Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which again previews an enormous weekend series for the baseball team. This is the one WVU has been waiting for during this either proving process. Now we’ll have all our questions answered come Monday. Same goes for the now-former football players hoping to start a career in the draft. I say White, Insdaner, and Lankster get the call … and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the final two didn’t go at all.

I don’t want to rush through things today, but I’m hoping to get a quick start on the new rules by which I live.

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, think these things through!

Josh24601 said:

So long as Ms. Durst does not shoot herself in the face during a game, as Brady Campbell’s predecessor did*, she’ll be fine.

*I wouldn’t have believed it–and would never have heard about it–if I didn’t see it myself; I was only looking his way after a score because earlier in the game he had shot the musket after a missed FG. Thank god I’ve forgotten that guy’s name.

Classic and it’s funny because it’s true.

glibglub said:

I so look forward to the “WVU students against beardless mountaineers” campaigns against the Mountaineer logo, and the Mountaineer statue outside of the Mountainlair.

As for the members of “Screw you Rebecca Durst” a.k.a. Future Wife-Beaters of America, well, I say: Right back atcha, kids!

And did someone really type “I just think that other schools will make fun of us for having a girl mascot.”? No, if anyone makes fun, it will be because you’re (presumably) a young adult making silly, infantile statements.  

Those comments were easily among the most ironic things I’ve read in a while. I couldn’t wait to write about it. I mean, when the words were coming out of that person’s mouth, at any moment did that person realize just how stupid it sounded? Did he call the reporter afterward and say, “Hey, about that stupid thing I said … yeah, can we forget that?”

mountiefan3 said:

At first I didn’t like the fact that the mountaineer was a girl. Then I really thought about it. I have two daughters the oldest being 3. I would bet she is a better mountaineer fan then half the people in stands. She knows the fight song, country roads, the first down cheer, etc….she loves football. Anyway, my point is this, I would be so proud to say my daughter was the mountaineer. So I change my mind and now there is one more thing my girls can be when they grow up. Hopefully, others will grow up some too and realize this isn’t the worst thing to ever happen.

Oh my God! Your daughter’s a girl??? 

JP said:

The Mountaineer mascot is a man, therefore the person playing the mascot should be a man. Believing in consistency does not mean that I also believe that women should be stripped of the right to vote. I will admit that, possibly wrongly, I presume to know the motivations of the women that want to be the Mountaineer. However, many of you are just as wrong about assuming that you understand the motivation of all people that speak out against a female mascot. You can insult me if you want, Mike Gansey’s Stylist and Jeff in Akron, but I am not sexist merely because I think the mascot should be male.

I think it’s silly to make this a gender equity issue since the Mountaineer mascot in front of the Mountainlair, which I believe is the definitive representation of the mascot, IS NOT A WOMAN. Should the USC Trojan be a woman? No, because the trojan mascot is NOT A WOMAN. Neither is the Mountaineer.

Look, I know that’s not entirely popular, but at its base, JP’s point is simply that the consistent tradition — except for one year — is the mascot is a man. It’s most commonly recognized as a man. If he prefers to think of it that way, it doesn’t make him a sexist. Throughout this argument, a lot of people have stood on one side of the fence and refused to look on the other. There are two sides. Well, three — the flat-out stupid. JP’s isn’t the third.

Karl said:

I just hope Pat is selected by a team that has a plan for him. I’d hate to see him picked up as bait for a trade that falls through, then ride the pine under a clueless coaching staff as his career goes down the tubes. You know how these draft games go.

Couldn’t agree more. He’s a special talent, but more than that he’s a specific talent. He’s only going to work with certain teams that have either plans to use the Wildcat, the patience to develop a spread quarterback or the ingenuity to make the most of his talents somewhere on the field. If he’s taken merely because he’s the best player on the board, that worries me a little. The good thing is it doesn’t seem teams will reach to get him before someone else can. To do so on a player like him is too much of a gamble in the second round, maybe even the third.

overtheSEC said:

Two reasons I think McAfee will find himself primarly as a kicker in the NFL:
1) No team that I’m aware of does the roll out punt
2) The narrower hash marks in the NFL negate any issues with his short-yardage-wide-angle accuracy
The fact that he can do both and grew up north of the Mason-Dixon line will increase his value and I actually think he gets drafted by a team who needs a kicker and a back up punter
As far as White goes, I think the one thing people can agree on is they don’t want to go up against him, much like Mayock said.

Not to quibble, but WVU rarely did the roll punt the past two years and it’s my recollection McAfee wasn’t a fan of the roll punt as much as we was just letting it rip. And he was quite good at that. I think he’s a better punter, but that’s just me. You make a good point with the hash, though. That was something of an issue here. It’s alleviated in the NFL. 

Homer said:

Any information about where this guy stood academically? Sometimes in these situations, the player just gets tired of feigning being a “student-athlete.”  

That does happen a lot, but Isdaner graduated in three-and-a-half years and was in very, very good academic standing. Remember, he was headed to Georgetown and could have played at some Ivy League schools if he didn’t switch to WVU. For what it’s worth, he had the highest Wunderlic score among linemen at the combine. 

Karl said:

I got the feeling from this piece that Isdaner just wanted to move on with his life, whether football was a part of it or not. He didn’t strike me as one of those football lifers who’s willing to bang around on arena league teams to achieve a lifelong dream of playing in the NFL. If he could, great, if not, he was no longer willing to put his body through the punishment, and would start looking at where his degree could take him.

I do somewhat disagree that an extra year wouldn’t have helped him. For the first time since Nehlen’s days, the passing attack is going to be a major part of our offense. Learning to pass block would have impressed scouts more than the run block schemes we used all those years under RR’s spread. Last year was too much of a transition season to have done that completely.

I think you summed up Isdaner’s plight pretty well. Football was a late dream for him and he’s able to do other things if this doesn’t work. He has plans and for now, football is it. As for one more year, yeah, I think he could have improved and for the reasons you suggest, but he wasn’t going to skyrocket up draft boards. He weighed pros and cons. Pros won.

ccteam said:

There is a reason the WV’s and Texas Tech’s of the world went to the spread. They rarely could recruit head to head with the OSU’s, USC’s ect., so instead of taking the left overs who fit the pro style, they decided to run a different offense that allowed them to recruit different player that the big boys didn’t want as a qb or power running tailback, but who had a different skill set that worked in their scheme. Maybe the Lions, Bengals, ect. would be better served to do the same.  

Credit has to be given to The Product and others like him for adapting and finding a way to succeed. At Glenville State, for example, he wasn’t going to get skilled players to do power football. He found speed and athletes ways to use them and did so again at Tulane. As he got bigger, he got better. There are various ways to get the ball in the end zone and various types of players who can do it. He and others found the right mix and it was a big, big hit. Naturally, the NFL would see tendencies and borrow. The Patriots ran their version of a spread the past two years.

Spread Offense said:

Football still comes down to 3 things, blocking, tackling, and protecting the football… no matter if you run a pro style offense, a spread offense, or a wish-bone offense.

All this stuff that spread offense players are not ‘prepared’ for the NFL is garbage… give a talented football player/offensive linemen one-mini camp and he’ll learn how to snap the ball again with the QB under center, and but his hand back down on the ground for a 3 pt stance, run the ball ‘down hill’ out of a one back set, or whatever else… You mentioned Slaton last year, he had no ‘transition’ problem coming out of a spread program at WVU… he was one of the most explosive rookies at RB in the NFL – 4.8 rushing average per carry.

All that tells me is NFL coaches don’t want to coach guys up to learn a new skill or re-introduce an old skill…obviously the talent is there if you’re being drafted… come NFL position coaches!, coach your players!

Uhhhh, what he said. And not only that, but if these spread athletes are so good at playing in space and winning 1-on-1 battles, wouldn’t that naturally translate to good things in the NFL and all the 1-on-1 matchups there? Slaton was so good because he made that first read and then used his speed and moves to win at the point of attack. It can work.

overtheSEC said:

“But really, isn’t the Wildcat just a NFL adaptation of the spread?”
Mike, I couldn’t agree more. It’s just that the NFL experts who said that the spread wouldn’t work in the league can’t bring themselves to say “spread offense.”
You’ve got to think there’s a niche for it, right?
Experts claimed that the spread worked in college because several skill players could exploit holes in the defense but in the NFL, where LBs are as fast and nimble as RBs, it would never work.
That didn’t make much sense to me only because in the NFL, while the defense is more talented, so is the offense. You have even more skilled players on the field which to an inventive coach, can exploit a defense in the same way. Who knew that all the spread needed to gain popularity was a new name and Ronnie Brown throwing a few TD passes.  

Well, I included this because it’s just a much better way of saying what I just said.  

Dave said:

On the one hand, the shotgun/spread works well in the last few minutes of a game and worked well for Jim Kelly and the Bills, not only because of a prevent defense but also due to the speed of the snap. On the other, the spread that RR ran was predicated on having the offense overload one side of the field by using the QB as a RB, or having the QB be able to beat a linebacker or secondary guy with a move. The problem is that if you don’t have a QB who can take a pounding (like Kelly), or if your “small” QB cannot juke the LB or the safety, he’s likely to be on the sideline with a concussion rather than bouncing up for the next play.

You’re also confined to the same 53-yard width of the field, but against larger, faster defensive players.  

Spot on. The speed on defense in the NFL is surreal. I never realized it until I went to a game. That and the price for a beer were what stood out the most. What’s interesting, though, is that NFL defenses don’t account for a quarterback before the snap. That was the basis for the Wildcat. If a quarterback could pack a little power with his speed and physically withstand a few carries a game, he’d be a dynamite option, I think.

Bill said:

As a WVU fan, my #1 concern is piling up wins and keeping our program at the top. If that means we need to sacrifice traditional NFL talent to rum more of a “gimmicky” style offense and defense, then so be it. Good players will still want to come to WVU if we keep winning.

However, admittedly, it would be nice to have more traditional NFL type talent coming in here. You have to admit that the new brand of offense we are starting to run could be the ultimate solution since we will be more of a balanced attack. This year’s recruiting class proves that it can work, and that good players are willing to come to WVU.

It’s a balance for WVU fans. Win now? Succeed in the NFL? And, yes, I do think you’re seeing a move toward the latter point. On defense, I think Casteel has recruited a lot of really good possible next-level players the past few years. The answer? To succeed in the NFL, you have to succeed in college.

Mike Gansey’s Stylist said:

This is what I’ve been saying since The Product brought the spread offense. I REALLY hope we shift back to an pro-style offense.

Mike, I know you’ve theorized that WVU may not be able to recruit the kids to be competitive in that system but I just don’t buy it.

You recruit who you can and rely on your coaches to get the most out of your kids…just like in any other system.

Eh, my theory is more on the defensive side where it’s hard for WVU to find the big defensive linemen and linebackers — there’s a LOT of competition for those kids in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, etc. Offensively, I think it could be done, but there’s be a period of adjustment. Right now, I think you’re beginning to see a move at WVU toward more balance. That’s one step. I also think you’re seeing the return of the very large linemen. That’s two. Now you need a dropback quarterback … and WVU has its eyes on a few.

Jeff in Akron said:

I believe people deserve a second chance. After they have paid their respective dues. What I like about all of this is that Oll Stewart is defining those dues to be paid. Whether you’re a starter, or not. Too often bigger stats mean less dues for infractions. I’d love to see Jock in a WVU uniform this fall. I also love the thought that’s he’s going to have truly busted his butt to earn that uniform, again.

I was going to say that Jock Sanders is being built to be an example for the future, but there were a number of people before him who got into trouble — himself included — and were dealt with appropriately. They should have been the precedent. They weren’t and that has a whole lot to do with the situation he’s in right now and why whoever is next will be in the same. But, yes, for Jock, it does say a lot about the lad that he’s doing well in his comeback.

mountiefan3 said:

While I do think what Major and Slaton did for WVU was tremendous and both were very important to the popularity of WVU football, I don’t think these two gentlemen deserve to have their numbers retired. However, Pat White does. I know that he doesn’t meet all the criteria, but that can be changed. When, where, and how this would happen, who knows, but the focus should be on all the reasons to retire his number, not the reasons why it can’t be retired. To me the two things that matter the most and should be the beginning of any arguement, is the 4-0 bowl record and the all-time rushing quarterback in NCAA history.

Why does there have to be criteria? Seems to me it causes problems. They vote for the Hall of Fame at WVU. Would it be so bad, so hard, so impossible to do the same for the retired numbers? 

Homer said:

Few things in sports dumber than “retired jerseys.” Look at what Syracuse (used to) do with #44 – make it a badge of honor, not a numeral to forget about. I’d rather see generations of stellar Mountaineer athletes wearing the same jersey — it would become a recruiting tool and a nice piece of nostalgia that would link younger and older fans over time.

I always liked that about Syracuse. Rather than say, “No one will ever be as good as this guy ever again” it says, “The guy wearing this number is someone we think pretty highly of given the tradition of the number.” Imagine the kind of kid who either asks to wear No. 5 or is given the honor to do so in the future.

Mack said:

Why do they have to “retire numbers”? They should just put their name on a wall in the stadium in recognition of being a great player.

Or, how about, retire their numbers by painting the seats such that there would be a number “5″ when they’re all empty… or whatever.

There are ways around this. I’d be stunned if we didn’t at least see some ceremonial recognition of Pat in the next five years. Change the Puskar Center’s numerical address to 5. Start a game he’s attending at 5 o’clock. Do the thing in the stadium seats. There are ways.

Mike Gansey’s Stylist said:

WVU could require season tickets sold in groups of 5;

Extend every game this season so there are always 5 quarters;

Abandon the first-down chant and adopt the high 5;

Remove every fifth seat from Milan Puskar Stadium;

Disallow the wearing of any jersey that is a multiple of 5;

Name 5 captains from now on;

Put a “5″ on every jersey;

Require the first born son of every current football team member be named Pat;

Star City will be renamed “Pat City”;

The complete will now be “Milan Puskar Stadium at Mountaineer Field on ground hallowed by Pat White”;

Can anyone say goodbye “High St.” hello “Pat White Avenue’?;

See?

Mack said:

“I’ve said this before, and in my opinion, Pat White was the greatest winner in college football today.”

I think that quote is funny on several levels. For one, the mixing of present and past tense.

For another, doesn’t anyone think that maybe Tim Tebow was a better “winner” (whatever that means) than Pat White?  

Yes, obviously, but I don’t think you can — nor do I think you are attempting to — discount White’s will to win. He competitively saved WVU a few times the past few years.

thacker said:

Tebow ‘yacks’ too much. That entire Florida team’s status could have been elevated into permanent history if they would have offered to share the national championship with Utah.

I wondered, during a brief prior moment, what White would have done in the same situation.  

He would have said something nice and quite likely unbelievably complimentary about Utah … and then taken that trophy back to Morgantown. 

glibglub said:

Speaking of sleeves, I hardly recognized Gansey without the big t-shirt.   

One of my favorite Gansey stories came at Georgetown his senior year. I have a friend who graduated from St. John’s and went to Georgetown for law school and went to as many of the games involving those teams as he could — and how cool would have have been, say, 20 or so years ago? — and one was WVU at Georgetown. He called me early in the game I was covering and said, “I’m like five rows back and Gansey is wearing three shirts.” Sure enough, Mike was sick and wore a cut off tee, his customary T-shirt and the jersey. He said he was trying to sweat it out. I asked if it made him heat up and tire quicker in a game in which he really struggled. I believe his answer was to look for the next question.

Latin Hillbilly said:

definitely a Mohawk.

Actually, that’s Mike’s Euro-mullet. Honest.

Josh24601 said:

Bill Stewart could call literally call Barclay’s break “neat to see.”

Enjoy the weekend!