Welcome to a suite edition of the Friday Feedback. Try to get past the possibility the scoreboard might not be completed in time for the season-opener and that there seems to be no way to get the ribbons up and running in time, either. Mountaineer Field may welcome new suites … later rather than sooner, of course. Excellent week here as we get closer to football and the discussion about the team entrance was an all-time highlight. Really good critiques and suggestions … as well as a cameo by Don Blankenship? I’m not going to touch it here today because it stands on its own. I’ll only add that it’s been noticed.

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. The good news is you’re not far from being able to hide from your errors.

Mack said:

Michael, I ask you, aren’t sports writers supposed to be smarter about this stuff than the average fan? Aren’t sportswriters, in some ways, the academians of the sports world? Why is it that sports writers, who are always quick to point out that they know a lot more than the rest of us, often times say things that are just ignorant/dumb about the very sports they cover?  

Deep down inside, some sportswriters despise their job and grow to loathe what they cover. What seems like an absurd statement is sometimes a manifestation of those feelings. That said, polling is a silly exercise. It’s crazy to ask someone to responsibly follow all the Division I teams and then rank the top 25 every week, but it’s crazier to actually do it and attempt to certify it. There are exceptions, but I think many sportswriters do it just to say they do it and pat themselves on the back whenever the opportunity arises. We’re largely egomaniacs and this sort of stuff serves to feed the monster. Look around and see who openly brags he’s a voter, he voted this team here, he thinks this team is too high, he thinks this team is too low. The only person who really cares is the person writing it.

overtheSEC said:

Agree with the Pollspeak assessment. Football pollsters have been hiding behind the curtain for too long. If only the coaches poll was public–at least half of them wouldn’t let a GA fill it out for them.

Mike, I saw Bill Smith’s article on the road trip practice. So is he like Andy Rooney senile or what? I was ready for him to say “and another thing, why do these whippersnappers insist on wearing their pants so low?”  

Funny you should mention Pollspeak and the coaches poll. If you’re concerned about this needless anonymity, sign the Pollspeak petition. As for Mr. Smith, I have no idea where that came from. I think it was a little bit of an overreaction because it’s not useless and does serve a purpose. However, I do agree with the premise. If a team doesn’t know how to get on a bus, it has larger problems.

oklahoma mountaineer:

Preseason polls are reflections of media/public perception of teams. Let’s face it, WVU will have to continue with 10+ wins for more than the last 3 seasons to consistently get the proper evaluation across the country.

Another fact that we don’t want to face…..our defense is a lot of new faces and people who are now being counted on in big situations that haven’t been before. That makes us susceptible to more experienced teams…kind of like our NIT team in basketball. We had the talent, but not the experience, to work through all the hard times.

We will have a good team, but there are a lot of good teams on the schedule and early (ECU, Colorado and Rutgers) which can cause us problems…..

Very true, but I think the Mountaineers have been fairly evaluated in the polls the past few years, with the exception of a two- or three-week span last year when they kept winning and sliding in the rankings. Look where they ended up, though. The preseason poll is pretty much useless and it makes no sense to get riled up about it. WVU is in a nice spot despite losing a pretty good coach, seven starters on defense, a one-time consensus All-American running back and a game-changing slot receiver. 

Michael said:

WVU has to get used to being habitually underrated, especially by high profile (read TV) analysts. Just this AM Herbstreit was on Cowherd’s show and both pundits concluded that WVU is overrated this year. (Vegas has them rated in the top 10).
TV is, above all, concerned with ratings. There is no cost to denigrating WVU when you compare our population & fan base to a goliath like OSU or Southern Cal. In fact, WVU provides the perfect opportunity for a CFB analyst to appear controversial or edgy by going against conventional wisdom and downgrading Mountaineer football: if their prediction is accurate, they burnish their image; if they are incorrect, not enough people are around to remember or complain.
This will apply to basketball as well and, doubly so, with Huggins’ checkered past. Any misstep will be magnified and there will be precious little wiggle room from the Gottleibs of the roundball tube as well.

Michael, I think you understand the concept perfectly with one exception: You can change the channel! 

Mack said:

My favorite quote ever from KJ was off the record, so to speak . . . was immediately following the home win over Virginia Tech in 2003 . . . and involved the word “fire.”

He does have the all-time single-game WVU rushing record. . . and originated the WVU arms-crossed touchdown celebration that single-handedly destroyed the 2004 WVU season.  

Another great moment was a game or two after the record-breaking ECU performance, P-Rod threw Kay-Jay under the bus for not playing through an injury, then dragged him out from under the bus, propped him up, dusted him off and then threw him back under the bus again. I always thought the arms-crossed celebration was Kay-Jay’s revenge. That has me worried because I clearly jinxed him his week. Colleagues were far too happy to tell me I’d struck again.

Rob W. said:

I’m probably one of the last ones to point fingers and blast the administration. All in all, I’ve always given them the benefit of the doubt. Though I think my faith has been shaken in the last year…. Anyway, it makes NO SENSE that this could not have been started sooner and completed. Unless the components were not available from the manufacturer. But this is ridiculous…. 

There’s still a chance it could get done in time, which would then make our worrying needless. I don’t know, but I’d like to think they had a plan when they started this enormous project and new better than to begin rather late in the summer. And to think, it really hasn’t rained here lately.  

glibglub said:

Send a GA over to Fast Signs and have ‘em print up some big banners that say “For the Time Being, Just Let Your Mind’s Eye Picture a Way Cool LED Ribbon Scoreboard Here.” Sometimes you gotta improvise.  

Could this be the return of the plane towing the banner over Mountaineer Field? “Third and seven at the … no, first and 10 at … wait, second and nine at … screw it. Nehlen must go!”  

thacker said:

Did the university negotiate a penalty clause for failure to complete by specified due date?  

Mr. Fitzsimmons, you have a call on line two! 

WVUeer220 said:

Honestly, the athletics people have made some questionable decisions here — and I’m not talking about getting the thing done on time.

The Coliseum board looks AMAZING — looks like it belongs in an NBA arena being build today, not in a 38 year old arena. That place has definitely gotten some big-time visual upgrades with the new lights, the new floor (that old design was an absolute travesty), and now this monstrosity of a video board.

However, the main board at Mountaineer Field leaves more than a little to be desired, in my humble opinion. The design is really not that interesting (as far as the shape of the entire unit, when viewed as a whole). On top of that, the LED screen itself is an unbelievably odd aspect ratio — WAY wider than it is tall, and it’s not like it’s just a regular widescreen display.

Basically, any attempt to use ALL of the LED panels to display a large video as the only thing on the board will look extremely odd because of the aspect. They’ll only use the middle part of it, from my best estimation, for video — even on occasions like a team entrance, a key replay, a video at halftime, etc. — and keep the ads up on the sides the full time. I have no problem with ad revenue — it’s important to keep the AD afloat. But you seriously hamper what you can do creatively with that full board when you use such an odd aspect ratio.

Can’t wait to see the ribbon boards though, that will be a welcome addition and really make the stadium look like an NFL venue.  

I hadn’t thought about this and included it because it’s a valid concern. I have no idea how it’ll turn out and, again, I’d like to think they know what they’re doing, but let’s keep an eye on it.  

glibglub said:

Although Pat is getting plenty of respect going into the season, I think that in some quarters where that isn’t the case, people suffer from the delusion that Pat’s past success was a function of the man formerly behind the curtain at WVU (you know, the one with the wizard hat and snake oil). This year, they talk about the loss of Mr. Wizard and the renewed emphasis on passing and wonder if the tweaking is a case of fixing what isn’t broken. They also talk about the loss of key players like Slaton, Schmitt, and Reynaud and wonder if the offense has enough skill players to pick up where it left off.

I can see the concerns.

But I remember the 2005 season, when Slaton broke out and he became the ostensible star of the show. It took the 2006 season to really teach me that Pat is the spark plug that made Mr. Wizard’s whole engine hum. And he did it like no one else before. Can Shawn King, Woody Dantzler or Rasheed Marshall claim BCS bowl wins over SEC and Big XII champs? Repeat conference offensive player of the year awards? No.

As other players come and go in the offense, Pat is the constant. When he is on, the team wins. If not, they lose. Rare is the example of WVU losing despite Pat’s best efforts (I’m thinking of 2006 Louisville game, with Slaton playing hurt and losing the ball repeatedly). Pat White has gotten it done every year, and it’s impossible for me to believe that he won’t do so again. If he doesn’t have a great season, it will be a crime. He’s such a great kid and, so deserving of a stellar senior season.

PS: Please solve USF this time around. I crave revenge.  

Excellent analysis and I have nothing to add other than to say this seems like the storyline for the entire season. 

Homer said:

White will be on national television frequently – all he needs to do is keep winning and put up stats.

Predictions: Moreno will have a worse year than last year (his offensive line has sustained some injuries). Wanny will run McCoy into the ground. Nobody cares about a Texas Tech wide receiver. They won’t vote for Tebow twice unless he scores another 50 touchdowns.

White is right in the middle of it, and Devine will be in the discussion, too, by the end of September.  

Here’s a question: Does Pat White have to do something special by the normal standards or by the Pat White standards. Say he has a wonderful season — 1,700 yards passing, 1,000 rushing, 30 total TDs,  five interceptions — and the Mountaineers go 10-2. Is that good enough or is that just too similar to what he’s done in the past? In essence, is he his biggest obstacle?

oklahoma mountaineer said:

Pat will be in the discussion if: 1) WVU wins, 2) Pat can throw for more than 150 years game after game, 3) WVU wins, 4) WVU wins, 5) WVU wins…..

Pitt will continue to have 8 guys load the box because the QB, though better than other alternatives, is not really that good. TTech will be beaten by Texas, OU, or both. GA and FL both play in the SEC, GA will take out Tebow’s candidacy with a win or vice versa and the probability of running their schedules with consistently good games is not a high probability.

Back to my first statement, WVU wins….and Pat’s in the discussion.  

But, once again, how many wins does it take? This is a team that’s won 33 games the past three years. Another 11 wins is a great season, but is it great enough? Does he have to win 12 games?

overtheSEC said:

The Auburn game will be huge for Pat. Making half a dozen Tigers miss could be great for his Heisman highlight reel.
You think about some of the things we’ve seen him do (Louisville last year, the Fiesta Bowl, that USF run his freshman year) and suddenly Vince Young’s performance against USC in the Rose Bowl suddenly doesn’t seem as impressive. PW has just never been on that big of a stage and has never faced anyone with the prestige of USC.  

Auburn is his candidacy game. Both teams could and maybe even should be unbeaten going into that game. If the kid from Daphne, Ala., can beat Auburn on ESPN and do so impressively, he’s in the thick of it. Heck, he might be in the lead. And by the way, Pat White hates Auburn.  

Shannon said:

Just for Megan, we’ll root for the 51st state of the United States … otherwise known as Canada, eh.

Sadly, Megan did not do so well and struggled with a bad Achilles. Give her blog a read. 

Matt said:

Any word on Gwaltney? He was able to begin practice this week now that school started correct?

And I think we have great depth at WR, Gonzo, Arnett, Lyons, Jalloh, Jock, and Starks…that isn’t bad.

Speaking of Achilles, WVU sure could use a player like Gwaltney in the backfield his year. He’s massive and I’m told he’s in really good shape. Unfortunately, he’s not eligible and Stew says Gwaltney will redshirt this year on the shortest leash imaginable. As for the receivers, yes, there are a lot of names, but not a lot of numbers there. Yet.

Enjoy the weekend!