That was cathartic

It's been a rough week for WVU fans. During the holiday season we were the school that kept giving even after it hurt and to all the teams we hate as well. Dave Wannsteadt never beat WVU, USF, or Rutgers before? Don't worry we'll take care of it. Pitt need a win to make you feel better after three straight horrible years? We got that for you. Ohio State want to play for a national title? No problem. VT want to almost sneak in the backdoor? We'll do our best. Penn State need something to make you feel better after a season of despair and arrests? Laugh it up on our account. Marshall...nevermind you still suck.

After all of that last nights bloodletting of Auburn sure felt good. Maybe not guitar-smashing good, but pretty damn good. Besides I only own a guitar hero guitar and if I broke it the wifey would beat me. Once again, just like last year, a football letdown has been tempered by the basketball team playing better than expected. Last night Auburn took the brunt of an 88-59 beating that at least made me feel a little better. Now I won't go too far because I don't think Auburn is going to be making any tournament runs, unless to the fridge to grab a drink is considered a run or they eat too much of OS's meat soup, but this combined with the win over Winthrop are at least quality Ws early in the season. I'm going to go out on a limb and state that if the team can shoot over 60% from the floor and almost 50% from three (last night 61% and 47.5% respectively) WVU will win many games this year.

Alexander Ruoff put on a show going 10-12 from the floor and 6-8 from three for 28 points. He would have added more, but wanted to save something for some preacher curls after the game. Joe Alexander has begun dunking on heads, which is nice, and added 17 points. DeSean Butler and Wellington Smith have also shown some more athletic ability than last year. Jamie Smalligan added two minutes of playing time which ended up three less minutes than Jonnie West. It felt good.

Can Someone Help Me Out With A New Guitar?

Week 15 Blogpoll Ballot

Still not much to say other than I feel sorry for Hawaii. Evil Richt is probably going to rear his ugly head for this one.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Georgia	2
2	LSU	4
3	Virginia Tech	1
4	Oklahoma	4
5	Ohio State	--
6	Southern Cal	1
7	Missouri	6
8	Kansas	1
9	Florida	1
10	West Virginia	8
11	Illinois	1
12	Arizona State	2
13	Hawaii	3
14	Boston College	3
15	Kentucky	--
16	Cincinnati	1
17	Clemson	7
18	Tennessee	5
19	South Florida	1
20	Brigham Young	2
21	Texas	5
22	Auburn	1
23	Arkansas	2
24	Virginia	2
25	Texas Tech	2

Dropped Out: Wisconsin (#19).

The Tailgate

Bad weekend for football and futbol for WVU as all three teams in the national title hunt lost with the Pitt loss being the coup de grace. The game may have been a disaster, but the first annual Bastard Sons Tailgate was a success. There were more Australians at our tailgate than in the rest of the state combined. After worries about fumbling this down our leg the tailgate ended up with over $150 in food and more beer and booze than we could finish.




OS used seven pounds of hamburger to make a chili in a turkey fryer that looked more like a meat soup but ended up working out for everyone involved as I have spoken to everyone who ate a bowl and there were no causualties.






















At least from the chili. During the game some of the tailgaters had their difficulties. I personally had some difficulties focusing during the first half, much like the team, but unlike them I rallied in the second half. One person who didn't was Chutta. Much like WVU's season he went down hard. Wolf at a wedding hard. After losing a fight between his face and the cement steps he was politely escorted from the game. Sad. But something that isn't. Harold.

Twas the night before Pittsburgh...

Twas the night before Pittsburgh, when all through my mind,
Were visions of couch burnings, both yours and mine.
Firemen were resting and acting quite lazy,
But they knew that things were about to get crazy.
The players were nestled, Markell did his dreds,
While visions of Bourbon Street danced in their heads.
There were Quinton's gold teeth, Larry's son in his lap,
While the quarterback made noises to sound like a cat.
When down in the end zone there arose such a noise,
They sprang from their homes and called all their boys.
To the field they flew, fast as Devine,
Making sure to pick up the offensive line.
The invaders had arrived at the stadium early,
These Panthers were looking noticeably surly.
There was a point to this late-night trip through the hills,
They were out on the field doing defensive drills.
With a dapper old coach who combed his mustache,
You knew in a moment it must be Wannstedt.
He'd made his name as a defensive master,
And he whistled and shouted for them to run faster!
"Watch Slaton! Watch Schmitt! Watch Reynaud and White!
Watch option! Watch bubble! Could be a rough night!
Let's stand at the goal line and build a big wall,
And keep them from their shot to play for it all!"
As they began to believe his bold rally cry,
There was a flash and a pop up high in the sky.
They reacted the same, with a quick double take,
What they saw made them stop in their cleats and quake.
On the top of the stadium a man made his stand,
As he calmly adjusted his Nike wristbands.
He said "My name's Rich, as you surely know,"
Then ran down the bleachers with Mountaineers in tow.
They were dressed all in gold, from their heads to their feet,
And they looked like they'd win a 12-team track meet.
A bundle of plays he had in his book,
And there was no mistaking that confident look.
Pitt's eyes, how they widened! Their hearts, how they pounded!
All for the biggest game since this brawl was founded.
One side had momentum, the other desperation,
This battle wouldn't wait for the eyes of the nation!
Caridi was roused from a much-needed sleep,
So were Hickman and Hertzel, the last with a bleep.
They brought their pens, paper and elaborate prose,
To witness this battle of bitter old foes.
It was dark and cold, your breath you could see,
But that didn't stop the kickoff of Pat McAfee.
The tackle, of course, came from an old Hawk named Emery,
And so started this game that would soon be a memory.
They spoke so few words as they went to work,
But score after score drove the visitors berserk.
The Mountaineers rolled, as was expected,
While the Panthers backed off, clearly dejected.
There was a Gatorade shower that gave poor Rich shivers,
While no one seemed happier than one Vaughn Rivers.
They exclaimed after singing about Almost Heaven,
"Well see you in New Orleans on January 7."

Busy Weekend

WVU fans could have a busy weekend should they want to do more than tailgate with the Bastards and go to the WVU football game. The Men's Soccer team defeated Virginia last night (minus one Australian fan who was booted from the stadium for swearing at the referees) 1-Nil to advance to the Sweet 16. The Mountaineers will play Wake Forest this weekend in Winston Salem with game time and TBD. Meanwhile the Women's Soccer team will play for a chance at the Final Four with a home game against USC on Friday at 7 pm. The Women of Troy are the higher seed, but unable to host the game due to stadium construction. Good timing as I'm sure the ladies are happy to be leaving Southern Cal for Morgantown in December. WVU Soccer player Ashley Banks has been named a semifinalist for the Hermann Trophy which is suspiciously similar to the Heisman Trophy. If you hate soccer, which most people do, then maybe basketball is more your speed. The WVU men will take on Winthrop at 1 pm this Saturday which could make some RV owners unhappy with parking. Winthrop has made three straight NCAA appearances and come into the game with a 4-2 record led by Michael Jenkins and Taj McCullough both averaging over 15 points per game. Finally, the WVU women participate in the FAU Classic on both Saturday and Sunday as they take on St. Bonaventure and Columbia (a school I think, hopefully not the country).

Game Week--Pitt plus Tailgate Info

Tailgate information first since cheap booze and chips are the most important aspect of any game, even the 100th game against Pitt with a national title game in the balance. The 1st (and probably last) ever Bastard Sons Cheap-Ass Tailgate will be located at the White Birch Office Towers on Riddle Road. Riddle Road is the road across from Sheetz near the stadium. It runs past Walgreens. The White Birch Office Towers is open for parking on game days and costs a crisp fiver which stays with the theme of the tailgate. How will you distinguish us? We will have a table with a red Taco Bell chihuahua flag attached to the front and should be up front so you can see us from the road. If you normally park in the blue lot this is about a 5 minute walk and you need the exercise fatty. We will bring an assortment of horrible snacks and cheap booze that will be sure to give you digestive problems during the game. But, just like the 'Stache you will get to feel what it is like to almost shit your pants the entire time WVU is stomping on Pitt. We'll try to get there early for optimum tailgating experience for those that want to stop by but have better things to do than hang out with people you barely know (that is what family is for). The starting time is currently 1 p.m. give or take about an hour for us to get our shit together.

On to the game. Last week was the most surreal experience in my many years of games at Mountaineer Field. It was like a giant party for the last three quarters. This should continue this week with people dressing up for Mardi Gras and a possible trip to New Orleans and hopefully boobies everywhere. Since the Pat White era began at WVU the Mountaineers have beaten Pitt 90-40. White has passed for 245 and three touchdowns yards and run for 440 yards and 4 touchdowns in those two games. Only two more games Pitt fans. Of course Steve Slaton hasn't been too shabby either adding 394 yards rushing and 146 yards receiving and a combined 7 touchdowns in his two games versus the Panthers.

This season should be about the same. WVU is bringing the 11th ranked offense in the country, 2nd in rushing with 310 ypg, into the game and is averaging 41.64 points per game (8th in the country). On the season PW has 1144 yards on the ground with 14 touchdowns and another 1498 through the air with 12 touchdowns. Slaton has 1042 yards rushing and another 339 receiving with 18 total touchdowns. Noel Devine is averaging 9.6 yards per carry and has 508 yards rushing. Darius Reynaud has 56 catches for 645 yards and 11 touchdowns receiving. Reynaud is currently tied for fourth in career touchdown receptions for WVU. The Pitt offense revolves around LeSean McCoy. Pitt is 101st in total offense with the rushing offense being the high point at 140 yards per game (73rd in the country). Shady has 1180 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns while starter/backup Larod (Spanish for the rod) Stephens-Howling has added 305 yards rushing. Pat Bostick has thrown for 1433 yards and 8 touchdowns, but also has 11 interceptions. His favorite target has been Oderick (Irish for the Derick) Turner with 33 catches for 467 yards.

Defensively Pitt is 11th in total defense with a 7th ranked pass defense and a rushing defense of 41st in the nation. Joe Clermond is 3rd in the Big East with 9.5 sacks while Scott McKillop leads the nation in tackles with 142. The next leading Panther tackler is Shane Murray with only 57 so it is McKillop or nobody. Pitt has only 8 interceptions on the seasons which highlights the main problem for Pitt in forcing turnovers on defense and avoiding them on offense. The Panthers are 95th in the nation at -.55 per game. WVU is lead on defense by Reed Williams' 87 tackles followed by Mortty Ivy and Marc Margro. Magro also has 8 sacks which is matched by Johnny Dingle for 1st on the team. Eric Wicks and Ryan Mundy each have 3 interceptions for WVU which is 6th in the nation in turnover margin (despite the USF game) at +1.18 per game.

Sausage Links

Deserving or not, WVU and Missouri decide their own fate.

Calvin Magee getting some respect.

Suck it Mel Kiper

At least this year's backyard brawl is not being played at Heinz Field.

Backyard Brawl stuff.

Noel Devine TD. He's fast and stuff!



If you don't like Queen, turn the volume down and listen to something else. But these are some good clips.

More Things That Never Get Old

You can get your's here.

Blogpoll Ballot 14

I just couldn't bring myself type that unlucky number up there. Besides, this is my 14th ballot of the year. I'm allowed. Did anyone see anything interesting in cfb last week? Woop! Woop! I did! Unfortunately I'm just now recovering from one of them. Anyhow, I think I feel a little safer about where I want to put WVU this week and still keep myself right with the C/K gods.

I don't know about anyone else, but every time I watch Kige I expect him to stop acting silly about half way through his thing and tell us he's just been kidding in an Andy Kaufman kind of way. So I just have to live with that anticipation.

1. Missouri- I thought this was a very impressive win. My name is Kige Ramsey and I'll be back with some great hand shaking insight on the second ranked team in just a moment. I was only able to watch the first half, but you could tell pretty quickly who came to play. The defense for Missouri was what really impressed me. Shut down the Kansas running game until it was too late to run. Are they really the number one team? I think they have as much claim as anyone to this spot. There are certainly teams with tougher schedules, but they did mostly what they needed to do every week and they did it impressively. 41.9 points a game 2k rushing yards and 4k passing yards. I'm fine with that.

2. West Virginia- This is the way this offense is supposed to be right? When they play like they did against UConn, I have no problem putting them here. Hell, even the crowd seemed to be into it! The defense had a pretty shaky first half and UConn had to change their game plan to try to keep up in the second half. Five players had runs of over 30 yards and two had runs of over 50 yards.

3. Georgia- I think they are the hottest team in college football and I feel sorry for whoever has to play them in a bowl game. Deadly running game! We all Knowshawn now. Passing game is pretty solid as well. 19th in total defense.

4. Virginia Tech- Now that the offense is putting up numbers they deserve to be up here. I probably have had them ranked too high most of the season. But I think they've earned it the past couple weeks.

5. Ohio St.- No cake for you!

6. LSU- I'd hate to be Tennessee right now. You know it's coming, and there ain't a damn thing you can do about it.

7. Southern Cal- Another team that is really hot right now. And healthy for the first time this year. Will they keep Karl Dorrell employed?

8. Oklahoma- Could reunite us with our "friends" to the west?

9. Kansas- It's going to be a long wait until that bowl game.

10. Florida

11. Boston College

12. Illinois

13. Tennessee

14. Arizona St.- No comeback this time. Ouch! Quarterback not a safe place to be, or something like that.

15. Kentucky- In defeat they looked better than anyone you'll see below them.

16. Hawaii- No doubt they are a solid team, but maybe we had Boise St. inflated a bit too much.

17. Cincinnati- Much better than I thought they would be this year! Brian Kelly for Big East coach of the year unless he takes a better job. In that case we will fart in his general direction and never speak of him again.

18. Brigham Young- Howdy fellas. Haven't seen you around here in a while. Welcome to the party.

19. Wisconsin

20. South Florida- Proof that aliens abduct entire teams for a three week stretch and return them just the way they left them.

21. Auburn

22. Virginia

23. Texas Tech

24. Clemson- Why not?

25. Arkansas- 1,000 flasks of moonshine to you!

Right back at ya!

Round of Reubens

Tailgate news upcoming on Thursday or Friday now with 100% more ham thanks to a free Omaha Steaks ham. Full Pitt preview later in the week, but now onto the short version of lots of news to catch up on.

Actually, we'll give some Pitt/WVU coverage by linking others. Chuck Finder got Mickey Furfari and Beano Cook to sit down and share some stories in one of the best stories I've read in a long time found here. The story includes much of the back history in this rivalry which Pitt leads the all-time series 59-37-3. Much of the success came early for Pitt though with WVU having a an 11-4 advantage over the last 15 and 15-7-2 advantage over the last 25 years. Best line of the story is of course about Jack Fleming who lived above Pitt stadium and would see them practice as a child, only to have his mother tell him "Son, that's Pitt. You hate Pitt now. You hate Pitt tomorrow. You hate Pitt until the day you die. After that, you will hate Pitt for eternity." We need more mothers like that in the world.

More on Pitt's program irrelevance. We've covered the fact that Pitt has never really been a factor in the Big East before, but this article by Ray Fittipaldo explains how irrelevant Pitt has been in the last 25 years. Over the past 25 years Pitt has a winning percentage of .479 in football, only 10 winning seasons, and only 9 bowl games. So yes, Pitt does indeed eat shit.

Poll news. WVU is 2nd in the BCS and in the AP Poll and first in the Coaches Poll. The margins over Ohio State are large enough that it is win and you are in for WVU. Even our old friend from California moved us up. Jon Wilner has moved WVU to third in his SEC poll. While he is still an idiot he is helping keep Ohio State down as he has the Buckeyes 11th in his poll.

Other WVU teams are continuing to make a run at championships. The Women's Soccer team is hosting an Elite Eight game against USC on Friday at 7 pm. The winner advances to the College Cup. The men are in the round of 32 and hosting Virginia on Wednesday after a bye in the first round. The Women's basketball team are champions of Rhode Island after winning the URI Invitational and has a chance to win the FAU Holiday Classic starting Saturday. Meanwhile the men have Jamie Smalligan.

Some Things Never Get Old

Happy Holiday Season

It was a pretty big weekend in Mountaineer sports. The highlight of which involves an LSU loss and a UConn masacre. The latter of which secures us a chance at the big one- provided we handle our business with Pitt this weekend.

The basketball team fell to Tennessee by a point on Friday night, but defeated New Mexico State 75 - 61 while the foosball playas were racking up points. Sometime mid third quarter you saw the cameras pan the second row. You probably saw BSR, tummystix, and OS all in a row. Chutta was there... just ask him about the hole in her pants. Nice.

The roundballers had four in double digits, led by Alexander with 16. They return to action tomorrow night in the Coliseum as the 1 win 5 loss Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks come to Morgantown. We will provide you all the highlights you can't read in a box score.

I thought these two lovely ladies pictured here might go a long way to getting us all in the Holiday spirit. Ho ho ho, bitches. Have a good Monday. May Willie Parker rack up the points for me tonight.

One More....

Six different Mountaineers scored offensive touchdowns, 517 yards rushing, and some Husky fans are going to have a long ride home after getting their ass handed to them tonight. Four different Mountaineers averaged more than 10 yards a carry. And none were named Steve Slaton.

West Virginia needed to show the country just how explosive this offense can be. And judging by the fires in the area and the sound of fire engines echoing throughout Morgantown, mission accomplished! Gotta get on the road, so until tomorrow, it's a great night to be a Mountaineer!

Gameday Update

As we Bastards prepare to head over for the UConn game, I just wanted to make a few comments on last nights basketball game. A one point loss to the number 7 team in the country is no shameful matter. However, a loss that ugly is cause for some concern. Tennessee did not play well- and we played just well enough to stay with them throughout the contest. Smalligan... I don't have the words. I will refer everyone to Mazzulla stealing the ball from him at midcourt and driving the lane. Both teams started slow, and the Mountaineers appeared to have a tough time running actual plays. When there was some symblence of a designed play- it worked. Imagine that shit!

The younger players again were encouraging. Sowards even sunk a buzzer beater to make the final score closer than the game was in the closing seconds. On further review, look up the stats for yourselves. I have some fucking football to prep for. Lets go mountaineers! Fuck the Huskies.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Bastards

We at the Bastard Sons of Pinfall Msrks would like to wish you all a Happy Turkey Day. Enjoy the Thursday football and take a couple naps. You have the Mountaineers tomorrow at 9pm taking on Tennessee, and some football Saturday at 3:30. Tailgates?

The Bob Huggins era officially kicked of last Friday, November the 16th in the Mountaineers home opener, as part of the 2007 StubHub! Legends Classic. WVU rolled the Arkansas-Monticello Boll Weevils (honestly, that is their mascot of choice) 81-53. Scoring was led by Alex Ruoff, who put up 17, and Da'Sean Butler added 14 more.

The game was never close, with the Mountaineers up as much as 30 points toward the end of the game. Highlights (to me) included Smalligan crashing the boards early (a complaint I had after the exhibition) and some miserable three point shooting. WVU was 8 for 31 from three (.258) and 31 of 67 from the floor overall (.463). The overall shooting percentage wasn’t terrible- but believe me- it wasn’t pretty to watch.

Huggybear, on the other hand, was something to see. A pimpish three piece royal blue job with some pretty fancy shoes certainly made him stand out on the sideline. With a school record 6,600 season tickets sold for this season, I am anxious to see how the Huggy era plays out.

Huggy had them more ready to play on Sunday, as WVU faced the Prairie View A&M Panthers in their second StubHub! Legends Classic game. Again, Ruoff led all scorers with 22 as we crushed PV A&M 106-41. Ruoff had a hard time missing shots, and the rest of the team was not far behind. He was 8 of 9 overall and 5 for 5 from downtown. It was impressive. WVU shot 57.7 percent from beyond the arc (15 of 26) and shot 54.7 percent from the floor (35 of 64). It was fun to watch.

Bastard favorite Jamie Smalligan had 13 points with two threes and a rim shaking, well, vibrating two handed jam. Darris Nichols chipped in 13 more with a set of threes and two steals. Other notables- the ovation Jonnie West received when he checked at the end of the game (3.5 minutes so far this year), Ted Talkington played well, and I like what I have seen from Mazzulla, Flowers, Green and Sowards. IF you haven’t familiarized yourself with those names- do so. Wellington Smith is a beast.

The true test of Huggins first WVU team is scheduled for Friday when we face Tennessee, currently ranked 7th in the nation at 9:00 pm in Newark, NJ. Tickets are $12 to $53 for the Semifinal doubleheader. UT has defeated Temple, Arkansas Monticello (101 to 44) and Prairie View (89 to 75). They crushed UAM and let PV play them close. We sort of crushed UAM and beat the dogshit out of PV. A victory over a top ten would do much to launch the Mountaineers into the spotlight. Huggy has the suits for it. Lets hope he gets to show them off.

Check out the guy in the white jersey. Pud puller alert. Really gay man. Not that there is anything wrong with that... Homo. It does appear that he has chosen to take a death grip on Ruvell Martins cock. Thats what she said. Green Gay Packers.

Tailgate Update

We have not forgotten about our promise of cheap booze and stale chips for everyone. It appears as though the Pitt game is going to be a night game which makes it the perfect candidate for the Cheap Ass Tail Gate. More to come...