Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which appreciates the idea I’m seen as some sort of Mountaineers mystic.

rekterx said:

Is Mike playing the prophet by mentioning a third party? Did he think the third party was going to emerge today and make today a “big day”?

The thought plickens.

Mike, you should be a mystery writer.

Whoops. My bad. That third-party thing wasn’t the big thing I thought might be coming. And that big thing might not be big, just something we might enjoy.  That’s all. Sorry to stir up something that was, so far, nothing.

As for the third party, I know nothing, but I just think there’s a resolution out there and it might need some sort of a mediation to reach the promise land that is common ground.
After all the crap that apparently happened in the past within the athletic department, this is too big and too delicate to let history repeat itself. Do we need a mushroom cloud over the Coliseum?

Along those lines, it’s possible everything works itself before Jack Bauer is called to the scene.

Onto the (funnier than normal) Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, learn from your mistakes. Seriously.

Karl said:

Here’s my brilliant idea — rennovate Stansbury Hall and use that as the new practice facility. For those who don’t know, Stansbury was once the WVU Fieldhouse, the very home court Jerry West and Rod Hundley used to defend in the “golden age” of WVU hoops. Now, it’s a run down, underutilized building with a few classes and offices, or at least it was last time I was there. The hoops court is open to students now, and many of them have no idea who’s shared that floor over the years.

The predictable thing to do would be to raise a pile of dough and build some warehouse-looking monstrosity out in Evansdale. Any unimaginative school can do that, and most do. But what about a little adaptive re-use, a nod to the university’s rich history? For half the money they’re talking about, you could do some great aesthetic work on the outside, replace the court inside, even modernize the class/office spaces in its upstairs.

I don’t like this idea. I love it. In fact, care to elaborate, Karl?

Karl said:

And after reading the Hertzel story you link to, I’m even more convinced of my idea.

Huggins says: “Obviously, you could build it cheaper, but do that and two years from now you will be wishing you did it right. The Coliseum – they did that right. Buildings that were built 10 or 15 years after the Coliseum now look antiquated but it is still a good arena.”

I think it’s true in general that construction today is not built to last like it used to. Builders use the cheapest materials they can get away with, and it always looks more generic. Stansbury opened in the Roaring 20s and is still standing — with a little attention, it will probably have a longer useful life than Mountaineer Field.

“Look around the building. Is there a picture up of Rod Thorn or Rod Hundley? There’s a plaque honoring the people who donate to the School of Physical Education, and that’s great. But is there anything that shows the history of the program and pays homage to the great players?”

What better way to do that than to restore the building they once played in? And if you want to talk about impressing recruits, who else would have anything as cool as this? A modernized, classic facility like Stansbury would have a hell of a lot more character than one of those Dallas Cowboys-style practice facilities.

Listen, I’m going to be totally honest. I may steal this idea and present it as my own and not even care about what happens to my reputation. I think it’s that good of an idea. The only drawback I see comes from first-hand knowledge of the total chaos on Beechurst from 2-4 p.m. The team generally practices in that window. I keep hearing about expanding the two-lane into a four-lane out there, but that’d be a mess for a long time. Maybe then can intertwine the projects? We can’t quit on this.

glibglub said:

A reno on Stansbury would be a natural if only it were closer to the Coliseum. The synergy of having a practice / offices / hall of fame complex right next to the Coliseum is probably too enticing to nix in favor of a Stansbury concept, even if could be done significantly more cheaply.

Hey, I said we can’t quit on this!

oklahoma mountaineer said:

Huggs is not the Product, but this is why Rich and the school got sideways with each other. WV is not a rich state (no pun intended), we don’t have the volume of alumni that other schools do, and it’s hard and always will be for us to compete with Name programs.

Both these guys want to win at the highest level and this facility will have utility, but let’s face it it’s also keeping up with the Joneses. Huggs brought up that nearly every major program has a practice facility — so it’s easier to schedule practices around the other uses of the Coliseum. It’s also another thing to show a recruit — that weight room for football that Rich had to basically beg every person with substantial $$ who ever graduated is a big reason we are where we are today.

That fire is what makes them great, and I’m afraid, is what our football program does not have. We want to be great, but are going to have to pony up the $$ to do it now if that is what we want. I don’t want them to step out on a limb and borrow it without solid pledges though either.

I think it’s fair to say Huggins is and is not P-Rod. Both are extremely driven and want only the best. Sometimes that requires a little forward thinking and speaking. The difference, I’m led to believe, is Huggins isn’t a jerk. Whatever happens here is going to require some work and, more importantly, cooperation.

Bill said:

This article was an eye-opener for me. I had no idea that our players were having a hard time getting in practice time and I had no idea that those other sports had newer facilities. I’m considering sending some $$$$ to Huggs. How do I do that? Through the MAC?

Let’s be clear: Other teams have a hard time practicing around basketball. Basketball’s trouble is typically with set-ups for graduation or concerts or a gymnastics/wrestling home meet. As for the money, if you want Huggs to get it, send it to Huggs. Or me.

Birch said:

an eight-week-old beagle that’s hardly a handful,..

As a beagle owner myself, you will soon learn that you are way, way off in that statement. Remember that when you’re picking your dog up in a different zip code.  

All I can say about that is Sunnyside is a dump this time of year. 

X-Rayted said:

what? beagles run away? mike do you know anything about this?  

Yes, yes I do. The woman we adopted the dog from was unloading four puppies. We particularly liked one and put dibs on her. When the owner delivered two others a week before we were to get ours, the dog we picked and her sister were left alone on the farm and ran away. That was a first. The owner’s neighbor found one, but not the one we picked. We have a suspicion the neighbor had both and only gave one back, which we now now own. This wouldn’t surprise you if you knew me.

Mack said:

Does this beagle have a name? 

After the first week, several, but only one I can print here. Lilo.  

Mike Vick said:

Caz,
Would be happy to babysit your new puppy anytime. Call me anytime.  

Sorry. I can’t top that $10/hour gig you got at the construction site.

glibglub said:

Twitter: bringing you NCAA infractions in 140 characters or less.  

LOL. U r 2 mch. (I h8 hate myself for that.) 

overtheSEC said:

Kiffin is still in the “walks on water” phase here in Volnation. The fans consistently defend his arrogance, his rookie mistakes, his lack of respect for others, and he’s committed multiple recruiting violations before summer workouts have even started. I’m not saying he should be fired and given his $7.5M buyout yet, but they just replaced the guy who had the longest tenure in the SEC and they need to manage expectations a bit if they want to avoid being like every other team in their conference.
There’s some elements of the Product in Kiffin that give me some bad vibes. I think they both possess this mentality where they feel bulletproof and are drinking their own Kool Aid. It must be a result of being sought after and being wined and dined and such. The Product only had that towards the end after the Bama near miss. Kiffin walked into Knoxville that way.  

He wouldn’t really fit in any other conference. It seems the SEC is just made for personalities like that — or either welcomes or encourages them. It’s the rockstar league for coaches, like the Big East in basketball. The way it’s covered kind of strokes everyone’s ego, too. The funny thing is I think Kiffin might actually make it work there. Suffice to say, I’ll be watching.

Mack said:

I gotta admit, sometimes I appreciate the WVU players consistently getting arrested… Otherwise, I’d have no idea what NFL team they were on. Last I heard, McIntyre was on the Bengals.  

I thought it was the Eagles. By the way, McIntyre passed a polygraph.

Birch said:

Sounds like he forgot to stow his kickstand.  

… (trying not to laugh) … (I failed) 

glibglub said:

Seriously, she kissed him on the cheek and he ran away to teacher? Yeah, Marshall was clearly his destiny from early on.

Hey-oh! 

rekterx said:

I really like the way that WVU is handling Marshall at this point. I suspect that if Marshall doesn’t respond soon their opportunity to renew with WVU will vanish. But that doesn’t bother me one little bit.

It seems pretty simple, right? WVU has the upper hand, which is all it really needs.   

Mack said:

If WVU plays an SEC team every year… I will do my best to not complain about the schedule.

I think, to some extent, the problem is that there just isn’t that many teams left are a big deal any more.

Scheduling has become so important and so topical that teams are rushing to make plans years ahead of when they might have done so even just a few seasons ago. It’s only a matter of time until they add a game to the season.  

Bill Stewart said:

Wouldn’t home games be more fun if I threw powder into the air right before kickoff?  

Enjoy the weekend!