Red 5A Gang

  Things I Liked And Stuff I don’t   It’s Sunday morning following a Pitt win and yet I have case of agida. One IC Light – Hail to Pitt can… and that was it. I like what Pitt has done thus far… they have exceeded my expectations and probably yours… and yet, I’m worried about the coming games. Are you? THE SCORE – Anything short of 60 points by the offensive would have had me concerned. Someone pondered early in the game if Pitt could score as much as James Madison and we got the answer to that. 73 points – as scripted as Duzz said post-game. DUZZ  – I really liked his tribute to his father. Old school short-sleeved dress shirt and tie.  And since we’ve thrown around some Italian slang… his deeply personal vendetta against Youngstown was finally realized. Might be okay to put that aside now… DID YOU KNOW The last time Pitt faced Mike Tomczak, it was the 1984 Fiesta Bowl. Tomczak threw a 39 yard TD pass with – coincidentally – 39 seconds left in the game to bea...

  IT AIN’T OVER TILL IT’S OVER! Things I Liked and Stuff I don’t – The 2024 Brawl Monday morning and I still have the post-win buzz. No, no not the alcohol kind… but we had that going as well for a while post-game and maybe a wee dram on Sunday evening. In no particular order, here are my impressions from the day. DID YOU LEAVE THE GAME when Pitt was down by 10? I have a friend (coincidentally a childhood acquaintance of Huff) who left his Sarasota home when Mountaineer WR Justin Robertson made the one arm-push off, other arm facemask “spectacular catch” with 4:55 left in the game to see something called the Lido Key powerboat races. I like this guy – even though he’s an Upper St. Clair grad – so we will keep him anonymous. But he told me after that he was ashamed for leaving his TV – and rightfully so I might add. There were a couple of grizzled Pitt veterans in our section – two brothers who are wonderful Pitt fans and know their football… who did likewise. One of them s...

  A Tale of Two Games Things I Liked And Stuff I don’t – post-Bearcat game It was the worst of times… it was the best of times… all in one game in a tale of two river cities.  An instant classic for Pitt fans.  Many on the Discourse site have made really good assessments about Saturday’s win and I will borrow a few because they capture my exact thoughts. WHAT IF? ... humor me on this, please. I wondered if I should dare to say this right after the game expired. But then I saw Major Majors – a smart guy, btw – say the exact same thing. So, I’m going to say it… If Eli’s throw to Kenny Johnson is a little more accurate, I believe the game would have gone in Pitt’s favor much earlier. And likewise, there was a slightly errant flow n Pitt’s second or third offensive series that could have resulted in a large play. I know, I know... “but it wasn’t”. We all know that. We know that the Bearcats gifted Pitt a 1 st down late due to a bizarre disruptive calls penalty… My po...

  I’ll never get over it. Never.   A gut-wrenching, soul haunting loss. Pike to Binns, the latter leaving Aaron Berry face down at the three yard line for the fatal dagger with under a minute to go. And yet I always think of Mardy Gilyard first. What could have been, what should have been... sigh. Say what you will about Dave Wannstedt, but he would have shown up at the Sugar Bowl to face the machine called Tim Tebow & the Florida Gators. Unlike Brian Kelly, who cowardly dodged the certain slaughter by running to start recruiting for Notre Dame. Or perhaps he went to find the best spot to place a video tower at the ND practice facility. Or perhaps cram study on the Sacraments. Or work on a South Bend accent. Whatever the case... once a douche, always a fist-pounding douche. Each time Pitt faces the Bearcats, those haunting thoughts come back – perhaps therapy is in order. And as much as I’d like to push that aside this year, the Bearcats have decided to rub some...

  Things I Like and Stuff I Don’t I’m missing the articles-based format of the POV and Blather. Anyone else? Both The Good, Bad & Ugly and the MMQB formats were mostly good, even if the former title was tilted towards negativity. Deserved after some losses, a bit lame after some wins. Of course, we’d all react/respond to those columns with our own thoughts and I thought I give my own on this Labor Day: Eli’s Coming – I really thought we’d be seeing Nate under center before last week and was OK with that. A good kid who stayed around since recruited by Mark Whipple with a demonstrated ability to put a ball in the right place. And he’s professed a love for Pitt. What’s not to like about that? Eli’s first drive along with subsequent plays helped me understand Kade Bell’s decision. I’m encouraged… he looks the part of a QB… is athletic, shows he can make quick decisions and made some great throws. But its early and as we will keep saying all week – it was Kent State. No...