Forget the "Script" call them the "Pitt Condors"!!!!

 The Pitt athletic department offered vouchers worth the face value of the ticket which could be put towards the price of one of the discounted season-ticket packages to all of those fans who bought a single-game ticket to Saturday’s opener versus Bowling Green.

   The idea was simple --- give fans a chance to take in the game-day experience and look at the product once before committing to the full season ticket plan. It was a solid plan with one flaw -- in order for it to work, the actual team on the field needed to cooperate.

    Luckily for the athletic department, the reviews of the tailgate party on the "Great Lawn" as well as the "World’s Largest Family Bash" on Art Rooney Ave. have been extremely positive because any fan who is basing their decision on the actual game and the performance of the Panthers offense is more than likely not only not going to buy a season ticket – they are asking for a refund of their $25 for Saturday’s game as well.

    Based on the overwhelming feedback in e-mails, on fan message boards and fan blogs, that is not necessarily just because Pitt lost to another Mid-American Conference team – the Falcons prevailed 27-17 – it is because the Panthers played a very stale, very boring, very antiquated style of football that frankly just isn’t very interesting.

    Simply put, the Panthers aren’t very creative and they aren’t very fun too watch.

    And given that they are not a winning program right now, either -- nor have they been since 2004 -- there is no amount of slick marketing and packaging that can overcome the deadly combination of boring football being played poorly.

    Marty Blake, who, as general manager of the defunct Pittsburgh Condors ABA, said it best when he was asked about why it was so hard to get fans interested in the team, which eventually folded because of money problems:

   “You can sell a lot of things in this world,” Blake told the Post-Gazette in a 2000 interview, “but you can't promote a funeral."

   In other words, bad football is a bad thing but boring bad football is the death of a program and given that the Panthers under Wannstedt are one of the most boring teams on the planet this is shaping up to be a very, very long season for the team, the fans -- and especially the school's marketing guru....

   Blake, also, incidentally, renamed that ABA team the Condors (they were originally named the Pipers) because "the Condors were a dying bird and that was a dying franchise...."

  Are you thinking what we're thinking?

  A few more offensive performances like Saturday and the marketing department might want to consider another logo change for the Panthers to something which resembles this:

WVU-Villanova live

Chuck Finder | Gameday

8:53 p.m.: In the end, Patrick White tossed a Mountaineer Field-record and lifetime-best five touchdowns, and eighth-ranked West Virginia tried to show East Carolina and the rest of college football that you can't always crowd the line of scrimmage to dare this team to throw. Sure, only Marc Bulger in 1998 with a half-dozen against Pitt has thrown for more scores in West Virginia history. But the subtext to this 48-21 triumph tonight over The Villanova That Doesn't Shoot 3-Pointers seems to be: That remodeled defense didn't exactly stymie a Division I-AA offense. Seven of the Wildcats' first 11 possessions carried into West Virginia territory. The Wildcats possessed the football an entire quarter longer than West Virginia, which in theory represents a practical way to keep that vaunted offense off the field. The Wildcats even outgained the Mountaineers by half a football field. "We missed some open-field tackles," new coach Bill Stewart said. "We just can't do that." By the way, in a precautionary move by Stewart and the medical staff, Reed Williams didn't dress (no wonder this correspondent couldn't find him), but he and his surgically repaired shoulders should be ready to play, if not start, next Saturday at East Carolina. And, after the soon-to-be-ranked Pirates' 27-22 upset of No. 17 Virginia Tech today, this West Virginia-East Carolina fray looks a whole lot more sizeable, doesn't it? "From what I heard today, we're going into a hornet's next, we're going into a Pirates den," Stewart said. "We have to improve a whole lot."

5:26 p.m. (our apologies. . . wireless problems here): Pat Lazear indeed started at middle linebacker and lasted barely a handful of plays. Anthony Leonard replaced him -- no sign of Williams, so it's doubtful he'll play -- but the Villanova offense still moved with relative ease throughout the first half. Four of its first six possessions reached into West VIrginia territory. It dominated the first half time of possession, 20 minutes, 32 seconds to West VIrginia's 9:28. It even outgained the vaunted West Virginia offense. Yet a red-zone fumble by Villanova quarterback Antwon Young was returned halfway across the field, mostly by Gateway's Mortty Ivy, to set  up the first of three. . . wait for it. . . passing touchdowns to give the Mountaineers a 24-7 lead at intermission. Records that fell in the half: White has his inaugural three-touchdown-passing performance (with a half yet to play) and West Virginia's first since Brashear's Rasheed Marshall four years ago against Temple (which one press-box wag called another Division I-AA team from Philadelphia); White surpassed Bulger's career mark for total offense with almost 8,000 yards; and Plum's Pat McAfee at half's close kicked a career-long, 52-yard field goal, beating by one yard his previous best against Pitt at Heinz Field two years ago.

1:52 p.m (more than 90 minutes to kickoff).: A roster update: If sophomore Lazear doesn't start ahead of senior star Williams at middle linebacker today, he at minimum is expected to play the majority of the defensive snaps so Williams can test and then rest his surgically repaired shoulders.

A scoreboard update: The three-times-larger Panasonic big board is up and running, showing the Virginia Tech-East Carolina broadcast at this moment, and it's a dandy home-theater system. And workers did find the KA missing from the Tuesday night truck carrying the scrambled letters now spelling out "MILAN PUSKAR STADIUM" above the new scoreboard (see Aug. 26 blog entry, below). LED boards running roughly between the 10-yard lines adorn the bottom of the upper decks at Mountaineer Field now, too, much like ones found at Heinz Field or any other major stadium.

Finally, a weather update: The hazy, gray skies that appeared to threaten with rain have just given way to beams of sunshine. Radar looks clear, though. Not that it should matter much today, but the Mountaineers would prefer a dry, fast track on their ersatz grass.

Leftover Stew: AD who fired him still admires him

Chuck FInder | 8:58 a.m. Aug. 29

Davis Babb, the man who was the Virginia Military Institute athletic director responsible for firing him almost a dozen years ago, maintains that he'll be rooting for his former employee when Bill Stewart's second go-round starts tomorrow against Villanova.

"I'm really glad he got the opportunity to be the head coach at West Virginia," Babb, fired at VMI two years after Stewart in 1996, said over the telephone this week from Texas Christian, where he serves as associate athletic director for development. "I know he's going to do a great job there. I think he's a great choice at West Virginia. And he's been training all of his professional career for this. I'm really pulling for him."

Details of Stewart's exit can be found in today's story, but here's a little-publicized kernel of information: The newfound VMI superintendent at the time, the controversial Josiah Bunting III, between 1996 and 1998 spent roughly $500,000 million in payouts to fire Stewart, successor Ted Cain two years later and then Babb the AD.

Of Stewart's work at VMI, Babb said: "He came in and really brought a lot of people together, in terms of instituting a great work ethic. He embraced the alumni and the coaches from former years there, really did a great job of bringing together people around the program. He was really making great strides. He was winning some games. Crowds were coming back. He had a good staff in place. He was giving them all he had. I do think he did a good job there, I really do. He was a great fit at VMI, he really was. Believed in what the school stood for."

Babb declined to discuss Stewart's departure: "I want to focus on what's happened since then. Knowing his family and knowing him, I really proud of what he's done to basically get himself to this point, where he could be a head coach at that level of a program. I remain a fan of his and obviously cheered on the team at the bowl game," referring to the Fiesta that caused Gov. Joe Manchin, standing on the stadium sidelines, and the search committee, primarily  Athletic Director Ed Pastilong, to want to remove the interim tag from Stewart and officially make him the head coach hours later.

Two other Stew ingredients heretofore missing:

* Ever the recruiter, Stewart escorted the son of friend and former fellow assistant Danny Smith around the WVU campus this summer and essentially won over a student who isn't a football player. To hear Smith tell it, the head coach "had a lot to do with [son Jason] going there." While touring the Rec Center, Stewart counseled Jason Smith about a few local establishments to avoid and gave  the kid the cell number to reach the Mountaineers' head coach, something perhaps no other non-football freshman on campus possesses. Stewart did such a bang-up recruiting job, "In fact, I went down there and bought me a dang West Virginia shirt," joked the father, the Washington Redskins' special teams coach. Added the elder Smith, "Bill's a very disciplined person. He's a very disciplined person in his own lifestyle. He'll let them have fun, and he'll have fun with them. But there are certain rules and guidelines to live by, and guys won't misconstrue it. . . . Another one of his strengths is making the people around him feel good. If you've got talent and you feel good, you can go a long way. You have a tendency to play better, and you may play better than you think you are."

* Receiver Tito Gonzales from earlier in camp: "The most dramatic change is that it's a lot better atmosphere here. It's a lot more relaxed. . . , isn't too tense. You don't worry about making mistakes, which makes [mistakes] inevitable."

Now, back to Ray Fittipaldo's national games to watch . . .

Five games to keep an eye on this weekend

College football season kicks off tonight with several games. The Bowl Championship Series has forced teams to schedule light before league play begins. However, there are a few games worth watching in Week 1. Here's a quick rundown. All games below are on Saturday...

Appalachian State plays at LSU, 5 p.m., ESPN -- The BCS national champion takes on the Division I-AA champion. Normally, this would mean a smackdown. But Appalachian State is more than a Division I-AA power. The Mountaineers proved last season they could play with the big boys when they went to the Big House and beat Michigan last season. QB Armanti Edwards and Co. attempt to shock the world again.

Utah at Michigan, 3:30 p.m. -- From Mountaineer Field to the Big House. The first game for Rich Rodriguez at Michigan, which has a patent on Big Ten, three yards and a cloud of dust football. Rodriguez brings his highly successful spread offense to Ann Arbor. Transitions take time and this one will be interesting to watch all season.   

USC at Virginia, 3:30 p.m. -- Kudos to Pete Carroll. When everyone else in Division I-A schedules cupcakes during the non-league schedule, Carroll seeks out tests for his Trojans. This is the first of three games against BCS conference foes. On Sept. 13, Ohio State goes to USC and in late November, the Trojans play host to Notre Dame.    

Alabama vs. Clemson, 8:00 p.m. -- Tommy Bowden has the best team in the ACC this season. The Tigers are talented and they'll get to see how they stack up right away because Alabama is getting better under Nick Saban. No home field advantage in this game. It's being played in Atlanta.  

Illinois at Missouri, 8:30 p.m., ESPN -- The best game of Week 1. Missouri QB Chase Daniel is a Heisman Trophy candidate and he has plenty of weapons around him to shine. Juice Williams can drive defenses batty with his ability to run and throw. Illini coach Ron Zook might need a few tricks up his sleeve to pull this one out. Surprise onsides, anyone?     

Snippets from the White album

Chuck Finder |  10:18 a.m. Aug. 28

In addition to today's ruminations on the young man who is inarguably the most decorated quarterback in Mountaineers history, here are three extra, intriguing sound bytes.

Guard Greg Isdaner: "Best quarterback in the country, write it down. [Last year's Heisman Trophy winner from Florida] Tim Tebow's a good player and all, but. . . . [White] knows he's the best now. Some people let it go to their head, but he's using it to distance himself from the others."

Offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen: "He's already in meetings bringing up ideas and thoughts and tweaks and second-level adjustments that make me stop and go, [pretending to stare at the board] 'That's a good idea, Patrick. We're not going to do that yet.' " Hmm, makes it sound as if the White ideas will come into play later in the season, huh?. . . .

Finally, little brother Coley White: "He's more mature. He does better around the house, cleans up more - I think he got that from our brother, Bo [coaching at Bluffton University in Ohio], he's a neat freak. And [Patrick's] even letting me use his car around campus. I was surprised about that."

CSI: PSU

Catching passes, catching killers

If Penn State wide receiver Deon Butler doesn’t make it in the NFL next season, he will have another profession to fall back on.
Butler, a forensics science major, did a three-week internship with the homicide unit at the Philadelphia Police Department this summer.

It was one murder scene after another in a city that had 392 homicides a year ago.

"We get so caught up in State College in our little bubble here,’ Butler said. "We don't really see what happens in the outside world. A lot of these kids at the [murder] scenes were between 18 and 24, my age and younger. Just seeing the stuff that they were doing, drugs and guns and killing each other, was definitely a humbling experience."

Butler helped searched for bodies. He marked crime scenes and took photos.

"That was definitely a humbling experience," he said.

The guy who helped Butler secure the internship was Dr. Robert Shaler, a Penn State professor. He helped identify the victims of the World Trade Center attacks in 2001.

"My dream is to be the guy on the scene," Butler said. "I like the challenge [of solving the case], but on the other side of it, I like helping families out ... to help them resolve things and get some closure in their life."

-- Ron Musselman

MILR SAN TAD PUS IUM

Go ahead, smarty, unscramble that.

Those giant gold-on-blue letters sat on a tractor trailer outside Mountaineer Field tonight, part of the finishing touches to the new, $5 million scoreboard still being tested before its debut Saturday for Villanova-West Virginia. After practice, Panasonic types opened up a long banquet table and sat at the doorstep to the south end zone, trying out the electronic sucker that's three times wider than the previous scoreboard. A crane remained in front of the adjoining football facility, awaiting to adorn the gizmo with such final pieces as advertising and the stadium name.

You betcha, those letters are supposed to spell out Milan Puskar Stadium. If you noticed -- no master's-degree jokes just yet, please -- missing from the truck was a KA.

Bowser's back, and other WVU Tuesday talk

Remember junior-college transfer cornerback Brantwon Bowser (on the left, not to be confused with Mario's Bowser and Sha Na Na's Bowzer)? In West Virginia spring drills, he tore the ACL in his right knee and needed what was labeled season-ending surgery. Well, this Bowser's season isn't over: Just four and a half months later, he amazingly has returned to practice ahead of schedule and already scratched out a role as a passing-down defensive back for the Mountaineers' season opener Saturday, Coach Bill Stewart said today.

Bowser, recruited from the same Phoenix (Ariz.) College that brought the Mountaineers assistant Dale Wolfley, safety Courtney Stuart and still-in-JUCO defensive end Tevita Finau, rejoined Sunday the team that early last spring considered him a potential starter or backup, then considered him gone for the year after April 11 surgery. "Everything turned out fine," Bowser said. "I'm good now. It's a relief."

This, after all, is a 6-foot, 179-pound fellow listed in the media guide thusly: “underwent surgery and will sit out the 2008 season.” He could still get red-shirted, however, if either the repaired knee or the sophomore’s overall progress aren’t deemed up to immediate snuff. Under NCAA rules, he could play in the season’s first four games, then receive a redshirt to provide him with three years of eligibility left.

By the way, give credit where it's due: The Bowser cartoon idea was first proffered by Mike Casazza. The bad idea to include lead singer Jon Bauman all sprang from the addled mind of this correspondent.

Stewart also offered some other insights at his news conference this afternoon:

• Virginia, he hopes, will slide into the Mountaineers’ 2009 schedule. The two programs have been in talks about a four-year deal, and it falls into line with Stewart’s wish to schedule more games against border states. Maryland, beyond a 2010-11 commitment that may stretch two additional years, and Kentucky and longtime rival Virginia Tech apparently show little interest in launching or resuming neighborly hostilities with the Mountaineers. “I can’t get border schools to play us,” Stewart said, rubbing the wooden podium top amid a news-conference question pertaining to the scheduling of Division I-AA schools such as Villanova this Saturday. “When you get good, you can’t get tem to play even a game. If we can’t get close-by opponents to play us, we may have to keep doing what we’re doing: play Colorado and Auburn. I don’t want to fly all over the country and our fans can’t get to [those games]. So we’ll play a I-AA opponent [as well]. I was a I-AA coach myself” at VMI.
• Defensive lineman Scooter Berry will “spot play” Saturday, to rest a creaky knee that sidelined him for most of three games last season. Berry, who can play tackle or nose guard, is backed at tackle by Doug Slavonic, which could translate into more playing time for that redshirt senior from Mt. Lebanon.
  
• Maryland clinged to a 10-7 halftime lead against this same Villanova in its home opener one year ago. “That worries me,” Stewart said.

Penn State depth chart released

Reed ready, and other Mountaineer Monday doodads

Middle linebacker and defensive catalyst Reed Williams apparently will start Saturday in No. 8 West Virginia’s season opener against Villanova after all.

New coach Bill Stewart said this morning on the Big East teleconference that he expects to start the senior, who is coming off surgeries on both shoulders shortly after being named the defensive MVP in the Fiesta Bowl and leading the Mountaineers in tackles in 2007.

“The way I saw him hitting last week in practice, I think he wants to play real, real bad,” Stewart said of Williams, who was cleared to resume full contact last Wednesday. “He’s right on schedule. Everybody’s pleased with how quickly he has come back. . . . Reed Williams has done everything. He’s the Reed of old. The doctors feel good, he feels good. He’s come a long, long way in a fast period of time this last month. He’s very much ready to go.”

In other tidbits today:

• Stewart said sophomore Brandon Hogan, radically switched from slotback to cornerback at August’s start, might not start but should see plenty of playing time at nickel back and punt returner, where he likely would align with cornerback Ellis Lankster. “First punt return, he’ll be out there,” the coach vowed of Hogan.
• Speaking of cornerbacks, Stewart considered Lankster, Kent Richardson, Eddie Davis, Hogan, et. al. “as good or better as the guys we’ve played with [in recent years, namely Perry Traditional Academy’s Vaughn Rivers, Larry Williams and Antonio Lewis]. They just haven’t been in the arena yet.”
• Villanova coach Andy Talley, on the Colonial Athletic Association teleconference, spoke about how he expects West Virginia “to try to run the ball down our throats.” In other words, he figures the Mountaineers will look down upon the I-AA Wildcats, who happen to be ranked No. 19 in that division’s poll. Talley added: “They’re bigger, faster and stronger and probably expect to dominate the game. I don’t think they’re terribly excited about Villanova, to be quite frank.” The guy knows how to motivate: Villanova has won two of its past three games against Big East foes, beating Rutgers (37-19) in 2003 and Temple (23-20) in 2004, also on the road.