The Sock 'Em, Bust 'Em Board Because that's our custom

John, we hardly knew ye

I still remember my reaction several years ago when I learned, quite mysteriously, a Beilein had been involved in some sort of an altercation at the Pittsburgh airport.

“What did Patrick/Mark/Andy/Seana/Kathleen do?”

It had to be another Beilein, as unlikely as any of those scenarios seemed. The possibility John Beilein had done something wrong didn’t seem like much of a possibility at all. He was/is just too conservative, too conscious, too clever to get into trouble. I still don’t believe that was entirely his fault, but rather that it quickly unraveled beyond his control, especially when one considers his rather animated self-defense in the days after.

But what now after learning he’s guilty of practicing too much last year while coaching West Virginia? Well, the feelings are still the same. Unimaginably hard to believe, but not that big of a deal.

These are not words from a Beilein apologist, but this is really an almost harmless error.

“It was an inadvertent miscalculation of days during the Thanksgiving holiday,” Parsons said. “You’re allowed to work six times in one week, it was just a miscalculation.”

Three things to consider here. First, NCAA rules are specific in how many days and hours a team can practice during a week when students have a class schedule. Second, the restrictions are removed when players are on breaks. Third, a week is any stretch of seven days — not just Sunday through Saturday.

The error occurred when WVU was in Orlando, Fla., for the Old Spice Classic. It seems Beilein messed up when defining his week and included days the players had classes with days they were on break. On break, the Mountaineers apparently failed to take a required day off when they were under the impression they didn’t need to.

The Mountaineers will be forced to take an extra day off this week, a punsihment the Big East agreed with following WVU’s self-report. The university is in no trouble with the NCAA.

Beilein is a controversial figure in West Virginia, but let’s be honest here. It could be worse.