Panther fans in for rude awakening against Irish
Just in case anyone was wondering what I thought … – n –
Every gambling service in the nation waits until mid-season or later to concoct some sort of “pick-of-the-year” deal, but here’s a can’t-miss free one for you right off the bat.
Pitt is a 3-point favorite over Notre Dame in Saturday night’s game at Heinz Field.
Grab the points as quick as you can and run.
New coach Dave Wannstedt will solidify and improve the Panthers in time, but he’s been dealt offensive and defensive lines that won’t be able to handle the bigger and more talented Fighting Irish interior players.
Notre Dame has great skill on offense and it’ll be able to run at will to set up what will be an effective passing game under new coach Charlie Weis.
Weis was already victorious at Heinz Field once this year, having helped the New England Patriots derail the Steelers in the AFC championship game.
He’ll spoil the party again for a different Pittsburgh team this time around.
The Fighting Irish win this by double digits.
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Sure, their record is horrible again, but for the first time in long while the Pirates actually are interesting to watch as yet another losing season winds down.
Jason Bay, Zach Duke, Brad Eldred, Chris Duffy, Ryan Doumit and Jose Castillo are all up-and-coming players who made strides this year.
A quick overall glance at the team gives you reason to believe the Pirates may actually be competitive in 2006.
The Bucs’ future looks very good in the pitching department.
In addition to the promising Duke, Oliver Perez is still a very talented pitcher who needs to get straightened out, Sean Burnett looked good in limited duty last year before being struck down by an arm injury, and John Van Benschoten – another injury victim – may still turn out to be a legitimate starter.
Paul Maholm, Ian Snell and Bryan Bullington have potential, too, and John Grabow has been surprising good out of the bullpen.
The Bucs are counting on hard-throwing lefty Mike Gonzalez to be their closer of the future, but they better look elsewhere. Gonzalez has a great arm, but he’s a set-up man. The guy doesn’t have the make-up to be a closer. The Pirates will find that out next year if they try to insert him in that role.
Kip Wells? No guts, no glory for this meek-but-talented right-hander. You want to send him packing, but he has such potential it’s hard to figure out what to do with him. Give him one more year.
The Wilson duo – Craig and Jack – can be given a mulligan this year, but they both better start out well in 2006 or their futures with the team may be in doubt.
Rob Mackowiak is a streaky hitter who has long dry spells, but his versatility makes him valuable.
Some players still have a shot to figure in the Pirates’ plans, such as Josh Fogg, Ty Wigginton, Salomon Torres and Brian Meadows, but it’s time to cut bait with guys like Jose Mesa, Mark Redman, Daryle Ward, Tike Redman, Michael Restovich and Ryan Vogelsong.
As for Lloyd McClendon, he may not get the chance, but I’d let him have one more season with this nucleus and see what happens.
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I wonder if there are any Steeler fans out there who feel a bit hollow as the opener approaches.
That’s to say, you’ve seen so many failures at home in huge playoff games, it’s hard for you to get overly hyped about the upcoming season any more.
Your team has one of the greatest regular seasons in NFL history and still can’t even make the Super Bowl, let alone win it.
Sure, you know there will probably be great moments in the months to come, exciting wins, maybe even another stellar 12-to-14 win season.
But it’ll always end in disappointment under head coach Bill Cowher.
At least guys like Marv Levy and Bud Grant could get their teams into the Super Bowl before crashing.
Cowher’s only AFC title game triumph came against a far inferior Colts team that the Steelers had to rally late to beat. And they still almost blew that one on a last-play Hail Mary.
The shame of it is, Cowher actually did a pretty good job in the one Super Bowl he did reach, coming up short only because of a couple panicked throws directly to the other team by Neil O’Donnell.
It looks like that will wind up being Cowher’s only shot at the big one.
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West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez can’t decide on who his starting quarterback is, but the Mountaineers will still find a way to win in the Carrier Dome against Syracuse on Sunday.
The keys to victory will be running back Jason Colson and a solid defense. Watch for Uniontown graduate Kevin McLee to have an impact as a starting linebacker.
No one expects much, but WVU will have a good season. The Mountaineers are always better when they can sneak under the radar.
Assistant Sports Editor Rob Burchianti can be reached at rvburchianti@hotmail.com