A brief edition before we take off for Providence. No need to dance around this morning, though if we danced, I’d wear all gold. Call me crazy, but I thought Bob Huggins looked good.

Others disagree…

OB1 said:

After the Pitt debacle and the train wreck last night this state should seriously consider the criminalization of wearing all gold.

As always, comments appear as posted…

 

Jeff Beckham said:

For you Mountaineer fans, we have a saying here in Cincy…”everybody knows where to get their clothes…Deveroes!” I didn’t think Huggs could out-do his all purple “Barney” gear last year, but I was wrong. So glad he’s yours! Go Mick! Go Bearcats!

Ah, the purple suit! 

glibglub said:

A bold fashion statement by Huggs, to be sure, but the Cat’s leather sportsjacket will live on in WV sartorial lore. And not in a good way. 

Anyone who manages a proper parenthetical use of “to be sure” is going to make the Feedback, to be sure, but this is a worthy point to make. I was way off base saying the leather jacket would be irrelevant. My bad. It’s still legendary. And I was honestly hoping for a more obnoxious shade of gold. That was more like goldenrod, but I still dig it.

NewAD said:

Who said the dipping was secret? The way I read your initial reporting on this subject it sounded like RR had so many demands that were not budgeted that it was necessary for the AD to periodically tap that refund. The fund was replenished, according to your reporting. The reason that the response has been tepid is that nothing about that fund justified RR’s departure or RR’s breach of his contract.

Um, I said the dipping was secret. And not only did I say it, but so, too, did the participants — though not in as many words. The 1100 Club funds were shuffled without the donors knowing and Rich Rodriguez first learned of it when he suspected something was up and asked for an account balance. I call that a secret. The funds were (allegedly) replenished, yes, but it still bugged Rich. No matter what his demands were in nature or in number, that account was for recruiting. The initial discovery and the subsequent transactions, of which he was aware, made him mad. He wanted more control of that, among other things. No one says it justified his departure, but merely helped explain it. No one said it amounted to a breach, but simply shows some ill will among those involved.

oklahoma mountaineer said:

Is it just me, or do all the characters in this play seem tragically flawed???? King Rich has been convinced that his every wish should be immediately granted by that evil agent, Mike Brown. The aged and inept Ed Pastalong who plays Scrooge to all portions of the Athletic Program appears to be a key player in the loss of many figures in the Athletic Program from Assistants, the SID, and several coaches in the last 18 months. Then we introduce a court jester Mike Garrison who cant seem to control either his AD, his former coach, or their egos…..

A tragic end to a story with a great beginning.

I believe that’s the popular theme and it’s extrapolated by many evaluating the entire ordeal, either from close or from afar. 

PA WVU grad said:

The problem with all of this, as stated in your article, are the victims. As a WVU grad, I’m ashamed at the behavior and short-sightedness of the administration and AD. The damage being done to all of WVU sports by allowing this public fiasco to continue is worth much more than 4 mil.

Quietly settle with RR. Allow WV to celebrate Bill Stewart and, what appears to be, the quality coaching staff he is putting together. Celebrate the basketball programs and their successes. Celebrate that WV was able to take the high road out of this mess. Turn your backs on RR, clean house, and move forward.

In a perfect world, that’s what happens, but we’re too deep into this now for many of those ideal outcomes to ever occur. I really do hope — I’d say expect, but that’s not likely — that in the future coaches and employers in like situations use this epic as a basis for their conduct. At this point, that’s about the only positive I think this situation can produce.

Mack said:

This is why no college goes after agents that steal their players or universities that steal their coaches. The opposition is inevitably going to point out every single thing that is wrong with the athletic department of the previous school. It’s amazing to me that ESPN, in that entire story, never referenced the fact that the imbeciles running the WVU AD currently have a football team that’s won two BCS bowls in three years, a basketball team that has a Sweet 16, Elite 8 and NIT championship in three years, a top 15 women’s basketball team, a top 25 men’s and women’s soccer team… and probably more good teams than that. And this is at WEST VIRGINIA!!! Not USC or Ohio State.

I think this was precisely Eddie’s point. I keep waiting for him to snap and just lash out and reel off what he and what his athletic department have going. And by waiting, I mean hoping. This has to happen and if it does, I hope he gets it all off his chest.

jmbwvu:

I mean seriously does Rodriguez have any chance here?

Seriously? Well, I’ve been withholding my legal opinion here, but perhaps now is a good time to reveal what I think. Prepare yourself. … No. 

Shannon said:

This is becoming a major case of he said, she said and a lot of crying on all sides. I’m getting tired of it, personally.

And it’s not going away. I promise you, Monday is the deadline for Camp Rodrigueiz’s legal response and it’s going to recycle everything. Whatever progress we’ve made toward closure is going to be rendered relatively useless. I don’t know if the “bombshell” has been dropped. I just can’t think that a person like me would know of the parol evidence rule and that a lawyer would not, or that a lawyer would be building a case around evidence that is probably inadmissible. There has to be more, right? Or have Mike Brown & Co. used all the bullets? Things like this are what keep this going.

Erinn said:

I’m getting tired of Mike Brown.

Well put. Enjoy the weekend!