very well be the only person who reads it.

• I think this weekend lends a lot of creedence to the theory that in the EPL, no matter how ambitious a club is, there are still basically two teams that can and should expect to win every time they take the pitch. Everyone else is capable of beating everyone else.
  
  Still, what a fucking let down. Win and you're within spitting distance of qualifying for Europe via the league, which would have been pretty remarkable given the atrocious start.

• Pitt has so clearly mailed it in, and to be honest, I'm really not all that upset about it. As long as the Big East is gifted with a BCS berth, Pitt as a football program has reached the stage where anything less should not be considered a success. Losing to Rutgers, for all intents and purposes ended Pitt's chances of playing in the Orange Bowl, so there really isn't any reason to keep trying.
  
  All I care about is one thing: a good showing in the Backyard Brawl. That's our bowl game right there, and given that the game is at Heinz Field, at the very least don't embarrass yourselves. Give me a reason to run around campus shouting "GO HOME MOUNTAINEERS" afterwards.

• I still haven't really weighed in on Yuslan Herrera, mainly because I was going to wait until the signing became official. But then I realized that could take weeks and my opinion will more than likely not change until then, barring a revelation of some inordinate amount of money being paid.
  
  On the surface, though, I really can't say I'm too particularly thrilled. One view is that, provided DL didn't grossly overpay for Herrera's services, this could be the kind of outside-the-box move that could pay dividends a year or two down the road. Yuslan probably won't be ready to pitch in the Major Leagues this season, but this could potentially be similar to Walt Jocketty signing Chris Carpenter to a multi-year deal a year before he was able to make a full comeback. If this gamble pays off, it also makes one of the other starters expendable in a trade (not that I trust DL to take advantage of that or anything).
  
  Then there's the other side of the story, the side that's probably much closer to the truth. Every so often, everyone who writes about the Pirates not named Ed Eagle or Rob Rossi, from Dejan on down to the lowliest bloggers, goes on a crusade about some aspect of the Pirates that is severely lacking. This kind of stuff gets published in mainstream media, and after enough harping, the general ticket-buying public will pick up on it.
  
  Recently, the vogue has been was criticizing the team for making no effort to be competitive (read: spend money) in foreign markets, namely Latin America. So what does DL do? He goes out and says HEY LOOK I FOUND THIS CUBAN GUY and thinks the general ticket-buying public will view that as a problem solved, although the people who brought this problem to light in the first place still won't be fooled.
  
  The same thing happened last winter, when the issue was the complete lack of advance scouting employed by the Pirates. Coincidentally, Dave Littlefield hired an advance scout for the first time ever. Now, as then, Littlefield seems to be making a knee-jerk reaction to something that has been costing the team hit points in the realm of PR.
  
  Bottom line, this may turn out to be a good baseball move, but it still doesn't show that DL has any sort of plan whatsoever. In fact, it tends to make me believe the exact opposite even more. Boy, being a Pirates fan sure is fun.

• The NFL, on the other hand, is a bucketload of fun these days. Days like yesterday are exactly why, as Marty Schottenheimer says, "the NFL is the most popular sport in the world."
  
  Still not going to even think about the playoffs, still not going to even think about the playoffs, still not going to even think about the playoffs...but damn, if the Titans had found a way to pull that one out...Rob Bironas should have fallen over for no reason and taken a mulligan. It's worked for Titans kickers in the past.
  
  It's going to be weird rooting for Michael Vick, Herm Edwards, and the Cleveland Browns at various points throughout the rest of the season. But that's the nature of the NFL, and that really is why the NFL is so great.

• I wonder if Jason Bay and Brian Ching are pals. I saw yesterday while flipping back and forth between the Willie Parker Show and the MLS Cup that Brian Ching is 28 years old, and went to Gonzaga. Jason Bay is 28 years old, and went to Gonzaga. Not that it means anything, and it certainly wouldn't be nearly as cool as Freddy Sanchez and Jack Wilson being youth league teammates, but it piqued my curiosity, anyway.

• Oh hey, it's college basketball season. It's great when ESPN makes time on SportsCenter to show highlights of your team in what's essentially a token game. Ah, the joys of supporting the fourth-ranked team in the nation. Comeuppance for the Pirates continuously getting shafted on Baseball Tonight, I say.

Commiseration

Some inebriated, rambling thoughts on tonight's debacle.

First and foremost, I have to give credit where credit is due, and that is to the Rutgers football program, head coach Greg Schiano and his staff, their defense, and their running game. Pitt was thoroughly outplayed on both of those fronts, and Rutgers, to me, proved it's a legitimate threat in the Big East. Congratulations.

Pitt's defense in the first half was superb. Holding the Scarlet Knights to two field goals despite an average starting position of around midfield was all that could have possibly been asked for. It bent, but didn't break, thanks to excellent play by two of the defense's leaders, H.B. Blades and Clint Session. In the second half, it was clear the defensive unit, especially the line, was really starting to wear down, which I think can be marked down to age and inexperience. The backbreaker was the huge run by Ray Rice on the very first play after Oderick Turner scored to bring the Panthers within three early in the fourth quarter and the ensuing kickoff coverage had pinned Rutgers at their own 10. But what a play by Darrelle Revis to make up ground in a hurry and bring him down. I'm sure glad that guy is going to be around next year, unless he leaves for the NFL, which is well within the realm of possibility.

If I hear one more idiot Rutgers fan tell me that Pitt got "MIKE TEEL'D," someone is going to get hurt. Honestly, that guy is one of the worst collegiate quarterbacks I've ever had the misfortune of witnessing. He's seriously a detriment to the Rutgers offense, and if any team can somehow find a way to shut down the run, Mike Teel is simply not going to be able to beat anybody on his own (and no, Navy doesn't count, because they essentially threw everything at the run, and my left arm probably beat Navy with eight guys concentrating solely on stopping the run). Mike Teel's final numbers were 10/18 for 74 yards, basically meaning what he did complete were worthless screen passes. I can tell Rutgers fans didn't even pay attention to the program until this year when they say things like that, because anyone who's not completely unknowledgable would at least tell me we got RAY RICE'D or something.

Tyler Palko, on the other hand, proved that he's one of the best college quarterbacks around today. If only Matt Cavanagh had let him take complete control of the game earlier, things could have been much, much different. Once Cavanagh let Palko go no-huddle in the third quarter, Rutgers began to look completely lost on defense, not to mention Palko's huge scrambles for first downs throughout the game. He's one of the smartest quarterbacks I've ever seen play, he knows exactly when to tuck and run, and when to throw the ball away. His touchdown pass to Oderick Turner particularly was a thing of beauty. On a completely broken play, Palko did all sorts of neat things in the backfield to create enough time, and Turner, to his credit, broke off his route and came back across the end zone to create a target for Palko. And let's not forget that at least three 20+ yard passing plays were negated by drops by receivers, and in Derek Kinder's case, a sensational grab followed by a fumble on the run after the catch.

It's too bad that Palko is gone after this season, because I would love to see him behind this offensive line and running backs and receivers with another year under their belts, as well as the defensive front and secondary. It'll really be on Wannstedt to see if he can bring in a suitable heir apparent to Tyler Palko to play behind what is shaping up as a very exciting core of young players.

With this loss, Pitt's bid for a ranking in the top 25, as well as its chances at the Big East crown are essentially finished, barring a miracle scenario in which Pitt knocks off both Louisville and West Virginia. Honestly, I'd be content with just beating the Mountaineers, because I absolutely hate that fucking team.

That said, I think I'll be rooting for Rutgers the rest of the way. I always have a soft spot in my heart for the underdog, barring mitigating circumstances like if the underdog is a team that I really don't like at all, and I have no real reason to dislike Rutgers. Plus, they've been so bad for so long, they've essentially been the Pirates of the NCAA. It's really a shame that idiots like those who think Mike Teel is anything close to a competent quarterback actually tempt me to not want to see Rutgers succeed. The people who cared nothing for the team when it was going 1-11 just a few years ago.

To that end, despite tonight's heartbreak, I don't think I've ever been so proud to be a Pitt supporter. Pitt is really one of the few colleges in the country that receive national consideration in both football and basketball on a yearly basis that don't also have a national following of bandwagoners. Someone said to me tonight as the clock wound down that "maybe Pitt just isn't that good," to which my response is, "what the fuck am I supposed to do, change teams?" The disgusting bandwagon mentality throughout college sports is one of the reason I can never really get into college sports except for Pitt and the Big East. But I won't let it get me. I was born Pitt, raised Pitt, and I will be Pitt until I'm no longer breathing, come hell or 1-11 seasons.

Little Thoughts

Good day, everyone. I hope all is well on this idyllic New England autumn morning.

Spurs 1-1 Villa

In the English midlands, we were treated to quite a goofy game between Spurs, desperate for points, especially road points, and Aston Villa, which has not lost a Premiership game this season. In the first half, Spurs played Spurs football, that is, enjoyed a lot of possession, created numerous scoring chances, did absolutely nothing with them.

In the second half, we ran into some injury trouble when Michael Dawson had to be substituted after sustaining his second concussion of the fledgling year (definitely not a good thing) in a knock with Juan Pablo Angel, leaving Calum Davenport, our third choice center back, as the only legitimate center back on the field for the Lilywhites. This all changed when Davenport was adjudged to have fouled Gabriel Agbonlahor in the box, although the BBC radio guys were pretty convinced Agbonlahor tripped over himself and were beside themselves when the referee not only pointed to the spot but presented Davenport with a red card. This is what happens when you run afoul of karma, I suppose.

Angel stepped up to take the penalty, but flashed his shot wide of Robinson's post, although England's Number One did pick the right direction. However, the damage had been done. This unfortunate bit of refereeing left Spurs with Pascal Chimbonda, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, and Paul Stalteri as their true defenders, none of which ever plays in the center of the pitch. Sure enough, we would be in for a wild final fifteen minutes.

Just moments after the penalty drama, Angel gifted Spurs a goal by heading a harmless Jermain Defoe corner kick into his own goal without a Spurs player anywhere near him. Everyone knew what was coming. Martin Jol sent on Edgar Davids for Dimitar Berbatov, and Spurs, down a man, would most certainly be under attack nonstop until the final whistle.

Spurs went to sort of an 8-1-1 formation, with 8 makeshift centerbacks, Benoit Assou-Ekotto on the left wing, and Jermain Defoe all by himself up front. It didn't take Gareth Barry long to rescue his team, slotting home from the edge of the box. Villa were playing with all ten of their field players in the Spurs half, determined to get a full share of the points. It nearly cost them when Jermaine Jenas picked someone's pocket and sent Defoe through with nothing between him and keeper (former Goon) Stuart Taylor except for forty yards of green grass. The linesman's flag went up, however, which made absolutely no sense because Defoe started his run from his own half of the field, and theoretically players can't be called offside from their own half.

Robbo, who was the subject of much abuse throughout the match by the home fans after the freak incident against Croatia mid-week, was called upon to make a string of fine saves as Villa's relentless attack continued through four minutes of stoppage time until Atkinson mercifully blew the game dead.


Borat is apparently quite popular in Zagreb. Paul Robinson is less so in England these days, although he was certainly a hero in today's match.

With the draw, Spurs earned their first away point of the season and cobbled together their best away performance to date. I feel like the sleeping giant is in the process of groggily waking up, rubbing the crud from his eyes. Aaron Lennon is back, Steed Malbranque will be following shortly.

After a trip to Turkey this week for the opening matchday in the UEFA Cup group stage, Spurs return to London and don't travel more than 45 miles away from the capital for an entire month. If maximum points can be achieved against West Ham at the Lane and Watford at Vicarage Road, Spurs could conceivably have breached the top half of the table going into the Chelsea derby on November 5. With a League Cup tie in Milton Keynes and another UEFA Cup home game against Brugge, these next few weeks will be exciting times in North London.

So how exactly do you go about getting into the top 25 again?

There are some things I just don't understand about college football. For instance, there's this team. It plays in one of the more prestigious conferences in division one, is off to a 6-1 start for the first time since some guy named Marino was playing quarterback, and is in the top 10 in all of division one in scoring with 37.5 points per game. It's not exactly giving them up, either, allowing an average of just 13 over points a game. And that's including a 38-point belch against Michigan State in the team's only loss.

This team's current quarterback had completed 70 percent of his passes this year, 17 of them for touchdowns, and only three into the arms of opposing players. His quarterback rating is 188.59. I have no idea how quarterback rating is computer, but I was previously under the impression that the scale doesn't even go that high.

The team's feature running back is averaging 5.5 yards per carry and is on his way to a 1,000-yard season. He's also pitched in 6 of the team's 11 rushing touchdowns.

The two top receivers have combined to catch 10 touchdown passes and both average more than 17 yards a catch.

This team is the University of Pittsburgh Panthers.

I realize the top 25 is pretty meaningless apart from reputation, but it's just insulting to sit here and watch Pitt demolish teams 52-7 while pus like Rutgers, a perennial shit stain on the Big East's underwear, has been in the top 25 for about a month now based on beating teams like South Florida by two points.

Things will probably be a little different come Monday, especially after Navy pisses all over Rutgers this afternoon, but I still take satisfaction about being able to play the no-respect card. So I'll continue to do it as long as Tyler Palko & co. are playing like they deserve everyone's respect.