Once upon a time there were athletes hailing from the hallowed halls of the Pittsburgh Public Schools whose names are indelibly etched on the tablets of Pennsylvania and American high school sports history. Men with names like Sir “Petey” Gibson, “Duke” Kenny Durrett, “Lord” Curtis Martin; continuing on with “Princes” Archie McGill, DeJuan Blair, Jack Jackson, Calvin Houston, Larry Anderson, Mark Halsel, Sonny Lewis and Jeep Kelly. From the corridors of Allegheny High came Ron Hightower. From Fifth Avenue came Dwight “The Leaper” Clay. I could go on and on but I am sure that you get my point.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP)—Brian Kelly’s baby, his spread offense, was clicking for a half. Notre Dame’s no-huddle was snapping off plays so rapidly that Pitt’s defense was hurrying to get organized. The speed early on was almost dizzying.

But the 17-3 lead the Irish forged by halftime— thanks also to Pitt’s struggles to score from inside the 20—didn’t end in a comfortable win for Notre Dame. Not that style points mean anything to Kelly.

ELUSIVE—Notre Dame quarterback Dayne Crist, left, eludes Pittsburgh defensive tackle Jabaal Sheard on his way to a 10-yard touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game in South Bend, Ind., Oct. 9. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

The possibility of the City League joining the WPIAL brings mixed reactions. If it was just the eight or nine schools it would be no problem. But the proposed five-team split is an insult to the city, City League fans and city taxpayers. What about tradition, rivalries? Why should fans come out to watch?

Obama-Westinghouse-Prep vs. Perry-Oliver? That’s stupid. And why is it the White schools can stand on their own? Carrick and Allderdice are the only two schools projected to stand alone. How many championships of any kind has Carrick won? The other projected combo is Brashear-Langley.

by Malik Vincent
For New Pittsburgh Courier

When it comes to the City League, until recently, nobody has looked in Allderdice’s direction to be the big winner. Perry owned the league for much of the ’90s and most of the last decade. Brashear took over and ran the show with back-to-back titles in ’07 and ’08. Even Schenley, who hadn’t won a title in 50 years, broke their championship drought in 2009. But now it’s the Dragons, who are looking to avenge their “non-winning” ways of late, as they’d lost every game for the two seasons prior to this one. If you ask Allderdice’s coach, Jerry Haslett, he’s not afraid to voice his views on his team’s recent success.