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August 21, 2014

Comings and Goings

Filed under: Football,Recruiting,Transfer — Chas @ 12:09 am

Well, the euphoria of a nice recruiting get lasted all of 24 hours. Is this where we are supposed to gnash our teeth and mutter or whine about not being allowed to have nice things?

Welp, start with the older and positive news. The depth at running back will continue to swell as Pitt got a verbal on Tuesday from Darrin Hall out of Youngstown.

The four-star running back announced his decision in front of a group of 20 family members and friends at Buffalo Wild Wings, where he donned a Pitt hat over that of Michigan State and Kentucky.

“It’s good to get it out of the way and now I can focus on becoming a great leader for my [Fitch] team,” said Hall, who’s beginning his senior year.

Hall said he was leaning toward Pitt last week and after a visit on Sunday, he ultimately decided the Panthers were the best choice for him.

He didn’t talk to the Pitt coaching staff about early playing time and said that wasn’t something he was worried about.

“I know they have some young backs, but I’m ready to work hard and earn my spot,” he said.

Hall’s parents, Camille and Darrin Sr., were seated next to him when he made his announcement, but said that was as close as they got to the decision making process.

“He made it on his own,” said Darrin Sr. “He made the decision and he chose to stay close to home and I was glad of that.

“I’m glad that played a factor in his decision and I love the choice.”

His mom was happy her son made his decision not solely on football.

“I’m very excited about it,” she said. “I’m more excited about his education, that’s first and football’s secondary, but overall I’m just very happy.

Hall is a near consensus 4-star running back (only 247 has him at 3-stars).

Despite the increasingly loaded backfield at Pitt — I mean, 2015 will be nuts at that spot: Conner, James, Ibrahim, Ollison, Poteat, Briggs, Lindsay and now Hall. Where was I? Oh, yeah, despite the increasingly loaded backfield, Hall might be best equipped for a system that shares carries. In the ESPN.com evaluation was this nugget (Insider subs.).

Hall is a downhill runner who would likely need to land in a two-back power running offense at the college level to have the most success. Potential workhorse but not a projected difference maker.

If accurate, then Hall is going into a great situation for him and Pitt.

Of course the good times seem to need an immediate counterbalance, so...

Pitt took another blow at an already thin position Wednesday when redshirt sophomore Trenton Coles decided to leave the program, Panthers coach Paul Chryst announced Wednesday.

Coles, a Clairton graduate, was set to be a key player at a position that already lost projected starter Titus Howard to a season-long suspension earlier this month.

“Trenton’s going to end up leaving the program,” Chryst said after Pitt’s second-to-last practice of training camp. “I’ve appreciated what he’s done and [he] wants a fresh start. We’re going to do everything we can to help him get to a good place.”

Coles has been toying with the idea of transferring for a while it seems. At least when he wasn’t being penciled in as the starter.

When sophomore cornerback Trenton Coles left the Pitt team Wednesday, it wasn’t the first time the thought crossed his mind.

Clairton coach Wayne Wade, who was an assistant there when Coles was in high school, said his former player was thinking about leaving this year after spring drills when Titus Howard was ahead of him on the depth chart.

“He thought he should have been starting,” Wade said.

But after Howard was suspended, Coles decided to stay and, in fact, ascended to the No. 1 unit early in training camp.

In recent weeks, however, Coles hurt his ankle and was practicing with the second team while sophomore Reggie Mitchell and freshman Avonte Maddox played well on the first team.

The injury slowed him down, but so did his own performance in camp.

But Douglas said this week that Coles is “a work in progress.” “Got a long way to go. So we’ll see what’s happening. He’s trying hard. I can tell you that. It just doesn’t always click. But he’s trying, so we have two more weeks.”

This still strikes me as odd. Maybe it is pure pride about not being the starter, but Coles was in position to see the field a lot regardless of whether he was first on the 2-deep.

Obviously this isn’t good news for Pitt. The CB spot has been perilously thin even before camp opened and news of Titus Howard’s suspension was made. Now, there is little room for anything to go wrong. It’s looking like Pitts, Mitchell, Maddox, Lewis and Motley. After that, it would be trying to make more safeties into corners.

You have to wonder just a little if any of the wide receivers can or would be switched.





Retired….haha

Too young to be retired and haven’t hit the lotto.

Elbo Room sounds good, know anyone with a Gulfstream that can pick me up ? 🙂

Comment by Emel 08.24.14 @ 12:48 pm

We went to a large sportsbar in Charlotte to watch that game, thankfully we missed most of it.

But I still got into an argument with some Bucknut alums and played the best player your college ever had at each position game.

And kicked their butts.

Comment by Emel 08.24.14 @ 12:51 pm

I loved Gustine’s mostly because my Dad would eat lunch there every Friday afternoon and there would be two ice cold martinis waiting for him on the bar. Years after that every time I went in there as a PITT student I got my first beer for free because they remembered my father after he passed away.

As a freshman I got tossed out of Haddon Hall, literally just like in a movie – by the arms and legs right into the bushes out front, by two big ass football players after I kissed one of their girlfriends. I’ve always thought she set me up because she sat down next to me at the bar and started flirting with me. They didn’t knock me around though for which I was grateful. Another player even brought out the pitcher I was working on and said “You might want to wait around the corner while you drink this”

My mother freaked out when I first told her that I was drinking at Haddon Hall because when she went to PITT in 1938-42 it was a whore house that ‘serviced’ the frat boys. So I asked her how much she made on a good weekend. BaDaBoom…

Guys – I’m about five hours from posting a new article – try to stay sane until then.

Comment by Reed 08.24.14 @ 1:07 pm

As an old old fart, most the places I went to are either replaced or fell down. As a poor engineering student who worked at night, we would go to get 5 cent beers on sale one night or after a game down on the corner at a place I believe was called the Luna.

Comment by Frank MD 08.24.14 @ 1:18 pm

lol Reed.

Don’t ya know mass insanity rules these days !

Being that you guys know I’m a history nut, I love that information about Haddon Hall.

Seems to me in the olden days(’38-’42) you mentioned, the University went more out of their way to…..

…….educate you !

Comment by Emel 08.24.14 @ 1:23 pm

@ Frank MD

Sure the Luna was North Oakland staple.

Wes was always at the front door.

Good thing about the Luna was, it had booths. lol

Comment by Emel 08.24.14 @ 1:32 pm

Wish I was around then with you old bastards. Bet you were fun and he’ll still are! FIU Game my treat. I have enough hotels points and miles to put all of us on South Beach.

Comment by Upittbaseball 08.24.14 @ 1:50 pm

I see FIU is pretty close to Doral Country Club.

I’ll sharpen up the sticks.

Comment by Emel 08.24.14 @ 2:05 pm

I’m trying to get my Oakland history straight. Is this right–The Wooden Keg took over Gustine’s location? What year? I believe Gustine’s was still there next to the Big O through the end of my full time student years (end 1972).

There used to be another small bar on the opposite side of Gustine’s from the Big O and under the Towers in the late 60s. I can’t remember the name of the place. “Eddie’s” or something like that? It wasn’t a student hangout–maybe a hangout for alcoholic faculty members?. I remember drinking two 16 oz bottles of Iron City in there one mid-morning just before a Physics final exam. I used to be paranoid about Physics and would get “brain freeze” on exams. I was on my way to an F in the course and it was a course I needed to graduate in my major. I knew my stuff but would go blank on exams. The two Big Irons did the trick. I got a really good grade on the final (almost an A) and thought I had salvaged a C in the class. I did pass but got a D. I suspect the Prof thought I cheated on the final and so gave me a D instead of the C. Little did he know I was just a little drunk and relaxed enough not to get “brain freeze.”

Anyone know the name of the bar?

Comment by pitt1972 08.24.14 @ 2:17 pm

Wow, and I thought I had a wild time in my short tenure at Pitt(97-99)….

Upittbaseball, wonder if we ever crossed paths.

Comment by Digdug 08.24.14 @ 2:33 pm

The Wooden Keg was right next to the Dirty O and then sold one half of it to the Dirty O where they started making Pizza’s and such and added a large dining area besides the one in the French Fry?Imported Beer area.

At that time the Keg became CJ Barney’s but most people still called it the Keg.

Gustines was the next place going towards the Student Union next to CJ Barney’s/Keg.

Presently the old Frankie Gustines (who was a former Pgh Pirate) is called Hemingways.

Here’s a pic of the local:

link to google.com

Comment by Emel 08.24.14 @ 2:36 pm

pitt1972, you got drunk at the Towers mailboxes?

No wonder you got a D.

(My GPA was 2.6. When I told that to my spouse of 10 years or so I almost got divorced on the spot.)

Comment by steve1 08.24.14 @ 2:37 pm

anybody here old enough to remember the World Series being played on campus (so to speak)?

Comment by wbb 08.24.14 @ 2:38 pm

The place you’re talking about pitt1972 was in that right hand portion of the present day Dunkin Donuts in the above pic.

The left hand portion was CJ Barney’s/the Keg which also included the right hand portion of the present day Big O. The part that had the Wooden Kegs on the front of the building.

Known the area since I was a teen and my childhood friends the Simon Family owned the Big O. Still do I believe

Can’t remember the name though of the bar you’re talking about. Maybe someone else does.

Comment by Emel 08.24.14 @ 2:43 pm

There was a bar called the Cum Laude I believe, slightly ahead of my time. That might have become the Wooden Keg. But you are right, Gustines became Hemingways and was owned by one or more of the partners from the Wooden Keg. For a while down the street, they opened the Wooden Keg Sub Shop, great cheesesteak hoagies.

Comment by gc 08.24.14 @ 3:14 pm

I was on campus for the celebration of the “71 World Series. Forbes Ave. was awesome.

Comment by gc 08.24.14 @ 3:16 pm

wow they got rid of the whole row of buildings on the one side of South Bouquet Street and made it a little park/green area.

That area included Chances R, where TD use to hang, which became Sanctuary where Marino, Green, Jackson. Maas, Big Tony and others hung. Although Danny was always in Peters Pub as well.

There was also a White Tower in that block across the street from the O.

All no more 🙁

Comment by Emel 08.24.14 @ 3:16 pm

Yes. The bar I mention would have either been in the right hand portion of the Dunkin Donuts or just to the right of that. As I recall, it was really narrow in width with the bar on the left side and some booths on the right. I was only in there a couple of times. Other than my Physics exam day I might have bought a six-pack in there once or twice. I recall it being pretty dark and pretty empty of customers those few times I went in. Maybe it used to do some business with the hard liquor crowd when the Pirates still played at Forbes Field. It seemed more like a Scotch and Soda, Martinis or Manhattans type of place–weirdly reminded me of the Kingston Trio’s “Scotch & Soda” from the early 60s (for those old enough to know who they were)–cocktail lounge atmosphere.

Comment by pitt1972 08.24.14 @ 3:16 pm

Before chances R it was Wohfarth’s Pub.

The White Tower became Jake’s Pinball Wizard for a short time. If you remember, Flo’s Records, I lived on the second floor, 1st year of grad school, a short walk home from any of the establishments.(next door to Wohlfarths across the street from Bimbo’s and the O, just around the corner from the Wooden Keg, down the street from the Pitt Tavern, around the corner from Cozy’s.

Did Cozy’s become Peter’s Pub?

Scared the hell out of a guy pissing on my front door late one night.

Comment by gc 08.24.14 @ 3:30 pm

pitt72, I think the Cum Laude was decorated with Tartan Plaid wallpaper, but we are going way back in the memory banks.

Comment by gc 08.24.14 @ 3:32 pm

@ pitt1972

in ’72, Gustine’s was still there for sure. And it it was to the right of Dunkin Donuts, it was likely you were in Gustine’s.

Never went in there as it was an older crowd. The bar was on the left and then tables/booths on the right.

According to this it was Gustines until 1983, opened in 1953.

link to articles.chicagotribune.com

Comment by Emel 08.24.14 @ 3:40 pm

You said maybe place was called Eddie’s, some people called Gustine’s, just…..Frankie’s.

It was definitely a cocktail lounge atmosphere in there, as my parents took me in for dinner once or twice.

They had pretty good food.

Comment by Emel 08.24.14 @ 3:47 pm

Flo’s records, forgot about that place.

Bimbo’s became Zelda’s Greenhouse, home of the $3 Long Island Ice Tea. Froggy owned it. Of Froggy’s on Market downtown fame.

That sadly is now a Five Guys Hamburgers place.

You might be right about Cozy’s>Peter’s gc.

Comment by Emel 08.24.14 @ 3:58 pm

Any of the older guys remember the old PITT Tavern up on Fifth Avenue ?

Comment by Emel 08.24.14 @ 4:01 pm

lol gc…didn’t register that you posted that.

I remember coming down from the upper part of campus down to Fifth and always seeing the PITT Tavern when I was a kid attending a Pitt football or bball game.

Comment by Emel 08.24.14 @ 4:13 pm

Had my first beer in 69 at Quinques (pronounced Chi chis). It was across from Forbes Field and was shut down when the filed was torn down. Great memories of all the bars and I drank at most of em.

Haddon Hall was a bit classier with the free popcorn but I especially remember the prophylactic machine in the men’s room which had different color condoms. Treated it like a slot machine one night with a tall skinny girl named Tina. She bet me I could not get all the colors. Oh the good times…..

Comment by Dan 72 08.24.14 @ 4:17 pm

The bar I was mentioning was definitely not Gustine’s. This place was simply a bar with no food.

Comment by pitt1972 08.24.14 @ 4:36 pm

@Fellow Barhounds

So, I asked and no one knows? The Irish bar. South of Forbes. Was some guy who was a fighter back in the day. And, when Notre Dame came to play, it was packed with ND fans. What was its name?

H2P

Comment by pmdH2P 08.24.14 @ 4:42 pm

Billy Conn, the Pittsburgh Kid, who almost be Joe Louis was Irish, he was good friends with Art Rooney.

Conn’s father-in-law was Greenfield Jimmie Smith, also a boxer. Fritzie Zivic, who was not Irish, was a former middleweight champ.

That’s about the extent of my knowledge of Pgh boxers back in the day

Comment by wbb 08.24.14 @ 5:15 pm

There was a Irish bar in the middle of the block of Sennott Street I believe.

It had a white facade with green shamrocks I think.

Never was there, sort of over by the Decade.

Irish place was older than the Decade.

Comment by Emel 08.24.14 @ 5:35 pm

Wasn’t the Irish bar Coynes? Someone mentioned that before.

Had a gun pulled on me on Center after leaving Haddon Hall. We just turned and ran, they laughed at us. Lucky! I think it was free hotdog night at the Hall. Never went back.

Comment by gc 08.24.14 @ 6:02 pm

@ pmdH2P

It was probably either Pete Coyne’s place or the Oakland Cafe.

Pete Coyne was the brother of Congressman Coyne and was pals with Joey Diven who was Billy Conn’s bodyguard. So they had the boxing connection you’re looking for.

Comment by Emel 08.24.14 @ 6:07 pm

lol gc..

What we wouldn’t do for free food back then !

Comment by Emel 08.24.14 @ 6:16 pm

Fritzie Zivic was a welterweight champ after beating Henry Armstrong Oct 4 1940 at Madison Sq Garden.

Comment by alcofan 08.24.14 @ 7:53 pm

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