Note: This is part three of a four part series. Parts one (Louisville) and two (Syracuse) ran yesterday. Part four (Rutgers) debuts later today.

If that picture doesn't do it for you, let me list all the reasons why Pitt sucks:

• Dave Wannstedt


• Dave Wannstedt


• Dave Wannstedt


• Dave Wannstedt


• Dave Wannstedt


• Dave Wannstedt


• Dave Wannstedt


• Dave Wannstedt


• Dave Wannstedt


• Dave Wannstedt



• Dave Wannstedt


• Dave Wannstedt


• Dave Wannstedt


• Dave Wannstedt


• Dave Wannstedt


• Dave Wannstedt


• Dave Wannstedt


• Dave Wannstedt


• Dave Wannstedt


• Dave Wannstedt


• Dave Wannstedt


• Dave Wannstedt

I think I got my point across. Wait...

• Dave Wannstedt

OK, now I got my point across.

When your athletic director has to give you a vote of confidence after the first game, it's probably not a good sign. Especially when you consider that you were ranked going into that game.

Since his arrival, Wannstedt has managed to do less with more probably better than any coach in America. Inheriting a BCS team from Walt Harris, Wannstedt has consistently put together fantastic recruiting classes. While his first full-year class in 2005 was only ranked 42nd, his subsequent classes have been ranked 11th, 8th, and 25th. An untrained baboon could have gone at least .500 with those players, yet Wannstedt is 16-20 at Pitt. Just awful.

Even worse, a fan base full of irrational front-runners has failed to support the team in any meaningul way. Attendance in the Wannstedt-era has never averaged over 40,000, which looks even worse in a 60,000+ seat Heinz Field. These are the same fans that call for Wannstedt's firing. Eventually, they'll be rewarded with a new coach, at which time they will still fail to support their team. Typical Pitt fans.

Either way, Wannstedt is a terrible coach. He only has my respect because he continues to find new and exciting ways to squander both talent and games.

At this point, the only thing Pitt fans can cling to is the sad reference to "13-9." For WVU fans, we're Fiesta Bowl Champions and ranked #8 in the country. We're over it. For Pitt fans, it's all they have.

Just pathetic.

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At the very least, we beat Villanova yesterday. That should be reward in itself. But, as I see it, yesterday was a pretty damn good day.

• Bowling Green 27, Pitt 17


• Utah 25, Michigan 23


• East Carolina 27, Virginia Tech 22

That's a full day of orgasmic defeats and upsets. So while you're busy bitching about the defense, just remember yesterday was a good day for the Mountaineers. Think any of those three teams listed above would trade places with us?

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Pitt, fresh off its upset victory over WVU third consecutive season without a bowl, has decided to ramp up their offense. How, you ask? Simple: take carries away from one of the most heralded running backs in the country, LaSean McCoy.

In a word, brilliant. I can't wait to see how successful this turns out.

"The reality is we have two starting tailbacks," Pitt running backs coach David Walker said. "They are both going to play a lot and they are both going to play together at times because when we put them out there together it opens up a whole new challenge for defenses trying to stop us."

Actually, it really doesn't. All defenses have to do is cover LaSean McCoy and leave Stephens-Howling wide open. Seems pretty simple to me.

McCoy added, "With both of us out there, you have no idea who is getting the ball and that makes us both more dangerous."

No, you getting the ball is dangerous. Stephens-Howling getting the ball is retarded. Any carries that Stephens-Howling gets over you is a blessing from heaven itself. Any coach who would actively choose to give Stephens-Howling the ball is a moron.

Thank you Lord and Savior for your creation of Dave Wannstedt. Well done indeed, good sir.

"That is what made West Virginia so good, they had Pat White, Steve Slaton and Noel Devine back there, that's a lot to deal with. Hopefully people will say the same thing about us."

No, they won't. No one will say that. I promise you.

Stephens-Howling and McCoy are not just backfield partners, they have become best friends. They refer to themselves as Mario and Luigi in reference to Nintendo's Mario Brothers and have used that friendship to push each other.

Mario and Luigi were brother plumbers who fought the evil Bowser in Mushroom Kingdom. You are just two guys who came up with a pretty gay nickname for yourselves. What, were Ace and Gary already taken?

[HT: Pitt Post-Gazette, via Pitt Blather; picture courtesy of Rants and Raves]

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Before:

After:



Note: Sorry for the vomiting that results for seeing this. Here's the full, gruesome story on Eduardo da Silva.

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I'm not wrong. I swear.For the past few months, I have been championing the effort to "Save Dave" Wannstedt. It stood to reason that as long as Wannstedt continued to coach Pitt, WVU would continue to beat Pitt. Well, that obviously wasn't 100% true. I apologize for that. But as I said above, I'm not wrong.

Pitt fans are beside themselves today, and why shouldn't they be. Their decrepit team just knocked off their biggest rival and the #2 team in the country. This just hours after retread AD Steve Pederson extended the contract of retread head coach Dave Wannstedt. But Wannstedt is not the savior. 3 consecutive years without a winning record proves exactly that. This from a coach that inherited a BCS bowl team from Walt Harris.

Dave Wannstedt, regardless of what happened last night, will fall on his face yet again. And when that happens, WBGV will be there, camera in hand. The 2008 schedule is ripe with opportunities for utter failure. Will it be at Notre Dame? Maybe home to Iowa? Even more embarrassing, maybe at Navy or home to Bowling Green and Buffalo. All games that Pitt could lose. And if they're losable, Wannstedt will find a way.

Saturday night was a fluke. Maybe not for how badly Rodriguez coached but for how well Wannstedt coached. Dave's 15 minutes are up. 2008 will prove me right.

Sincerely,

Bitter in CRW

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Yes, boys and girls, our persistent efforts have payed off. We, single-handedly, "Saved Dave." Wondering what I'm talking about? Well then, check here. And here.

It was an ambitious undertaking. Imagine the audacity of trying to save the job of one of the worst coaches in the country. A coach who continually recruits pro-level talent and squanders every single bit of it. A coach who's most redeeming quality is the grooming of his mustache.

But alas, we have done it, as today, Dave Wannstedt's contract was extended through 2010. Now, instead of only winning one game this weekend, we have now one two: this year and next. With Wannstedt at the helm, we now have guaranteed a 6 game winning streak against Pitt. Hooray!

So, when you're at the game tomorrow, don't forget about the events of today. When you're signing Country Roads, sing it loud. But save just a little for 2008, because you'll be singing it next year after both Syracuse and Pitt.

2-0 baby!

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Gregg Doyel, despite his name ending with a double G, made a fantastic point about the upcoming Backyard Brawl. He preaches the same gospel that has been contained in nearly every WBGV sermon -- namely, that Dave Wannstedt is good for Mountaineer football (anybody remember Save Dave?). Unfortunately, while it's a good point, if the national media keeps bringing up the awfulness of Wannstedt, well, Pitt might just get the idea to fire him. And we can't have that.

So, read this, digest it, and then forget it ever happened...

That's with one more caveat. That's the thing about this particular college football season: There's always one more caveat. In this case the caveat is that West Virginia gets past neighborhood-nemesis Pittsburgh on Saturday. But then, that's a game West Virginia can't lose for all kinds of reasons. For one thing, halfback Steve Slaton is better than anyone Pittsburgh has, and Slaton is the Mountaineers' fourth best skill player behind quarterback Pat White, receiver Darius Reynaud and fullback Owen Schmitt. For another, there's Dave Wannstedt. Unless he's fired between now and Saturday, he'll coach Pittsburgh. Which means West Virginia can't lose.

[Gregg Doyel @ CBS Sportsline]

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Do you think Pitt fans wish they had a do-over? Surely, if given the chance to do it all again, they certainly wouldn't hire Dave Wannstedt. Surely. They might not exactly choose to hold on to Walt Harris, but there had to have been better options. Like maybe Bo Pelini, Sal Sunseri, or Trudy from Facts of Life. Anybody but Dave, right?

Well, today is their lucky day. I have found an alternate universe where Dave Wannstedt was NOT hired as Pitt's football Czar of Recruiting Top 25 Classes. Examine this article, originally written December 16, 2004:

Former Miami Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt on Thursday morning withdrew his name from consideration for the job opening at the University of Pittsburgh, his alma mater, saying the timing was not right for such an important decision.

"It's just not the right time for me and my family and such a key career decision," said Wannstedt, who spoke Thursday morning to Pitt athletic director Jeff Long. "I love the city and I love that school, and I know they are going to make an excellent hire, and the program will continue to move forward.
See, what a wonderful world that would have been for Pitt fans. Sure, at the time I'm sure they were bummed about missing out on the great, fantastic, genius, Rockne-esque figure that was Dave Wannstedt. But, as men from the future with knowledge of the past, we know that this ultimately would have been the best news possible.

Unfortunately, it didn't exactly last. Exactly a week later, Wannstedt was hired as Pitt's football coach:

Dave Wannstedt apparently had a change of heart. ESPN is reporting that Wannstedt has accepted the coaching job at Pittsburgh, his alma mater, after announcing last week that he was not interested in the position.

Here's the kicker for Pitt fans. The former quote, the one that announced Wannstedt was NOT taking the job at Pitt -- remember that? Well, I left off a piece of that quote. It's this small little sentence that makes me warm and fuzzy as a Mountaineer:

I'm just going to take some time and think about what else might be out there for me.

Hilarious. Dave Wannstedt, a washed-up NFL coach with a losing record all-time, wanted to play the field a little bit more. He was too good for the Pitt Panthers. So good that he took a week to look around, found out nothing was there, and came crawling back to his alma mater.

I'm glad he did, too.

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