Duquesne strikes out

Duquesne University, President Dougherty and the athletic department struck out big time when they eliminated the baseball program and several other sports that don't make money for the school like basketball, which had a disappointing season after all the hoopla and hype.

Colin Dunlap of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette wrote a poignant story today about the baseball team's final game. It reminded me of how Duquesne was so inept and insensitive in the way it informed athletes and their families about their money-driven decision to send the baseball team to the dugout permanently. The administration hid from the media for several days and then emerged with a written statement that lacked any shred of concern or compassion for the affected athletes. The school and the athletic department need a lesson in honest, open and transparent communications.

Now that baseball, wrestling, men's swimming and golf are extinct at Duquesne, what sport is next to go? You can bet it won't be basketball. I am starting to wonder about some of the so-called "student athletes" that Ron Everhart has recruited over the past few years to turn the program around. Some of them have seemed like rental players who were more interested in being on the court than being in the classroom. Good to see exceptions to the rule like Jason Duty.

Let's hope Duquesne learns from its mistakes and does a better job the next time they cut any program in athletics or academics. The university is teaching students that greed is good when it comes to the business of college sports. And when it comes to communicating with its stakeholders, this university is still in the minor leagues.

Pittsburgh Pirate Fans Gone AWOL

The Pittsburgh Pirates and owner Bob "Good for" Nutting are reinforcing their reputation as the laughing stock of major league baseball. The franchise may have set the MLB record for the fewest fans at a single game on a recent Tuesday night, when they were one-hit by the Reds. KDKA news estimated there were fewer than 1,000 fans at the game. The Post-Gazette reported seeing more ushers than bodies in some of the sections. PNC is a great ballpark but the Bucs aren't worth seeing for a buck.

Here are a few ideas to attract more fans to Pirate games:

Bring back Barry Bonds and hold a Human Growth Hormone night, with every fan receiving free samples of the "cream." The fans who attend will become twice as big, filling more seats.

Pay fans to come to the game. This novel idea might jumpstart the city's economy. Mayor Ravenstahl will support this promotion, if you can find him.

Trade all of the team's best players and use the cash to pay for more Fireworks Nights.

Sign Ben Roethlisberger because unlike most of the Pirates, he has a history of getting past first base.

Change the team's name to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Illegal Alien Encounters in Pennsylvania

So now Pennsylvania State Reps. Daryl Metcalfe and Harry Readshaw are pushing legislation modeled after the Arizona law that allows police to stop and detain suspected illegal aliens. Their bill differs slightly from Arizona's law but the end result would be just as repulsive -- the home of the Liberty Bell would become a state that violates the civil and constitutional rights of people who appear to be illegal aliens due to their ethnicity or color. The politicians didn't put the word "profiling" in their bill but that is exactly what it is.

Metcalfe is a conservative Republican from Cranberry, a predominantly white suburb north of Pittsburgh that is worlds apart from the diversity and ethnicity of the city. He talks about "Pennsylvania's ongoing illegal alien invasion" and he estimates that there are 140,000 illegal aliens in Pennsylvania -- I assume he identified them by counting anyone who looks Mexican, Somalian, Asian or Pakistani.

Metcalfe is yet another self-serving elected official whose vision of America is built on a foundation of prejudice and political hate-mongering. Blame the illegal aliens for every problem in Pennsylvania, from the state budget to high unemployment and crime; that is the battle cry of legislators like Metcalfe, who appears to have no reservations about whipping his fellow white Americans into a racist frenzy, just as Hitler and his goons targeted, rounded up and exterminated millions of Jews in the name of cleansing Germany.

Imagine, if you will, a police state where anybody who appears to be a politician could be herded away and deported to Arizona because their car's right turn signal wasn't working. Arizona would deserve it but it would be wrong.

Our nation has no right to detain and deport politicians like Metcalfe simply because they look and act like politicians, any more than it has the right to detain and deport anyone who looks and acts like an illegal alien.

We do have the right to vote politicians like Metcalfe and Readshaw out of Harrisburg, which is exactly what we should do. Too bad those 140,000 so-called illegal aliens in Pennsylvania can't vote.

Pittsburgh's Polluted Air

Guess I can breathe a bit easier knowing that Pittsburgh's air has fallen from the worst in the nation to the third worst, according to a new report from the American Lung Association. It seems we have daily soot pollution that is topped by only two other metropolitan areas.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported the news today. I was struck by the irony that the Allegheny County Health Department -- a weak and ineffective agency in my opinion that fails to enforce the smoking laws or serious restaurant health violations -- seemed defensive in its comments on the issue and took exception to the ALA's use of specific soot readings.

Frankly, saying that our region's air quality is improving is like saying that the Pittsburgh Pirates are playing good baseball.

For a city that has claimed (much to my astonishment) the title of America's Most Liveable City in the past, the fine particle pollution is a dark cloud on the region's reputation that poses a real health threat to thousands of men, women and children.

We live in a valley where the environmental legacy of shuttered steel mills. coal-fired plants and coke ovens still hangs heavy in the air and in the groundwater. The fact that Pittsburgh has no train or subway system (the T to the South Hills is a blip on the radar screen of mass transportation) and a lousy, financially strapped bus system only fuels the problem of air pollution because almost everyone here drives to work, usually one person to a car. To become a truly liveable city, Pittsburgh needs high-speed trains, water taxis, more car pooling and a much better bus system to alleviate traffic and reduce ozone smog as well.

It's clear that the politicans and health/environmental agencies are failing to combat this breathtaking problem. They are only producing more hot air. The end result is that Pittsburghers will continue to suck this soot into their lungs on a daily basis.

How many lives will be harmed or cut short in the future because of Pittsburgh's pollution passivity?

Pittsburgh News and Boos for Big Ben

If you haven't heard the news reports, Big Ben is going to issue a written media statement on Monday, with no press conference planned.

After being sacked for as many as six games for allegedly repugnant behavior that disgraced the city of Pittsburgh, the Steelers and the NFL, I imagine that Ben's PR-polished, lawyered script will read something like this:

• "I accept the commissioner's decision and I will comply with his ruling."
• "I know I have let the city, my teammates and the fans down."
• "I will use this time constructively and dedicate myself to becoming a better person."
• "I look forward to contributing to the team when I return."

To be sure, Ben is scrambling to avoid a blitz of questions from reporters amid the angry public backlash. In the interest of shedding further light on the subject, we have come up with 10 possible reasons why Ben is declining to hold a press conference on Monday.

10) Alcohol isn't served at press conferences in Pittsburgh.
9) You can't fit many reporters in a small bathroom.
8) His off-duty bodyguards can't block reporters.
7) There is no evidence that it will succeed.
6) He is auditioning for "Jersey Shore."
5) Reporters are usually over the age of 21.
4) He is tired of taking shots.
3) "What goes on in Milledgeville, stays in Milledgeville."
2) He likes taking snaps, not tough questions.
1) He has a play date with Tiger Woods.