DiPaola’s Blog from the Trib has some interesting stuff today:
Make room in the outside linebacker competition for North Allegheny graduate Seun Idowu.
He is one of three players who came to Pitt at other positions, but have been moved to linebacker to help fill a big hole in the defense left by graduating senior Nicholas Grigsby.
At practice Thursday, Idowu caught everyone’s eye when he recognized a jet sweep by wide receiver Quadree Henderson and made the tackle.
“He was like a jet,” senior middle linebacker Matt Galambos said.
Idowu, who came to Pitt as a walkon, said he remembered the play from previous film study. Earlier in the day, he didn’t make the tackle on a similar play, but he refused to be fooled twice.
“It’s a great feeling to recognize something you saw in the film room,” he said.
Idowu said it takes time for walkons to attract attention.
In fact, Samuels and reserve tight end David J. Grinnage combined for 90 receptions, 887 yards and 10 touchdowns. The numbers for Pitt tight ends J.P. Holtz and Scott Orndoff fell short by comparison (37/59 4?9). [Edit Note: DiPaola needs to explain what that last number is.]
That information received special attention from the current Pitt tight ends, but Canada said his passing game is not philosophically tied to that position.
“The philosophy is the best players (get the ball),” he said.
Aliquippa — named after Queen Aliquippa, the leader of a group of Mingo Seneca that lived along the three rivers — could possibly have the highest concentration of greatness of any town in America.
Fewer than 10,000 people live there now, yet it has produced some very respectable NFL players like Ty Law, Jon Baldwin and Sean Gilbert. That alone would be impressive, but those guys are almost sidenotes compared to other stars the Beaver County community has contributed to the sports world. Darrelle Revis, a seven-time Pro Bowler and current Super Bowl champion, is from the town as well. He is, in fact, the best known Island from this area, just ahead of Neville Island.
The town’s population has dwindled over the years — 50 years ago, it had 26,000 residents. That’s still not a big city, but when you consider the level of talent to come out of there, it’s downright amazing. And I’m not just talking about sports.
Here is another earlier from the midpoint last football season’s schedule. “Wysocki: Feels good about feeling good about Pitt Football again.
No other collegiate team in Western Pennsylvania has a history to match the University of Pittsburgh football program.
Pop Warner won three national championships here; you’re welcome, youth football players. Mike Ditka became a standout here; you’re welcome, Chicago. Those two personalities alone would be enough to cement the school’s bragging. But throw in names like Tony Dorsett, Dan Marino, Curtis Martin, Darrelle Revis and Larry Fitzgerald, and we’re talking the stuff of legends. It’s why we love the Panthers so much, and why we are so heartbroken when they get our hopes up every year and then suffer a crushing defeat that figuratively ends the season.
The North Carolina Tar Heels came to town to deliver that defeat at a recent game at Heinz Field. The Panthers had lost only one game all year and had emerged from the “others-receiving-votes” category of the college-football rankings. For the first time in five seasons, Pitt had a number in front of its name: The team was ranked at No. 23 by the Associated Press and No. 24 in the Amway Coaches Poll. I am not sure when a company that sells health and beauty products began ranking college-football teams, but it clearly showed a lack of respect to the Panthers.
“When you start naming the football teams located in this city, the Carnegie Mellon Tartans probably isn’t the first one to come to mind. Or the 11th. In fact, it probably won’t hit you until after you rattle off a few high school squads. Some people might think that CMU doesn’t even have a team, or that, if it does, maybe it is made up of robots.”
With apologies to no-good street punks and biker gangs everywhere, no one is tougher than a hockey player. Hockey is a game played on a solid sheet of ice with 24 razor-thin blades flying around at insane speeds. Throw in big wooden sticks and a frozen vulcanized-rubber puck, and you have a game that is not for the weak.
In 1996, Chatham University became the first college in Pennsylvania to put together an NCAA women’s hockey team. Pittsburgh is a city full of tough guys, especially those dudes that wear shorts in the winter, but few are tougher than the intelligent young women on this team.
The 1950s, to a lot of people, is the golden era to which we should strive to return. Well, that’s great if you love segregation, unfettered air pollution and polio. But for Pittsburgh sports fans, the golden era is the 1970s. That’s why this week I’ve prepared a special Way-Back-Wednesday edition of Cheap Seats.
Everybody in Pittsburgh knows that the sports world achieved perfection in 1979. A fourth Lombardi, a fifth World Series, and we were just three years removed from Pitt football’s national title. We didn’t even know that a couple of teenagers named Danny Marino and Mario Lemiuex were on their way to extend our golden era. With the 2015 Pirates winning more than 95 games in PNC Park, let’s travel back to the cheap seats at Three Rivers Stadium the last time they won it all.
Honest to God – this guy has the best opening lines in the business. To wit:
“In those days you could blow cigarette smoke in someone’s face during the game and they just had to deal with it.”
From the Pitt Media guys on today’s practice session.
March 31, 2016
Coach Pat Narduzzi Quote Sheet
On the health status of defensive end Allen Edwards:
“He’s getting better. I hope we have him by next week. Maybe Saturday, but I don’t think he’ll physically or mentally be ready [for Saturday’s scrimmage]. But he’s feeling better.”
On the play of the defensive line:
“They’re doing a good job. We’ll see the tape today, but I’ve been happy with where Ejuan [Price] has been. I think his motor has kicked in even more. I think we’re seeing an even more improved Ejuan Price. Dewayne Hendrix has picked it up. [James] Folston is having a really good spring. He’s months ahead of where he was a year ago. I think he’s really going to be able to give us some really quality time this year. With Allen [Edwards] not being out there right now, Patrick Jones is getting a lot of reps for a freshman, which is great for him. He’s still swimming in it a little bit, but it’s a great experience for him. Well worth coming in mid-year to get the reps he’s getting.”
On the benefits of freshmen joining the team for spring ball:
“It’s way too early to even think about redshirting. We’re just trying to get them better. I just know those three guys coming in mid-year are going to be way ahead of those freshmen coming in [during the summer]. That’s the benefit. You miss prom and part of your senior year. Those are some of the negative things, but they’ll understand the offense, and they’ll be able to teach those other young guys the tempo and what is expected.”
On moving Shakir Soto inside to defensive tackle:
“With losing a couple guys last year inside, [Shakir Soto] is a guy we thought would be better athletically inside. Regardless of what those young guys did, we wanted to put him in a position to be successful and make more plays inside. He’s tough. He’s physical. He can do it.”
On the health of tailback Rachid Ibrahim:
“I don’t know that he’s 100 percent, but he’ll be 100 percent in August. I can tell you that. Rachid [Ibrahim] is back. He got tackled today, and we had some live periods today. He did some nice things today.”
On if he sees Rachid Ibrahim as a pass-catching back:
“I think you want to be a complete back. Some people want to say, ‘I’m a third-down back.’ The NFL isn’t drafting a ton of third-down backs. They want a complete back like a Le’Veon Bell who can do it all. He can catch it out of the backfield, but he can run too. I think that’s what you saw in the past because [previous coaches used to] have their running backs and their passing backs. But we’re trying to get a complete back. We want to have three, four or five complete backs. Rachid showed that last August, that he could be a complete back.”
On his goals for safety Jordan Whitehead this spring:
“We’re just looking for him to get better. Whether you’re an all-conference player or a rookie of the year or a third-team safety, we’re looking for you to improve. There’s all kinds of little things that he can get better at. We know he’s a good football player, but he can do a lot of things better in the pre-snap as far as what he’s showing the quarterback. I think that’s one of the big things. His disguises were maybe his weakness last year. But as a freshman, as a puppy, that probably is the last thing to come. We’re just looking for him to continue what he did last year and improve some of what he’s showing the quarterback.”
On how this year’s offense will compare to last year’s:
“There will be a lot of similarities. We kept a lot of the same [concepts]. We’re still going to be a smash-mouth pro offense, but we have some other elements, some different tweaks. Which we did last year. We did a little bit of everything. We’d line up in empty. So it’s very similar to what we did last year.”
On what he will be looking for in Saturday’s scrimmage:
“The number one thing is that we want to come out of there healthy. It scares me and some of the guys get after me because I’m blowing the whistle quickly when it’s a live period. I want to make sure guys don’t get tangled up and tied up. So you want to go as live as you can but also stay healthy. You want [the players] to think it’s full speed, but also blow that whistle. So we want to stay healthy, and we want to see guys make plays in Heinz Field. I think that’s the key. That’s why we’re going over there. Rain or dry, we’re going to Heinz Field to play because it’s game day.”
On how the teams will be divided for Saturday’s scrimmage:
“We’ll do some ones on ones, and we’ll do some ones on twos. We’ll mix it up.”
Defensive Coordinator Josh Conklin Quote Sheet
On if he has a read on who will start at the Star linebacker position:
“Not right now. I think Seun [Idowu] has done a really good job for us. He’s picking it up, showing some physicality. We moved [Elijah] Zeise over there and that’s going to be a work in progress for him. I think athletically he can do some things. It’s always a transition going from offense to defense, just in terms of mentality. But I think he’s a kid that can do it. I know he played some safety in high school, so he’ll continue to grow. The guy that we have to get a little bit more out of is Jalen [Williams]. I don’t think he’s picked it up as fast or as well as we need to, but he’ll get there.”
On what he wants to see out of his veteran linebackers:
“I think it’s a matter of just picking up more of the knowledge in terms of the game. I think we’ve seen that. I know just formation, backfield sets, and we’re able to do a little bit more. A little bit more with our defense in terms of some checks and adjustments we want to make, like post-snap, when the quarterback gets it set in the formation and gets lined up—and that’s the thing we’ll be able to do with those [veteran] guys.”
“The thing that I have probably been most impressed with Matt Galambos and Mike Caprara is that they really approached it in a professional way. A lot of our younger guys can really lean on them to show them and mentor them on how to approach the game. They’re asking good questions so they’re taking their knowledge to another level, which is exactly what we want.”
On if he plans on starting Bam Bradley and Anthony McKee opposite of each other:
“Bam will go back to the Money linebacker, but he also has to be able to play the Star. McKee will probably slide out to the Star because of his size, speed, kind of his dimensions. We think he might fit there a little bit better.”
Linebackers Coach Rob Harley Quote Sheet
On new linebackers Oluwaseun Idowu, Jalen Williams and Elijah Zeise:
“I think that they are all capable. As you look at them, they’re all ‘transfers’ [from a different position]. They’re either transplants from safety or wideout, and I think they are all capable athletically. Each one. They all have their own demons to work through but Elijah is working on defense again from playing safety in high school and learning all of the calls and nuances of the defense. Jalen is new over here [at linebacker] for the spring [but played defensive back], so he’s a defensive-minded guy. He kind of understands the concept but now has to learn linebacker.
“Oluwaseun is obviously the most experienced one because he came over last season and he really has to start to learn the tiny details. He understands everything we want him to do, but it’s all those tiny details because of what offenses give us. They just really have to hone in on it every day. We told them today that it can’t be a new play every time the offense lines up. It’s got to be the same stuff on our base defense. We see this stuff over and over again, and we have to play it consistently. For the most experienced guys it’s consistency, for the newer guys it’s just how fast they can pick it up and how much can we give them.”
On linebacker Anthony McKee’s absence due to injury hindering his progress:
“Obviously, you learn by doing. We all know that. That’s nothing different and nothing specific to Anthony. Who knows? We don’t know. I don’t want to gauge if he’s behind or not. He keeps up mentally. He’s at all of our meetings, out here at practice hopefully listening. But again, you do learn by doing so he is a little bit behind for himself. I don’t know about being behind any other guys. We’ll see. But it’s always good when you have a chance to go through the stuff, so we’re looking forward to getting him back.”
Linebacker Matt Galambos Quote Sheet
On if there is anything new with the linebacker position this season:
“From a defensive standpoint—no. We’re going to still do what we do. But from the offensive standpoint, just kind of relating to our offense, because we’re all in different shifts and motions with the new coordinator. So we’re kind of just getting ready for that. They’re doing some motions and they move a lot. Us getting ready for them in the spring is going to help us so much during the season.”
On defensive end Ejuan Price returning for a sixth year:
“It’s great, really great coming in for a second year [starting together]. Last year we were still building our form and knowledge but this year we have so much more. It’s just good to add a bunch of different layers on all the stuff we already know.”
Linebacker Oluwaseun Idowu Quote Sheet
(Here is an accompanying Post-Gazette article published this morning on young Mr. idowu. I love this:
“I think Sean [Idowu’s nickname] has done a really good job for us,” Conklin said. “He’s picking it up, showing some physicality.”
What – “Oluwaseun” is too hard to pronounce?
On moving from safety to linebacker last year:
“It was early after camp finished. A few weeks into the season they made the switch. In the summer, I had called Coach wondering where they would want me to come back at. He said they would need safeties, so when I came in I was working with the safeties, but he took me into his office and said if they were going to get me onto the field it would be better to move me to linebacker. He said that would be a good change. I took that chance and now I am here.”
On if he had played linebacker before:
“A little bit in high school but I was more of an offensive guy.”
On the switch to linebacker:
“It was different, but understanding what you have to do as a safety helped because it kind of all works together. Each position all makes sense to the next, so you see the reasons why a certain position is doing a certain thing. Being at safety gave me a bit of help making the transition, but it was still a different set of rules I had to learn to get the position down.”
On trying to earn a starting job:
“Coming in to spring I was the next most experienced player at that position after going through last year, so I had to come in and go as hard as possible and leave everything on the table. The coaches are talking about being ‘that guy.’ You don’t want to be that guy that people are unsure of, so I have come in and attacked it.”
Safety Jordan Whitehead Quote Sheet
On if he feels more like a senior than a sophomore with his responsibility this year:
“I definitely feel more like a senior. Coach [Renaldo] Hill preaches in the room about leadership, and we have a couple seniors in the room. We lost Lafayette Pitts last year who was our main vocal guy who was a good leader. So everybody is trying to pick up where he left off.”
On if he is vocal:
“We’re all pretty vocal. Everyone knows they need to step it up this year. So we’re all pitching in: talking, correcting mistakes, making sure you know what you did.”
On what he wants to get better at:
“I think I can get better at knowing my assignments more, knowing mistakes on the field and covering more space. Just doing that and knowing that I can cover it.”
On if the physical part of the game is less a challenge this year:
“Last year, yes, coming in [from high school] is different. Different speed, physicality, and now I’m used to that. The main part for me now is understanding the game more.”
To shift gears; here is a BB article that is interesting as it addresses our Brandon Knight’s “recruiting prowess”. This confuses me – I thought Dixon and his staff couldn’t recruit well – at least that is what I have been reading from the BB fans lately.
Speaking of BB here is a late entry podcast on the Trib-Review discussing Scott Barnes as the “Jag of the Week”:
…and one with Rival’s Chris Peak discussing the hire also:
Great nods to the ‘DW fired’ and ‘Graham slinks’ away press conferences… Take a close listen at the 54:30 mark when Peak states that the Stallings hire “just doesn’t fit what Pitt has been doing for the last eight months”.
I hear his though here as being that since the Steve Pederson firing, the Narduzzi hire and then hiring Barnes the administration was taking bold and proactive steps to drag the athletic department into modern times and with a rather positive outlook on those moves – and any future moves Chancellor Gallagher and Scott Barnes may make.
Then, thud.
HOT OFF THE PRESSES: Podcast with Narduzzi on The Fan
H2P!
Lots going on at Pitt right now…
Congrats to Coach Stallings on holding on to the incoming commits – hopefully he can also add someone who he has ties with…
Go Pitt.
The whole football thing seems more confident.
Regarding BB recruiting. I read an article on a PITT assistant having a kid already to commit and then lost him after the kid met Dixon.
Suffice to say not recruiting or lack of great recruiting lead us to a new BB head coach. Brandon Knight as an assistant was one of the recruiters.
Syracuse has two impact freshmen players. Both Metro area kids. One of them from Trenton, NJ about 50 miles from Knight’s hometown.
Where did Knight go?
H2P!
I could not help but notice that Rori Blair’s name is missing from the DE discussions. Are you privy to any insider information? Is he injured, sick, serving a pri…nah, I’ll stop right there.
Thanks again for your contributions to Pitt sports.
HTP!
All those position transfers being discussed, Zeise, Idowu, J. Williams are all rsFR or rsSO this season – which means they all have at least two years to play in the future.
He’s been recruited over by those three guys mentioned above, Hendrix, Allen and Folston.
Jame Folston played very well in spot duty last season and is taller and faster than Blair. Allen is a rsJR who transferred in from a JUCO – where he was in the Top 10 in sacks nationally. He was rated a 3* when Narduzzi offered him on a visit to Pitt.
Hendrix is the guys everyone is waiting to see and between him and Price there may not be a lot of PT for 3rd string guys – where Blair could find himself.
“The Pitt football team’s workout at Heinz Field on Saturday, April 2, will be closed to the media.
Normal access will resume on Tuesday, April 5, at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex (9 a.m. viewing window with interviews following practice).”
It is pretty ridiculous when all is said and done.
Also, good words for the OL. Whitehead moved to DE! (April Fools)
Also, the week before the opener and all the practices between the games themselves are always closed to the media – there is more than ample time to institute trick plays, or to put in different plays like a DB/WR running the ball, etc… then.
In the past Pitt has requested that the media not report on specific plays run in the practices and that request is honored and kept by those reporters who attend… but the practices themselves were open the full time.
I didn’t know about that unwritten rule when I started attending practices under my Blather media credentials and in one subsequent Blather article I reported in detail a series of plays and their outcomes during a mini-scrimmage.
That was the only time E. J. Borghetti called me and asked if if could remove something from an article I published. He didn’t threaten me or say he’d yank my credentials but asked that I cut out the details and so I did.
Here’s some facts about the decision to close practices to the media – Narduzzi did it last year and truth be told he won only one more game that did Paul Chryst in 2013 with open practices. Wannstedt kept the practices wide open and won a lot of games including a 9 and 10 win season.
Sherrill and majors had open practices and we know how those seasons turned out – 33-3 under Sherrill and a national championship under Majors.
Closing practices does not give a team a practical advantage one bit.
I’m going to be interested in Stallings’ next big steps, regarding filling out his staff….
Well off to find the place Barney says I should be- not the wrong place -The Dirty O? Kaufmanns Clock? Phipps Conservatory? Coast Guard Facility in Bridgeville? Thanks again. Later. HAIL TO PITT.
ps Jester Weah for the track team, full time!
As for Blewitt hitting from 60, I would just like him to be Mr. Consistent. He had some clutch kicks to win obviously but outside of that his numbers were not great.
Maybe you say let the games themselves be the news – well, OK then have fun the other eight months of the year.
If you read my stuff you’ll see that I respect what DiPaola and Chris Peak have to say about the football program and those guys are as far from hacks as you can get. I’ve a feeling that you think anyone who criticizes or dares to ask hard questions of the Pitt athletic department and the sports teams’ staff they control is “Pitt bashing”.
Again – if you want a bunch of cheerleaders in the media I suggest you look at Penn State where for 50+ years they have had nothing negative at all to say about the football program – and look where that got them.
How many open? How many closed?
I thought Blair was out for the spring practice.
Great stuff Reed.
Hope you are all well.
Reed – I agree. It isn’t like 500 people are dying to get in. Let you guys watch and report to drum interest.
That said, there is a 25 minute window in the beginning of practice where the media can watch exercises and some light drills. Then it is closed for the other 90 minutes until the end where the Media Dept. has allowed some prearranged interviews.
I just think that with all the smoke Barnes has been blowing at us about ‘transparency” “Fan Committee input” and hiring an “External Affairs” guy, etc… we have a football coach and program that is doing exactly the opposite.
I was told that early on last year that Narduzzi doesn’t want any media guys to write anything negative about any players at all.. which is as unrealistic as can be.
Again as I said a few days ago on here – the practices are closed to the media but there are still about 20-30 people (players parents & families, HS coaches, Boosters, etc…) who are allowed to watch the whole thing from the sidelines. They aren’t sworn to secrecy and when a player has been performing poorly in camps and scrimmages we guys who write about the program find out about it.
A good example of this is that I was told that Voytik was faltering pretty badly in last fall’s camp when Peterman had transferred in and gave Voytik legit competition for the starting job… and I wrote that it was happening that way on here more than once.
However, since the practices were ‘closed’ the local media guys were limited to parroting what the staff was saying in those prearranged interviews and thus the fans were reading that Voytik was ‘playing well’ in camp and there was no danger of his losing that starting position. So – I got a lot of blowback on here for being so insistent that Voytik was indeed in danger of being replaced as the starter.
The local newspapers were saying that right up the first two games of the season when Peterman took over for good… and I kept saying the opposite and took heat on here for it – suddenly I was a “Voytik hater” because I was writing things that were actually happening but just not being reported by the “lamestream media‘ someone called it the other day.
Personally, I don’t think the staff is doing these young men any favors by protecting them from the public. Pitt isn’t like OSU or Alabama where every little detail is scrutinized and debated down to the molecular level. Pitt fans are really very forgiving and genuinely like all the players – warts and all. We appreciate that they chose to attend Pitt and play ball here.
Here’s an example of what I mean. Fans have been joking about Jester Weah not being able to catch a ball when called on to do so for three years now. That wasn’t just happening in games but also in the practices I watched him in back in 2014. Now he’s apparently turned the corner and has been doing very well in camp so far but other than a line here or a small quote there that hasn’t really been reported on.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could watch some practices and see him playing better in person then go out and write a complimentary article about his progress? Don’t you think that could really bolster his confidence? I sure do. every fan I know wants him to succeed and we want to be able to see it happening and to discuss it.
One final thing – I know for a fact that some people at Pitt have worked hard to try to get more exposure for the team during these spring and fall camps. Narduzzi can do what he wants and obviously is but it wouldn’t hurt to keep in mind that the reason he’s hired and why they play the games is for the students, alumni and the fans.
One last point – for as media savvy as everyone thinks Narduzzi is I believe he has a huge blind spot when it comes to non-traditional media reporting. It is a fact that in these modern days blogs and alternative websites carry more traffic that most of the more traditional media outlets do, and sometimes by a wide multiple. He’s slow on the uptake with that. The Pitt admin gets it, believe me they do, but Barnes and especially Narduzzi really don’t.
Barnes seems to want it that way but I don’t think its going to change any time soon. funny thought, with all the wait and see attitude I had with Narduzzi’s hire this is about the only thing I disagree with him on.
Answer this, Why aren’t the African American people as a group more critical of their high crime rates and this as their #1 problem to be resolved?
Sorry, no more politics or civic lessons promise.
I just watched a video of recent QB-WR passing drills that went on for 5+ minutes and one of the contenders for QB2 couldn’t throw hardly any decent passes and ends up getting screamed at by the staff coach for ‘making the same mistakes every day’.
That’s why I’m nervous as hell about who we have back there. This kid has been on the roster for three years.
This approach has done great things in NYC where crime overall and especially blacks murder numbers have dropped dramatically over the last 20 years – due to solid liaisons between the City administrations, the Police department and local Community Action Groups.
That newscaster was fired because she said something that reflected upon her employer and she didn’t make it a point to separate herself and WTAE before she posted those things. Like it or not when you are a professional public figure you represent that entity that made you so.
I don’t disagree with what she said at all, but she did it completely the wrong way with very little forethought. personally I think she should have been suspended without pay for a period of time.
Welcome Home Dave !
Emel – I wish Wanny replace Big Head Barnes
That is one reason I get so pissed at people who are so doom and gloom and can’t find anything positive and ‘right’ about America today – there are millions of people doing amazing things everyday in this country and making a big difference in others’s lifes in doing it.
What really torques me are the people who scream for a smaller gov’t and for the gov’t to get out of the social aspects of life in the US, yet won’t take a few hours out of their week to try to make it possible for the gov’t to do so.
It isn’t just churches that help the down on their luck or those at risk – although some do wonderful things – it has to be us making the difference.
Did more and we helped out each ofher more. Thanks for you doing yoir part to make America better.
Of course, it has always taken “a village” or a “thousand lights” and it’s going on everyday in my community and the hundreds of the other great communities all over the Country.
Problem communities have active people, but they tend to leave after working hard to elevate themselves too.
Reed, I was born and raised in B’klyn. Both of my parents were immigrants. English was a second language for them. My dad never went to school or ever made a middle class income.
I guess the Catholic schools and YMCA were my “thousand lights” or “village”. But the strength also needs to come from within. This is what I see lacking form a large number plus excuses.
Didn’t I say I would stop political talking!
It is where the ‘rubber meets the road’ programs that are proven to have results for young children to 1) have a place to go after school instead of being latch-key kids due to both parents having to work and 2) learn to interact with each other outside of school.
I also think that same-sex programs are good also as long as girls programs have the same fundings and opportunities as the boys programs get. Pre-teens and Tweeners need to have something to do without the constant pressures of having the opposite sex around.
I got kicked out of the public schools in PGH and ended up at an all boys prep school (The Kiski School) and it was the best thing that ever happened to me. Twenty or so years ago the big $$$ donors to Kiski Prep tried to mandate that the school become co-ed to ‘fit in with the times’ and the Headmaster, John Pidgeon, stoutly refused on the grounds that young boys need to learn how to become young men without the pressures and social factors that introducing girls would bring in.
It has worked very well for 128 years and been a great model for other prep schools to go back to and some are doing just that.
I also believe that day care centers be made available on a universal basis in the US just as the Europeans have had for years. I have heard so many times that people in minimum wage jobs should work hard to better themselves and move out of those jobs which have always supposed to have been entry-level jobs for young people to join the workforce and learn responsibilities that go along with an employer paying you to do what they need you to do.
Well, that is great in theory but how is a person supposed to do that if the have to spend what they earn on day care so they can work? It is like a dog chasing its tail.
One last thing – Even though we could afford a private college for my daughter (with big ass loans mind you!) we discussed it with her and she agreed to spend her first two years at the local community college to get her distribution credits out of the way then attend a state university where those credits would be accepted and she could finish her degree without a full 4 years of student loans.
So – take some of that wasted $$$ out of the defense department budget (don’t get me started on that) and fund these two year community colleges and the good post-HS trade schools, and there are great ones of these out there also, so that they are either very affordable or are free. There is a fantastic Lincoln Tech school here and it costs so much that kids either can’t go or can’t afford the loans to attend.
This is the model Obama has been trying to push through Congress and hasn’t been able to get passed yet.
It is truly a no-brainer IMO. Give young people a chance to get educated and/or trained at low cost so instead of carrying huge college loan debt they can get on with the work of becoming good wage earners and the US gets more tax money from them then they would if those people are in minimum wage jobs.
Oh – one really last thing. Take a good hard look at some sort of mandatory Service obligation for the young people after they turn 18 years old which can be deferred until after college if needed. Either the military or some other service oriented entity that directly benefits the citizens of the US and pay them a decent wage while they are doing it.
We need to teach our youth that working in service for others isn’t just a good and noble thing to do but necessary for the strength of our communities and our country.
Aside from all that what do you think about our O-Line going into 2016?
However that gets done is fine with me!!
