Pittsburgh Sports, Opinion and Politics | Just Watch the Game Blog

JOE BUTLER METRO INDEX

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2011

ScoutingPA

What is ScoutingPA.com? It is a web site that I have partnered up with. ScoutingPA is an addition to the original web site ScoutingOhio.com. Scouting Ohio is based in the Youngstown OH area and football scout Mark Porter covers Ohio doing a great job. I have partnered up with him and now run ScoutingPA.com. Recruiting fans can look at the web site and see first hand on film what some of the Pitt and Penn State recruits look like. Take for example, recent Pitt recruit, DT Tyrique Jarrett from Pittsburgh Allderdice, footage is on there and it has gotten 200 views since he committed to Pitt last week. Penn Hills WR Cory Jones committed over the weekend and his highlights are on there. Just call him up on the search name area. Penn State double linebacker commitments are on the site. they are Shaler’s JP Holtz and Archbald Valley View’s Nyeem Wartman. It is Free. Fans will enjoy watching these players’ highlights and can keep track of the commitments on players from Pennsylvania only. Remember, these are highlights from the players’ Junior season. Let me know what you think.

http://www.scoutingpa.com

As I was driving into town yesterday to do my talk show on TribLive Radio. It occurred to me that the two big topics in sports for the day were the Pirates reaching .500 and Pitt and Penn State announcing that they would be playing each other in five years.

And the only word I could think of was pathetic.

I know the Pirates are overachieving and being a game over .500 is better than being six games under, but, really, how pathetic is it when the big topic on the talk shows is that the Pirates have reached .500 in the middle of June?

There was a time when the Pirates being .500 in June would have been the major topic on the talk shows because there was talk of firing the manager.

In fact, Bill Virdon was fired in 1973 when the team was around .500 and he had been a wild pitch away from going to the World Series the season before.

And how pathetic is it that people are excited about something that should have been happening every year for the past 25 years is  going to happen five years and three months from now?

It’s a good thing we have the Steelers and the Penguins.

We all like to laugh at Joe Paterno.

He’s 85 years old and still thinks he can oversee a major college football program.

He must be senile. Or delusional.

Well, Joe’s getting the last laugh right now.

Penn State may not be a perennial pick for the Mythical National Championship but Joe has Penn State near the top of the Big Ten every year and always seems to go to a decent bowl game.

How about the three major programs that are, along with Maryland, the closest to Penn State?

How are they doing?

Pitt: Fired a coach and then  in the course of three weeks hired fired and hired a coach .

West Virginia: Lost a coach, hired a coach, hired a coach in waiting. Head coach may or may not have spread lies about the coach in waiting who was asked to leave a casino because he was drunk. Football program looking like it’s run by a bunch of hoopies.

Ohio State: Several players including the starting quarterback suspended for five games because of NCAA violations. Coach who portrays himself as a saint resigns in disgrace. Football program in total disarray.

Penn State’s not perfect but the old man sure looks good right now.