For you Ron Cook (Pittsburgh P-G) detractors, . . .

[bcspsu]

he announced this morning on his talk show that he's retiring from all media and moving to Florida. I may be in the minority, but I thought that he was one of the few PA media members who treated PSU pretty fairly.

 

[NITTANYJGK]

he announced this morning on his talk show that he's retiring from all media and moving to Florida. I may be in the minority, but I thought that he was one of the few PA media members who treated PSU pretty fairly.

You are correct sir! He was blatantly honest and reported on PSU fairly. When he criticized PSU, it was justified. Often, Pitt fans often criticized him as being a PSU cheerleader. (That's not a surprise; Pitt fans could never understand the PPG reporting PSU news at all).

I'll miss Cook when he retires.

 

[bvillebaron]

You are correct sir! He was blatantly honest and reported on PSU fairly. When he criticized PSU, it was justified. Often, Pitt fans often criticized him as being a PSU cheerleader. (That's not a surprise; Pitt fans could never understand the PPG reporting PSU news at all).

I'll miss Cook when he retires.

I agree as well. Good luck to him in his retirement.

 

[LeatherHelmets]

I like Cookie as a writer for the PG. A Pittsburgh guy who went to Northwestern. I don't care for him and Starkey on 93.7. Maybe it's more Starkey.

 

[bcspsu]

I like Cookie as a writer for the PG. A Pittsburgh guy who went to Northwestern. I don't care for him and Starkey on 93.7. Maybe it's more Starkey.

I don't like Starkey as a talk show host either, and think that Cook was better on radio when he did the show himself. It's a moot issue now because I just heard Cook say that he will be in Florida this weekend, so this is his last week doing the show.

 

[Strick73]

I didn’t like Starkey as a writer for the Tribune Review. And don’t like him as a radio host either. At least Cook was fair in his reporting on PSU.

 

[Knight57]

I enjoyed them together. Cook is not a homer, but he will critize Penn State at times as well as any other school or team. Cook hates MIchigan and their fan base from his days at Northwestern. He said he had his first beer in 10th grade and it was love at first sight. He is known for his cheapness and going places where he can eat and drink for free.

 

[BBHorn86]

One thing that was very reliable about Cook. Whenever he penned an article about how Pitt's football program had passed PSU the next two seasons would prove how that wasn't true. It happened in 2016, and it happened again in 2021 after Pitt won the ACC Championship.

 

[Zone-Blitz]

He was ok, but was way off the mark in recent years in regards to pitt and psu. In august of 2022, he declared pitt was the better progam. They finished 9-4 and then 3-9 last year. Penn state went 11-2 and 10-3.
After the 2016 loss to Pitt, he wrote an article that Pitt had surpassed PSU as the dominant program in PA. Pitt finished 8-5 and PSU won the big ten.

 

[Cowbell Man]

He was ok, but was way off the mark in recent years in regards to pitt and psu. In august of 2022, he declared pitt was the better progam. They finished 9-4 and then 3-9 last year. Penn state went 11-2 and 10-3.
After the 2016 loss to Pitt, he wrote an article that Pitt had surpassed PSU as the dominant program in PA. Pitt finished 8-5 and PSU won the big ten.

When writers use wishful thinking rather than use all evidence.

 

[jferretti]

One thing that was very reliable about Cook. Whenever he penned an article about how Pitt's football program had passed PSU the next two seasons would prove how that wasn't true. It happened in 2016, and it happened again in 2021 after Pitt won the ACC Championship.

I guess if the standard is never being wrong about an opinion then Cook was a failure. Otherwise he was what a scribe should be, thought provoking and interesting.

 

[Obliviax]

He was ok, but was way off the mark in recent years in regards to pitt and psu. In august of 2022, he declared pitt was the better progam. They finished 9-4 and then 3-9 last year. Penn state went 11-2 and 10-3.
After the 2016 loss to Pitt, he wrote an article that Pitt had surpassed PSU as the dominant program in PA. Pitt finished 8-5 and PSU won the big ten.

I don't know Ron Cook but those predictions should have disqualified him for any rational sports talk whatsoever. I mean, my God, how could you be that far off? If you just look at recruiting and income you can see the MASSIVE disparity between the two programs. Look at the stadium, revenue and income disparities. Pitt, with not having a stadium near campus and getting very little fan support, will never surpass PSU unless there is a major sea change at one of the two universities.

I don't know Ron Cook and don't think I've heard one program of his but that has me scratching my head.

 

[bcspsu]

I don't know Ron Cook but those predictions should have disqualified him for any rational sports talk whatsoever. I mean, my God, how could you be that far off? If you just look at recruiting and income you can see the MASSIVE disparity between the two programs. Look at the stadium, revenue and income disparities. Pitt, with not having a stadium near campus and getting very little fan support, will never surpass PSU unless there is a major sea change at one of the two universities.

I don't know Ron Cook and don't think I've heard one program of his but that has me scratching my head.

Based on what has happened in college athletics since the summer of 2022 when UCLA and USC joined the Big 10, the disparity between Pitt and even a Big 10 school like Rutgers in football only has grown. Pitt right now along with many other ACC schools is closer to being at the level of the MAC schools in football than even the least prominent Big 10 program, just based on TV revenue and visibility. They've had a real bad 2023 and now 2024 not only on the field but off of it; just yesterday, one of their top assistants left to become a NFL coach.

 

[Obliviax]

Based on what has happened in college athletics since the summer of 2022 when UCLA and USC joined the Big 10, the disparity between Pitt and even a Big 10 school like Rutgers in football only has grown. Pitt right now along with many other ACC schools is closer to being at the level of the MAC schools in football than even the least prominent Big 10 program, just based on TV revenue and visibility. They've had a real bad 2023 and now 2024 not only on the field but off of it; just yesterday, one of their top assistants left to become a NFL coach.

According to this, Pitt averaged 37k fans in 2022 with a five year attendance of only 55% of stadium capacity. That is right between the pre-primetime Colorado Buffalos and Arizona State (43, 44, and 45 rankings). Penn State was #2 with an attendance of 107,000 in 2022 with an 85% of capacity in the previous five years. PSU was ranked #2 with the top ten being UM, PSU, TA&M, LSU, AL, tOSU, TX, GA, TN and Auburn. Clemson and ND were 14 and 15. If you take a look at the top ten, you've got every team being SEC or B1G.

 

[bcspsu]

According to this, Pitt averaged 37k fans in 2022 with a five year attendance of only 55% of stadium capacity. That is right between the pre-primetime Colorado Buffalos and Arizona State (43, 44, and 45 rankings). Penn State was #2 with an attendance of 107,000 in 2022 with an 85% of capacity in the previous five years. PSU was ranked #2 with the top ten being UM, PSU, TA&M, LSU, AL, tOSU, TX, GA, TN and Auburn. Clemson and ND were 14 and 15. If you take a look at the top ten, you've got every team being SEC or B1G.

Another thing that hurts Pitt is the fact that Pittsburgh and the surrounding Western PA area has a huge contingent of PSU alumni and fans, as well as a lot of WVU, ND and OSU alumni and fans. I would have to think that other than Chicago, there are very few other cities that have more ND fans than Pittsburgh just based on the fact that there are a lot of Catholic schools in this area in which the ND mystique is instilled. Also, this area has produced a lot of players for ND, like Johnny Lujack, Terry Hanratty, Tom Clements, Joe Montana, and many others.

In fact, I attended Bishop Canevin High School in the Green Tree area of Pittsburgh, which is where Tom Clements went. When I played football for Canevin, our uniforms were exact replicas of PSU's uniforms, but there were a lot of ND fans there, including my best friend (he and I have attended several ND games through the years, including the famous PSU snow game in 1992, and his nephew actually was a walk-on qb there a few years ago). Moreover, my neice and nephew attended Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School in Moon, and ND has a program with the school in which they award stipends to students for academic achievements to help defray the tuition cost, of which my neice was a recipient.

The above was a long winded way of saying that Pitt, even in its hometown, has a limited fanbase that I believe is getting smaller by the year. I myself am a Pitt Law School grad but have been a PSU fan since the mid 70s.

 

[91Joe95]

Cook is a putz.

 

[The Spin Meister]

I don't know Ron Cook but those predictions should have disqualified him for any rational sports talk whatsoever. I mean, my God, how could you be that far off? If you just look at recruiting and income you can see the MASSIVE disparity between the two programs. Look at the stadium, revenue and income disparities. Pitt, with not having a stadium near campus and getting very little fan support, will never surpass PSU unless there is a major sea change at one of the two universities.

I don't know Ron Cook and don't think I've heard one program of his but that has me scratching my head.

In Cook’s defense the 2016 statement was just after they beat at at home with a sellout crowd that went crazy. We were still trying to overcome the big scandal, the cut in scholarships……yes they were restored but it takes time for recruits to move up…..and the reputational damage down and how that affect recruits. So it didn’t look good for us especially after we got manhandled by Mich. The things clicked and we rolled on to the Rose Bowl.

And in 2021 the Wuhan epidemic hit which really screwed up our team. Thanks to the B2G waffling, the state of Pa with ridiculous rules, a new OC that couldn’t practice with the team, and more we looked dazed and confused. And Pitt won the ACC which people believed was a good conference title. The city was pretty pumped and he drank the Kool Aide.

 

[Obliviax]

In Cook’s defense the 2016 statement was just after they beat at at home with a sellout crowd that went crazy. We were still trying to overcome the big scandal, the cut in scholarships……yes they were restored but it takes time for recruits to move up…..and the reputational damage down and how that affect recruits. So it didn’t look good for us especially after we got manhandled by Mich. The things clicked and we rolled on to the Rose Bowl.

And in 2021 the Wuhan epidemic hit which really screwed up our team. Thanks to the B2G waffling, the state of Pa with ridiculous rules, a new OC that couldn’t practice with the team, and more we looked dazed and confused. And Pitt won the ACC which people believed was a good conference title. The city was pretty pumped and he drank the Kool Aide.

OK, I get 2016 but 2021 was crazy stupid by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[NC2017]

I find Cook to be boring, as is most big media. More and more I watch young kids who stream for free on Youtube. I hope they are monetizing their work. It's better than anything on ESPN or in newspapers, for me at least.