Suspension needed whether accusations are true or false

No one asked for my opinion, but…

Whether or not he is charged with assault, Rod… No one asked for my opinion, but…

Whether or not he is charged with assault, Rod Rutherford should be suspended for Saturday’s game against Kent State.

Not because he possibly assaulted someone or broke any local, state or federal law, but because he possibly broke head coach Walt Harris’ laws.

I’m not a sure whether or not the players have a curfew for nights other than before a game. However, I think it’s safe to bet that the fact that Rutherford was outside a club at 2:30 in the morning less than a week before the first game of what should be Pitt’s best season in over 20 years does not make Harris happy.

If Harris doesn’t suspend Rutherford, then it shows the rest of the team that they too could get away with breaking team rules. Not to mention the fact that, to the public, it says that Rutherford is exempt because he is the starting quarterback.

Besides, the opponent on Saturday is Kent State, not Notre Dame or Miami. The Panthers should be fine without Rutherford at quarterback, and it would be good to allow Luke Getsy to finally get some game experience, in case he is needed further down the road.

It is unfortunate that Joey Porter happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time this past weekend and he is lucky that he wasn’t hurt more severely.

But getting shot in the butt? No matter what the situation, that has to be somewhat embarrassing.

If either the Chicago Cubs or the Boston Red Sox win the World Series this year, Pirates general manager David Littlefield should get a ring.

The Pirates gave the Red Sox their best starter in Jeff Suppan and their best left-handed setup guy in Scott Sauerbeck, not to mention that they got back pitcher Brandon Lyon, as well.

While those pitchers haven’t been lighting it up for the Red Sox, they could all play a significant role in Boston’s playoff chances.

But if Littlefield helped bolster the Red Sox pitching staff, he practically built the Cubs starting lineup.

First, it was Kenny Lofton and Aramis Ramirez, both of whom happened to fill gaping holes that Chicago had in centerfield and at third base. Then, Littlefield shipped Randall Simon to the windy city, giving the Cubs a left-handed first baseman that could fill in for Eric Karros.

One-third of the Cubs offense is made up of former Pirates, and that’s not including Moises Alou, who came up through Pittsburgh’s farm system in the late 1980s.

Just seeing the Cubs or the Red Sox in the World Series would be amazing enough.

Before 1940, Chicago and Boston played in a combined 14 Fall Classics, with the Red Sox appearing in — and winning — five championship series and the Cubs making nine World Series appearances, winning two of them.

But since then, the two teams have been to only five of the last 62 World Series. Boston’s last trip came in 1986, while the Cubs haven’t been to a World Series since 1945.

Adding to that history of futility is that the last time the Red Sox won a World Series, the Treaty of Versailles had yet to be signed and the world’s super powers were forming a league of their own.

As for the Cubs, the last time they won a World Series, Russia was still over a decade away from becoming the Soviet Union and the United States was still adhering to the Monroe Doctrine.

With that in mind, I think it’s safe to assume that if either team wins the World Series this year, the end of the world just might be upon us.

Joe Marchilena is the sports editor for The Pitt News and he would like to thank the label man for hooking him up last weekend.