2-11-15

Page 1

Vol. 105 Issue 111

@thepittnews

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Spillin’ Salt: Pitt’s winter maintenance

Pittnews.com

WORK SOCIALLY

Anjana Murali Staff Writer Keeping the streets and sidewalks safe for Pitt students and faculty is no easy — or cheap — task. High concentrations of sodium can mobilize or release calcium and magnesium from the soil. This transports the particles into the groundwater or the surface water, depending on the flow passage through the dirt, according to Robert Rossi, a graduate student researching how road salt impacts roadside soils. Similarly, exhaust pipes and worn tires from cars deposit heavy metals such as lead, zinc and arsenic, and high concentrations of sodium can mobilize and transport these into the stream waters or ground waters. Rossi said the excess salt affects aquatic life, vegetation health, animals and water quality. “If we are thinking of the environment as that which can support humans, [salting the roads] is probably worth the cost in terms of human safety,” Daniel Bain, assistant hydrology and metal biogeochemistry professor, said. “But it’s probably going to affect everything else negatively.” For an average snowfall of two to four inches, Pitt’s Buildings and Grounds Department covers 30 miles of campus sidewalks, more than 2,000 steps and 40 cam-

Salt

Dr. Richard Barth, the Dean of Social Work at the University of Maryland speaks about child welfare services in the Cathedral Tuesday afternoon. Meghan Sunners | Staff Photographer

Board adds two student groups to assembly Abbey Reighard Assistant News Editor

The Student Government Board is increasing student representation behind closed doors. At Tuesday’s public meeting in Nordy’s Place, the Board introduced Bill 027, inducting to its Student Assembly two additional groups, Rainbow Alliance and Campus Women’s Organization. Student Government Board Presi2

dent Graeme Meyer said the Student Assembly meetings “will be closed unless noted otherwise.” The meetings will be private, he said, and predominantly “conversational” between the Board members and the student groups. Meyer compared the Student Assembly meetings to the private Student Government Board planning sessions. Meyer added that students can request to attend the meeting, however, and any initiatives the students and Board

member discuss at the assembly meetings will be introduced at the SGB public meetings before the Board votes on the initiatives. A referendum that the student body voted on established the Student Assembly last term. Upon its creation, the Student Assembly included the Student Affairs Affiliated Groups. Read the rest online at Pittnews.com.


2

February 11, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

Pitt uses trucks and other equipment to spread salt on campus Meghan Sunners | Staff Photographer

FROM PAGE 1

SALT

pus parking lots with salt, according to Pitt spokesman John Fedele. This task uses 20 tons of road salt and 1,000 bags, or 25 tons, of ice melter, Fedele said in an email.

To put things in perspective, Fedele said Pitt’s sidewalks, placed end to end, would stretch from campus to Weirton, W. Va., and, stacked together, Pitt’s steps would reach the observation deck of the Empire State Building. The University has a $135,000 yearly budget for the salt and started off the win-

ter season with 90 tons of road salt and 3,200 bags, weighing 80 tons total, according to Fedele. Last year, Pitt used 630 tons of road salt and 22,600 bags, weighing 565 tons total, which cost $200,467. To make up for last year’s costs exceeding the budget for salt, the University “deferred the purchase of other materials and or equipment as needed,” Fedele said. Those deferred purchases have not hurt the University, Fedele said. “Snowfall so far this year has been less than anticipated, so our salt usage is below where we expected.” The Pittsburgh Department of Public Works had a busy season last winter, too. Pittsburgh uses 42,000 tons of salt for a normal snowfall. Based on Pittsburgh’s average of 42 inches of snow per year, the city spends approximately $4,200,000 on salting the streets, according to Public Works Director Mike Gable. “We used 63,000 tons of salt in the 2013-2014 season and spent about $3.5 million on salt alone,” Gable said. The University uses two separate materials for de-icing: sodium chloride, or rock salt, and a blended material of rock

T P N S U D O K U

salt coated with calcium magnesium, according to Pitt spokeswoman Cara Masset. The type of surface and weather conditions dictates which material the University uses. But all that salt has to go somewhere, and, according to Bain, there’s a trade-off with salting the roads. “Adding a lot of one thing [such as salt] in a concentrated way is probably not good for any part of our environment,” Bain said. Masset said that, in an attempt to reduce the impact on the environment, Pitt’s grounds crew uses only the volume of material that is required for a particular storm. “We are attempting to reduce the amount of de-icing material used,” Fedele said. According to Rossi, most transportation departments use sodium chloride for keeping roadways and sidewalks safe because it’s the cheapest. However, he said the downside to using sodium chloride is that the chloride is the main component in mobilizing metals and transporting them into stream or ground waters.

Salt

4

Today’s difficulty level: Easy Puzzles by Dailysudoku.com


February 11, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

3


4 FROM PAGE 2

SALT Rossi said that alternative salts, such as calcium chloride, magnesium chloride and calcium magnesium acetate, can clear the roads. Pitt uses calcium chloride or magnesium chloride/sodium chloride blend products depending on the sidewalk, according to Fedele. These salts, however, are more ex-

February 11, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com pensive and don’t work as fast as sodium chloride. Calcium magnesium acetate is relatively better for the environment, according to Rossi, because it doesn’t contain chloride, the main component that mobilizes metals. “Calcium chloride works at lower temperatures, but you have to put more of it down, so it doesn’t work as fast as sodium chloride,” Rossi said. Masset said anti-icing methods prevent snow and ice from bonding to surfaces, increasing the effectiveness of plowing,

shoveling and sweeping. There are other methods, apart from salting the streets and sidewalks, to help clear the snow. According to the Salt Routing System, the DPW classifies streets into three categories: primary, secondary and tertiary. “Streets around the Pitt campus are both primary and secondary with the hospitals having emergency routes due to their special need,” Gable said. “Emergency routes are a portion of a primary route.” Additionally, to optimize salt applica-

tion rates, some people have suggested anti-icing as opposed to de-icing. For anti-icing, salt is put down before the snow begins so that, when it snows, the snow melts right away and can be removed easily. De-icing, on the other hand, is when salt is only put down after it snows, so the salt sits on top of the snow and builds up. “It’s more of a manpower issue with anti-icing, because you would have to mobilize in advance,” Rossi said. Another tactic, according to Bain, is to add traction so that not as much salt needs to be used. “You can use things that are more benign, things that don’t dissolve, like sand and grit,” Bain said. “That can help some, but it doesn’t help remove snow — it just adds traction.” While the University has to consider the environment when determining salting methods, some students have alternative thoughts. Katie Otto, a freshman majoring in chemistry, said the excess salt has an impact on her fashion choices. “The excessive salt on the streets has certainly affected my day-to-day choice in footwear,” Otto said. “The salt ruins [my] shoes. It can damage the soles and the tops of the shoes. Not to mention all the slush messes up the shoe.” Rossi has his own salt-removing concoction. He suggests using a solution of 50 percent vinegar and 50 percent water to remove the white stains caused by road salt. “I’ve been doing it because I destroyed my one pair of boots already,” Rossi said. But Otto has changed her everyday footwear because of the salt. “My default footwear ends up having to be big, clunky boots when I would rather be wearing some of my more stylish footwear,” Otto said. Despite the effects salt has on both the environment and pedestrians’ shoes, Bain is concerned that, if salt were removed from the system, there could be immediate and potentially painful consequences for walkers. “If it were up to me to keep a set of stairs clean from snow, and I could potentially lose my job if someone slipped and broke their arm, I’m going to over salt,” Bain said. “Given that responsibility structure, I don’t think there’s a way to remove salt from the system easily.”


February 11, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

EDITORIAL

5

OPINIONS

More room for gender equality in college classrooms

You walk into a lecture on the first day of classes. Hopefully, the professor will be intelligent, knowledgeable and fair — but how about attractive? Many students use ratemyprofessors.com to decide which classes to enroll in, or which to avoid. Today, these student reviews of professors are giving us insight into how gender roles play into professor reviews. Benjamin Schmidt, a Northeastern University history professor, built a chart using 14 million student reviews from the popular college website, according to The New York Times article “The Upshot.” His findings? Male professors are brilliant, awesome and knowledgeable. Women are bossy, annoying, beautiful or ugly. To be fair, these findings indicate a bias that is often unconscious, as physical attraction is — for many people — natural. There is problem, however, when physical attributes overshadow even more important qualities in professional and personal impressiveness, like intelligence, knowledge and character. College is supposed to be an environment in which progress thrives and free thinking flourishes. Schmidt’s findings do not reflect this ideal. We must consider the consequences of reviewing women primarily by their physical traits, rather than their intellectual and personality traits. If we do not, we will continue to belittle the wisdom, experience and work of accomplished female professors and academics. We can never make progress toward gender equality until more students and citizens are aware of and acknowledge disparities like those that Schmidt’s study illuminates. Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, and Adam Grant, a business professor at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, highlighted this unconscious filter in judging the work performance of men and women that persists in our society. As they note, “A man who doesn’t help is ‘busy;’ a woman is ‘selfish.’” Hopefully, awareness campaigns such as Sandberg and Grant’s New York Times articles will help deserving female professors and employees earn the same respect as their deserving male counterparts. So, the next time you review one of your professors, remember there is more to a woman than physical appearance. Remember, as nice as it is when professors have a chili pepper next to their names, the University community will better value and benefit from acknowledgement of their academic achievements.

THE TALBERT REPORT

Academics

Why they’re not important Eli Talbert Columnist The semester is already a third of the way done. If they haven’t already, midterms will pop up everywhere. All of this pressure after the relative bliss of syllabus week might make you focus more on academics. This would be a mistake. Academics are not really what higher education is about. Rather, it is about “exploring the intricacies of your soul.” While it took a whole year and a half for me to learn this truth, you can complete your journey to enlightenment much faster. I know that this statement contradicts a lot of conventional wisdom from parents and teachers. But forget all of that. Now that you are in college, those nags and their “responsibilities” are far away. And you’ll soon realize that your comparatively younger peers are the beholders of true wisdom. College is not really about academics or “learning,” they’ll say. Don’t listen to your philosophy professor rant on about Aristotle. Rather, listen to the great sages of partying, like Asher Roth, who once sang, “Time isn’t wasted when you’re getting wasted.” He didn’t say the same thing about going to class. So, to start off, you need to challenge the boring notion that going to class is essential. Unlike in high school, where you are legally required to sit in a classroom, college is entirely optional — unless

of course you get stuck with one of those awful professors that actually takes attendance. In my first semester, I skipped half of my calculus classes and still managed to get a “C.” And, if I can do it, anyone can, because you are probably exactly like me in every way. Remember that C’s get degrees, and that piece of paper is all that really matters. After all, only 27 percent of college graduates work

Don’t listen to your professor rant on about Aristotle. in a job that is related to their major, according to a survey by the U.S. Bureau of Census. So it’s not like you actually need to learn anything for the thousands of dollars your parents are spending. Their money would be better spent on booze. Speaking of which, you really need to embrace alcohol as your friend. It’s kind of a big deal. While I never would advocate for underage drinking and do not partake in it myself, the majority of college students do. In fact, a government fact sheet proclaims

that 60.8 percent of full-time college students are currently underage drinkers. Yet, from personal experience, I would gauge that 99.9 percent would be a more accurate proportion for Pitt — come at us, bro. There is nothing I regret more from my freshman year than not conforming to this fad of getting sloppy wasted and making decisions I would surely regret. As you start off a new semester, remember that drinking will enable you to network, making connections that will further your career prospects. Just look at how many people do it — you could be urinating in that alley with your future co-worker. But always remember to record your night with photos, because you might not remember who exactly you met. You may, however, vaguely remember who you had sex with — another form of networking. And that brings me to my next point. In college, focusing on getting laid will also benefit you much more than focusing on classes. While you can find knowledge anywhere, there are few other places, aside from bars and nightclubs, where you find many drunken people to hook up with — who may or may not be attractive. Who cares? Your beer goggles are on. No one, except for some stickler employer, will care if you got a C- in political science. But the sex stories you accrue in college will last a lifetime. Just ask your-

Talbert

6


6

February 11, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

Fatima Kizilkaya | Staff Cartoonist

TALBERT

self what is more impressive: graduating with a 4.0 or having sex with more than 40 different people? In our sex-obsessed society, it should be obvious which is the correct answer. Finally, while alcohol and sex are important parts of college, experimenting with illegal drugs is for those who are truly dedicated to higher learning. While, once again, I would never ad-

vocate for anything illegal and have never partaken myself, objectively speaking, college is the best place to experiment. Unlike in the boring workforce, where drug tests have become commonplace and missing days because you are high is frowned upon, drug tests are not nearly as common in college, and you can skip classes to feed your addiction at will. Because of this, plus the easy access to illegal substances and the large number of like-minded people, college is perfect for experimentation. After all, since it is

pretty much inevitable that you will try drugs, it’s better to do it in a relatively safe environment — like college. Now, I know many people will throw out statistics like that 30 percent of students drop out of college their freshman year and 50 percent never graduate. Even more will expound on how getting a degree does not guarantee a job, and still more will point out that with Pitt’s in-state tuition being the highest in the country, the smartest move would be to get the most “educationally” out of your money. To

those people I say: don’t be such downers. Life is about having fun, and fun is doing all of those things I just talked about and saving the annoying consequences for later. So, remember: despite what you’ve been told, academics are not that important. Other things like sex and alcohol are far more beneficial. Don’t waste another semester with studying — just party it up. Eli Talbert writes a biweekly satirical column for The Pitt News. Write to Eli at ejt26@pitt.edu.

y

The Pitt News Crossword, 2/11/2015

FROM PAGE 5

ACROSS 1 Rosie of “The Jetsons,” for one 6 Recede 9 Downloadable programs 13 Golden Gloves venue 14 Chimney substance 16 Toondom’s __ E. Coyote 17 Camp shelters 18 Single proprietor 20 The Old Spaghetti Factory alternative 22 Big D hoopster 23 West Coast sch. with more than 100 NCAA championships 24 Martini order 25 Gloomy 27 Golf hole starting points 29 On the topic of 32 Fed. power dept. 33 “__ Legend”: Will Smith movie 35 Nook and Kindle 38 Self-defense option 40 Emphatic military reply 42 Actor McKellen 43 Japanese soup noodle 44 Formula for salt 46 Brewpub lineup 50 Mr. Fixit’s forte 53 Singer Orbison 55 Aflame 56 Chinese chairman 57 Fragrant bloomer with typically pink flowers 61 Comment after a feast ... or what the first word of 18-, 20-, 38- and 57-Across would sometimes say— if it could talk 63 Christmas celebrity 64 Future plant 65 Nonstick cookware brand 66 __ salts 67 Grinds to a halt 68 Seek damages from 69 Poker-faced

y

2/24/15

By C.C. Burnikel

DOWN 1 Squeal on 2 Parental warning words 3 “No fighting, kids!” 4 “As seen __”: ad phrase 5 Used a stun gun on 6 College application pieces 7 Mannerless fellow 8 Like headline typefaces 9 “So-o adorable!” 10 Cash for fun 11 Crowd __: popular performer 12 Order takers 15 Overflow (with) 19 Artist with the website imaginepeace.com 21 Pa’s pa 26 Hill-building biter 28 “Burnt” crayon color 30 __ firma 31 Surg. sites 34 Mil. mail address

Monday’s Puzzle Solved

©2015 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

36 Literary wrap-up 37 Football’s Parseghian 38 Popped the question 39 Bavarian article 40 Conjecture 41 Think tank guys 45 Baby rocker 47 King in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”

2/24/15

48 Moving engine part 49 Hot and humid 51 Post-surg. area 52 Rapids transport 54 Go-aheads 58 Inseparable pals, to texters 59 Brummell or Bridges 60 Captivated 62 NFL scores


February 11, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

CLUB SPORTS

7

SPORTS

Lucky sevens: Pitt rugby to compete in Vegas tournament Ashley Drwal Staff Writer

A Pitt team is going to gamble for a big win in Las Vegas — but not in the casinos. Pitt’s men’s club rugby team will compete in the Las Vegas Invitational from Thursday to Sunday with the hope of qualifying for the Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship in May.

“We participated in this tournament and are preparing for it similarly to years past,” Andrew Knuttel, a senior who plays hooker on the team, said. “Obviously the weather hasn’t been cooperative, but we have to work with what we are given. We don’t want to be a team that makes excuses, so we’ve had practices out in the snow when we needed to.” Pitt will face off against Dartmouth, Georgetown and the Air Force Academy over the weekend, all of which could pose significant challenges for the Panthers. Dartmouth’s club has won the Ivy League every year since 2008, and Air Force went 6-1 in its fall schedule. The final team in Pitt’s pool, Georgetown, went 6-2 in its own fall schedule. Regardless of how this tournament turns out, Pitt will still continue its tournament schedule by competing in the Keystone Collegiate Rugby Tournament in the spring. Although some of the players may be young, the team still has faith in its capability to do well in Las Vegas. “I believe our team’s strength comes in its diversity of players,” Knuttel said. “We have some older, more knowledgeable and polished players to complement some of our younger and less experienced but very athletic players.

Pitt’s club rugby team holds Fall tryouts. Jeff Ahearn | Assistant Visual Editor

We’re friends on and off the field, so we’re willing to make sacrifices for each other on the field.” The team has been preparing for its season since before winter break, practicing Mondays and Thursdays on the field behind the Cost Center and trying to add in weekend practices whenever possible. These practices last four hours, two for the sevens practice

— which features shorter matches with only seven of the 15 team members — and then another two for the 15s. They also teamed up with Panther Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Club to practice tackling techniques. With the help of Panther MMA, the team can try new tactics all while varying its practices.

Rugby

NEWS

Pitt names 14-member athletic director search committee Chris Puzia Sports Editor

Pitt Chancellor Patrick Gallagher has appointed a 14-member search committee to recommend candidates to become the school’s next athletic director, according to a release on Tuesday. Dr. Randy Juhl, Pitt’s vice chancellor and current acting athletic director, will chair

the committee. Pitt also brought in DHR International, a Chicago-based search firm, to assist with finding candidates. “We want to see athletics thrive in the context of being part of the university,” Gallagher said in the release. “I am certain that all of the members of the search committee understand and support that goal.” Suzie McConnell-Serio, head women’s basketball coach and Alonzo Webb, the head

track and field and cross country coach, are both part of the committee. Current Pitt athletes on the committee include football center Artie Rowell and gymnast Lindsay Offutt, both of whom are on the Pitt Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which serves as a voice for university athletes in matters like rule changes and student athlete welfare.. Former athletic director Steve Pederson

stepped down from the position at Pitt on Dec. 17, the same day that former football head coach Paul Chryst officially accepted the same position at the University of Wisconsin. Pederson served as Pitt’s athletic director in two separate stints from 19962002 and 2007-2014. In his time at Pitt, Pederson oversaw the creation of the Petersen Events Center and Pitt’s transition into the Atlantic Coast Conference.

8


8

THE PITT NEWS Natalie Daher Editor-in-Chief editor@pittnews.com

Harrison Kaminsky, News Editor news@pittnews.com

Matt Barnes, Opinions Editor letters@pittnews.com

Shawn Cooke, A&E Editor

aeeditors@gmail.com Chris Puzia, Sports Editor sports@pittnews.com

Theo Schwarz, Visual Editor

February 11, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com E S T A B L I S HE D 1 9 1 0

Danielle Fox, Managing Editor manager@pittnews.com

Abbey Reighard, Assistant News Editor Dale Shoemaker, Assistant News Editor Courtney Linder, Assistant Opinions Editor Dan Sostek, Assistant Sports Editor Jeff Ahearn, Assistant Visual Editor Mason Lazarcheff, Multimedia Editor David Gardner, Social Media Editor Sam McGinley, Assistant Copy Chief Emily Hower, Assistant Layout Editor

photos@pittnews.com

Ellie Petrosky, Copy Chief tpncopydesk@gmail.com

Stephen Caruso, Layout Editor tpnlayout@gmail.com

Copy Staff

Sarah Choflet Anjuli Das Kinley Gillette Johanna Helba Emily Maccia

FROM PAGE 7

RUGBY Even as the team prepares, its main challenge lies in its inexperience: a majority of the players are freshmen, some of whom have never played in a tournament of this size before. “Our team has a lot of younger players,” Knuttel said, “so a main focus [during practice] is learning how to work with each other and knowing what certain players will do.” Having three practices a week, averaging more than eight hours, helps to build their strength as a single unit and brings the team closer together, according to junior flyhalf Christian Quiros. “Our team has good chemistry,” Quiros said. “And the good thing about having a young team is that everyone will be back next year.” So with this hard-earned chemistry, the question for team captain Connor Janawitz is how that will translate to success in Las Vegas. The senior scrumhalf said its youth will not be an excuse and described the tournament as an “experience.” “Because our team is mostly freshmen, we are a lot smaller than the other teams,” Janawitz said. “But, as long as we know how to tackle, then it shouldn’t matter.” Junior Noble Smith agreed and added that athleticism has the ability to even the odds on the field. “A good rugby player is someone who balances athleticism with good decision making on the field,” Smith said. “We have an athletic team going to Vegas, and I think that we can surprise some people.”

Bridget Montgomery Sarah Mejia Michelle Reagle Megan Zagorski

Editorial Policies Single copies of The Pitt News are free and available at newsstands around campus. Additional copies can be purchased with permission of the editor in chief for $.50 each. Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the students, faculty or University administration. Opinions expressed in columns,- car toons and letters are not necessarily those of The Pitt News. Any letter - in tended for publication must be addressed to the editor, be no more than 250 words and include the writer’s name, phone number and University affiliation, if any. Letters may be sent via e-mail to letters@pittnews.com. The Pitt News reserves the right to edit any and all letters. In the event of multiple replies to an issue, The Pitt News may print one letter that represents the majority of responses. Unsigned editorials are a majority opinion of the Editorial Board, listed to the left. The Pitt News is an independent, student-written and student-managed newspaper for the Oakland campus of the University of Pittsburgh. It is-pub lished Monday through Friday during the regular school year and Wednesdays during the summer. Complaints concerning coverage by The Pitt News, after first being brought to the editors, may be referred to the Community Relations -Com mittee, Pitt News Advisory Board, c/o student media adviser, 435 William Pitt Union, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15260. The editor in chief has the final authority on editorial matters and cannot be censored, according to state and federal law. The editor in chief is selected by the Pitt News Advisory Board, which includes University staff, - fac ulty and students, as well as journalism professionals. The business and edito rial offices of The Pitt News are located at 434 William Pitt Union, University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pa 15260

advertising@pittnews.com

Kevin Vanover, Business Manager Advertising@pittnews.com

David Barr, Sales Manager advertising@pittnews.com

Account Executives David Barone Allison Soenksen Robert Capone Alex Kanner Antonio Blundo A.J. Campli Franny Tish Kaitlin Kramer

Marketing Manager Kristine Aprile

Ad Designer Mark Janavel Genna Gincel

Kelsey McConville, Inside Sales Manager advertising@pittnews.com

Senior University Account Executive Matt Reilly

Inside Sales Molly Emerick Victoria Hetrick Danielle Murphy

Digital Manager Stephen Ellis

Marketing Assistant Ally Stevens


February 11, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com COLUMN

9

Uphill battle

Panthers face gauntlet in upcoming schedule

Members of the Oakland Zoo jump during the “Blackout” game against Syracuse on Saturday. Jeff Ahearn | Assistant Visual Editor

Alex Wise Staff Writer Six days, three games against top-ranked opponents. That’s what awaits the Pitt men’s basketball team over the course of the next week. The Panthers get a rematch with No. 9 Louisville on the road before a home tilt with No. 12 North Carolina in the Petersen Events Center’s final marquee matchup of the season. Capping off the torturous stretch is a road trip to Charlottesville, birthplace of the great Dave Matthews Band, for a Monday showdown with No. 2 Virginia. And let’s not forget the road rivalry game at Syracuse, which seeks revenge after dropping the first of two games to Pitt on Saturday. Ugh. If I still tried to think coherently about this basketball team, I’d say this week doesn’t look promising. But I stopped trying to make sense of this Pitt

team when it followed an overtime loss to Virginia Tech with a win over a top10 team (Notre Dame) on Jan. 21 before squeaking one out at home against a sub -.500 squad from the Northeast Conference (Bryant) on Feb. 2. If there was any measure of consistency to this team, I might not be so negative. But there’s not, so I am. Things kick off Wednesday at my favorite arena in the U.S. Admittedly, I’ve never been within 300 miles of Louisville’s KFC Yum! Center, but the fact that it’s called the KFC Yum! Center makes it the best place ever. It also makes me hungry. Back to basketball: Pitt is no match for Louisville athletically, especially inside. Forward Montrezl Harrell is uncontrollable when he decides to be, as evidenced by his 22-point effort against North Carolina last week, and Pitt doesn’t have the size or the muscle to compete in that regard. To Pitt’s credit, the team held the Cardinals to just three total offensive

rebounds last time — a feat that Pitt must repeat if it wants any shot at a win. But interior play wasn’t the difference maker in the two teams’ first goround: Louisville guards Terry Rozier and Chris Jones combined for 43 points, including 5-8 from the 3-point line. If the Panthers can defend the perimeter and limit Louisville’s second chances (and maybe shoot a little better than 25 percent from behind the arc this time), they might just have a shot at knocking off another top-10 team. North Carolina is the most unpredictable of the bunch, though in theory it seems like the team most likely for Pitt to knock off. Playing at home after wins against Notre Dame and Syracuse will make the Pete an insane environment that would be tough for any team to enter. But Carolina has been solid in its ACC play. Its only losses are by one to Notre Dame, in overtime to Louisville and a 75-64 loss to Virginia. In other words,

they’ve been competitive with the best. Even at home, Pitt will need a special effort to bring home a win. Finally, Tony Bennett’s pack-line system has Virginia surrendering an incredibly low 50.7 points per game. This is scary to a Pitt fan, as the Panthers’ offense tends to stagnate at times. Any team that goes long stretches without generating offense, as Pitt does, will struggle to score against the Cavaliers — who, on Saturday, held Louisville to 25 points below their season scoring average. Justin Anderson, one of Virginia’s key players, is likely out after just having had surgery on a fractured finger. But don’t expect his 13 points per game to go unfilled. And then we get to go play basketball in a football stadium against a bunch of lazy kids who sit in a zone all day because their crazy old coach tells them to. It’s a tough run. But, should the Panthers survive it, their tournament hopes will skyrocket.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.