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

Friday Feedback

May 28, 2010 by Mike Casazza

Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which is happy for a three-day weekend if for no other reason than added time to find things to write about. We’re in the thinnest time of the year on the athletic calendar, but today ends the week that precedes the last week in that cycle.

Oh, it’ll be slow in other spots, but this time between … pre-graduation to freshman football arrivals is typically uneventful. Unless someone gets arrested for fighting or driving the wrong way on a one-way street or just up and decides to change his/her mind about a future at WVU.

Not to say nothing is happening, though I get a sense what is happening is nothing people want to really discuss. No offense baseball or women’s track and field. Kudos on those accomplishments.

Beyond that scope, though, are other things. The AD search is a little tired by now. Mere mention of the NCAA visit seems to ruffle a lot of feathers — is it just me, or is it the heat, or are people are really bothered by that? I guess we’re supposed to think nothing bad can happen to WVU or that we media are to stand on one side in the conflict and steadfastly protect it while, if given the chance, lobbing a few grenades at the other.

Anyhow, before long we’ll be talking about what freshmen look good, who’s signing that final letter-of-intent with the basketball team, the Bob Huggins fantasy camp and maybe even how the new AD is adjusting.

He did note that the June 30 end date in Pastilong’s contract is approaching and WVU has everything in place to make a hire before then.

Clements said the university doesn’t have to name the next AD by that date but still is moving toward that goal.

“We have a deadline for the search, and we know (Pastilong’s) current agreement goes through June 30,” Clements said. “He’s a good guy and he’s done a great job and he said he’d help as needed and he means it, but at the same time the search is going forward.”

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, sometimes it’s nun-ya business.

ffejboc said:

Mike, we are definitely in the slow summer-ish sports period when your blog entry centers on WVU baseball…

…or I could leave it blank for a day?

Continue reading…

A larger issue is not here or at Michigan

May 27, 2010 by Mike Casazza

Naturally a lot of people have been wondering what, if anything, the Michigan revelation Tuesday means for WVU. In truth, almost nothing because everything was about Rich Rodriguez, his associates and their employer.

But in time it may mean a lot or a very little … or nothing at all. Time will tell and only when the NCAA gets around to informing WVU what it thought of its February visit to campus.

Continue reading…

WVU’s surprisingly long baseball season nears end

by Mike Casazza

My wife and I took our dog to the park yesterday evening around 6:30 and on the radio was the WVU-Louisville baseball game. I wasn’t wondering if I’d jinxed the aluminum lads, but rather how they were up 3-1. I’d gotten an update on my phone as I was grabbing my belongings and heading to the car and thought at first it was a mistake. Nope. Before I could figure things out, it was 4-1 after Matt Frazer home run in the sixth inning.

Cue up the Buffalo Springfield, I thought, because something was happening here.

An hour later, we returned to the car and it was 10-4 … Louisville. The Cardinals would add another run and win by seven. Jedd Gyorko did tie WVU’s single-season (19) and career (35) home run record with two against the Big East’s best pitcher, but the song returned to the early season refrain for the Mountaineers: Not enough offense … and that was a pity for starting pitcher Andy Berry.

Performing just as well for WVU was Berry, who gave up just one earned run on only four hits with two strikeouts. The Virginia Beach native stymied a ballclub that entered the game leading the conference in slugging percentage (.724), home runs (81) and doubles (146).

“Andy had one of his best performances of the season tonight,” coach Greg Van Zant said. “He threw his off-speed very well and kept a lot of good hitters off-balanced.”

Berry retired the side in the fourth and sixth innings, and stranded six base runners overall. Throughout the evening, he never tried to overpower a potent offense, rather keeping it guessing with a couple off-speed pitches that he had great command of.

The Mountaineers managed eight hits in 32 at-bats.

Now, if only I knew someone who was on hand last night and could provide more details before tonight’s 5 p.m. elimination game against South Florida …

Phil Steele: WVU is No. 22

May 26, 2010 by Mike Casazza

Maybe I’m off here, but I believe this is the first prediction from a major preseason magazine. As always, it’s packed with information … and I mean that. I’m always amazed how they lay these things out and cram as much as possible into the provided space.

Also of note, the Mountaineers got a higher ranking in a different, though still significant listing.

Warning: You might begin to like Nick Saban after this

by Mike Casazza

The two-time national champion and arguably the most powerful coach in sports, Nick Saban was back in his home state yesterday and winning over crowds in Charleston and Fairmont. It probably goes without saying he’s a divisive and maybe even polarizing figure. He’s been a bit of a coaching vagabond and there have been times when he couldn’t be taken at his word. In a business where loyalty and honesty matter so much, those are two strikes you don’t want held against you.

Yet the guy is built for coaching and certainly — and admittedly — in college and not in the NFL. He’s driven and disciplined and he demands from others what he demands fom himself. Probably the best compliment you can find is that he gets what he demands from others … and from himself.

And he’s not going away. Not now. He’s restoring a powerhouse and returning it to the greatest of heights. The allure of movie cameos, BCS trophies, NFL players and indisputable success makes things like recruiting and leading and winning come a lot easier.

So there are two sides and it can be argued all day any day whether he’s the bad guy who can’t be trusted or the great coach who can’t be denied. Yet maybe one is linked to the other and in the middle you see he’s not an all together terrible person, but just someone who was shaped by where he came from and consumed by succeeding.

Why would Saban accept a role in the movie “The Blind Side”? Not to fulfill his ego, for he is the same man who turned down an invitation to join President George W. Bush because he had practice at the time. He took on the movie because of the story, a poor kid adopted by a well-off family and forced to get an education, allowing him to go Ole Miss and become a first-round draft choice.

It was a story about people doing good for people, just as he has done with Marbury, just as his foundation – Nick’s Kids Fund — does to help underprivileged children.

It is about having good people and being good people and doing things right.

It’s about Javier Arenas, a defensive back who broke all kinds of punt return records, but who thrilled Saban the most when he read the headline on the day he graduated college that read: “My Most Significant Accomplishment at Alabama Is Graduating.”

Saban’s talk on this day was spellbinding, talking about assets in players such as discipline and spirit and trust and respect and how they were the glue that brought the talent together and won a national championship. It was why he is in college football and not pro football.

“I’m not made for pro football. I lost my way,” he said of his experiences there, mainly because “my purpose is not to be just a football coach. It means something to me to do it right.”

Big East Tournament bids byes adieu

by Mike Casazza

The two-round bye is no more. Actually, byes of any kind will disappear if the Big East’s coaches get their wish. At the conference meetings Tuesday the coaches voted unanimously to get rid of the byes and in their place go with seeds 1-4 playing 16-13 on the first day and getting the next day off. That day seeds 5-8 play 12-9. The remaining teams would resume the third day.

“Our athletic directors have asked that we table [the decision] so we can study it, before we advance it to the presidents,” Big East commissioner John Marinatto said. “We would try and get his done, hopefully by the end of June.”

The athletic directors are expected to approve the recommendation and then it would only need a majority vote by the league’s presidents to change it for the 2011 tournament.

Rich Rodriguez turned 47 Monday

May 25, 2010 by Mike Casazza

And I’d have to think he aged a little more Tuesday.

Before that, this is from the email inbox:

My company allows us two 15 minute breaks each day.  Several months ago, some people complained anonymously to HR that I was spending more than 30 minutes each day on the WVU Sports Blog with Mike Casazza.  

I told my HR department “I follow the rules.”

An IT audit found that I had exceeded the 30 minute allotment by more than 40 hours during football and basketball season.  HR is deliberating on what punishment to take but in the meantime I’ve decided to proactively punish myself by taking the following actions:

– I will reduce my WVU Sports Blog with Mike Casazza consumption by 80 hours

– I will eliminate the viewing of MSNSportsNet, Brian Bennett’s blog, John Flowers’s Twitter feed, and Smoking Musket (except on Wednesdays)

I do dispute, however, that I failed to promote an atmosphere of
productivity in the workplace.

I’m sure HR will look favorably on what is certainly a more than adequate punishment for my transgressions.

Yours truly,
overtheSEC

The Detroit Free Press has it covered — and I mean completely covered — with regard to what happened and what it all means. It’s worth your while if you’re interested. In essence, though, this is UM’s “My bad,” its attempt to self police responsibly and with a plea for mercy and its plans for how to punish itself.

It is not over, though. Not at all.

Continue reading…

Also on the schedule at conference meetings …

by Mike Casazza

… an early signing period for football. Weird, I know, that it’s not expansion preparation around the clock, but it’s true. Already the Big Ten (surprise, surprise) is pushing for the early signing period. The Conference USA membership voted to approve and the ACC is getting in line. It’s probably going to happen and sooner rather than later.

Why? I’m not sure.

Continue reading…

In the Windy City, Da’Sean Butler feels hint of draft

May 24, 2010 by Mike Casazza

Butler’s commendable offseason schedule — meet-and-greets with former presidents, autograph signings throughout the state, grand marshal of Strawberry Festival parade, rigorous knee rehab — took him to Chicago last week.

The city played host to the NBA Draft combine and, of course, Butler wasn’t able to participate. Yet he was there with and for a purpose. The NBA teams and decision-makers were all in attendance and many wanted to speak with Butler. Eight of them, in fact, for what was essentially a character workout.

This was no small deal for Butler, who despite his confidence and assertions he’d be OK couldn’t feel too strongly about things in the always unpredictable draft.

“I found out a lot of people are more interested in me than I thought,” Butler said. “That was a good experience for me as  far as mentally and emotionally to see where I stood.”

The succeessful sub-.500 season for WVU baseball

by Mike Casazza

The final weekend of the WVU baseball regular season was more about Andy Altemus and his rubber arm or Kevin Griffin and his enormous hit. Oh, both were significant in a significant weekend. Both have been keys to what’s been a better-late-than-never season, Griffin settling in as the starting catcher the past 30 or so games, Altemus giving WVU durability and reliability in relief.

No, WVU’s series victory against Villanova was about completing a modest, though difficult quest. It propelled the team to the Big East Tournament, which once seemed unattailable when the Mountaineers were 18-26 overall, 3-15 in the Big East and seemingly headed toward matching or surpassing a school-record 32 losses. Once in a 2-9 slump and at the season’s low point following a three-game sweep at Cincinnati, WVU is 9-2 since.

“I’m not going to make excuses for our guys because we did get out-played that weekend, but it was the weekend before finals and it’s always hard to play your best when you’ve got three, four, five finals coming up,” Van Zant said. “We’re on the road and guys are trying to study and, to Cincinnati’s credit, in that three-game and 27 innings they walked three guys. We walked 15 or 16 and only scored nine runs.

“You’re not going to win many three-game series when you score nine runs. Cincinnati just out-played and out-pitched us. At that point we just told the guys to take a couple days off for finals and regroup and get back at it.”