Friday Feedback
December 3, 2010 by Mike Casazza
Welcome to the Friday Feedback which was feeling pretty bad about last night’s worst case scenario and wasn’t sure it’d be here today. Then I popped in my Josh Groban CD and, man, it’s all good. Still sore from another kick in the stomach, I’m nevertheless ready to go. And I’m all in on the The Miz era. It’s that bad.
… could be worse. Rutgers, losers of 15 straight overall against WVU and 15 in a row in Morgantown, is in town. Same team has lost five in a row and been outscored 109-51 in the past two games.
The Mountaineers are better, but pardon me for not buying in given the level of competition lately. Still don’t think WVU is good enough to simply show up, but I do think this is a good evaluation of where the team is at mentally. It’d be very easy to presume victory and look forward to watching Saturday night’s USF-UConn game and hoping the Bulls can deliver a BCS bid.
That overlooks the 60 minutes needed to actually get by Rutgers and get to the television. WVU should have enough, but who knows where the heads are or will be if things get interesting? This explains Bill Stewart’s valiant, though silly building up of the Scarlet Knights this week.
Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, anything is possible.
Jeff in Akron said:
Get ready for the “Rutgers is a fabulous football team speech”.
JiA wrote that Friday afternoon. This has been the approach since Halloween. If it ain’t broke …
glibglub said:
Headline of the millenium: Rich Rodriguez Finds Solace In Josh Groban Song
Whereas someone thought he was chopping an onion.
Spatial Angel said:
I know I’m making too much of this, but I am a man to match my molehills.
Those uniforms sucked…ugly, dirty looking…there were times when I had to remind myself which team was which…same thing happened Saturday, took me an instant to figure who Michigan was playing…the topper was the HCBS post game presser…he’s just beaten the archenemy, AND saved his job…but his first thoughts are for the Nike guy who designed the unis…so he briefly delays the start of his remarks til the Nike guy gets there, then leads off with love for Nike…please tell me that did not happen…does the head coach (and\or the institution he represents) really believe this Pro Combat thing was ever anything other than Nike promoting Nike?
No, no. That happened. Literally the opening of the press conference and I was of the impression Stewart would have waited to start until the designer was in the room. To be fair, WVU was one of only 10 teams to get the threads. I’m sure Stewart is proud of that for WVU as much as anything else. Easy on the “saved his job” stuff, too. It’s not about one game.
Karl said:
My gut says South Florida will get it done next week. Pretty even teams, but UConn has played poorly on the road and USF actually has some momentum right now. Nice win for the Bills today against Miami. It will be a revenge game for USF and they’re capable of taking it.
Bobby. Eveld. That’s all I’m saying. Big stage for the young fella. Now, if his team doesn’t drop touchdown passes or if he doesn’t thow it to the other team, I like USF’s speed on defense to at least manage Todman better than Cincinnati did. But once again … Bobby Eveld.
Parks said:
For all the downers, we are back in the rankings this week. Came in at number 24.
Mike, I was reading an article this morning discussing bowl possibilties. Obviously we are looking at the Fiesta, Champs or Tire bowls as of now. Mike Parsons was interviewed and he was discussing the monetary distributions from each bowl. The Fiesta is roughly a million dollars more than the other two, however he was saying that flying the team is far more expensive than busing them (duh!) and he was including the band, cheerleaders, ect. in that thinking. It made me a little confused and got me thinking. In terms of money, does it benefit the athletic department more to stay close, thus saving on travel expenses? He was saying that the entire goal of bowl season is to break even after receiving payouts from the bowls and Big East distributions. I took it as him using the logic of staying close would make us more money, but I have to be wrong, right?
Factor in all of that stuff you and Mr. Parsons mentioned and include ticket sales — you’re more apt to sell tickets to a game cloer to home — and, yes, it’s easier to break even in, say, Charlotte than in Scottsdale.
Dave said:
Parks – if memory serves, we lost money on the last trip to the Fiesta, or broke even when a donor helped defray the costs. At least in my memory, I don’t think the bowl payouts themselves are direct major revenue generators (“major” being more than $1mil or more). I would think that the payoff would be in recruiting, exposure, subsequent television appearances, future ticket sales, etc.
I would imagine that staying closer is much less expensive given the location the Fiesta Bowl. I know there are differences due to packages and bowl arrangements, but in my experience getting to AZ from the east is not cheap.
That, too.
Mr. Caridi said:
Michael,
What makes you more disappointed in the current state of journalism – Eeersports.com or Chippy’s response to Eeersports.com?
Honestly, I didn’t read either. Forgive me about the former. I wasn’t buying it when the news and especially the source was relayed to me. I’m stunned Stewart even addressed it, but good for him. I’d also be stunned and saddened if WVU continues to credential this outfit. Then again, it never attends events. Ever. In the future, please remember it’s not credible at all when it comes to the day-to-day functionality of WVU athletics. As for the latter, the article no longer exists.
The Artist Formerly Known as EER96 said:
Any truth to the rumor that Stew said, “Ask me about retirement plans, go ahead, ask me about retirement plans!”
None.
Sam said:
Inviting RichRod back here would be evidence of the worst kind of Stockholm Syndrome. What self respecting fan would ever want his return?
There are people who $upport it, believe me. I doubt it’ll happen, but if it does, rumors of my retirement would have legs.
Birch said:
I like the idea…BUT…what happens when Jim Delaney comes a callin’ again this winter and Pitt, Cuse, UConn, etc are gone? Right back to square one, or square -1 really. I wonder if TCU has anything in their agreement that allows them to void the deal if such a scenario were to happen. I’d have to put Big 10 expansion at 50/50 right now.
For now, I for one welcome our new reptilian overlords.
All very good points about the Big East’s newest member. TCU has been a vagabond among athletic departments. The Horned Frogs were in the Southwest Conference in 1996 when it dissolved and have since been in Conference USA, the WAC and the MWC. So, in addition to the Big Twhatever courting Big East teams, what if the Big Roman Numeral of the Pac Something were to come calling for TCU? And what if TCU had established some BCS credibility between now and then? Some things worth considering.
Shannon said:
This is a win-win for both sides, but mostly for TCU.
TCU gets what it was looking for in the conference realignment – a BCS conference that would bring in all sports. I doubt the Big 12 would have considered TCU, and the SEC is not going to expand into Texas unless it could get Texas. For TCU, joining the Big East was its best bet.
For the Big East, it helps to take the sting off this year’s football program. By adding TCU, the conference argues that it is in it for the long haul and this season is just a bad season, and not indicative of future results.
However, the Big East is also taking a risk by having 17 teams for basketball. The basketball product hasn’t been diluted as the ACC has with recent additions, but does adding TCU do that? The Big East would have to add another school to make basketball work. From a media market perspective, UCF (Orlando) is the answer. But, does South Florida want to bring in UCF? An addition of UCF would certainly cut into South Florida’s recruiting ability and its positioning as the fourth best school in the state.
There is a lot to be excited about, but a lot of questions to be asked as well.
Eh, I don’t worry about basketball. The difference between 16 and 17 isn’t very significant and the fix for scheduling is pretty simple. People seem to think TCU can be good sooner rather than later. Remember Kent State’s young up-and-coming coach, Jim Christian? That’s TCU’s guy. The school has resources and a great backyard. Kids want to stay home and if you’re a basketball player, this is a pretty good carrot. And Christian is more or less a northeast/Big East guy. Born in upstate New York, he played for Pitino at Boston and then went to Rhode Island. As an assistant, he was at St. Francis (Pa.), Western Kentucky, Miami (Ohio) and Pitt. He has relationships in some good Big East recruiting areas, too. Will they become Syracuse or Louisville? No. I don’t think it’s any worse than what’s happened at Rutgers, though.
Rob W. said:
The Big East can hold off no other conference who might want to expand with current Big East programs. WVU nor any other school would turn down one of those offers. But I like the TCU addition. There are not a lot of options out there and this is as good as any. I would like to see UCF as well.
I am surprised that TCU was granted an all-sports invitation. It seems to me that the football schools might have put their collective foot down on this one and may have threatened to split. Because I just don’t see the basketball schools being too willing to tilt the numerical membership advantage to the football side.
I just wish they’d play hardball with you ND who….
Nothing is permanent. Not today. Certainly not tomorrow. All of these schools are mobile. As for your put-your-foot down scenario, what’s to say it hasn’t happened or can’t happen? Football schools — ie, the money-makers — do not want to be outnumbered and outvoted. I still doubt there’s a future without a split.
Karl said:
I give a lot of credit to the Big East leaders for the way they played this hand. The timing was everything. The conference was about to get killed in the media for sending a 4-loss UConn team to a BCS game, an embarassment that could have really meant trouble for the BE’s AQ status this time. This move effectively changes the subject.
Now it will only be like a bad haircut. The BE will look awful for a while, but the discussion will only go so far because everyone knows next year will be a different scene.
Damnit! Bad haircut is a perfect way to put it. Put it this way: Suppose you’re a Big East fan and when the sky was falling over the summer someone had said, “Hey, you’ll have a ninth team with street cred in November, just relax.” Would you have believed that? Probably not. At the very worst, the recent news is a far, far better outcome.
NCMountaineer said:
Here’s another thought. Boston College.
Discuss.
I really like it. The ACC is doing nothing for them and it fits the Big East mold in every fashion. I’ve been told there are still some very hurt feelings and on both sides. There’s also something to be said about being stubborn as opposed to admitting an error.
SheikYbuti said:
I was at a bridge tournament in Tampa the week that game was played, camping out at a KOA campground. We found a cheap motel room for that one evening, just so we could watch the game on TV. It was a long dry spell between the Bluebonnet and Music City bowl wins. The one thing those two games had in common was that, as least as I can recall without double-checking, our QBs (Kevin White and Brad Lewis) pretty much had the game of their respective careers.
Back up … bridge tournament? This is to be filed with Jeff in Akron’s attempt to glance over being asked to leave Dick’s.
Dave said:
The Bluebonnet bowl was eventually left for dead because it couldn’t pick up a sponsor.
Think about that today. It couldn’t pick up AdvoCare V100, the Kraft Fight Hunger moniker, R+L Carriers, Beef O’Brady’s, or Brut.
I mean, is there a better name than the Brut Sun Bowl?
So if sponsors weren’t throwing money at games we wouldn’t have 35 bowls? That’s the culprit!
overtheSEC said:
It blows my mind how many “informed” writers (Mandel, Schlabach, Brian Bennett) have already determined USF is going to beat UConn with a walk on freshman QB. UConn doesn’t need any further motivation to win this game, they’re already playing for their first BCS bowl game, they don’t need to win to “prove the experts wrong.”
More culprits! Nothing about that game screams “LOCK” for USF.
Spatial Angel said:
Don’t get your hopes up with USF, they’ll be feeling fat and happy after beating the U.
Precisely. That’s a bowl win for them. I can’t wait to see the half-filled stadium snowball momentum for the UConn game.
Birch said:
If we have anything going for us it’s that UConn is 1-4 on the road. No road game is farther than Tampa. Hopefully all the a-holes that come out when we play them down there will come out for this game as well and add to the pressure that I’m sure the Huskies will already be feeling.
That and maybe Jordan Todman tweaks his ankle getting off the plane.
I hear the orange cones on the aprons are major nuisances.
Homer said:
Defensive player of the year is KEVIN TANDY in a runaway. He’ll take the trophy off the tip, thanks.
I was going to include a category for “Announcer of the year” but why bother?
overtheSEC said:
The addition of TCU just makes the brilliant decision back in September of the 2016 BYU game now look even more brilliant.
… because it leaves only a little room for Marshall. This is where the week got interesting.
hershy112 said:
I think I hear the pecking of his keyboard already bashing Oliver Luck and WVU for making a push to add a member just so it wouldn’t have to play Marshall.
Was it really that loud? Beacuse that happened.
Birch said:
Speaking of drama queens and broken records:
Never change Chuck, please, never change.
He will not. He enjoys it too much. So do his bosses.
Dave said:
Oliver Luck’s ability to get “Charlie Brown” Landon to try to kick the proverbial football leaves Lucy Van Pelt impressed.
Yes!
The Artist Formerly Known as EER96 said:
Yes, Chuck, Mr. Luck has nothing else to do but sit around and think of ways to get out of extending a series with Marshall in football. That’s right, Chuck, he’s not trying to get out of games that are already scheduled, he’s just making sure this sorry excuse for a game doesn’t happen in the future. That what he puts down on his time sheet every week – “I spent 90 hours this week thinking of ways to avoid playing Marshall in football after the current contract expires.”
Contrary to your beliefs, Chuck, Marshall has no right to play WVU every year in football. If it were up to me, WVU wouldn’t play them in basketball either!
Mr. Landon’s position is so ridiculous that it is laughable. Chuck, you may now return to your parent’s basement and commence in the writing of your next next pathetic article.
Seems like a good time to refresh my stance on Chuck: Never had a problem with him, we’ve never clashed, we got along fine in the brief time we worked together, I marvel at the way he riles people up with his words.
glibglub said:
You know what the worst drinking game in the world is? It’s the one where you take a drink whenever Chuck Landon lays down a paragraph that includes more than two sentences.
He does do that.
/hiccup
The 25314 said:
He reminds me of Mike Gansey on the offensive end. Same size. Good shooter. Good enough off the dribble. High field goal percentage for a jump shooter. Very efficient scorer.
Hmmm, hadn’t seen Casey Mitchell that way, but I like it. Casey is better when he starts with the ball in his hands, but, yes, Mike was good at that. And Casey is active, though right now not as good as Mike was in moving without the ball. They share good percentages for jump shooters and, thus far, Casey is really efficient. What always surprised me about Mike was for as good as he was at everything, he was a below-average free-throw shooter … though deadly when the game was on the line. Casey’s FTs dont hit the rim.
rekterx said:
He won’t keep up this scoring pace in the BE. But he will prove to be a very good BE player.
I think you’d take that three months from now, yes? Certainly three months ago.
The Artist Formerly Known as EER96 said:
WVU is in for some losses in the Big East I’m afraid. Mitchell is probably going to have to be the “go-to guy.” I don’t know how comfortable I am with that against better competition that is surely to come in the Big East. He needs some help from KJ, no doubt. Denis and Dan need to pick it up!!!
You have to have guys who get easy scores to win in the Big East because the defenses and the coaches are just too good, so, no you don’t want to rely on a jump-shooter. WVU doesn’t have many of those easy bucket guys and if they don’t develop it, they’ll have some bad nights in the conference. Right now, they just don’t trust the offense and take open shots as opposed to good shots because they worry about getting a good shot in the offense. I’m very interested to see what Casey does Saturday. Miami has pretty good guards.
thacker said:
Too damn early to know? As memory serves me, didn’t the big guys of Minnesota cause some havoc inside? A lot of big guys left to play.
That they did, but Minnesota look like a pretty good squad. WVU doesn’t have a lot of frontcourt depth right now. That’s their early weakness. I like Noreen and what he does. For a freshman, he has a knack for getting the ball in the basket and, again, WVU doesn’t have a lot of those guys, especially big guys. I wouldn’t rush him into more PT. He’s doing work in practice and I imagine Huggins keeps a lid on things so Noreen understands he has to sustain these traits to get the reward. Plus, if Huggins keeps the kid going through this month, everyone is better off in January.
Spatial Angel said:
Really, really looking forward to two more years of Eu.
Me too. Ever watch his interviews online? Impressive kid. He avoids cliches and provides really thoughtful and intelligent answers. He talks with you and not at you … if that makes any sense.
Bill said:
I think he has a valid point, to an extent. Getting back to basics couldn’t hurt. I don’t remember seeing too many times (although there have been SOME) a player doing something stupid by trying to make the big play and instead got nothing or too little. Offensively, we went through several games where we just had no output whatsoever, not to mention turnovers.
I have really missed Noel’s big-play runs this year. And in fact, I am sure our offense has too. He is the last player from the good ole days, where 40+ yard runs were the norm, rather than the exception, and made it really exciting to watch. (In fact, how many 40+ yard plays do we have this year…. just a few?)
Things might have been a lot different if we had a healthy Noel this year. Maybe just one more win….or maybe undefeated. Ironically, all the heat on Johnson, HCBS, and Mullen may not have existed nearly to the extent it does now…..and maybe that affects certain coaching changes that may or may not take place……
I hope Noel blows up on Saturday, and I hope he goes on to have a great career in the NFL.
Eu was the one who said it with the most conviction and the greatest frequency: If WVU could hang onto the ball, it’d score. I think he, and others, silently included Noel’s toe as an asterisk, too.
The 25314 said:
And who’s job is it to harp on the fundamentals and demand focus on the little things?
Wait for it …
Dave said:
Chuck Landon’s?
Enjoy the weekend!