Joe Clermond is one of the shining parts of a defense that lost three NFL Draft picks. He’s the poster boy of the 2007 defense and is on the schedule wallpaper/poster this year. He’s also on the Watch List for the 2007 Bronko Nagurski Trophy given to the top defensive player in college football, as well as on Watch Lists for the Chuck Bednarik and Ted Hendricks awards.
Now, he’s in trouble with the law for marijuana possession. Riding home with a few other people, the car he was in was pulled over with a small amount of marijuana found. He was released but will be in court for a preliminary hearing set for July 30.
“We are aware of the situation that occurred over the weekend involving Joe Clermond,” Pitt spokesman E.J. Borghetti said. “At this juncture we will decline comment and let the judicial process run its course.”
I’m sure we’ll hear more about this over the next few days and weeks.
Edit: For what it’s worth…
Sources tell PSI that Clermond is insisting that he wasn’t smoking the marijuana and was just in the car.
If (when) Jerry “PSU Minister of Propaganda” Micco makes this story a major deal in the Post-Gazette, I give everyone permission to copy the above into your clipboard and paste it into an email to the PG Sports Editor.
In all seriousness, it’s a friggin’ shame for everyone involved. I didn’t necessarily think JC deserved the hype he was getting, since he hasn’t really done much in his 3 years to deserve it thus far … but this seals it. He could play like Hugh Green this year (if Wannstedt isn’t shamed into suspending him) … it won’t matter, the local media will slam him.
Until someone says it was in his mouth, or how about in his pocket, this is less than nothing.
I can’t wait for that fucking dump across state to pick up on this and try to compare it to their jail…er “football” team…
“A 5-0 bowl record sure looks impressive. Until you see who they played…Take Louisville or West Virginia and put them in the Big Ten and they instantly become three loss teams. Rutgers probably loses four or five.”
How bout we play some big ten teams and see what happens on the field? Here’s one that could work – a home and home between Pitt and PSU! What a brilliant idea! Then the Big 11 wouldn’t have to talk about who they *could* beat if they did play them. We’d have results from actual games! What a novel idea!
Meanwhile, that shithole plays the softest Non-con they can schedule in the world next year. what a joke.
Here’s the difference…NO ONE KNOWS what happened in the apartment. The plaintiffs can’t even agree on a story, yet we’re automatically supposed to assume guilt. Do we still live in America, where innocence is presumed? I must’ve missed it when Pittsburgh seceded from the union…
Oh, and geeman…maybe you should get your facts straight, because I don’t remember 20 players being charged. Please exaggerate more. The point remains that NONE of you guys were there that night, so you have no freakin’ clue what actually happened. Even with that, the players are still being punished by BOTH judiciary affairs as well as JoePa, with the legal proceedings yet to unfold. But oh wait, it’s PSU, so let’s still villify them while our players are assaulting women and getting high. Oh, and this is just nice, Stuart:
“All that has to happen is one of those other pussies in the car have to say ‘it was my weed’ and its over.”
Yeah, you guys are class acts all around. And please please PLEASE stop going into our schedule like it matters to you. We’ll be going to another New Years Day bowl (or better), and you’ll be lucky to scrape together 7 wins against Eastern Michigan, Grambling State and Navy. Uh, and you mock us? Jealousy and myopia, nothing more.
So the next time you feel like getting your collective panties in a twist, why don’t you just defer back to these comments here. That way, you can remember that people ARE allowed to break the law and get away with it, and be as big of A-holes as they want…as long as they play for or support Pitt.
Person A got busted for drug possession, but it’s okay because Person B got into a fight and sent someone to the hospital. Well, that also is okay, because it wasn’t as bad as the time when Person C killed and tortured animals. But I guess Person C is in the clear, because Person D killed another human. Meh, doesn’t really matter because there’s a war going on right now where insurgents have killed thousands of soldiers.
So it’s all okay unless we’re claiming a Jihad then? Follow the “logic,” and that’s where we end up. Good work guys, way to somehow always stand beyond reproach.
This is nothing compared to the behavior of the State Penn inmates. Good Luck against Florida International and Temple
Pitt had a valid contract in place to play Bowling Green as their opener for this season. Just over a year ago, Bowling Green decided to back out to honor some sort of agreement the MAC has with the Big Ten (BG is now playing at Minnesota). Pitt agreed to let Bowling Green go as long as the MAC was able to find an in-conf. replacement for BG. Eastern Michigan is what you get when stuff like this happens with relative short notice, you have to scramble to find a substitute and other teams have their schedules already filled out.
Bowling Green isn’t all that much better – relatively speaking – than Eastern Michigan, but BG has been much more successful within their own conference. I would’ve rather seen BG than EMU, but again, what was Pitt supposed to do when BG decided to take a game against a more reputable conference?
This is the last year that Pitt’s schedule is still being affected by the Big East/ACC shakeup. Some of the opponents this year had to added when the previously-scheduled BC, Miami and VT games that were already under contracts opened up when those three bolted for the ACC three years ago.
Notre Dame comes back in 2008 and will be a mainstay through 2015. Iowa comes on next year. We host Miami in 2010, go to Notre Dame that same year and will also have a replacement for Clemson that year as well. VT comes back in 2012 and 2013. Pitt is beginning to schedule better opponents. Let’s not forget that it takes two to tango, and Louisville’s difficulties in finding quality opponents were well-documented last year. It’s not like these schools aren’t trying to line up good teams.
And truth be told, Pitt is going to play three in-conference games on the road against opponents who all find themselves ranked in Athlon’s Preseason Top 15 (WVU #5, Rutgers #10 and Louisville #13). South Florida is on the fringe of becoming a top-25 team (Athlon’s #31 preseason).
I have to say, most of time I find your posts to be reasonable, accurate, and even fun to read. But defending PSU schedule by comparing it to Pitts does not cut it. Pitt FB is not among the elite of college football programs, and has not been for 25 years or so. If memory serves me correctly, you have at times stated your belief about the low status of Pitt FB. PSU, on the other hand, is considered by most to be among the elite of college FB programs. In addition, it is my humble opionion that PSU has a fan base that is second to none. Given PSU’s elite status and first rate fan base, there is no justifying games against FIU, or multiple game contracts with Temple. For an elite FB program to play Temple, Buffalo, and FIU in the same year is flat out shameful. As a Pitt fan, and season ticket holder, I can’t stand it when Pitt schedules teams that have zero chance of beating us (and yes, I know, there are not many of those!). When DW returns Pitt to the Top 20, I certainly hope that the D-1AA teams will be gone forever from our schedule. And if we ever reach the “elite” status of college FB, it would make me sick to have three teams on our schedule that we know we will win by 30 to 40+ points. In the end, it’s not fair to fan, who pays good money to see a contest, not a glorified scrimmage.
as for comparing smoking a doobie to breaking and entering / robbery and a gang style fight… I’ll take smoking some pot any day.
Whats even more amazing is your logic that all crimes are equal in this land and all should be punished the same. Us saying that being in a car with pot or breaking a cell phone of your girlfriend’s is not as bad as felonies such as robbery and assault, is the same view held by the rest of the US and our criminal justice system. All I am saying is the punishment should be less severe – so if the punishment for felonies is “cleaning a stadium,” then the punishment for this should be cleaning on a small scale. AM…I….SPEAKING….SLOWLY….ENOUGH….FOR….YOU…..TO….UNDERSTAND? I realize you went to PSU, I’ll try to talk in smaller words/sentences from now on.
No one will ever know what happened in the apartment because some kangaroo court and hillbilly PSU-lovin’ judge threw out all the charges so he could see his team win next year…and some PSU-lovin’ DAs dropped the rest so the season could go on. It has nothing to do with justice up there in crappy valley – its all about some PSU cockfest. We all saw it coming from day one. The police couldn’t just let it go because they could get in actual trouble, whereas you can’t get in trouble for “judgement calls” when you’re a judge or DA.
“Even with that, the players are still being punished by BOTH judiciary affairs as well as JoePa, with the legal proceedings yet to unfold.”
HAHAHAHHA….good one. You’re a joke.
“But oh wait, it’s PSU, so let’s still villify them while our players are assaulting women and getting high.”
I don’t remember anyone ever claiming anyone “assaulted a woman” – he broke her cellphone, not her skull like they do at PSU. This is going to be hard for you to understand, so read it slowly, word by word: while not right, it is not as wrong as the comission of several felonies. Also, sitting in a car with weed is not as bad as beating people, sending them to the hospital, and robbing them. Understand yet fucktard?
“’All that has to happen is one of those other pussies in the car have to say ‘it was my weed’ and its over.’
Yeah, you guys are class acts all around.”
All I said was if he was in a car and someone had weed, and that other person is being a pussy and not confessing to it, then he has done nothing wrong and just needs to hope the pussy mans up and says “i’m not going to screw other peoples lives, it was mine.” NO ONE has said it was on him, in his pocket, etc. If there is weed in a car, they charge everyone until the person who had it admits to it. No one is saying “someone else take the fall for it.” We just don’t want people acting like a bunch of pussys…this isn’t PSU over here.
When ppl talk about the apartment fight, I am the first to say “wtf were those guys thinking?” That said, when the plaintiffs can’t even agree as to whether it was a keg party or not it leaves me a little miffed as to what ACTUALLY happened there. But oh wait, it’s PSU so naturally let’s assume the worst? Ok, well if I did that then I could just say that Clermond was about to smoke up, and then in his delusional state he was going to go to an apartment and beat the crap out of some guys. Wow, guesswork is fun!!
But you’re right, because there’s a “kangaroo court,” we’ll never see justice. I don’t know how it works in Pittsburgh dude, but where I’m from the judges uphold the law regardless of who it fucks over. This is Big 10 football, not Paris Hilton’s backyard.
But hey, we’re in agreement on one thing. When they PROVE that a felony actually occurred (let me speak slower for you: innocent…until…proven…guilty), these guys should be punished. Hell, the judge could always just force us to play Pitt…the Thursday night time slot would be punishment enough.
– there is a track record here. If OJ is spotted near a murder scene Im going to assume a few things.
“I don’t know how it works in Pittsburgh dude, but where I’m from the judges uphold the law regardless of who it fucks over.”
– quite possibly the dumbest statement ever made here.
link to sportsillustrated.cnn.com
Pitt’s in the top 25. PSU isn’t. Carry on gentlemen…
Btw, wasn’t the judge in Happy Valley a PSU alum and former professor/lecturer?
It’s seriously amazing to me how you guys assume to be “in the know,” when you wouldn’t be able to tell me the names of the 7 guys originally charged without consulting an internet article. Oh well, I’ll be laughing when the only place these guys are found guilty is the Pitt Court of Popular Opinion. And hey, it’ll give you something else to whine about…lord knows you guys love that.
Stewie, do you have family that work for the government in the State College area? I do. Do you have family that work for law enforcement in the State College area? I do.
If you think, for two seconds, that small college town cops and judges don’t sweep things under the rug in favor of the athletes, you are the most Howdy Doodie guy I have ever come across. For years the “acts” that PSU players committed were “taken care of” by Joe. The cop would call Joe if a player got out of line and he would handle it. My neighbor I grew up next to played football at PSU (he hardly ever played) and the stories he used to tell were both funny (with what they actually did) and pathetic (how they were taken care of).
That doesn’t happen as much anymore because the good old boys are no longer cops. But things are sometimes still taken care of by other “officials”. It happens all over the place, and to think otherwise is just nuts.
But my guess is they’ll get a Presidential Pardon, because Bush likely knows a guy who knows a guy who had a friend who owned a Blue and White calico cat…but let’s keep that one hush hush. I wouldn’t want our dirty laundry to be publicized, after the crooked cops and judges at State College have been able to keep it under wrap all this time.
Well, my mind is at ease…if you’ll excuse me, I think I hear my friends Rube and Opie calling. Nice of them to come all the way up from Grambling State for a visit.
Don’t confuse the PSU faithful by presenting “facts”!! They prefer rose colored glasses!
37 days ’til kickoff, gentlemen.
As for the Penn State stuff: you don’t even need a trial. Their presence at the house is the smoking gun in their hands. One player had words with some hippies, then later that night a bunch of his football buddies walk into their house. What were they going there for, to bring them cookies?
I hope the “lil” in your name relates to your age. If not, you just don’t get it, and it’s not worth going over things again and again with you.
“Nice of them to come all the way up from Grambling State for a visit.”
Florida International is also in the South. Hell, even Buffalo can bring some of its own.
Look at the three worst teams on that list. Now look at PSU’s schedule:
Notice any similarities?
Here’s what does have to do with Pitt: the fact is your player was caught with possession of an illegal drug. So why, oh why is it so easy to assume that he WASN’T going to smoke up? It’s just pretty hysterical to me how that type of logic only works for Pitt players.
Myself, personally I believe that he was going to smoke up, steal an old lady’s cane and beat her half to death with it. The ironic part is that I can prove that far-fetched scenario just as well as you can prove Scirrotto and Co. beat the shit out of some guys.
“As for the Penn State stuff: you don’t even need a trial. Their presence at the house is the smoking gun in their hands. One player had words with some hippies, then later that night a bunch of his football buddies walk into their house. What were they going there for, to bring them cookies?”
Hmm, and the weed was there because it matched the upholstery then? Interesting.
If you can read, he wasn’t in the car, he was walking away from it when the cops got there. Some kid from WVU was in the car and had weed in his pocket. If he was smoking, fine, charge him, and give him a less severe punishment that you get at PSU for felonies.
Whats amazing is that you don’t realize that 10+ kids get charged out there and we all new it was only a matter of time before they were all let off by PSU judges and DAs…which happened exactly like we predicted. We’ll never know if they’re guilty or innocent because THERE WILL NEVER BE A TRIAL. They took care of that little problem already. Not that a jury of their penn state lovers…er….”peers” would have found them guilty anyhows. You people live in ass-backwards hick farmland out there…we don’t expect much from you.
Who didn’t see it coming that PSU would consider forming a gang to commit assault, robbery, and sending kids to the hospital the same as smoking weed in a parking lot after a rap concert? I mean, totally the same thing, right?
Anyhow, your argument here can be broken down to a series of assumptions:
1) The crimes were committed as you seem to think.
2) The case will not go to trial.
3) If it does go to trial, they will get off because the judges in State College are all rednecks and don’t care about justice. Naturally, this is also dependent upon assumption #1, that the crimes were committed.
So regardless of what happens, you’re convinced that there will be no due process of law. If that’s the case, why continue to harp on it? You already know the outcome, and you’ll never change your mind as to whether or not the crimes were actually committed. So instead of stressing yourself about something which doesn’t concern you, maybe you should focus your energies on Pitt football, and not sling mud at PSU every time one of YOUR players does something wrong. If we ever start beating your ass up and down the sidelines like the days of old, then you can start whining about we Nitts.
Oh, and btw, I was born outside of Philly, so I guess I should call you a hick then because you’re from Pittsburgh. To me, you might as well be from that backwards ass State College!!
I dislike PSU. I hate their fans, so it has nothing to do with “hatred”. I grew up near PSU, so I know how things work there. You apparently don’t know how things work their. Like Stuart said, much of what Pitt fans said would happen seems to be happening. We will see how it ends up.
Also, he was right with reference to Clermond. He wasn’t in the car, it wasn’t his car, and some dude had pot in his pocket who will still in the car. Drug test them. If he fails the drug test, suspend him for a few games. No problem.
That’s like me saying that since I grew up near Philly, I know the names of each and every judge/lawyer/state congressmen and will know EXACTLY how they’re going to act in any given situation. Think about it for one second. Back in the day, things in State College were apparently kept hush hush (so your neighbor claims). Well the fact is that this case HAS NOT been kept hidden from the public, so why is it that you automatically assume times haven’t changed? The publicity of the case can change but the “redneck, PSU-lovin’ judges” won’t? If you’re going to use a piece of logic, you need to follow it through to the end.
Furthermore, in regards to people like yourself and Stuart being seers…well, think about it. You’ve admitted to disliking PSU (and their fans), so it’s pretty natural for you to assume that which would piss you off the most. In this case, you’re assuming Scirrotto, Baker and friends will get off scot-free, and that pisses you off. Well, they already haven’t gotten off scot-free, but that’s neither here nor there. You “dislike” PSU so blindly that they literally can do no right, unless of course they were to schedule Pitt again.
As said above, when this came out, we saw the train wreck coming…and it came. How many did the police have evidence against – and how quickly was it that the judge and DA dismiss the evidence? All we want was take it to trial in front of an impartial jury. Not PSU judges, DAs, and jury members.
The second we saw Joe get arrested we knew some jackass from that shithole (read: you) would be over here comparing smoking up to multiple felonies. We just preempted you, cause we’re smart like that.
I got banned because I pointed out…this! Here’s the comment that got me banned:
“Keep it classy, PSU.
Nice…take a cheap shot at Pitt for a recruit re-opening his search… Meanwhile, the same week half a dozen of your players are getting charged with crimes.
I’m sure they’ll hold off on punishing them as long as possible so they can play the whole next season. What a sham. On the brightside for you, I’m sure the judge in the kangaroo court out there is a PSU football ticket holder, condsidering there is nothing else to do.”
Ironic, isn’t it? So “explain it to me” how my comment was “uncalled for.” In retrospect, I was 100% dead on. So go fuck yourself.
No, what I’m saying is that I grew up near there so I know people who have gone to PSU, who played at PSU, I have family who are PSU fans but work for the government in State College and family who work in law enforcement in State College. So, no, it is nothing like your comment, numbnuts.
My comment about not liking PSU was to show that I hate their fans more than PSU. Do you know why? Fans like you. Douchebags that probably never played a sport in their lives (or played in high school, but they think that means something when cheering for PSU), but go to PSU and thing they know everything about football; simply by attending PSU. They get brainwashed that no one does things as well as PSU. “The ‘PSU Way’ should be emulated by everyone”.
I’ve got news for you……PSU is just like every other college football program. Joe is not a Saint, like many portray him to be, and when he retires, you will see what I mean. PSU is not squeaky clean, like the fans think and constantly claim.
Now, here’s a thought: why don’t you go over to BSD (oh wait, we know you already still do after being booted THREE times), go to the comments sections on each post and read the INFORMED opinions of ppl who support other teams. Odd how they haven’t been kicked off. Odd how “Reed” (a Pitt fan) is still able to post there AND lauds the site for being open-minded. But I guess the world is out to get you, Stuart.
Mook, face facts…you’re just looking for an excuse to shut PSU up. Here’s the funny part though, I never claimed them to be a better school than Pitt. I never claimed we were cleaner than Pitt. I just think they play better football. Maybe you should read my previous posts where the gist of what was said was “You have your own shit to tend to, why do you turn it into a PSU affair?” Face it, you LOVE the fact that I’m on here because it lets you verbally “beat my ass” the way your football team can’t beat PSU’s right now. But yeah, we PSU fans are delusional. Whatever, I guess I shouldn’t bother trying for a rebuttal, since you already know oh-so-much about me and my life.
Last comment I made that got me kicked off was the one I quoted above, 6 days after the comment you’re talking about.
Why is it that you fucktards can’t keep anything about history correct? Have to rewrite it over and over to your liking?
Quit making an ass of yourself with your non-sensical ramblings.
I’m not going to tell them “how great they are” just so they let me post. I posted *facts* – they got pissed off and banned me. I could give 2 shits – its a bandwagon site for PSU morons to rewrite history and spin piles of shit into gold. I’ll discuss Pitt over here and let you guys get your panties in a bunch and come over here and start non-sensical arguments with me.
Please don’t ban this moron – I prefer for him to continue to be a spokesperson for that shithole so that we can all see the true colors and “intelligence” that is affiliated with that farm…er, “university.”
Focus on your team, Stuart. I came here to defend mine, which was inexplicably brought up by you, all because your player did wrong. You really need to let it go, because I don’t see how you ranting and raving about PSU sports is going to help the Panthers win the Big East.
Rex, I’m not naive enough to believe there aren’t crooked cops/judges/attorneys etc. I still believe that there needs to be evidence that the “fight” occurred the way you guys seem to think it did. IF they find said evidence, then I’ll be the first one to say that these guys should be suspended for the year, regardless of how it impacts our Big 10 title chances. If they don’t have enough supporting evidence, then maybe (just maybe) the whole thing was much ado about nothing. If that’s the case, can you really throw a young man’s life away because he was guilty of bad judgement?
I mean, think about it for a second. NO ONE KNOWS what actually happened. Maybe Scirrotto went down there with the intentions to talk to the guys, but didn’t feel comfortable going by himself. Sure, gathering up a posse was a bad move, but as of yet still innocuous. Maybe they knocked on the door and were invited in by a random party-goer. Maybe the guys who attacked Scirrotto on the street (remember, he WAS attacked first…this was prodded out of the plaintiff after he LIED the first time) threw the first punch. Hell, maybe he threw the damn laptop at one of them, I don’t know!! The fact is that neither do you, and the above scenario (as of right now) is every bit as likely as the doomsday scenario you guys all claim happened. The irony is that even if they are found innocent, they’re STILL being punished already. Perhaps it’s not to your guys’ liking, but remember that they are being punished while currently under the presumption of innocence. If that’s not enough for you, well, I’m sorry. JoePa evaluated the situation, as did JA, and those are the conclusions they came to. Sorry it doesn’t make you guys overly happy, and I’m really sorry if it means I’m naive.
No, I’m trying to shut YOU up. Why are you here? I have my opinions on things, and I have some knowledge of what PSU is all about from family members. Whether I like PSU or not, I still hear what I hear. Because you don’t like my opinions and they go against what you believe, you get pissy. Fine. They are my opinions and I am entitled to them. Just because they are against what you think it doesn’t mean that I share them because I am not a PSU fan.
I am trying to be civil here. I understand that I’m on a Pitt site, and that most (if not all) of you are going to disagree with what I say. That’s fine. But the fact that you cannot even fathom that there’s a *possibility* that these guys could legitimately be innocent is what pisses me off, and I’m pretty sure that in certain cases (i.e. Stuart) this bias exists ONLY because it happened at PSU. If it happened at say, Rutgers, I bet there wouldn’t be the same cries for justice. Bottom line, there are people who are paid to figure out what happened that day at State College…why don’t you let them do their jobs before you jump to any more conclusions.
Sorry, that’s the way I feel. Maybe you don’t believe me, but that’s how I feel. If Clermond is guilty, suspend him. When Monroe Weekley was caught doing some “things” he was sent packing. I didn’t want to see him to go either, but it had to be done.
“If a Pitt player does something wrong, gets caught, and goes to court and is found guilty, punish him!”
My earlier quote:
“But hey, we’re in agreement on one thing. When they PROVE that a felony actually occurred, these guys should be punished.”
It seems we’re in agreement on that, so the only thing left to fight about is something that has not yet been proven, i.e. whether or not the crimes occurred. I just get so sick and tired of people automatically assuming guilt. If any one of us were on trial for something, we damn sure would want our constitutional rights. Why is this case any different? If they’re guilty, well that sucks for them. As of right now, however, they’ve been found guilty of nothing but bad judgement.
