Mike White, who I know has an interesting history with this board and Pitt fans in general, did a deep dive into the numbers and it is pretty eye opening how little Pitt has recruited locally in recent years...

Prep Talk: For various reasons, Pitt no longer gets many WPIAL football recruits https://www.post-gazette.com/sports...arduzzi-wpial-recruiting/stories/202504300008 via @PittsburghPG

One of the numbers that jumps out - Pitt only got 13 of the 56 scholarship WPIAL/City League kids that signed with Power 5 conferences over the past seven years. There are a lot of interesting numbers in this article and regardless of how you feel about Mike or his motivations for writing this article it is all good data

Without getting political.


Buying Selling or Holding.

Have been Buying the dip and like everyone else getting my ass kicked.. Buying NVDL to cost average Down Amazon and SPY… Anybody got any favorites? When do you think the rebound will start. Thinking late summer. Do you think this was one of the greatest buying opportunities of the last decade Minus Covid….

It is a very spicy edition this weekend as old guys, fake committed guys and local guys have pissed me off....

It is a very spicy edition this weekend as old guys, fake committed guys and local guys have pissed me off....

Anyone watch the premier last night? I broke my normal routine of waiting until we are about a week or two away from the season finale to start binging. Watched last night. I've never played the video game, so I don't know how this compares. But I loved season 1. Thought a couple of those episodes were as good as anything ever on TV.

My review of last night is that this season will be very different. I still expect it to be good (Bella Ramsey was born for that role), but not as good as season 1. I found last night to be a little slow. Hopefully it was just to establish the theme/plot of how the rest of the season unfolds. I read it has been renewed for a third season. I'm glad. I know HBO seems to always have good programming in the chamber. But it seems they are on the cusp of a lull.

Too much shoulder damage, his options were surgery that woulda made him miss probably all the upcoming season, or retire. He chose retire. This leaves the Saints with Tyler Shough, Spencer Rattler, and some guy I never heard of and don't remember his name as their QB room. What I'm saying is you could see Kenny in a Saints instead of a Browns uniform this season

GM from Wash State came from Louisiana, where Julians brother plays LB.

Good spot for him. New staff. Came from South Dakota State. Use the QB in the run game. Have another transfer to compete with.

Looks like our coaches and this player are following each other on social media. With some mild digging, I see he’s an nba prospect. @Pub_PaulZeise @KarlLudwig he’s a top…maybe you can ask around?

Could be the top prospect in Australia, which would probably be a better roster replacement for Amsal.

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Can't go wrong with a 7th-year guy! Player to be named later in the Federiko trade?

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Don't look now, but the Buccos swept the Red Sox at Fenway

2023 Team Payroll
New York Mets $355,436,854
N.Y. Yankees $275,249,873
San Diego $257,610,217
Philadelphia $236,260,439
Los Angeles Dodgers $221,759,500
Los Angeles Angels $212,228,095
Toronto $210,367,554
Texas $199,569,490
Atlanta $197,332,500
San Francisco $193,482,500
Houston $192,767,233
Boston $190,556,279
Chicago White Sox $189,158,667
Chicago Cubs $179,168,250
Colorado $176,008,778
Minnesota $156,488,740
St. Louis $152,712,308
Seattle $130,969,948
Detroit $123,500,500
Arizona $117,251,292
Milwaukee $116,351,987
Washington $101,540,153
Miami $91,975,000
Kansas City $90,118,100
Cleveland $89,824,629
Cincinnati $84,175,714
Tampa Bay $75,209,811
Pittsburgh $71,652,500
Baltimore $60,422,300
Oakland $57,795,000


Hey we’re not in last!

I just saw Kenny Pickens was traded to the cowboys thru the Steelers for draft picks. Discuss.

I wrote about this in one of my notebooks last week but today as most of you know it was made official. I would love to get all of your opinions about it but I will start by giving you mine - it is an act of desperation by a desperate league and I hate it.

I can't bring myself to believe that the ACC is willingly and so easily conceding that it is no longer the top or even one of the top two BASKETBALL conferences in the land. It makes no sense to me to be honest. But that is exactly what this plan does - it is saying that teams need to find two nonconference games that can help them get to the NCAA Tournament.

When the ACC went to 20 games originally the belief was that ACC inventory was invaluable and that by having each team play two extra ACC games it would generate better TV matchups to sell, more of the TV shares would stay in the ACC and teams would get a boost for their RPI/NET/SOS/KEN POM/Whatever the metric of the day is for the NCAA Tournament at-large bids. The idea was the more these teams play ACC games, the better their SOS will be and the more they will benefit in those metrics.

So what changed? Why all of the sudden is the move to go back to 18 games? Basically the ACC Is admitting that is no longer the case, that teams at the top like Duke and UNC are being dragged down by having to play 20 ACC games against teams that are painfully mediocre. This is no doubt a move to take care of some of their most valued teams and it will certainly help, though, Duke, last time I checked was a No. 1 seed so not sure what the issue is.

For a team like Pitt it means going out and trying to find two games - likely one home and one away/neutral - that will give them a boost in their metrics but that they can also win. Jamie Dixon was the master at finding those games but it has proven more difficult for Jeff Capel.

Of course there is a discussion to be had that if Capel won more this wouldn't be an issue but this is not just about Pitt and Capel, it is a Hail Mary by the ACC to try and figure out how to get more teams into the NCAA Tournament. Imagine if I would have told you five or six years ago that playing LESS ACC games was going to be the way you punch your ticket. I am not sure any of you would have believed me.
https://www.cbssports.com/college-b...dule-from-20-to-18-after-multiple-down-years/
Here is the actual news article and here is the key paragraph to me.....

"Some upper-echelon programs — Duke chief among them — wanted to drop two games from the league schedule in an effort to avoid dead weight dragging down NCAA Tournament résumés. (Duke nevertheless overcame this, earning a No. 1 seed last season.) The more Quad 3 and Quad 4 games on a league schedule, the worse a conference's chances at more NCAA Tournament bids. The league expanded to 18 teams last season with the additions of Cal, Stanford and SMU. "

If you read the article further one source nails it on the head ""You aren't going to fix the problem by going from 20 to 18," one source told CBS Sports. "The problem for the ACC is, a lot of these teams just haven't been good."

The solution isn't to play less conference games - and force teams like Pitt to scramble to find two good ones to enhance their resume as well as the conference strength of schedule numbers - it is for the teams to win more and that means a commitment to winning in terms of NIL money and payroll. The ACC has too many teams that are cash strapped, too many teams who have to make tough choices about how to fund both football and basketball properly and too many teams that are only casually interested in winning at a high level.

I hate to say it but unless I am told something different, Pitt is a team that is always going to be middle of the pack unless they make a real commitment to payroll. That's what all of those SEC programs that suddenly have life have done and there are examples all over the map from Houston to BYU of teams that have committed to winning.

The ACC is struggling right now and yes I could go through the list of great coaches it has lost that last 10-11 years but that's only a part of the story. The ACC pivoted to trying to become a football conference and as a result lost its roots and now is left with a lot of teams who aren't sure they can fully compete and fund ultracompetitive teams in both sports.

The one good thing out of it is that Pitt and Syracuse are going to remain rivals and play a home and home every year. I would argue the other team Pitt should be paired up with is either Louisville or Notre Dame but each team only gets one home and home rivalry game every year. The second home and home opponent will rotate every season. And there will be one team every year that Pitt doesn't play and that will rotate too.

It's time for another chat. Paul had the chat covered last week, and I'll be taking over today. I know it's May, so there's not a whole lot going on, but we're gearing up for official visits next month, Jeff Capel is trying to fill out the roster, Pitt beat WVU in another spot, so there's plenty to talk about. Pittsburgh sports included. So, let's chat. I'll be around for an hour or so.

Today's edition covers all kinds of subjects, mostly about recruiting.....

Today's edition covers all kinds of subjects, mostly about recruiting.....

Pitt picked up its fifth commitment in the class of 2026 from Florida wideout Demetrice McCray. He's a 6-0, 184lb speedster from Orlando, FL. He put up big numbers on a really bad First Academy squad last season. We'll have a full article soon.

He's the second wide receiver commit in the cycle, following fellow 3-star Dylan Wester.

Pitt is in the running for 3-star TE Preston Fryzel, alongside Cincinnati, Duke, Iowa and Minnesota. The 6-4, 215lb pass catcher had a strong junior season, hauling in 43 balls for 807 yards and 10 TDs. He's one of the top TE targets in the class.

He visited Pitt this spring to check out a practice, and TE coach Jacob Bronowski stopped by his school a couple of days ago.

Pitt and Ohio State will square off at the Petersen Events Center on Nov. 28. More information about the matchup will be released at a later date.

It will be a busy Thanksgiving weekend in Pittsburgh as Thanksgiving is on Thursday, Pitt-Ohio State (BB) will play on Friday and Pitt-Miami (FB) will play on Saturday.

Can an updating June official recruiting visit list be created?

Who is gone first? Fired Retired Disbanned?


Im gonna go with Capel. This basketball Roster is Dog Shit. Even if it Over achieves not a tourney team… Maybe 6th or 7th in ACC but that is just a guess.

Then the ACC it may still be around but not in its current form.

Lastly old Nard Dog finish out in 2029 or 2030 whenever his contract runs out.