Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which loves three-day weekends for another reason: The subsequent four-day work week. It tricks you into thinking it’s another three-day weekend!

Things to tap you on the shoulder and request your immediate attention:

– More football freshmen arrive this weekend to begin summer classes Monday. From what I’ve been able to gather, expect Bridgeport safety Wes Tonkery, Florida receivers Dante Chambers and Sticks McCartney, Texas quarterback Jeremy Johnson and a few others and maybe one big name to arrive.

Speaking of, and in case you got caught up in this yesterday, You Know Who will not be here Monday. At last check – we do check — his name was not to be mentioned until it deserved mentioning.

Many other newcomers are either still in school or about to play in an all-star game some time soon. Two have other work to do. Georgia receiver Quantavious Leslie and Virginia running back Trey Johnson are … what’s the safest, least libelous word? … circled academically, but favorable returns on grades and test scores could get them here on time. If not, it’s prep school and a battle to again win their services.

– Oliver Luck will not be your next A.D., per Oliver Luck. A lot of the people I talked to insisted he was a candidate, but likely that was just the WVU perspective. Two people I talked two and trust convinced me he would not take the job.

… I’ve heard unless this is his dream job — and it may be — he’s pretty happy with his gig in Houston and being able to follow his son, Andrew, as he quarterbacks Stanford. Might just be bad timing.

Also, the word “interview” is being used pretty liberally with this A.D. story.

– Want to know an A.D. name we’ve been hearing? It’s a good one with a gem of a quote from that name attached to it.

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, make it look good … but not too good.

Mack said:

“I just like to feel comfortable.”

Me too. Which is why I don’t run.

I don’t count my softball hobby — in which I run 60 feet at a time, maybe 120 on offense … and only a few steps at a time when I play effortless defense in left field — so I can’t recall the last time I actually ran. It might have been 2006. We were in Richmond for my sister’s VCU graduation and my grandfather was in a wheelchair. He wheeled outside to have a cigarette and failed to apply the brakes … or realize he was atop a slight incline. I sprinted through the lobby — had to wait for the revolving door — and managed to halt Gramps before traffic. From that moment forward, I decided to use my power in emergencies only. True story.

Alli said:

By the way, I really enjoyed the entire article, especially the behind-the-scenes stories about how they traveled to Regionals.

Thanks. Omitted from the story was the trip back, on which the team was feeling pretty good. They stopped at the New River Gorge Bridge. Most of the team had never seen it. True story.

oklahoma mountaineer said:

I’d be curious to see Gansey play for a coach like Huggins…..I’m not sure how that would work out. Would his smarts on the court get him on the court in meaningful minutes and overwhelm whatever is lacking in size, speed, etc for the type of defense and offense Huggs likes too run?

That’s interesting. Previously, the Mike Gansey “What if?” was about him playing four years rather than two at WVU and for John Beilein. This is equally intriguing. If he came to Huggins as a Division I transfer, that year off would be beneficial. He’d live in the weight room and prepare his body for what Huggins demands. Those two years would then be pretty productive, I think. If he came as a high school player, “high school graduate Mike Gansey” would need some time to mature physically. I think the smarts and the hustle would get him on the floor somewhere in that first year and the skills would make everyone look like it was a good idea. Over time, as coach learned player and player learned coach and both grew together, he’d be a pretty nice shooting guard. Maybe not as prolific a 3-point shooter, maybe a better scorer at the rim and a general nuisance to cover in the motion offense, but still a good rebounder who kills himself to make plays.

overtheSEC said:

I know Oklahoma is just trying to foster conversation but the answer to this seems pretty clear to me for these three reasons.
1. Our current team isn’t exactly filled with speedsters.
2. Ruoff played 30+ minutes a game under Huggs and Gansey brings everything to the table that Ruoff did and more
3. Gansey pulling 8.2 rebounds a game in the D-league. That sounds like a KJ-like ability to consistently putting yourself in the right place to get rebounds
Beilein and Huggins are too good of coaches to let a talent like that go unutilized regardless of system

Bingo.

Country Roads said:

I may be opening a can of worms here, and if I am, please forgive (or ignore) me. But I have a hard time understanding why Stew catches so much grief for being a man of faith. I realize that this isn’t always the case for everyone, but it looks to me like Stew’s faith is used as a basis to foster an atmosphere of hard work, comraderie, respect, and integrity within the football program. And as long as he’s not forcing anyone to believe anything they don’t want to believe, instilling those virtues among college football players seems to be me to be a good thing.

I’ve actually never heard anyone inside the program say anything about Stewart and his beliefs, so it’s not an issue. Do people disagree or roll their eyes? I’m sure. No one makes a deal of it, though. Rather, they get the point he’s trying to make. It does seem many others, though, want a separation of church and sport.

The 25314 said:

Among many, many other things, The 25314 has a problem with Billy Stewart continually referring to himself in the third person.

But where would the world be without such characters? Mike says, “Not in a good place.”

JP said:

Win the Big East and a BCS bowl and Stew can whisper sweet nothings in the locker room for all I care.

I can assure you it’d be decibels above sweet nothings…though I get the point.

roopoo said:

I don’t see how that puts the Big East in a position of power…that pretty much would mean that the Big Ten would pull from the Big East…I think our advantage is having more schools in the mix…maybe I don’t understand something though.

Karl said:

Agreed, roo. My hope and expectation all along was that the Big East would survive because there were so many more attractive alternatives available. Take all those Big 12 teams off the table, and our schools are the most vulnerable targets.

However, what a renewal of the Big 12’s vows may — may — do is check the Big 10’s expansion designs at 12. University presidents at the midwestern schools may not be as inclined to invite multiple new programs if they’re all from the east. Expansion carries some risks — for instance, what if the new teams actually dilute everyone’s slice of the cable pie? — and an Iowa may not be willing to take those risks for a school in Piscataway, N.J. They might if it included gaining a new rival next door in Missouri. If the best midwestern teams decide to stay put, the conservative voices could win out and vote a one-team expansion that will at least give them their playoff.

Incidentally, if that happens, how bad will Jim Delaney look? He spends all these months basking in the ridiculous national media glow, only for all this time and attention to force the other conferences to adapt and come out stronger than before.

I put these two, in reference to the Big 12’s proposed vote to remain whole or explore options, for a few reasons. First, it shows how diverse and expansive this whole concept is. Second, no one and nothing (within reason) is wrong. Really, two weeks ago it was kind of chuckled at to suggest the Big Ten wouldn’t act first. Now? It’s different. Third, there are so many solutions to one puzzle and now it’s a matter of these actors finding the right course. I think if the Big 12 and/or MWC — and possibly now even the Pac 10 — does something, the Big East has to do something to protect itself and its future. What? I can’t really say. You could make Notre Dame declare itself in or out … or as is. You could take a loyalty vote among the membership … and jettison those who are uncertain. You could add. You could drop a bombshell and announce a television network/concept. You just can’t wait because if one or two or all three of these suggested moves by other conferences go off soon, you know the Big Ten + ? is going to respond and you know where it’s looking. Then again, nothing is wrong and nothing is right, so the answer could and probably is somewhere else. Buckle up.

Karl said:

Tell you what, Mike — if the Big East survives, I think things are going to be much different. Clearly, they were not prepared for this situation. From all I’ve read, you get the sense this situation forced Marinatto and the other BE leaders to re-evaluate their work and refocus on what they can do to improve the conference.

What they’ve done on the basketball side the last few years has been unreal. But football-wise, they’ve sat on their laurels since replacing the ACC departures, and that turned out to be dangerous. They must now see that they got lucky. They know the status quo is not an option.

The Big East sits on the greatest television market in the U.S. by a longshot. Use it. Build on it. Monetize it. Recruit new programs to it. Cut some dead weight. Stop sweating all these teams in Dixie and the Rust Belt and assert yourself as the conference of the Northeast.

Things will change, I agree. And conceptually, I’d agree with the “smoke ’em, if you got ’em” mission. I’m just not sure how that’s accomplished because to exploit its strengths the Big East needs to become stronger at football and that’s going to require 1) not losing anyone 2) adding reputable programs. From what I’ve seen regarding expansion, both are at least questionable outcomes. The Big East was extremely fortunate in its last expansion because it grabbed some great basketball schools and, at the time, some thriving and developing football programs. The basketball has lived up to every expectation and probably exceeded them all. In a sense, I think that hurts because people want to see the Big East add “basketball quality” football programs this time to make it all come together. Regardless, a big-time maneuver is going to be difficult to achieve while maintaining the current membership balance — there aren’t any worthwhile “football only” programs out there to add to what already exists. So, yes, there’s a lot of evaluating how the Big East is to proceed. I must admit I once loathed and avoided this topic. Now it’s pretty entertaining and provocative.  

oklahoma mountaineer said:

I don’t know that the BE could/can do anything to preclude the current situation with any type of move that could be considered strength in the area of adding teams.

The BE is, apparently, committed to keeping the teams who are “basketball/non-revenue sports only”; therefore, an already bloated league would become even more of an unmanageable scenario for scheduling regular and post season.

The only card they could play, which I would have played long ago, is the strong arm of ND into the BE. ND needs the basketball and non-revenue scheduling and, quite honestly, could have made it stick in 2006 when ND had no other place to go. That may seem Monday morning quarterbacking but to me that made, and still makes, some sense.

Notre Dame’s membership, as much as it pains me to say it, makes the BE a more palletable option for courting full members worth having and pops the revenue for football contracts to another level, while simultaenously making a BE television network not only viable, but nationally attractive to cable operators.

Even if you stipulate ND share a portion (or even none) of their NBC agreement, it would be a lesser amount than the Big “WHATEVER” would require as there will be less teams to share in it.

Any teams out there that would acccept a football only membership in the BE are not worth having and, let’s face it, the teams in Conference USA that were worth taking (with the exception of ECU) came as replacements for the rogue ACC transplants.

Proactive steps by the BE that are meaningful to solve the football problem quite probably necessitate termination of membership for “non-football” schools and I’m not sure the league have the brass set necessary to do this.

Notre Dame is looking like it might be THE wild card in all this, especially if the related moves by other conferences force the Big Televen to look at just 12 and go all out for the Irish. Then again, the Irish have a good thing in the Big East and I wonder how the to-be-negotiated TV deal with NBC would be affected by a pledge of allegiance to the Big Ten Network. That TV contract is worth a lot of money and a lot more than money to Notre Dame. Can it be surrendered? Compromised? Does NBC want to continue?  Might Fox or CBS or a cable company — Big Ten Network? Big East Network! — get in on the bidding? If Notre Dame bolts the Big East, the Big East still has a chance to add a program — or multiple programs — though one would satisfy the basketball/football vacancy and maintain the balance. If Notre Dame stays, yeah, maybe the Big East ought to revisit the 2006 ordeal and make things a little more beneficial for its interests.

Dave said:

Knowing how many Big Ten fans feel about the Pac 10, this would be quite hilarious if they struck first.

Can someone wish? The PAC 10 takes the western-most candidates from the Big 10, the SEC takes the southern most and the Big 10 is left holding a bag of nothing except hoping that someone will join to make them feel relevant.

The Pac 10’s rumored mass invite is a game-changer. It totally alters the way we’ve been thinking and will think about all of this. It’s historic, to put it another way. And you still have to ask what Delany & Co. were doing this whole time if someone pulls the trigger before them.

Karl said:

Maybe this winds up having some validity, but I’m not sold yet. Until someone credible goes on the record, it’s just another report by another fan site citing another group of unnamed sources “close to the situation.” As of this hour, ESPN.com didn’t have this posted on its main news board, except for an AP report about the Big 12 press conference cancellation.

At the time, this was a good point. Within that 9 p.m. hour, things changed …

Jeff said:

Karl, I ran across two articles, one from SI that states Mizzou won’t commit to the Big-12. Another that quotes Colorado AD Mike Bohn as stating on camera that he is expecting an invitation from the PAC-10, along with the other five schools mentioned in Mike’s link.

… it kept moving …

roopoo said:

Here is the link about Bohn

http://www.buffzone.com/ci_15222068

Yikes.

oklahoma mountaineer said:

You think that this article is a damning statement on the state of the Big 12 — read this one……

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5248220

I’m thinking this story could cause the SEC to attempt a preemptive strike if they truly want the Aggies, Longhorns, Sooners, and Cowboys as previously reported on ESPN…….Imagine the reputation/credibility gap between the SEC and the rest of the college universe in football if these schools get added. It’s already the size of Lee Corso’s mouth already — I’d imagine there will be some attempt to make the SEC championship the defacto National Championship game at that point.

Honestly, this was somewhat startling. Is the Big 12 in as bad a predicament as the Big East? And who saw this coming a month ago?

JL said:

I’m as big a Chick-fil-a guy as anyone (customer #18 to the Patteson Drive location), but I had no idea they hadn’t introduced a new sandwich in over 20 years. That’s pretty remarkable.

I told you.

hershy112 said:

Pretty remarkable? One might even say……crazy.

So I’m trying to figure out where the new practice facility is. Is it on the other side of Beechurst (I can’t remember what the road name changes to) from the Coliseum?

I like you, but you’re crazy. Also, that facility is for women’s soccer practice.

JJ said:

A post on the practice facility AND the new spicy chicken sandwich. I’d say you’re burning the candle at both ends. Pass the Mylanta.

About an hour after the sandwich debuted in my stomach, I was reminded via indigestion why I don’t care much for fried food … especially spicy fried food. I should have thought ahead with the Mylanta. I’m better than that. Maybe next time.

rekterx said:

There really is something special about Chick-fil-a. And they are closed on Sundays.

Bill Stewart approves.

The Artist Formerly Known as EER96 said:

Mike:

I have had the new spicy chicken sandwich – it is AWESOME. Did you add the free toppings? Free cheese and tomato during the intro period!! I went with the pepper jack cheese. I have made multiple reservations at the Chick-fil-A in Martinsburg this week! This could be the best week of my life…

Oh, ya, the basketball facility is coming along nicely. Thanks for the pics.

Wait … I could only make one reservation because it recognized my computer when I tried to make a second. You found a loophole? Also, just pickles on mine. Cheese makes my throat swell. I was already lactose intolerant — you’re starting to think I’m very weird, I know — but this is a new allergy I’ve developed in my late 20s … and yes, it’s one of the worst things to happen to me.

Erinn said:

Maybe Chick-fil-A should be a blog sponsor. “Mike Casazza’s one and only fast food addiction!” 

Honestly, it’s not a terrible idea. Try to find beat writers and columnists who don’t live on, indulge in or regularly require fast food. All the travel and hurrying sometimes calls for a quick meal and fast food is there in the airport, on the interstate, next to the hotel, etc. Over time, the writers grow to love it. Now you’ve got one rebel who resists — and will go out of his way to do so — only he can’t say no to Chick-fil-A. Throw in a fight with a chicken — WWE style run-in from the cows? — and it’s a great ad campaign.

Chris in DC said:

How does Duke lose money? Is it because Cameron is so tiny? Seems like a power house program wouldn’t be losing cash…

Highly paid head coach and assistant coaches and a small arena are the main culprits. That said, I can’t believe it’s accurate, in that the numbers schools have to report vary across the board. I bet with the alumni and endorsements and other outside income, Duke’s making money.

roopoo said:

I wonder if Kentucky’s payments to players is factored in anywhere…or does that just directly from donors?

Enjoy the weekend!