ADVERTISEMENT

OT: Pat Forde on realignment Winners/Losers

T

TIGER-PAUL

Athletic Director
Jan 14, 2005
15,932
2,640
113
https://sports.yahoo.com/winners-an...-realignment-in-college-sports-224801059.html

Winners
Pitt
The Panthers rode the Orange’s coattails to a destination they scantly deserve, given the futility of the overall athletic program, but don’t ask the Panthers to apologize. If The Club is dumb enough to take you, accept. Football did win the Coastal Division in 2018 (while going 7-7) and basketball should be crawling out of the smoking crater that was the Kevin Stallings Era.
 
  • Like
Reactions: odshowtime, pbrad and Jeffburgh
Bunch of BS IMO. I do agree the overall (ie. non-revenue sports) were a mess, but some investment was finally being put into them.

But FB and MBB were doing either better or the same as Syracuse at the time of invite. And the whole 7-7 for winning the coastal thing is again lazy. We went 6-2.

That is why the admin needs to soften the OOC schedule.

It's almost as if he wrote that for Rutgers and replace Maryland with Orange.

Speaking of which, I didn't even see Rutgers in there.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PittFanDan17, PittPanthers90, CaptainMurphy and 2 others
Actually, besides the riding on the "Orange's coattails" comment, everything Forde has said is dead on. Somehow we were reserved a seat in the club despite not being too serious about athletics. Where others, much more serious about athletics, were left out.

Where we were lucky is twofold:
1) When these negotiations were going on, Pitt BB was at least fresh in the minds, not far removed from two #1 seeds in three years. A feat usually reserved for the Duke's and Kansas's of the world.

2) Most of the people making these decisions were my age or likely older, where they actually lived and could remember Pitt as a legit football power.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PittPanthers90, Mikefln, bwh05 and 5 others
TIGER-PAUL said:
https://sports.yahoo.com/winners-an...-realignment-in-college-sports-224801059.html

Winners
Pitt
The Panthers rode the Orange’s coattails to a destination they scantly deserve, given the futility of the overall athletic program, but don’t ask the Panthers to apologize. If The Club is dumb enough to take you, accept. Football did win the Coastal Division in 2018 (while going 7-7) and basketball should be crawling out of the smoking crater that was the Kevin Stallings Era.
Click to expand...
I can be honest about Pitt athletics, but that was unnecessarily snarky about riding Syracuse coattails.

Neither Pitt NOR Syracuse has had notable recent FB success - but Pitt has a much greater history. Pitt basketball at the time of the ACC invite was riding a multi-year wave of success. Really poor commentary when the writer uses events years (Stallings) after the invite to support the argument.

We all know that academics don't really matter with the realignment, but the ACC did try to use that as another reason for the selection of Pitt and Syracuse and Pitt clearly was in better shape at the time.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MarshallGoldberg, e-fresh, PittPanthers90 and 7 others
pitt-girl said:
I can be honest about Pitt athletics, but that was unnecessarily snarky about riding Syracuse coattails.

Neither Pitt NOR Syracuse has had notable recent FB success - but Pitt has a much greater history. Pitt basketball at the time of the ACC invite was riding a multi-year wave of success. Really poor commentary when the writer uses events years (Stallings) after the invite to support the argument.

We all know that academics don't really matter with the realignment, but the ACC did try to use that as another reason for the selection of Pitt and Syracuse and Pitt clearly was in better shape at the time.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I don't ever recall anyone saying "you won't get Pitt without Syracuse" or anything like that. Pitt's "dismal" athletics weren't really much of a factor. If the ACC wanted a better athletics program, they could have easily gotten WVU. Pittsburgh was one of the bigger TV markets available. That's why Pitt is in the ACC.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MarshallGoldberg, Panthergrowl13, PittPanthers90 and 3 others
I have no issues with Forde's snark. It is his job to call it as he sees it and Pitt's handling of football the past three decades (going on four incredibly and sadly) warrants all the negative comments that come from the media. The Stallings era never should have been brought up by him, but it is another frustrating example of how the university leaders can operate and for never learning from the past.

I see Forde didn't mention the non-conference schedule from last year. That's because no one is impressed nor cares about it. Schedule soft in September, Pitt.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PittFanDan17, Somerset Panther and h2p_5150
TFloss said:
Don't we have the 3rd most ACC wins since entering the conference? Coastal division or not, we haven't been dead weight in football.

Basketball has been pretty damn terrible because of the Mushy Banana.
Click to expand...

And, as has been reported here a number of time, I believe the best record of team that switched conferences since Pitt did in football.

I agree with his sentiments generally, but it was gratuitous in how he piled on Pitt.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mikefln and ThePanthers
pittdan77 said:
Yeah, I don't ever recall anyone saying "you won't get Pitt without Syracuse" or anything like that. Pitt's "dismal" athletics weren't really much of a factor. If the ACC wanted a better athletics program, they could have easily gotten WVU. Pittsburgh was one of the bigger TV markets available. That's why Pitt is in the ACC.
Click to expand...
correct, and why WVU was never getting into the ACC once Pitt was in, cause what market it has was 99% covered by VA/VT and Pitt.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PittPanthers90 and Gary77
Zeldas Open Roof said:
I think we were lucky to get the invite but reacted accirdingly (upgrades in venues) and have more then held our own in football.

I don’t think the acc regrets inviting us
Click to expand...

And, still has that upside that we all desperately want to see it meet.
 
Jeffburgh said:
correct, and why WVU was never getting into the ACC once Pitt was in, cause what market it has was 99% covered by VA/VT and Pitt.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure the math is quite the same if another free-for-all starts. Now that the conference has its own network and there is more digital content, if there's a big change, I don't think you wait on WVU if they're available. Like I said, the only school that doesn't geographically overlap and that adds a ton of TV's in Temple. If you need one more and WVU is interested, I don't see why you wouldn't bring them in.

I don't pretend to know if that's even being discussed. Just looks like a nicer combination than a lot of the other plausible options.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mikefln
pitt-girl said:
I can be honest about Pitt athletics, but that was unnecessarily snarky about riding Syracuse coattails.

Neither Pitt NOR Syracuse has had notable recent FB success - but Pitt has a much greater history. Pitt basketball at the time of the ACC invite was riding a multi-year wave of success. Really poor commentary when the writer uses events years (Stallings) after the invite to support the argument.

We all know that academics don't really matter with the realignment, but the ACC did try to use that as another reason for the selection of Pitt and Syracuse and Pitt clearly was in better shape at the time.
Click to expand...
Well let's also be honest, Pitt brought in a whole new market. Syracuse and BC basically brought in whatever market existed in NY/NE. That's the real crux of it. UConn would have been redundant as far as markets were concerned, and lets face it, that was the main reason for the majority of expansion.
 
  • Like
Reactions: pitt-girl and Mikefln
I did say this.......that there was absolutely no program that let the Big East down more than Pitt.

Promises of a football past littered with great players and teams, we never even delivered an outright conference winner. Perhaps if Pitt became a power with Miami, maybe it was FSU, GT and Maryland joining the Big East. People will say "what about Syracuse", well at least Syracuse delivered a national title (basketball) to the Big East, even in basketball on the biggest stage, we mostly delivered disappointment.

I think finally the university and its leadership now finally realize that they have a responsibility to not just field teams, but try to be competitive and in doing this you need facility upgrades, coaching upgrades and hopefully this leads to recruiting upgrades across the board.

And this hiding behind academia that Pitt often loves to do, well we see some of the very best of schools (Stanford, Michigan, even Duke) field pretty good athletic programs across the spectrum.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mikefln, pittdan77, Fk_Pitt and 2 others
Doesn't Pitt owe Boston College a cold beverage for the Eagles' role in Pitt's ACC berth? As I recall, BC bitterly opposed UConn as a candidate. Perhaps due to the Huskies breaking off their long-standing basketball rivalry. So the ACC turned to Pitt.
 
Panther Holla said:
Here we go again with Syracuse getting The National Love because their moribund football program showed a pulse. Gotta hand it to dem dere Orange.... their J-school grads give them better press than they deserve. Imagine if Pitt could infuse the media with cheerleaders like that.
Click to expand...
Yeah. How hard would it be to establish a Journalism program at Pitt? We cured polio for goodness sakes!!!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: recruitsreadtheseboards
Panther Holla said:
Doesn't Pitt owe Boston College a cold beverage for the Eagles' role in Pitt's ACC berth? As I recall, BC bitterly opposed UConn as a candidate. Perhaps due to the Huskies breaking off their long-standing basketball rivalry. So the ACC turned to Pitt.
Click to expand...
are you kidding ?
Pitt owes BC nothing.
 
Syracuse. Giving us Bob Costas and Andrew Filliponi and 6000 others in between. Boeheim is still a legendary cheater.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Atwood Zoo
Panther Holla said:
Doesn't Pitt owe Boston College a cold beverage for the Eagles' role in Pitt's ACC berth? As I recall, BC bitterly opposed UConn as a candidate. Perhaps due to the Huskies breaking off their long-standing basketball rivalry. So the ACC turned to Pitt.
Click to expand...

That was the UConn fandom version of the story that some of the northeast news outlets ran with. ACC expansion was always predicated on football and UConn wasn't bringing anything to the table in that regard. They still aren't.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PittPanthers90, lilspainishflea, RaleighPittFan and 1 other person
TFloss said:
Don't we have the 3rd most ACC wins since entering the conference? Coastal division or not, we haven't been dead weight in football.

Basketball has been pretty damn terrible because of the Mushy Banana.
Click to expand...
I’ll say this again-basketball was dying an agonizing death BEFORE Stallings came in to yank the plug out of the wall and finish the job.. Substantial responsibility for the program’s demise lies with the very same guy who gave us the best run in Pitt basketball history. Dixon deserves as much blame for the demise of the program as credit for its past success. The move to the ACC, while necessary and best for the university as a whole, did the hoops program no favors. Neither did Dixon’s poorly conceived decision to change his style of play and the types of players he was recruiting. I’d give 10 Jamel Artis’s for 1 Jaron Brown or Brad Wanamaker.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Atwood Zoo and PittPanthers90
TIGER-PAUL said:
https://sports.yahoo.com/winners-an...-realignment-in-college-sports-224801059.html

Winners
Pitt
The Panthers rode the Orange’s coattails to a destination they scantly deserve, given the futility of the overall athletic program, but don’t ask the Panthers to apologize. If The Club is dumb enough to take you, accept. Football did win the Coastal Division in 2018 (while going 7-7) and basketball should be crawling out of the smoking crater that was the Kevin Stallings Era.
Click to expand...

WHAT Orange's coattails? Didn't Syracuse get in essence jilted at the altar when they proposed to jump? This all worked out for Pitt, but not because of anything Syracuse did.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Black_Man_Panther and PittPanthers90
Syracuse football has sucked for the last 10 years. They have a good coach now and he seems like a good guy also. They won games last year against a pathetic non conference schedule.
 
bayardstreet said:
Syracuse football has sucked for the last 10 years. They have a good coach now and he seems like a good guy also. They won games last year against a pathetic non conference schedule.
Click to expand...
You'd have to go back to McNabb the last time Cuse football was legit. Before that it was the McPherson days and then before that, Jim Brown.

Unfortunately, pretty much the same can be said about Pitt football.
 
I don't care for Pat Forde's comments, especially the first sentence. I'm putting Pat Forde in the same class as Ron Cook. "Useless mindless banter"
 
  • Like
Reactions: Atwood Zoo
pittdan77 said:
That was the UConn fandom version of the story that some of the northeast news outlets ran with. ACC expansion was always predicated on football and UConn wasn't bringing anything to the table in that regard. They still aren't.
Click to expand...
Makes for a good story. I hate UConn.
 
Syracuse brings the NYC market for a channel. So yes - we came coupled with syracuse. BC blocked UCONN and we got picked to accompany Syracuse. UConn might not have been an option for other reasons but we were definitely invited WITH Syracuse. Not the other way around.

Put another way, if there was only one spot we’re in the AAC.

I don’t like it but Forde is right.


Late
 
TreyCampbell said:
Syracuse brings the NYC market for a channel. So yes - we came coupled with syracuse. BC blocked UCONN and we got picked to accompany Syracuse. UConn might not have been an option for other reasons but we were definitely invited WITH Syracuse. Not the other way around.

Put another way, if there was only one spot we’re in the AAC.

I don’t like it but Forde is right.


Late
Click to expand...
Nah, we'd most likely be in the Big 12 w/ WVU.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cease10
Forde is has been sour grapes ever since espn cut him loose....he is on yahoo sports now for gods sake. Yahooo sports......next stop for him will be the "bing" beat cfb writer job
 
  • Like
Reactions: Atwood Zoo
TIGER-PAUL said:
https://sports.yahoo.com/winners-an...-realignment-in-college-sports-224801059.html

Winners
Pitt
The Panthers rode the Orange’s coattails to a destination they scantly deserve, given the futility of the overall athletic program, but don’t ask the Panthers to apologize. If The Club is dumb enough to take you, accept. Football did win the Coastal Division in 2018 (while going 7-7) and basketball should be crawling out of the smoking crater that was the Kevin Stallings Era.
Click to expand...

Pat Forde is a glorified U of L Fan Boy. He was a local newspaper reporter who was smart enough to not ride the newspaper plane into the ground. Because he was first out, he was one of the first available to be picked up by networks as they were developing and needing online content.

Although, his criticism of Kevin Stallings is spot on. Amazing Pitt can make such stupid decisions for such a long time. Hopefully, Lyke sticks around and FINALLY builds something at Pitt.

Hey Pat: Rick Pitino and Bobby Petrino. Please be quiet. U of L should have received the Death Penalty.
 
TreyCampbell said:
Syracuse brings the NYC market for a channel. So yes - we came coupled with syracuse. BC blocked UCONN and we got picked to accompany Syracuse. UConn might not have been an option for other reasons but we were definitely invited WITH Syracuse. Not the other way around.

Put another way, if there was only one spot we’re in the AAC.

I don’t like it but Forde is right.


Late
Click to expand...

Except there were two spots instead of your hypothetical one. Let's concede Cuse was the top option, who was #2? It had nothing to do with Syracuse.
 
LeftCoastPanther said:
I have no issues with Forde's snark. It is his job to call it as he sees it and Pitt's handling of football the past three decades (going on four incredibly and sadly) warrants all the negative comments that come from the media. The Stallings era never should have been brought up by him, but it is another frustrating example of how the university leaders can operate and for never learning from the past.

I see Forde didn't mention the non-conference schedule from last year. That's because no one is impressed nor cares about it. Schedule soft in September, Pitt.
Click to expand...
Last sentence right on. I’d call it schedule smart with a purpose. THEN take care of business in the conference.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LeftCoastPanther
When Syracuse and Pitt were invited to the ACC in early September 2011, Pitt had a much better football program and had just finished a better basketball season. In the 2010-11 school year, Pitt was co-regular season Big East football champions and outright regular season basketball champions. That's not ridding anyone's coattails.

What Pitt did to implode its programs after the ACC invite is absolutely after the fact of the actual invite.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: singregardless, pittdan77, lilspainishflea and 2 others
You must log in or register to reply here.
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT
Top Bottom
Back