The Sock 'Em, Bust 'Em Board Because that's our custom

No, no. He really said that

April 3, 2008 by Mike Casazza

As I sat in the courtroom this morning, trying valiantly to keep up with everything everyone was saying, I thought to myself, “You know what this reminds me of? Indentured servitude!” And wouldn’t you know it, I wasn’t the only one witnessing or participating in West Virginia University Board of Governors v. Rodriguez who had that very thought.

“It’s like back before the Civil War when slaves had the right to buy their freedom,” said Marv Robon, one of Rodriguez’s lawyers. “A penalty of $4 million is almost like a slave from Africa trying to buy his freedom in America. I think it’s an outrageous amount. It’s just not fair and it’s not related to any damages the university is suffering.”

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Briefly…

by Mike Casazza

It was a mixed day in Monongalia County Circuit Court. Team Rodriguez strolled into Courtroom 1 just a few minutes before Thursday morning’s motions hearing was set to begin — this was pointed out in subtle fashion by WVU’s representation a while later — but did exit with a rather meaningful “victory” in the opening battle and a pledge from Rita Rodriguez that “we will not back down.”

Team Rodriguez will be allowed to argue that Rich Rodriguez was “fraudulently induced” into signing his contract. Team Rodriguez accused President Mike Garrison of lying to Rodriguez by promising to eliminate the $4 million buyout if he signed the contract. The $4 million was also deemed an unfair punishment by Team Rodriguez, which made a very strange comparison to a slave buying his freedom.

Team WVU had no problem with Judge Robert Stone’s decision to allow the fraud charges and had its share of wins as well, most notably the motion to compel Team Rodriguez to hand over any and all correspondence between Rodriguez and the University of Michigan from their initial interactions through the official hiring. This, Team WVU says, will point out that Rodriguez wanted to be the UM coach and disprove the allegation he was forced to resign.

More later. I have to compose myself after the Chris Henry news…

Odor in the court

April 2, 2008 by Mike Casazza

In what surely qualifies more as the end of the beginning than the beginning of the end, Team Rodriguez straps on its legal pads and takes to the courtroom against Team WVU tomorrow for a motions hearing in Monongalia County Circuit Court.

At long last.

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Can’t argue with the title

by Mike Casazza

This clip on YouTube may be the best thing you’ll see all day … and certainly the product of the great education attained at the nation’s top-ranked party school. If anyone knows these guys, tell them about the seven-overtime game I won in college. It was an instantclassic, but there’s a difference between playing at The Mecca and playing in a dingy garage.

Roger, Rodgers

by Mike Casazza

Mark Rodgers, a rather unheralded California running back, signed with WVU Tuesday and will be eligible to play this fall. Scant attention was given to Rodgers despite some nice numbers and recognition.

Rodgers, from Lawndale, Calif., ran for more than 4,800 yards and 50 touchdowns in his final two seasons at Leuzinger High.

A 5-9, 185-pound back, he had 2,319 yards and 19 touchdowns in 11 games as a senior. He was named the Los Angeles County Player of the Year, his region’s co-player of the year and All-State.

He also placed fourth in the state last year in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.5 seconds.

Oh, the kid can roll, too. The first run made me laugh. About 30 seconds in, a defender (No. 9) takes what seems to be a good angle, but never makes it to Rodgers (No. 5) . Finally, there are back-to-back runs about 1:10 in where he hits the sideline and pulls away from everyone.

Cat’s out of the bag

April 1, 2008 by Mike Casazza

Get your tickets now for the 2009 season-opener. The Liberty Flames were all to happy to announce their date with WVU next year.

“We are all very excited about this announcement, as we look forward to the opportunity to play against such a great team as West Virginia,” commented head coach Danny Rocco. “This is another indication of the direction that our program is moving, as such a game will have a very positive impact.

“As we continue to build and look toward the future, this game will help our recruiting efforts not only in our home state, but also in this region of the country. I know that our staff, players, alumni and fans will all be looking forward to our trip to Morgantown to open the 2009 season.” 

Liberty, by the way, has a pretty good athletic department. Jerry Falwell would be proud.
 

Daily Athenaeum: Nobody’s fool

by Mike Casazza

My one college regret… My biggest college regret… My most consistent college regret… Sometimes I regret that while in college I was never part of the April Fool’s Edition of the Daily Athenaeum. I think we were on spring break on that day my two years there. There’s great AFD satire and there’s awful AFD satire. There’s no in between. It works or it sucks. The DA works. Since this is a sports blog — and I don’t want to ignore the funny PRT and Heather Bresch stuff on Page 1 — I submit to you the sports setcion (Page 6, Page 7 … and I’m sure the “On top of the world” ad is a joke. It has to be. It’s either a joke or the cover for the debut album of the world’s worst boy band.)

Check out the story on the 25-star center and the thoughts of Joe Alexander.

“At least I can finally play my natural forward position,” Alexander said. “But I think he might get in the way of my awesomeness.”

“And at safety, Joe Mazzulla…”

by Mike Casazza

First, this is not an April Fool’s joke … it happened yesterday and I think Bill Stewart was entirely unaware of the significance contained in today’s date and that people would think he was fooling around. Rather, I think he was looking for a way to add a good player to his roster.

Coach Bill Stewart said he’d like to talk with Bob Huggins about having his point guard, Joe Mazzulla, join the football team.

“Put this in the paper,” he said following the first post-spring break practice. “I’m going to call Bobby when he gets back in town. He’s out of town now, but when he gets back, I’m going to see if it’s OK. I’d love to have him out here.”

Stewart was asked where the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Mazzulla would play.

“Wherever he wants,” said Stewart, who was won over by Mazzulla’s hustle and determination, which included his collision with a courtside table in the Sweet 16 game against Xavier.

Stewart watched the NCAA Tournament games and was sick to his stomach when the season ended the way it did in the Sweet 16. He surely made note of Mazzulla’s hands and footwork, to say nothing of his to-hell-with-the-other-guy mentality.

I don’t think Mazzulla ever played organized football and if he did, it was limited and it was in Rhode Island, so he’s not long on experience.

Let’s be honest, too. The way the seasons overlap, it’s probably not happening. There’s no way Mazzulla plays football and rejoins the basketball team in January. If he did give football an abbreviated shot, he’s obviously not starting and probably not playing a key role. If he does, the football team is in trouble … or Mazzulla is, in fact, Superman.

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Yoakam if you got ‘em…

March 31, 2008 by Mike Casazza

…or not. One less reason to go to the spring game.

By the way, this entire thing never made sense and I immediately wondered if the idea would be stalled before its implementation. The NCAA is pretty picky and, sure enough, intervened.

MSL Sports and Entertainment said in a release the promoter could not proceed with its “Gridiron Bash” because of an NCAA interpretation last week that would have limited participation of athletes in what it calls a “football celebration.” According to Erik Christianson of the NCAA, MSL wanted to “use student-athletes’ participation to promote” the events and allow athletes into the concerts for free — both against NCAA rules.

The MSL release referred to the “NCAA’s last-minute interpretation” and quoted President Shawn Garrity saying “with valuable time being lost awaiting NCAA clarification,” the decision was made to hold events next fall and spring.

Well, good. Especially for WVU, which was assigned Yoakam. This is plenty of time to work on an upgrade. No offense to Dwight Yoakam, who I wouldn’t recognize by sight or sound if he was playing “If There Was a Way” in my office, but one suspects people would be more excited by at least 10 more acts on the tour — and I might have to increase that because someone keeps playing the damned Counting Crows at the Fishbowl…

It’s good to be Buckhannon

by Mike Casazza

Get to know Chelsea Carrier. A gifted high school track and field star, she’s made the leap to the collegiate ranks without much trouble during her freshman year at WVU. She won the long jump and the 60-meter hurdles in her college debut, finished third in the 60 and sixth in the pentathlon at the Big East Championships, won the 60 at the ECAC Championships and in the first meet of the outdoor season this past weekend was third in the 100 hurdles and 10th in the 100 dash at the Raleigh Relays.

To review: long jump, 60 hurdles, 100 hurdles, 100 dash and pentathlon.

To review, Part II: True freshman.

To be fair: One part of a very good, very promising team.

To the point: She’s from Buckhannon and a great place to live has a great reason to be proud.

Make that two great reasons to be proud. Bill Stewart is the grand marshall for the Strawberry Festival parade.

Strawberry Festival organizers say Stewart agreed to be the parade marshal back in February. They say Stewart will talk to the community at Buckhannon-Upshur High School after the parade. That event will start at 4:30 and will cost $2 to attend. Stewart has asked that proceeds from the event be donated to the Upshur County Special Olympics.

“We are really excited. He’s probably the best known person in West Virginia right now. He’s 1 and 0. He put the team together and won the Fiesta Bowl, so we’re really excited about having him down to be the grand marshal of the parade and the Strawberry Festival,” says Jim Marsh, event coordinator for the West Virginia Strawberry Festival.

I’ve never made it to the Strawberry Festival and, in particular, Friday night’s Party Gras, despite repeated invitations — from friends, not event coordinators … as if you needed me to clarify that point. I have no schedule conflict this year, so I’m going and I do believe I’ll find Stewart and tell him that being named grand marshall means he outkicked his coverage. Then I’ll slowly turn and walk away…