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Chez will return in August

2006-06-27T00:50:00.000-04:00

Never fear, Nehlenites. Chez will return in August as football season nears. Until then, sit tight with this YouTube clip of the Pride of West Virginia.

History could be Bruin for WVU

2006-04-02T18:48:00.000-04:00

Why should WVU fans root for UCLA in tomorrow night's title game? It would make history for the Mountaineer program.

Not since 1958 has WVU beaten a team that went on to win the national title. That Jerry West-led '58 team was 26-1 entering the NCAA tournament but famously was upset by Manhattan in the first round. That opened the door for Kentucky -- which WVU beat 77-70 earlier that season -- to beat Seattle 84-72 for the championship.

WVU has come close before, losing regular-season games to eventual winners Louisville in 1980, N.C. State in 1983 and Big East games against UConn (1999 and 2004) and Syracuse (2003). And, of course, in 1996 WVU beat the John Wallace-led Syracuse team that advanced to the title game.

But a UCLA win would mark just the second time ever that a WVU-defeated team went on to win it all.

Horns down !

2006-03-23T00:44:00.000-05:00

Just this once, we'll forgive the Jackie Sherrill connections between hated Pitt and Texas A&M, and align ourselves with our Aggie pals in College Station, if only to extend a hearty Horns Down to Texas.

We've been doing some research at Chez HQ and found that nobody in the NCAA's Sweet 16 has played more games against fellow Sweet 16 teams than WVU. And nobody except for UConn has more than WVU's four wins against that group.

Here's the list:

WVU (7) is 4-3, wins over Nova, Gtown (2) and UCLA, losses to Texas, LSU and UConn
UCONN (6) is 5-1, wins over Gonzaga, LSU, Gtown, WVU and Nova, loss to Nova.
DUKE (5) is 4-1, wins over Memphis, Texas and BC (2), loss to Gtown
NOVA (5) is 2-3, wins over UConn and Gtown, losses to WVU, UConn and Texas
GTOWN (5) is 1-4, win over Duke, losses to WVU (2), UConn and Nova
TEXAS (4) is 3-1, wins over WVU, Memphis and Nova, loss to Duke
MEMPHIS (4) is 2-2, wins over UCLA and Gonzaga, losses to Texas and Duke
WICHITA ST (4) is 2-2, wins over Bradley (2), losses to George Mason and Bradley
UCLA (4) is 0-4, losses to Washington (2), WVU and Memphis
LSU (4) is 1-3, win over WVU, losses to UConn and Florida (2)
WASHINGTON (3) is 3-0, wins over UCLA (2) and Gonzaga
GONZAGA (3) is 0-3, losses to UConn, Washington and Memphis
BRADLEY (3) is 1-2, win over Wichita St., losses to Wichita St. (2)
FLORIDA (2) is 2-0, wins over LSU (2)
BC (2) is 0-2, losses to Duke (2)
GEO. MASON (1) is 1-0, win over Wichita St.

Whoa, Joe !

2006-03-14T11:38:00.000-05:00

Chez beat Lunardi ! We promised you the most accurate bracket projections around and we delievered !

We compared the final Chez 65 projections (updated midday Sunday) to Lunardi's final Bracketology and here's what we found:

Chez nailed 34 of the 65 teams' seeds right on the button. We were within one seed line either way on 22 more -- for a total of 56 of 65 teams in which we were either spot-on or reasonably close.

Meanwhile, Lunardi nailed 29 of 65 seeds exactly right and was within plus-or-minus one seed line on 21 more -- for a total of 50 of 65. Good, but not as good as Chez.

Both Chez and Lunardi had Air Force and Utah State out of the bracket. Credit where credit is due -- Lunardi had George Mason as the CAA's second team; Chez incorrectly had Hofstra.

Still, we proved our point -- you don't need a Bracketology degree to accurately pick the tournament bracket. Just common sense and knowledge of the game.

Naptime for WVU

2006-03-10T00:43:00.001-05:00

Let's face facts: WVU is a tired team. The Mountaineers clearly showed they were out of gas during the dreadful second half of their quarterfinal loss to Pitt.

There's only one solution: Skip the NCAA tournament.

The numbers surely say so: The Pitt loss was this team's 30th game. With one overtime game (LSU), that adds up to 1,205 total minutes of basketball.

Pittsnogle has played 1,083 of those -- 89.8 percent of the time, he's on the court -- making for one tired daddy. Gansey played 1,022 minutes (84.8 percent), logging almost as much court time. Rob Summers (109 minutes, 9 percent) is showing signs of wear. Ted Talkington must think those lay-up lines are grueling.

And even a certain poor, overworked Charleston Gazette beat writer needs a few days/months off -- writing two stories a week takes its toll !

WVU entered the Big East tourney having played one game in the previous 11 days. And even that lengthy rest wasn't enough to stave off fatigue in the final 20 minutes, when the bigger, stronger, tougher Panthers took it to the Mountaineers.

Is another 5-6 days between today and the first round of the NCAAs really going to make a difference?

Nope, this team needs all the rest it can find. A power-nap here, an early bedtime there and seven months of offseason are just what the returning players need to get their legs back.

The seniors would benefit, too. Pittsnogle could use some free time to change diapers and prep for the NBA draft. Some free time would help Herber study for his trilingual finals. Maybe Daddyboy can find some shooting consistency with some consistent time off. And how can we expect Coach Johnny B. to recruit -- or even interview with Mizzou/Indiana/Kansas State -- when those pesky NCAA tournament games are clogging his schedule?

This team needs a break. And a nap.

Sloth v. Pittsnogle

2006-03-09T21:17:00.000-05:00

Pitt's center is quite formidable. Aaron Gray averages a double-double. But will he be able to get out and guard Pittsnogle? Or will he just love Chunk ?

MSN Radio reports that Pitt forward Levon Kendall was left back at the hotel due to a lower back injury. Sam Young will take his place in the starting lineup. Of course, WVU played in the Big East tourney last year without Tyrone Sally and fared well.

10:24 p.m.: Through the first half, Gray has been swatted by JD Collins and continues to fumble inside living up the Sloth name. Pittsnogle started hot but missed an easy layup and is chucking a bit quickly. WVU shooting 6 for 16 from 3 in the first half ... the magic 37% !

Second and third game commentary

2006-03-09T16:13:00.000-05:00

4:17 p.m. ... Tight game at the House Isiah Is Trying To Destroy. Georgetown coach John Thompson III (3 times the shoulder towel!) takes umbrage at his offense being called the "Princeton offense." Not sure why that's a bad thing. Georgetown appears to have the edge on the glass here in the second half, but the shooting accuracy is ... well ... not Ivy League-quality.

4:30 p.m. ... Usually when Jeff Green comes up big, he's just fat. Who knew he could play defense on Novak in addition to his mad agent skillz?

4:54 p.m. ... You know it's getting thick when the ESPN announcers spend some time giving a shout-out to Robert McCullum and South Florida ... those are the 7-22 (1-15) Bulls. They were pesky; McCullum's a good coach; and they'll be better next year ... but, please, have these guys ever even made a neutral statement about a coach, let alone a criticism? It's all peaches and orchids when it comes to talking about college basketball coaches on this network.

4:56 p.m. ... Quette's made a nice run to get it to two points ... we'll see if and how the Hoyas close it out.

5:43 p.m. ... Idle comments before the evening session starts at MSG. ... Michigan and Florida State should be out of the 65. ... If Rutgers wins tonight, why not put the Boys Upstream in? ... A Michigan State loss (in a tight one with Purdue as we type) could drop Sparty to the bubble.

9:15 p.m. ... Villanova pulled away from Rutgers in the second half. Douby went cold, and Nova just stayed consistent. Ray looked a little gimpy, and Lowry had a couple bumps. Should be a good match-up for whoever survives the late game.

Commentary with onions !

2006-03-09T12:59:00.000-05:00

2:31 p.m. EVIL DORF (on Golf) ! Syracuse pulls the upset! It wasn't the prettiest (and neither is the guy on the left).

2:11 p.m.: Another day, another onions shot by McMennonite. Wow. We must ignite this butter churn !

1:58 p.m.: We knew UConn would come back. Does Syracuse have the onions to hang on? Win or lose, Orange should be in the field of 65. (They've been in the Chez 65 all along. You're welcome.)

1:41 p.m.: 'Cuse is starting to remind us of WVU last year, a mid-range seed absolutely outplaying the No. 1 seed. This is making WVU's late-season loss at the Dome a little more palatable.

1:03 p.m.: Good to see Al Skinner left Calhoun his playbook on "How to Flop as the No. 1 Seed in the Big East Tourney." Cuse up 11 -- yep, 11 -- at the half behind surprisingly strong interior play and another inspired effort from McNamara.

12:06 p.m.: The third Big East game with the beloved Billy R. on the call, and each time ('Cuse vs. Cincy, ND vs. Gtown and now 'Cuse vs. UConn) the game has started with the defense playing a 2-3 zone, thus robbing us of his trademark "MANTOMAN" catchphrase. Raff: For our money, and our onions, the best color man in the game.

Quick picks on the Day 2 games

2006-03-09T11:34:00.000-05:00

Today at the Garden, Chez likes ...

UCONN is rolling along. Syracuse has reached the end of the line. Don't expect a Jim Boeheim post-game exclusive with the Daily Orange.

Georgetown played Marquette really close in a 57-51 loss in Milwaukee last month. The Eagles could come out firing again, but Louisville showed us last night that first-timers in the Big East tournament atmosphere may need a little adjusting. Call it a hunch, but the HOYAS buckle down on defense and claim the day's lone upset.

VILLANOVA will humble Rutgers. The Knights benefitted from Seton Hall failing to show up yesterday (what happened to Kelly Whitney?).

Of course, in the nightcap, we like WVU to make about 11 of 30 3-pointers. That would be 36.7%... round it up to 37, and the Mountaineers move on to the semis.

Let's Do It Again .... the Magic Number is 37

2006-03-09T11:19:00.000-05:00

Has it really been a full year since West Virginia rambled into the Garden clinging to hopes of an NCAA berth and left as a juggernaut?

Time to do it again, and get started against Pitt. The Panthers have an illiterate point guard, Sloth from "The Goonies" at center and problems holding a lead.

WVU, meanwhile, needs to focus on the number 37.

That's the 3-point percentage threshold they've needed to be successful this year.

In 20 victories, WVU is shooting at average of 36.5 percent from the 3-point line (206 for 565, 10.3 for 28.3 average).

In the nine losses, the 3-point percentage drops to an average of 30.85 percent -- almost a full six percentage points. They make about one less and take about 3 more (82 for 282, 9 for 31 average) in those defeats.

Even more telling: in the four "bad losses" -- the only four times they've lost by six points or more -- the 3-point percentage plummets to 26.2 percent (combined 33 for 126 against UK, Marshall, Seton Hall and UConn). In those losses, they average 8.3 for 31.5 ... meaning if they hit two more like their average, all of the games except UK would have been final-possession affairs.

Pitt's a great case study for watching this statistic. In the 57-53 loss at Pitt on Feb. 9, WVU went 6 of 27 from 3-point range (22.2%), including Pittsnogle missing all six of his 3-point tries. Gansey went 1 for 4. Only Beilein helped (3 for 4) and Ruoff made his only attempt. A shot here or there even with Pittsnogle fouling out, and WVU wins.

In the 67-62 victory on Feb. 27 at The Coliseum, WVU went 12 for 36 (33.3%), still below their usual 3-point victory average. But Pittsnogle made 5 of 12, and Herber started scorching and went 4 for 8.

Gansey went 0 for 4 from 3-point, making him 1 for 8 in two games against Pitt. Watch him ... we think he's due. And watch WVU's 3-point percentage tonight. If it's closer to 40 than 30, the Mountaineers are moving on.

Tourney tidbits

2006-03-08T12:38:00.000-05:00

Random musings from the first day of the Big East tournament:

10:23 p.m.: Heading into halftime and it's not looking good for the Birds with Teeth. Nevertheless, we've updated our projected bracket with Seton Hall's loss and Monmouth's victory which will likely earn the Hawks a Tuesday trip to Dayton. We're still smarter than Digger.

9:40 p.m.: We Douby lieve we were wrong about the Gers. We're still smarter than Digger.

7:22 p.m.: It's the Gers vs. the Hall, 10 minutes into the game and Quincy Douby hasn't scored. Also, we've posted an update to the Chez 65 with one Big East team dropping down a line.

4:24 p.m.: Gtown survives, 67-63, in what must seem like a blowout loss to cap a close-but-not-quite season for the I-Wish. Digger is silenced. Chez is 2-for-2 in the afternoon session. Whew.

4:03 p.m.: Just when we think Gtown is going to pull away, the I-Wish hit a 3. Ho-hum, another game's going down to the wire for ND.

3:10 p.m.: Gtown finally takes the lead with a Bowman FT. To paraphrase Digger from last year, "C'mon, Gtown, take care of Notre Dame, PLEASE?"

2:50 p.m.: We'd like to thank Gtown for finally showing up. Nothing we hate more than Digger Phelps being right.

2 p.m.: Mark it down, there will be no bigger clutch shot in this Big East tournament than the 3-pointer Gerry McMennonite just hit to beat Cincy with 0.3 seconds left and put 'Cuse into the field of 65.

1:58 p.m.: When did James White turn into Quincy Douby? A big 3 gave him 30 points and put Cincy ahead 70-68 with less than 2 minutes left. 'Cuse countered with a bucket and it's tied 70-70. Big shot by White for the lead. "The definition of poise," Bilas said. Even bigger defensive play by Devan Downey with the steal and free throw to set up a great finish.

1:46 p.m.: The Bearded Wonders can't seem to put Cincy away. Maybe we should get out the eraser and redo the updated Chez 65 ...

1:45 p.m.: McNamara, Devendorf ... Chez wonders if the Syracuse uniform now includes the Mennonite beard. Somebody teach those kids how to use a razor before they end up like the Amish father in "Kingpin."

1:10 p.m.: The second half just started, and the Orange are up by nine. The Chez 65 never wavered -- the 'Cuse is a 13-seed and has consistently been in our bracket. Wethinks the selection committee will consider their No. 6 SOS and put the Orange in the field, too.

12:40 p.m.: We told you about 'Cuse. As we wrote last night, there was no Earthly reason to pick the slumping 'Cuse to beat Cincy ... but we were doing it anyway. 'Cuse leads 30-24 and has led by as many as 9 with about 5 minutes left in the first half. 'Cuse is playing inspired, passionate basketball, which begs the question: Where was this team all year?

Chez's updated 65, and Big East tourney talk

2006-03-08T00:36:00.000-05:00

Chez never sleeps ! Fresh off of three conference championship games (the Horizon, Mid-Con and Sun Belt), we've updated our field of 65 to reflect last night's games. We forsee an interesting matchup for fourth-seeded WVU -- a meeting with 13th seed Northwestern State in the battle for D'Or Fischer !

Don't forget to check back during the day -- we hope to bring you running commentary from the Big East tourney, and we promise bracket updates as needed ... we anticipate making a noteworthy change if Cincy sends the Orange packing in the lunchtime game.

Here's a viewer's guide for what to expect today at Madison Square when the Biggest East tournament tips off with McDonough, Bilas and Coach Raff calling the morning session on ESPN:

-- No. 8 Cincinnati vs. No. 9 Syracuse, Noon: We can't figure out the 'Cuse, either. Plenty to play for at DePaul, and they lose by nearly 40. Easy to forget the 'Cuse won the first matchup at the Shoe nearly two months ago, but that was when Cincy's lineup was injury-riddled. Cincy has been rolling since, beating the 'Cuse in the Dome, and all signs point toward Hicks being a monster underneath. Easy win for Cincy, right? Wrong. ... Pick, ORANGE.

-- No. 12 Notre Dame vs. No. 5 Georgetown, 2 p.m.: Frankly, we're sick of Digger Phelps' halftime sermons praising the I-Wish. But we grudgingly admit he has a point -- the I-Wish, who have won two in a row and five of seven, have been competitive in almost every game. Gtown barely won this previous matchup, in its first game after beating Duke. They'll be a lot angrier after losing to the Big East's worst team. ... Pick, PARANOIAS.

-- No. 7 Seton Hall vs. No. 10 Rutgers, 7 p.m.: The 'Gers needed to beat the Johnnies on Sunday just to make it to New York, while Seton Hall played its best basketball in its last two games to all but wrap up a spot in the Big Tourney. We 'Douby lieve' the Gers will play hard for their lame-duck coach, and Quincy will score 30, but the Hall has too much balance. ... Pick, CARLESIMOS.

-- No. 11 Louisville vs. No. 6 Pitt, 9 p.m.: Louisville is playing its best basketball of the season. Hidden stat: Pitt is 4-5 in games played outside Pittsburgh's city limits. Tough break, Panties, they aren't moving the Big East tourney to Heinz Field anytime soon. Besides, tell the truth, you want another Beilein vs. Pitino postseason matchup, right? ... Pick, BIRDS.

Chez picks 65 !

2006-03-06T13:54:00.000-05:00

What seed will WVU receive? How many teams from the Big East are getting in? Which bubble teams should be worried?

Chez has all the answers. We've picked the field of 65 and will be updating it daily -- or even more often than that. (Last update -- 12:20 a.m. EST Wednesday) We're determined to have the most accurate bracket when Selection Sunday rolls around.

Compare it to that St. Joe's shill at ESPN.com and let us know what you think !

Also, Gansey and Pittsnogle were named to the all-Big East first team, even though the first team actually contains more than two teams' worth of players.

Link: The Chez field of 65 (ever-developing).

Chez has the Big East puzzle figured out first

2006-03-04T22:04:00.001-05:00

Here's how the Big East standings break down:

1. UConn
2. Villanova
3. WVU
4. Marquette
5. Georgetown -- blew its bye by losing at USF
6. Pitt
7. Seton Hall
8/9. Cincinnati or Syracuse -- only the jersey colors matter
10. Rutgers
11. Louisville
12. Notre Dame

Cincy/Syr winner plays UConn
Rut-Hall winner plays Nova
Lville-Pitt winner plays WVU
Gtown-ND winner plays Marquette

(Louisville wins head-to-head tiebreaker over ND).

The Chez Big East Awards

2006-03-03T01:02:00.000-05:00

You heard it here first ... here are Chez's picks for Big East awards ... real starting-fives unlike the "honor everybody" 11-man team from the league ...

Player of the Year: Randy Foye, Nova (right)
Coach of the Year: Tom Crean, Marquette
Rookie of the Year: Dominic James, Marquette

All-Big East
First team
G -- Allan Ray, Nova
G -- Randy Foye, Nova
C -- Steve Novak, Marquette
F -- Mike Gansey, WVU
F -- Rudy Gay, UConn

Second team
G -- Kyle Lowry, Nova
G -- Quincy Douby, Rutgers
G -- Chris Quinn, ND
C -- Kevin Pittsnogle, WVU
F -- Kelly Whitney, The Hall

Third team
G -- Marcus Williams, UConn
G -- Dominic James, Marquette
G -- Rashad Anderson, UConn
C -- Aaron Gray, Pitt
F -- Eric Hicks, Cincinnati

Danke schoen !

2006-02-27T22:58:00.000-05:00

Danke schoen, seniors, and what a way for the Fab Five to go out.

WVU will receive no worse than the No. 3 seed in the Big East tournament after their 67-62 win over Pitt in a game that was over well before it began.

We knew victory was secure roughly 5 minutes before the tipoff, when a lovely lass belted out a few bars of Das Lied Der Deutschen, the German national anthem.

Not surprisingly, Herr Herber had four 3-pointers in the opening minutes and the Mountaineers never trailed.

Credit also to Pittsnogle for making up for his ohfer the last time against Pitt with 26 against the Panthers, and to Gansey for a typically phenomenal floor game. The points weren't there and the legs may have left, but the heart and hustle never did.

Here's our question: Why can't anyone figure out the Big East's simple tiebreaker?

Here it is, cut and dried: West Virginia clinched no worse than the No. 3 seed in the Big East tourney. WVU holds the head-to-head tiebreakers with Georgetown (2-0) and Marquette (1-0) and the split with Pitt also gives the edge to WVU -- by virtue of the Mounties' win over Villanova, the highest-seeded team either WVU or Pitt defeated.

Two losses by Nova and a WVU win at Cincy, and the Mounties are the No. 2 seed.

Shame on the AP's Raby and shame on the P-G's Ray Pitt-ipaldo for fouling up the key stat of the game. P.M. update -- shame on Beckner for getting it wrong, too.

-- Pitt-ipaldo takes the pro-Panther angle, saying Pitt could neither defend the 3 nor take care of the ball, but also (incorrectly) writes that WVU "can secure third place and a first-round bye with a victory at Cincinnati Saturday." Wrong, Ray. As we already established, WVU took care of that already.

-- From the other bench, the P-G's Finder reports that Pittsnogle was motivated by newspaper clips reminding him how terrible he was in the Feb. 9 meeting.

A Chez divided against itself cannot stand (Pitt)

2006-02-26T22:46:00.000-05:00

Let's play Good Chez v. Bad Chez about the final two games of the regular season.

Good Chez says: WVU has been a top-1o to top-15 team all year, has played great on the road, is senior-dominated with one of the more devious coaches in NCAA. Final games are quite winnable, at home on Senior Night on Big Monday (lot of emotion, needs to be sustained by the overrated home crowd) and at Cincinnati, a dangerous foe but a good match-up if Monster Hicks is contained at all. Good Chez thinks Pittsnogle will play solid, Gansey will gear up for the stretch run, and a third player will step up to help Herber with the scoring (JDC, Daddyboy, Frank, whoever). Ruoff will continue to shine in limited minutes, and Summers won't kill the team the couple minutes he gets in the game. Pittsnogle will continue to flourish with his inside game from the left block. WVU gets by Pitt to clinch a Big East tourney bye, then beats Cincy to steamroll a little momentum.

BAD CHEZ says: WVU is a tired team with a short bench on its last legs. The Mounties haven't convincingly won a game since Marquette. Their offense is evaporating into a deluge of crappy off-balance and ill-advised 3-pointers and they can't get to the line. Their 1-3-1 has been shredded among Big East coaches, and they don't even pretend to play a token on post defense. Even though they keep the games close, they choke in the clutch with hair-brained final possessions, stupid shot selection and a lot of standing around on offense. Beilein's one-trick pony has been eclipsed and the lack of athleticism will be atoned by both Pitt's block-headed monster and the Indomitable Hicks. Another losing streak, a limp into the Big East tourney and they blow the bye after starting 8-0 in the league.

Who wins this Angel v. Devil showdown? We're going to find out in the next six days.

Orange you glad this wasn't March

2006-02-20T22:29:00.000-05:00

Seton Hall, Syracuse ... WVU's doing its best to make sure plenty of Big East teams get into the NCAA tournament.

The Orange became the latest bubble team to get a quality win at WVU's expense on Monday night in a 60-58 loss to Syracuse in what became WVU's fourth loss in five games.

The photo above features a sight that's becoming all too familiar for WVU -- an opponent's big man (here, Terrence Roberts) throwing down an uncontested dunk.

Hickman tries to put a happy spin on the loss by mentioning that for a change, beating WVU is worthy of storming the court. He also posits that losing three straight and four of five is no slump.

We take a more pragmatic view. WVU allegedly had five seniors on the court for its decisive final two possessions of the game, but you could hardly tell by the execution and poise (or lack thereof).

What happened? Shouldn't a WVU team which thrives on the 3-pointer carve up Syracuse's packed-in zone defense like a Thanksgiving turkey?

On WVU's last two possessions, Syracuse pulled its guards well beyond the 3-point arc and played its three frontliners at about foul-line extended. That left the baseline open and dared WVU to attack there. WVU had a great chance to tie it on its first possession, but Kevin Pittsnogle's backdoor pass went through Herr Herber's wickets.

By that point, Syracuse had claimed the mental victory. WVU got the ball back with about 39 seconds left, and clearly there was no way the rattled 'Eers would try THAT again.

Syracuse countered with the same defensive alignment with its guards playing even further out and putting even more pressure on J.D. Collins and Pat Beilein. What happened next was a total disgrace -- nobody moved, except for token cuts to the free-throw line by Pittsnogle and Gansey.

Herber was on the baseline but he might as well have been in Rochester, because no way was WVU going back to him that soon after the turnover. It was obvious by the lack of urgency shown in the offense that WVU's only chance was a 3 over an extended zone -- long odds, indeed.

So WVU's offense devolved into a game of catch between Collins and Beilein until there were about 5 seconds on the shot clock, by which point 'Cuse's guards had created sufficient pressure and WVU could do nothing but fire up a 25-footer which barely drew iron. Syracuse sent its three frontliners hard toward the rim, while Pittsnogle, Gansey and Herber were much farther from the rebound and had no chance.

Coach Beilein was exposed by his two nemeses, Jim Calhoun and Jim Boeheim, in a 48-hour span. The question is, will Pitino make it three on Saturday?

UConn-not remember where the game was played?

2006-02-17T13:14:00.000-05:00

This might border on the hypercritical, but Beckner has bungled another key fact in his UConn preview piece in today's Daily Mail. We think it's worth noting, however, because it speaks to a larger problem. Here's the erroneous selection:

UConn wasn't able to do what the Mountaineers (18-6, 9-2 Big East) did -- beat No. 4 Villanova on its home court.

The Huskies marched into Philadelphia on Monday and lost for just the second time this season. WVU, on the other hand, beat the Wildcats, 91-87, back on Jan. 8 at the Pavilion.

Well, UConn didn't play Villanova on its "home court." That game took place at the Wachovia Center downtown in Philly and was witnessed by a Pennsylvania college hoops record 20,859. By contrast, WVU played in front of about 6,500 at the Pavilion up the Main Line in -- yes, it's a location -- Villanova, Pa. So, not only was it not Nova's "home court" -- it wasn't even technically in their home city. The reason it's worth pointing out -- did Beckner even bother to watch that Nova-UConn showdown? And maybe worse if he did, did he pay no attention?

Nova is going out of its way NOT to claim Wachovia Center as its home court ... because it's also the home of an NCAA regional. So playing 4 or more games there would ship the Wildcats elsewhere come tourney time. They played Syracuse there in January and drew more than 20,500 for that one, and previously also hosted Louisville there, and UConn was the other choice game. Nova also played on its "home court" twice at the Palestra in Philly, and hosted Longwood in a game at nearby Atlantic City.

We haven't been this confused since the "Frank Young rules" feature ... or the "Joe Herber is an Iron Man" column in the game coverage when Herber wilted in the second half against Seton Hall.

Of course, things could be worse ... Hickman took another day off today. Not a shred of Mountaineer coverage a day before they host the No. 1 team in the country. Nice.

Costly loss in East Rutherford

2006-02-17T01:02:00.000-05:00

It's blurry, but it's worth it ... click here for a better view: LINK.

But CBS Sportsline's latest projections have WVU NOWHERE IN THE TOURNAMENT. Yet check out the 4th seed in Oakland region ... Weber State? Harold Arceneaux and Eddie Gill might like that result, but only Houston Nutt advocates such extreme prejudice against the Mountaineers !

Have you seen this man?

2006-02-16T13:16:00.000-05:00

We haven't either -- at least, not in the second halves of games.

Surprising, then, to open up the DM and find a glowing feature on the leaner, meaner anchor of next year's WVU basketball team.

Beckner puts a happy spin on the fact that Young is averaging less than 8 points per game -- but the Daily Mail's esteemed WVU beat writer apparently failed to do his homework on ol' Franklin.

We dug a little deeper and found that, in his last five games, Young is averaging less than 6 points per game, is shooting 29 percent from the field and 28 percent from 3.

It's fair to wonder where Young has been in the last 30 minutes of recent games.

He's just 2 of 14 from 3 (14 percent) in his last three games -- and both of those 3s came in the first halves against Pitt and Georgetown.

His only field goal against Seton Hall came at the midway point of the first half -- all of which suggests Frank is nowhere to be found down the stretch, when the outcomes are decided.

This isn't meant as an indictment of Young -- we understand Beilein often prefers to bench him in favor of his five seniors during crunch time -- as it is of Beckner, who clearly should have given Young's role a little more consideration before dedicating 700 words to blindly praising him.

Bull crap

2006-02-14T01:13:00.000-05:00

Stunning news out of the increasingly bizarre scheduling dealings with Buffalo ...

From Hickman:

West Virginia deputy athletic director Mike Parsons has finally received a call from an official at the University of Buffalo.

But it wasn’t the school’s athletic director, Warde Manuel, and the call served to clear up nothing about the status of West Virginia’s scheduled football game with Buffalo this fall.

“I got a call from their sports information director, but he was only calling on behalf of the athletic director to tell me that [the AD] was leaving on a trip out of the country,’’ Parsons said. “He apologized for the lack of communication.’’

But the Buffalo SID couldn’t shed any light on whether or not the school was planning to honor the contract that calls for the Bulls to visit Morgantown on Sept. 9.

More and more, Parsons said, he is beginning to believe that the Mid-American Conference is calling the shots for Buffalo and may well be at the core of the disputed game and Buffalo’s new contract to play at Auburn this fall.

“But it’s all speculation on my part because no one is telling us anything,’’ Parsons said.

Inexcusable. Manuel is too coward even to make his own conciliatory phone call. Or maybe Rick Chryst has him by the balls. Predictably, the Buffalo News is trying to paint WVU as a spendthrift who won't shell out more cash for mighty Turner Gill, when in reality the Mountaineers are the ones getting the shaft in this ordal.

Either way, we love the closing paragraph:

If the MAC does try to fill the Buffalo spot on West Virginia’s schedule with another school, Parsons has said that WVU will have to agree to it. As for the $200,000 buyout, Buffalo might not have to pay that if the school agrees to visit Morgantown in a future season.

Uhhh, we think WVU would decline any future "dealings" with the Bulls and take the $200k.

Sorry, Sylvester

2006-02-11T02:13:00.000-05:00

We're not too proud to admit when we're wrong, and it's with that in mind that we are taking Mississippi State and coach Sylvester Croom off our Chicken List.

Mississippi State announced its football schedule and, sure enough, October 7th is reserved for a game in Starkvegas against WVU. The contract with Mississippi State was signed in 2002 -- just after WVU's awful 3-8 season and the Bulldogs' second straight losing season. WVU has gotten better, while Mississippi State ... well, they're showing promise under new coach Croom.

"Certainly, West Virginia wasn't ranked as highly then, but they were a respected team," said MSU athletic director Larry Templeton. "This is consistent with what we've been doing with our (non-conference) games through the years. It's a good home-and-home."

One more point -- given the way Buffalo is handling its schedule and apparently reneging on its contract to play WVU on Sept. 9, is there any wonder we're paranoid about teams backing out?

Uppity bulls

2006-02-09T13:52:00.000-05:00

From the DM:

Officials at the University of Buffalo say they are finished talking about a contracted football date with West Virginia.
"It will be short and sweet and will be our only comment," said Buffalo assistant athletic director Paul Vecchio on Wednesday. "We will not make any comments regarding our football schedule until it is approved and released through the Mid-American Conference."
Vecchio wouldn't say what schedule the MAC school submitted to the league office. WVU and Buffalo have a contract to play a football game in Morgantown on Sept. 9, but reports continue to suggest the game won't take place.
That's because Buffalo has reportedly agreed to play at Auburn this season, a game that would guarantee the Bulls a higher payout than what they'll get from WVU.
WVU associate athletic director Mike Parsons on Tuesday said he was having trouble getting officials at Buffalo to return his phone calls. Instead, Big East officials contacted Parsons and told him they'd been in touch with MAC officials and that WVU could release its schedule as planned.
That schedule still lists Buffalo at WVU on Sept. 9.

Won't talk to the media. Won't talk to WVU. That is, well, Bull - s**t.

Who does Mikey like? Hmmm ...

2006-02-08T01:05:00.000-05:00

Seems pretty obvious from the schedules that Commish Mike Tranghese is pulling for Louuhvull to win the Big East in '06.

We couldn't help but notice the Big East did reigning league champ WVU no favors in putting together the conference schedule.

One-third of the games on weeknights. Three ridiculously short weeks -- and two of those quick turnarounds involve WVU following a home game with a road trip just a few days later.

WVU (allegedly) plays Beefalo on Sept. 9, and is home against Maryland five days later. WVU is home against Syracuse Oct. 14, and visits UConn the following Friday. WVU is home against Cincy on Nov. 11, and visits Pitt the next Thursday.

Are we seeing a pattern here? It's hardly the kind of schedule befitting a team that saved the Big East's BCS bacon just five weeks earlier.

Meanwhile, the Teethbirds have none, zip, zero short weeks. They have at least a full week before their weeknight games -- plenty of time to heal and gameplan.

Even the typically P.C. RichRod isn't happy about this. We're pretty sure this quote from MSNSportsNet.com wasn't cooked up by a P.R. official: "I think it’s quite a challenge for our team, with four weeknight games and three of those on short weeks. I’m not in favor of playing three weeknight conference games on the road, because of the class time we miss, but television dictates most of our schedule."

After Petrino whined all autumn about the legality of a certain onsides kick, this smells like a four-months-late make-up call.

The Scared Running of the Bulls

2006-02-07T12:12:00.000-05:00

Of all people, Turner Gill should know it's not wise to go for two. The former Nebraska quarterback, whose failed 2-point conversion lost a national championship to Miami back in the early 80s, is the new coach at Buffalo, and apparently he's into chasing paydays more than honoring contracts.

Buffalo has officially picked up a 2006 game at Auburn, although the Buffalo News doesn't have any further details. But rampant speculation points toward the Bulls backing out of their commitment with West Virginia. Somebody roused Punxsutawny Hickman and he produced this column quoting Mountaineer scheduler-maker Mike Parsons as saying that Buffalo won't even return phone calls by the WVU administration.

Real classy, on both parts. First off, Buffalo joins UCF, Maryland and possibly Mississippi State as teams running scared of the Sugar Bowl champion Mountaineers. The Bulls probably will receive a greater payday from Auburn, which likely will include the funds to buy out of the WVU contract.

And secondly, Auburn, who recently signed a series with WVU, is now trying to screw the Mounties behind their backs. Way to get off on the right foot. Of course, what else do you expect from the corrupt $EC?

Game on?

2006-02-05T01:46:00.000-05:00

We've been losing lots of sleep here at Spot the Blog about the possible loss of the most attractive non-conference game on WVU's schedule (and, yes, that's a jab at you folks in Huntington).

Now comes word from the Mississippi State camp that the schedule changes MSU athletic director Larry Templeton is considering have "nothing to do" with WVU -- "another team (is) having schedule problems, and MSU may cooperate to alleviate a problem."

According to an e-mail forwarded to Spot the Blog from the reporter from Mississippi, the WVU-Mississippi State game likely is still on, and the AD is happy to have the Mountaineers on the schedule.

Still, we have questions. Something doesn't smell right.

If this is the case, why wasn't it originally reported that way?

Why did the original story mention that Mississippi State might change a team on the schedule? Templeton's vague reference to schedule changes certainly leads a reasonable person to believe the Bulldogs don't want to play.

A simple line of explanation from the AD in the original story -- maybe, "because another team is having scheduling conflicts" -- would have gone a long way toward preventing the fueling of the paranoid fire.

You'll forgive us for wondering about the stability of WVU's schedule. We've seen Florida State (1993), Central Florida (2005) and Maryland (in the future) back out of games against the Mountaineers, and we recognized the warning signs of another retreat.

We've also noticed that Mississippi State's fan base are not only agreeing with our theory, they're DEFENDING it.

They rip RichRod for wanting to establish recruiting pipelines in Mississippi. Apparently, they don't know those pipelines have existed for years. When the MSU-WVU deal was announced in 2004, Mississippi natives Charles Hales, Dee McCann and others already were on the roster.

We'll take the forwarded e-mail with a grain of salt, and believe this game's really being played when we see the schedule. Until then, we trust no one.

Are the Bullies chicken?

2006-02-04T02:00:00.000-05:00

First, Central Florida. Then, Maryland. Now, Mississippi State? Seems the list of schools that are ducking WVU's football team keeps growing.

This is informed speculation -- no schedules have been announced, but our theory seems plausible that Sylvester Croom (above right) and his Bulldogs (or Bullies, as they call themselves) don't want any part of the Mountaineers on October 7th -- especially if you read between the lines.

We found a story in a Mississippi newspaper that says Mississippi State athletic director Larry Templeton (left), in announcing his Bulldogs will open the season on a Thursday night, previouly said he's having conversations about altering the school's tentative football schedule.

Our Google news search turned up this story from Jan. 8 that quotes Templeton as saying a conversation involves "changing teams on the schedule," and that it would have to be one of Mississippi State's non-conference opponents, since the $EC schedule is set by the league office.

So, who could he be talking about? The Bulldogs' four non-conference opponents are UAB, Tulane, Division I-AA Jacksonville State and WVU.

Reading between the lines ...

UAB -- Friday's announcement that MSU would play UAB on Sept. 23 sets that game in stone.

Tulane -- We don't think an MSU program trying to rebuild amid NCAA sanctions would drop a sure-fire easy win against a struggling Green Wave team against whom Croom has a 2-0 record.

Jacksonville State -- Since the trend is for I-A teams to load up on I-AA opponents for easy wins and clearer paths to bowl eligibility, it's hard to imagine a horrible MSU program would give up a seemingly guaranteed win. (Then again, I-AA Maine DID beat Mississippi State in 2004 ....)

That leaves WVU, a near-consensus Top 5 preseason pick and emerging national power. Remember the date of the original story? January 8th -- six days after lil' ol' WVU of the weakling Big East kicked the tar out of Georgia, champ of the mighty $EC?

Our best guess: Mississippi State backs out of its two-game series with WVU at the last minute, just like Central Florida did in '05. They cite their need to get better as a backhanded compliment to WVU's success and an admission of inferiority -- but leave the Mountaineers' schedule unfinished and have Ed P. scrambling for a 12th game like, well, a chicken with his head cut off.

We remember the old schoolyard maxim that deep down, the biggest bullies were basically cowards. Mississippi State could be proving too that the $EC and its Bullies are chickens.

Kudos to Beckner

2006-02-03T16:04:00.000-05:00

We've noticed a disturbing trend.

The Gayzette's Dave Prickman, err, Hickman, likes to take whole days off. We don't mean he isn't entitled to a pair of days' rest per week. But in the business of journalism, you plan ahead and work on some stories so that your topic of interest provides some reading material for your loyal subscribers.

Dave, though, doesn't get it. He took Friday off, after the overwhelming task of covering a basketball game and doing signing day coverage.

Andrew J. Beckner may have an unflattering column sig, but at least the guy (or his bosses) know that you probably want a morsel of Mountaineer coverage per issue when you're talking about a top-10 caliber team and one of the most-discussed programs in the country.

He offers us a little snip on how Beilein wants Darris Nichols to develop more of his offensive game. Nothing major, but it fills a void, and lets Daily Mail readers know that the beat writer gives a damn, which is more than we can say for the self-flagellating stiffs across the hall in the CN building.

The Daily Mail, Gazette and Dominion Post are the only papers of record or matter in West Virginia, and since the D-P's genius decision to go registration-only, they're effectively neutered. Which, from a national perspective, means the DM is the only paper that appears to give a damn about covering WVU.

Gansified

2006-02-03T15:48:00.000-05:00

From urbandictionary.com:

1. gansified --When WVU player Mike Gansey goes crazy and hits everything the throws up.

Wake Forest got Gansified in double overtime last week.

WVU remains undefeated and atop Big East

2006-02-02T13:14:00.000-05:00

Sad, sad song for ND: another close Big East loss. South Bend Tribune story.

WVU honored the Sugar Bowl football team at halftime ... the winningest four years in school history.

Here's the AP story from USA Today.

Also, from a recent USA Today roundball round table ...

What's been the key to West Virginia's recent 12-game winning streak, a run that has the Mountaineers sitting atop the Big East?

Malcolm Moran: Experience, coaching, style, and the evolution of the program within the Big East.
Eric Crawford: I was looking at the stats, and I couldn't find anything that really jumped out. They've had good shooting games and bad, good defensive games and bad.
Jeff Zillgitt: I understand players decide the outcome, but I really like Mountaineers coach John Beilein.
Tim Gardner: I agree. But I'll go one step further. Don't forget about Mike Gansey.
Eric Crawford: Gansey seems to be the guy who makes the key play, no matter what kind of game it is. Shot. Steal. Whatever.
Tim Gardner: The guy averages nearly 20 points, over 2 steals, 2 assists and 5 rebounds. Plus, he's shooting 63% from the field and 51% from three-point range.
Malcolm Moran: I think Gansey is good enough to deserve his own word. If teams have been Pittsnogled, can't they be Ganseyed?
Tim Gardner: Exactly!
Eric Crawford: Last year when they missed shots, they lost. They started 1-5 in the Big East. This year, if they miss shots, they find a way to stay in the game, and usually win.
Tim Gardner: Gansey has completely knocked my socks off the past few weeks. I wasn't too high on the Mountaineers at the beginning of the year, but if he keeps playing this well, he opens things up for the entire team.
Malcolm Moran: Plus, you can't calculate the importance of last year's stretch run through the conference and NCAA tournaments.
Jeff Zillgitt: If you've followed his career, you know what Beilein can get done at Canisius and Richmond, so give him a bigger budget and more talented players to coach and he's going to have a solid team.
Tim Gardner: Eric, I think that's a maturation process that Beilein and their run last year has instilled in them. They look tough. Not Final Four tough, but they'll be close.
Eric Crawford: Yep. They still tend to give a team too many good looks at the basket, and on the wrong night, that can get them.
Jeff Zillgitt: I enjoy watching WVU on the offensive end. It's fun basketball.
Malcolm Moran: They were a possession away last year, and they might be better now.
Tim Gardner: No doubt their defense needs work. But a tough Big East schedule could help with that
Eric Crawford: One thing about their offense this season -- they just don't turn the ball over. And if you have that kind of offensive ability and don't make mistakes, you can be awfully tough to deal with.
Eric Crawford: You'd better have some shooters of your own if you want to beat them.

Wayback machine

2006-01-31T16:46:00.000-05:00

The Philly Daily News reminds us of a famous ending to a WVU-St. Joe's clash from 1985 ...

"There were 3 seconds left in the game, but it was far from over. In fact, it was 48 hours far from over.

Trailing Saint Joseph's, 50-49, with 3 seconds remaining and inbounding under its own basket, West Virginia's Renardo Brown tossed it downcourt to the foul line, where Lester Rowe caught it and quickly flipped to Vernon Odom, who shot from 18 feet out. Rowe then went right to the basket and, after Odom's shot grazed the right side of the rim, stuffed the ball into the hoop in one motion - either just before or just after the final buzzer.

Referee Dutch Shample signaled that the basket was good, but the other officials - Stan Rote and Ernie Cage - told Shample that the Rowe shot might have been after the buzzer. An announcement was made that the game was not official and the referees went to their locker room to discuss it."

Find out the ending ... here

Don't worry, WVU, at least one columnist still loves you

2006-01-29T11:11:00.000-05:00

That's Bobby Cremins, the former Ga. Tech coach who is now ace columnist for the Hilton Head Island (S.C.) Packet !

Says the columnist, "I fell in love with West Virginia last year, and my feelings haven't changed. There's still plenty of basketball to be played before the madness of selecting 65 teams out of 330 begins."

Will Bobby's affection last through the St. John's game? We'll find out this afternoon.

This can't be good for the Big East ...

2006-01-26T00:20:00.000-05:00

12-game win streak? How about losing 2 in a row to the mighty Herd?

Shameful.

Mon dieu! Goree!

2006-01-24T18:26:00.000-05:00

NBALive.org and Euro League have a new video game out featuring some of the European-based superstars .. including Marcus Goree (above).

Steve Berger's Links of the Day

2006-01-23T23:35:00.000-05:00

WVU is in the AP Top 10 for the first time since 1982. Ninth in the AP and 13th in the coaches poll, where nimrods like Doc Sadler continue to shortchange the Eers.

SI on Campus has plenty of praise for the Mountaineers. "The hottest team in college basketball" declared CBS announcer Kevin Harlan seconds after the 12th-ranked Mountaineers finished off UCLA, 60-56, for their 12th consecutive win. Last year's Cinderella darlings will be everyone-and-their-mother's Final Four pick come March Madness, but the reality is that the Sons of Jerry West are humming and actually a legitimate title contender. "

The UCLA Daily Bruin has leftover praise for Gansey and the Mountaineers.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram calls WVU a "legitimate Final Four contender."

TED TALKINGTON WATCH: The LA Daily News interviewed TED in a column that addressed WVU basketball team's role in helping W.Va. heal from the mining disasters.

The Atlanta Journal-Constituition on the growing nationwide phenomenon of Pittsnogle.

The praise is raining down on Gansey. Fox Sports calls him the new Wizard of Westwood. The Philly Daily News says he's a first-team All-American. The pic above comes from Gansey's senior year of high school, where his local paper named him its area player of the year and said,

"The SWC has belonged to Olmsted Falls with Gansey in the lineup. The 'Dogs have won four straight conference titles and this smooth 6-foot-4 forward was named the league's most valuable player three times. He averaged 28 points and 11 rebounds this season in advancing to the Division II regional semifinals and scored more than 1,900 points in four years, finishing with 21.1 scoring and 8.0 rebounding career averages. Gansey is headed for St. Bonaventure University. Wonder if the Atlantic 10 will feel the same way four years from now."

Another upset was Bruin ...

2006-01-22T02:20:00.000-05:00

... and it's another great night to be a Mountaineer after a thrilling 60-56 win over UCLA at Pauley Pavilion, the 12th win in a row. We say it's WVU's most significant non-conference victory in the regular season since the 1983 win over UNLV.

Hickman says Mike Gansey's clinching steal came on a play recently renamed "Texas."

And, if you can get through Mitchiepoo's blatherings, you'll see why Gansey is our favorite quote.

The L.A. Times reports UCLA coach Ben Howland says WVU should be a Top 3 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Andy Katz says Gansey is making a strong case to be the Big East player of the year.

And if you really want to be like Mike, here's where you can buy a Scooby-Doo blanket.

Sandro Varejao's Links of the Day

2006-01-19T17:11:00.000-05:00

Today's links hatched from a dolphin net ...

Grant Wahl's bald head like the Mountaineers.

He picks WVU as one of his eight teams that can win the national title.

"The Mountaineers have already proven their toughness in road wins at Villanova and Oklahoma (in Oklahoma City). Mike Gansey is turning into a Jeff Hornacek clone, and Kevin Pittsnogle is, well, Kevin Pittsnogle. Plus, their 1-3-1 zone and quirky offense are extremely hard to prepare for."

He also tosses in this blurb:

"West Virginia actually has plays called "Double Quickie Potato," "Dirty Harry" and (my personal favorite) "Best Play Ever." Imagine the terror a defender must feel when he hears Mountaineers coach John Beilein call out "Best Play Ever.""

Perhaps a feature on the Mountaineers in the upcoming issue of SI ?

WVU heads to UCLA Saturday ... a rare opponent but an old face on the bench in Ben Howland. Beilein tells the Mick it will be a hard game. Thanks, Mick.

All the Mountaineer home games remaining have sold out. This was the best link I could find ... from the Grand Forks Herald in South Dakota.

And WVU still has to play Cincinnati twice. The Bearcats are gearing up for Xavier, the Mounties and the Wyoming State East University of Making Chairs.

That's 11 in a row, baby, 11 in a row ...

2006-01-18T00:46:00.000-05:00

We've tweaked Don Nehlen's famous post-BC 1993 quote for the WVU basketball team, which won its 11th straight game, 64-48 over Providence by holding the Friars to a season-low point total.

But Hickman reports Kevin Pittsnogle might miss the UCLA or Marshall games if his wife goes into labor with his first child. We wonder if the infant will be born with mommy's eyes or daddy's tattoos.

Around the world of college sports:

-- The P-G's Paul Zeise is impressed by Mike Gansey's eight 3-pointers against Marquette, but says the star guard is still way behind a (gasp) Herdie in the chase for the NCAA single-game record.

-- The Detroit News picks WVU to return to the Elite Eight.

-- Wendell Barnhouse of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says a certain 6-foot-11 shooting center is spawning the creation of a new sports dictionary.

-- And, during an Insider chat (no link), ESPN.com's Ivan Maisel became the latest to predict a Top Five start for WVU's football team, and called for Louisville and another Big East team (South Florida?) to emerge and create a new rivalry.

Calhoun is a maroon

2006-01-17T17:49:00.000-05:00

UConn coach Jim Calhoun is running his yap again, and, as usual, has no earthly idea of what he speaks.

In this New Haven Register story, Calhoun calls out the perceived unfair scheduling practices for the behemoth Big East.

Calhoun said he had determined that conference officials had roughly divided the Big East into four tiers of four teams apiece. Tier I, Calhoun said, includes the conference’s heavyweights: UConn, Villanova, Syracuse and Louisville. UConn has to play each of those teams twice and 10 of the conference’s 12 remaining teams once. And that, Calhoun said, creates imbalances.

"I mean, West Virginia is in Tier III, if you figure it out," Calhoun said. "They brought back every single player on their team." {ed. note: Simply not true ... Sally and Fischer gone.}

Over the weekend, Calhoun also argued that the Mountaineers had been paired with three teams in their tier that had yet to win a conference game, meaning West Virginia has a distinct advantage in the race for the regular-season title. The Mountaineers, Calhoun suggested, will play three weaker teams twice while UConn has to double up against Villanova, Syracuse and Louisville.

{Again, wildly untrue. WVU's Cincinnati, Pitt and Georgetown trio have almost an identical overall and conference record as Syracuse, Nova and L'ville ... both UConn and WVU avoid Rutgers and DePaul, neither of which will finish in the upper half of the Big East.}

"I understand it’s all driven by TV," Calhoun said. "But from a competitive standpoint, West Virginia should be in the top four. They just have to be. They’re too good of a basketball team not to be. "

We'd say "sour grapes" from Jimmy, but given that bulbous nose, we think he prefers his grapes fermented and often.

Cyrus Jones' pre-Providence linkfest

2006-01-17T01:19:00.000-05:00

WVU puts its 10-game winning streak on the line tonight against Providence. The winless-in-the-Big East Friars might need Melinda Kanakaredes and the Farrelly brothers to slow the Mountaineers, though they gave nationally ranked Louisville and Memphis trouble.

Hickman tells us way more than we ever wanted to know about Mike Gansey's wardrobe (but since Mike G. sleeps with blankets of Oscar the Grouch and Scooby-Doo, maybe we should call him Linus Van Pelt).

(Then again, he can wear Spider-Man Underoos and we wouldn't care as long as he keeps scoring 33 a game.)

Hicky also says the Fry Guys are young but talented.

From the Friars' camp, the ProJo (registration required) says guard Sharaud Curry is one of the Big East's most productive freshmen.

WVU is up to 12th in the AP poll and 17th in the coaches' poll -- but we question the validity of the coaches' rankings. Only two of the 31 voters (Syracuse's Jim Boeheim and Creighton's Dana Altman) have faced the Mountaineers in the past two seasons. Does anybody really trust Coppin State's Fang Mitchell and Montana State's Mick Durham to pick the 25 best teams? Didn't think so.

ESPN's Andy Katz shows Gansey some love, calling him "a favorite here at ESPN.com" because of his all-out approach to the game.

CBS Sportsline.com says WVU is ranked 58th in its version of the RPI -- behind five teams from the Missouri Valley Conference. We get it -- the MVC is an underrated league. We learned that from Creighton in last year's NCAA tourney.

Nenad Grmusa's Links of the Day

2006-01-14T12:29:00.000-05:00

West Virginia hosts Marquette today at 2 p.m. Expect some possible in-game and post-game reaction from Chez.

The Mountaineers have one of the most efficient offenses in the country, second in the Big East behind Villanova, which has the nation's most efficient according to a statistical model reviewed in this story.

Today's game features good-shooting big men with Kevin Pittsnogle going against Steve Novak.

West Liberty coach makes sure WVU's 'Eaton' healthy

2006-01-13T14:16:00.000-05:00

Who is this man at right and why does he matter? Why, that's former West Liberty coach Bob Eaton, and he deserves some credit for WVU's Sugar Bowl championship and the Mountaineers' promising future.

Five years ago, Eaton recruited a little-known running back-wide receiver out of tiny Daphne, Ala., named Bo White. From 2001-2004, White fought through injuries and blossomed into a big-play threat for an otherwise woeful Hilltoppers team despite being stuck on the depth chart behind Derrick Stickles.

Bo White's presence 100 miles away at West Liberty made it much easier for kid brother Patrick to spurn scholarship offers from Alabama, LSU and other $EC schools and pick West Virginia on Signing Day 2004. After Bo White graduated from West Liberty, he took a job as one of RichRod's graduate assistants while his baby brother made himself into a Mountaineer legend.

Vick's apologists missing the point

2006-01-13T12:39:00.000-05:00

The only people enjoying the end of Jerome Bettis's career more than him are his parents. Maybe Marcus Vick could have used a good set instead of Gene's excuses.

ESPN's Gene Wojciechowski pens a love letter to Marcus Vick and Maurice Clarett making excuses for their colossal screw-ups. Well, maybe that's a little harsh. Gene spends most of his time rationalizing their errors as a symptom of hard childhoods. Credit Gene for doing some research and fleshing out an important story ... but he didn't really go far enough.

Gene tiptoes around the central point of the problem with Vick and Clarett and many others: they had no father figure or otherwise strong male family role model. It's an all too often occurrence in the American black community and one that continually gets glossed over. I think to all the shots of Donovan McNabb's or Jerome Bettis' mother and father celebrating together in the stands ... strong family units, strong men of character. And yet a guy like McNabb can get condemned from within his own ethnic group for basically not being "black enough" compared to thugs like Terrell Owens. It's a common problem also in education systems, where academic achievers that happen to be black get castigated by their friends as acting white or betraying their upbringing. Talk to a person of wisdom like Tony Dungy and you know that's utter bullshit ... being black and being smart aren't mutually exclusive concepts, and the people who insinuate that they are should be shamed and silenced, not the other way around.

We need more McNabbs, Bettises, Quincy Wilsons, Steve Slatons (son of Carl and Juanita Tiggett-Slaton), Pat Whites (so of Bo and Vonametris White) and less Vicks, Claretts and their excuse trains. Gene also doesn't bother to explain why Michael Vick's character has never been called into question (excluding his sex life, which you can argue is a private matter and doesn't involve the underaged, guns, stomping or public displays of obscene gestures) while his brother is thug No. 1. We have a black popular culture that centers around tough-guy delinquents who either play sports or rap, and there's no middle ground. It's time to face these issues and discuss them intelligently no matter your skin color and make this country a better place for all kids until there are no more Marcus Vicks.

By the way, here's Gene's excerpt about the Mountaineer Field incident:

Vick was suspended for the 2004 season (for possession of marijuana and a conviction for contributing to the delinquency of a minor by allowing underaged girls to have alcohol; he was found innocent of having sex with a 15 year old). And this season at West Virginia, he was disciplined for a middle-finger salute at Mountaineers fans. Never mind that some of the fans called him a rapist, a pedophile, a child molester. Or that the Hokies' team bus drove by a building that featured a sign hanging from one of the windows: "Hide Your Children. Marcus Is In Town."

Hey Gene: They do much worse at every basketball game at Duke and it's called creative. In Morgantown it's seen as a negative. I say, Keep up the non-projectile intimidation, Mountaineer fans !

It's a Mountaineer world and we're just living in it

2006-01-13T01:31:00.000-05:00

Let the predictions begin ... The Austin American-Statesman slates WVU as its prediction for 2006 national champion ... excerpted ...

And who better to climb college football's highest mountain in 2006?
The Mountaineers, of course.
Bear with us here. Every team we looked at has warts, but remember that Oklahoma was ranked 19th in the preseason when it won the title in 2000.
In a tight decision, we settled on West Virginia just ahead of 2003 BCS champion Louisiana State and resurgent Notre Dame. Filling out our top five are Ohio State and Florida.
There's not much not to like about the Mountaineers, whose bowl performance made them look like the strongest team in college football that didn't play in the Rose Bowl or the Fiesta Bowl, in which the Buckeyes beat the Fighting Irish. West Virginia put up a 28-0 lead on eighth-ranked Georgia in the Sugar Bowl and held on for a riveting 38-35 victory in the second-most exciting postseason game.
West Virginia has everything a team needs to stake its claim to No. 1:
Good head coach. Rich Rodriguez is quietly building a monster in Morgantown. Did you see his gutsy fake punt call to seal the win over Georgia?
Solid quarterback. Pat White turned down a baseball offer from the Angels and a football scholarship from LSU and quickly took over the reins of the offense. He's part of the new generation of mobile quarterbacks.
Sensational running back. Like White, Steve Slaton burst upon the scene as a freshman, showed a quick burst through the hole and broke Tony Dorsett's Sugar Bowl record with 204 yards rushing. This guy's a star.
Top receivers. The team's three best are back.
Winnable schedule. The Mountaineers trade in Virginia Tech for Mississippi State and will sleepwalk through Marshall, Buffalo and Maryland. Only possible potholes come at Louisville and Pittsburgh.
Less competition. West Virginia is easily the class of the Big East, and with the talent losses at Texas and Southern California, no dynasty remains intact.

Elsewhere, former WVU assistant and Poca native Bill Legg, now at Purdue, is in talks with Al Groh for either a coordinator spot or position job at UVGay.

And Slaton gets some hometown paper love.

More ink than Pittsnogle's tats

2006-01-12T23:35:00.000-05:00

The national media are finally figuring it out -- it's a great time to be a Mountaineer.

The Sporting News says WVU could be a major player in the '06 race to the desert, listing the Mountaineers as one of five teams (excluding USC) with the best chance of reaching the Fiesta Bowl.

TSN also has the Mountaineers ranked 3rd in its "Way Too Early Top 10," and lists Patrick White as a Heisman contender.

And Tom Dienhart says RichRod, among others, would have been a better pick than JoePa for coach of the year.

This week's Sports Illustrated print edition (no links) has a few Mountaineer mentions, too. There's a small photo of Pittsnogle on Page 5 and the adjacent copy reads "For anyone who thought that West Virginia's trip to the regional finals last March was a fluke, note that Kevin Pittsnogle & Co. have won by 24 at No. 7 Oklahoma and by four at No. 3 Villanova, and lost by one to No. 2 Texas."

Luke Winn's Inside College Basketball spread on pages 68-69 also has some Mountaineer love, with a photo of Pittsy defending Nova's Randy Foye. In a story lauding the Big East as the best league in the nation, Winn asserts that West Virginia "is in the mix for conference supremacy."

Rick Dolly's Links of the Day

2006-01-12T16:58:00.000-05:00

SI.com has the Mountaineers eighth in their weekly ratings. An excerpt:

Can we issue a national "passé" warning on the use of "Pittsnogled" in all telecasts and stories? Cult hero Kevin Pittsnogle put himself back into the national spotlight by scoring 22 points in last Sunday's upset of Villanova, and his verb will enjoy a renaissance come tournament time. But does everyone realize the extent to which this craze has already spread? I recall a scene from November, at the Guardian's Classic in Kansas City, where I watched an inattentive older fan -- of a very grandfatherly age -- nearly get run over by the Big Kev and Mountaineers as they jogged out of the tunnel for warmups. The man, who didn't appear to be a WVU supporter, turned to a companion and said, "Whoa, I almost got Pittsnogled." Next three: 1/14 vs. Marquette; 1/17 vs. Providence; 1/21 at UCLA.

If you swim upstream, get your very own "I Douby Lieve" t-shirt ...

First column I've seen that refers to the new Big East as "tricked out" ... leads with WVU mentions ...

Mountaineers are even getting attention in Syracuse ...

Jay and Tony's running commentary

2006-01-11T21:00:00.000-05:00

WVU comes back at home to beat Georgetown, 68-61 ... here's some of what Tony and Jay had to say, chronologically ...

"The shots just are not falling for West Virginia." -- TC

Jay calls for Pittsnogle to shoot; in the next second, he makes one.

"Hold your breath if he's hitting, baby" -- Jacobs on JD Collins

TC on Hibbert: "When he's out there it's like playing Nerf ball against a kid"

Jay calls another shot (Frank Young) before it goes in.

"Bad decision by Pat Beilein" -- TC (falling back 3-pointers, typified the shot selection)

"We have not seen Pittsnogle demonstrate such physical and determined presence in the post in his career." -- TC

"This one's not over folks..."

"Oh my gosh, Kevin Pittsnogle has turned into Kareem Abdul Jabbar here ... he's got 20 pts, and he's having a field day in the lane !" -- TC

"This game's far from over" -- Jay

"You're exactly right Jay ... it has come right back into form for Georgetown."

"57 will not win the game, Tony ... "

"Guard the 3," Jay says, but they don't listen.

Jay's sign-off:
"I like this one. Boy, I'll tell you what. They worked their butts off tonight. And this crowd recognizes it: they beat a heck of a basketball team. And don't kid yourself: Georgetown is going to win a heck of a lot of basketball games."

Boris Graham's Links of the Day

2006-01-10T20:58:00.000-05:00

Georgetown has won 9 of 10 from WVU ... the Mountaineers have their highest rankings since February 1998 ... forces collide tomorrow night.

The Canadian betting services like WVU.

MICKEY puts his stamp of approval on it: Georgia win is biggest in school history.

Pot, meet kettle

2006-01-10T11:42:00.000-05:00

What's left to do after your seemingly superior football powerhouse has been undressed in its backyard by a bunch of perceived lower class? Well, of course ... trot out some lame, hypocritical stereotypes and pretend that you won't get immediately assailed by the thousands of WVU fans who are always waiting to crack the heads of bigots everywhere.

Presenting case No. 42,495: Lauren Morgan of redandblack.com, Georgia's independent online student newspaper. Her thesis: All WVU fans fit into the hillbilly stereotype and menaced the genteel, well-dressed and well-apportioned Georgia southerners.

Juanita Cousins (jcousins@randb.com) is apparently the person with whom to file your complaints.

And, Lauren, we've seen better touches of reality from your boy Greg Blue ...

The Sugar Bowl was disappointing for players, students, alumni and just about the whole state of Georgia.
But watching the game wasn’t the worst part of the Sugar Bowl. It was having to deal with West Virginia fans.
Normally I’m pretty polite and cordial to visiting fans. But this was a different ball game.
I had never met more rude, uncouth and toothless individuals than on Jan. 2 in the Georgia Dome.
Compare and contrast Georgia and West Virginia fans.
Yes, we both tailgate pretty hard, but we take ours to a level hard to attain. I didn’t see any Green Eggs or plasma screen satellite TVs at a Mountaineer tailgate. I did see a lot of hibachi grills on the back of beat-up trucks and Ford Pintos.
The attire is easy to contrast, not just for a color scheme but for the lack of class.
Georgia ladies have pearls. West Virginia girls have blue and gold Mardi Gras beads.
Georgia gents wear red or black golf shirts. West Virginia fans kept their clothes on from the night before and added some face paint or a WVU coozie.
“Wow, y’all sure are pretty. Wanna watch the game with me?” said one WVU fan in a Davy-Crocket style coon cap.
Um…thanks, but no thanks.
In order to sit with my family, we were stuck up in the third tier of the Dome between two rows of WVU fans.
I knew we were in for trouble when a girl, decked out in blue and gold, sat down behind us and immediately apologized for her boyfriend.
She was pretty drunk herself since she told me, “I love your shirt” about five different times, shaking my hand each time she said it.
I can tolerate drunken people, since sober people tolerate me on frequent occasions. I can even appreciate the fact that she and her boyfriend probably had been tailgating awhile.
But how bad can a couple of drunken WVU fans really be?
Pretty intolerable.
Sure enough, a scruffy looking guy as big as a house sat down next to the girl and said “What? We have to sit next to these [explicit]s.”
And the a-word was mild compared to the strings of four letter words the student used in an attempt to form complete sentences.
Granted I won’t repeat such words and it typically wouldn’t have bothered me, except he said them to my mother.
My dad is usually a pretty level-headed man, but when the Mountain Man said “The SEC is a bunch of [p-word]s,” Dad almost went ballistic.
Being a gentleman, he didn’t fight the guy, but I had never really seen my dad that angry.
Well, when my mother and another Bulldog fan went to the bathroom, the drunken idiot’s girlfriend was in there as well. They gave her a lesson in southern hospitality.
“You need to remember that you’re in the South. And down here, we don’t use that type of language in front of women and children,” the Scarlett O’Hara accented Bulldog fan said.
“Your boyfriend needs to watch his mouth or else my husband is about to have him evicted.”
Unfortunately, bad language isn’t enough to get a fan tossed out of the Dome.
We asked the security guard.
Ironically, when West Virginia was up 21-0, the drunk guy shut up. At least until Georgia started making a comeback.
Then it was another spewing of f-words, s-words and the Lord’s name in vain.
When Georgia scored, I saw another drunk WVU fan across the aisle throw his popcorn and beer all over the Georgia fans sitting behind him.
I know that the University has considered making a requirement for students to take ethics or morality courses.
I think that West Virginia’s administration might want to consider etiquette classes as part of their required curriculum as well.
— Lauren Morgan is a staff writer for The Red & Black.

Perspective, please

2006-01-10T00:39:00.000-05:00

There are some things a writer should learn quickly in journalism. You don't miss deadlines. You don't plagiarize. And you never, ever compare a ball game to a real-world disaster.

Matt Keller of the Blue and Gold News apparently skipped that day.

In a story apparently meant to praise WVU running back Steve Slaton's performance in the Sugar Bowl, Keller draws a ridiculous and wholly inappropriate parallel to the Upshur County mining tragedy:

From Page 9 of the Jan. 14, 2006, edition of the Blue and Gold News:

Mountaineers leave Georgia in the dust
By Matt Keller
On a day when 13 miners were trapped 250 feet underground, Steve Slaton’s dash through the Dan Mozes-parted red sea 640 miles south in the Sugar Bowl was worth its emotional investment in returns.
The Mountaineer frosh’s 204-yard outing will provide a flickering of positive memories on a day when 12 of 13 miracles were extinguished. We won’t wax poetic about how Slaton’s totes could begin to compare to the outcome the state’s salt of the earth hoped for. But as time wanes on, Slaton’s astronomical effort will be recalled with Paul Bunyan-like exaggeration.

A plea for perspective: It's completely ludicrous, and downright offensive, to think anyone in West Virginia feels better about the mining tragedy because Slaton ran for 204 yards and three touchdowns.

Any writer who attempts to connect the Siro Mine tragedy and the Sugar Bowl -- or any other sporting event, for that matter -- should be ashamed of himself.

It's a great week to be a Mountaineer, where ever you may be

2006-01-08T15:51:00.000-05:00

WVU hands Villanova its first loss of the year, winning 91-87 in the Pavilion. Pittsnogle scored 22, was 5 of 8 inside the arc, made a couple of huge hooks in the paint, grabbed a game-high-tying 5 boards and generally made Doyel look like the ass he is. The German led with 23, Gansey had 21 and WVU forced 22 Wildcat turnovers to overcome their ridiculous 10 of 13 3-point first-half that included nobody on the team missing a shot except Randy Foye.

Update: Here's a link to an AP story with quotes.

This victory is WVU's first ever on the road (in the home gym) against a team ranked in the top 3. Last such big of a win was in 1983 in the Coliseum over No. 1 UNLV. The only other top-3 victories: in 1966 over No. 1 Duke in Charleston; in 1964 over No. 3 Davidson in Charleston; and in 1957 over No. 1 North Carolina in Lexington, Ky.

Also, Vince Young announced he's turning pro, which is huge for the football team. They're even more likely to start in the top-5 next year ... do we hear top 3???

Andy Katz gives the Mountaineers some love ...

Gregg Doyel = Ignorant Douchebag

2006-01-07T16:11:00.000-05:00

CBS Sportsline.com's Gregg Doyel (right) might be the most ignorant tool working for a national media outlet.

He rips WVU and Kevin Pittsnogle by blindly saying the Mountaineers won't beat Villanova because their "biggest player wants to play 30 feet from the basket," without backing that jab with any stats.

We crunched the numbers and came to a different conclusion. Last season, Pittsnogle was more of a mad bomber from 3-point range -- 45 percent of his shots came from beyond the arc. This season, Pittsnogle has refined his inside game, has more confidence in it and isn't shooting as often from 3-point range -- 60 percent of his 158 shots have come inside the arc.

Fact is, Pittsnogle is taking better shots this season, and his improved shooting percentages across the board reflect that.

He's shooting 53 percent overall, 56 percent from 2-point range and 46 percent from 3, as opposed to last year when he was a 46 percent overall shooter, and made 49 percent from 2-point range and 42 percent from 3.

The Sporting News' Mike DeCourcy offers better insight in this week's print edition. He writes that Pittsnogle "is scoring more than ever because he's no longer a 3-point novelty act. Pittsnogle has added a terrific midpost game, and playing inside helps him draw more fouls. Slightly more than a third of his points have been scored on 3s -- down from half as a sophomore."

Doyel, meanwhile, is content to offer knee-jerk opinions without bothering to pay attention to any of WVU's games.

A Vick-tory for justice

2006-01-07T01:20:00.000-05:00

Marcus Vick, what do you think of being kicked off the team at Virginia Tech? "It’s not a big deal. I’ll just move on to the next level, baby," he tells the Virginian-Pilot. And so the thug who cheap-shotted Tony Gibson and flipped off WVU's fans will enter the draft. Good riddance.

In hoops, Sportsline.com says No. 24 WVU's Sunday game at third-ranked Villanova is one of the weekend's 10 best matchups. But Gregg Doyel, a notorious Mountaineer hater, doesn't give Papa John's boys much of a chance. "Someone's going to beat Villanova and make the Wildcats pay for their insufferably small lineup. But that someone isn't going to be a team whose biggest player wants to play 30 feet from the basket." We think Beilein's boys are out to avenge that 38-point beatdown in their last visit to the Philly burbs.

The Philly Daily News wonders if the Big East will receive 9 or 10 berths in the NCAA tournament. So do we.

Armin Mahrt's Links of the Day

2006-01-06T17:26:00.000-05:00

Poor little Maryland ... the Terps need to ease their non-conference load, AD Debbie Yow says, and they're ditching the Mountaineers in 2008 and 2009 in favor of Cal. "Playing West Virginia and Cal in the same year - in addition to the greatly improved ACC - overloaded our team, and Coach [Ralph] Friedgen and I agreed in 2008-09 to play Cal instead of West Virginia." The Terps lost to West Virginia, 31-19, last fall en route to their second consecutive 5-6 season. It was the second straight season Maryland lost to West Virginia. We think the Fat Man's preference for cream puffs and cupcakes isn't limited to bakeries.

Mike Tranghese, of all people, says it's time to talk some smack about WVU's bowl victory.

"And when you have an event like West Virginia's win, that was an important game for us, to get out there and gloat about it is the absolute wrong way to approach it. The best thing is to talk about what a great team West Virginia was and what a great call (West Virginia coach) Rich Rodriguez made (with a fourth-quarter fake punt)."

The State Journal steps outside politics to do a little chest thumping about the Sugar Bowl. And some CPA from Newport News, Va., is also touting the Mounties now.

The Cincinnati Post calls WVU's basketball team the biggest letdown in the Big East.

Knight Ridder wire: Slaton the latest in long line of great WVU backs. "I feel it's a miracle season for me and a big statement for me to come out for next year and hopefully the next few years I'll be better and improve," Slaton said.

Adios, Lil' Mexico

2006-01-06T17:03:00.000-05:00

Marcus Vick is kicked off Virginia Tech's football team for good. School president Charles Steger previously said that if Vick faced additional off-field troubles, "his Virginia Tech career is effectively ended." Justice finally prevails for a thug whose rap sheet includes providing alcohol to underage girls, flipping off WVU's fans, elbowing Mountaineer assistant Tony Gibson, stomping Louisville defensive lineman Elvis Dumervil and, now, charges of misdemeanor driving on a suspended or revoked driver's license.

More news and notes:

-- Houston Nutt didn't make the same mistake twice. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is reporting Nutt voted West Virginia at No. 5 in the final USA Today coaches' poll. Nutt infamously left the Mountaineers off his pre-bowl ballot. The final ballots are confidential, but Nutt made his Top 5 available to the newspaper at its request. The Mountaineers finished sixth in the coaches' poll.

Flying higher in '06

2006-01-05T16:29:00.000-05:00

The first poll of the 2006 preseason is in, and ESPN.com's Pat Forde says West Virginia should start next season ranked 3rd because "Quarterback Pat White and running back Steve Slaton were amazingly productive as freshmen, and they have plenty of other offensive weapons to rely on." On the other hand, "the secondary must be rebuilt, and we all remember how the Mountaineers underachieved in 2004 with top 10 expectations." Forde has Texas at No. 1 and Ohio State at No. 2 -- and remember, the 'Horns and Buckeyes play in Austin in '06.

Stewart Mandel of SI.com also has the Mountaineers in his early '06 poll -- at No. 6, behind Texas, Notre Dame, USC, LSU and Ohio State.

Also, lots of Sugar love from Rich Cirminiello of Collegefootballnews.com. He named Steve Slaton's breakout performance against Jawja as the fifth-best story of the postseason and made the entire Mountaineers team as the No. 6 story, saying "Texas aside, no school was a bigger winner than West Virginia this bowl season." He also slotted the Sugar Bowl itself at No. 19 and said of it: "The displaced Sugar Bowl had more than 1,000 yards of offense, a ton of great individual efforts and a Mountie celebration that probably still hasn't ceased."

More from Cirminiello, who ranked Patrick (don't call him Pat anymore) White at No. 63, adding: "C'mon. There's no way this kid is a freshman."

Gimme Five

2006-01-05T02:50:00.000-05:00

West Virginia's landmark Sugar Bowl victory helped the Mountaineers match their best finish in the national rankings. WVU was ranked 5th in the final Associated Press poll -- equaling a feat first accomplished by the 1988 team which lost in the Fiesta Bowl. The coaches slotted WVU at No. 6 -- barely behind LSU, which was routed by the same Georgia team (and on the same Jawja Dome field where) the Mountaineers dominated the Bulldogs.

Notables in the AP poll -- 1. Texas, 2. USC, 3. Penn St, 4. Ohio St, 5. WVU, 6. LSU, 7. VT, 8. Alabama, 9. ND, 10. Georgia ... 19. Louisville.

This picture wasn't PhotoShopped, honest

2006-01-04T16:42:00.000-05:00

No joke. It's real, Mountaineers fans.

Only 242 days until Marshall.

Mark Johnson's Links of the Day

2006-01-04T12:32:00.000-05:00

Randy Coleman, an UGA grad and a former AP reporter in Charleston, W.Va., has a very good piece on the Mountaineer fan base.

New York Times: Georgia' defeat benefits Big East.

Times-Picayune: Big East earned credibility.

Daily Mail: Rodriguez says WVU still has a long way to go.

Rodriguez: legend

2006-01-03T20:26:00.000-05:00

Rich Rodriguez woke up a legend today.

How much more succinctly can you describe the impact of last night's Sugar Bowl victory over Georgia?

Rodriguez has become to Don Nehlen what John Beilein is to Gale Catlett -- the guy who replaced a long-serving coach and elevated the program to unthinkable heights that his predecessor never could.

In one swoop, Rodriguez authored the undisputed biggest victory in program history, and his fake-punt call will go down as the single most memorable play the Mountaineers ever have run.

Amos Zereoue's first carry against Pitt, Curlin Beck's draw against Oklahoma, Major Harris' magical run against Penn State ... none produced the kind of dividend that WVU should reap.

What will be interesting to follow is whether Rodriguez uses this victory to ratchet up recruiting ... Nehlen was never able to parlay his two undefeated seasons into sustained blue-chip success.

We've long held plenty of reservations about Rodriguez -- his short temper and foul mouth can make him look like a fool on the sidelines, he can be predictable and vanilla in his play calling, and he doesn't seem to be able to recruit very many impact receivers who can actually get open.

But you can't argue at all with the fact that Rodriguez just created the mold for his own statue in Morgantown with that win last night.

And he's helped changed the culture around WVU football -- we no longer expect to blow it in the end or choke up the joint. We have a bowl winning streak and a string of top-25 victories in the past few years.

Now Rodriguez has WVU poised for a top-5 or -6 finish and a start high enough next year that if things work out could land the Mountaineers in the national championship game.

Rodriguez even made Phil Brady the most famous punter in school history ... even surpassing -- dare we say it? -- The Fazz !

Sugar Bowl champions !

2006-01-03T17:48:00.000-05:00

Links, links and more links:

WVU hopes to get a boost heading into the '06 season.

Georgia didn't expect it. The Big East was supposed to be the Big Easy, the LA Times says.

The Mountaineers certainly made a statement for the Big East.

The Big East got the last laugh. No Miami, BC or VT? No problem.

The victory salvaged some respect for the conference.

The Georgia media certainly didn't see this one coming.

There's even Mountaineer coverage at forbes.com.

Where was that SEC speed? Nobody's quicker than White and Slaton.

Slaton's old high school moved up the tip time of its boys basketball game on Monday so fans could get home in time to watch him play.

A Georgia notebook. Former Dominion Post writer Mike Lough called this one "epic."

Reynaud in the Times-Picayune: "We shocked them tonight."

Most hilarious typo, also from the New Orleans paper: ATLANTA -- And to think, Darius Reynaud still is learning the nuisances of the wide receiver position.

Slaton and White provided the accelerants for the metaphorical couch fire.

Wildest Sugar Bowl ever?

Georgia joined GA Tech, Ga. Southern and the Falcons with disappointing final games.

Mountaineers teach Dogs new tricks.

Georgia media can't figure out what took White and Slaton so long to get in the starting lineup. Let's not get back into discussing the Superguard again ...

There were actually some WVU fans living in Georgia.

WVU played with a chip on its shoulder.

Will this game have any kind of recruiting impact for either school?

Some Dawg faithful couldn't stomach being waxed by a couple of freshmen. They also need to can the lame stereotype jokes.

Last time somebody was burning up Atlanta so badly? Sherman instead of Slaton.

And finally, your requisite example of Mitch Vingle resorting to one-word sentences in a WVU big-game column:

ATLANTA — As a sports writer you’re supposed to call ’em as you see ’em.

On Monday night, at the Sugar Bowl in Atlanta, there was only one word to describe West Virginia’s 38-35 victory over Georgia.

Incredible.

Chez wears a fez

2006-01-02T16:34:00.000-05:00

Time to celebrate and tailgate. Sugar Bowl gameday is here.

WVU needs to save face for the Big East. United National bank bought some billboard space in Atlanta. And Finder continues to struggle with Latin. (Nee is French for birthname or born as, not renamed, Chuckles.)

Also, Jack B. checks in from Hotlanta. Richie received an extra $150k for winning the league and going to the BCS. WVU's staff has come a long way from the days of Phil #$#$!@% Elmassian.

Meanwhile, Mitchiepoo writes about grackles. And Hickman reflects on how far WVU has come, and where it still needs to go. No school has won more games (642) without a national title.

"They've almost perfected their running game."

The Sugar is the only bowl other than the Rose to feature two 10-win teams.

Gameday is here ...

2006-01-02T01:27:00.000-05:00

... and Spot The Blog is in Atlanta. The team is, too, though we're not sure to where they've relocated after RichRod pulled the travel team from the Hyatt Regency and placed them in an undisclosed hotel apparently somewhere in the Atlanta suburbs.

Will the tactic work? Leave us a comment and let us know ...

Theron Ellis' New Year's Day Links

2006-01-01T11:51:00.000-05:00

The AJC produces its best work of the pre-Sugar Bowl coverage. Steve Hummer's "West Virginia's burning football passion" gives a fair shake to the Mountain State, but could have delved a little deeper. Still, it mentions the requisite couches, pepperoni rolls and Nehlen. Viva la Nehlen ! Here's the beginning:

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — The sometimes-fiery passion that envelops West Virginia University football has a playful side, too. It might not swell civic pride when a few Mountaineers fans take to the streets after a watershed victory and set fire to their old couches (because they burn so much brighter than settees, don't you know). Still, that has tickled the marketplace.

At the Mountaineer Corner store near the WVU campus, they can barely keep in stock the scented couch-shaped candles — cinnamon, vanilla, lilac — produced by a local wick-worker. Same with the T-shirt bearing the slogan: "Morgantown — Where Greatness is Learned and Couches Are Burned."

You can find the rest by clicking here. In another story, the AJC recycles a bunch of quotes. This one, from Bill Bratzke-like Greg Blue, is the best: "When you see the words 'freshman' and 'quarterback' together, your eyes light up," Blue said. "We will have to introduce them to how we play in the Southeastern Conference."

UGA is a little beat-up at linebacker.

Ray Fittipaldo checks in from Planet Obvious and says the Mountaineers could use a big-time bowl victory.

Ernest Hunter and Jason Colson are expected to be ready to play in the game. Jeremy Bruce won't.

Other Sugar Bowl previews:
San Francisco Chronicle
The Buffalo News predicts Georgia 49-21, and says, "West Virginia will find out immediately after kickoff that watered down Big East competition is not a good way to prepare for an SEC team like Georgia."

Don Wilcox's Links of the Day

2005-12-31T01:18:00.000-05:00

Lead story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the Sugar Bowl: Dogs take a trip to Aquarium. We wish we could make these up. (Speaking of Atlanta and opponents who couldn't care less about the game ... is this starting to feel like the Charley Pell-Florida Peach Bowl to anybody else?)

It takes the W.Va. media to get the Georgia coaches to talk about the game, apparently. Willie Martinez, the Dogs' DC, heaps praise on the WVU backfield.

“We’re going to try to force them to pass, force them into third-and-long,’’ said Georgia All-America safety Greg Blue. “Even though they’ll probably still run the ball, that’s what we want to do.’’

Dwayne Thompson will be WVU's third-string QB with the departure of J.R. House. Slaton keeps lobbying to play QB, but not really, but maybe, but, then, Hickman wrote this, so it's unclear and garbled.

Finder talks to a bunch of Owen Schmitt's family and friends back in Wisconsin, where he grew up. Yet Finder can't properly conjugate alumni into the Latin singular "alumnus" ...

In his next work, Finder sounds more than a tad disappointed: "You can bring the Sugar Bowl parade to Peachtree Street, but you have to leave the beads, booze and breast-baring back in New Orleans." He also misidentifies the colors of Rodriguez's famous wristbands (hint: not green).

Slaton drops the knowledge on the Trib's Rick Starr, who is still flogging that bowl losing streak mule. "I don't think the jinx has anything to do with it. This is my first bowl game, so I wasn't even aware there was a jinx."

Ernest Hunter is battling a stomach virus. Starr is the first I've seen to report this.

AJC profiles Slaton. Is days behind on Gwaltney's future.

Another lackluster story includes this condescending line: "So much for those Mountaineer stereotypes."

In hoops, the Gazette couldn't even be bothered to send a stringer to Morgantown. The AP recap of the Mountaineers' 80-68 victory over Canisius, which included a career-high 34 points from Pittsnogle.

Looking back at preseason predictions

2005-12-31T00:57:00.000-05:00

Looking back, about the only thing Athlon did right in its preseason college football publication was putting WVU cheerleader Andrea Bianchi (above) in it.

The mag had the Mounties rated fourth in the Big East ... with South Florida seventh.

Here's how Athlon saw it, plus some nuggets from its overall predictions before we get to how they butchered WVU. (Note: Athlon being used as the poster child for these nonsense preseason publications printed in April ... because it's the only one Chez has in his possession (a gift) and only one he retained for the past several months).

Athlon order of finish (real order in parentheses):
1. Louisville (2)
2. Pitt (t-3)
3. Rutgers (5)
4. WVU (1)
5. Syracuse (8)
6. Connecticut (7)
7. South Florida (t-3)
8. Cincinnati (6)

Athlon's 2005 Big East predictions (actual outcome in italics):
1. Cornell Brockington and Terry Caulley will combine to rush for more than 2,000 yards. Barely half of that -- 996. Caulley had 659, Brockington 337.

2. Rutgers will finally break through and land a bowl berth. Schiano will leave for the NFL as an assistant afterward. Halfway there, but the Wall around Jersey won't let him out.

3. Strong play from Louisville and Pitt will quiet talk of the Big East losing its BCS berth. A strong finish from WVU and Louisville might help a little, but not likely given the shouting, ESPN sports media culture.

4. Rich Rodriguez will begin to feel heat from Mountaineer fans. Nope.

5. Brian Brohm will thrive as a starter, but PLAKO! will be the best QB in the Big East. Right, and wrong.

6. Palko will apply for early entry into the NFL Draft with Wanny's blessing. It's getting thick in here.

7. Greg Robinson will quickly win over Orange fans with his attitude, West Coast offense and season-opening victory over WVU. This may be the most horribly wrong prediction of the bunch.

8. J.R. House will join the Mountaineers and take over at QB. Insert Pat White and they'd be correct.

9. Big East will lose the Gator Bowl berth and negotiate with Champs Sports Bowl. Reaching ...

10. Big East football schools will begin negotiations to break away with Tranghese announcing his intention to side with the hoops schools. Not yet, anyway ...

Moving on to WVU ... Athlon says WVU must find a solid leader at QB to maintain upper-tier status in the Big East. "This team is flying under the radar, which might be a good thing after last year's club failed to live up to lofty preseason expectations" -- check. "The Mountaineers should win enough games to land another bowl berth" -- check. Athlon called losses vs. VT and Louisville, and called toss-up games with Cuse, Maryland, Rutgers and Pitt. Not horribly bad.

Aside from predicting that House would take over the QB spot, nothing horribly awry here. Includes a quote from Rodriguez mentioning that Steve Slaton would pry for playing time in a crowded backfield, and spends a couple of segments using Trickett quotes to tout Pat White as a "magician."

Aside from too much faith in Pitt and Rutgers, and not enough research on South Florida, not a half-bad set of predictions from 8 months ago ...

Brian Smider's Links of the Day

2005-12-30T15:00:00.000-05:00

WVU is 29-2 under Rodriguez when winning the turnover battle. Similarly, the Mountaineers haven't won the turnover margin in their last dozen bowls except for the 2000 Music City against Ole Miss ... which just happens to be the only game in that string that they've won.

Finder does a "man on the street." You read right: singular. He interviewed one guy on the street and supposes that speaks for the whole mood of Atlanta about the game.

Breaking news: Superguard to Nassau JC

2005-12-29T15:41:00.000-05:00

Gwaltney, many pounds and two schools ago ...

Dissident WVU superback Jason Gwaltney will attend Nassau (N.Y.) Community College in the spring, Long Island's Newsday reported earlier today.

"He's coming to Nassau and he's going to get a second chance," Nassau coach John Anselmo told the paper. "This is the right place for second chances. He needs 17 credits between the spring and the summer to be eligible to play football for us. He said he wants to move forward academically and I thought he was sincere. He didn't have an attitude like he was doing me a favor. He'll come in with a clean slate and put West Virginia behind him."

Gwaltney's high school coach brought up the dreaded "homesickness" reasoning for his transfer in the story. We'll always give the guy credit for that incredible effort on a touchdown run on 3rd down against Maryland, but his departure reeks more of Slaton envy than poor rehab.

What's your favorite moment of the Gwaltney Era? Leave us a note in comments.

Paul Woodside's Links of the Day

2005-12-29T01:07:00.000-05:00

USA Today's Mike Lopresti visits with the Mountaineers in a column sure to be e-mailed around the horn among WVU fans. Some excerpts:

Now that it's pouring bowl games, maybe you're looking for one team whose mission stands out from the thousands of other bobbing football helmets. One plight to champion. Try West Virginia. ...........

The Big East poster children are not without charm.

... Rodriguez grew up 30 minutes from campus. He understands a state which has plenty of hills and rivers and coal mines — but no professional sports team. The Mountaineers are the civic passion.
"I've even had some fans say coming to a football game seems almost like a religious experience," he said. "I don't know if I'd go that far. But I have seen people crying in the stands after a big
win."
So it doesn't matter if fate and a hurricane moved the Sugar Bowl from New Orleans to Atlanta, where Georgia can have a quasi-home game. The Mountaineers will bring their own believers.
"If our fans can get somewhere on a tank of gas and a six-pack of beer," Rodriguez said, "they'll be
there."
Unconditional love. Underdog football. Makes a nice, solid Ma-and-Pa type of marriage.

Retiring ABC Sports vice president Loren Matthews calls the Sugar Bowl the BCS game with "the least amount of interest" and is glad it has ND-Ohio St. leading into the broadcast. Also in this Times-Picayune story, Ed Pastilong mockingly takes the rap for WVU's recent bowl futility, and the writer takes him seriously.

"I can't worry about what everybody else thinks. We're here," West Virginia safety Jahmile Addae said Thursday. "Whoever else is not here and wants to gripe about it, that's obviously their problem.

There's been a Brandon Barrett sighting.

Mitch thinks that UGA will sorely miss Sean Bailey at WR.

$EC mentality at work: ATLANTA – Starting in the Sugar Bowl will be nice, but, in the bigger picture, Georgia wide receiver Kenneth Harris is more worried about spring practice.

Pat McAfee is in the practice-player Hall of Fame ... so when will he stop missing easy kicks?

Finder catches up with WVU's growing Louisiana contingent to talk about the game not being in New Orleans.

The Roanoke Times -- one of the most egregiously biased papers against WVU -- is no surprise in the pro-UGA column. "GEORGIA (-8.5) OVER WEST VIRGINIA. The Mountaineers have been surging, winning six in a row, but it's been against mediocre competition. The Bulldogs are better tested and should win handily."

This is the same fine publication that in 2003 brought you the famous lead:

Any Virginia Tech football players looking for cheap batteries may find a steal of a deal next Wednesday night in Morgantown, W.Va. As, AAs, AAAs, whatever size you want, guys. Well, car batteries don't figure to be available. Hopefully.

Go, Louisville!

And in a related event, Pittsburgh Steeler and former WVU star Mike Logan won't even back the Mountaineers and questions the fan support ratio at the Jawja Dome.

Finder had this nugget buried in a Stiller notebook: "Hines and Arnold [Harrison, a practice-squad linebacker also from Georgia] tried to get me to bet on it," said Logan."But the game's in Atlanta. West Virginia travels well, but we aren't going to have that many people there." Logan said he's holding out to survey the wagering landscape next week, closer to the post-New Year's bowl games."

Hey, AJC, where was Deliverance filmed?

2005-12-29T00:50:00.000-05:00

West Virginians expected the tiresome stereotypes from the Atlanta Urinal-Constipation. But not from two of their own. Alleged comedian (and WVU grad) Rik Roberts fires away with more trite attempts at humor in Thursday's AJC. Worse, this apparently was green-lighted by former Charlestonian and ex-Daily Mail reporter Jeff D'Alessio (pictured at right).

This drivel ends with D'Alessio soliciting suggestions for someone you'd like to see the AJC go after. We have one, Jeff: Yourself. You can advocate his suicide by emailing him at jd'alessio@ajc.com.

We wouldn't want to stoop to the AJC's level by pointing out that the 1972 film Deliverance was filmed largely in three locations in Georgia. Nah, we're better than that.

A Monkey Could Cover WVU

2005-12-28T18:51:00.000-05:00

There cannot be a school in the top-25 of both football and basketball more poorly covered than West Virginia. There are some decent-to-good reporters in the group, but some of those struggle with the craft of writing. Some of the better writers lack consistency (read: are frequently lazy). And some are just horribly comical and comically horrible.

We present the first in an occasional series of highlights of the putrid and mortifying ...

First up is Jim Butta, the Parkersburg News & Sentinel half-wit who is a first-ballot Horrible Hall of Famer. His latest offering earns the Alanis Morrisette Trophy for failure to comprehend the meaning of "irony."

ATLANTA, Ga.- When fifth-year West Virginia University coach Rich Rodriguez leads his Mountaineer football team onto the artificial surface at the Georgia Dome to face No. 8 Georgia in the 72nd annual Nokia Sugar Bowl, he will join Don Nehlen as the only two West Virginia coaches to accomplish a major feat.
Nehlen, who coached the gold and blue for 21 seasons before calling it quits following WVU's 49-38 victory over Mississippi in the 2000 Music City Bowl, was the first Mountaineer boss to lead WVU to four consecutive postseason appearances-1981 through 1984.
Ironically, one of the players on those teams was a walk-on from nearby North Marion High School-Rich Rodriguez.
There is not a shred of irony in that statement. Irony is the opposite result of an expectation. Rodriguez replacing his former coach is merely coincidental or circumstantial. This is what happens when you give press passes to part-time high school track coaches.
Up the river in Wheeling, Doug Huff -- the only Ogden product to weasel his way into Sports Illustrated -- confounds with this unnecessary chest-bumping about Big East hoops:
Speaking of the Big East, here's a trivia fact which adds teeth to any suggestion that it's the strongest men's basketball conference in the land: 15 of the 16 Big East colleges have advanced to the NCAA Final Four. Only first-year member South Florida is absent from that list. No other conference in the land can make that statement.
Obviously, there aren't any other conferences with 16 teams who could be advancing anywhere, nor should there be.
Let's close with an all-time great moment in Mountaineer journalism history. Oct. 27, 1996 -- every WVU fan knows the feeling of the kick in the stomach of that last-second, punt-block loss to Miami. That was bad enough. Then you had to open the Gazette and read this ... Horrible Hall of Fame lead and column candidate Mitchiepoo Vingle's description of the loss. Warning: 39 of 50 paragraphs are one sentence, most of them (including the inexplicable first three) are only one word.
From the archives, we present this wonderful slice of nostalgia.
MORGANTOWN - Oh.

My.

God.

What a way to go.

A punt block, for goodness sakes.

A block followed by a handoff that could have - indeed should have - been called a forward lateral.

But one that will be recorded in the books as an alert play by Miami.

One that left the Mountaineer Field crowd here of 66,948 in stunned disbelief.

And, unfortunately, one that spoils West Virginia's bid for a perfect season.

This one will be talked about for years to come.

WVU had every opportunity in the world to secure a 7-3 victory. About all the Mountaineers had to do was execute a punt. Donnie Lindsey needed to make a good snap. Brian West needed to get the punt away.

Lindsey did his job. West didn't get a chance to do his.

Miami's Tremain Mack ran around WVU's David Saunders as if he were a pylon and got the block. Hurricanes senior Jack Hallmon picked the ball up and pushed the handoff forward to Nathaniel Brooks, who ran in for the shocker.

A couple futile WVU offensive plays later, it was over.

The perfect season was over. In all likelihood the Alliance bowl slot was over. The chance to beat the Miami Hurricanes was over.

And what a shame it all had to end this way.

"I can't believe this happened," said WVU coach Don Nehlen. "It's hard for me to believe it did. I know what my kid told me. I have to wait and see what the film says. But I think it was a forward lateral. But that's neither here nor there."

It was always be here.

It will always be in this stadium.

Nehlen and his staff did all they could. On the last offensive series, the coaches milked the clock perfectly. On two occasions they allowed the play clock to run down to 1 second before calling timeout.

The last time, there was but 29 seconds left.

Twenty-nine seconds until this place exploded.

Twenty-nine seconds until an even bigger game was set up here next week against Syracuse.

Then came the block, like a kick in the stomach to West Virginia.

"That," said Nehlen, "was as tough a loss as I've ever had."

It had to be The West Virginia defense was, once again, spectacular.

Miami finished with 162 total yards, but 58 on the ground.

The offense, once again, sputtered. Nehlen not only went without standout tailback Amos Zereoue, but, after a foot injury, Khari Mott.

He was down to Alvin Swoope, his third-string tailback, and T.J. Walker.

T.J. WALKER! Nehlen was handing the ball off to the perennial practice squad player in the fourth quarter against Miami. And winning!

He was doing so in front of a national ESPN television audience.

He was doing so in front of an enthusiastic packed house. He was doing so in front of pro scouts and representatives from the Orange, Sugar, Carquest and Liberty bowls.

And what an opportunity. Miami was emotionally down after being dumped
last week by East Carolina. The Hurricanes had to go with a quarterback, Ryan Clement, who basically played with one arm.

("Clement," said Nehlen, "has to be the toughest kid in America.")

His backup, Scott Covington, trying to go with a partially collapsed lung, had to be given oxygen before the game. Then the 'Canes' top offensive player, Danyell Ferguson left with a dislocated hip. Their starting flanker, Jermaine Chambers, went out with a knee injury.

Miami was even pitching in some goofs - illegal substitutions, fair catch interferences, etc.

Of course, the end of the first half didn't help the Mountaineer cause. Shawn Foreman went 40 yards after catching a Chad Johnston pass, but barely stepped out of bounds at the U.M. 33-yard line. Then, after getting to the 24, timeout wasn't called before the clock could be stopped. (Whatever happened to home cooking?)

It's just a shame.

Nehlen's draw plays were even working.

Twice.

It all came down to a snap and punt.

"I'm proud of our kids," said Nehlen afterward.

He should be.

His team's loss will do absolutely nothing for the reputation of the Big East. It will be very hard for the Mountaineers to bounce back.

Yet Nehlen should be proud.

It was kind of strange here late Saturday.

As the cars streamed out of the parking lots, marked by their red tail lights, the final score stayed on the scoreboard: 10-7.

10-7.

And it just didn't seem to fit.

Because for once, for one rainy evening, the best team didn't win.
Pardon while we make like the monkey and fling some poo at this work of art ...
Early Thursday, Mitch also proved his lazy chops by pulling a boner on the ID of the Tulane football coach ... known better as CHRIS Scelfo.
[Rodriguez] had been named the interim head coach for Tulane’s Liberty Bowl game against BYU and felt comfortable that he would soon be a head coach.
Then Tulane hired Mark Scelfo, the Louisiana native who had gone from Marshall to Georgia with Jim Donnan. Rodriguez was devastated.

No Punches for this Hawaiian coach

2005-12-28T00:49:00.000-05:00

We wonder if Grantland Finder of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is being paid for each flowery adjective after we digested his first dispatch from the land of peach trees. He also cites a Newsday story that says our favorite overweight Superguard may find a home at ... Hofstra, following the trail blazed by another Richie Rich recruit, Isaac Irby. Can fat Superguards become Flying Dutchmen? Also, Finder compares the '05 Mountaineers to the '93 edition, with interviews with Kelchner, Taffoni, Studstill, Robsock.

To Finder's credit, at least he's talking about the GAME. That's more than we can say about our least-favorite, myopic, self-absorbed Georgia scribe, Carter Strickland. No mention of West Virginia or the Sugar Bowl in the entire story, not counting the breakout box at story's end. Read this and you'd think Georgia was midway through spring practice, not preparing for a BCS game.

Meanwhile, the Hawaiian Punch (above) checks in from North Carolina, where he's coaching in a Pop Warner-type league with a few notable ex-NFL players including Myron Bell and Anthony Pleasant.

And, one final slice of typical $EC arrogance. We found this January 2004 thread on an LSU message board ripping the possible signing of Patrick (formerly Pat) White. The first post says it all: "Would anybody else be disappointed if we signed Patrick White? I know that he is probably very talented if Saban wants him, but I like winning those recruiting service championships." Wrote another imbecile: "He can play QB if we get several guys hurt next yr or in 2005." Pretty funny now that LSU's injured starter will miss the Peach Bowl.

The DM's Jack Bogaczyk points out that UGA is 0-6 all-time in bowls against Eastern football teams.

Jimmy Gary wants All Your Children to see today's links

2005-12-27T18:04:00.000-05:00

Another day, another dead horse for the Hickmaniac to flog. This time, Hicky reminds us that Richie Rich doesn't like to talk about West Virginia's three straight bowl losses during his reign. Of course, Captain Obvious previously told us how loud the Georgia Dome will be. We wonder when Hicky will combine those ideas and tell us about West Virginia's 1-2 record in bowl games indoors.

He also takes a jab or two at the relatively empty calendar of events at the Sugar Bowl ... apparently forgetting that the Katrina-displaced Sugar has only been Atlanta's for a few months.

Meanwhile, down in Dixie, Georgia's still talking about next season. Tight end Leonard Part Six is considering a leap to the NFL, but only after he gets through West Virginia. Just another excuse, I suppose, to avoid talking about anything related to, you know, the actual GAME.

And out West, the Red Team hopes to ride the Colorado River Upstream in its first bowl since 1978, but Arizona State coach Dirk Koetter doesn't have much good to say about the Big East. Interesting, since Koetter spent 1994 and '95 on Boston College's staff. Before that, he was an assistant at Missouri and purportedly scouted WVU in 1993. Then again, judging by that 35-3 final, maybe he wasn't paying attention after all.

The Teethbirds are being taken to task by geography-impaired Gator Bowl chair Rick Catlett for not selling out the Jan. 1 game. Catlett's concerned that "we're not getting very many sales with Kentucky or Ohio area codes." Um, Rick, Louisville is across the drink from Indiana, not Ohio.

John Stroia's links of the day

2005-12-26T15:53:00.000-05:00

Three losses knocked West Virginia out. One big win has the Mountaineers back in the polls at No. 25 after a month-long absence. The writers were more easily persuaded by that 92-68 win over Jokelahoma than the coaches, who still have WVU on the outside looking in.

On an otherwise slow news day the day after Christmas, the WVU football team was scheduled to arrive in Atlanta today to begin Sugar Bowl preparations.

And the estimable Andrew J. Beckner gets philosophical and ponders the mysterious qualitiestruth:

A confident redshirt freshman wide receiver at West Virginia, Jalloh came here thinking he was about to catch a bunch of touchdown passes, rack up a ton of yards and make the Mountaineers more than just a one-trick pony.
Yet, the cold, hard truth of Jalloh's season is this: three catches, 66 yards, one touchdown and a two-point conversion.
Those statistics hide the truth. It isn't that Jalloh isn't a talented receiver. It's that the WVU running game, ranked fifth in the nation, is so far and away the team's best offensive option that it precludes any need to go deep with consistency.

Still, one issue nags. Since West Virginia never, EVER plays games indoors before large, loud crowds -- they've certainly never, EVER played in odd-numbered seasons in Syracuse's Carrier Dome -- we can't help but wonder if the noisy Jawja Dome will affect the Mountaineers.

MEANWHILE, out West, the Red Team is a betting darling. Put your pennies down on Rutgers! And in a serious bit of irony, Ryan Neill traveled all the way from Jersey to Phoenix to see the "biggest mall ... that I have ever seen in my life."

The Tucson Citizen likes Georgia 27-20 in the Sugar.

Ted Lewis of the Times-Picayune joins the parade of idiots who keep writing that the Big East is somehow in danger of "losing" its BCS berth. Do these people understand that the BCS is expanding to five bowls next year and relaxing qualifications for the other conferences? They never provide any research or quotes from authorities that ever have impugned the Big East's status, and they neglect to bring up the fact that lowly Florida State is your ACC champion, and that the Big East champs' average standing is superior to the ACC.

UGA's lapdog media continues to focus on next year instead of the bowl game. Some of Carter Strickland's repulsive prose:

The source of that fear, you might be surprised to learn, is not West Virginia. Sure, speedy Mountaineers running back Steve Slaton and bar-of-soap-slippery quarterback Pat White have given the Georgia defensive line coach pause and some cause for worry.

But it is what comes next that has Garner worrying at night.

"It's scary," he said again, his voice tailing off as if some horrible image just came to mind.

And talking about them doesn't assuage those fears one bit. In fact, it only heightens them, forcing Garner to go through a mental checklist of his defensive linemen.

Gerald Anderson, senior, tree stump of a man who plugged holes like he was Dutch ... gone.

Kedric Golston, senior, Ferrari motor (high maintenance, but good), Tonka body ... gone.

Darrius Swain, senior, space eater, among other things ... gone.

Eugene Napoleon's Christmas Day Links

2005-12-25T00:00:00.000-05:00

Sam Huff declined to be part of the horrible Harris Poll because he was too honest. “If I didn’t vote West Virginia high, all my friends in the state would have given me so much hell that I would have been miserable,” said Huff, whose No. 75 was retired this past fall in halftime ceremonies at a Mountaineer game.

Georgia's whining again ... complaining now about how they won't get fat mileage checks for playing a bowl game in their back yard.

Hickman continues to belabor the point that the Georgia Dome will be loud. WE GET IT. IT'S LOUD. LOTS OF GEORGIA FANS. DECIBELS. Enough.

Mem'ries ...

2005-12-24T02:12:00.000-05:00

Yes, Mike Whiteford of The Charleston Gazette, we miss Watt Powell Park in Charleston. Yes, the old site at 35th Street and MacCorkle Avenue was host to many noteworthy minor-league baseball games.

But we also know that if we're going to throw our emotional weight behind the preservation of a memorable sports venue, we'd rather petition for a monument on Campus Drive in Morgantown, near the new biology building at WVU to preserve that patch of land where Old Mountaineer Field used to stand.

No offense to Al E. Cat, but we'd rather preserve the spot where Bill McKenzie kicked a field goal to beat Pitt 17-14 in 1975 -- and prevent drunken frat boys from allowing their dogs to defecate where Tony Dorsett once was beaten.

Around the Big East ...

2005-12-23T19:49:00.000-05:00

Adrian Wojnarowski wonders why Rutgers AD Bob Mulcahy doubled Greg Schiano's salary after one winning season in which it defeated only one team with a winning record (Navy). My guess? Costs for building a wall around New Jersey have risen.

Also, Scarlet Knights player Ryan Neil is filing his thoughts as a correspondent for the Star-Ledger from the Phoenix Insight Bowl. His most provocative revelation from Friday was that the Red Team woofed its breakfast up stream in 10 minutes.

Colts linebacker Gary Brackett is talking trash to his teammates now that the boys from Piscataway are bowling.

Pray that South Florida coach Jim Leavitt does not have you in a Secret Santa gift exchange. Here's his Christmas shopping methodology: work right up until Christmas Eve night, then "I want to get out and do a little shopping; probably pick up a bunch of gift certificates." Merry Christmas, kids, here's a McDonald's gift card and an Exxon styrofoam cup.

Louisville's has officially sold more than 14,000 tickets, but school officials predict even more Cardinal fans in Jacksonville. The Gator Bowl sold combo tickets to the ACC Championship, and ticked-off Virginia Tech fans are re-selling them on the Internet.

Neill Ostrout of the Connecticut Post makes a swing around the Big East before hoops conference play begins. Pittsnogle, Beilein and the WVU Coliseum are all praised.

Pitt is 9-0, but the stream of patsies who paraded into Oakland ended with Coppin State. A trip to South Carolina and a game with Wisconsin are upcoming before conference play begins.

Sugar Bowl picks, update

2005-12-23T19:07:00.000-05:00

For Georgia: 23
For WVU: 4
Average score: UGA by 7, or WVU by 1 1/2

Pro-Mountaineers:
Pat Forde, ESPN, WVU 25-24
The Chetek (Wis.) Alert, WVU (no score)
Dennis Dodd, CBS Sportsline, WVU (no score)
Harmon Forecast, WVU 23-21
Berry Tramel, Oklahoman, leans toward WVU as "underdog to rally around" without explicit prediction

Pro-Bulldogs:
Sports Illustrated , John Walters, UGA 33-23
Gainesville (Fla.) Sun, UGA 24-20
Hartselle (Ala.) Enquirer, UGA 24-20
Michael Bradley, CBS Sportsline, UGA 30-13 (replete with W.Va. and Big East stereotype cracks packed into one)
Tim Brando, Sporting News Radio, UGA (no link available)
Lahontan (Nev.) Valley News, UGA (no score)
J. Darin Darst, CBS Sportsline, UGA (no score)
Tony Mejia, CBS Sportsline, UGA (no score)
Al Neuharth, USA Today, UGA (no score)
Ralph Russo, Associated Press, UGA 29-24
Fox Sports, UGA 17-15
New Orleans Times-Picayune, UGA 24-13
Greg Hunter, Blue & Gold News, UGA 21-20.
Sayeth Greg: "When I look at the numbers, I don’t think this is a bad matchup for WVU. I believe WVU has a chance to run the football effectively, and if the Mountaineers can run, they can win. But still, logic points to Georgia, and I have to stick with logic."
Pete Fiutak, Rich Cirminiello, Matthew Zemek, Mark Risley, John Harris, College Football News (no scores)
Eric Edholm, Pro Football Weekly
Steve Greenberg, Tom Dienhart, Matt Hayes, Sporting News
Todd Wright, ESPN Radio

Found a prediction I missed? E-mail Chez at wvublog at yahoo dot com.

WVU Bowl Records

2005-12-23T12:41:00.000-05:00

For your edification ...

WVU is 9-15 all-time in bowl games ...

Most Yards, Total Offense: 424, Marc Bulger vs. Missouri, 98 Insight Bowl

Most Yards Rushing: 208, Eddie Williams vs. So Carolina, 69 Peach

Longest Rush: 38, Bob Gresham vs. So Carolina, 69 Peach

Longest TD Rush: 24, Robert Walker vs. So Carolina, 94 Carquest

Most Yards Passing: 429, Bulger vs. Missouri, 98 Insight

Pass attempts and completions: Bulger, 34 for 50 vs. Mizzou

Most TD passes: 5, Brad Lewis vs. Ole Miss, 00 Music City

Most Invitations to Fistfight at Midfield Over Brad Lewis: 1, Bill Stewart, Miami 01

Receptions: 12, Shawn Foreman vs. GA Tech, 97 Carquest

Longest catch: 74 (TD), Jerry Porter from Bulger, 97 Carquest

Receiving yards: 189, Foreman vs. Missouri, 98 Insight

Most punts: 8, Todd Sauerbrun vs. So Carolina, 95 Carquest

Best punt avg: 54.0, Sauerbrun vs. the Cocks, 95 Carquest

Most TDs scored: 2, by several (Jim Devonshire, A.B. Brown, Lovett Purnell, Amos, Porter, David Saunders, Shamtonio Brown, Khori Ivy and his Super Bowl ring, Wes Ours, Avon Cobourne and Kay-Limp Harris) Prediction: Slaton breaks this one.

Longest punt return: 82, Willie Drewrey vs. Fla St., 82 Gator

Longest kick return: 99 (TD), Shawn Terry vs. Ole Miss, 00 Music City

Longest INT return: 80 (TD), Russ Meredith vs. Gonzaga, 22 East-West

Field goals, attempted and made: 4 for 4, Paul Woodside vs. Florida, 81 Peach (49 is longest)

Team records

Points: 49 vs. Ole Miss, 00 Music City

Total offense: 502 vs. TCU, 84 Bluebonnet

First downs: 27 vs. Missouri, 98 Insight

Rushing yards: 356 vs. So Carolina, 69 Peach

Passing yards: 452 vs. Missouri, 98 Insight

Penalties: 11 for 121 vs. Fla. St., 5 Gator

Kevin Koken's Links of the Day, 12-23-05

2005-12-23T12:11:00.000-05:00

The Horse Is Dead, Already: Stop asking Rich about his bowl record.

In Atlanta, the Georgia coverage is focused on who will play quarterback ... next year.

“I said, ‘Guys, this is huge. This feels like the NCAA tournament. That’s what we’re good at. Let’s go.’

Mr. Bott-Beckner catches up with A. Joey Manchin.

Turns out UGA WR Sean Bailey tore his ACL.

Kelvin Sampson's team can't guard no slow white boys

2005-12-23T01:12:00.000-05:00

The AP reports it... and we need to point this out when appropriate. We know how W.Va. gets used and abused by all the weak-minded stereotypes, and we're aware of how it burns up opponents to lose to what is perceived as a collection of the underclassed ... but this takes the cake, and it isn't subtle at all ...

"You would think we'd never ever ever scouted an opponent or worked on defense or any of those things," Sampson said. "We tried to man them. We tried to zone them. We couldn't get them to miss."
Sampson said his teams have become known as tough, but that doesn't hold true for his team right now. He said he would have preferred to make his team practice after the game, but NCAA rules don't allow it.
"We had some teams that would just scratch your eyes and claw and play their guts out and find a way to win that game. That was a winnable game," he said. "We've got some issues we've got to resolve here."

WINNABLE, COACH? You almost lost by 30. Let's call a spade a spade and a slow white boy a slow white boy: you got your Cherokee can kicked by a collection of casual Caucasians.

If Gale were still around, I'd flip up my leather jacket collar in disgust ... a pox on your house, Sampson.

Sugar Bowl Pick-off

2005-12-22T16:25:00.000-05:00

Here's the run-down of Sugar Bowl predictions ...

For Georgia: 13

For WVU: 4

Average score: UGA by 7, or WVU by 1 1/2

Pro-Mountaineers:

Pat Forde, ESPN, WVU 25-24
The Chetek (Wis.) Alert, WVU (no score)
Dennis Dodd, CBS Sportsline, WVU (no score)
Harmon Forecast, WVU 23-21
Berry Tramel, Oklahoman, leans toward WVU as "underdog to rally around" without explicit prediction

Pro-Bulldogs:

Sports Illustrated , John Walters, UGA 33-23
Gainesville (Fla.) Sun, UGA 24-20
Hartselle (Ala.) Enquirer, UGA 24-20
Michael Bradley, CBS Sportsline, UGA 30-13 (replete with W.Va. and Big East stereotype cracks packed into one)
Tim Brando, Sporting News Radio, UGA (no link available)
Lahontan (Nev.) Valley News, UGA (no score)
J. Darin Darst, CBS Sportsline, UGA (no score)
Tony Mejia, CBS Sportsline, UGA (no score)
Al Neuharth, USA Today, UGA (no score)
Ralph Russo, Associated Press, UGA 29-24
Fox Sports,. UGA 17-15
New Orleans Times-Picayune, UGA 24-13
Greg Hunter, Blue & Gold News, UGA 21-20. Sayeth Greg: "When I look at the numbers, I don’t think this is a bad matchup for WVU. I believe WVU has a chance to run the football effectively, and if the Mountaineers can run, they can win. But still, logic points to Georgia, and I have to stick with logic."

Found a prediction I missed? E-mail Chez at wvublog at yahoo dot com.

Chamari Willis' Links of the Day, 12-22-05

2005-12-22T10:37:00.000-05:00

Careful what you wish for ... The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has dispatched a reporter to Morgantown for a "flavor" piece before the Sugar Bowl. Here's what happened when the AJC got all uppity on Starkville, Miss. ... The title? "Enigma wins in cow town." Ouch.

Go deep, young man: Dickie's boys still working on that pass defense.

They'll somehow not be as good?: Despite the fact that the Mountaineers will return almost everybody, including the two most important players, the first Internet rankings of '06 have WVU at No. 13, Mitchiepoo reports. No way they'll not be in the preseason top-10s that matter, though, and most likely will catapult into the top 5 if they win the Sugar Bowl.

Talk about a Turf War: Georgia got first pick of practice sites and took the one with artificial turf. They seem obsessed about playing on turf ... even mentioning how it might rain the week before the game. This sounds like a neophyte high school team that will bring four sets of cleats for everybody on the trip to the big city for state. This story's also worth a click because I believe it marks the first time that Carter Strickland hasn't made some smug swipe at W.Va. or the Big East.

One of Georgia's key receivers was hurt in practice Wednesday. If big-play threat Sean Bailey can't go, the Bulldogs have to insert a redshirt freshman. Tailback Danny Ware also has been practicing with a soft cast on his left hand. And their best lineman admits he cannot control what he eats or how much he weighs.

Shocker: WVU is focusing its film study on the Florida and Auburn games (UGA's two losses).

Add the Gainesville (FL) Sun to the list of those predicting a Georgia victory, this time 24-20.

WVU vs. Oklahoma

2005-12-22T10:21:00.000-05:00

Can the Mountaineer hoops team make like Hostetler's boys did 23 years ago? We'll find out tonight at 8 on ESPN2 ... WVU comes off a 12-day break.

Meanwhile, Patrick Beilein is four short of the school career 3-point record held by Chris Leonard (it's a 200-196 race).

Papa John isn't ready to call this a must-win game, but after blowing the Texas game, getting out-played by Kentucky and botching a comeback against LSU, WVU needs to win one of these big-name games.

And Hickman pesters Gansey about his memories of playing the Sooners during the dark days at St. Bonaventure ... not sure how knowledge of OU in 2001 will help win a game four years later.

OU's only loss came to third-ranked Villanova.

Kelvin Sampson refers to Pittsnogle as a "new-age center" -- which calls to mind Dead Eye Dick from the Dumb & Dumber soundtrack.

Oklahoma City, by the way, is also busy serving as the temporary home of the NBA's Hornets ... so with Oklahoma State also playing in this tournament, it's a big home weekend in OK.

Curt Carion's Links of the Day, 12-21-05

2005-12-21T17:42:00.000-05:00

Haven't made plans yet to go to Atlanta? You're screwed...

Georgia apparently has a scout-team back who's not only faster, but a better Slaton than the real Slaton ...

Georgia's defense is gearing up to try to slow down West Virginia's speedy Steve Slaton in the Sugar Bowl.
That's why it's nice to have Ramarcus Brown playing scout team tailback.
"I don't know how fast he is, but if he's my speed he's pretty fast," Brown said.
How fast? Brown said he clocked in with the fastest 40 time (a 4.30) when Georgia players were timed last spring on Pro Day at the Spec Towns track.
"He's faster than Slaton, I think, so it does give us a good look," senior cornerback DeMario Minter said.
Brown is wearing the No. 10 of the freshman who rushed for 924 yards and 14 touchdowns and had four 100-yard rushing games for West Virginia.
"You can see each week how confident he gets running the football," Georgia defensive coordinator Willie Martinez said.
Brown, a redshirt freshman defensive back, is now using his speed as Georgia's top kickoff return man after Tyson Browning was lost for the season with a broken leg. He had 67 yards on three returns in the SEC Championship game but fumbled the game's opening kickoff before recovering it.
"It was the biggest game of my career and the biggest game of the season," Brown said. "I was really scared to mess up."
In the SEC title game, Brown used his speed to help set up Georgia's blocked punt, flying from the right side to draw the block that allowed Bryan McClendon a free passage to make the block.
"That's why we like him on the scout team," junior safety Tra Battle said. "He always gives us more realism being an athlete like that. He really gets us prepared with a game-like tempo in practice."

Cap'n Wristband knows WVU is carrying the Big East banner, but that won't help beat the Bulldogs.

It's all futile now: Even the Hartselle (Ala.) Enquirer is taking the Bulldogs...

Sabel-what ?

2005-12-21T17:21:00.000-05:00

The Gazette's Dave Hickman recaps the Gwaltney Era by comparing the estranged Superguard to Jonathan Hargett and Bobby Sabelhaus.

One problem: Hickman repeatedly refers to "Sabelhouse," so the guy must have been really memorable to Dave.

http://www.wvgazette.com/section/Sports/2005122020

MORGANTOWN — This time the announcement wasn’t worthy of ESPNews. In fact, it apparently wasn’t worthy of an announcement at all.
But Jason Gwaltney is gone, a mere footnote in West Virginia athletics on a par with the likes of Bobby Sabelhouse and Jonathan Hargett.
So much potential.
So little productivity.
For the record, the Sabelhouse and Hargett comparisons are really unfair on one level and so stunningly appropriate on another.
Sabelhouse was really a mirage, a quarterback that Steve Spurrier wooed to Florida, but whose own problems on so many levels sent him to junior college and then for a brief trial at West Virginia. That’s where he was so out of his element that after two practices Don Nehlen had him standing against a wall at Mountaineer Field in an effort to correct an awkward, sidearm throwing motion.
Hargett, of course, was no mirage. From the time he passed the ball to himself and dunked off a ricochet from the backboard in his first exhibition game, it was apparent his talent was genuine. It was Hargett’s head that was a mess, so much so that he destroyed almost everything in his wake.
Jason Gwaltney is really neither Sabelhouse nor Hargett. The erstwhile West Virginia
running back — and perhaps the most highly acclaimed recruit in school history —
didn’t come with the baggage of either, but rather a unique talent and a certain
earnestness that made him tremendously likable.

Well, at least Dave didn't start this column with "It" like most of them ...