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!!!