Round of Reubens

Last night the WVU men defeated DePaul to keep their NCAA hopes alive. During the game the referees called roughly 3,000 fouls and DePaul hit something like 3 of 158 free throws to seal the win for the Mountaineers. The win did not really help (other than getting to 20 on the season), but a loss would have been devastating. The real tests come between now and next Tuesday as WVU will play at UConn and then host Pitt. Two wins and the tournament is assured. One win should be enough if WVU beats St. John's in the regular season finale. Two losses means a run in the Big East Tournament is probably needed.

The baseball team has started the season and it is pretty clear why Pat White stayed away after a four game spit with Akron. The Zips aren't usually known for deep runs in the baseball tournament. This weekend WVU will take on Marshall for the first time in over a decade in Myrtle Beach, WV. Once on a trip to the Myrtle area BSR, OS, and myself were asked by someone in SC why we didn't go to one of the ocean-front beaches in West Virginia on vacation and instead came South Carolina. After hearing we were landlocked as a state she replied "That doesn't mean you can't go to your own beaches to see the ocean." I think she is now a top cancer research scientist working for the CDC.

Previous coaches at the schools had struck up a Charleston-Morgantown rotation. As Van Zant explains, that broke down when David Piepenbrink was coaching the Herd and demanded the series rotate through Huntington.

"I told him, with all due respect, we didn't want to play at the Heights," Van Zant said.

"The Heights" was Marshall's home field at University Heights, just east of Huntington. Poor draining, small in dimensions and lacking in every conceivable amenity, even MU has abandoned it, renovating a field upriver from Huntington for nonconference home games.

I never saw the old field at Marshall so I'll let someone in the comments illuminate us all.

Finally, the Daily Mail has reported that another JC player was signed to compete for a spot at the safety position. Only the Gazette, which I believe is owned by the same person, refutes the story of "another newspaper". So far no retraction from the Daily Mail, but no corroboration from any of the recruiting sites either. Both sides are blaming bloggers.

New committment for WVU

According to Scout the Mountaineers have increased some depth at running back with the commitment of Glendale Community College running back Zach Hulce. According to the link, Hulce was recruited by San Jose State and TCU, but only WVU made an offer for a schollie. Running back depth is a concern for the upcoming year as Steve Slaton has moved on to the NFL and Ed Collington has moved on to probation (if he's lucky). Noel Devine is slated to be the starter next year, but behind him the depth chart only contains Eddie Davis and Jet Best at running back (combined for 65 career yards). Look for Collington to get a possible reinstatement if he can plead down the charges and stay out of trouble (NOTE--this would be a definite under Rodriguez, not so sure under Stewart). Devine's wingman Jock Sanders may get some more time at running back as well if he can help keep the duo's fist out of other people's faces. Incoming freshman Terrence Kerns will get a look if all the academics work out. Hulce will at the very least provide some depth at the position with some scout team and maybe special teams work in the upcoming year. So there is the wrap up of running backs for next year. One, maybe two injuries away from terrifying.

WVU Football Schedule Released

The good news is that there is only one non-Saturday Big East game for WVU this year. WVU will play PItt on the Friday after Thanksgiving. The bad news is that the two most anticipated non-conference games, at Colorado and vs. Auburn, will be on Thursday this upcoming year. MSNsporstnet has the entire schedule up and four of the games are already reserved for television (Colorado, Auburn, Pitt, USF) with more potentially getting either ESPN, ESPN2, or regional coverage (Marshall, ECU, UConn, Cinci, and Louisville) depending on the success of WVU and their opponents. The home schedule breaks down with 1 game in August, 1 in September, 3 in October, 1 in November, and 1 in December. Ready to start fishing Ed Pastilong on the schedule:

“I am excited about this year’s schedule,” Pastilong says. “We have seven home games, which always is good for our fan base. It is a very challenging non-conference schedule but unique in that we have games against various conferences, Auburn from the SEC, Colorado from the Big 12 and East Carolina from Conference USA.”

He failed to mention Villanova from the "I didn't know they had a team" Conference and Marshall because honestly no one cares about them at all.

Combine Recap

Darius Reynaud has been called the best athlete on the WVU football team for the last few years and he showed why at the 2008 NFL Draft Combine. Reynaud finished in the top 10 for Receivers in the Bench Press, Vertical jump, Broad jump, 3-cone drill, and 60-yard shuttle. He failed to crack the top ten in 40-yard dash, but managed to run a 4.47 (unofficial) which is respectable. The top receiver was DeSean Jackson who ran a 4.35 40 yard dash. In the bench press Reynaud got 20 repetitions at 225.

Not having a good weekend was Steve Slaton. Slaton had stated the goals of a low 4.3 forty and around 49 inches in the vertical jump. Slaton failed to achieve his goal in the 40 with a 4.45 average and 4.4 low. His vertical jump was 33.5 inches. Slaton's vertical jump, while lower than he had hoped, did place him in the top ten running backs. Unfortunately it was the only category he placed. Possibly hurting Slaton was the fact that McFadden ran a 4.33 average, ECU's Chris Johnson running a 4.24, and Ray Rice (whose negatives include top end speed) running a 4.4 as well and Rahard Mendenhall running an identical 4.45 split.

Owen Schmitt ran an unofficial 4.70 40 which put him about average for the fullbacks. He also repped 225 26 times which was a tie for third in fullbacks with only Jerome Felton and Carl Stewart getting more (30).

WVU AD to retire

Ed Pastilong has announced to WVmetronews that he will give up the daily job responsibilities of athletic director of WVU in 2010 and will officially retire in 2012.

The revised deal is an amendment to Pastilong’s current contract that expires June 30, 2010. The amendment, signed by both Pastilong and WVU President Mike Garrison, raises Pastilong’s annual base salary from $196,000 to $225,000. He’s also eligible for incentive pay depending on the success of the various sports teams.

He also will receive a $100,000 incentive bonus if he remains on the job through June 30, 2010 as expected.

Between 2010 and 2012 Pastilong will serve as Athletic Director Emeritus. He’ll receive his base pay of $225,000 with no incentives. In that role, according to the agreement, Pastilong will assist with the transition of the new AD and other duties.

Pastilong has been the WVU AD since 1989. No word on if the basketball game last night was the final straw, but it surely couldn't have helped.

WVU at the NFL combine

The NFL combine starts today. Four former Mountaineers are a part of the 330 players expected to participate in Indianapolis. Johnny Dingle, Steve Slaton, Owen Schmitt, and Darius Reynaud are all scheduled to work out this week. Mark Magro and Keilen Dykes both failed to get the invite to the combine, but have been working out in Florida and Huntington respectively to get ready for WVU Pro-Day which is scheduled for March 13th. For those interested in watching the combine workouts the NFL Network has the combine and Slaton, Schmitt, and Reynaud should be on display on Sunday while Monday will be the workout day for Dingle. It appears that the four invited to the combine are likely to all be drafted. Keilein stands the best chance of the other two, but all should at least be offered a free agent invite at the least. At that point it is up to the player to cause some camp fireworks, some of which he may be able to buy soon in West Virginia again as the legislature is debating bringing back real fireworks. It's only a matter of time before BSR burns down Morgantown.

More trouble?

The Dominion Post (no linky because it is a pay site online) has reported in today's addition that Morgantown Police are investigating an incident involving a student getting beat up by what he claims were up to 6 football players including Noel Devine and Jock Sanders at a Morgantown club. No arrests have been made at this time. According to the report the student had a busted lip and claimed to have no idea what prompted the attack. The only good news at this time is that the incident did not appear to take place at Club Envy.

Happy Belated Valentines Day

This is a great picture. Enjoy it Chutta.

I hope everyone was able to witness the Mounatineer mens basketball program get back on track yesterday. Smalligan dominant- Alexander and Ruoff finding the touch- and need I say more than Ted Fucking Talkington. Yeah bitches.

We need a strong run going into the tourney. Blasting off on Pitt in a couple weeks would be great, but there are other games to win first, like Nova in a couple days.

The baseball season gets underway on the 22nd, against Akron, in Winston-Salem. See you there? No? I won't be there either. Look at the picture again.

Round of Reubens

Quickly today:

The Gazette has the list of the new football staff's salaries here. The new staff will make 90% of what the old staff made last year despite Stewart making less than 45% of what Rich Rodriguez made. Rodriguez made $1,783,333 of a total of $3,145,833 for the staff last year. That would be 56.7% of the total staff salary went to Rich. Stewart will make $800,000 of a total of $2,850,000. Stewart makes 28% of the total staff salary. The highest paid assistant last year was Calvin Magee at $190,000. This year six assistants will make over $200,000 including Doc Holliday at $400,000.

Rodriguez constantly brought up the fact that he wanted more money for assistants. It appears that the best way to have done that would have been to quit asking for raises every year. With a finite pool of resources Rodriguez often went first and then back for seconds and thirds. The lessened salary of Stewart has opened up more money for the rest of the staff. When hearing about this Rodriguez stated that he didn't want to talk about West Virginia and just wanted the truth out there and then called a press conference. At the press conference Rodriguez spent the entire time bemoaning that WVU was still and issue, wished it would go away, and then vaguely mentioned some threats against his kids and pets. As the press started to lose interest he stated that there would be a press conference tomorrow to discuss why this was still a story and that the best friend of his cousins' niece had been threatened by someone at school and it may have been WVU related. Then everyone cried.

Finally the basketball team has made a night and day transformation for the second time this year. WVU averaged 79.3 points per game and had a record of 15-4 following the Marshall game. Over the 4 games WVU went 1-3 and averaged 56.8 points per game. Versus Rutgers and Seton Hall the Mountaineers bounced back and averaged 85 points per game in two wins. So one of two things are happening. Either WVU hit a shooting slump and combined it with a slower offensive attack during that time or WVU just isn't an offense that is able to run efficiently versus really good defensive teams. Either way it appears that the offense runs much smoother in the run and gun style of Sunday against Seton Hall than the ground and pound of Georgetown. The remaining schedule has Villanova (Wed.), Providence (Sat.), and DePaul before UConn and Pitt then a finisher with St. John's. If everything holds to pattern thus far look for three more high scoring games followed by two in the fifties and then another shootout.

How good is your conference? Wrap up.

So after compiling all of the information on BCS conference teams versus non conference bowl teams what have we learned? The ACC was not so good. The Big 10 doesn't play many non conference bowl teams especially those not from the MAC. The Big 12 was solid. The Big East was a strong half of a conference with 4 teams performing well and four getting their face kicked in. The Pac-10 played a strong schedule well despite only 3 non-conference games per team. The SEC was pretty damn good.

More observations. Those that say the SEC doesn't play anyone outside of conference are dead wrong; that shame goes to the Big 10. Iowa, Iowa State, and Northwestern were the only teams that did not schedule any non-conference bowl teams and failed to make a bowl themselves. Seven teams played their only non-conference bowl team in their bowl. Of those seven teams four lost their bowl game. Lower end BCS teams played a surprisingly low number of bowl teams in their non-conference schedule. Duke, Baylor, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, and Stanford averaged 1 non-conference bowl team apiece. This means the bottom of the BCS conference teams are losing to their cupcakes and/or getting eaten alive in conference because they aren't losing to quality non-conference opponents. The nine BCS conference teams that made a BCS bowl (excluding Hawaii) averaged playing 2.33 non-conference bowl teams. When the bowl game is removed the average BCS team played less than 1.5 games against bowl competetion in the non-conference schedule (3-5 games). Cupcakes are alive and well in the NCAA.

Some of the biggest winners this year were Georgia (3-0), LSU (2-0 but both BCS bowl teams), WVU (4-0), and Texas (3-0), however, Oregon was the only team to play every non-conference game against a bowl team and also won all of those games. So congratulations to the Oregon Ducks for being either brave, stupid, or unlucky to have so many teams having a good year the year you play them (4 non-conference and 5 more in conference). And you did it all in goofy uniforms.

How good is your conference? SEC

The SEC's record against non-conference bowl teams
16-9 (.640)

Alabama (2-1) Wins versus Colorado and Houston; Loss versus FSU

Arkansas (0-1) Loss versus Missouri

Auburn (1-1) Win versus clemson; Loss versus USF

Florida (2-1) Wins versus Florida Atlantic and FSU; Loss versus Michigan

Georgia (3-0) Wins versus oklahoma State, Georgia Tech, and Hawaii

UK (2-0) Wins versus Florida Atlantic and FSU

LSU (2-0) Wins versus VT and Ohio State

Ole Miss (1-1) Win versus Memphis; Loss versus Missouri

Mississippi State (1-1) Win versus UCF; Loss versus WVU

South Carolina (0-1) Win versus Clemson

Tennessee (2-1) Wins versus Southern Miss and Wisconisin; Loss versus Cal

Vandy (0-1) Loss versus Wake Forest

SEC won the most games versus non-conference bowl teams last year and won at the highest percentage. Every team played at least one bowl team non-conference last year and all but Vandy, USC, and Arkansas won at least one game versus a non-conference bowl team. Three SEC teams went undefeated versus non-conference bowl teams with Georgia getting three wins and Kentucky and LSu both notching two victories.

How good is your conference? Pac-10

The Pac-10 conference record versus non-conference bowl teams
13-8 (.619)











Arizona (1-1) Beat New Mexico; Lost to BYU

ASU (1-1) Beat Colorado; Lost to Texas

Cal (2-0) Beat Tennessee; Air Force

Oregon (4-0) Beat USF, Fresno State, Michigan, and Houston

Oregon State (2-1) Beat Utah and Maryland; Lost to Cincy

Stanford (0-1) Lost to TCU

UCLA (1-2) Beat BYU; Lost to BYU and Utah

USC (1-0) Beat Illinois

Washington (1-1) Beat Boise State; Lost to Ohio State

Washington State (0-1) Lost to Wisconsin

There are reasons the Pac-10 is loved by the computers every year. First the Pac-10 plays at least one more conference game than every other BCS conference. Secondly, despite having only three non-conference games per year the Pac-10 schools seem to each schedule one heavy two decent games to strengthen the overall conference schedule. Michigan, Tennessee, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Boise State were all regular season games. Finally, the Pac-10 seems to win a fair number of these games judging by the win percentage. Also with only four non-conference games and each being against a bowl team and a win in each Oregon is the new leader at (4-0) with no out of conference cupcakes.

How good is your conference? Big East

Big East Conference record versus non-conference bowl teams
11-10 (.523)












Cincinnati (2-0) Wins versus Oregon State and Sourthern Miss

UConn (0-1) Losses versus Virginia and Wake Forest

Louisville (0-2) Losses versus Kentucky and Utah

Pitt (0-3) Losses versus Michigan State, Virginia, and Navy

Rutgers (2-1) Wins versus Navy and Ball State; Loss versus Maryland

USF (3-1) Wins veruses Aubrurn, Florida Atlantic, and UCF; Loss versus Oregon

Syracuse (0-1) Loss versus Illinois

WVU (4-0) Wins versus Maryland, ECU, Miss State, and Oklahoma

Big East record is under the caveat that the Big East teams play one extra non-conference game than everyone else (other than the Pac-10 which the Big East plays two more games than) so that makes up for the smaller conference size. The Big East is the most top heavy of the conferences with all wins coming from four teams. WVU, with one extra game, has one more win than Texas for best record versus non-conference bowl teams.

How good is your conference? Big 12

Big 12 record versus non-conference bowl teams
14-10 (.583)







Baylor (0-1) Loss versus TCU

Colorado (0-3) Losses versus Alabama, FSU, and Arizona State

Iowa State (0-0)

Kansas (2-0) Wins versus Central Michigan and VT

Kansas State (0-2) Losses versus Auburn and Fresno State

Missouri (2-0) Wins versus Illinois and Arkansas

Nebraska (2-1) Wins versus Wake Forest and Ball State; Loss versus USC

Oklahoma (1-1) Win versus Tulsa; loss versus WVU

Okalhoma State (2-1) Wins versus Florida Atlantic and Indiana; Loss versus Georgia

Texas (3-0) Wins versus TCU, UCF, and Arizona State

Texas A&M (1-1) Win versus Fresno State; Loss versus Penn State

Texas Tech (1-0) Win versus UVA

Couple Iowa State and Iowa and you have an entire state devoid of a non-conference bowl team. Texas is the leader in the clubhouse with a 3-0 record versus non-conference bowl teams. Only three teams in the Big 12 were under .500 against non-conference bowl teams (Baylor, K-State, and Colorado). On whole the Big 12 is about what you'd expect. Pretty strong with the cream of the crop running up the score for the rest of the conference. The middle and bottom held their own (excepting Colorado) and everyone other than Iowa State took one shot (although Tech's was in a bowl game so they had no other choice).

How good is your conference? Big 10

Big 10 record versus non-conference bowl teams
7-9 (.438).





Illinois (1-2) Win versus Ball State; Losses versus Missouri and USC

Indiana (1-1) Win versus Ball State; Loss versus Oklahoma State

Iowa (0-0)

Michigan (1-1) Win versus Florida; Loss versus Oregon

Michigan State (1-1) Win versus Bowling Green; Loss versus Boston College

Minnesota (0-2) Losses versus Bowling Green and Florida Atlantic

Northwestern (0-0)

Ohio State (0-1) Loss versus LSU

Penn State (1-0) Win versus Texas A&M

Purdue (2-0) Wins versus Central Michigan (twice)

Wisconsin (0-1) Loss versus Tennessee

The Big10 had a slightly better overall winning percentage versus non-conference bowl teams than the ACC, but at a much lower scale. The ACC played 28 non-conference bowl teams while the Big10 managed only 16. During the regualar season the Big10 played only 9 bowl teams. If you eliminate MAC teams the Big10 managed to play 10 bowl teams. Both Iowa and Northwestern managed to avoid all non-conference bowl teams. Penn State, Ohio State, and Wisconsin only played them in bowl games.

How good is your conference? Introduction and ACC

We tried this last year and thought we'd bring it back. The goal is to add some more data to the offseason conference bashfest. People like to use bowl record, strength of schedule (or lack thereof), etc. when saying why Conference X is better than Conference Y. Yet everyone knows that Conference Y is better and it is because they have looser academic standards and let convicted felons roam the defensive backfield.

So what follows is the Bastard analysis and it's pretty simple. There are 6 BCS Conferences and each team within those conferences plays 4 non-conference games with a fifth coming if you have a bowl birth (3 and 4 for the wacky Pac-10). When you play a team in conference one wins and one loses (I shouldn't have to explain that) so the conference record against bowl teams would be weighted heavily below .500 due to teams in the bottom not making a bowl game. Therefore, we throw out conference games and judge you by your non-conference schedule and the success versus that schedule. Since roughly 80% of teams make bowl games we only look at teams that made bowl games last year and the bowl game counts if you made it. This method eliminates the wins over those delicious 1-AA cupcakes, but also erases that embarassing loss versus Double-Directional State because that was one of their three wins all year so they didn't make a bowl.

First up is the Atlantic Coast Conference.
ACC versus non-conference bowl teams 12-16 (.429)

Boston College (2-0) Wins versus Bowling Green and Michigan State

Clemson (1-1) Win versus Central Michigan; Loss versus Auburn

Duke (0-2) Losses versus Uconn and Navy

Florida State (2-2) Wins versus Colorado and Alabama; Losses versus Florida and Kentucky

Georgia Tech (0-2) Losses versus Fresno State and Georgia

Maryland (1-2) Win versus Rutgers; Losses versus Oregon State and WVU

Miami (1-1) Win versus Texas A&M; Loss versus Oklahoma

UNC (0-2) Losses versus ECU and South Florida

NC State (1-1) Win versus ECU; Loss versus UCF

Virginia (1-1) Win versus UConn; Loss versus Texas Tech

VT (1-2) Win versus ECU; Losses versus Kansas and LSU

Wake Forest (2-0) Wins versus UConn and Navy

BC and Wake were the bell-cows for the conference going undefeated in non-conference play. FSU played the most bowl teams non-conference with 4 including their bowl game and actually beat both participants of the Independence Bowl during the season. Duke, GT, and UNC all failed to beat a bowl opponent in non-conference play. One interesting note is that the bottom feeders such as Duke would figure to have played the better teams from other conferences yet Duke lost to Navy and UConn which isn't exactly murder's row. But hey ACC, there's always basketball.

Round of Reubens

Check out some Will Ferrell Old Spice commericals here. I'm going with Herniated Colon as my favorite.

Pat McAffee. He's gonna be a little soccer player. Thanks to Wolf who was the first to send me this link. Of course I now believe that Wolf spends half his day tracking every move Pat makes. Not sure if it's love or hate, but there is a guy at the White Star that thinks you're a beautiful man Wolf. Bill Stewart is quoted as being very supportive.

I encourage all the kids to enjoy their college experience and if they want to play more than one sport than I’m all for it,” WVU Football Coach Bill Stewart added. “I’m their biggest fan. As long as Pat keeps his priorities straight, academics first and he continues to be a contributing member in the community, then I sincerely wish him the best.

He later added that if Pat so much as jaywalked he would beat him with in an inch of his life, or maybe just call in Wolf from the bushes.

Dave Hickman has the latest on the last two WVU recruits here.

West Virginia has reportedly received, albeit a few days late, the letter of intent it expected last Wednesday from Terence Kerns. The school is apparently waiting for one more straggler before wrapping up the football recruiting class.

Well, OK, straggler probably isn't the right word to describe 6-foot-4, 325-pound Benji Kemoeatu, but the Hawaiian offensive lineman's letter still isn't in hand. There's nothing to indicate Kemoeatu isn't coming, though. His parents just haven't been around to sign the letter, as required by NCAA rules.

Those will be two pretty big additions to the class. Kerns is a 225-pound tailback who played at Thomas Johnson High School in Maryland, committed to WVU last year and then went to Hargrave Military Academy when he didn't qualify academically. He still hasn't qualified, but can do so with a solid semester, a better test score or a combination of both.

Kemoeatu, who had committed to Utah and was being heavily recruited by Oregon State, has two brothers in the NFL. Chris is a backup offensive lineman with the Steelers and Ma'ake is a starting defensive tackle with the Panthers. Both played at Utah. Kemoeatu, by the way, hasn't qualified either, but no one seems to think he won't.

Scout has Kemoeatu as a three star center while Rivals has him as a four star guard. Kerns is a four star for Scout and Rivals. So both are worth the wait.

Finally, Mike Casazza broaches the giant elephant in the room of WVU basketball this year and it isn't foul shots. Everyone knows and has talked about those. The real question is what is going on with Joe Alexander Ruoff. These two jumped out quicker than anyone could have imagined this year and have regressed just as fast. Joe has become a one man wrecking crew, in the bad way, at the beginning of halves as he tries in desperation to get his offense going instead of playing patiently. Ruoff has flat out disappeared for entire stretches of the game. He isn't getting shots and further he isn't even touching the ball on offense. Casazza has his take:

He spoke of his tolerance and his team's attention to detail, of guys who'll listen and guys who'll make shots either from the floor or at the foul line -- and this was after he called a timeout to bench Joe Alexander and decided Alex Ruoff would play minimal minutes because he couldn't get open.

The team's top two scorers replaced by two reserves, though Mazzulla and Thoroughman are of increasing value because they have Huggins' trust, which might matter most now.

"We've got to suck it up and go play," Huggins said. "The reality is sometimes we depend on people we can't depend on. We have to figure that out."

Ouch. If it gets worse we may have to send in Wolf, but I'm not sure that either of them are his type.

Chuck Finder Will Change a Column

It appears as we Bastards weren't the only ones that caught Chuckie changing a quote from Mitch Albom. If you go to the article here you will notice that the column has been changed and at the bottom Chuckie has added this addendum:

Correction/Clarification: (Published Feb. 9, 2008) A quote from Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom in this story as originally published Feb. 8, 2008 about former West Virginia football coach Rich Rodriguez omitted the full context of the quote. Mr. Albom wrote: "If Maize-and-Blue loyalists want to lust after a national championship and want the hot coach of the moment to lead them, that's fine. But don't be hypocritical. Don't dismiss West Virginia fans and media as sore-loser crazies."

Surprising that he had time to make the change, what with having to hold RRod ever so gently to stop the tears.

BSR's not so Gallant Return

I apologize for my absence of late. Duty calls on the workfront, I am paying some dues so to speak. I began this season intent on keeping you connected to the sights and sounds in and around the Coliseum. I have been a regular attendee, but have been a poor corresponent. Shit happens.

That said, I remind you that no matter what happened in the closing seconds of the Pitt game on Thursday, fear not. Pitchers and catchers report to camp on Valentines Day, which some people know to be the 14th day of February. Tummysticks may not be one of those people.

I do enjoy the occasional lady on the blog. The WVU cheerleader was a solid post. I couldn't help myself- I had to dig up this one from my old friends- for my e-friends.



I thought this was an interesting profile. The ladies and the apartment both seam really nice. I look forward to having more opportunities to share with you all. In the mean time, I am relying on tummysticks to keep the dream alive.

Chuck Finder Will Change a Quote

Chuck Finder is a writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and has been better known of late as a mouthpiece for Rich Rodriguez through Mike Brown. Finder has previously written that Rodriguez was the target of a smear campaign by WVU, that Rodriguez left after WVU failed to fulfill promises, that Magee wasn't seriously considered for a head coaching position because he was black, and has been a primary source of the airing of grievances by Ken Kendrick since RR moved to Michigan. Since RR left Finder has written one positive article on WVU and it had to do with WVU receiving record high donations. On the other hand since WVU would have to prove damages in the breach of contract suit this probably helped RR image-wise more than WVU. On Friday Chuck decided to verbally felate Rodriguez and his new job in Michigan in his latest article. First Finder goes through the obligatory quotes of Michigan administrators stating that Rodriguez is a victim in all of this and wishing it would all go away.

"Most of us wish it would go away for Rich's sake," said Brandstetter, a member of that '69 team who the past three decades has worked as the Michigan coach's show host and radio color commentator. "This is an issue he has to deal with. The University of Michigan hired what they felt was the perfect candidate for this job. Rich decided to take the opportunity. The situation with West Virginia is one where we don't have anything to do with it."

"Certainly the sooner that is settled and goes away, we can continue to move forward without any more distractions," Bates said of Rodriguez's West Virginia case. "But the control is at the other end."

"The reaction here, from what I can gather is," began professor Rich Friedman of the esteemed Michigan law school, where his areas include civil actions and dispute resolutions, "people in West Virginia ought to get over it. I mean, Rodriguez took a job he felt was better for him. He's not the first coach to do it; he won't be the last. The idea of recriminations against him is a little bit ridiculous and unbecoming of people of a great state, such as West Virginia."

Then Finder decides to go to the well of West Virginia is the crazy ex in all of this and attempts to back it up with the use of Mitch Albom.

Colleague Mitch Albom, of "Tuesdays with Morrie" fame, wrote Jan. 20 "their Rich Rodriguez mess could one day be ours" and described West Virginia fans and media as "sore-loser crazies."

Unfortunately for Finder that is the exact opposite of Albom's article which is here.

If Maize-and-Blue loyalists want to lust after a national championship and want the hot coach of the moment to lead them, that's fine. But don't be hypocritical. Don't dismiss West Virginia fans and media as sore-loser crazies.

Oops. That would be the exact opposite Chuckie. That would be the same as taking the quote "Don't call Chuck Finder a douchebag" and changing it to "call Chuck Finder a douchebag." That might have been a bad example.

John Holmes is screwed

Bill Stewart didn't waste too much time in deciding how he wanted to punish John Holmes, James Ingram, and Ed Collington for felony possession of marijuna with intent to deliver charges. They are gone (at least for now).

"These three players are dismissed from all aspects of the Mountaineer football family,'' Stewart said.

They will, however, retain their scholarships through the end of the school year, pending the legal process.

Sometimes players can sneak back into the program through the back door if they can plead down and pay back the team through physical retribution. And if there is one guy that can sneak in through the back door it's Johnny Holmes.

My dangle moved

BSR hasn't been around to post any girls making out lately due to work. I started looking at videos, but noticed that the MILF hunter was using a sliding scale on what he considered a MILF and gave up. Then SI stepped up to the rescue. Meet Chrissy Kemmner, WVU cheerleader, SI On Campuses Cheerleader of the Week. According to her bio the worst thing that can happen on a date is for it to become awkward and uncomfortable small talk which is what happens when someone is trying to hide their hard-on.



If that isn't enough here is the Cheerleader of the Week Index. Me like Krista (Auburn) and Lauren (FSU) though I'm sure there are others.

Rodriguez is a narc

Strike up the Fulmer Cup band as WVU is on the board.

One of the concerns when you have a so-called "players coach" is how will the coach react when the players get in trouble. Anyone that watched the program under Rodriguez saw some Bowden-like similarities in differences in handling trouble among the players. Now Bill Stewart will get his first chance to show the disiplinarian as John Holmes, James Ingra, and Ed collington where all arrested last night with felony possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.

As Monongalia County sheriff's Deputy D.W. Wilfong and another officer were responding to a possible domestic disturbance call at an apartment complex, Wilfong saw three males getting into a car and acting suspiciously, according to police reports.

Wilfong followed the car and pulled over the driver -- identified as Holmes -- for speeding after clocking the vehicle going 39 miles per hour in a 25 mph zone.

After another deputy arrived and began talking to Ingram and Collington, a strong odor of marijuana was detected coming from the passenger compartment of the vehicle, according to the reports.

Deputies found packaged bags of marijuana in the vehicle and in Ingram's right shoe.

After Ingram allegedly told one of the deputies there were also drugs at his apartment, investigators found more marijuana and bags used to package the drug in a bedroom.

The old three black guys getting into a car = suspicious trick, works every time for probable cause. Ingram should get the most punishment for being stupid enough to admit there were more drugs at the house. Everyone that was seen Wonderland knows how this ends for Holmes. Someone is getting their head beaten in and he'll be on the run soon. Collington may have just made the worst move of his career at a time when WVU is depleted at running back.

Stewart has said he will look into the incident further and wait until he has all of the information before making a decision. The guess here is that the Mountaineers have lost three players unless the charges are reduced. In West Virginia the felony sale or possession can be punishable from 1-5 years and a fine up to $15,0000 which takes a lot of pornos to make.

UPDATE: According to the Dominion Post the weed was divided into several one gram bags, hence the intent to distribute and the felony intent charge. Quite ironically newish sports reporter Stefanie Loh had a column next to the news with the headline, "No more Pacmans under Stew."

New players

MSN has a list of each of the players that signed a LOI today and some facts about them here. I've added some facts after research to the list and will give a few installments. The first is below:

John Bassler, OL, 6-5, 285, New Windsor, Md./Francis Scott Key HS
Named as an offensive lineman to play in the Super 22 all-star game, featuring the best players from the Baltimore metro area … also played basketball and baseball, but not at the same time … was heavily recruited by Maryland, but turned off by Friedgen chewing with his mouth open all the damn time … was forced to learn all four stanzas of the Star Spangled Banner due to going to FSKHS.

Jorge Wright, DL, 6-3, 260, Miami, Fla./Dr. Krop HS
Registered 62 tackles and 18 sacks as a senior … runs a 4.7/40-yard dash and bench presses 275 pounds ... brothers Jary, Jene, and Jrant all played football all well … Dr. Michael M. Krop, of Dr. Krop High School, invented the “glow in the dark combat uniform” … Krop also led an effort to deal with an overwhelming amount of Nicaraguan refugees in schools in the late 1980’s and was accused by other Board of Education members of campaigning to have three different schools named after him.

Bernard Smith, DL, 6-2, 220, Atlanta, Ga./Benjamin E. Mays HS
named to the Georgia Sportswriters’ Association Class 4A first-team all-state … earned All-Atlanta honors … had a team-leading 125 tackles, including 75 solo tackles, 22 tackles for loss, 12 sacks, three forced fumbles and four forced fumbles as a senior … led the state of Georgia in solo tackles … most schools worried about a 220 pound lineman, but good lord 125 tackles … Benjamin Mays was a mentor to MLK Jr. and an outspoken critic of segregation, however he isn’t well known due to MLK, George Washington Carver, and Malcolm X dominating Black History Month book reports.

Jeffrey Braun, OL, 6-5, 315, Westminster, Md./Winters Mill HS
Three-year, two-way starting center-defensive lineman … runs a 5.1/40-yard dash and benches 405 pounds … considered the best lineman outside the metro areas … finished with 57 tackles as a senior … 2007 Maryland consensus all-state by the Associated Press … also heavily recruited by Freidgen, but lost interest after Ralph came for a home visit and spent 30 minutes rooting through the refrigerator … Westminster newspaper editor Joseph Smith was beaten to death by four men after writing an anti-Lincoln editorial and they were acquitted for self-defense.

Donovan Miles, LB, 6-2, 225, Stafford, Va./Brooke Point HS
Finished with 107 tackles, including eight sacks and 21 tackles for loss as a senior … a two-time all-district and all-area performer … runs a 4.5/40-yard dash … leaving the area due to mandatory water and BAMF restrictions … loves chocolate and milk, but hates chocolate milk … not named for the guy that sang “Mello Yellow,” but would tackle him if he ever met that guy.

Joseph Madsen, OL, 6-4, 270, Chardon, Ohio/Chardon HS
Collected 59 total tackles, including 21 solo stops, five sacks and 18 tackles for loss … selected first-team All-Ohio guard … earned most valuable player honors at the West Virginia summer camp … earned no honors at Knot Tying and Canoeing Camps later that summer … Chardon burned down in the late 1800s, but was able to be rebuilt due to the maple syrup industry … once punched a waiter in the face for asking if he wanted syrup on his pancakes, you’re goddamn right he wanted syrup he is from Chardon.

Tyler Urban, TE, 6-4, 240, North Huntington, Pa./Norwin Senior HS
As a senior, rushed for 510 yards on 80 carries and scored seven touchdowns as a fullback … registered 79 tackles and seven sacks … scored two touchdowns and two sacks in a playoff win over Woodland Hills … selected second-team all-state class 4A … Pittsburgh Tribune Review’s Terrific 25 … originally committed to Maryland, but switched after being told he would have to wear an Under Armor tux to his prom … was recruited by Pitt, but dropped after he knocked a linebacker’s mustache off during a game which made Wanny cry.

Ryan Clarke, FB, 6-1, 235, Glen Burnie, Md./DeMatha Catholic HS
Coached by Bill McGregor at Dematha Catholic High School … runs a 4.5/40-yard dash and benches 335 pounds … finished with 35 carries for 456 yards and six touchdowns as a senior … watched Owen in the Fiesta Bowl and then ran straight to WVU to sign, running through every wall in his path on the way … didn’t wear a helmet until the fourth game because he didn’t think it was required.

Chris Palmer, DL, 6-4, 290, Philadelphia, Pa./St. John Neumann HS
Selected to the Harrisburg Patriot News Platinum 33 team … earned Scout.com and Super Prep All-American honors … earned All-Catholic League honors two years as a defensive lineman and one time on offense … runs a 5.0/40-yard dash, has a 29-inch vertical jump and benches more than 300 pounds … there are at least 7 St. Neumann’s in the USA, but that number is far less than the number of Taco Bell’s … if St. John fought Chris Palmer he would lose.

Jerome Swinton, CB, 5-9, 160, Daytona Beach, Fla./Seabreeze Senior HS
A first-team Class 4A all-state defense selection … named all-Central Florida by the Orlando Sentinel … an All-Southeast Region selection by Super Prep … runs a 4.31/40-yard dash, has a 34-inch vertical jump and bench presses 265 pounds … school is not named after a girly drink according to most that go there although the school mascot IS in a half full highball glass … was recruited by UConn, but didn’t go because he thought they were a double A school … runs a 4.31 40, but his dreads run a 4.28.

Tyler Bitancurt, K, 6-0, 180, Springfield, Va./West Springfield HS
Connected on 13-of-17 field goal attempts, including a 50-yarder, and made 49-of-50 extra points … the 13 field goals were the most in the state and tied him for the seventh-most in a season in state history … 70 of his 81 kickoffs resulted in touchbacks … had a 39.0-yard per punt average with a long of 60 yards … hates the movie with Gus the Field Goal Kicking Mule due to lack of realism in the approach … can literally “kick the shit” out of the ball which causes problems with returns what with a shit covered ball and all … has tired of Simpson jokes from people hearing he is from Springfield.

J.D. Woods, WR, 6-2, 180, Naples, Fla./Golden Gate HS
Played wide receiver in high school, collecting 54 catches for 851 yards and seven touchdowns as a senior … an all-state selection as a senior … runs a 4.5/40-yard dash and bench presses 230 pounds … only receiver recruit this year so he is a real “catch” … see what I did with that last one, “catch” … works on hands by catching fish with his teeth or bare hands or something like that … hands so big he could palm this guys balls.

Signing Day

The WVU football staff rallied over the last month. After Rodriguez left the committment list dropped to 10 for a while. It now appears that there will be a full class. To fill up this class took a herculean effort by the new staff. Coley White signed on last night to give WVU a chance at the anti-Vicks and Josh Jenkins remained in the state. At this point there are 23 commitments to WVU with the biggest names being Jenkins on the O-line, Tevita Finau on the D-line, and Terence Kerns at RB. So far the class is heavy on the D-line with 9 of 23 commits being linemen. MSNsportsnet has the official list of signees that will be updated and Bill Stewart will have a live press conference at 3 pm. Also, if you have a membership to Rivals today is the day to get your money's worth. Worky calls now, but we'll have some updates later with the full list.

Lunchtime UPDATE: Going with a PB & J.

18 of the 24 WVU commits have signed. The names left to fax their LOI are Finau, Kerns, Coley White, JJ Dorsey (QB/CB), DJ Shaw (DE), and Courtney Stuart (S). Surprises so far include Jerome Swinton (DB), Robert Sands (DB) and Jatavious Miller (LB) all signing with WVU. All are also from Florida. Good work Doc.

2nd UPDATE:

Then there were three as only Finau, Kerns, and Courtney Stuart have yet to sign. The WVU class is currently ranked 44 by Scout and 44 by Rivals. That number will fluctuate somewhat over the next week.

Other years have looked like this for WVU:

2004--Scout 53, Rivals 47
2005--Scout 33, Rivals 31
2006--Scout t56, Rivals 52
2007--Scout 18, Rivals 23

Jenkins saying goodbye to RR here.

Final list of commits is up here. 23 today and maybe one or more later. Of note was the lack of Kerns, but Scout has tried to alleviate any fears:

Absent from the list, but still expected to sign, is Terence Kerns, who attends Hargrave Military Academy. Kerns, who is working to achieve a qualifying GPA to go with his test score, is likewise expected to join West Virginia's official list soon.