Sunday, January 24, 2010

The Comet Of Pittsburgh's Future Could Take A Lesson From The Ghost Of Coaching's Past

Thirty years ago, when Joe Paterno was 94, sports fans' thoughts naturally turned toward Paterno's retirement plans, and a sportswriter turned those thoughts into a question concerning Paterno's future in college football. Paterno's response: "What do you want me to do . . . leave it for guys like [Barry] Switzer and [Jackie] Sherrill?"

I put it to you, Bram: Do you intend to leave southwestern Pennsylvania for guys like Ravenstahl? Zober and Zappala? Onorato and Orie? For the Post-Gazette and Tribune-Review?

Three decades later, Paterno is still winning (at a cow-town school, no less, that couldn't build a basketball program if the last keg in town were at stake), still refusing to play Pitt, still sporting shoe-polish black hair, still demonstrating lucidity periodically . . . well, you get the picture.,

The point is, the Comet's time has not passed.

Don't do it, Bram.

3 comments:

Bram Reichbaum said...

WHOA! This is a little much. LOL.

First of all, I promise you, I AM NOT MOVING ANYWHERE. I am going to continue to be a citizen and participate in the life of this city and in its local politics, no matter what happens. Just in a different way. A more outwardly normal way I expect. Plus I'll be reading blogs and probably leaving comments and what have you.

Second, this has been asymmetrical warfare all along. Some people have been looking to me as kind of a cult hero, but the fact is I've led you to precious few strategic victories. A supply raid here, the destruction of a checkpoint there. We've stayed alive and have established a beachhead of sorts on city council, but we're still getting our asses roundly kicked. I don't think we should expect to do significantly worse with the next generation of virtual chieftains, in fact we may do a lot better. They've adapted to me and my voice and my ways I think, I've lost a good chunk of my "everyman" cache by having fallen in behind folks like Peduto and Shields too regularly for too long. Not that I'm at all ashamed of that.

Third, people ARE GOING to step up. Maybe not immediately -- I was there to pick up the slack upon the demise of the Burgh Report, this go-round seems a little more unclear at its outset -- but I can envision people behind their computers feeling liberated and motivated to seize the space I leave with their own voices.

I've been going to sleep with a laptop next to my pillow for most of the last three years. And waking up next to it, making the Internet rounds before I go to the freaking bathroom. Combing my own blog for comments I need to answer or delete. Coming all the other blogs (such as yours) for the latest. Refreshing the P-G and Trib for mid-day updates. Feeling obligated to produce the next chapter in the story when it's going slowly or badly. It's not good for me. My dinner is burning again because I got caught up writing another impromptu essay; I'm sick of that. I may return to the sphere-o-sphere one day in some fashion, but at the very least I need a loooooooong break. Thanks for making me feel very good though, this here may well get printed out, laminated, and go up on the wall.

NEXT YEAR, IN JERUSALEM!!!

Anonymous said...

boo hoo hoo one less jerk taking cheap potshots at the city
nobody reads this crap anyways

deegazette said...

Perhaps you can let us know in which Beatnik bar you will be performing your schtick and we can come to show our support.