Parents of Clairton Education Center: Where's the Outrage

As a 2001 Grad of Clairton High School there are a few disturbing trends as I did a little bit of research from Clairton's Web Page.

We all know that CEC isn't making the grade when it comes to the PSSA(PA System of School Assessment) tests.

But I must ask this simple question, where is the outrage from the PARENTS of these kids? Where are the parents during such events like School Board Meetings, Parent Teacher Conferences, or part of the PTA(Parent Teacher Association)?

On the City of Clairton Facebook Page there are always great discussions, but they are always led by people outside of the city such as Gary Mullen(Leader of the Clairton Restoration Movement), Paul Goodrum, Loretta Sanders, Damon Moore and so on.

The problem is that we can discuss these issues all we want, but we can't change anything until the residents of Clairton are involved.

Here are the facts parents;

From Page 24;

Strategy: PSSA awareness
Description: The district will utilize motivational strategies to inform the student and home of the
importance of the PSSA assessment.
Activity: Parental correspondence
Last Modified: 9/15/2009
Description: A letter explaining the importance of the PSSA is sent to each home on three
occasions prior to the administration of the assessment.
Person Responsible Timeline for Implementation Resources
None Selected Start: 1/1/2007
Finish: Ongoing
-
Status: In Progress — Upcoming

Low Test scores for Clairton has been in the limelight ever since the PSSA was introduced in the 1990's. So you're going to tell me that from the 1st of January in 2007 through September 15th of 2009 this School Board didn't find the need to have someone in charge to lead in this area. There maybe one in place today, but not having one in place for a year and 9 months is, what we like to say in the Navy, UNSAT.

Also as you read their Strategic Plan you're going to notice minor spelling errors and so on. And then you're also going to notice several of their Goals listed as Overdue, or not completed.

So how can we take this school seriously when they're sending this Document to the Department of Education on the Federal and State Levels and they can't spell or have decent grammar.

Most "Living Documents" are only updated when "Goals" are completed. So most of these so called Goals from 2007 are still incomplete and overdue. Which is a shame, because this Admin is failing the future of this great nation.

Again Parents, where is the outrage? This document is on the Schools Web Page for crying out loud. Do you even read the site at all? Parents... get off of your dead asses and turn off your TV's, and lets do something about this problem.

16 Week Season for the Next 2 Years

The WPIAL and PIAA are simply amazing. Saying that both organizations are stupid or dumb would be giving them far too much credit.

Last Thursday night they was supposed to vote on a 15 Week Season and tabled the vote to Friday Morning-before the State Championship games. In a Tally that needed 21 Yes votes, the final tally came out to 16 Yes votes to 10 No votes and 1 voter abstained-for whatever reason.

While some people was surprised by this ruling I wasn't. Why would a D5, D9, or any other District be willing to cut playoff qualifiers when the WPIAL was still going to be able to hold a 16 team playoff field in all 4 Class's. Fair is fair right.

Its obvious to me that no one cares about the kids and only about their own self interest, but at the same time they want a shorter season at the same time. So compromise needs to be in order somewhere.

So what's the next step in ending the season sooner. The East doesn't want to start the season earlier, the WPIAL doesn't more Class's because of the Heinz Field issue, and doesn't want to cut its playoff field in half.

This is really going to come down to who blinks first.

And lets be serious my fellow WPIAL fans, does a 3-6 Fox Chapel team really deserve a playoff spot? Or how about in some of those bottom tier schools in Class A? I mean what benefit does bringing in 4th place teams really do when they're more than likely going to lose by 30+ in the first round. Why risk injuries to a star player or 2 in these meaningless playoff games? And its really sad that I'm calling a playoff game meaningless for crying out loud.

Another thing we need to fix is the competitive balance in esp in Class A and 4A. McKeesport for example is definitely a quality football program but why have them compete with a North Allegheny when their enrollment was 515 Boys and NA's was 1078. NA has more than double the amount of boys than McKeesport has. In Class A its even worse. Schools like Mapletown, Geibel, and Imani has less than 70 boys competing against schools of over 180 boys in enrollment. But the competitive imbalance is very noticeable at the Class A Level.

I'd root for 5 or maybe 6 Class's for the PIAA. But until the WPIAL and its counterparts reach some compromise. And with the way things are going, its not going to happen any time soon. And its a shame.

Some more realignment stuff

I must say that maybe I'm too ahead of my time or something. But this in my eyes looks far better than the clustered mess of 3 conferences of 9 teams and 1 10 team conference. And with Vincentian in the fold we could have 2 9 team leagues and 2 10 team conferences. The WPIAL and PIAA are a JOKE. It is what it is I guess. So here goes nothing... I GUESS;

Allegheny Valley

Apollo Ridge

West Shamokin

Springdale

Leechburg

Riverview

Blackhills

Avella

Bentworth

Char Houston

Fort Cherry

Beth Center

Northhills

Sto Rox

Northgate

Avonworth

North Catholic

Vincentian(Possible for 2012, if not able to field a team 2014 for sure)

Greene County

Mapletown

Carmichaels

West Greene

California

Jefferson Morgan

3 Rivers

Bishop Canevin

Carlynton

Brentwood

Imani Christian(Cannot compete in WPIAL playoffs due to eligibility/transfer issues)

Wilkensburg

Mon-Yough

Clairton

Monessen

Serra Catholic

Geibel

Fraizer

Big 4

Rochester

Western Beaver

South Side

OLSH

Mercer County

Laurel

Shenengo

Neshannock

Union

Clairton Seeking 47th Straight Win against the Mighty Tigers

Maybe I'm biased, maybe its because Clairton is the lone WPIAL representative in the State Finals this year, but is there a more intriguing matchup this year than the Clairton Bears vs Southern Columbia Area Tigers?

Lets be serious, as dominant Clairton has been these 4-5 on the local and then state levels, Southern Columbia has been that good for 2 decades. SCA had 12 State Title Appearances in 13 years(1994-2006) and won 6 of them including a 5 year winning streak from 2001-2006. Check this, other than 2007 SCA has won every District 4 Championship since 1991.

Coach Jim Roth owns a 330-58-2 record during his span at SCA(1984-2011) and was the youngest Head Coach to ever achieve 300 wins. And in his 27 years at SCA his teams won 10 or more game 24 of those seasons.

The Tigers just seems to have a way with wearing teams down as the game goes along. Both Old Forge and Pius X had 10+ point leads on the Tigers, only to see those leads wither away into 10+ point losses. They're led by 2 1,000 yard rushers in Tyler Laven and Matt Moore and their QB Brad Fegley has quietly been extremely proficient. He's 114 of  167 for 1698 yards, 13 TDs and 0 Interceptions.

What can I say about the Bears that I-or anybody else- has said about them. Its been unbelievable to look at the stats during the 46 game winning streak.

The Bears are led by Safety Jr Tyler Boyd. He has 2182 yards(53 yards short of Deonte Howards school record) on 172 Carries, 386 yards on 16 catch's, and amassed a total of 46 TD's on the season.

There are a plethora of WR weapons in Clairton's arsenol for Sr Capri Thomspon to throw to in 6'3 Trenton Coles(Pittsburgh Recruit), 6'0 Terrence Webb, 6'4 Titus Howard and 5'8 Byron Clifford. Thompson is 79 of 125 for 1701 and 15 TDs.

I have no doubt in my mind Southern Columbia is going to give the Bears the fight of their lives and will force them to earn their 47th straight win. And this is a game of totally conflicting styles, and is this is the ultimate Speed vs Power contest.

Ultimately I'm going with the homer pick because I can. I'm going Clairton 30 SCA 20. 

PIAA Class A Title Game

Site: Hershey Park Stadium, Hershey PA

Time: 1PM

Broadcasts: PCN on Cable and Online Feed, MSA Radio

*References...  http://www.easternpafootball.com/news/piaa-a-state-championship-preview-southern-columbia-14-1/

http://www.scatigerfootball.org/sca_fb.html

Conference Predictions

After seeing the #'s I do know Jeannette, and Aliquippa are indeed playing up but is unsure about GCC so I didn't put them in. We'll find out Monday if they're playing up or not. But here's my realignment(thinking like the WPIAL) without GCC.

 Blackhills:
Clairton
Bishop Canevin
Carlynton
Bentworth
Char Houston
Brentwood
Fort Cherry
Avella
Serra Catholic

Eastern Conference:
West Shamokin                   
Avonworth     
Northgate     
North Catholic     
Riverview  
Wilkensburg  
Springdale
Leechburg  
Apollo Ridge  

Tri County South:
Fraizer
West Greene
California
Jefferson Morgan
Carmichaels
Mapletown
Geibel
Beth Center
Monessen

Big 7:
Laurel
OLSH
Rochester
SS. Beaver
Sto Rox
Western Beaver
Union
Neshannock
Shenengo

A Run of a Lifetime

We at Clairton has been blessed with one of the greatest runs in Western Pennsylvania History. We've seen players come through the program like Dana Brown, Kevin Weatherspoon, Desimon Green, Trenton Coles, and Tyler Boyd these past 6-7 years.

What can I say about this program as of late other than WOW, or thats UNBELIEVABLE. Its easy to get caught up in the stats or the current winning streak or the streak of titles won in both the WPIAL and PIAA.

Heck the Bears went down to Texas and competed with schools twice the size of McKeesport and ended up in 2nd Place in a 7 on 7 tournament. I do understand that 7 on 7's aren't the best barometer of a program but to me this proved that Clairton, at least at the skill positions, are as good as any program in the entire nation.

It has been something hasn't it?

We all watch the news or see the negativity of our city on Facebook, Twitter, or in the daily papers. But we always have this football program to make us smile. For 2 and a half hours on Friday nights all that negativity is forgotten as we watch these kids play the game that they love.

But what we must remember is this run won't last forever. There is always the risk of the school closing down or the current run of phenomenal players runs dry. The latter is bound to happen. So lets enjoy this run while it lasts. Sometimes even I gets a little too arrogant when judging other schools after the Bears blow them out. I do think some of us fans has gotten a little spoiled. It happens. The Steelers and Penguins fan base are excellent examples of this.

I hear the 2A chatter. There was a time when I led the charge in this. Matt Popchock of 93.7 wrote an excellent article on this subject matter. In my opinion, with graduation this year, the Bears needs to add 25-30 more kids on top of the 25 kids left on the roster-which is about 7-8 more kids a class. Until then I don't think its a viable option. And thats rather unfortunate because its preventing players like Tyler Boyd from being challenged and taking his game to another level. 

And I do understand that Jeannette and Aliquippa has Single A Enrollment, but remember they never played Class A Ball and dropped from 3A to 2A in the late 80's early 90's.

Honestly, I do think the depth of Class A in the WPIAL and even the state is a little down. Other than maybe 1 or 2 teams, its just hard for even me to get up for conference or even playoff games. If the well runs dry by 2013, why punish that team by playing Keystone Oaks and South Fayette for the achievements of the 2008 through the 2011 teams.

The game against Sharpsville may be yet another blowout, or it could be the end of the 45 game winning streak. We'll find out Friday Night up at Slippery Rock University. The winner of the Clairton/ Sharpsville game will take on the winner of the Southern Columbia/ Penns Manor game next Friday at 1PM in Hershey PA.

Everybody from the Press, to fans of other schools, and Clairton fans themselves needs to simply enjoy the brilliance they're seeing in front of their eyes. This is one of the greatest runs in WPIAL history. Clairton isn't going 2A anytime soon and may simply close down in the very near future. Who knows what the future holds for the Bears. What we do know is that our Bears is primed for a 3rd State Championship.

On another note, on or around December 12th the enrollment figures will be released. Who knows which programs will drop to 1A or jump up to 2A. And around February the new conferences and schedule matrix's will be released for the 2012 and 2013 seasons. 

Bears Ready to Take on the Sto Rox Vikings

The Bears are seeking their 4th Straight WPIAL Championship at Heinz Field this Saturday and also their 5th in a 6 year Time frame.

On must ask, how is it possible that this team isn't getting respect, but it seems like every week there is a perceived negative article on the Bears.

The Bears are 12-0 and has scored 554 points and only given up 45 points for an average of 46.2-3.8 a game.

The Bears counterpart, Sto Rox Vikings are also 12-0 and has scored 511 points and has given up 105 for an average of 42.6- 8.8 points a game.

Clairton and Sto Rox has 5 Common opponents in Carlynton, Rochester, Western Beaver, Cornell, and Brentwood.

Clairton has won on an average of 44.2-1.4, while Sto Rox has won on an average of 40.0-6.6.

Ultimately the game will come down to who can control the lines, and to the team that has more discipline as well as turnovers. Because as we all can see, both teams have similar numbers with Clairton averaging a little more on offense and giving up a little less on defense.

Both the Vikings and Bears have D1 Talent all over the place in Trenton Coles, Tyler Boyd, and Titus Howard from the Bears; and Deashawn Rippy, Marzette Geter, and Dontez Ford from the Vikings.

I must say both teams are mirror image's of each other at nearly every position.

Capri Thomspon(Clairton) and Lenny Williams(Sto Rox) are very athletic and capable QB's. Josh Beverly(Sto Rox), and Tyler Boyd(Clairton) are workhorse type of running backs. And both teams have a plethora of WR's to throw to in Trenton Coles, Byron Clifford, and Titus Howard from the Bears and Marzette Geter, Dontez Ford, and TE Deashawn Rippy from the Vikings.

At this point its just hard to pick against a team that has won 43 straight games, 2 State Titles, and 3 straight WPIAL titles.

Neither team has seen a team on the other side with as much talent, if not more, than them in some time.

Past history tells me that this should be an all out defensive slug fest. But I think this game is going to play out differently than past games. Ultimately I'm going to take the Bears in a 35-21 win; and hush up the critics until the next big time match up of course. HA

WPIAL Class A Title Game

Where: Heinz Field

When: Saturday, Sept 26

Time: 11:00 AM

Broadcasted Live on Root Sports and MSA internet radio.

Is there even a 2011 football season

 2011 equals Armageddon in my eyes. I can't remember a year when the sport of football is the sideshow while the main story has been some sort of controversy.

All summer long we had to deal with the NFL Lockout and wondering if the season was going to happen at all. Good to see Goodell, the owners, and the players put ego's aside and working on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Either way, it was definitely a scandal that lasted most of the summer.

Also during the summer months we had the Ohio State/Jim Tressel/ Terrell Pryor saga where players sold merchandise and for exchange they received tattoos. And on top of that players was receiving cars and other items from big money boosters.

At the University of Miami, you had the Nevin Shapiro-who ran an illegal ponzi scheme, hand out money to 72 players from 2002 through 2010. Some writers such as Dan Wetzel -of Yahoo Sports- indicated that Miami may receive the "Death Penalty".

From August on, the biggest news story has been College Football Realignment.

We saw Texas A&M and later the University of Missouri head to the SEC, while the University of Pittsburgh and Syracuse University head to the ACC and Texas Christian University and West Virginia University head to the Big XII.

In the middle of all the actual movement of schools you had various rumors like the University of Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma University, and Oklahoma State University going to the Pac 12, and the Big XII left over schools heading to the Big East.

Heck there was even rumors of Notre Dame sending its none football sports into the Big XII, Louisville trying to get into the Big XII, and UConn trying to get into the ACC.

There are some things still going on in the Realignment process as the Big East rebuilds itself. It appears that the University of Central Florida, University of Houston, and Southern Methodist University will be All Sports Members while Boise State University, Air Force Academy, and the Naval Academy will be football only schools. Different rumors out there indicate the number 12 sport could either be Brigham Young University or San Diego State University. Stay tuned I guess as that stuff shakes itself out.

If you thought that the Miami, and OSU's scandals was insane, then I guess you haven't been paying attention to what has been happening up in State College PA.

It is one of the most appalling story's I have ever followed and I'm just saddened by the way Joe Paterno's name will forever be tarnished. My grandfather adored JoePa, and I wonder what my pap would think about this situation if he was still here today. And the sad part is, it just feels like we haven't seen anything yet in regards on how big of a story this is going to get.

It just saddens me to see how greed and corruption is ruining the sport that I love. From lockouts, to players illegally getting paid, to 100 year rivalries being lost, and a child molestation scandal being swept under the rug, one must ask... when will this end? What more is out there waiting in the wings to be put to light? I'm just sick to my stomach right now.

Here's the worst part, I didn't touch on all of the various scandals this year. There are many more and I really just don't want to talk about anymore right now.

Even as a football crazed guy as I am, its even hard for me to get excited when a game comes on TV. And that's just a shame. It just seems like the only football that I truly give a damn about is High School football anymore. And how I feel right now, I could live with that.

Down Year for the Eastern Conference

I've learned plenty of things as I been blogging and score comparisons is one thing that should never be applied in judging potential match ups.

Team A beats Team B by 30 and Team B beats Team 3 by 21 and people immediately assume that Team A should beat Team C by 50+. But it almost never works out that way. I remember hearing about Rochester beating Monessen by 2 TD's and the following week Clairton beat Monessen 46-0 and immediately assumed that Clairton was 3-4 TD's better than Rochester.

But when I look at the Eastern Conference as a whole, I've noticed a plethora of tightly battled contested games. The only school that really stuck out to me was Bishop Canevin. Other than North Catholic(19-0 win) and Springdale (7-6 win) they've blown out the competition including a 33-6 win over Avonworth.

Fast forward to the playoffs, Avonworth beat California 28-16 in a tougher than expected game where the halftime score was only 7-2 in Avonworth's favor.

Springdale needed 65 points to put a beat up Monessen team into the mercy rule and gave up 30 points in the process.

Beth Center-whom I consider the one team that stood out- needed Chartiers Houston mistakes to win on a 27-23come from behind victory.

Northgate, in the Eastern Conference's only loss, took one in the chin losing 48-22 to Rochester.

Northgate played everyone tough in the Eastern except for Bishop Canevin(42-0) and Springdale(26-12).

I know its easy to look at their 3-1 record in the first round and think that's impressive with the naked eye. But when the Top 3 schools struggle with perceived lessor competition that raises my eyebrow just a little. And Northgate getting smoked by Rochester is a testament to that.

First glance could be that the TCS may have gotten a little better when its competing a little better but with its blow out losses to Sto Rox(beat Frazier 69-25)  and Fort Cherry. I have to point the fact that the Eastern Conference just isn't its usual self this season.

I'm fully anticipating all 3 schools from the Eastern Conference to go down this week in possible blowout fashion. If Springdale is giving up 30 to a beaten up Monessen team, how many points will a much better Clairton team score on them. If Avonworth is struggling with California, how well can we expect them to compete with a much better Rochester team. If Bishop Canevin barely beat Chartiers Houston, what can we expect against Fort Cherry-who blasted Char Houston 37-13 just 2 weeks ago).

Its definitely a down year for the Eastern Conference. It happens to all leagues. It'll most likely be back with a vengeance next season.

But until then I'm sticking with my picks of Clairton over Springdale; Rochester over Avonworth; Sto Rox over Brentwood; and Fort Cherry over Bishop Canevin to set up Clairton vs Rochester and Sto Rox vs Fort Cherry for the right to play at Heinz Field. 

A Happy Valley No more

I'm sure everyone heard this story so I'm not going to rehash every single detail here. We all know Jerry Sandusky is facing serious sexual assault charges on children.

But I want to ask a few questions regarding the lack of action taken here. Why didn't the Grad Assistant not only go to Joe Paterno but to the police. Hell why didn't Joe Paterno go to the police. Its one thing to report a situation to your superiors but why not follow up if there was a legit police report on this matter. Why didn't the janitor that witnessed this go to the police as well.

I think there was some negligence on the part of JoePa, the janitor, and the Grad Assistant for not going to the authorities.

I'm just also curious if this is only the tip of the iceberg. In many cases such as this one, more allegations come out in the following weeks/months. And with Sandusky being on the Penn State coaching staff from 1977 to 1999 it makes me wonder if there was other cases as early as the late 70's through the 80's. How many other people may be involved in this alleged cover up, and is JoePa himself in on the coverup?

I've seen people throw out the possibility of Penn State being suspended or kicked out of the Big 10, or even Penn State "saving face" and simply leaving the Big 10. Another thing being throw out there is that the NCAA needs to hit Penn State with harsh penalties.

Lets me make this clear, the Big 10 isn't going to boot PSU nor will PSU leave the Big 10 over this. And from every lawyer and media type I've chatted with, each tells me this is a legal matter and the NCAA won't hand down any sanctions.

But PSU needs to "clean house" from its President, to the AD, to every coach on the staff and move on. It'll be a tough transition but the Boosters and BOT needs to do this as soon as the season is over.

I have no idea what kind of effect this story will have on recruiting. I've read a few recruits comments on twitter and this might cause PSU to lose a few recruits they might have otherwise would've added to their class. But I do pose a question for parents of kids that are recruits- would you allow your kid to go to Penn State for a recruiting visit knowing there may be a possibility these very coach's covered up a heinous crime?

All in all this is a much bigger story than just football. I'm hoping no further allegations come out regarding Sandusky's case. Its just sad for football that JoePa will be going out on a major allegation, and its sad for PA in general to watch as this scandal unfolds.

Class A Round 2 Predictions

Clairton 45 Springdale 7
Rochester 30 Avonworth 14

Sto Rox 55 Brentwood 21
Fort Cherry 21 Bishop Canevin 20

Hey WPIAL/Root Sports; We have a problem

Alright WPIAL if you want to continue the deal with Root sports then we need to change venues for the Championship game.

There will be much, much more flexibility to televise these 4 games if you had the 1A and 3A on Friday and 2A and 4A on Saturday.

Think about this, if there is a Penguins game on at Noon, you could start the 1A or 2A game at 4 and still start the 3A or 4A game at 7/7:30. Its far easier to schedule around the Pens game this way.

All this scheduling games between 9 and 10 AM is doing no good at all. You're forcing kids to wake up between 5 and 6 AM to go to their schools to get on a bus to travel downtown and then prepare for the game.

Now if you really want to keep the games at Heinz, isn't it time to go to a different media outlet to broadcast the games. Whats wrong with CW, PCNC, and hell what about WTAE 4-2 on the digital side?

The fact that this years games will be 2A at 9:30, 3A at Noon and 4A at 3:30/4PM with the 1A game at 8PM with 0 live TV coverage is a problem with me. So what are you telling me WPIAL/Root that 1A games aren't "important" enough to be on live TV.

I do understand that the 2A and 4A games was effected by Penguins games in the past. And just maybe it is 1A's turn to be effected by it.

The only benefit I see with an 8PM start time is Class A will be "under the lights" and its closer to the normal start time of 7:30 for the 2 1A schools involved in the game.

Is it really fair to the kids to be constantly changing around the start times for these games, and 9-10AM start times even if the WPIAL went to another Network. And personally, its really time to start thinking about another venue! 

What does Clairton have to do to gain respect.

 After reading 2 pieces(by Josh Funk and Josh Yohe) on the Bears, and a pick by Rich Emert of the Post Gazette against the Bears at Heinz, I must ask a ?, has anyone listented to any Aretha Franklin lately?!!!

What must the Bears do to gain respect?

Just look at some quick numbers for a second; after the first week of the season against Washington it took until midway through the 3rd Quarter of week 8 against Fort Cherry to give up any points. Not even a Special Teams TD, or a TD against the backups nor any Field Goals.

How are those numbers possible if this team is bored or complacent? I would think if this team was bored and/or complacent they would be giving up more points.

Ok fact is is that offense hasn't been as explosive as in past years. Can it be a little possible that some defenses in the league are getting a little better as well? For much of the game against Fort Cherry, the Rangers seemed to shut down the Bears run game. Whats wrong about giving a little credit to Fort Cherry, and Brentwood's defenses for not giving up as many points in past years? And despite those 2 games the Bears still are averaging 47 points a game.

I understand people are right to their opinions but how can anyone at this point pick against Clairton; whether its the WPIAL Title(Rich Emert of the PG) or the PIAA Title (Jeremy Verner and Josh Funk of Prep Sports Radio)

Clairton's has amassed 4 WPIAL Titles in the last 5 years(3 in a row) and 2 PIAA Titles in a row, and along this ride has a 40 game winning streak.

What will it take for some to say this team is legit? Could it take the Bears mercy ruling Rochester and Sto Rox for people to hop on board?

Here's a quote from one of the players on his feelings about the lack of respect towards the Bears;

"Damn, the newspaper that US... The clairton bears aren't as good as everyone thinks we are but not too many schools win back too back state titles and win 4 times straight down Heinz... #Disrespect"

But hell, let the naysayers; naysay. Y'all gave Clairton some beautiful bulletin board material, and lit a fire under the teams ass for sure. And with that said, I totally feel sorry for the Cornell Raiders because they are first up on the Bears agenda. And as former Wrestler Goldberg would say Springdale "You're Next".

On another note; I didn't contribute to Josh Funks piece in any form. If I had anything to do with it, I would've wanted to be quoted to plug my blog for traffic. And don't you think if I had anything to say, I would've simply wrote a piece myself.  And I'm not upset those 2 pieces was written. Heck if I had 2 guys from Southern Columbia giving me quotes and what not I'd write a piece about how they're not as good as people think they are.

Playoff Projections

16 Cornell at 1 Clairton; Clairton by 35
9 Springdale at 8 Monessen; Springdale by 21

13 Northgate at 4 Rochester; Rochester by 28
12 California at 5 Avonworth; Avonworth by 42

15 Frazier at 2 Sto-Rox; Sto Rox by 55
10 Western Beaver at 7 Brentwood; Brentwood by 14

14 Chartiers-Houston vs. 3 Bishop Canevin at Dormont Stadium; Bishop Canevin by 3
11 Fort Cherry at 6 Beth-Center. Fort Cherry by 10

Round 2

9 Springdale at 1 Clairton; Clairton by 28
5 Avonworth at 4 Rochester; Rochester by 14

7 Brentwood at 2 Sto Rox; Sto Rox by 30
11 Fort Cherry at Bishop Canevin; Fort Cherry by 3

Semis

4 Rochester at 1 Clairton; Clairton by 14
11 Fort Cherry at 2 Sto Rox; Sto Rox by 20

Finals

2 Sto Rox at Clairton at Heinz Field; Clairton by 7

Why Having More Conferences is Benificial

As I was sitting back pondering to myself, what would be the best way to align 8 conferences instead of 4 I came to an even better reason.

Its not always about competition per say, or even better proposed match ups. Its driving distance in itself. Hollisdaysburg has to travel at least 2 hours to at least 2 away games a year. Lets do some math for a minute, most games end between 9:30 and 10:30, add the 2 hour drive, plus unpacking at the school- whether its band or football equipment. Kids most likely aren't getting home from the school function until about midnight or later.

I mean come on, isn't better to have games a little bit closer especially when a Ringold got 5 schools within a 20-40 minute drive in Belle Vernon, Elizabeth Forward, South Park, McGuffey and Trinity. 

Just from that list a League consisting of Ringold, Trinity, McGuffey, and Chartiers Valley makes sense while Thomas Jefferson, South Park, West Mifflin, and Elizabeth Forward makes sense for another league.

Belle Vernon for instance would be then place with the 3 Uniontown Schools; Uniontown, Laurel Highlands, and Albert Galletin, which is 1-2 40 minute drives a year. That ultimately creates just 1-2 drives that are an hour or more for Hollidaysburg to the Greensburg area against Franklin Regional, Greensburg Salem, and then Derry.

I just created 4 geographical friendly conferences in 3A in a matter of minutes. It just makes too much sense not to happen and should happen pretty much across the board. Imagine these local Conferences 1: Waynesburg, Washington, Charleroi, and Brownsville 2: Bentworth, Beth Center, Monessen, and California 3: Chartiers Houston, Fort Cherry, Avella, and Brentwood!

Under these smaller leagues, that frees up out of conference games like this; Chartiers Houston vs Canon Mac; Burgettstown vs Avella, Fort Cherry vs South Fayette, Ringold vs Charleroi, Ringold vs Peters Township, Charleroi vs Monessen, Clairton vs TJ, Trinity vs Washington, Washington vs Canon Mac, Trinity vs Peters Township!!! Some of those games has been important rivalries over the years, and why should we let the WPIAL ruin these rivalries by not freeing up the space for them to be played.

So I again ask why are schools traveling up to 2 hours away when there could be neighborhood games. It would be a bigger gate for home games when you're playing a local rival as opposed to a school coming in 1-2 hours away. Its a win/win situation.

The ball is in your court Tim O'Malley, make it happen.

Pitt and Cuse Expected to Stay for the 27 Months

Big East Commissioner John Marinatto expects Pittsburgh and Syracuse to stay in the Big East for the entire 27 months as explained in this article by Jerry DiPaola of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review.

Personally I'm not exactly sure if its a great idea for both sides to stick together for the entire 24 months.

For one, is it a great idea for Big East schedule makers to make out a schedule for possibly as many as 14 schools, just for one or maybe two seasons. If the Big East plans on having a 9 game schedule from here on out it possibly makes sense.

Another thing is, is it a good idea to keep two sides together-Big East and Pitt/Cuse- when both sides just may have some ill feeling towards each other. I can just imagine the awkwardness media days and other behind the scene functions like AD and President's meetings will be.

So when could possibly be the year that Pitt and Cuse enter ACC play?

My best guess is that the 2013 Academic year will be the first year for Pitt and Cuse. For one 2012 is way too soon, in my eyes. Yes I see that Texas A&M and possibly Missouri will be in the SEC in 2012. But I just see a lot of problems with schools from the ACC, and Pitt and Cuse postponing and possibly canceling out of conference games. 2014 is just too far away and causes too many problems with 2 and 3 lame duck years in most sports.

I highly doubt Marinatto wants to keep Pitt and Cuse until the 2014 year. And once he gets everything together with the Big East-as far as future alignment is concerned- he'll want to get with Chancellor Paul Nordenberg and work out a deal that suits both parties.

In this day and age money talks. I'm sure Pitt and Cuse will be more than willing to pay 10-15 Million Dollars to get out of the Big East one year early. I'm also very sure that the Big East would be willing to accept an offer in that price range as well.

But hey, what do I know. I could be wrong with my personal observation. I just find it hard to believe that both sides would think it would be a good idea for Pitt and Cuse to be in the Big East for the 2014/15 Academic Year.

* On another note, Chip Brown of Orangebloods is reporting that Missouri is ready to apply to the SEC. Stay tuned as the realignment cycle will speed up. I'm sure the Big XII already has its 10th school on board and my guess is that its still BYU despite the Louisville rumors. And I doubt the Big XII is going to 12. Texas has done a lot of conceding this past month. I think that's all part of a compromise within the league to keep all members happy.

Follow me on Twitter @JoeyNik

Realignment Picture Starting to Take Shape

Last Friday Conference USA and the Mountain West Conference agreed to merge to become a football only conference. Its essentially an alliance to protect each other from future "raids". I'm just curious to how the divisions will be aligned once their games actually are played.

There are lots of rumors on the Big East front, and it seems like one comes out every couple of hours. I'm really in no mood to dissect the rumors individually. What we do know is that the league will be a 12 Team Football league with potentially 3-4 Football only's. Some schools that are rumored to be a Football Only are; Boise State, Army, Air Force, and Navy. Some schools that are rumored to be in the league full are; Houston, SMU, and Central Florida. I think we'll have a much clearer picture on what the league looks like by the end of the week or the beginning of next week.

Another interesting thing on the Big East front are exit fees. The league agreed unanimously to raise the fees from $5M to $10M. But there is a catch. The fees will not be raised until expansion schools agree to join the league.

Missouri appears to be closer and closer to joining the Southeastern Conference. Last night rumors swirled that the move is imminent. The SEC will become a 14 team league once Missouri joins. I'm not sure if the SEC decides to head to 16 anytime soon or not. There are 0 indications out there that says it will or not.

Once Missouri leaves the Big XII, the Big XII will have to decide whether to head to 10 or 12. I personally believe that the Big XII will go to 10 with BYU joining the league. I do understand that Louisville is holding Board of Trustees are meeting sometime today or tonight to "explore" other conference opportunity's. That doesn't mean that they are Big XII bound either.

Predictions:

SEC: Mizzou to become a 14 Team League
Big XII: BYU to become a 10 Team League
Big East: All Sports: UCF, Houston, and SMU; Football Only: Boise State, Air Force, and Navy to become a 17 School All Sports League and a 12 Team Football League.

*Follow me on Twitter @JoeyNik

Heading Down the Final Stretch

Let me start this off with saying, what a phenomenal job Coach Bill Daniels is doing at Our Lady of Sacred Heart. Granted his 3 wins are against schools with a combined record 2 -16 its still improvement from last year with room to grow going into next year. Next year he'll have 5'9 170 RB Isiah Neely, who is have a solid year this season. I think OLSH may be a sleeper playoff contender next year, or more.

Beth Center had an eye opening win over Monessen. I understand that the Greyhounds have a few injuries and some kids gone due to transfers, but 46-0 is impressive... period. With that said, I'm still curious to how good this team is compared to Bishop Canevin, Rochester, Sto Rox, and Clairton. I want to put them on the level of Bishop Canevin and Rochester and a lot of questions will be answered when the play Avonworth this Friday night. Overall Number's 5 and 6 seed in the WPIAL bracket could be decided on the field that night as well. Even though they aren't conference rivals, there is much at stake.

Speaking of Monessen, there has to be a lot of soul searching going on down there in "Mo Town". Could Coach Andy Pacak be on the hot seat? They have a very winnable game in West Greene to gain confidence then a couple of toss ups in Jefferson-Morgan and Frazier that can make or totally break this team. Here's a question for the WPIAL Committee that makes the brackets, if Monessen finish's in 3rd do they get the Tri County South treatment and earn the 15th seed in a matchup against possibly Sto Rox, or does the "Brand Name" of Monessen prevent that treatment?

I really don't know about Brentwood, I'm not sure if I would call them lucky or what. They just find ways to win late in games. Last Friday they scored a TD with 8 seconds left in the game and then won with a TD in Overtime. They also won in Overtime the previous week against Fort Cherry. The Spartans are set to face a Clairton team that hasn't given up a Touchdown since Week 1 against Washington. 

Most of the 1 and 2 seeds from each conference is all but set minus the Tri County South with Frazier, Jeff Morgan, and Monessen at 4-1(Conference record) and California trying to sneak in at 3-2. Baring upsets across the board its looking like the Big 7's 1 & 2 will be Sto Rox and Rochester, Eastern's 1 Bishop Canevin, 2 Avonworth, and the Blackhills 1 Clairton, 2 Brentwood.

If I was to seed 1-8 right now it would look like this;
1 Clairton 2 Sto Rox 3 Rochester 4 Bishop Canevin 5 Beth Center or Avonworth 6 Beth Center or Avonworth 7 Brentwood 8 TCS #2

One last note, make sure you check out http://thevarsityletters.blogspot.com/     which is hosted by Mike Kovak of the Observer Reporter out of Washington and Greene Counties. You can also follow him on Twitter at @TheMikeKovak         

Clairton: To play 2A or not to play 2A

I make no bones about it, Clairton's 84-0 romp of Avella is an unfortunate event. I just have to say that this game should never be played. But the solutions of Clairton not playing Avella are conflicting.

One solution I've heard was to move Avella and Bentworth to the Tri County and Monessen and Beth Center to the Blackhills Conference. My problem with that is you eliminate 2 teams from making the playoffs in the Blackhills and is adding 2 schools to the playoffs that shouldn't be there. It does make the Blackhills a tougher league top to bottom and makes the Tri County weaker top to bottom. But what it does do is create more competition.

Another solution out there is Clairton moving up to 2A. The last enrollment cycle I was more gung ho about the move. But the fact of the matter is the Bears has been dressing 24-28 kids every Friday night. Take an injury on the line, and the season may be over in 2A. You have to have more size and depth to compete on a weekly basis in 2A than in 1A. Some say, look at Aliquippa, and Jeannette but look at their roster sizes. They're fielding 2A rosters with 1A enrollment. Big difference.

One thing is, Clairton has an influx of kids in the Sophomore and Freshman class's and even the 8th grade class coming up. Just those 3 class's alone have about 300 kids, which is roughly 150 boys-give or take. No reason why just a 1/3 of them isn't coming out for football. That alone would give the 2012 roster 50 kids and we're not talking about the Senior Class. If the turnout is better, I'd be more keen w/ the move.

Time for a radical idea, how bout the PIAA splitting Class A into half(I'll call it Class A and B for argument sake). There are about 144 schools in Class A which would equal to roughly 72 schools per class if A was split. Now Clairton would still fall into Class B, but a move to Class A would make much more sense. Clairton would still be a favorite to win Class A, but it would be a stiffer slate week in and week out.

I agree that something should be done about complete mismatch's at the Class A level. But pushing schools to 2A isn't the answer here. Riverside totally competed w/ Clairton, as well as Farrell the past few years minus last year. Should they have to play 2A as well. They would most likely pound the weakest of the weak as bad as Clairton did. Steel High and Southern Columbia won a string of 1A Titles in the 00's, should they have been forced to play up as well.

Personally, I think splitting the Class is the best idea. What are your thoughts on this issue?

College: An Unfair Ponzi Scheme

It just saddens me to see kids all geared up for college when they're 18. But when they leave school they have $80+ Thousand debts to the Banks for student loans. I understand some gets get Grants, Scholarships and whatnot but still not every kid is able to do that. And if the kid gets married right out of schools we're talking about 160+K debts and we aren't even talking about car and house payments yet.

Here is what is even more sad, some of these kids(already in debt) can't even get a job at the local Walmart, or gas station, let alone their chosen Career Field that they are indebted to in the first place.

Now lets dig a little deeper on how sad this system is, and its down right heartbreaking man.

College's receive $50+ Million in hosting football games, 20+ Million in TV Deals, Billion+ Dollar Endowments for research and on top of that Millions of Dollars Donated for specific functions. And we're not talking about the Millions of Taxpayer Dollars whether its on the Federal or State level given for Education. Lets not forget that Colleges are also Tax Exempt. For example just last week University of Pittsburgh received a $125 Donation for its School of Arts.

What is wrong with this picture, why are kids putting themselves Hundreds of Thousands into debt when Colleges are receiving Billions of Dollars for whatever reason and are Tax Exempt.

I propose 1 of 2 things, either kids should be able to go to college for free or college's lose their Tax Exempt statue.

College's should be able to function just fine even with those revenue losses to its books if kids went to school for free. Remember college's are public Universities funded by the State and Federal Government's. Do Public School Districts charge a fee for kids to go through their education system. Of course not, and the same should apply to public universities.

States like Alaska, and Texas already allow kids to go to school for free. I'm not sure about Living on Campus and other things in that area. But every state in the union should follow Alaska and Texas's method on this issue.

Now if a school was to go Private, I'd revoke their tax exempt status, and Federal and State funding. Therefore a school is going to lose money either way. It would be up to the specific school on what they should do here.

Either way, should we as a society be letting kids getting into Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars and watching Banks profit from this? If there was a moral issue, this is it.

Society in general really needs to get its head out of its ass and do whats best here.

An Ever Changing College Football Landsape

Last weekend was one of the craziest weekends in sports history. The timeline for me, I catch wind of Pittsburgh and Syracuse talking to the ACC Thursday night via personal message on a message board. Friday Night the news breaks from Pete Thamel of the New York Times. Then Saturday morning before all of the football games news breaks that Pitt and Cuse applied to join the ACC and a vote was imminent. Late Saturday night the news broke that there Pitt and Cuse was invited into the ACC with a teleconference Sunday morning. The story in itself moved way faster than the normal expansion process. Usually it seems to be months and months of vetting and inquiring with crazy speculation clouding the process IE the B1G 10 search last year.

As of right now its being reported by Brett McMurphy(of CBS Sports) that WVU's applications to the SEC and ACC has been denied. Now the current league of 7 schools(including Texas Christian, who is set to join in 2012) has 3 options; keep the Big East hybrid together and rebuild, split from the nonfootball schools and build a new league, or merge with the Big XII(assuming Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Missouri leave).

I prefer that the league either attempts to keep the hybrid together-even though the fans generally hate that idea- or split and rebuild. Remember that the league was left off is much, much worse shape back in 2003 when Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College left. The league still has 7 members and will keep TCU's BCS points so I'm very sure that the league will keep its Automatic Bid to the BCS.

If the league is to split, they would have to have at least an 8th member in place for whatever year they plan on playing its first year as a new league. The league would still have options to get to 8 and beyond in Central Florida, Eastern Carolina, Memphis, Temple, and Massachusetts. (note, I didn't mention Houston because I believe they would be heading to the Big XII)

The SEC is still on the prowl for its 14th school and its looking more and more likely that it will be Missouri. I could certainly be wrong and the SEC grabs an ACC school, which is very possible.

The PAC 12 definitely seems poised to be at least taking Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. 3 schools has been outspoken against Texas joining and that's Arizona, Arizona State, and Colorado. It will be very interesting to see which way this goes.

The elephant in the expansion room is Notre Dame. There was a few reports out last night that said if they was forced to give up its Independent Status they would prefer to join the ACC over the B1G. Thing is if the Big East remains in its hybrid form, Notre Dame won't be joining a conference for football for a long long time. But if the Big East does split, I picture Notre Dame at least playing its basketball and nonrevenue sports in the new Catholic League.

With that said, I really don't see the B1G or the ACC expanding until Notre Dame decides to join one or the other, or if the ACC loses a school to the SEC.

Its a dog eat dog out there. And unfortunately only the strong will survive this mess that college sports has become. Greed and corruption is killing the game as rivalries are lost and may be never played again. I worry if the Backyard Brawl is going to be played again. Its just a sad state man.

Good luck to everyone's favorite team, and I hope you all make it to the other side.

Blackhills Picks Week 4

Clairton 60 Char Houston 0
Brentwood 45 Avella 10
Fort Cherry 42 Carlynton 7
Serra 21 Bentworth 17

Blackhills Picks Week 3

This week we start Conference play.

Avella 7 Fort Cherry 45
Bentworth 0 Brentwood 35
Calynton 0 Clairton 60
Chartiers Houston 42 Serra 0

A fairly easy conference week as the top 4 schools from the Blackhills should roll very easily.

Some Things We Learned as the Blackhills and Big 7 are entering Conference Play

Clairton... The Bears are as dominating as always. Its going to take a very, very good team to knock them off.

Coach Matt Grey, via Josh Yohe from the Mckeesport Daily News, on the Bears "Gray said he will be surprised if Clairton doesn't win its fourth consecutive WPIAL championship this year.

"I know Sto-Rox is supposed to be really good, and I haven't seen Rochester yet," he said. "But I know that no other team has skill like what you saw today" 

Sto Rox... The Vikings opened up the season strong with wins over South Allegheny 49-0 and Carlynton 40-6.  The Big 7 is obviously going to go down to Sto Rox and Rochester. 

Rochester... Until Rochy is knocked off, they'll always be the favorites in the Big 7. With as much talent the Rams has, I just don't understand why they use an ultraconservative offensive style. A strong defense will shut their offense down. Against Fort Cherry for example, they for the most part was getting shut down. Take away a squib kick returned for a TD and a fumble the 2nd offense play of the 2nd half for Fort Cherry, we're talking about a 21-12 win for Rochester.

Fort Cherry... I really don't know what it is with this team. They certainly have the talent/ skill. And I'm not sure if they was using a new Center or what, but I've never seen so many fumbled snaps. And at the start of each half against Rochy, the Rangers seemed tight. For the most of the first half, Tanner Garry's passes was on the mark just to see the WR's dropping passes. The offense didn't get settled in until late in the 2nd Quarter when the offense marched down the field for a 30 yard TD pass to Tyrique Brown. The 2nd half started w/ a squib kick returned for a touchdown and a Time Out, and then a fumble. The game was suddenly 27-7. The good thing is that FC really didn't panic. For the most part I feel that FC stood toe to toe with Rochy, but they need some adjustments for the next time they play a school as good as Rochy.

I really can't speak much on the Tri County and Eastern Conference schools because they've basically been battling each other. So far Monessen and Beth Center appear to be the class of the Tri County. The Eastern is insane as Bishop Canevin destroys Avonworth and Avonworth follows it up with a 7-6 win over Springdale. We'll see questions answered about both Conferences during OOC games between each other.

Bigger Doesn't Always Mean Better

Call me a traditionalist. I personally hate this talk of 14 and 16 school conferences. I hate the fact that rivalries will be lost as well as other traditions IE Notre Dame's Independent Status.

I for one can understand Texas A&M's beef with Texas and can understand why they want to head to the SEC.

With that said what frustrates the hell out of me is hearing the chatter of 4 16 school conferences. (Personally I'd rather see the Big XII rebuild and rebrand itself.) 

Once conferences reach 12 I just don't see the "need" to expand. Conferences already has that lucrative championship game for one. So for schools to be added they have to at least bring in enough TV value so that the rest of the league's schools at least break even. If I'm a Florida and I'm making 20M a year why would I want to split the pie more and end up making 19M a year, for example.

Another thing to look at is Bowl Revenue. If a conference is generating say 46M on 8 Bowls. With 12 schools they'd be generating about .479 in Bowl revenue per school. If a Bowl ISN'T ADDED, they'd be generating about $410,714 per school. Say a Bowl game is added worth 3M, they'd be making $389,000 per school. So unless you're averaging 2 BCS bids per year Schools would be making less money in Bowl revenue. And if Conferences end up going to 16 schools, Bowl Payouts per school would even be worse. Part of this is the reason why the Big East's Bowl Payouts per School is much higher than the rest of the Nation, because the Big East is splitting the pie 8(soon to be 9) instead of 12.

So with lower payouts due to Bowl Money distribution per school, that is even more money a given school needs to bring to the table for TV money to offset the losses.

Everything boils down to dollars and cents. And to be frank, I just don't see the financial benefits in 16 school superleagues especially when the big fish in the sea really is only Notre Dame and Texas. Schools like Florida State would bring intriguing matchups made for TV if it was added to the SEC. But what real incentive would it be for the ACC to follow the SEC to 14 or 16 schools. If Texas and Notre Dame don't go to the B1G 10, what incentive would it be for them to head to 14 or 16 schools.

I heard a four 20 scenario and that absolutely made no sense to me. Say the Pac 12 added Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State, who would the other 4 schools be that made expansion worthwhile. Boise State, and BYU would almost have to be considered. But who would the other 2 be. When we're talking about schools like Colorado State or Air Force(not to pick on those schools) being added to a 20 team conferences, that tells me how much sense this does not make. 

Now say Conferences head to 16 anyways but then schools learn they could make the same amount of money per school if they was in say a 8,9, or 10 team conferences. I could see a trend back to smaller leagues in the long term future, and not to a ridiculously huge 20 school Conferences.

9 or 12 school conferences makes the most sense to me. 9 because of scheduling and higher bowl payouts per team, and 12 because of the lucrative championship game. Anything above 12 just doesn't make sense; for reasons stated above.

Week 2 Blackhills picks

We'll learn a lot about the depth of the Blackhils as it goes head to head with the Big 7. 

Clairton 60 Western Beaver 7
Fort Cherry 21 Rochester 20
Char Houston 28 Shenango 7
Sto Rox 45 Carlynton 0
SS Beaver 28 Brentwood 24
Avella 10 Union 7
Neshannock 14 Serra 0
Cornell 35 Bentworth 14

The Big V(Big XII leftovers)

This is assuming Texas and Texas Tech head elsewhere, and Oklahoma and Oklahoma State head to the Pac 12. 

There are a few options for the Big V(Big XII leftovers: Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, and Baylor). You have the option of staying together and rebuilding the Big XII, going to the Big East, or maybe the MWC.

The Big East option:

For the Big East this is possibly the best scenario to date. The Big East picks up the St. Louis DMA and Kansas City DMA as well as parts of the Dallas/Ft Worth DMA.

This puts the Big V leftovers in the best basketball league in the nation and those 5 schools aren't that bad in football. Missouri and Kansas has had BCS appearances the past 5 years. Put those 5 schools with TCU and Lousville and we have a nice western division.

What bothers me about adding 5 more schools to the Big East is how do we manage a 22 team basketball league? We could have a 7/7/8 alignment or a 5/5/6/6 alignment. I'd prefer a clean split from the Catholic Schools to be honest.

The MWC option:

I'd say this is a very unlikely scenario, unless the MWC is offered a BCS(Bowl Championship Series) bid. You would create a 14 team league under the scenario as well. I think we're more likely to see the Boise State's of the world head to the Big XII than this though.

Rebuilding the Big XII option:

While this scenario is unlikely, this is what I'd like to see happen. For this to happen, the BCS would have to let the Big XII keeps its Automatic Qualifying Bid to the BCS.There aren't too many options out there, but there are options;

Boise State: Great football program, starting to get more and more National Respect. Academics are a little weak and has a small television market(but its national brand makes up for the weak TV market)

Houston: Decent football program in a large market, great recruiting grounds and allows Big XII schools 2 trips to Texas a year.

Memphis: Not so good of a football program but basketball is very good. Decent DMA and ok at best academics.

Colorado State: Decent football program that brings the Colorado DMA because its a State Flagship.

I'll leave it at those 4 for now. There may be better options than the 4 I proposed and their may not be.

On another front, Chip Brown is reporting that Texas is talking to the Atlantic Coast Conference(ACC) about membership. Its looking more and more likely that Texas is getting a little desperate; in my opinion. Could they be ringing the telephone at the Big East office in Providence next?

Single A Conference Realignment If I Was in Charge

First I'd make sure the WPIAL couldn't schedule a Week 2 game. Therefore schools would have 5-6 conference games which allows for 3,4, or 5 OOC games depending on how many games would be schedule a year-which most likely be still 9. A realignment like this allows schools to have more options scheduling. 

Thing how exciting it would be to have Clairton play Washington, South Panola(MS), and Cocoa(Fl), and then its 6 conference games.

Now with 5 conferences this does make it harder to get the 16 team playoff that the WPIAL always wants. What I would do is have the 3 top teams from every conference make the playoffs and then an wildcard.

Yes this is all wishful thinking and will never ever happen. But I'm just saying.

Conference 1

Shenengo

Neshannock

Union

Rochester

W. Beaver

South Side Beaver

Conference 2

Cornell

Northgate

Sto Rox

Bishop Canevin

North Catholic

Avonworth

Carlynton

Conference 3

Riverview

Springdale

Leechburg

Wilkensburg
Brentwood

Serra

Clairton

Conference 4

OLSH

Avella

Bentworth

Fort Cherry

Char Houston

Beth Center

California

Conference 5

Frazier

Monessen

W. Greene

Carmichaels

Geibel

Mapletown

Jeff-Morgan

Week 1 HS Picks

Washington @ Clairton:

There is a lot of talent and speed on the field next Friday night. Wash High is led by Jr. QB Josh Wise and Sr. FB Joe Phillips. Last year Washington missed the playoffs but appears to be headed back into the AA playoffs this upcoming season. Clairton is led by Sr. QB Capri Thomson and a plethora of weapons. The key for Washington to win is to somehow slow down this dynamic passing attack.

Prediction

Washington 7 @ Clairton 45


Fort Cherry 24 @ Western Beaver 17
Union 0 @ Chartiers Houston 28
Westinghouse 10 @ Brentwood 35
Rochester 55 @ Serra 0
Langley 7 @ Carlynton 31
Westinghouse 10 @ Bentworth 7
Avella 17 @ Shenango 20 

Clairton will return back to its glory years!!!!!

Clairton does need a fixin' and I totally believe its going to happen sooner rather than later.

I'm glad to see people like Gary "Blue" Mullen trying to lead the charge to help fix what is wrong with the community.

First off I think its easy to say that; we must take guns, and drugs off of our streets. I want to go with another route.

This begins with 2 very important keys; Education and Jobs.

If we look back at the history of the human race we'll realize one major problem with society in general. And that is, people in poverty are the most uneducated and are prone to be the criminals in any given society.

If kids realize they don't have a future, then they simply aren't going to care about their education. And job creation requires some form of an education. What comes first in that equation; getting the kids- and their parents for that matter- to care or job creation.

When you look at Clairton's scores on the PSSA test there is an interesting development. Kids to up around the 6th grade are up 2 par, and then after 6th grade the scores go downhill and fast. So what exactly happens between Elementary, Middle, and then High School? My best guess is in Middle School kids are introduced to Drugs and Alcohol. We do need better Drug and Alcohol awareness to make sure kids don't go down that path. There really needs to be some kind of after school program to help tutor the kids.

Other things I'd work on is finding things for the kids to do. Rebuilding the local parks in the City would be a first step. Another step would be trying to attract a YMCA to come into town. Hosting basketball, football, and baseball tourney's would also be good.

With gas prices ever increasing; the need for a viable business sector increases. Miller & St. Clair Ave needs to be filled with a plethora of business's instead of broken windows and boards up. Another thought to help attracting people to Clairton is fixing up the Auditorium next to Snacks Unlimited and hosting local Comedy, Rap, Rock and yes even Country Acts.

Yes I know Blue Mullen, Mr. Batts Sr, and others have great idea's too and its a work in progress. I totally support them in their efforts. Clairton Restoration is a movement that I hope everyone from Clairton jumps on. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will Clairton. Its going to take a lot of hard work, failures, and patience to achieve what we all want; and that's a rebuilt Clairton!!!!

The PIAA Has Zero Logic

It always amazes me when the talking heads complain about the season being too long. And their solutions are cutting just one week, or possibly going to 6 class's. I say why not start the season earlier.

Just this week alone Tennessee started their season while the schools in the PIAA are just having their first scrimmages of the season. Just think about it, if we'd start the season this week plus a 15 week season we'd be concluding the season in Hershey the last week of November or the first week of December.

But then again we could cut the season by another week if the entire PIAA played a 9 week season. Or lets go a step further and cut the playoff field in half. Now we're talking about playing the State Championship games around Thanksgiving.

So whats the problem here? The problem is that the PIAA is about as functional as the US Congress. Districts in the East don't want to start earlier- for whatever reason- and the WPIAL doesn't want to change its 16 team playoff format and Heinz Field. I say boo hoo.

Does the WPIAL really need a 16 team playoff? 1-16 matchups usually end up being a mercy rule blowout. Sure there are the occasional #4 teams that beats a #1 team. Maybe the WPIAL needs a better way to seed teams.

My easy solution is simple; have 6 Classes, a 14 week season, and start the season the 3 week of August. It won't happen because the Districts within the PIAA are run by a bunch of fools that care more about the money they're generating rather than the fans interests or the schools themselves.

College Realignment; Insanity at its Finest

If there is anything for certain is that no one really knows whats really going on. I mean its so insane that you have Dodds(Texas AD) saying that no one knows that if Texas A&M is leaving but "everyone wants them to stay" per Kirk Bohls twitter . Um what!!!

There is so much liquid nonsense out there that I don't even know where to start. The Sporting News has an article out that says the SEC Presidents are NOT meeting tomorrow to discuss A&M. That could imply that the SEC has either accepted aTm or the SEC has no plans to expand at all. We could interpret this fact either way.

Then you got the Virginia Tech, Florida State, Clemson, Missouri, or X school to the SEC, with each issuing vague denials. Or what about BYU and Louisville saying they're not interested in the Big XII but apparently leaving the door open regardless.

Or what about the supposed Pitt, WVU, Louisville, UConn rumors to the ACC. I really doubt those are true simply because ACC schools makes 13-14M a year and the Big East is set to make 15-18M a year. That figure could change if a Big East school like WVU finds itself in the SEC or Pitt in the B1G, but that may be a doubtful scenario at this point.

 Is it me or insanity rules at this point. I just can't tell if these rumors are BS or not. Its nearly impossible to weave through the nonsense and say this is true or not. The only possible move that seems valid at this point is aTm headed to the SEC and even that seems possible that it may not happen.

I don't know where School X is headed, nor will I attempt to predict where they are headed.

Personally, I want to see as little movement as possible and the Big XII has a chance to rebuild/ rebrand itself if needed. That way there are even more schools sitting at the Big Boys table and the antiBCS crap could finally be put to rest.

With everything said, enjoy the rumors and take them all with a grain of salt.

Will Buccos Fans ever be satisfied

Outside of games being played its been an amazing 10 days for a Pirates fan, Pedro Alvarez returned to the lineup and Neal Huntington trades Low A Ball 1B Aaron Baker for 1B Derrek Lee(Orioles) and picks up Ryan Ludwick(OF) from the Padres for a player to be named later or cash considerations. 

I'll be honest, Ludwick and Lee aren't Beltran, Upton, or Pence. But lets be real, it would've costed the Pirates too much to trade to get those players. We be talking about losing James Taillon(P), or Starling Marte(OF). You can't risk your entire future to get studs right now. Next year may be a different story with Coles(P) will be playing Low or High A ball. Plus Beltran didn't want to waive his no trade clause to come to the Pirates.

Its obvious Pedro is struggling a little at the plate. He also didn't start that great when he was called last season. Be patient with him, his bat will start to catch fire as August progresses. Pedro isn't a flash in the pan and to be frank, he's a stud young player. Plus he has "protection" in the lineup in Ludwick, Lee, and Andrew McCutchen. You even have a decent bat in Ryan Doumit to return in a few weeks.

2 weeks ago, Pedro was killing the ball in AAA and everyone wanted him to play in MLB. Now he returns and faces 7 great pitchers and struggles, and everyone wants him sent back. Since his return he's 4-29 1HR 4 RBI's 13K's. Its not impressive BUT its better than his start last June/July.

The Pirates are 54-52 4.5 games behind the first place Brewers. Losing streaks like this was bound to happen. They happen to all teams. No reason to jump a cliff just yet. Just remember the Pirates was close to 25-30 games out of first. On top of that the Pirates are close to matching last years win total for the entire season. This team with the lineup before the additions of Lee and Ludwick was realistically a 82-83 win team now I'd say they're an 85-86 win team.

I'm glad the Pirates made some moves. It shows some commitment to winning. And on top of that, Huntington really didn't give up much to acquire Lee and Ludwick.

Sorry about the rambling, but people totally needs to relax and enjoy the ride. Remember it could be worse, we lived it the past 18 years. And it appears that better days are ahead.

Economy Going Over a Cliff

I gotta love the media types from the "Left" and the "Right". Both sides pointing fingers at each other like 4 year old kids at the playground. You caused the mess, no you caused the mess. Grow up Mr. Congressmen and Mr. Mediabaffoon.

This country needs jobs, pure and simple. Look at your wardrobes people. How many items in your closet says "Made In America". Then look around your house and count how many things are "Made In China". We need to become a manufacturing nation with a trade surplus.

If we had a trade surplus, there wouldn't be any Debt Ceiling talks today.  And here's why, if people was working these kind of jobs, there wouldn't be a need for Welfare, Food Stamps, Universal Health Care etc..

But to be fair to the Progressives, our war machine really needs to be scaled back. How can we expect to fight these wars and win them when we can't even defend out own borders? Plus Bush's consolidation of Homeland Security and the Patriotic Act didn't help matters. 

Here's the cold hard truth, no matter what happens this week in Washington creditors such as Standard & Poors is going to lower our Credit Ranking from AAA to AA status. What that means is that you, me, and the next guy/girl is going to have to pay higher interest rates on Mortgages and Credit Cards?

So while some of you want to blame the Republicans and others wants to blame the Democrats. Just remember until we have a viable manufacturing base again, our problems will not be resolved. There will most likely be a deal struck before Tuesday but remember all they're doing is pushing our problems to a later date. So I will not be celebrating with the rest of the nation when it is struck just due to that fact.

I agree with Obama on one point in all of this. We have a realistic chance of solving our nations debt. Problem is both sides really don't offer a realistic bill that would solve this debt crisis, other than pushing the debt problem to a later date.

The Government really needs to stay out of the market place and let the markets rebuild itself. Until that happens, we're screwed.  End of discussion!!!

Big XII: A Disfunctional Network of Schools

When they say everything is larger in the Lone Star State, they wasn't kidding. The rumors are massive, but then again they are rumors and to be taken for what they are worth.

One day Larry Scott(Pac 12 Commish) says the Conference is still looking to expand to 16 but the next he says Texas isn't going to join the Pac 12. Now who in the world is out there that would make expanding to 16 worthwhile without Texas. A Baylor, Texas Tech, Oklahoma St., and Boise St, combo really doesn't add up when we're talking about dollars and cents.

Now lets think about the SEC for a second. Mike Slive(SEC Commish) has said that the league isn't looking to expand but could expand to 16 in 15 minutes. I do believe him. I'm not sure what teams he would have in mind other than Texas A&M and possibly Oklahoma in the West and a Virginia Tech and WVU in the East.

The Long Horn Network appears to be the driving force to all of these expansion rumors, due to the possibility of the Network airing HS games. A&M, and Oklahoma appears to be the most vocal about it. The kicker is that this very same Network help keep the league together last year, when it appeared all hell was going to break loose.

I really don't know whats going to happen out West. And honestly, I don't think anything will happen anytime soon. Too many variables to what will happen to Baylor and Texas Tech seems to be the roadblock for Texas A&M to leave at the moment.

Texas A&M may very well end up in the SEC with Texas Tech or Baylor. I don't know what kind of move Oklahoma would make as well.
 
So what happens to the network of Kansas, Kansas St., Mizzouri, and Iowa St? Last year when things was red hot, there was rumors of those schools heading to the Big East. But a lot could've changed in a year's time.

The biggest variable remains to be Texas. How would they react if the conference suddenly imploded? Joining the ranks of an Independent could be likely. But what about a move to the B1G 10? No one seems to be talking about that possibility anymore. And maybe that could be wishful thinking for a B1G 10 fan.

5-14 could be the direction everything is going and then again nothing may happen. Grab your popcorn and enjoy the season, and what could be an entertaining offseason.

My best guess is that the Big XII rumors will simmer down once football season starts and the Big XII will be stable for years to come. But who am I. With everything said, I'd hate to be in Don Beebe's shoes.

Time for the WPIAL to Fix its Scheduling

As I sit back wishing the Bears the best of luck as they head to Dallas for the Redbull 7 on 7 Tournament, I have to say this will be the best competition the Bears face until the playoffs or possibly even that too. And I have to say that is a problem.

The WPIAL desperately needs a new way of scheduling its schools because locking schools into 8 games with the chance of scheduling who you want for only 1 game really isn't that fair. And the be honest, the only positive I could see is that AD's that are lazy really just gets to schedule one game and then they're done.

I totally understand that the WPIAL loves the current system because its an easy breakdown for their precious 16 team playoffs. I get their philosophy of trying to have 4 Conferences per class.

But what exactly does TJ and Clairton get out of playing the likes of EF and South Park, and Avella and Bentworth, Some of these games between top flight schools against these bottom feeders are blowouts the Thursdays before the games are even played. Schools like Avella, Brownsville, Quaker Valley, and Burgettstown are losing more and more fan and player interest as well. Which is a crying shame because Avella and Brownsville has rich football history's.

I don't have a simple solution to this problem, but maybe we could have 8 Conferences of 4 teams. It still helps the WPIAL figure out its playoff seeding of 8 schools but it only locks schools into 3-4 games of year which would force schools to schedule 5-6 games a year.

Sure you'll have some of the same mismatch's a season but his would allow schools like Avella to play more Tri County South and even Big 7 schools which could give them a chance to possibly win more games. And with that you allow for more Big Time OOC games like a Clairton-TJ or TJ vs Bethel Park. On top of that you give schools more chances to schedule big time OOS games against Florida, Texas, and Ohio Schools. Playing better competition more often gives the WPIAL better chances of winning those big time OOS games and make our schools better in the process.

At the same time I also feel that there are too many schools included in the WPIAL playoffs except for 2A simply because 2A has so many schools in it and is much more competitive than the other class's. In 4A you been having 3-6 schools in the playoffs. And it totally doesn't make sense. With my solution of 8 Conferences of 4 teams that would mean only the 8 Conference champs would make it to the playoffs. Good teams may get left out that way as well, but sometimes life isn't fair.

The WPIAL needs to make changes no doubt, I have a few solutions on the table. Will they happen, I doubt it. The WPIAL likes to make things easier only for themselves. But the level of play in the WPIAL is continuing to drop, and schools aren't having a proper way to better themselves, which is playing better competition more often.

To Trade or Not to Trade; That is the Question

It has been an amazing season for the Pirates indeed. They are currently 44-41 and within arm reach of 1st place. And there is a very strong possibility that they could be in 1st place by the All Star Break.

Right now there is a hot topic on Talk Radio, Message Boards, Twitter, and Blogs and that is that the Pirates needs to trade for a big bat in its lineup.

Aramis Ramirez 3B of the Cubs and Jose Reyes SS of the Mets are just 2 of the names mentioned.

My biggest question to those who are begging for a trade is, who are you willing to give up to make the current lineup better? The Pirates are probably going to have to trade a Brad Lincoln, Alex Presley, or some other Prospects. To think that the Pirates can dump Diaz and Cedeno for Jose Reyes is a bit far fetched. Remember to get talent, the Pirates must give up talent.

Let me be frank, Paul Maholm must be kept and payed the 10M+ he would be owed. People seem to forget that the Pitching is what got the Pirates this far. Trading a P like Maholm for a bat could set the team back instead of helping. There is 0 evidence that P Brad Lincoln step in and the rotation doesn't miss a beat.

On the flip side guys like 3B Josh Harrison, OF Alex Presley, SS Chase d'Anaud has helped put a little gas back on the Pirates offensive gas pedal. Each of those guys will provide depth once LF Jose Tabata and 3B Pedro Alverez returns to the lineup. SS d'Arnaud and OF Alex Presley also has a great chance of starting as well.

Now that leaves us to the the question of; what do we do with OF Matt Diaz, OF Steve Pearce, 1B Lyle Overbay, and SS Ronny Cedeno. To be honest an lineup that looks like this isn't that bad going forward; LF Jose Tabata, CF Andrew McCutchen, RF Alex Presley, 3B Pedro Alverez, SS Chase d'Arnaud, 2B Neal Walker, 1B Garrett Jones, and the Catching platoon of Ryan Doumit and Chris Snyder is a solid lineup on the field and at the plate. I just think everyone does need to be patient until the guys return from injury.

I hate to ruin the future of this team just to help with our playoff chances this year. You trade for rental players only when you think you have a great shot of winning the World Series. And honestly, the Pirates aren't there yet.

The Pirates needs to worry about getting these young guys much needed playing time to make the bench that much better. As of right now, we could be having guys like Lyle Overbay, Steve Pearce, and Ryan Doumit coming off the bench in big time Pinch Hitting situations and a kid like Josh Harrison as a Pinch Runner-if need be.

If the Pirates can get a big time bat in the offseason via Free Agency, then hell I'm all for it.

Is Going to Class 2A Worth It for Clairton?

Clairton has been mighty impressive on the 1A level. The Bears have won 31 straight games and nabbed back to back state championships along the way. But could the Bears sustain this level of success at the 2A level is the question.

A couple of Class A sized schools in Aliquippa and Jeannette could be examples of Clairton being more than competitive in 2A. But at the same time we do have to be realistic and realize that the Bears chances of winning state title's would be greatly diminished at the 2A level.

The biggest con in a 2A move would be the starters playing longer during games which would increase the chances of an injury. An undersized line plus numbers could spell disaster for the Bears if the injury bug would set in.

At the same time stiffer competition would also make the individual players and the team much better on the field.

I must say the biggest pro for a move to 2A would be profits at the gate during home games plus less travel for away games. There will be larger crowds for say an SA-Clairton game than an Avella-Clairton game and the same would be said for a Steel Valley-Clairton game than a Fort Cherry-Clairton game. And at the same time bus rides to Keystone Oaks is much closer than bus rides to Chartiers-Houston and Avella. The net profits just for the Athletic Department in general should be enough for a move to 2A worthwhile.

2A playoffs would also be whole be really fun for the fans, but at the same time much, much tougher. While Clairton would lose the game against the always tough Rochester, the return would be possible games against; Aliquippa, Jeannette, Beaver Falls, Greensburg Central Catholic and so on. Its a tougher slate no doubt, but Clairton Nation would back the Bears every step of the way.

I support a move to 2A for plenty of reasons. I'd say the biggest reason would be more exposure. Some of the fringe D1A prospects would most likely be D1A prospects in 2A football. Plus the schedule in general would be much much better. Think of the possibility of playing; South Park, South Fayette, Steel Valley, East Allegheny, South Allegheny, Keystone Oaks, Seton La Selle, and Washington as a regular season slate compared to what we have no.

I totally understand the other side to the argument. If the Bears go 16 and 0 this season, the Bears would be riding a 47 game winning streak. And I get that point no doubt. Continuing that winning streak would be much easier in 1A than it would be in 2A.  But for a district strapped for cash, a move to 2A would be more than worth it in the pocketbooks. Larger crowds for home games and shorter bus rides for away games equals profits, and to me those profits are more worthwhile than continuing the winning streak.