The beginning of a football season is one of my truly busy times of the year.  That's why you haven't seen much in this space in recent weeks.  That plus I'm writing a lot of other stuff these days.  Let's get started

Mountain Lions

I don't know why people ask me what I think of the Mountain Lions before a season starts.  I saw both scrimmages Altoona was a part of before last Friday's North Allegheny game and was quite underwhelmed.  They were sluggish against Hollidaysburg and after a slow start against Erie Prep, they kicked it into a better gear and looked ok for the most part.  But, North Allegheny was first up on the Mountain Lion schedule.

The Borne Power Index predicted that Altoona would lose by two touchdowns and based on what I'd seen leading into the first game, I thought that would be a decent outcome.  Altoona lost some very talented seniors, virtually all their speed and had not much size up front.  They had a spattering of good kids here and there, but this had all the earmarks of a rebuilding year, with a short roster. 

I identified Jordan Novosel, Derek Gallardy and Nick Soto as players who Altoona would depend on for the new season.  Cory Becker, DJ Greene and Ty Wentz all had big games as well as the others mentioned.  Wentz picked off a Mike Locke pass at the 28 and returned it for a touchdown with 1:42 left and Altoona had a very unlikely victory.  It got us to thinking about big Mountain Lion wins...unlikely in some cases.

Jim Abbott suggested the Cincinnati Moeller game under Ed Dalton as the last win as big as this.  I thought last year's Harrisburg game was as big, though not the size of upset.  A couple of others come to mind.  Back in the 80's, Altoona upset Brooke, WV at Mansion Park.  Bucky Billiard, Brooke's coach, was so upset with the officiating that he refused to play Altoona again.  When Vince Nedimyer was coach, Altoona traveled to Williamsport and no one gave them a chance.  Damon Luciano led the team to victory hitting big pass after big pass to Vic Huber.  Just a few years ago, Altoona traveled to Easton and won.  It was a high scoring affair and came one day after Coach Tom Palfy's father had died unexpectedly.  It was memorable for another reason.  The broadcast crew had an accident at high speed on the way to the game.  Thanx to the police in the Poconos, we were able to get there on time.  I'm sure there were others, but those were pretty good ones.

What does this mean for the season?  Why would you ask me?  I obviously know nothing about it!

Just kidding.  There is certainly more hope for the 9 remaining games on the schedule.  But the rest of the teams are familiar with Altoona and there's not going to be any sneaking up on anyone from now on.  This is certainly a game they can win this week.  But Chambersburg did get out to an 18-0 lead against Lower Dauphin before falling in the end.  Beware.  Altoona usually has a tough time in Trojanland. 

But having seen what I've seen to date, Altoona's heart won't be a question mark.

Pitt

Not that I actually thought Pitt would lose this game, but I surely didn't think they were a lock.  I've seen this act before.  Highly touted athletes, highly beatable opponent and the poorly prepared team loses to the overacheivers.  In fact, I see this every year at Pitt. 

Dave Wannstedt is as good a reason as any that Pitt continues to lose games like this.  I don't really want to take anything away from Bowling Green.  They deserve praise for winning in what should have been a less than ideal situation for them.  Add on the fact that Pitt was up 14-0, playing at home and this one can turn the stomach of any good Pitt fan. 

The euphoria created by the win over West Virginia last year may have been a bit inflated.  Pitt had a really disappointing season last year.  They regularly underacheived, a Wandstedt trait.  That fact seemed to hide behind their big win.  Well, guess what.  The coach is still Dave Wannstedt.  The team will still underacheive.  They'll come up with a monumental effort from time to time, but don't get your hopes too high.  The worst fact that looms over the program is that Pitt had to beg Wannstedt to take the job.  At least they only play Buffalo this week.

Penn State

Have they started playing yet?  If you'd have offered me a trade of opponents last week, I'd have taken it.  Penn State could have played North Allegheny and the Mountain Lions could have had Coastal Carolina.  If I've heard one person talk about the sharp Penn State offense, I've heard 25.  Please.  Wait until they actually face a defense.

Pirates

I know, baseball season is over.  And it will be until the Pirates decide to participate.  However, just to add an exclamation point to how awful baseball is, the Pirates' #1 pick has been pushed toward redoing his deal by super agent Scott Boras.  If the deal is quashed and the Pirates wind up losing Pedro Alvarez, I will never pay attention to baseball again.  I'll play poker all summer.

Steelers

Who knows how this thing is going to turn out?  The schedule is brutal.  The offensive line is untested.  A 9-7 year might just be great.  Here are the things I want to see.

No clunkers.  In other words, don't go on the road and lose to Arizona because you weren't ready.  Don't have key members of the team dropping passes, fumbling or missing chip shot field goals.  This schedule is demanding enough without putting oneself behind the 8 ball. 

No special teams gaffes.  Along the lines of the first request, the Steelers cannot be giving huge chunks of yardage to the opposition right after scoring.  The defense has to help out as much as possible.  They cannot if the ball is on their side of the 50 when the drive begins.

No road kill in the backfield.  Ben was run over so much last year, I'm surprised he didn't have tire tracks on his jersey.  The line has to block better and he's got to get rid of the ball quicker.  I like him running out of the pocket, but some designed quick release pass plays could take some of the defense's aggressiveness down a notch. 

I really think this team is going to score a lot of points.  In the NFL 2008, you have to be able to march with the big bands.  New England, San Diego, Indianapolis all will just keep scoring if they have to.  The Steelers have the weapons to do just that.  They need to score touchdowns.  If the defense slips like it did at the end of 2007, they'll need to score more points. 

And don't take Houston for granted.  They've got one of the best defensive linemen in the league and it will be his and their priority to chase Ben and get to him.  If they have success in holding the Steelers down, Sunday could be a long day.  Keep in mind that for Houston to be successful, they've got to keep pace with Indy and Jacksonville and perhaps even Tennessee.  That makes for a toughened opponent.