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On most days, I can see clear down the street that runs parallel with my house to the intersection one would cross to sneak into the south end zone of the practice field. The indoor practice structure just beyond the natural grass field is visible, too. Head to my street’s end, hook a left and look simply to the right and you can pretty plainly see the top of the stadium.
Not this morning. It seemed eerily foreboding and appropriate as WVU stares down who knows what when preseason camp begins this afternoon on the other end of that fog at Mountaineer Field. We get to see 30 minutes, beginning at 5 p.m., and though I think it’s useless and wholly uninformative, I do want to see who is and isn’t there and I want my eyeballs to tell my mind that someone is bigger or smaller or leaner or quicker than before. That, if nothing else, is productive on the first few days.
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Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which … sheezus, this time next week we’re in the second day of football practice? Yes, please. No matter how big a meal we tend to make out of things like Tier 3 rights and vinyl graphic banners, no matter how much we like picking at those platters, the real stuff is the real deal. Can’t wait.
Already, I’ve got the first several days tentatively planned out before we’re allowed to speak with freshmen, but invariably the plans get jumbled and what I plan for the third day ends up on the third-to-last day. Things develop, freshmen arrive, depth charts settle and the next thing I know I’m wearing a mauve sweat suit trying my hardest to keep pace.
I will tell you Thursday’s sports front and Friday’s sports front are keepers. Those guns were in holster for a while, but the season is here and I see the whites of your widening eyes.
I’m dipping out this weekend for the Liverpool v. Tottenham match in Baltimore, where I’ll make around 40 references to the Wire, get into disputes with my wife about Tristan Wilds being better in the new 90210 and promptly regret not having a friend named Omar that might have come with me. I have next week off until Thursday morning, though I imagine I’ll make a cameo and maybe even share tales about the time my name was in the streets.
Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, buckle down.
Jeff in Akron said:
“He caught his second-best receiver, Wayne Porter, cutting class before the bowl game and had to bench him.” Add that to the list of things that, “You probably couldn’t get away with that today.”
Carlen was the coach when I was old enough to be a Mountaineer fan. Ironically, Carlen may be the coach that started the preoccupation with a coach leaving for a “better” job after a successful tenure in Morgantown. Thankfully, that was finally put to rest last year when he visited WVU with Bowden and Cignetti. A gathering that was probably more significant than most realized at the time.
Rest in peace coach! Would it be considered in poor taste if I continued to make fun of Carlen’s preoccupation with WV roads?
He was an original and a pioneer and at a pretty significant time for WVU and for the country. He’s on the Hall of Fame ballot, and though he probably won’t make it, he really does deserve more attention than he has. Accomplished coach at three schools, administrator, bowl winner, Heisman Trophy coach, engineer, humanitarian … these are good things to have on the resume. And for the record, though I do like Carlen’s credentials, Sol Metzger is my man. I’d love to cover that guy.
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Longtime rivals WVU and Iowa State were to renew their feud Saturday, Nov. 24, in Ames, Iowa, which would have made for quite a weekend for fans the Mountaineers.
The official bracket for the Old Spice Classic, which, don’t tell anyone, caters to WVU and Gonzaga, came out today. There are games Thanksgiving day, Friday and Sunday and a big old gap on Saturday. What better time to watch the Mountaineers and the Cyclones play football?
Alas, that football game is Friday, and I figure that’s going to get a midday ABC slot. It shouldn’t conflict with the Old Spice Classic unless WVU loses to Marist, which seems unlikely since WVU, after all, is scheduled to play Marist. I suppose Saturday will be for the families.
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Nah, that’s overrated. And if you’re WVU and you’ve never actually been to the Big 12 before, it’s phone phony (last time I blog via Smartphone).
What the Mountaineers did in Dallas was introduce themselves to the Big 12 Conference and all it’s moving parts by acting like they belong.
“Who’s to say who’s going to believe it and who’s to say we’re going to go 12-0?” Smith said. “The only ones who control our fate, who control our destiny, is us. That’s the best part of football. You can talk about it all day, but when it comes down to it, it’s up to you and what you do between the lines.”
This is where the Mountaineers either impressed or confused onlookers, but this is how they behave. They never said they will win the Big 12. They said they can win it. They believe if they simply do in a game what they do so well in practice, they’ll be fine. Games aren’t as much about what the opposition does as much as they are about what WVU does.
The Mountaineers happen to feel very comfortable with their plans and very confident they can execute those plans.
“I expect to win every game like I expect to complete every pass and make every read,” Smith said. “Will that happen? No, but that’s the standard I hold myself to. If you shoot for the moon, you may land among the stars.”
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That’s the link. For some reason, whenever I use this particular laptop, it doesn’t embed the YouTube clips like my other laptop — and I don’t travel with that one. I’ll fix it back at the hotel.
Yes! Success!
Just for fun, count how many times Dana actively avoids referencing the Big East.
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Dana Holgorsen, despite the fact he was trending on Twitter, was subdued and likely left his zingers in the holster. Mack Brown, on the other hand, came out smoking firing.
He actually brought cheerleaders from various Big 12 schools to his press conference.
“I asked the ladies to come in. If I had any hard questions, I would let them support me. So we’ll just ask them to step up and answer any questions that we need here. Questions?” he said.
Berry Tramel of the Oklahoman fired his hand into the sky and asked the biggest question in the Big 12.
“I’d like to ask the cheerleaders who they want to quarterback the Longhorns this year,” he asked.
Brown smiled, but did not defer. “They would want the worst one. I think that would be without question. There aren’t any Longhorn cheerleaders in that group there.”
Also impressive was the performance of Oklahoma State Mike Gundy. He was in the middle of something when a loud “Let’s go, Mountaineers!” cry from outside the room shattered the working silence in the press conference.
That was followed by multiple people signing WVU’s fight song in a room to Gundy’s right. Gundy didn’t even blink.
“I handled that pretty well,” he said. “That was a pressure situation there. I hope (freshman quarterback) Wes Lundt handles it that way. I didn’t even look over there.”
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Yesterday the five Big 12 coaches who spoke at media day wore suits. I bumped into Dana Holgorsen this morning on an escalator and he was wearing the black polo and khaki slacks. He was also drinking a tall coffee, which perhaps explains the exuberance with which he worked the room for the next 30 minutes.
He was all over the place, talking and laughing and shaking hands and obviously enjoying himself. When we had a moment, we talked about that particular aspect, that a coach seemed to be having fun when others might not be as invested in such a gathering.
“No offense,” he said, “but usually it’s not fun when it’s a media thing.”
Oh, no offense at all, said the media. Actually, I understood. What that meant was it’s often hurrying from here to there and answering cliche or repetitive questions and generally just enduring the day. But what Holgorsen pointed out was that the atmosphere was crafted with the cheerleaders and mascots to lighten the mood — the very thing I thought yesterday.
Just a warm and welcoming dynamic. “It’s more festive,” Holgorsen said.
I figure he, too, will be festive when he talks to the media here shortly. Follow along @mikecasazza.
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At long last, your question has been answered. West Virginia has a rival in the Big 12 and that rival is Iowa State. So says the head coach, Paul Rhoads, and I believe you’ve heard of him before.
Given his indelible role in WVU’s at times tortured history, plus Iowa State’s “close proximity” to the Mountaineers and, what the heck, even the Cyclones’ defensive coordinator, it all just makes sense.
Why, it almost looks like the Big 12 wants this to happen. How else do you explain WVU at Iowa State late in the season? I mean, it’s Thanksgiving weekend. Wasn’t that almost always reserved for WVU and Pitt?
There’s even some added, manufactured intrigue that comes with playing Iowa State late in the regular season. You’re not aware? You may then want to watch Nov. 24 with one hand about your eyes. Mike Gundy can show you how.
Rhoads, 18-20 overall and 9-16 in Big 12 games in three seasons with the Cyclones, believes WVU can compete for the conference championship this season and keep it going. Monday he complimented WVU’s talented roster and capable coaches.
“We tackled extremely well – extremely well,” he said. “We missed two tackles for a total of seven extra yards. You can’t do that at any level of college football. It just doesn’t happen. We chart every game and every scrimmage and we chart missed tackles and the yards that go with it and we haven’t even approached that at any place I’ve been since then. So that was a huge factor.”
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You are looking live at the Dallas room in the Westin Galleria. Big 12 Conference commissioner Bob Bowlsby speaks at 9 a.m. CST to open the first of two media days — and if you’re interested, WVU has obligations for tomorrow only. Anyhow, I’ve got you covered. Probably want to follow along at twitter.com/mikecasazza for the Bowlsby stuff. I’ll update, as can.
(Update: Tweets pasted below if Twittah is blocked whgere you work.)
