YeOldeBuccoFan: Everybody keeps talking about Pitt-Memphis, but how spooky is Michigan State on the horizon?

Jerry Micco: Well, Michigan State can be very good, or very bad. I think they are an up-and-down team that if you catch them when they're hot can beat anyone. But if they are not, they can get beaten just as badly. It'll be a tough matchup for Pitt, but not one they can't win, certainly, after their great run in the Big East tournament.

Chunkles: Jerry, I know that some writers are assigned to cover specific sports, but guys like Cook and Smizik, who determines what they write about? Can they just decide they are going to write about Pitt, for instance, or does someone step in and say, no, I need an article on Ben, Sidney, or steroids?

Jerry Micco: Ron Cook, Bob Smizik and Gene Collier are columnists and can write what they like. They report to me, so I certainly have input on some of that, especially columns off events. But they have been at their jobs a long time and I serve more as a sounding board than anything else. But like any assignment in our department, I ultimately decide -- when it needs to be done -- what we cover and what we don't.

YeOldeBuccoFan: Is Bobby Knight crazy (well...), or is he on to something about Pitt?

Jerry Micco: I think Pitt can make a run in the tournament and since I think this is as wide open a year as ever in college basketball, why not pick a No. 4-seed to go all the way? I think a Pitt-Memphis matchup would be a good one and Memphis would be tough to beat, but not impossible. This should be a terrific tournament and I don't think there is a favorite overall.

Matt_Kizner: Again PSU has a player in trouble with the law. Is this bad recruiting, poor coaching or just a really bad streak of luck? How can Penn State stop the selfish acts of a few players?

Jerry Micco: It's trying to ask 18-21 year olds to calm down and act responsibly, which most 18-21 year olds don't do. You can't control 85 players and a lot of schools have issues. That doesn't absolve Penn State of its recent problems, however. The responsibility rests with the players, coaches and university. All have a hand in this. But ultimately, it's the players. You can tell them what you want and how to act, but they have a free will. And sometimes, that gets them in trouble. And Penn State has had more than its share as of late.

Matt_Kizner: Will it be a true open contest for starting quarterback at PSU or is it a given that Joe will go with Clark?

Jerry Micco: I think he'll look at both Devlin and Clark, but Clark is the "older" player and Joe tends to lean veteran. But it's not a bad situation to have because both have some talent. It should be an interesting spring in Happy Valley, now that the Pryor Express has passed them by.

Matt_Kizner: Over or under on 80 wins for the Pirates this year?

Jerry Micco: Under. I'm saying 75-78.

jimmy_g: Pitt's run through the Big East Basketball Tournament was nothing short of amazing. How far can they make it in the NCAA Tournament?

Jerry Micco: I'd say at least the Sweet 16, but getting by Memphis may be a bit much to ask this team. Of course, based on their BE tournament run, who knows? It's what makes this time of year one of the best, if not THE best, in all of sports. If Pitt shows up and plays like it did in New York, they'll be tough to beat in the first two rounds. But, if they play like they did down the stretch in the regular season, they could lose in the first round. They have to keep the defense working and hope to get consistent outside scoring.

Matt_Kizner: Which Pirate player could you see making the biggest improvement this year?

Jerry Micco: Paul Maholm and Zach Duke. Non-pitcher, probably Nate McLouth and Adam LaRoche.

jimmy_g: Any word on the Pryor decision yet?

Jerry Micco: Terrelle Pryor is a Buckeye

jimmy_g: I agreed with Bob Smizik's column today on the new Pirate management. The real question though is how long are we going to have to wait for a winner?

Jerry Micco: Jimmy, I'm going to guess 2-3 years. And so much of that depends on the young starters. The team has four good ones, but they need to be better than good. They don't have the sticks to beat teams 10-9. They need to win 4-2 or 5-3. They have some pop, but the starters have to consistently get solid innings and the bullpen has to recover from a couple of poor years. For me, it's all about pitching. Always.

Matt_Kizner: I thought Bob Smizek wrote a great column (tounge in cheek) saying that the Pens should trade Sid. Did he get any responses thinking that he was serious?

Jerry Micco: I've not seen any mail to our department saying that, but I don't know if Bob got any personally. I think our headline writer did readers a favor by putting "just kidding" in the headline. If he doesn't, then you don't figure out Bob's really kidding until halfway through the column. Now he's not advocating the trade, but it's interesting what he found in his research. The team does well without him in many cases. That said, if the Pens are to win Cups, Sid needs to be front and center. And healthy.

jimmy_g: The Penguins have looked great and not so great in the last two games. We need to get Sid the Kid back so that he and the rest of the team can mesh before the playoffs.

Jerry Micco: It'd be nice to get him back to play a bit with Hossa. Those two -- along with Fleury -- are playoff keys in my opinion.

Matt_Kizner: Which 11 or greater seeds have the best chance of doing well in the tournament?

Jerry Micco: St. Joe's, Siena, San Diego. And the latter two for only one game. St. Joe's could surprise as the East No. 11 and knock off Oklahoma and the Louisville-Boise winner. They are a very good team. The problem is, Louisville, I think, is better.

Matt_Kizner: How will the Steelers get under the cap with the recent deals?

Jerry Micco: I have no idea of how that will work. But they can't be over the cap at any one time, so they must be adjusting as they go along.

jimmy_g: I agree that the NCAA Tournament could be wide open IF Tyler Hansbrough comes down with a high ankle sprain.

Jerry Micco: I know Carolina is very good and probably as much a favorite as any of the teams in the field, but I don't know if they can win it all. It's a gut feeling on my part, nothing more.

theWellHungarian: Pitt has been getting a lot of press with winning the Big East Tournament, Coach Knight's bold prediction, being the perceived hottest team in the nation, etc ... Can any of this pub translate to Pitt landing a 5-Star recruit?

Jerry Micco: It may not, but it'll certainly help to get that 5-star's attention. Pitt's BE tourney victory was a great first step. Winning on basketball's most storied stage. But they need to do well in the NCAAs, too. They need to get at least to the Sweet 16 and a signature victory -- over say Memphis -- would go a long way to getting that player's attention. Those kids want to think they can win it all and do it in a year or two. Pitt has not proven it can do that, or come close, despite the fact that year in, year out, it's a very good program.

YeOldeBuccoFan: What's your take on automatic bids from small conferences, versus picking the top 64 (or 128) teams?

Jerry Micco: It's what makes the tournament interesting. Give me that 4-vs.-13 upset or that 5-12 upset with Siena knocking off Vandy or Villanova over Clemson. That's what this tournament is all about. I used to hate the smalls winning games, thinking so many bigs lose out. But really, there's not that much difference in some cases. Look at Robert Morris. I know Syracuse probably wasn't stoked to be in the NIT, but the Colonials gave them a run at the Carrier Dome. I think RMU might be a tough team to play in the NCAAs when they make it. The small schools deserve that shot.

onlyoneman: Hi Jerry, first day I've had off when you were chatting so I thought I'd ask a few questions. First, was Pryor going to Ohio State all that bad for PSU considering the disciplinary problems they've been having. Granted, Pryor is a high school senior, but he was way out of line on a number of occasions this season. Methinks he will be in for a rude awakening with better athletes in college.

Jerry Micco: I don't know how you can equate off-field problems with on-field performance. Certainly, he'll be up against much stiffer competition in college and he'll have to prove he's worth the hype, but he's got four -- or five -- years to do that. And Ohio State is one of the best programs in the country, so his stage is a bright one. We'll just have to see how he does.

Matt_Kizner: I think it would have been interesting for PSU to get Pryor, but I think that it was best for him and the overall state of PSU's program that he is going else where. I believe if he had chosen PSU, it would have given Spanier less juice in planning the Paterno issue. Will this be Joe's last year at the helm?

Jerry Micco: We'll have to see, won't we. I don't know if it will be, but PSU has options, as I've stated before. Extend him. Tell him this season is it. Succession plan with a set year of retirement. A reader emailed me after the last chat and stated how dare I have an opinion on this matter with those three options. I don't see any others, in my view. As for what the university will do, that's anyone's guess. It's a story all of us are trying to find out.

jimmy_g: OK let's say that Jason Bay and/or Xavier Nady have very good first halves and the Pirates are not in contention. Is it really intelligent to dump one or both of them for a handfull of prospects when they are known big league players?

Jerry Micco: I'd say trade one if you can get something for him, but not both. Most people's guess, but it wouldn't be my choice, is they'd trade Nady. I thought it interesting, though, in Paul Meyer's Pirates spring synopsis today, John Russell likes the idea of occasionally playing Morgan in center and McLouth in left. That means Bay's sitting.

Matt_Kizner: Speaking of McLouth, I saw him play many games in Altoona and I liked him a great deal. He always played hard and got the most out of his abilities. Duffy got more notice but from my view McLouth was like a Lenny Dykstra with more pop.

Jerry Micco: I don't know if he's got Dykstra's base-stealing ability, and one good season doesn't tell me if he's got Dykstra's bat, but he's an interesting player. I saw Lenny Dykstra play A Ball in Lynchburg, Va., in '84 and he was tremendous. His teammate, Dwight Gooden, was even better. They were the Mets affiliate back then.

onlyoneman: I've read some things about Pitt being a little cheap with their basketball program, such as with commercial flights and what not. Is this frugality going to cost the program Jamie Dixon sooner or later? The man can coach and he always takes care of his players. I'd hate to see him go based on the inability or unwillingness to pay him top dollar.

Jerry Micco: I've not heard about Pitt being "cheap" with its program but I'm sure every school tries to be somewhat reasonable with costs when they can. And I think Dixon enjoys Pitt and the relationship seems very good. I think if Pitt thought he'd be moving on, they'd ante up, if it made economic sense. I mean sometimes, you just can't outspend the other team, bottom line.

onlyoneman: You probably don't have any more insight than myself on the subject, but please tell me Freddy Sanchez will bat second this season. I can't be the only person that thinks he needs to bat second.

Jerry Micco: I think that is where he's penciled in, according to Dejan Kovacevic, who I believe wrote about this in early spring. My above-mentioned scenario of McLouth and Morgan both playing would have McLouth leading off and Morgan hitting No. 2. But that combo is probably going to be a rare sight.

jimmy_g: Knowing what it is like at Heinz Field, Mellon Arena, and Peterson Events Center, we can only dream what it might be like at PNC Park with a winner.

Jerry Micco: Fans, even after all the losing, still turn out nearly 2 million for the Pirates. It'd be great to see the team make a run -- or at least be competitive late into the season -- to reward fans for their loyalty.

chooch79: Was the Hartwig signing a desperation move or a solid pickup?

Jerry Micco: A bit of both. They must not think Mahan can start and they need a center. Hartwig is a bit bigger and watching Mahan get tossed around by big nose tackles last year was kind of scary. The fact that Kemoeatu is up to 344 pounds also is interesting because he'll be a road grader at that weight. Mahan may be a good center-guard swing man on a team that needs to keep beefing up the O-Line.

Barry_Goheen: Now that Pryor is not a Nittany Lion, do you think Spanier will politely show Paterno the door? Pryor is 2 hours from the PSU campus, you cannot let him get away to another Big 10 school.

Jerry Micco: Steve Breaston from Woodland Hills went to Michigan. Other kids who were very good players from Western Pa. have gone elsewhere to play. You can't make that call based on Terrelle Pryor. My understanding is that it's been OSU all along and only a great effort by Tom Bradley kept PSU in it. And I think Rich Rodriguez -- at WVU and Michigan -- was in there all the way, too. The decision Spanier has to make is an extremely difficult one. Make no mistake, ruling on a legend is just not fun. Unless the legend gives you a wink and a nod, meaning he's good with whatever you want. I don't know if Joe's at the wink-and-a-nod stage yet.

chooch79: If Pryor knocks Michigan out of the BCS title game, where does Rodriguez run off to next?

Jerry Micco: I think Rodriguez will have a lot of holes to fill before he's playing for a national title at Michigan.

Barry_Goheen: When Pitt is bounced from the tourney either this weekend or next Thursday night, do you think the coaching staff and players will finally put less emphasis on the Big East Tournament? A few days off would help a lot more than some meaningless trophy.

Jerry Micco: Sometimes, though, playing well and playing hot and playing a lot is beneficial to a team. I mean, some teams get bounced early and make the Final Four, some make an incredible run through an entire conference tournament and make the Final Four. It's a tricky thing, but I think you win the games in front of you and you move on at this time of year. They certainly didn't look gassed vs. Georgetown, despite playing one extra game, did they?

onlyoneman: As much as I think he can benefit from another season, the Big East Championship performance in front of the entire nation helped to greatly increase Sam Young's draft stock.

Jerry Micco: It did, but I'm still not sure he's NBA ready. Very athletic guy, but can he play guard in the NBA? I don't think so. And 6-6 forwards need to shoot from the outside a bit better, too.

Barry_Goheen: Will Tiger Woods ever lose?

Jerry Micco: He may not. But you know what, there will be so much hype going into Masters week, that we'll all crown him way before the final Sunday. It's when that happens that he'll lose. Just when you least expect it. We'll see.

theWellHungarian: just curious, does anyone still pay attention to the Pirates or has apathy truly taken over? I know it has for me, ...

Jerry Micco: If I just this chat and my mail, the Pirates are very much on people's minds. Still.

onlyoneman: A follow up to your response about Pryor and his problems. My concern was that the off-field problems can lead to suspensions and that could take away from his on-field performances. I wish him luck and just hope that he matures emotionally to match his physical maturity beyond his years.

Jerry Micco: Beyond the incident following the North Catholic game, were there other instances? I know about standing on the scorer's table, OK. But I didn't think off the field was a problem for him for the vast part of his high school career. I also think he's such a huge investment, that OSU will monitor things. Of course, there's Maurice Clarett, which they couldn't control. Not saying Pryor's Clarett, but as I said before, with young men, you never know.

jimmy_g: Not being a Yankee fan, I must admit that what they did immediately after the Virginia Tech tragedy and yesterday was first class.

Jerry Micco: It was first class and even if you hate the Yankees, you have to admit they do a lot of things that way.

onlyoneman: Not to harp on Jason Bay, because I enjoy watching him play -- but wasn't he a bit out of line for whining and blaming management for not doing anything to help the team get better? I can't find it in my heart to blame management for Bay's numbers decreasing by 33 percent last season. Surely he knows that if he plays better, the team wins a few more games.

Jerry Micco: As I said before, was anyone else besides me struck that when Russell mentioned the few times Morgan and McLouth would start together, should they both make the team, McLouth would play left. I don't think Bay's moving to right. I think he's going to the bench. That doesn't mean he won't start 90 percent of the games, but I thought that was interesting.

Matt_Kizner: I have always liked Jason Bay but he became very clear last year that he was a liability in the field. If he has lost some of his offensive abilities, I think he is an average at best, left fielder.

Jerry Micco: Not a big arm, but not a bad fielder. I think the Pirates will be watching Bay closely. If he can regain his form of two years ago, he'll be the player they need to be competitive (if the pitching is solid). But before we completely throw him under the bus, let's remember he's put up some very good numbers here. Let's let the season start to see how he responds.

Barry_Goheen: Were Dykstra and Gooden on steroids and coke back in '84?

Jerry Micco: You know, that stuff was never in the realm when I was there. Sad stories, both.

jimmy_g: Jerry, it looks like Obama has taken some time off from campaigning to join your chat. I'm impressed.

Jerry Micco: He knows where to go to get the votes of the sports fan.

chooch79: I'm interested in who came up with the recent baseball survey questions? In the future, would you consider asking your readers what questions might be of interest and could be included?

Jerry Micco: We could. I approved the questions and one of our desk editors who handles the baseball section every year, came up with them. Did you have a couple in mind?

Grant_Jennings: Was Smizik serious in his column today?

Jerry Micco: Yes. Why?

PhillyMarty: Would it be heresy for me to suggest in this forum that Pitt appeared to play with greater motivation than some of the other upper echelon BE programs. This is something that happens in most conference tourneys every year leading to a Georgia winning the SEC or an Illinois making the BT final. So maybe Pitt beats OR but loses to Temple or MSU? You can surely argue that the SEC got an extra bid by GA winning and bubble teams like Ark and Ky still got in. So dare I suggest that we all need to be careful projecting conference tourney outcomes into similar results in our brackets?

Jerry Micco: You certainly may be right, Marty. The Michigan State-Temple winner is no pushover for Pitt. And as well as they are playing, and they are playing as well as anyone in the country, the Panthers still have to play great defense and get great outside shooting to win. They are not good enough to have a bad game and let the talent just will them to a victory.

onlyoneman: Sean Burnett should be an obvious choice for the bullpen. He's been impressive even though Spring Training stats are mostly useless. He also could provide an emergency start or handle long relief innings when starters get rocked early.

Jerry Micco: And that latter role could be exactly the one he holds down for the team. Three lefties in the pen is usually preferred by most managers. You have to figure Grabow and Marte are in. Burnett, with is strong spring, is likely going to get a very good look from here on out.

Barry_Goheen: I don't know about you, but I can't remember an era where sports was better than it is now. In the last year we had the Patriots run for perfection, the reemergence of the Celtics and the NBA for that matter, Tiger Woods rounding into the best of all time, locally Crosby and Malkin. I could go on and on. I wish the media and fans would focus more on these events than steroids and spygate and the other nonsense.

Jerry Micco: Those are all great stories and all ones that get the lion's share of coverage. But the spygates, steroids and the like, are all a part of today's sports fabric, too. Like it or not, journalistically, we have to cover that stuff. The trick is for those of us who love sports, to enjoy those other things, too. Like anything else, you take the good with the bad.

onlyoneman: In response theWellHungarian, I'm reading the most recent book about Clemente and as soon as the Pirates won in 1960 after all the years of losing, the fans flocked to Forbes Field. The same thing would happen again. If the Bucs are playing .500 ball in June they show up in masses.

Jerry Micco: I agree, onlyoneman.

jimmy_g: Since the Pirates are obviously in the bottom half of MLB on the talent scale, what we really need to hope for this year is a large dose of luck, e.g. the young pitchers and Matt Morris have good years, Bay, Nady & Sanchez have good years, Palino plays with intensity, McLouth or Morgan are unreal, etc., etc, etc. At least this time of the year we can hope before reality sets in.

Jerry Micco: Because the Pirates have the talent they have, it takes so many things to happen for them to be competitive. But anything can happen. If the pitching takes hold, Morris included, then they will compete with anyone. But they do not have the big talent of the marquee teams -- Dodgers, Cubs, Mets.

Barry_Goheen: Are the Pens going to be able to resign Ryan Malone? I know Malkin's numbers are awesome but Malone is my MVP.

Jerry Micco: The better Malone plays, the tougher it'll be to sign him. At some point, the team has to say who stays and who goes. That's tough, because Malone has been just great this season. Playing his best ever and rounding into his career. You hate to lose a guy like that, but if Marian Hossa is the trade-off, you have to make that tough decision.

PhillyMarty: Agree the JR suggestion was interesting. But if Bay is healthy and back to 05-06 form, sitting anytime other than second games of DH's would quickly put Russell in the same soup pot that LM and DT resided in. Perhaps he is trying to motivate Bay?

Jerry Micco: I would hope that Bay can self-motivate and be a leader. But I don't think he enjoys that role with the team. I do think the front office might have been put off a bit by his comments earlier and maybe they are keeping an eye on him. Maybe this is a part of that, I don't know. But if Bay hits like he did two years ago, he'll play every day. Count on that.

Barry_Goheen: Ever seen a worse game played by a defenseman than Ryan Whitney last night?

Jerry Micco: Whitney seems to have sparked the ire of Pens fans this season. He seems to still be a pretty gifted guy, but if you think he's going to run people over and clear the crease, it's not what he does. And he didn't play well last night, but then again, who on the team really did?

onlyoneman: As a hands on writer/producer in video production, I was pleased to see you guys take the leap to video and include the great columnists every Friday. It makes it a more personal experience for the reader/viewer. Kudos! Keep up the great work.

Jerry Micco: As the host of that show, it's one of the more fun things that I get to do. Those guys are comfortable on camera and have a great presence. It took me a while to get adjusted to things, but now I feel more comfortable. We enjoy doing the show and I think people are actually watching it. By the way, it's posted midnight Thursday/Friday and is called SportsNOW. Shameless plug.

Jerry Micco: I need to run folks. Wow, terrific stuff today. Everyone seems fired up by the time of year. NCAAs, NHL gearing up for the playoffs, NBA the same, NFL signings and the draft looming and MLB getting ready to start. Great time of year, great time to talk sports. Thanks everyone and see you next Wednesday at noon.