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.