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

Not so fast

July 23, 2009 by Mike Casazza

Dave said:

Mike,
Glad to have you back … and you should take your vacation that is earned. As long as it doesn’t interefere with updating the blog, answering our questions and getting new stories.

And you want to Twitter too? This information access is getting a bit out of control, don’t you think (and I work in information tech)?

Well, what’s a vacation then? And for the record, I’ve never committed to Twittering. I don’t even have the proper handle. Isn’t that right, Mr. GetRight? Perhaps something is brewing, but whatever it is — or might be — has to be done right. There’s too much potential in something, but also too much of a threat for haphazardness. Honestly, this is maybe the best vehicle for what is otherwise achieved via other avenues. I’m just not sure it’s as immediate … or prevalent. Yet.

And we’re back…

by Mike Casazza

…whilst gainfully employed, thank you very much. Birch. I take a lot of vacation because I get a lot of vacation. It is what it is. Worse yet, I still have a few days left, though I figure I’ll be sprinkling those over the holidays. Or perhaps I just planted an elaborate cover-up for when I get an indefinite suspension, since that’s the thing to do today. You’ll never know.

Continue reading…

Getaway Q&A

July 13, 2009 by Mike Casazza

Summer vacation No. 2 begins tomorrow and I’m again getting away for a few days to decompress and, ideally, completely unravel before the August-to-March (April???) football-basketball grind winds me up tighter than … well, I can’t even think of a good metaphor, which is a promising sign my mind is already elsewhere.

Anyhow, we’re in a neat little time right now: legal woes, forthcoming football camp, Finau, recruiting, scheduling, Jim Clements, so on and so forth. There are a bunch of topics to address, though none in particular I think deserves its own vacation diversion post — er covered Clements pretty well, though there’s more to him; I already jinxed Truck once saying he couldn’t do anything worse; I’m not sure Finau is real, etc.

I do feel a little guilty for leaving the basement once again when there are so many things to discuss. So the idea is for today, at least, to field any and all questions which I will try to answer to the best of my unfiltered ability.

Fire away.

Oops

July 11, 2009 by Mike Casazza

Yanked from the “You won’t believe this” file.

Friday Feedback

July 10, 2009 by Mike Casazza

Welcome to a “Hail to the Chief” edition of the Friday Feedback. Might want to refill your beverage because we’re looking at about 2,500 words today.

Apologies for yesterday’s scantily clad blog — I had a rather important assignment. Much more on that in a moment. Let’s rush through some things we neglected.

– Coley White might possibly be considering a potential transfer to Alabama A&M. Maybe.

– A likely cause of Coley’s concern, Barry Brunetti, is still thinking Tennessee.

Brunetti told the News Sentinel on Tuesday that UT is still showing interest, especially lately. He said he intends to contact UT’s coaches.

“It’s a great offer because it’s still a school that I looked up to since I was young,” Brunetti said. “I’m still going to kind of research Tennessee. Even though I’m a solid commitment (to West Virginia) it’s still Tennessee and I’m still in state, but it would be hard for me to de-commit because I’m very solid to West Virginia.”

– I began monitoring The Puppy’s Twitter page around the clock because he’s going to do something to liven up the situation … and I can’t wait.

– WVU effectively claimed all my holidays with the official schedule for the 76 Classic.

– Alex Ruoff clarified his situation.

 Whew! The event, however, was the sit-down with “Don’t call me President” Clements.

Continue reading…

Enjoy a drink on New Year’s Day

July 9, 2009 by Mike Casazza

WVU will have the Boilmakers. The long-rumored home-and-home series between Huggins’ Mountaineers and Purdue is now official.

Continue reading…

Barefoot Braylon

by Mike Casazza

I’m getting a lot of the Noel Devine comparison’s for Braylon Heard, which is fine, I suppose, and Devine is one of the inspirations for similarly-sized Heard’s pledge to WVU Tuesday. But perhaps we’re forgetting about Shoeless Joe here.

The Braves made it to the league championship game that season, where they played the True Vine Saints. Heard missed the first half with headaches and the Braves fell behind by a few touchdowns.

“On the first play of the third quarter, he went 80 yards for a touchdown and both his shoes came off,” said Amill, who coached Heard for four years at the youth level and is now an assistant coach at Cardinal Mooney. “Right then and there, I knew he was something special.”

Truck dumped (indefinitely)

July 8, 2009 by Mike Casazza

(6:38 p.m. update!)

Suspension announced this afternoon. And now the only WVU point guard allowed to step foot in the Coliseum is one Will Thomas. Details after the jump:

Continue reading…

No way!

by Mike Casazza

Of course, I’d use a different handle.

Alex Ruoff’s summer vacation

by Mike Casazza

Hopefully Mr. Ruoff signed up for frequent flier miles. After criss-crossing the country a few times for workouts before the NBA Draft — in which he went undrafted before signing on to audition for the Washington Wizards — he’s now headed to Las Vegas for his shot at stardom in the summer league.

And then, if that doesn’t work out, it’s off to Belgium!

Belgacom Liege has signed 2 more players for the 2009-2010 season. First one is American guard Alex Ruoff (198-G-86) and the second is Belgian guard Guy Muya (190-G-83) who returns to Liege.

Ruoff just finiished his college career at West Virginia where as senior he averaged 15.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg and 3.4 apg.

This past season he earned Big East Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He also made it to the NCAA All-Academic team twice. He was also invited to the pre-draft Portsmouth Invitational after his senior year.West Virginia’s career three-point field goal leader has signed with the Washington Wizards.

Ruoff will play for the Wizards summer league team which begin practices on July 10th. All summer league games will be played in Las Vegas.

Hmmmm.

Continue reading…