Pitt Football Mixed Bag: High Expectations, Big East Preseason Ranking, Conference Title or Bust

Here is our first installment of the University of Pittsburgh mixed bag. I'm sure I'll have more posts very soon with the season only a couple of weeks away. Most of which will likely touch on my own extremely high expectations for the football program. For now, here are some other thoughts on the division:

From Paul Zeise of the Post-Gazette:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11216/1165034-233.stm

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11219/1165828-233.stm

From the Big East's official website:
http://bigeast.org/News/tabid/435/Article/227213/West-Virginia-Chosen-As-2011-BIG-EAST-Favorite.aspx

From Joe Starkey of the Tribune Review:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/college/s_750420.html


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The Pirates Will Win the NL Central

Most of you will write me off as a complete lunatic just after reading the title and for good reason. A five game losing streak, a 3-10 record in their last 13 games, a 5.5 game deficit in the division, a division leader that just lost their first game in their last eight and, of course, an 18 year cloud hanging over the franchise's head. Yeah, I'd say they have a pretty steep hill err... mountain to climb. So why then do I believe that our beloved Buccos can still pull it off?

Pirates Mixed Bag: Waiver Rules, Season Slipping Away, Hurdle to Blame?

This is a pretty pessimistic edition of our Pirates mixed bag, so if you don't want to ruin your day, you may want to hold off on this until later...

First, we have an article that may come in handy. Jayson Stark of ESPN posted an article with the rules of the waiver trading deadline. The Pirates will probably be players in some capacity, so if you want to be informed, here you go:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=1860265

Next, we'll stay away from complete pessimism a little longer. Here's Ron Cook of the Post-Gazette, with an article about the Pirates' starting pitchers and the reinforcements on the way:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11214/1164554-87-0.stm

Now onto the worst part of this. Bob Smizik of the Post-Gazette brings reality to the forefront including what could become of Paul Maholm and the Buccos' most recent additions, Derrek Lee and Ryan Ludwick:

http://communityvoices.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/sports/bob-smiziks-blog/29649-why-pearce-over-overbay

http://communityvoices.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/sports/bob-smiziks-blog/29638-special-season-slipping-away

And finally, an article from Rob Neyer of Baseball Nation. He believes that if this season goes down the tubes, Hurdle is to blame. I guess the fact that Hurdle has the Bucs at .500 over 100 games into the season is no longer relevant? Take this article with a grain of salt though, because this same writer argued that Julio Lugo was safe at home plate in the 19 inning game that Pirates' fans won't soon forget:
http://mlb.sbnation.com/2011/8/1/2308631/pirates-manager-clint-hurdle-joel-hanrahan


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Pirates Mixed Bag: Lackluster Trades, Raising the Farm, Will They Finish Above .500

Well this is a surprise. After taking a day off to iron out some rules for my new keeper fantasy league, I expected to have a TON of articles to share especially concerning the trade deadline. I do not. But, I do have four very nicely written articles by three of the best writers in the business.


From Dejan Kovacevic of the Tribune-Review - He talks about the mediocre players the Pirates acquired at the deadline:
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/pirates/s_749390.html

From Ron Cook of the Post-Gazette - Mr. Cook suggests that trading for bigger stars would have been a mistake. Our prospects need to stay in our system, not in somebody else's while we fade out of contention:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11213/1164347-87-0.stm

From Bob Smizik of the the Post-Gazette - He posted two articles in his blog that are pessimistic in tone, but very harsh realities. Do the Pirates trades matter anymore? And will the Pirates even finish over .500?:
http://communityvoices.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/sports/bob-smiziks-blog/29619-pirates-close-to-deal-for-ludwick

http://communityvoices.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/sports/bob-smiziks-blog/29622-500-beckons


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Steelers Mixed Bag: Plaxico Burress, More Cuts Coming, Aging Gracefully or Getting Old

Our first article comes from Gerry Dulac of the Post-Gazette. He tells us the real reason Plaxico Burress didn't sign with the Steelers. If you couldn't guess, the reason is money. I know some people are comparing Plax to Jaromir Jagr, but that needs to end. The Jets could offer him far more money and after sitting in jail for nearly two years, the guy deserves to make as much as he can. $3 million may be more than anyone's salary should ever be, but that's an argument for another day:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11213/1164346-66.stm

This article is from Ed Bouchette, the Steelers beat writer for the Post-Gazette. He says that more players will likely need to be cut to fit under the salary cap. This isn't really a surprise either, but it answers some questions about who:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11212/1164167-66.stm

Joe Starkey of the Tribune-Review thinks this Steelers team has a great chance to become the greatest scoring team in Steelers' history:
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_749288.html

My favorite article of the day comes from Damon Hack of Sports Illustrated. He makes some key observations about the Steelers including if their aging team is too old:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/damon_hack/07/30/pittsburgh.steelers.postcard/index.html?eref=sihp&sct=hp_t11_a1


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