Since being named Athletic Director at Pitt in 2017, Heather Lyke has pretty much distinguished herself in that role, but a development this past week has caused me to call "bulls----" on the Pitt athletic department, and since the buck stops with her, well, sorry about that, Ms. Lyke.
I am speaking about the decision that Pitt has made to not play against Duquesne in the annual City Game basketball game next season. "We just can't fit it on to our schedule next year" seems to be the word coming from Oakland. Are you kidding me? How many basketball games will be on Pitt's non-conference schedule next year? How many of them will be cream puff guaranteed wins against schools like East Overshoe State?
Duquesne sits a few miles down Forbes Street from Pitt. Duquesne is willing to play at the Peterson Center if PPG Paints Arena is somehow not available (which I find it hard to believe). And Pitt can't see their way to playing this game?
I give credit to Pitt for agreeing to play Robert Morris next season in Moon Township for the opening of RMU's new on campus arena, but if they are using the scheduling of THAT game as an excuse NOT to find a way to play Duquesne, well, like I say....bull----!
All this is even more incomprehensible when one considers how the Pitt administration seems to be willing to crawl on its knees to schedule football games with Penn State, and then allows its fan base to bellyache and moan about Penn State's arrogance in not wanting to include the Panthers on its football schedule. Looks like Pitt has learned a lesson from PSU and is doing the same thing to Duquesne in this instance.
Um, they already announced a resumption in 2020. SO 1 year will not kill anyone. It's nothing like how PSU has played Pitt in football for decades. They only signed a 4 yr deal when their backs were against the wall and went straight back to acting like JoPa when the sanctions got listed.
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