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

Friday Feedback

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.

Continue reading…

Uh oh

Maybe the Big 12 should have that vote pretty soon.

Three kickoffs announced

Three down, nine to go. WVU’s season-opener against Coastal Carolina will be at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 4 on the Big East Network. WVU’s home game against Maryland Sept. 18 will be at noon on ESPNU. The Oct. 9  home game against UNLV will be at 3:30 p.m. on the Big East Network.

You remember that, right? Well, quite clearly Nebraska A.D. Tom Osborne is of the same mind. If you take him at his word, it’s possible the membership of the Big 12 is with him. The conference may soon take some sort of action.

Asked if he expected the Big 12 to stay intact, Osborne said: “I think there is a very good chance it will. We like the Big 12. …

“The presidents will probably make some decision by Friday. It may be yes, no or somewhere in between. I think there will be a serious decision about where people stand.”

The ADs will gather with the board of directors this afternoon, with the board meeting Friday morning.

Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe said such a commitment would be a “happy occurrence.” He wondered if it was realistic.

“There’s a lot of interest by a lot of the athletic directors to try to get to the same goal I have – some sort of conclusion on the commitment of all institutions,” Beebe said. “I just don’t know if that’s possible or not. The presidents and the board are the ones who have to answer that.”

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Wednesday was a big day.

My reservation for Chick-fil-A’s new spicy chicken sandwich — you’re welcome — had come up and it was time to get  a preview before the public. Chick-fil-A already holds a special place in the blog’s collective heart and happens to be walking-distance close to the Coliseum.

So how about a practice facility update?

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Mike Gansey knows the numbers

Maybe Mike Gansey could have parlayed his surge in the NBA D-League season into a spot on a summer league roster with one of the interested NBA teams. He instead took an offer from the D-League select team to play in the Las Vegas Summer League against NBA summer squads.

A characteristically smart play by Gansey, a veteran of summer league’s past.

“Say you’re with the Washington Wizards or the Philadelphia 76ers,” the 6-foot 4-inch Gansey said. “They’ve got draft picks, young guys and returning guys. Those guys are going to play.
“On the D-League team, you don’t have to worry about that. You know you’re going to get your minutes to show NBA people, European scouts and whoever else is there what you can do.”
Kudos to the writer, Duane Rankin, who has traveled the talent pipeline to Erie, Pa., for the supplemental graphic showing the two Ganseys this past season.
Different team, different player
Here’s a comparative look at how Mike Gansey played in the D-League this past season with the Idaho Stampede and the Erie BayHawks. The BayHawks traded the second overall pick in the 2009 D-League draft, combo guard Donell Taylor, for Gansey, whom Idaho took in the sixth round.

Idaho Erie
GMS 11 (1) 27 (26)
PPG 9.6 18.4
RPG 4.3 8.2
APG 2.2 2.8
FG% 50 45.4
3PT% 35.9 32.6
FT% 85.7 82.4
(Starts)

40-minute man: With Erie, Gansey had eight games in which he played the full 48 minutes. His season high in minutes was 52, which was in his first game with the BayHawks that ended in a 92-88 overtime win against Reno in the D-League Showcase. Gansey played at least 40 minutes 20 times for the BayHawks

WVU is No. 42

CNN says — and these things are always hard to gauge because of Department of Education requirements — WVU basketball is N0. 42 in profit margin. Only 27 other teams listed generated more revenue than the Mountaineers, but only 21 had more expenses. As such, 31 schools had greater profits for the 2008-09 season.

That said, look at what some really reputable programs (See: Duke) do and appreciate how WVU manages its bottom line and how that relates to sustaining its own finances

Three things I’ve gathered about Devin Ebanks and his pre-draft process:

1) His wingspan does not exceed 7-feet, as we were told when he was at WVU, but is more like 6-9. Not that that’s anything negative, but the truth comes out when the tape measurer comes out.

2) While some of his personal, um, things are still concerning, whether or not they’ve been explained, he does impress with his professionalism. It’s basketball time when he’s on the basketball court.

3) The kid’s shooting the ball pretty well.

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We’re all aware Bill Stewart is a pretty religious guy, a man of faith who speaks of following his principles to make the most of his daily walk. What I didn’t know what he was raised Methodist and only turned to Roman Catholicism after meeting his bride, Karen.

I know, I know: Sports blogs don’t mix well with politics or religion, but in this instance, since the subject of the sports blog is so connected to one of the typically taboo topics, I found it somewhat relevant and certainly insightful. There were and still are things I just didn’t know about all of this, and probably because it is so often avoided in coverage, if not conversation.

Fact is, the base of Stewart as a coach is rooted in his beliefs and evident in his actions.

He knows he has been labeled as a “soft” coach, the antithesis of former coach Rich Rodriguez, who was known to be rough around the edges.

“I’ve said it before, and I’m sticking by it, that I am not going to use that kind of language on my men,” Stewart said. “Yes, I can get mad. Yes, I do get mad. But I don’t understand how anyone can use filthy language on a young man, to run him down, and then expect the player to have respect for him. That is not Billy Stewart’s way.”

Five Mountaineers will travel to Eugene, Ore., for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships June 9-12 and leading the pack will be Clara Grandt.

A native of West Union, a graduate of cross country/track powerhouse Doddridge County, Grandt won the 10K at the Eastern Regional Thursday night and washed it down with a healthy helping of chocolate milk.

No, serious. That’s her normal post-race beverage though it seems entirely unappetizing to me and to others.

Then again, you’ve got to be a little different to do what Grandt and her peers do and do so well.  Fortunately for them, their normal is not ours, and their normal is pretty darned effective.

Grandt had an edge and one she’d created by her own choice. While she trains with socks, she actually races with nothing between her feet and shoes. On a warm occasion when feet and legs sweat and soak even the best water resistant socks, it can make a difference.

“I like to keep my feet as cool as possible and I like to feel fast and feel like I don’t have anything weighing me down,” she said.

“I just like to feel comfortable. It’s probably more mental than anything else.”