It took a while for Pitt to find a new basketball coach, but it looks like a solid hire for a program that needs a lot of help.
Duke assistant Jerry Capel is expected to be introduced at a news conference today. Then he has to get busy --hire a staff, establish a recruiting plan, meet with the players remaining from last year's team.
This is a choice that should energize a fan base that has abandoned Pitt basketball with alarming speed over the last two years.
Coincidentally, Pitt also reached a settlement with Kevin Stallings on the remainder of his contract on Tuesday. End that regrettable era, and start the new one.
There's a lot to like about Capel. He has head coaching experience. He's been coach Mike Krzyzewski's top assistant for the last four years. He has a reputation for successful recruiting. He's been closely associated with a program that has success and apparently functions within the rules. He knows the ACC.
With the program in disarray, this choice is exactly what Pitt needs.
---
Not that it does the Steelers any good three months after the fact, but Jesse James' catch against New England really will be a catch this season.
Instead of nitpicking things down to a frame-by-frame review, the officials will now take a common sense approach to define a catch. So James' catch in the playoff game against New England would be upheld now rather than overturned.
At least refer to it as the Jesse James Rule.
---
Major league teams used to carry 10 pitchers. Some would even get by with nine.
The Pirates are opening the season with 13 pitchers on the roster, eight of them in the bullpen.
This speaks to the concern about how many innings this inexperienced starting staff will be able to provide.
It will also handcuff Clint Hurdle when it comes to using pinch hitters. Two of the Pirates' bench players, Sean Rodriguez and Adam Frazier, can play a variety of positions.
That helps, but there are still only four extra players on the bench. One of those is the backup catcher, and teams try to avoid using their extra catcher unless absolutely necessary.
The Pirates are covered in the bullpen, but there will probably be some awkward moments where they have to preserve the bench in the late innings.
---
The Guess How Many Games The Pirates Will Win contest is winding down. The contest closes Friday at 5 p.m.
It couldn't be easier. You e-mail me two numbers -- your prediction for this season's win total and (as the tiebreaker) the number of home runs you think they'll hit. (Last year they won 75 games and hit 151 home runs).
It costs nothing to enter and you could win the prize, a box of leftover Pirates promotional stuff.
Still waiting to hear from some of the regulars. Don't let your record of 100 percent participation lapse. If you're not computer/device savvy, ask the kids or grandkids for help.
The official e-mail address is right below this sentence.
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Sunday, March 25, 2018
Altoona Mirror, March 25, 2018
You can slice and dice baseball statistics many ways, but this holds up as a basic truth:
A team's success will be determined in large part by the quality of its starting pitching.
The Pirates enter the 2018 season with a lot of promise in their rotation, but not a lot of accomplishment.
There is no incumbent No. 1 starter. Ivan Nova will start Thursday's opener in Detroit. That's a nod mainly to his experience and ability to shut out distractions.
Nova started well last year, then things took a turn for the bad before mid-season arrived. In the second half of the season, opposing hitters amassed a whopping .917 OPS against him.
Jameson Taillon is the No. 1 starter of the future, heir apparent to Gerrit Cole. He has good stuff and a professional attitude that belies his relative inexperience. Unlike Cole, he won't come unglued at the first sign of adversity.
The issue with Taillon is his health. What other player has dealt with Tommy John surgery, a hernia and a cancer diagnosis before the age of 26? Taillon pitched 133 and 2/3 innings around his medical issues last season. Can he handle a heavier workload and get closer to 200 innings? Uncharted territory.
Trevor Williams was a pleasant surprise last season because he showed steady improvement. He ran with his opportunity and established himself as one of the five starters.
Chad Kuhl's progress was slower, but the Pirates were buoyed by a significant uptick in his velocity. He's still a work in progress.
The wild card is Joe Musgrove, who came over from Houston in the Cole trade. The Pirates need him to pitch well, and not just to reduce the heat on the deal. Musgrove's starting experience is limited to 25 games over two major league seasons.
The Pirates have assigned Steven Brault and Tyler Glasnow to the bullpen, ostensibly to help them train for the rotation. But having two starters working relief could also be important to cover innings left available by too many short starts.
That's a definite possibility, given the uncertain state of the rotation.
The everyday lineup lacks punch, but could be good enough if -- that's a huge word -- Gregory Polanco recovers from his awful season and rookie Colin Moran is viable at third base.
This will come down to the starting pitching, though, and who can project what the Pirates' inexperienced group might do?
The starters will make the difference between wild card contention and another sub-.500 season.
---
--STILL LOOKING
Pitt wanted Dan Hurley to coach its basketball team. He said no. Sean Miller apparently wanted the job. Pitt said no.
Miller triggered what is the fashionable move these days: When it's apparent you're not getting the job, issue a statement announcing you're no longer a candidate.
Miller is just too high risk at this point for a program that already has problems. The last thing Pitt needs is someone from the Justice Department waiting for Miller at his new office.
There's an urgency to get a coach in place. Nine players have asked to be released from their commitments. They might all wind up staying, but they won't decide until they see who the new coach is.
---
--ANNOYING REMINDER
This the last week for the Guess How Many Games The Pirates Will Win contest.
You e-mail me two numbers -- your prediction for this season's win total and (tiebreaker) the number of home runs you think they'll hit. (Last year they won 75 games and hit 151 home runs).
It costs nothing to enter and you could win the prize, a box of leftover Pirates promotional stuff.
The official e-mail address is right below this sentence.
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
A team's success will be determined in large part by the quality of its starting pitching.
The Pirates enter the 2018 season with a lot of promise in their rotation, but not a lot of accomplishment.
There is no incumbent No. 1 starter. Ivan Nova will start Thursday's opener in Detroit. That's a nod mainly to his experience and ability to shut out distractions.
Nova started well last year, then things took a turn for the bad before mid-season arrived. In the second half of the season, opposing hitters amassed a whopping .917 OPS against him.
Jameson Taillon is the No. 1 starter of the future, heir apparent to Gerrit Cole. He has good stuff and a professional attitude that belies his relative inexperience. Unlike Cole, he won't come unglued at the first sign of adversity.
The issue with Taillon is his health. What other player has dealt with Tommy John surgery, a hernia and a cancer diagnosis before the age of 26? Taillon pitched 133 and 2/3 innings around his medical issues last season. Can he handle a heavier workload and get closer to 200 innings? Uncharted territory.
Trevor Williams was a pleasant surprise last season because he showed steady improvement. He ran with his opportunity and established himself as one of the five starters.
Chad Kuhl's progress was slower, but the Pirates were buoyed by a significant uptick in his velocity. He's still a work in progress.
The wild card is Joe Musgrove, who came over from Houston in the Cole trade. The Pirates need him to pitch well, and not just to reduce the heat on the deal. Musgrove's starting experience is limited to 25 games over two major league seasons.
The Pirates have assigned Steven Brault and Tyler Glasnow to the bullpen, ostensibly to help them train for the rotation. But having two starters working relief could also be important to cover innings left available by too many short starts.
That's a definite possibility, given the uncertain state of the rotation.
The everyday lineup lacks punch, but could be good enough if -- that's a huge word -- Gregory Polanco recovers from his awful season and rookie Colin Moran is viable at third base.
This will come down to the starting pitching, though, and who can project what the Pirates' inexperienced group might do?
The starters will make the difference between wild card contention and another sub-.500 season.
---
--STILL LOOKING
Pitt wanted Dan Hurley to coach its basketball team. He said no. Sean Miller apparently wanted the job. Pitt said no.
Miller triggered what is the fashionable move these days: When it's apparent you're not getting the job, issue a statement announcing you're no longer a candidate.
Miller is just too high risk at this point for a program that already has problems. The last thing Pitt needs is someone from the Justice Department waiting for Miller at his new office.
There's an urgency to get a coach in place. Nine players have asked to be released from their commitments. They might all wind up staying, but they won't decide until they see who the new coach is.
---
--ANNOYING REMINDER
This the last week for the Guess How Many Games The Pirates Will Win contest.
You e-mail me two numbers -- your prediction for this season's win total and (tiebreaker) the number of home runs you think they'll hit. (Last year they won 75 games and hit 151 home runs).
It costs nothing to enter and you could win the prize, a box of leftover Pirates promotional stuff.
The official e-mail address is right below this sentence.
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
Altoona Mirror, March 21, 2018
We are one week and one day from the start of a new baseball season.
That's practically a holiday for hardcore baseball fans. People wax poetic about how the first pitch brings an official end to winter, never mind the snow you cleared from the sidewalk this morning.
The trades have been made, the free agents have been signed (well, some of them) and new managers have taken over. It's a fresh start for everyone.
If Troy Polamalu has his way, football fans will be just as excited this time next year.
Polamalu, who hasn't been seen much since his retirement from the Steelers, is one of the people working on the Alliance of American Football. It's an eight-team spring league that plans to start play next February, one week after the NFL stages the Super Bowl.
Despite the clumsy name, this is a good idea.
More importantly, there are sane people running it. It's a creation of Bill Polian, the former NFL general manager who has been analyzing football for ESPN.
Polamalu and Hines Ward appeared at the news conference announcing the formation of the league.
CBS is willing to carry games, and they'll be available on other platforms as well.
Assuming the league gets off the ground as scheduled, it will get a one-year jump on Vince McMahon's planned revival of the XFL.
The NFL pedigree is what gives the AAF a chance. McMahon made his fortune in the wrestling business. His hokum hasn't worked in other businesses.
The USFL, which played spring football in the 1980s, was hell bent on going head-to-head with the NFL in the fall. That plan failed miserably, and the USFL disappeared.
There's a market for football in the spring, and starting the week after the Super Bowl allows people to maintain their viewing patterns. Not everyone likes hockey or college basketball, so there's a captive audience looking for something on the clicker.
The talent will be not-quite-good-enough for the NFL, but as long as the level is equal, the games will be competitive.
A spring league will allow players to show their talents on tape and maybe earn an invitation to an NFL training camp. It can also be a proving ground for coaches looking to either establish or revive a career in the NFL.
Will there be a franchise in Pittsburgh? There should be. Stadium availability might be an issue, but that remains to be seen.
This is an idea that can work, especially since it has smart football people running it.
The USFL may have stuck around if it hadn't been for its suicidal plan to take on the NFL.
By the way, that idea was hatched by the owner of the New Jersey Generals. Gentleman named Donald J. Trump.
---
--NEW FORMAT
Mildly interesting that AT&T Sports seems to be going for more in-game analysis on Pirates' exhibition broadcasts.
They've been throwing it back to the studio to get thoughts from rookie broadcaster Michael McKenry. Is that to help him get familiar with the job, or is it something that might carry over?
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
That's practically a holiday for hardcore baseball fans. People wax poetic about how the first pitch brings an official end to winter, never mind the snow you cleared from the sidewalk this morning.
The trades have been made, the free agents have been signed (well, some of them) and new managers have taken over. It's a fresh start for everyone.
If Troy Polamalu has his way, football fans will be just as excited this time next year.
Polamalu, who hasn't been seen much since his retirement from the Steelers, is one of the people working on the Alliance of American Football. It's an eight-team spring league that plans to start play next February, one week after the NFL stages the Super Bowl.
Despite the clumsy name, this is a good idea.
More importantly, there are sane people running it. It's a creation of Bill Polian, the former NFL general manager who has been analyzing football for ESPN.
Polamalu and Hines Ward appeared at the news conference announcing the formation of the league.
CBS is willing to carry games, and they'll be available on other platforms as well.
Assuming the league gets off the ground as scheduled, it will get a one-year jump on Vince McMahon's planned revival of the XFL.
The NFL pedigree is what gives the AAF a chance. McMahon made his fortune in the wrestling business. His hokum hasn't worked in other businesses.
The USFL, which played spring football in the 1980s, was hell bent on going head-to-head with the NFL in the fall. That plan failed miserably, and the USFL disappeared.
There's a market for football in the spring, and starting the week after the Super Bowl allows people to maintain their viewing patterns. Not everyone likes hockey or college basketball, so there's a captive audience looking for something on the clicker.
The talent will be not-quite-good-enough for the NFL, but as long as the level is equal, the games will be competitive.
A spring league will allow players to show their talents on tape and maybe earn an invitation to an NFL training camp. It can also be a proving ground for coaches looking to either establish or revive a career in the NFL.
Will there be a franchise in Pittsburgh? There should be. Stadium availability might be an issue, but that remains to be seen.
This is an idea that can work, especially since it has smart football people running it.
The USFL may have stuck around if it hadn't been for its suicidal plan to take on the NFL.
By the way, that idea was hatched by the owner of the New Jersey Generals. Gentleman named Donald J. Trump.
---
--NEW FORMAT
Mildly interesting that AT&T Sports seems to be going for more in-game analysis on Pirates' exhibition broadcasts.
They've been throwing it back to the studio to get thoughts from rookie broadcaster Michael McKenry. Is that to help him get familiar with the job, or is it something that might carry over?
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
Sunday, March 18, 2018
Altoona Mirror, March 18, 2018
Baseball players are funny.
That's not just by the "give him a hotfoot" or "whap the star of the game with a shaving cream pie while he's being interviewed on TV" definition of funny, either.
Major league players get to the major leagues in part with a self-centeredness that allows them to overcome the obstacles inevitably in their path.
That insulation can create a false reality that sometimes spills over into other areas.
Case in point came last week when Neil Walker met with reporters after signing with the New York Yankees.
A few of the questions centered on his tenure with the Pirates, the organization that drafted him and where he played his first 836 major league games.
The Pirates traded Walker after the 2015 season, believing that his age, injury history and limited range at second base disqualified him from being offered a long-term contract as free agency approached.
The Yankees are his third team in the three seasons since he left Pittsburgh.
He was part of the three postseason teams from 2013-15 that finally broke the Pirates' 20-year losing streak.
The Pirates won the wild card game in 2013, then lost a five-game series against St. Louis. They couldn't get past the wild card round in the other two seasons.
Walker told reporters the Pirates were "a few pieces away from being a legitimate contender” in those years. He seemed to suggest the front office let the team down by not adding more talent.
"We felt internally we had the pieces to go where we needed to go," Walker said. "But sometimes that extra starter, sometimes that extra big bat in the middle of the lineup could make a big difference."
Maybe additions could have made a difference, but who knows? Madison Bumgarner and Jake Arietta were pretty much untouchable in the two wild card games the Pirates lost.
As far as a big bat, maybe things would have been different if Walker had swung one. In the series against St. Louis, he was 0-for-19. Then he was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts against San Francisco and 0-for-3 with two strikeouts against Chicago.
If he makes the playoffs with the Yankees, he'll lug a 0-for-26 postseason drought into his first game.
Earlier, David Freese suggested that the 2017 Pirates could have/should have done better than their 75-87 record and fourth-place finish. He blamed the "atmosphere," choosing apparently to throw Clint Hurdle under the bus.
"The demand to win just hasn't been in the air," Freese said.
It's hard to imagine that a team able to find 302 plate appearances for John Jaso was equipped to battle the elite teams on even terms, but whatever.
At one point, Freese believed playing David Freese too often was a problem. He supposedly told Hurdle during the season that he was struggling with a workload heavier than he expected at age 34.
Teams disappoint every year, but it's rare that players look in the mirror for the reason why. They're funny that way.
---
--AT LAST
The one shining moment came in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
Ladies and gentlemen, a 16th seed has finally beaten a No. 1.
There wasn't anything odd about Maryland-Baltimore County's win over Virginia other than the outcome.
---
--HERE'S YOUR CHANCE
Speaking of winning against the odds, the annual Guess How Many Games The Pirates Will Win contest opens at 10 a.m. on Monday.
Full details are available at my "Mainly Mehno" blog at altoonamirror.com, but here's the short version: You e-mail me two predictions -- the number of games you think the Pirates will win this season and (the tiebreaker) the number of home runs you think they'll hit. Last season they won 75 games and hit 151 home runs. E-mail address is right here.
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
That's not just by the "give him a hotfoot" or "whap the star of the game with a shaving cream pie while he's being interviewed on TV" definition of funny, either.
Major league players get to the major leagues in part with a self-centeredness that allows them to overcome the obstacles inevitably in their path.
That insulation can create a false reality that sometimes spills over into other areas.
Case in point came last week when Neil Walker met with reporters after signing with the New York Yankees.
A few of the questions centered on his tenure with the Pirates, the organization that drafted him and where he played his first 836 major league games.
The Pirates traded Walker after the 2015 season, believing that his age, injury history and limited range at second base disqualified him from being offered a long-term contract as free agency approached.
The Yankees are his third team in the three seasons since he left Pittsburgh.
He was part of the three postseason teams from 2013-15 that finally broke the Pirates' 20-year losing streak.
The Pirates won the wild card game in 2013, then lost a five-game series against St. Louis. They couldn't get past the wild card round in the other two seasons.
Walker told reporters the Pirates were "a few pieces away from being a legitimate contender” in those years. He seemed to suggest the front office let the team down by not adding more talent.
"We felt internally we had the pieces to go where we needed to go," Walker said. "But sometimes that extra starter, sometimes that extra big bat in the middle of the lineup could make a big difference."
Maybe additions could have made a difference, but who knows? Madison Bumgarner and Jake Arietta were pretty much untouchable in the two wild card games the Pirates lost.
As far as a big bat, maybe things would have been different if Walker had swung one. In the series against St. Louis, he was 0-for-19. Then he was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts against San Francisco and 0-for-3 with two strikeouts against Chicago.
If he makes the playoffs with the Yankees, he'll lug a 0-for-26 postseason drought into his first game.
Earlier, David Freese suggested that the 2017 Pirates could have/should have done better than their 75-87 record and fourth-place finish. He blamed the "atmosphere," choosing apparently to throw Clint Hurdle under the bus.
"The demand to win just hasn't been in the air," Freese said.
It's hard to imagine that a team able to find 302 plate appearances for John Jaso was equipped to battle the elite teams on even terms, but whatever.
At one point, Freese believed playing David Freese too often was a problem. He supposedly told Hurdle during the season that he was struggling with a workload heavier than he expected at age 34.
Teams disappoint every year, but it's rare that players look in the mirror for the reason why. They're funny that way.
---
--AT LAST
The one shining moment came in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
Ladies and gentlemen, a 16th seed has finally beaten a No. 1.
There wasn't anything odd about Maryland-Baltimore County's win over Virginia other than the outcome.
---
--HERE'S YOUR CHANCE
Speaking of winning against the odds, the annual Guess How Many Games The Pirates Will Win contest opens at 10 a.m. on Monday.
Full details are available at my "Mainly Mehno" blog at altoonamirror.com, but here's the short version: You e-mail me two predictions -- the number of games you think the Pirates will win this season and (the tiebreaker) the number of home runs you think they'll hit. Last season they won 75 games and hit 151 home runs. E-mail address is right here.
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Altoona Mirror, March 14, 2018
Some non-Tournament thoughts as you wrestle with your brackets:
After an agonizing four and a half months on the free agent market, Neil Walker has a job.
The former Pirate signed with the New York Yankees for one season and a deal that's reported at a maximum of $4.5 million.
Look, anyone making that kind of money won't need an online fund-raising effort. But in the never-never land of pro sports salaries, that's a big drop from the $17.4 million Walker collected from the New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers last season.
In fact, it's his lowest salary since Walker was paid $3.3 million by the Pirates in 2013, his first season of arbitration eligibility.
Walker's timing for free agency couldn't have been worse. This was the off-season when most major league teams thought long and hard about the price of free agents, and then kept their checkbooks closed.
There were exceptions. Despite a long wait, pitcher Jake Arietta got a three-year contract worth $75 million from the Philadelphia Phillies. Former Kansas City first baseman Eric Hosmer was rewarded with a $144 million contract covering eight seasons by San Diego.
The odd thing about Arietta and Hosmer hitting the jackpot is neither team dishing out the money figures to contend this season.
Joining Walker at the other end of the pay scale is Mike Moustakas, who returned to the Royals for one season and a guaranteed $6.5 million. He can earn another $2.2 million in incentives, and there's a club option for a second year.
Moustakas turned down the Royals' $17.4 million qualifying offer, thinking he could do better on the open market. He thought wrong, and now he's back in Kansas City, where he made $8.7 million last year. If he has a big year, he can make the same amount he did last season, when he set a team record with 38 home runs.
Just repeating, because it's worth repeating: These players won't need a loan from anybody. They're still being paid well. They're just not being paid as well as they expected to be.
On the other hand, the NFL blew up on Tuesday with reports the Minnesota Vikings were ready to sign free agent quarterback Kirk Cousins for three years and $84 million. The salient point there was early reports claimed every dollar of that contract was guaranteed.
If that's true, it will have seismic implications for the NFL. A lot of the money hasn't been guaranteed in the NFL. That's why Jerome Bettis took a severe pay cut to stay with the Steelers when the team was intent on phasing him out.
If guaranteed money becomes the standard in football, as it has in baseball, it will be a huge change.
There are never enough good quarterbacks to go around. Cousins has had his moments, but it's doubtful he'll be on anyone's Top 10 list. ESPN analyst Bill Polian, a former NFL general manager, said on Tuesday that he didn't even consider Cousins Top 15.
So at a time when baseball seems to be taking an occasional small step toward fiscal sanity, football could be ready to go crazy.
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
After an agonizing four and a half months on the free agent market, Neil Walker has a job.
The former Pirate signed with the New York Yankees for one season and a deal that's reported at a maximum of $4.5 million.
Look, anyone making that kind of money won't need an online fund-raising effort. But in the never-never land of pro sports salaries, that's a big drop from the $17.4 million Walker collected from the New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers last season.
In fact, it's his lowest salary since Walker was paid $3.3 million by the Pirates in 2013, his first season of arbitration eligibility.
Walker's timing for free agency couldn't have been worse. This was the off-season when most major league teams thought long and hard about the price of free agents, and then kept their checkbooks closed.
There were exceptions. Despite a long wait, pitcher Jake Arietta got a three-year contract worth $75 million from the Philadelphia Phillies. Former Kansas City first baseman Eric Hosmer was rewarded with a $144 million contract covering eight seasons by San Diego.
The odd thing about Arietta and Hosmer hitting the jackpot is neither team dishing out the money figures to contend this season.
Joining Walker at the other end of the pay scale is Mike Moustakas, who returned to the Royals for one season and a guaranteed $6.5 million. He can earn another $2.2 million in incentives, and there's a club option for a second year.
Moustakas turned down the Royals' $17.4 million qualifying offer, thinking he could do better on the open market. He thought wrong, and now he's back in Kansas City, where he made $8.7 million last year. If he has a big year, he can make the same amount he did last season, when he set a team record with 38 home runs.
Just repeating, because it's worth repeating: These players won't need a loan from anybody. They're still being paid well. They're just not being paid as well as they expected to be.
On the other hand, the NFL blew up on Tuesday with reports the Minnesota Vikings were ready to sign free agent quarterback Kirk Cousins for three years and $84 million. The salient point there was early reports claimed every dollar of that contract was guaranteed.
If that's true, it will have seismic implications for the NFL. A lot of the money hasn't been guaranteed in the NFL. That's why Jerome Bettis took a severe pay cut to stay with the Steelers when the team was intent on phasing him out.
If guaranteed money becomes the standard in football, as it has in baseball, it will be a huge change.
There are never enough good quarterbacks to go around. Cousins has had his moments, but it's doubtful he'll be on anyone's Top 10 list. ESPN analyst Bill Polian, a former NFL general manager, said on Tuesday that he didn't even consider Cousins Top 15.
So at a time when baseball seems to be taking an occasional small step toward fiscal sanity, football could be ready to go crazy.
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
Sunday, March 11, 2018
Altoona Mirror, March 11, 2018
Heather Lyke's first major decision as Pitt's athletic director turned out to be easy.
Kevin Stallings had to go.
He was fired as basketball coach not longer after his team concluded an unprecedented 0-19 season in the ACC.
The ineptitude spoke for itself, but was there a larger issue, too. Did anyone think Stallings had a viable plan to reverse the sudden slide of Pitt basketball? Gone are the days when the games were a hot ticket whose price could be negotiated on the street outside the Petersen Event Center.
The press conference announcing Stallings' hiring two years ago was a flop, and things went downhill from there. Stallings clashed with the players he inherited, didn't bring in adequate replacements and found himself in the awkward position of working for an AD who didn't hire him.
The program is a mess, and triggering Stallings' buyout will dent the budget, no matter what the final amount is.
So what does Pitt do now?
When a coach is fired, the hiring process usually heads in the completely opposite direction.
That would have Pitt looking for someone younger and less experienced, an assistant who is anxious for that first opportunity to run his own program.
The job will attract capable candidates. There's a quality conference affiliation and a recent history of success. Pay will be competitive, especially for a first-time head coach.
If someone can reverse the momentum at Pitt, that coach can write his own ticket for a bigger and better job.
Filling the job looms as a huge decision for Pitt. Creating the vacancy was the easy part.
---
Instead of fighting with Stallings about the size of his buyout, Pitt ought to launch an in-house investigation to find out how he wound up with such a generous deal.
It wasn't like Stallings had a ton of leverage when he came to Pitt from Vanderbilt.
---
Stallings was fired by news release, which was lame on Pitt's part.
If a change of that magnitude is going to be made, someone from the university should have been available to answer questions about it.
---
The amount of success the Pirates have this season will largely be determined by the quality of their starting pitching.
That automatically makes Jameson Taillon the most important pitcher in the rotation.
His star-crossed career has been filled with injury-related interruptions, none more serious than the cancer surgery he endured last season.
The Pirates are in search of a No. 1 starter with Gerrit Cole gone. Taillon has both the physical ability and the mental makeup to take that job.
---
Mike Mitchell will apparently be released by the Steelers, who are in a Texas Death Match against the NFL salary cap.
The Steelers need to get much better on defense, and jettisoning Mitchell probably won't help with that goal. But he's headed into the last year of his contract, he has injury history and his departure will wipe about $5 million off the Steelers' cap number.
Mitchell was a hard hitter and an outspoken player, which seemed to irritate a lot of people. That's too bad. His belligerent attitude would have fit in well with previous generations of Steelers defenses.
He deserved more respect than Steeler Nation ever seemed to give him.
---
A lot of people got edgy in a hurry when the Penguins had a mini-tailspin following the trade deadline.
Yes, they'll miss Ian Cole, whose trade weakens a dubious group of defensemen.
But give the changes a chance to settle before declaring panic.
After his performance in the last two seasons, hasn't general manager Jim Rutherford earned some degree of trust?
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
Kevin Stallings had to go.
He was fired as basketball coach not longer after his team concluded an unprecedented 0-19 season in the ACC.
The ineptitude spoke for itself, but was there a larger issue, too. Did anyone think Stallings had a viable plan to reverse the sudden slide of Pitt basketball? Gone are the days when the games were a hot ticket whose price could be negotiated on the street outside the Petersen Event Center.
The press conference announcing Stallings' hiring two years ago was a flop, and things went downhill from there. Stallings clashed with the players he inherited, didn't bring in adequate replacements and found himself in the awkward position of working for an AD who didn't hire him.
The program is a mess, and triggering Stallings' buyout will dent the budget, no matter what the final amount is.
So what does Pitt do now?
When a coach is fired, the hiring process usually heads in the completely opposite direction.
That would have Pitt looking for someone younger and less experienced, an assistant who is anxious for that first opportunity to run his own program.
The job will attract capable candidates. There's a quality conference affiliation and a recent history of success. Pay will be competitive, especially for a first-time head coach.
If someone can reverse the momentum at Pitt, that coach can write his own ticket for a bigger and better job.
Filling the job looms as a huge decision for Pitt. Creating the vacancy was the easy part.
---
Instead of fighting with Stallings about the size of his buyout, Pitt ought to launch an in-house investigation to find out how he wound up with such a generous deal.
It wasn't like Stallings had a ton of leverage when he came to Pitt from Vanderbilt.
---
Stallings was fired by news release, which was lame on Pitt's part.
If a change of that magnitude is going to be made, someone from the university should have been available to answer questions about it.
---
The amount of success the Pirates have this season will largely be determined by the quality of their starting pitching.
That automatically makes Jameson Taillon the most important pitcher in the rotation.
His star-crossed career has been filled with injury-related interruptions, none more serious than the cancer surgery he endured last season.
The Pirates are in search of a No. 1 starter with Gerrit Cole gone. Taillon has both the physical ability and the mental makeup to take that job.
---
Mike Mitchell will apparently be released by the Steelers, who are in a Texas Death Match against the NFL salary cap.
The Steelers need to get much better on defense, and jettisoning Mitchell probably won't help with that goal. But he's headed into the last year of his contract, he has injury history and his departure will wipe about $5 million off the Steelers' cap number.
Mitchell was a hard hitter and an outspoken player, which seemed to irritate a lot of people. That's too bad. His belligerent attitude would have fit in well with previous generations of Steelers defenses.
He deserved more respect than Steeler Nation ever seemed to give him.
---
A lot of people got edgy in a hurry when the Penguins had a mini-tailspin following the trade deadline.
Yes, they'll miss Ian Cole, whose trade weakens a dubious group of defensemen.
But give the changes a chance to settle before declaring panic.
After his performance in the last two seasons, hasn't general manager Jim Rutherford earned some degree of trust?
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
Wednesday, March 7, 2018
Altoona Mirror, March 7, 2018
Le'Veon Bell has an unconventional running style. He's equally quirky when it comes to contract negotiations.
The Steelers made it official on Tuesday when they again designated Bell as their franchise player. They retain the rights to keep him for $14.5 million, should they decide to do so.
But is that decision as automatic as it was last season?
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported the team and Bell are millions of dollars apart on a possible long-term contract. The Steelers had expressed optimism they could get a multi-year deal done.
There's still time. They can negotiate until July 16. Bell told ESPN he will not play under the franchise tag, as he did last season.
With the money currently committed -- but not yet guaranteed -- to Bell, the Steelers are over the salary cap by nearly $10 million.
That means they can't sign other free agents. Given the state of their defense and the absence of linebacker Ryan Shazier for at least the 2018 season, this would be a good time to look for some outside help.
They could take that franchise tag off Bell and regain the cap space, but would they?
The Steelers have given every indication they want to keep Bell. He's a big part of their offense. The Steelers have to decide if he's an indispensable part.
Other teams, notably New England, have gone with a committee system at running back and succeeded. The Steelers don't have a lot of depth at running back.
Pitt's James Conner came in last season, but only carried the ball 32 times before a knee injury ended his season. Veteran Stevan Ridley was signed after Conner was injured.
They could draft a running back, and they could shop for free agents or trades. But with the money allocated for Bell, they can't acquire anyone right now.
If this is a stalemate, and Bell is true to his word about not playing under the franchise designation, are the Steelers forced to cut ties with him and go to Plan B?
And how can they get help for a defense that sagged badly at the end of last season?
Headaches are now a year-round condition for NFL teams.
---
One of the underplayed stories of spring training (so far) is what the Pirates plan to do at shortstop.
This year is easy. The job belongs to Jordy Mercer. He took over for Clint Barmes in 2014 and has turned in steady but not spectacular work.
Mercer is eligible for free agency at the end of this season. He turns 32 in August, so he's not a candidate for a new contract, especially since his range seemed to slip a bit last season.
The Pirates have Kevin Newman, their No. 1 draft pick from 2015, at Class AAA. He would need a big year in the minors to seriously compete for a major league job next spring.
The Pirates could wind up trading a veteran for a major league-ready shortstop to cover the gap next season.
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
The Steelers made it official on Tuesday when they again designated Bell as their franchise player. They retain the rights to keep him for $14.5 million, should they decide to do so.
But is that decision as automatic as it was last season?
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported the team and Bell are millions of dollars apart on a possible long-term contract. The Steelers had expressed optimism they could get a multi-year deal done.
There's still time. They can negotiate until July 16. Bell told ESPN he will not play under the franchise tag, as he did last season.
With the money currently committed -- but not yet guaranteed -- to Bell, the Steelers are over the salary cap by nearly $10 million.
That means they can't sign other free agents. Given the state of their defense and the absence of linebacker Ryan Shazier for at least the 2018 season, this would be a good time to look for some outside help.
They could take that franchise tag off Bell and regain the cap space, but would they?
The Steelers have given every indication they want to keep Bell. He's a big part of their offense. The Steelers have to decide if he's an indispensable part.
Other teams, notably New England, have gone with a committee system at running back and succeeded. The Steelers don't have a lot of depth at running back.
Pitt's James Conner came in last season, but only carried the ball 32 times before a knee injury ended his season. Veteran Stevan Ridley was signed after Conner was injured.
They could draft a running back, and they could shop for free agents or trades. But with the money allocated for Bell, they can't acquire anyone right now.
If this is a stalemate, and Bell is true to his word about not playing under the franchise designation, are the Steelers forced to cut ties with him and go to Plan B?
And how can they get help for a defense that sagged badly at the end of last season?
Headaches are now a year-round condition for NFL teams.
---
One of the underplayed stories of spring training (so far) is what the Pirates plan to do at shortstop.
This year is easy. The job belongs to Jordy Mercer. He took over for Clint Barmes in 2014 and has turned in steady but not spectacular work.
Mercer is eligible for free agency at the end of this season. He turns 32 in August, so he's not a candidate for a new contract, especially since his range seemed to slip a bit last season.
The Pirates have Kevin Newman, their No. 1 draft pick from 2015, at Class AAA. He would need a big year in the minors to seriously compete for a major league job next spring.
The Pirates could wind up trading a veteran for a major league-ready shortstop to cover the gap next season.
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
Saturday, March 3, 2018
Altoona Mirror, March 4, 2018
The NFL Scouting Combine was in full swing last week, a chance for potential buyers to size up the livestock.
Aside from measuring the measurables, the NFL teams try to get some insight into the character of the players they'll soon be drafting.
Is he a hard worker? Is he a responsible person? Is he intelligent? Is he likely to show up for work on time? Does he hang out with troublemakers?
Here's another question that's become relevant in 2018: What is his presence on social media?
That's become an issue for a lot of teams, including the Steelers. Martavis Bryant was suspended for a game last season because one of his social media posts was judged inappropriate by the team.
Antonio Brown got in trouble once for doing a live Facebook feed from the locker room. Santonio Holmes helped punch his ticket out of town by using social media to tell a critic to kill himself.
Just last week, Sean Davis turned up in the news. Davis, a second-year safety, was the target of a lawsuit filed by a local family.
The parents allege Davis took a video of their son working at Chick-fil-A in Cranberry and added the commentary, "Chick-fil-A got little kids. This kid like eight years old. No wonder the lines be so long at Chick-fil-A."
Doesn't seem like much, but the family views it as libel and cyber bullying, accompanied by claims the son has been ridiculed and bullied at school because of the post.
The family says it doesn't want money. They asked Davis to record a public service announcement opposing bullying. Davis' lawyers countered by offering an invitation to Steelers' training camp and a football camp in Washington D.C. that Davis holds.
Neither settlement was accepted.
All we have are unanswered questions: Does a slow trip through a fast food line really require an Instagram post? Do enough people follow Sean Davis on social media to make this an issue?
And the biggest of all: Why do the lawyers always make all the money?
---
--INSTANT HELP
It might not take long for the Pirates to gauge what kind of return they got from Houston for Gerrit Cole.
Three of the four players acquired are projected to be on the opening day roster. Joe Musgrove is ticketed for the rotation, Michael Feliz is expected to nail down one of the set-up relief spots and Colin Moran should get the bulk of the playing time at third base.
Moran is a left-handed hitter with some pop, so he should enjoy taking aim at PNC Park's short porch in right field.
He and Musgrove will be the keys to determining whether the Pirates made a fair deal in surrendering their No. 1 starter.
---
--GEE WHIZ
There's something to be said for enthusiasm.
But Penguins TV analyst Bob Errey often sounds like he's reading a comic book aloud to a roomful of first graders.
The people who booted Paul Steigerwald off the broadcasts might do well to talk to Errey about dialing it down just a bit.
---
--SIGNING OFF
Stan Fischler, who has been writing and talking about hockey since the invention of ice, announced this will be his last season as part of the New York Islanders TV crew.
He's retiring for family reasons, to spend more time with his hockey-playing grandchildren. One set of grandkids lives in Portland, Oregon and the other group is in Israel. That's some heavy-duty commuting for the New York-based Fischler.
Fischler turns 86 at the end of this month.
If you can't retire at 86, when can you?
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
Aside from measuring the measurables, the NFL teams try to get some insight into the character of the players they'll soon be drafting.
Is he a hard worker? Is he a responsible person? Is he intelligent? Is he likely to show up for work on time? Does he hang out with troublemakers?
Here's another question that's become relevant in 2018: What is his presence on social media?
That's become an issue for a lot of teams, including the Steelers. Martavis Bryant was suspended for a game last season because one of his social media posts was judged inappropriate by the team.
Antonio Brown got in trouble once for doing a live Facebook feed from the locker room. Santonio Holmes helped punch his ticket out of town by using social media to tell a critic to kill himself.
Just last week, Sean Davis turned up in the news. Davis, a second-year safety, was the target of a lawsuit filed by a local family.
The parents allege Davis took a video of their son working at Chick-fil-A in Cranberry and added the commentary, "Chick-fil-A got little kids. This kid like eight years old. No wonder the lines be so long at Chick-fil-A."
Doesn't seem like much, but the family views it as libel and cyber bullying, accompanied by claims the son has been ridiculed and bullied at school because of the post.
The family says it doesn't want money. They asked Davis to record a public service announcement opposing bullying. Davis' lawyers countered by offering an invitation to Steelers' training camp and a football camp in Washington D.C. that Davis holds.
Neither settlement was accepted.
All we have are unanswered questions: Does a slow trip through a fast food line really require an Instagram post? Do enough people follow Sean Davis on social media to make this an issue?
And the biggest of all: Why do the lawyers always make all the money?
---
--INSTANT HELP
It might not take long for the Pirates to gauge what kind of return they got from Houston for Gerrit Cole.
Three of the four players acquired are projected to be on the opening day roster. Joe Musgrove is ticketed for the rotation, Michael Feliz is expected to nail down one of the set-up relief spots and Colin Moran should get the bulk of the playing time at third base.
Moran is a left-handed hitter with some pop, so he should enjoy taking aim at PNC Park's short porch in right field.
He and Musgrove will be the keys to determining whether the Pirates made a fair deal in surrendering their No. 1 starter.
---
--GEE WHIZ
There's something to be said for enthusiasm.
But Penguins TV analyst Bob Errey often sounds like he's reading a comic book aloud to a roomful of first graders.
The people who booted Paul Steigerwald off the broadcasts might do well to talk to Errey about dialing it down just a bit.
---
--SIGNING OFF
Stan Fischler, who has been writing and talking about hockey since the invention of ice, announced this will be his last season as part of the New York Islanders TV crew.
He's retiring for family reasons, to spend more time with his hockey-playing grandchildren. One set of grandkids lives in Portland, Oregon and the other group is in Israel. That's some heavy-duty commuting for the New York-based Fischler.
Fischler turns 86 at the end of this month.
If you can't retire at 86, when can you?
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
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