I’m looking forward to Fan Fest, but I am envisioning a logistic nightmare.

The University of Pittsburgh will usher in its 2006 football season with the annual Pitt Football FanFest presented by the Central Blood Bank on Thursday, Aug. 24, at Heinz Field.

This year’s FanFest will run from 6 to 8:30 p.m., and admission is free. The entire team will be available for photo and autograph opportunities during the first hour of the event. Beginning at 7:15 p.m., fans will get a sneak peak of the 2006 Panthers as the team will hold a 90-minute open workout.

So, starting at 6pm — while rush hour is happening. Oh, and don’t forget the Pirates play Houston that night. With any luck, Roger Clemens will pitch for the Astros and people will actually show up.

There’s also a joke in there somewhere about the fan kick-off event being sponsored by a blood bank. Speaking of blood drives…

Panther merchandise will be on sale as will food and refreshments. Additionally, Pitt football season tickets will be available for purchase.

Not to mention paying for parking. But there’s an upside.

This year’s FanFest with feature a Central Blood Bank Drive. People who donate blood between 2 and 8 p.m., can receive a private tour of the Pitt Locker room and get their photo taken with the 1976 national championship trophy. Blood donors will receive two tickets to the Sept. 30 Pitt-Toledo game and be entered into a drawing to win four club season tickets. To schedule a blood donation appointment, call (412) 209-7076.

Okay, that’s decent. If I hadn’t already given blood this past week I’d be willing. Granted I gave blood in Ohio, and Pennsylvania may not have to know but it’s probably not a good idea to be two pints low.

I guess with the blood drive starting at 2 pm, you could get there early. Wonder how early they’d allow some tailgating.

Seems there will be several live radio broadcasting and a telecast with Stan Savran. Here’s a list of some of the activities along with the actual practice on the field.

Those were the themes from yesterday’s Pitt media day, at least in the storylines written.

First the attitude stuff.

After a season that started with high expectations and ended in a 5-6 disappointment, the Panthers set out to change the negative attitude that permeated the program. They did so at the behest of quarterback Tyler Palko, tight end Steve Buches, linebacker H.B. Blades and cornerback Darrelle Revis.

“Last year, there was a lot of friction between guys,” Revis said. “There was an offense versus defense thing last year. Us leaders got together and talked to these guys and said, ‘We’ve got to be a team.’

Why? One side couldn’t run, the other couldn’t stop the run. There was so much in common.

“The unity this year is much better.”

The usual air of optimism surrounded Pitt’s annual media Monday at the UPMC Sports Performance Complex on the South Side, and the start of practice today. The difference with the Panthers is their newfound attitude, one with which the veterans have become outspoken leaders who are buying into Dave Wannstedt’s program instead of questioning it.

…

“It’s important to start fast and strong,” Buches said. “Camp, I believe, will tell us a lot about what we’ll be doing. Camp will answer a lot of questions.”

There are plenty of questions to address: Is the offensive line improved? Can the Panthers establish a running game? Can they stop the run? Can they win on the road?

The next 18 days of practice will help determine the answers for a team trying to erase memories of last season.

“We don’t need to panic because we went 5-6,” Palko said. “If the panic button is going to be pressed, it’s because we embarrassed ourselves last year. We have a new season, new things to look forward to this year.”

Questions for the coaches come later.

The attitude theme continues in this short AP story.

“The attitude changed and we started to develop a team chemistry,” Palko said. “We even had a little swagger about us and none of those things were a part of our team last season. That’s what was missing.

“But you can’t compare the spring and offseason workouts to regular-season ones,” he said. “So, those things will have to carry over into the regular season for us to have a good year, but I think we’ll be able to do it.”

I’m as excited as anyone about practices finally starting and the season now only a few weeks off, but media days with the standards storylines and such bring (further to the fore) my cynical side. It’s not like there’s a lot to say or write really, it’s as much a meet and greet for the players and press as anything else. Try to set some relationships and figure out who will talk and trust and such.

As for the offense, the theme of course with Coach Wannstedt is running the ball. TO make it more palatable and sell it to the local media he made the easy comparison.

“We’re not going to deviate from our philosophy,” Wannstedt said. “It’s as clear as day. West Virginia wins our conference last year, and they were the best at running the ball, and they were the best at stopping the run. … And then, the Steelers win the Super Bowl under that philosophy.

“If nothing else, that reaffirmed, in my mind, what I said last January. Now, we did not get it done, but we’re going to get it done. And we’re going to make strides, and that’s how we’re going to build this football team.

“That’s the type of people that we’re going to have be a part of it from an ability standpoint and a philosophy standpoint, and that’s not going to change,” Wannstedt said.

I can’t believe he won’t give the run and gun another chance.

Of course, to run the ball, there needs to be an offensive line you know, to open those things called holes.

But an increase in physical conditioning is only one reason the line, the subject of much criticism in recent years, may have gone from the team’s biggest question mark to perhaps its greatest strength.

That’s because the line is more established, more experienced and far more consistent heading into training camp.

“Last year, the losing record, that was on the O-line. We’ll take responsibility for it,” said Simonitis, who enters his fourth year as a starter. “But this is a different group. That’s the commitment we made to each other and to this team. We have all worked our [tails] off to get to a point where we can compete. Not just in the weight room, in the film room. We will be one of the team’s strengths. We want to lead the charge.”

I like what they are saying, but I’m not going to believe until I see it. Until I see Stephens, Collier, Collins, Mason or Brooks take the ball and run between a couple O-linemen who have sealed off their blocks and opened a hole for a nice 5-7 yard gain. And I’m not talking against The Citadel or Cinci.

Still, most feel that the lack of depth will be the biggest issue. To help with that and get him on the field, redshirt freshmen DT Chris Bokor is moving to  Guard.

Obviously the most recent Pitt commit, Jordan Gibbs is expected to be a sleeper-type. Most likely the TE-OL will be heading to the Offensive Line next fall.

“I told my parents I wanted to stay in state,” Gibbs said. “I just really liked the coaching staff [at Pitt] and coach [Dave] Wannstedt. He’s a really good guy. Plus, I liked where the school was located.”

Gibbs caught 20 passes as a junior. Although he was recruited as a tight end, he acknowledged it’s very possible he could be an offensive tackle at Pitt. He runs the 40-yard dash in 5.3 seconds.

There’s apparently a lot to work with in terms of conditioning and training.

“Like Andrew Devlin, he’s a basketball player,” Scout.com recruiting analyst Bob Lichtenfels said. “I don’t think there’s a lot of disparity between the two. Andrew’s more polished, but if you get (Gibbs) in the weight room, he can be a monster.”

Gibbs had 20 receptions for 450 yards and five touchdowns as a junior, when he was named an all-state honorable mention by the Pennsylvania Football News.

“He’s a raw kid,” Lichtenfels said. “I think he’s more of a tackle. His coach said he’s up close to 300 (pounds) right now without a solid weight-training program. He has the frame to be 6-7, 320 — with feet.”

He plays Center on the Penn Manor B-ball team (Lancaster-Lebanon). Paul Dunn was the primary recruiter of Gibbs.

Wannstedt took another step in that direction Monday when Jordan Gibbs, Penn Manor’s 6-foot-7, 290-pound tight end and two-time Lancaster-Lebanon League All-Star, verbally committed to Pittsburgh.

…

Gibbs was named Second Team tight end on the L-L’s All-Section One team and an honorable mention choice on the All-Pennsylvania Football News All-State squad. He was an L-L Section One honorable mention selection at tight end in 2004 and received the Comets’ Gatorade Rookie of the Year award.

Not sure where the paper got this photo, but between the pure graininess and such, it looks like you can add another 3 inches to his height with the hair.

The local punditry weighs in with gut feeling expectations for what Pitt’s record should be this year. It’s couched in the usual stuff about how it is really about seeing progress and making strides for the long term. No, let’s keep it simple. It’s about the Wins and Losses. That’s how they and everyone else measures things.

It’s nice to say things like how what you really want is to see the growth of the team. Improvement as the season goes on. Talk about the long term plan and vision by the coach for the team. It comes back to winning more games than last year. Meeting or exceeding the expectations — whether inflated or not.

Joe Starkey puts the wins and losses a bit higher than the reasonable mark of 7-5 (which seems to be the expected record for Pitt if they have an average season).

All those question marks up front. Precious little depth. Too much youth. I could see 6-6.

Palko-Revis-Blades. Highly favorable schedule. Gifted freshman class. I could see 10-2.

So, let’s split the difference and say Pitt will go 8-4 in coach Dave Wannstedt’s second season. That sounds about right. It would mark a significant upgrade on last year’s 5-6 fiasco and point Wannstedt’s semi-rebuilding job in the right direction.

Anything worse than 6-6, and you’ll have every right to seriously question Wannstedt, who addressed reporters on the South Side Monday on the eve of Pitt training camp.

I guess the bright side to severe underachieving last year is that it shouldn’t be as hard to go up. The big issue for the season as far as the column is concerned, the lines.

Does anyone disagree with that conventional wisdom any more? Everyone with even a passing interest in Pitt knows it will be all about the lines.

Ron Cook says something with which I agree. The opening game against Virginia is absolutely crucial for Coach Wannstedt and Pitt.

Sept. 2 wouldn’t be too soon to start.

The opener against Virginia at Heinz Field.

Pitt badly needs to win it.

Wannstedt needs it.

It’s almost unreal how the perception of Wannstedt and the Pitt program has changed so drastically in a year. Last August, people around here were fired up about Pitt football. Wannstedt was seen as the right guy at the right time, the perfect coach to pick Pitt up and carry it to greater heights after Walt Harris had taken it as far as he could. Wannstedt had come in eight months earlier and done everything right. He was a Pittsburgh guy — a Pitt man, to be more specific — and came with a long NFL resume. His energy and enthusiasm were contagious. He mended fences with the local coaches and recruits. He reached out to alumni and fans. He recruited aggressively. And — get this — he talked openly about competing for a national championship.

How sweet that sounded.

Now I don’t buy a lot of the sky is falling, people are turning on Wannstedt stuff locally. Yeah, there was a fair amount of that nationally, but that was just reinforcing past perceptions from the NFL head coaching stuff. Wash out of the NFL and don’t come in like Charlie Weiss in his first year, and that perception will be presumed until proven otherwise. Pete Carroll changed it after an unimpressive first year. So did Al Groh, though, he is regressed back in perception. Chan Gailey and Rich Brooks haven’t changed the perception of inconsistent and overmatched.

The Cook article is great for lowering expectations with some ridiculous predictions for the season and continuing the theme that people have turned on Wannstedt.

Now the man isn’t seen as a savior by nearly so many. If you had a dime for each time someone said, “They should have never let Harris go,” you’d be a wealthy person.

There also are minimal expectations for the Pitt team this season. There isn’t nearly the same anticipation for the Virginia game that there was for Notre Dame. Some have predicted 3-9 or 4-8 for the Panthers.

Shame on ’em.

Shame on those who have given up on Wannstedt after just one season, disappointing and embarrassing as it was.

Shame on those who have lowered the bar so drastically for this Pitt team.

It’s a strawman argument. Now, admittedly I don’t catch Pittsburgh sports radio, so in between the Steelers, Pitt basketball, complaints about the Pirates and Penguins performance and such, I don’t know how the team is being treated for what 5 minutes a week? I have noted the P-G chats and most other media. It doesn’t seem particularly harsh and neither do the fans. I definitely haven’t seen anyone predicting only 3 or 4 wins for the team.
That said, he is absolutely right about Pitt needing the Virginia game. It’s the season and home opener. A definitely beatable opponent. The team can’t come out flat. It doesn’t have to be a blowout, but Pitt, Coach Wannstedt and all the coaches have to look like they know what they are doing. Have a recognizable and working gameplan. And yes, win.

Finally, a column about the “wall” around Western PA that Coach Wannstedt is trying to build.

With photos to be taken of all the players individually, with their position mates and with their high school alumni, someone needs to be in charge. But, predictably, a mild form of chaos can ensue as players file to and from the photo area.

Yet, five letters managed to bring Media Day to a halt when Borghetti bellowed, “WPIAL” at the top of his lungs.

A drove of young men filtered from all sections of the practice field on Pittsburgh’s South Side to near the 50-yard line. Thirty-eight in all found their way to the lineup, and two (media darlings Darrelle Revis and Tyler Palko) didn’t hear the command and had to be dragged away from pressing interviews.

And that mass didn’t include a pair of City League alumni and two players from nearby Johnstown.

Dave Wannstedt’s wall around western Pennsylvania? It was formed by the 60 or so remaining players who watched photos being snapped.

Pitt’s second-year coach and Baldwin native made the wall a platform for his coaching campaign, even after a 5-6 record last year. He said he’d do whatever necessary to keep western Pennsylvania’s best prospects in western Pennsylvania.

Hoopie fans and Penn St. fans point to any WPa kid that doesn’t go to Pitt as proof that either the “wall” Wannstedt wants has already failed or that it galvanized their coaches to recruit and work harder in WPa. Of course, the idea was to build a wall, not claim it was just going to be formed the minute Coach Wannstedt and the coaches started recruiting. But whatever sets their mind at ease that trying to get prospects from Western Pennsylvania away from Pitt is not harder and more challenging than before.