A second response

This time for the people that are attacking the basketball team. Here is an example of one of these groups (my responses will be in italics) from the Daily Athenaeum:

Huggins hire sends a bad message about WVU values

An open letter to West Virginia University director of athletics Ed Pastilong:

My wife and I are both alumni of WVU from 40 or so years ago.

Glad you were so precise. Apparently you weren't math majors.

We are not people who care passionately about sports, but over the past few years, we have come to follow the fortunes of the Mountaineer football and basketball teams closely.

Ah, you like us when we are good. Glad to see the bandwagon wasn't too full for you the last few years. And I can understand why you don't normally like sports. They are so barbaric what with winning and losing and all.

We have especially enjoyed the attractive brand of basketball that John Beilein introduced to his teams, with its emphasis on teamwork, smart shooting and disciplined play that went beyond individual athleticism and often led to victories over teams with superior individual players.

Yes, everyone liked how Beilein's teams played. But constantly having a team with less talent is NOT an admirable trait.

It was so different from, and more exciting than, the big-man-stuffs-the-ball style that prevails these days that it came to represent (along with Beilein's teaching skills) a set of values that distinguished the University.

I hate to watch dunks too. When Joe Alexander or Frank Young dunked this year I booed. I'd much rather watch a two hand set shot like back in the fifties. Oh, and some other qualities Beilein showed. Wanting to leave no matter what. Trying to go to NC State, Indiana, and then Michigan in a one-year span. Then claiming he couldn't win or recruit any higher at WVU because WVU wasn't as good as Michigan.

In your quest for a new coach, we had hoped you would keep these values in mind.

Which ones the coach that teaches teamwork, the coach that can't recruit, or the coach that hates Morgantown?

We are particularly disturbed to learn that you have hired Bob Huggins, a man who is unquestionably a good coach, but also a man who, according to news reports, has been arrested and convicted of drunken driving, and a man who was forced to resign from Cincinnati over issues that included players' arrests, suspensions and low graduation rates.

Huggins left Cinci after losing a power struggle with UC President Nancy Zimpher. The 2004 DUI just gave the president more ammunition to call for the firing. More worrisome than the past arrest is the heart attack suffered in 2002.

These are not the kind of values that should be shaping the lives of young men, nor are they the kind of values we wish to have associated with teams that represent our school.

The school you haven't followed until the last two or so years admittedly.

I'm afraid you'll have to count us as former Mountaineer basketball fans and potential donors.

After 40 or so years you are still "potential donors." You haven't given a red cent, but you feel the need to add your two cents? I bet you haven't been to a game either. So in the end WVU loses you what, not watching games on ESPN. I bet you still will sneak a peak.

Jerry and Suzanne Bowles

New York, N.Y.

Now in all seriousness Huggins would not have been my first choice as the coach. But I'm not the AD or the boosters with millions. And I can understand the reasons for the hire. First off Huggins is a big name and great coach. Cinci was not a major program when he took over, hadn't been since the Big O. He has been to a Final Four and 3 Elite Eights. He has made the postseason every year at UC or KSU. The man can flat out recruit and won't use the "we are in WV" cry as an excuse if he misses on someone. The biggest drawback would be the graduation rates. Huggins disputes the numbers and claims he has had teams with valadictorians, high rates, and GPAs, but the NCAA numbers don't count players that started school elsewhere.

So Huggy bear has given the detractors ammunition over his career. But is he any worse than Eddie Sutton before his hire at OSU? The overall reason that WVU made the move for Huggins, despite the fact that it could be problematic from a PR standpoint, is that he is from West Virginia. WVU had two choices. Look for a big name or find a small guy and raise him (ala Beilein). The small guy has a great chance of failure. Also if either he or the big guy succeed they could use WVU as a spring board elsewhere. WVU hit option 1 with the insurance that Huggins was a WVU guy. The alternative was hold your breath and hope the new guy is both good and loyal to WVU. Then start over.

One of the things that won me over about Huggins was his press conference. He WANTS to be here. He also knows he isn't well liked in most places and doesn't care. Winners don't care how the loser preceives them. WVU needs more of that. Huggins talked about the inferiority complex some in WV have. People from WV are one of the few PC options people can still openly mock (ask Imus). Maybe it bothers me more because I'm not from West Virginia originally. But, if we lose we're loser hillbillies and when we win we are still inbred hillbillies. Well I'd rather be called a hillbilly after my team just put their foot up someones ass anyday.

Beilein was a great coach and most wish he would have stayed here until he retired. But, he wanted out. We took a good girl and married her, then she started going out behind our back and left us for another guy. Now the hot girl we wanted back in high school came calling. Sure she had a reputation in high school, but she still is hot and she wants to settle down. Let's just hope she doesn't give us chlamydia.