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Friday, September 26, 2003

Q: The Yahoo audio broadcasts are not available to everyone for $30, only to people with PC's using Microsoft's Media Player and Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Not Mac or Linux users. Also Penn State, Florida, Florida State and a host of other schools have their broadcasts for free so why can't Pitt?

Bill Henry of Birmingham, Ala.

ZEISE: The Mac users have been out in force this week, so I forwarded this concern to the correct people at Pitt. Here is the answer from the technical people at Yahoo via Pitt sports information director E.J. Borghetti.

"We are working on a Mac solution now and hope to have it in place shortly. I'm hoping worst case scenario is by the start of basketball season. To put this into perspective, the Mac audience represents only 3.6 % of online users. In our effort to provide a superior broadcast experience using the latest streaming technology, we unfortunately had to alienate the Mac audience. While there may be a few folks who are upset by this, 96% of online users will have a better broadcast experience than before. In consideration of our mutual revenues, this was the right decision. Nonetheless, we are working to provide a solution to the Mac audience in order to avoid this issue altogether."

So in short, Pitt is working on it. And again, the broadcasts aren't free because the provider (Yahoo) is now charging Pitt an annual fee to stream their audio.

Q: I live in Florida and would like to listen to the games on the Internet but the University web-site often does not have the time of the games and I can't seem to get the right information to access the broadcast. Also, how do I pay Yahoo for the broadcasts.

Ronald Covato of Florida

ZEISE: If you go to www.PittsburghPanthers.com, you will see a box on the left side of the screen that is a link for audio broadcasts. If you click on it, all the information you need about paying the fee and registering appears. Also, only the times of the games which have been determined are listed. Because of television, many of the game times have not yet been determined. But they are all announced at least ten days before the game is to take place, so that gives you plenty of time to arrange your schedule to be at the computer on game day.

Q: I'll be in Baltimore this weekend and would like to watch the Pitt-Texas A&M game on ABC. I understand this will be a regional telecast so where will I have to go to view the game?

Thomas Schultz of Roanoke, Va.

ZEISE: Well, you'll have to find a sports bar with a satellite dish or a place like Damons that shows multiple feeds of the games because the Pitt game won't be on the ABC affiliates in Baltimore. The 3:30 game you will get is Wake Forest at Virginia. However, if you look at the regional telecast map on ABC's website, you will see that there is a large portion of Delaware that will receiver the Pitt-Texas A&M game, so if you want to drive about a half hour north on I-95, I'm sure you'll find the game on in plenty of places.

Q: With the impending departure of Miami and Virginia Tech from the Big East, there are two scheduling spots open for the 2004 season. Has there been any discussion about who will fill these spots?

Marc of State College, Pa.

ZEISE: There are no formal discussions taking place yet because most of the energy in the athletic department seems to be focused on settling the new face of the Big East. That appears to be on the verge of sorting itself out, so the next step is to figure out the scheduling nightmare for all the teams. Next season won't be so bad, however, as the NCAA will return to an 11-game regular season. Pitt's schedule currently has nine games that won't change -- Boston College, Syracuse, West Virginia, Temple, Rutgers, Ohio, Nebraska, South Florida and Notre Dame. And Connecticut will be the tenth game which means Pitt needs to find one more game to fill out its schedule. At this late time, it would surprise me if Pitt were able to schedule anyone other than a mid-major school and they may have to drop and find a I-AA school to play, especially since the University will want another home game.

Q: Why aren't the Pittsburgh coaches putting Malcolm Pinder in the game?

Doug Moore of Connecticut

ZEISE: Either Malcolm Pinder has a big family or a big fan base....or there is one guy with a whole lot of time on his hands and even more aliases, as this question was asked more this week than the old standby about Pitt playing Penn State. Malcolm Pinder is not going to play because he is not good enough right now and he has not earned playing time. That is not an indictment of his skills, because he does have some talent, but when you are a walk-on at a Division I-A school, you have to have realistic expectations. Pinder was a linebacker last year, but coaches moved him to defensive end in the spring and he was selected as one the Panthers most improved players. He was injured during a portion of training camp and fell behind Azzie Beagnyam to third on the depth chart so his time is not likely to increase unless Beagnyam or Claude Harriott get hurt.

Q: What is the status of these five potential future Pitt players: Eric Thatcher, Windell Brown, Donald Brooks, Carlton Keith and Allen Richardson?

Gary Vaughn of Greensburg

ZEISE: The five recruits you mention are in various predicaments which have prohibited them from enrolling at Pitt. Thatcher, who is from Cincinnati, severed an artery in his arm in a freak accident but is expected to enroll in January and coaches are optimistic that he'll be able to play again. Brooks, who is from Galveston, Texas, is also expected to enroll in January. He is recovering from injuries from a car accident and like Thatcher, coaches are optimistic he'll be able to play again. Brown, who is from Duquesne, and Richardson, who is from Euclid, Ohio, both have some work to do academically before they will be able to enroll at Pitt or go to a prep school or junior college. Keith, who left Minnesota, never enrolled at Pitt and is not expected to.

Q: What exactly is a redshirt?

Aaron Lesko of Scottdale

ZEISE: Redshirt is simply a term used for players who are on the roster but are not going to participate in any games. Every player has five seasons to complete their four seasons of eligibility. A redshirt can be used for a freshman who may need an extra year to mature before he is ready to step on the field or it can be used for a player who has suffered a major injury or is rehabbing an injury and doesn't want to waste a year of eligibility. As for why it is called a redshirt, nobody seems to know the exact answer. At Pitt, those players who are inactive actually do wear redshirts at practice, but at other schools the actual colors of the shirts vary. There is also now something called a grayshirt, which basically is a way of getting six years out of a kid, particularly a lineman, who needs a little more maturing. To grayshirt a guy, the coaches simply have him enroll in January (as opposed to September with all of the rest of the freshman) and that way he'd get the benefit of an extra year of lifting weights and conditioning. Pitt tackle Jason Capizzi is an example of this. Capizzi graduated from Pine-Richland in 2001, but did not enroll at Pitt until January 2002. He then redshirtted last year which means he is a freshman eligibility-wise, even though he's been out of high school for two years. In the meantime, he has bulked up and become a much more mature athlete ready to contribute perhaps as early as next season.

Q: Why is the chancellor waiting to re-negotiate Walt Harris's contract? Aren't we in danger of losing him if we don't pay him more money?

Michael McPoland of Asburn, Va.

ZEISE: For one thing, Harris's current contract runs through the 2006 season. That means he has three seasons remaining after this one and therefore there is no hurry to re-negotiate the deal, particularly since Harris still has to prove he is worthy of a big raise and an extension. Losing to Toledo last week didn't help, nor does the fact that he is 3-3 in his last six games with a team that is supposed to be one of the most talented in the country. At the end of this season, if Pitt is 11-1 and on its way to a BCS game, Harris will have a lot of leverage and will deserve a raise and an extension and I'm sure the University will pony up to keep him. But if the Panthers finish 8-4, or worse, then there will be some valid questions asked about whether or not he is able take the program to the next level. He has already been compensated for bringing the program back from the dead, but in order to get to the next level in pay, he needs to get the program to the next level on the field. You can't just talk about being an elite team, at some point, you need to be one. Ben Howland was able to get his contract torn up for two reasons - 1. He won a Big East title, 57 games in two years and he made it to the Big East title game three seasons in a row and 2. He had another suitor (UCLA) upping the ante for his services. Ultimately, he chose UCLA, but he had leverage enough to get Pitt to re-negotiate his deal because he did take the program to a very high level. Harris has done an excellent job of getting the program to this point, but there is still some work that needs to be done before it is truly one of the nation's elite.

Q: Do you still believe Walt Harris is the man for the job after the embarrassing Toledo defeat?

Randy Grisano of Pittsburgh

Zeise: This is a good question and I think we'll know the answer to it by the end of this season (or perhaps earlier and that would not be good for Pitt). As I said in the previous answer, losing to Toledo in a game you had won -- not too mention dropping the West Virginia game at home last year with a Gator Bowl berth on the line (at least both teams thought this before the game) and the swinging gate fiasco versus A&M last year -- is disturbing because it is a game Pitt needs to win in order to take the next step. Right now, I don't see a game on Pitt's remaining schedule, outside of Miami, that Pitt should not win. And that includes Virginia Tech, who is coming to Heinz Field and Pitt has owned over the past two years. If Pitt wins the rest of its games, loses a close one to Miami and then wins the Gator Bowl, that would be a nice step forward for Harris and the Panthers. Anything less than that and the question you asked will continue to be asked, only a bit louder.

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