News and Notes

Paul Zeise of the PG reports that Robb Houser will join Adam Gunn in Green Bay's minicamp in hopes of landing a contract. Houser was a solid center on a line that produced one of the best running games in all of football, so it doesn't surprise me that he'll get his shot.

Brian Bennett of ESPN.com has stories about Greg Romeus working to improve his draft stock and about Ray Graham staying put:

"Leaving never crossed my mind," he said. "I'm a competitor, and I just feel my chance is going to come."

Personally, I think he's probably smart to stay, though I wouldn't fault him for leaving. Even if Dion Lewis doesn't leave after this year, which could be an option, Graham could still have a year as the starter if he doesn't get beaten on the depth chart. Plus, as I mentioned before, he needn't look very far back in Pitt's history to see that the school is capable of sending backup players to the NFL. Nate Byham was selected higher than the more heralded Dorin Dickerson who not only had a great year, but a great workout. And after backing up Shady for about two seasons, Larod Stephens-Howling is not only on the roster, but playing, for the Arizona Cardinals. Graham should get his chance and can still show his abilities even when not starting.

The NBA Playoffs are here and DeJuan Blair is still making an impact. Levance Fields and Tyrell Biggs are putting up decent numbers in their first year of pro ball overseas.

From the Panthers' website, this is a bit old, but Pitt's basketball program ranks among the 20 most valuable in the country:

For the second consecutive year, the Pitt Basketball program was listed among the nation's top-20 most valuable college basketball programs by Forbes Magazine. Pitt was ranked No. 18 and was one of only three Big East schools to be listed among the top-20. Four factors were measured in the magazine's evaluation: value of contributions to the university, net profit generated from the basketball program, estimated value to conference and estimated direct spending by visitors to the county attributable to basketball games.

Fairly interesting stuff. Louisville (3rd) and Syracuse (8th) were the other two Big East teams in the top 20. North Carolina topped the list. The report says Pitt earned a profit of $6.5 million and has a total value of #13.2 million.

And I normally don't comment on women's basketball recruiting, but this one deserves a small mention as Pitt actually ADDED a player rather than losing one.

Finally, there would have been hell to pay if we couldn't get our fried fish sandwiches from the Towers food court back in the day.