Does this actually surprise anyone?  Really?

ESPN has a short interview with Paul Chryst today where he states that Tino Sunseri will be the starting QB for the Panthers going into the 2012 season.

We here at the Blather have been trying to get you guys to prepare yourselves for this announcement for sometime.  It wasn’t a hard call for Chryst to make.

It also makes sense as much as we may not want it to. Here is a rather telling point and one that some fans just have refused to believe:

He clearly was the best this spring that we had. You’re aware of the history but it doesn’t really matter for us.

Then here is this zinger.

“He’s got room to grow. If he chooses to grow, and I know it’s easier for us to say last year or two years before that doesn’t matter. It matters in the sense that you should learn from all of it, positive or negative. But it doesn’t matter going forward. 

Look, let’s be brutally honest here and stop bullshitting around. It really doesn’t matter going forward because he is all Chryst has.  He has no choice but to play Sunseri because of incompetence after him. However that “If he chooses to grow” comment leaves one wondering.  What if he doesn’t choose to grow?  Riddle me that Batman.

We just have no decent QB on the roster but Tino Sunseri and he’s suspect as hell. If anyone harbors any hope for any of the other four QBs, lets add Gonzalez just for more psychic pain, just let go of it now while you still have some sanity left…

“Chryst said nobody grabbed the backup quarterback job. As for what he anticipates for Chad Voytik once the four-star prospect arrives this summer, Chryst said, “First he’s got to get here. Then we’ve got to see how he picks up things. I anticipate him getting work. Legitimately getting work and then we’ll see.”

Got that?  No – Body – Grabbed – the – Backup – Job.  Not third year QB Mark Myers, not Shorty Anderson and not Smoke Gonzales.  “It is a ship of fools we have here on the Southside docks, step right up and take the cruise.”

So what we have left is a long shot miracle that may or may not be happenning in training camp with Chad Voytik.  But here’s a bit of advice.  Don’t back the wrong horse…

“Coming around the clubhouse turn!  It’s “Tino Time” with the big lead and… hold on!  Here comes the Tennessee stud closing fast!!!   It’s a horse race again folks, anything can happen….!”

… in our dreams.

Another aspect of this is that Chryst wants to get the offense personnel set as soon as possible and start instituting his playbook that first week of training camp.  He needs a starting QB to do that.  The fact that he said Voytik will get a legit look is nice but he’ll go into training camp with Sunseri and stick with him IMO.

But Chryst feels that he can coach Sunseri well enough to succeed in his offense and that may be the case.  We’ll see.  I tend to think Sunseri will not be the same QB we had last season and that he’ll be better due to his new comfort zone. I do not think we’ll look at Sunseri at any time this and think that he’s turned the corner or that his troubles are behind him though.

No, every snap will be an adventure again this season.  Perhaps that 70%/30%  run/pass split doesn’t sound to bad right about now, huh?

I hope you are not surprised by this predictable outcome. New PSU Head Coach Bill O’Brien generated plenty of pixels of media coverage and cheers from the Penn State base at saying he wants to restart the tradition and play Pitt annually. As I wrote a little over a week ago, I didn’t see it likely to occur. And that was even without taking into account the Pac-12-Big 10 deal to have annual games between the conferences that will be home-and-away. Effectively giving every Big 10 a quality non-con game every year to to with 8 conference games.

That leaves only 3 non-con games left. And we know from past Paterno deflections, Penn State needs to have 2 guarantee home games every year. Soooo… Gentlemen. Start. Your. Hedging.

Penn State has four non-conference games, and O’Brien says he’d like to play a neutral site game (The Meadowlands and Washington, D.C., are possibilities) to begin the season against a traditional or new rival (such as Alabama or Notre Dame). Moreover, in 2017, the Big Ten and Pac-12 are expected to begin an annual non-conference game between the conferences, further crowding the schedule.

That leaves two non-conference games remaining, and both of those must be moneymakers for the health of the program. In other words, they must be guarantee games against teams that can’t expect a return game.

“We’ll see what happens,” O’Brien said Monday. “I’d like to find a way to make it all work out.”

O’Brien has spoken at length since arriving at Penn State about the desire to play Pitt annually, but admitted Monday it may not happen because of logistics.

O’Brien is overpromising on the schedule, because PSU fans are tired of a non-con schedule that might have one good team every other year at home and at least two patsies. That’s not changing too radically.

The teams may play periodically, but it won’t be on an annual basis. Now if the basketball teams want to start back up with things that would be a good start.

A little further down the food chain of college athletics, there is plenty of conference realignment happenings that I’ve ignored. With Temple re-joining the Big East, but this time as a full member, the A-10 had a need. They called Butler up from the Horizon League and VCU from the CAA.

Meanwhile C-USA is seeing UCF, SMU, Houston and Memphis coming to the Big East so they need anyone new blood. They pulled Charlotte and their soon-to-be-minted-in-2013 football program from the A-10, and are trying to get Old Dominion from the CAA. ODU, though, is taking a page from Mizzou and may not decide until the end of June.

That leaves an opening in the Horizon and maybe two spots in the CAA.  So, who is under consideration for membership in both conferences? How about Robert Morris?

The Horizon would seem like more of a natural fit with geography. It has Cleveland State, Youngstown St., Detroit and Wright St. within 5 hour bus trips. The problem is that RMU plays football, and the Horizon has no home for football. That’s where the CAA comes into play.

(more…)

Not good. Not good at all Carl Krauser.

One of the leading scorers in University of Pittsburgh basketball history is facing multiple charges for attempting to run from a police drunken-driving checkpoint in Beaver Falls.

Carl Isaac Krauser, 30, of 1744 Watson Ave., New York City, was charged by Beaver Falls police with escape, carrying a loaded weapon, possession of a small amount of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, public drunkenness and driving with a suspended license.

Playing at Pitt from 2002 through 2006, Krauser was the first player in program history to finish his career with 1,000 points, 500 assists and 500 rebounds.

Krauser was detained by police manning a drunken-driving checkpoint at 10:15 p.m. Friday on Seventh Avenue in Beaver Falls, according to the report.

As officers checked his license, Krauser stepped from his car and began to run, police said. He was located by police moments later in the Save-A-Lot parking lot, 400 Ninth Ave.

As he was being placed in a patrol car, a plastic bag containing marijuana fell from Krauser’s pant leg, police said. A second bag was found in a pants pocket.

As they prepared to tow Krauser’s car, police said they found a loaded gun under the front passenger seat.

A breath test showed Krauser’s blood-alcohol level was 0.067 percent, according to police.

That is a fail on just so many levels. One bad decision after another.