The Sports Monitor

Pitt football coach Dave Wannstedt is on the hot seat after Friday's blowout loss to West Virginia. Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez is on the hot seat after losing again to rival Ohio State. If the Wolverines can Rodriguez, Pitt should put him at the top of the list of potential replacements for Wannstedt. Rodriguez did wonders for West Virginia and could revive the Panthers' attack with his spread offense. It's far more dynamic that Wannstedt's and could dominate the rest of the Big East. And if such a move could come to pass, imagine how much fury would be added to the Pitt-West Virginia rivalry. Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/green_rick .

When it comes to Pitt athletics, I have a simple rule: When given the chance, the Panthers will disappoint you. It's never been more apparent than with the football team under coach Dave Wannstedt. Friday's Backyard Maul by the West Virginia Mountaineers was the latest example. Pitt owned the first half statistically, except for the scoreboard. On WVU's first drive of the second half, the Mountaineers broke the Panthers' spirit on a long pass play for a touchdown on third down. For the second year in a row, Pitt entered the rivalry game controlling its destiny for a BCS game. And for the second straight season, Pitt came up short. This time, way short at home. This was supposed to be the season the Panthers won the Big East and play in a big-time bowl game. Instead, we get treated to a litany of excuses from Wannstedt. This loss stings, even when you don't expect much from the Panthers. Now, some of the area media members are starting to question Wanns...

Check out these other famous football rants: Derek Anderson:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqpkaa2NR6A Jim Mora:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwq7BYOnDrM Jim Mora II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tie0tz7jGDI&feature=related Mike Gundy:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoMmbUmKN0E Dennis Green:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYKIcnj1MJY Herm Edwards:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRxm0oGbnRI If foul language offends you, you might want to avoid some of those links.

Before leaving town with their tails between their legs, the Oakland Raiders had a parting shot for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Hey, your field stinks ... or something like that. If it makes the Raiders feel better about their 35-3 loss at Heinz Field on Sunday, that's OK with me. For their complaining about the field conditions Sunday, the Raiders didn't seem to have a problem winning on it last season. And it could have been worse. Heinz Field will see plenty of action the rest of the week with Pitt playing on Friday and the WPIAL championships Saturday. I think the bigger problem is that the Raiders were exposed as an average team. Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/green_rick .

The New York Yankees didn't win enough last season. Apparently, the Yankees didn't make enough money, either. The team announced it will raise ticket prices on some of its top seats. To determine the amount, the team studied the resale prices on StubHub.com. My guess is the team needs more money to sign Cliff Lee. If the Pirates used this approach, my guess is they'd lower prices each season. Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/green_rick .

I've seen enough of Jeff Reed. I grew tired of him last season when he gave half-hearted effort while trying to tackle the opposing team on kickoff returns. He put more effort into beating up towel dispensers than going after kick returners. I could let that pass. Besides, if the returner gets tackled earlier, then Reed wouldn't be put into that position. Make the kicks and everything is cool with me. Well, he's not making the kicks, which is the key job for a kicker. Sunday's miss (from 26 yards) against the Patriots was Reed's seventh in nine games. I'm sure his comments complaining about the fans and the Heinz Field turf didn't endear him to many. Now come reports that the Steelers are going to bring in some kickers Tuesday. If the Steelers are lucky, they'll have a new kicker Tuesday night.

Ugly. There's no other way to describe Sunday's dismantling of the Steelers by the Patriots. Whatever Tom Brady wanted to do, he did. Whatever the Patriots defense wanted to do, it did. The final score really did not indicate how bad it was. Hines Ward's streak of consecutive games with at least a catch came to a painful end. Yeah, nothing went right. The Patriots' defense was supposed to be vulnerable. Their offense wasn't supposed to be as lethal. Heck, the Browns beat this team. And the Browns beat the Saints, too. What's that mean for the Steelers going forward? Their line looks bad -- real bad. The defense can't stop the pass. It's one thing for Drew Brees and all of his weapons to shred them. But Tom Brady doesn't have the talent at receiver that Brees does. Yet, Brady looked magnificent Sunday night. Even Carson Palmer looked good against the Steelers last week. There's no doubt injuries have taken a huge toll. Bu...

I'm often perplexed by the moves made by the Pittsburgh Pirates. I didn't like the hiring of John Russell a couple of seasons ago. It didn't make sense to me for an organization to hire a manager that wasn't good enough to stay on the coaching staff. With the slow-as-molasses approach to hiring a new manager, it appears Clint Hurdle is the front-runner. My guess is the Bucs wait until there are no other managerial vacancies. They can offer Hurdle a take-it or leave-it deal and get a manager on the cheap. In other words, they can get someone no one else wants. Another thing I find troubling: Hurdle makes Jim Tracy look like a genius. Hurdle was fired from the Rockies and Tracy took an underachieving team and made it a winner. Tracy wasn't good enough for the Pirates. Why should we expect Clint Hurdle to be an improvement? Hopefully, Hurdle isn't hired.

It's been more than two months since I made my last post. For those of you that have followed, thanks, and my apologizes for not being more frequent -- there certainly has been enough sporting news to comment on. For the last part of summer, I spent my time getting the nursery ready for our new arrival. Plastering, painting and cleaning can be such a chore. She arrived in late September and I've been adjusting to life again without much sleep. I figured I better re-commit myself to posting more regularly again instead of waiting for our new one to sleep. Who knows how long that would take!