Weekend Expectations
If the goal, as I said last Friday, was for the Pirates to win six out of nine games on this 10-day homestand, and that goal remains the same, then taking two out of three from the reeling New York Mets – who’ve lost six in a row in sweeps at the hands of Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays – has to be a bare minimum expectation.
Especially when you consider that Derek Shelton heeded the advice I laid out on Saturday morning’s Bucco Talk and moved Mitch Keller “up,” getting him back on a five-day schedule again, which sets him up for the series and homestand finale Sunday afternoon.
If the Buccos getting back on track after narrowly avoiding a sweep at the hands of the lowly Oakland A’s isn’t enough to get you motivated as a fan, perhaps a reminder of the days of the mid-80s/early-90s rivalry between the Pirates and Mets will do it.
Muck the Fets.
Coach Prime vs. Pat from Pittsburgh
Last week it was “Pat from Pittsburgh” versus the Fan Morning Show’s Adam Crowley.
The week before that though, it was Pitt Head Coach Pat Narduzzi questioning the tactics of Colorado’s first year head coach Deion Sanders.
And Narduzzi’s criticism did, in fact, make its way out west to Boulder, as Sanders was asked about it this week during a Q&A with 247sports.
Once again, as I said when Narduzzi first criticized Sanders a few weeks ago, I’ll preface everything with: The results on the field will decide which methods are “right.”
There are multiple ways to skin cats though, and while Narduzzi has made it a point to preach loyalty and the two-way street of expectations that exists between he and his players, Sanders’ decision to lay bare to players whether they’re going to be a part of his team or not, based on his perception of those players’ abilities, is certainly another way to do it. And it’s not far off from the way college coaches have done it for years.
Are they “student athletes” in name? Sure. But for a coach, better players means a better shot at a better team, and a better team means a chance at more victories, and more victories means you’re going to be able to make more money. And if the shift in to the Name Image Likeness era has signaled nothing else, it’s that athletes in Division One, revenue-generating sports are in business for themselves. The sport they’re playing is, in fact, their “job.”
And if someone isn’t getting their job done, then the realization that you may lose it is another lesson for student athletes to learn as they prepare themselves for the future. If a coach stinks, he gets fired because a university decides they’re no longer worth what they’re being paid.
If you want to get paid as a professional student athlete, you also need to understand that you’ll be judged as a professional student athlete, and if you’re not good enough, you won’t be kept around.
Deion’s just being transparent about that.
Bigger Ten
With the admission of USC & UCLA as of 2024, the Big Ten announced conference opponents for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
The rotation ensures every Big Ten team will play every other team in the conference at minimum once every two seasons.
It also creates some massive in-conference matchups that would once only be reserved for the Rose Bowl.
Michigan at USC
Ohio State at UCLA
Wisconsin at Michigan
Iowa at USC
UCLA at Michigan
Wisconsin at USC
Nebraska at UCLA
Iowa at Ohio State
USC at Penn State
UCLA at Iowa
And that’s just in 2024.
However, Penn State fans may wonder why they’re the only team in the now 16-team conference that doesn’t have any protected annual opponents. No Ohio State, no Michigan, not even Maryland or Michigan State.
Are college football fans really so thirsty for Ohio State-Northwestern or Penn State-Rutgers that we can’t find a way to protect a rivalry that’s produced some of the best games in the brief history of the Big Ten East?
The Tradition Continues: Steelers at Saint Vincent
The Steelers announced the schedule for their 56th training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe.
Players report on July 26th, the first open practice is July 27th, and the annual ‘Friday Night Lights’ practice at Latrobe Memorial Stadium will be August 4th.
For fans unable to get to games, whether in Pittsburgh or somewhere else, training camp practices are the next best thing to getting a first hand look at the Steelers.
A Blueprint For Rooney?
This week the Jacksonville Jaguars announced plans to renovate their stadium.
It looks great. And it’s not hard to imagine Art Rooney II and the Pittsburgh Steelers desiring similar upgrades to their venue. The renovation is expected to cost nearly $1.4 billion though, and owner Shad Kahn is only willing to pay 33% of the cost.
That means Duval County taxpayers would still be on the hook for nearly $950 million.
It’s a dilemma that Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, and its residents could soon be facing as well as the Steelers’ North Side home will turn 22 years old this fall. Three Rivers Stadium was torn down at the age of 30.
Sex League
I guess anything that you can break a sweat getting involved in can be considered a competitive sport, right?
No word yet on the results of the competition, but I’m pretty sure it will qualify as “NSFW.”