Still crazy after all these years

… or leaving the Laurel Highlands?  The first part of this story is that I must say that I no longer follow area high school sports like I did a few years ago. Consequently, I cannot verify the stories that are circulating that Bishop Carroll is considering dropping football. Or the other rumor that the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference will drop Carroll if the school does drop the sport. Reality I can only deal with reality. Here is that truth. Over the past three football seasons, the Huskies' record is 1-28 according to information on MaxPreps.com. They have had only one winning season in the past six years, a 7-5 mark under Coach Greg Snyder in 2013. If you take that one year out of the equation, B.C. has won just three out of 49 (3-46) games in those other five years. When programs fall into such a state, schools must evaluate why that occurs. Early 2000s To understand what a significant change has occurred, the Huskies had been a power in both D...

… somehow, I missed the "surge I just read a headline from a local newspaper that referred to "Surging Pitt." I must have been in hibernation. I missed that surge. Yes, the Panthers defeated Georgia Tech and Virginia in the past two games. Both teams have just one win in the ACC, and Va. is 2-5 overall. GT is 4-3 with wins over Mercer and FCS Ga. Southern. Not exacly marquee victories. However, now Pitt faces the meat of its schedule, and Narduzzi -- who lost to Navy in his first bowl game at Pitt -- is struggling with something that James Franklin was going into Penn State's last quarter against Ohio State. He has no signature win. The Panthers are playing Va. Tech tonight. A few weeks ago I said that the Hokies looked good after a win over North Carolina, but then they went to Syracuse and lost to the woeful Orange. So, while VT is a 4-point favorite, this is not that great a team that Pitt faces tonight. Still, Narduzzi needs a win -- de...

... makes no sense  The Penn State Nittany Lion victory over Ohio State on Saturday night was great. It was a tremendous tribute to a team that did not quit despite being down by two touchdowns going into the fourth quarter, and to coaches who designed schemes that allowed for two special, special-teams play. What is baffling is that after these college games, and even NFL Super Bowl wins, people take to the streets not to celebrate, but to destroy. Why do they do this? Alcohol is a factor, but many who were under the influence were simply cheering the win, not destroying public and private property in the process. According to police today, the price tag for the destruction that occurred mostly early Sunday morning is now $30,000. This included ripping out light posts, street lights themselves, and street signs. It also included some fires. Certainly, Penn State is not the only place where this occurs. Columbus, Ohio, and Ann Arbor, Mich., have both had similar riots occur aft...

... schedule is in their favor The most vital number for the Steelers right now is one that I used earlier this year: 23. They have the 23rd weakest schedule in the NFL this year. Only eight teams have a tougher one. I had picked them to go 11-5 based a great deal on that schedule, and I was right so far except for one game: Miami. Look at the rest of the schedule. No one in the AFC-Central is any good, but both the Ravens and Bengals will be tough on their turf. Still, this is not like the days of Ray Lewis in Baltimore, nor are the Bengals the team that they have been the past few years. The Steelers could easily be 6-0 in the AFC-Central. Rest of the schedule That leaves the others: Dallas is much improved particularly with their rookie QB. Fortunately, we have them at home, but that is the only tough game on the horizon. The Colts and the Giants have both been inconsistent, but both have the capability to beat good teams. The same can be said about the...

… cost them chance for "one for the thumb"  This one was gut-wrenching. When you lose to a team that is a 9.5 point underdog in the AFC title game -- at home -- it has to hurt. And the Steeler 24-17 loss to a much-weaker New England Patriot team that cold January day was disgusting. It came from some very poor coaching pre-game and some horrible execution in the game itself. Steeler fans today will point to the terrible play by their team on special teams that day. That would be right. Bill who? That would be only part of the story. The Steelers were cocky. This Patriot team was led by a little-regarded coach by the name of Bill Bellichick. He was a joke in Pittsburgh because of his unimpressive 36-44 stint in Cleveland from 1991-95. They had only one winning season, a good 11-5 effort in 1994, followed by a 5-11 record the following year. In short, Bellichick was just another journeyman coach when he brought his team to Heinz Field for the 2001 AFC Champio...

… can he win a big one tonight? To say that his first two years at Penn State have been challenging for James Franklin would be an understatement. The Penn State faithful turned on him during two consecutive 7-6 seasons in which some of his wins have come against cupcakes like Buffalo, San Diego State, Army, Akron, and UMass. Franklin has yet to defeat any of the Big three in his section: Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State, and since his salary is in the top ten of coaches in the U.S., Nittany Lion fans had hoped for more. Things were so bad earlier this year in a 49-10 pasting by Michigan that fans on a PSU blog were wondering what it would take to get Les Miles to Happy Valley. They should give Franklin one more year ... and hope for at least eight wins this year. After the Michigan debacle, the Lions won two straight, albeit against mediocre teams, an overtime win over Minnesota and a pasting of Maryland. That has led the Franklin haters to the bushes, figuring that maybe th...

... and happens to be a great role model unlike others from the city  When I think of the great athletes who came out of Pittsburgh, I go back to my youth. The most important aspect of those players I saw or read about was the kind of role models they were especially for a young boy in grade school. My first recollection is of the Pirates in the 1950s when they started improving and finally won it all in 1960. The names I remember are Roberto Clemente, Bill Mazeroski, Dick Groat, Elroy Face ... and what is great about them is that they were true role models, both on and off the field. Roberto was a class act For instance, take a player like Clemente, the Puerto Rican who never forgot where he came from and tried to motivate the young athletes from his home country and throughout Latin America. And most important, remember how he died. The Pirates won the World Series in 1971 when he was named MVP, but he never forgot the downtrodden in his home area. On the last day of Dec...

... and the future is not bright  Earlier this year, I watched the replay of the 1981 Pitt-Penn State football game on You Tube. What a setting! What excitement! Pitt Stadium rocked with music and enthusiasm as their top-ranked Panthers hosted their despised rival, coached by a man whom they despised then -- and still do in perpetuity. As a rabid Penn State fan at the time, it was a great victory, a 48-14 win over the Dan Marino-led Panthers, who were number 1 in the country at the time and had been all through November. [I had been a Pitt fan until enrolling in PSU in the late 1960s, and still follow both programs today.] The Nittany Lions of Joe Paterno were ranked no. 9 at the time, but after being thoroughly outplayed in the first quarter, they took advantage of some key turnovers by Marino, who simply collapsed after the first quarter. [This was due to a great defensive effort by a coordinator named Jerry Sandusky.] I remember as a teacher at Blacklick Valley Hig...