Old faces turn up in new places

By Pat Mitsch

You don’t typically find much on the PSAC football Web site. It stands for Pennsylvania State… You don’t typically find much on the PSAC football Web site. It stands for Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, and it’s Division-II football in the Western Pennsylvania region. Nothing against Division-II powers Indiana, Pa., California, Pa., and Edinboro, all currently ranked in the Division II top 25, but Cal-IUP or Grove City-Edinboro isn’t exactly Ohio State-Michigan. ‘ Long Island-C.W. Post ( … a college) isn’t quite West Virginia, either, and I’m guessing Jason Gwaltney knows this. Gwaltney, if you remember, is a former five-star, can’t-miss high school running back who went to West Virginia for a year before off-the-field issues and another, less celebrated running back named Steve Slaton eventually swallowed him up. Gwaltney left WVU briefly and attempted a comeback that didn’t work out. Gwaltney was gone and forgotten. Never mind how I stumbled upon his name, but it was certainly by mistake. It was like finding Lenny Cooke’s name on a random CBA score sheet. It makes you wonder what happened and what could have been. Regardless, turns out Gwaltney isn’t doing too poorly in the PSAC West ‘mdash; you’d certainly hope not ‘mdash; with 709 yards and 10 touchdowns in five games. So in the name of Gwaltney, here the other whereabouts of some notable-yet-forgotten names in Pitt and local football: Shane Brooks, Indiana, Pa. ‘mdash; Brooks played a bit of fullback with Pitt before transferring to IUP. Has 254 yards in four games played this season. Rashad Jennings, Liberty ‘mdash; Once Pitt’s leading rusher in 2005, Jennings transferred to Liberty for mostly family reasons and won the Big South’s Offensive Player of the Year award as a junior last season. Has 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns this year. Marcel Pestano, California., Pa. ‘mdash; Speedster went to Pitt, got buried in the depth chart and transferred to Cal, where he has 712 yards and nine scores in nine games, catching passes from former Pine Richland and Virginia QB, Kevin McCabe. Andrew Johnson, Akron ‘mdash; Johnson, a local former four-star RB, de-committed from Pitt and went to Miami, where he basically sat for three years. He’s now at Akron as the Zips’ No. 2 running back and has 197 yards on 40 carries this year. Had enough? Me too. The Dan Marino throwback curse has returned like MacArthur to the Philippines. Rutgers? Fifty-four points? Back on the hanger! The Celtics gave general manager Danny Ainge a promotion and a contract extension. I heard they did the same for Kevin McHale. Gymnasts will now have to show ID before the Olympics to be able to compete. Imagine: Olympic gymnast of questionable age approaches Olympic bouncer, who eyes her up and makes ID-shape with thumb and index finger. Gymnast feels around leotard before shrugging … Gymnast: No pockets. Bouncer: No Olympics. Gymnast: Oh … I forgot. (Searches in gym bag, hands bouncer Oregon license.) Bouncer: This is you … Gymnast: Uh, yeah? Is there a problem? Bouncer: Thirty-three, huh? Gymnast: … I’m here to compete for China. Bouncer: Oh. In that case, right this way. Just kidding, of course. The Chinese gymnasts were of age. I even heard they went to Discovery Zone after winning the gold to celebrate. Heisman Trophy dark horse: Terrelle Pryor. Sports Movie Trivia Quote of the Day: ‘Gunga galunga. Gunga, gunga galunga.’ Pitt-Notre Dame this week? Let’s name it: The Golden Dome Disaster, The Lurch by the Church, The Grapple by the Chapel, The Altar Altercation. Anybody? New Orleans Saints offensive guard Jamar Nesbit is reportedly suing the maker of a weight-loss supplement he took that contained a diuretic banned by the NFL. In related news, the 15 football players from North Texas who tested positive during a team-wide drug test are looking into filing suit against that shady dude on the corner known only as Fish, claiming he sold them tainted oregano. Sports Movie Trivia Quote Answer of the Day: If you don’t know, you don’t deserve to know. E-mail Pat at [email protected].