Pitt not a Fit... for now
For now Pitt has smacked down rumors floating through the internet this weekend, that an announcement could come as early as Thursday declaring Pitt the 12th team of the Big Ten.
“There is no announcement to make because there is nothing happening,” said Pitt spokesman Mike Gladysz.
E.J. Borghetti, Pitt’s associate AD for media relations, added this on his Twitter feed: “Now hear this: rumors on Internet message boards should be read for amusement purposes only, and not consumed as responsible journalism.”
Another Pitt spokesman added: “It’s a total rumor. There is no truth to it. I am 100 percent sure.”
I still think this works for so many reasons, and look forward to the story continuing to unfold over the next couple months. I am a fan of 12 teams and a conference title, and it can't come soon enough.
February 1st, 2010 at 1:37 PM ^
E.J. Borghetti, Pitt’s associate AD for media relations, added this on his Twitter feed: “Now hear this: rumors on Internet message boards should be read for amusement purposes only, and not consumed as responsible journalism.”
That's funny. You could substitute "FREEP" for "Internet message boards" and it's a great quote.
February 1st, 2010 at 1:42 PM ^
and it's not going to a "couple months". This is going to be a likely 12-18 mo process to just study the expansion possibility, then the committee the B10 empowered will have accept the study results and begin "preliminary" discussions with possible member institutions.
BOTTOM LINE-- Nothing is going to change until the Big Ten exploratory committee finishes their work-- AT THE EARLIEST AROUND DECEMBER 2010.
February 1st, 2010 at 4:42 PM ^
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/You-may-off…
Who knows, we've seen the "nothing to see here," meme on many other items--but nothing is likely to happen just yet, although I think the 12-18 months timeframe to make a decision is a little off.
February 1st, 2010 at 6:08 PM ^
With you about the timeframe.
You have three GIGANTIC programs here with their own interests to protect.
You think adding Pitt to make Penn State feel a lil more tucked in with a blankie and a bottle at night is going to sit well with UM and OSU--the baileywicks of the conference for so many years? How about the Moosters--who fancy themselves in the middle of some sort of "rivalry" for the annual Manure Trophy game with Penn State every year?
I believe if it is to be done in a shorter time frame than 12-18 months, it'll be Rutgers or Missouri--two schools who have just about bought all the K-Y they can find to grease their assholes for the Big Ten.
I hope to hell it isn't Pitt. If Pennsylvania is opened up more as a recruiting ground to UM and OSU with their addition--how the hell will they ever compete with anyone besides teams like the Golden Goophers or the Hoosiers? And the Big Ten is all OVER Pennsylvania with Penn State already.
Because the intranets are so sure it will be Pitt or Rutgers (or FAR worse than anything except possibly the University of Toronto--Syracuse)--you just KNOW it's gonna be a biggie.
And the time frame also works to see if Kelly flops at Notre Dame and their luster dims even more--possibly making them feel like the Big Ten looks pretty good all the sudden.