You and I have sat here before and realized people who were once thought to be one thing were, perhaps, not that one thing a while later. The Product would be a pretty good example. Ditto for the conference clairvoyant Bill Stewart. We even thought Marv Robon was a lawyer, Mike Brown an agent, Ken Kendrick a good leader, Tevita Finau a living, breathing person, so on and so forth. We could do that all day, I trust.

I’m not saying Mike Garrison falls in that category … but I have to think about it. Maybe, as far as athletics is concerned, he got some things right.

Don’t simply react to the name and his past. Don’t think I’m an image mercenary trying to clean things up for the former WVU President. Deep breaths. Count to 10. You good? OK.

Listen, I can’t and won’t acquit him of a lot of things, but, for my purposes, that was never the source of my curiosity. Garrison’s plight is pretty clear. It was what it was. Not really open to interpretation.

Two months ago, though, I wrote this story about Bob Huggins being paid the “mean” salary in the Big East. The motivation wasn’t “what were they thinking?” but how the Big East’s coaching changes might affect Huggins. The conclusion was that the changes didn’t change anythign and Bob Huggins, unquestionable one of the best coaches in the country, would have a salary somewhere in the middle of the conference pack.

That said, I did think that in retrospect it was a pretty shrewed move and a very acceptable deal for WVU. Among the architects of that contract? Mike Garrison, who many thought was a little green as he took office and became too involved in what many believed to be agenda-serving in the athletic department.

And yet, this is the same guy who, with the support of others, wouldn’t simply let P-Rod have what he wanted during his last round of contract negotiations. You remember those things, right? More GAs. Let the players sell their textbooks. Run a Web site. Those things have gotten schools and coaches in trouble in other places. This is the sort of stuff people

Before the wheels really got spinning, I got an email one day from Michael S. Garrison. And away we went …

Again, go in with an open mind. Read. Process. Think. Formulate. React.