About Pitt Plank…
At Pitt Plank, you can expect quality commentary and analysis on the daily goings on of your beloved Pittsburgh Pirates. Whether breaking down a roster transaction, dissecting the mechanics of a starting pitcher or wondering if a batter’s recent hot streak is sustainable, Pitt Plank will bring a mix of stats and scouting that comes from the authors’ interest in both the numbers-based analytical community on the internet as well as their nightly watching of games all around the league. It should never be an either/or scenario when deciding how to best break down the game. Both sides of have significant merit and offer a lot toward understanding the game which is why both will be found at this site. Here’s the RSS Feed if you’re interested.
About Paul Sporer…
Paul is diehard baseball fan who spent his first 14 years in the greater Detroit area cheering on the Tigers before moving to Texas where he remained a fan from afar (really far. Living in Austin after graduating from the University of Texas (in 2005), Paul runs paulsporer.com and writes for RotoHardball.com. The Tigers are still his favorite team, so much so that he named his named his beagle Curtis after former Tiger star Curtis Granderson. No, he never considered changing the pup’s name even after Granderson’s trade to the Yankees.
Paul became interested in the Pirates when they finally changed front office regimes and has been following them closely since 2008. When he saw that ESPN’s SweetSpot network lacked Pirates representation he reached out to SS headmaster David Schoenfield and voila, Pitt Plank was born. Soon after, he called on long-time friend (via the Rotojunkie message board turned RJ Bullpen) John Franco to sign on as a contributor. He has a long history with the Pirates that you will no doubt learn about in his bio.
About John Franco…
Please stop referring to the Bucs as “Pitt.”
Pitt = Panthers
Also, are you “Pirates Plank” or “Pitt Plank?”
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Please stop referring to the Pirates as the “Bucs”
Bucs = Tampa Bay.
Bucks = Milwaukee
See how that comes off when it’s directed at you? Not too friendly.
We’re Pitt Plank as the header & URL state. Sorry you take issue with the Pitt thing, but it’s not going anywhere at this point. Pitt is the shortening of Pittsburgh as well as the last name of a famous actor. Yes, it’s predominant with the university, but they’re still the Pittsburgh Panthers when it’s all said & done. They don’t have a stranglehold on the Pitt moniker. Hope you can focus more on the content of the site as opposed to the semantics.
As any Pittsburgher would know, the shortening of Pittsburgh is Da Burgh and that Pitt is the name of my alma mater. In the city of Pittsburgh, you know the place you are blogging for, that’s just what it means.
That being said let’s cut this guy some slack, he’s going to provide us with useless information a few hours late that we can already access at thousands of other sites. He knows about losers because he’s seen the Detroit economy, so maybe he’ll provide good fresh perspective and metaphors
What content????? The Pirates just had the best month of any NL team and their best month in years and you guys have posted NOTHING!
Paul,
I promise to focus on the content from here on out but I feel it is important you know the history of the team and fans you are writing about even the smallest details are important to us Pittsburghers.
With that said the following example is a poor one.
Please stop referring to the Pirates as the “Bucs”
Bucs = Tampa Bay.
Bucks = Milwaukee
Pirate fans have been affectionately referring to our team as the “Bucs” long before those teams were in existence. Long before many of us came into existence.
There is a word we use here in Pittsburgh- “Jagoff”- as in
“We Pittsburghers can be real jagoffs if we feel someone is being a jagoff.”
Rest assured I’m familiar with the Bucs/Buccos name, I was mocking/making a point with that. I don’t truly feel that TB or Milwaukee own the monikers.
I like the site — I’m impressed by the depth of knowledge by someone unencumbered by 2 decades of hardcore Pirate fandom and it’s soul crushing diappointment. John’s profile sounds like a lot of Pirate fans I know (born and bred, as well as adopted Pittsburghers). Keep up the good work!
You guys aren’t even real Pirates fans? You’re just doing this for the money I presume…that’s a disappointment. Furthermore, I have to agree that Pitt refers to the Panthers and that bucs, buccos, and just pirates would work out much better even though the name doesn’t bother me at all.
If we’re doing it for the money, we’re not very bright since there is absolutely no money involved. Unless you count the money I paid for the site. Oh wait, that’s outgoing money. We went through a bunch of name ideas and landed here. You have to keep in mind that the internet has been around for a while, too and not every domain is going to be available anymore.
Not to mention, John has a history of Pirates fandom. Furthermore, I don’t think a site about a team has to be written by diehard, 20-years fans to be good. If anything, bias can creep in and affect the quality of the work negatively. Just give us a real shot and I think you’ll find we do a fine job for a pair of “fake” fans.
I am not saying the analysis is not good. I enjoy the site very much and read all I can. I was just stating that I wish you guys were both fans of the Buccos. However, your argument on the bias is credible. Keep up the good work!
Ah OK, I got ya now. Thank you much for the compliments. And rest assured that the Pirates, while they will never top my Tigers, are a team I watch & pull for night just like my Tigers.
Well less than a year later you both defintiely look like a bunch of bandwagon fans to me.
I’d argue it’s an even more useful perspective. There are plenty of excellent Pirate bloggers (Charlie Wilmoth, Pat Lackey, Wilbur Miller to name a few) who unfortunately carry a lot of baggage as Pirate fans. Even Dejan Kovacevik, one of the better sports journalists in Pittsburgh (or anywhere else for that matter), has a perspective shaped by him hometown and its recent baseball legacy.
I’ve been impressed by the quality of writing and analysis here, and think it’s a fresh perspective. I can’t believe ESPN didn’t even register a Pirate blog until the 2nd half of this year. That’s really lame. At least they didn’t make it an Onion or Colbert Report type spoof site (RIP mondesieshouse.blogspot.com)
Hey guys!
I really like the blog, and congrats on being featured on ESPN! I was wondering if you had an RSS feed button? I could just be being a little dumb and missing it. Thanks either way!
No James, you’re not being dumb at all. I have now placed the RSS feed in the left sidebar. Here is the link – http://pittplank.com/feed/
Am I right to assume John Franco is not the former Reds, Mets, and Astros closer?
Correct, though how sweet would that be?
You guys taking time off for the holiday’s? Wondering what your take is on some of the recent transactions by the Pirates.
Just a little time off. I was finishing up a final month of work before being laid off (which happens tomorrow) and my time will open dramatically as you might imagine. Look for a new post tonight on the Barmes move and the rumors of pending moves.
Yikes, sorry to hear about the lay off…
Thank you, it’s OK, though. I’m getting a very fair severance and the absolute worst case scenario if I can’t find something I love more is that I go back to Dell in February in a different role. The best part is that I will be writing a lot more now.
Hey Paul, I wonder if you can tell me about the background to the Pirates unique high-five celebration. Thanks, Shawn
It would be nice to get an update every once in a while.
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Time to step it up, guys. This blog lies idle for weeks at a time.
You’re right. I let John carry the load as I struggled w/my own time mgmt. while I looked for a job (finally found one). Anyway, I’m committed to delivering what I said I would last year. Despite not posting much at all before last week, I have been watching the team all year. Look for more frequent updates and I’ll be happy to hear your feedback on them.
You guys have any twitters to keep tabs on?
Yes sir, check the left side tab on the home page.