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

Wait for it …

February 16, 2009 by Mike Casazza

Friday night seeped into early Saturday morning and West Virginia had provided with a 43-point night by Da’Sean Butler and a needed win against Villanova one of those occasions when you sit around with a beverage and talk about whether or not he goes to the NBA, who’s ever been hotter in a game, how good the team can be, what it has to do to get in the NCAA Tournament, so on and so forth.

I made it home after 1 a.m. and breezed through the game on the DVR to see some things again and others for the first time.

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“Oh, well, that’s a fairly tame, fairly average sign. Nothing wrong with that, I suppose.” 

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“Wait, what’s he doing? Is he flipping the sign? Why would he do that?”

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Talking points

by Mike Casazza

… from the weekend that was. For your use in elevator rides, trips to the water cooler and other awkward moments on a Monday. Sponsored by “Rushing the court for no real reason.”

 

– Forty-three!

– Bob Huggins, M.D.

- The dynasty continues.

– You may or may not be into gymnastics, but 195+ is nothing to sneeze at, unless you have an awesomeness allergy.

– Wait…2010? Already?

Back later with more on Mr. 43 and a pretty fun Friday night at the Coliseum.

Friday Feedback

February 13, 2009 by Mike Casazza

Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which would like to apologize to Ryan J. Boyd for a disturbing lack of Ryan J. Boyd lately. We’re better than that. We’ll get better.

Speaking of getting better, let’s continue what’s been a thoughtful and enjoyable discussion of student section situation. Huggins spoke again on the matter Thursday and didn’t clarify anything, but elaborated instead.

“I love the students,” he said.

“They’re what brings enthusiasm to the game. I got a letter upstairs from guy who said, ‘The older I get, the less vocal I get,’ which is true. We need the students and we need them to be involved. I’m not trying to cut them out, but if we’re going to say this is one of the great venues to play in, they need to come out. When they come out, it’s unbelievable.”

You know what’s refreshing? Huggins has spoken out on a few things, but has never taken the tried and tired day-after “What I meant to say was …” route. It seems he means what he says, probably because he’s given it a lot of thought. Too often we have people act in the heat of the moment and react in its wake. This is a welcome change.

As for the situation, is there one? Is he or anyone else saying anything we don’t already know? There is a certain frustration and sometimes it’s better to deal with frustrations than ignore them. This on the table now and it will and must be dealt with. 

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, be careful.

overtheSEC said:

I think the student allottment should be reduced, if only by a section or two and students should apply for basketball tickets just like they have to with football. Huggins made those comments after losing in the Oakland Zoo; check out Pitt’s student ticket policy. http://pittsburghpanthers.cstv.com/tickets/student-ticket-policies.html#a6
Their Loyalty Point system is something I’ve suggested we do for football to address students coming late and leave early. In a nutshell, if you only go to Elon, Longwood, and Delaware State, you have a better chance of getting a ticket against Louisville than someone who only went to UConn, Pitt, and Villanova.
Also, MLB teams have ticket exchange programs for their season ticket holders, why can’t someone be innovative and find a way for the season ticket holders to exchange their unused tickets and allow the University to sell them. As encouragement to participate, the holder can get some $ credit to their MAC donation or something.
The athletic department needs to invest in resources and in creative people for the ticket office to initiate these innovations if they want to maximize revenue and keep their coaches happy.  

I like it. WVU does a lot of things well in this area, but it’s a new era and other places were just more proactive. That’s not a slight against WVU — honest! — as much as it is a tip of the cap to other places. A lot of this is studying what others are doing. As much as it may hurt to admit, Pitt is a good place to start, though Pitt had a lot of solutions built into a new facility, mainly the suites and seating accommodations for big spenders. 

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Jay Wright said it

February 12, 2009 by Mike Casazza

On this morning’s conference call, the Dapper Sideline Don dubbed the Coliseum “one of the toughest places to play, I think, in America.” The sometimes snazzily clad Bob Huggins is intrigued.

When he met with the media today, Huggins was, of course, asked about his recent take on student seating.

“What we’ve done is we’ve basically sold out (all home games),” he said. “People can’t get a ticket. Then you walk in there and see that section empty, that section empty, that section empty, that section empty, and there’s people who want to come to the game. I just don’t think that’s right. I’m all for them having all the tickets they want, if they use them. If you’re using your allotment once every two years, it just doesn’t make any sense.”

Asked if he had suggestions – as in reducing the allotment or moving the seats – Huggins said he did, but “I’m not sure I want to share them with you at this particular time. I do have a lot of thoughts.”

Don’t applaud this too much

by Mike Casazza

Determined to take the high-stepping and somersaulting into the end zone away from your favorite team, the NCAA is now threatning to take points away from your team, too.

Bellotti, the NCAA football rules committee chairman, said Wednesday officials should eject more players for flagrant personal fouls, and agreed to seek input on whether some celebration penalties should be live-ball penalties, which could result in losing points.

The gist is if a player hot dogs it into the end zone, a flag is thrown at the point where the shenanagins started and the touchdown disappears. I think it’s a bit harsh because the problem isn’t as big as it was even just a few years ago … but if it happens, I can’t wait to see the first implementation.

And I don’t want to say the NCAA is hypocritical or humorous because … hell with it, yes I do.

Teams would not be penalized, Bellotti said, for a group celebration after the score because the NCAA wants to emphasize the team concept, not individuals.

” … and here’s the quarter.”

by Mike Casazza

Really, Mike McBride? Really?

Mike McBride has been in the business for two decades, sending countless high school players to the college ranks, and the Winslow Township head coach believes Glaud’s decision should be saluted, not criticized the way it’s been in some media circles.

“He had two schools that were actually tied in his mind and either way he was going to come out a winner,” McBride said. “In the day of young people flipping and flopping, kids saying “I’m going to commit to this school this week and next week commit to that one,’ I think he did it the right way.”

Here come the predictions!

February 11, 2009 by Mike Casazza

Truck Bryant:

“We’re at the point now where we need to win games,” WVU freshman point guard Truck Bryant said. “We’re going to play and we’re going to win and we’re going to get to the NCAA Tournament.

“They can chant NIT. It’s Pitt and we’re here. It’s a rivalry game and that’s something they can do, but we’re going to win the next couple of games. We’ve got to.”

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Curtis Shaw and his weary legs

by Mike Casazza

Curtis Shaw, he of the Marshall game the past two years and Monday night’s catastrophe at the Petersen Events Center, has called 76 games this season. 76! It’s the most games called by any referee in the NCAA or the Big East, yet he’s seen WVU just twice … and apparently hasn’t liked the view very much. He also doesn’t like the Rice Owl.

Oh, and if that face looks familiar, it’s because Quick Draw called last night’s Texas-Oklahoma State game, his fourth in as many nights.

Karl Hess, who leads the nation in ejections and has also done four games in as many nights, was one of Shaw’s co-conspirators Monday. He’s one of just six referees to see WVU at least three times this season. Another is Mike Kitts, a pretty respected guy who happened to toss Huggins from a NCAA Tournament game in 2003.

In case you’re ever curious, bookmark the referee watchdog.

Bob Huggins would like a word

by Mike Casazza

Following a WVU game, win or lose, Bob Huggins speaks with his team behind closed doors. Sometimes it’s quick, sometimes it’s not and sometimes it’s epic. Last year, for example, we media stood outside the locker room at Louisville for 29 minutes. That’s the acknowledged record.

Anyhow, when all has been said, Huggins emerges and goes to do the radio postgame show. We media then scramble to get player interviews before Huggins finishes radio and heads to his press conference.

I mention this because Huggins, who is just really good behind a microphone, usually has some good stuff for the radio and we media miss it. Take Monday night, for example.

“All of this stuff about us having the best crowd, no we don’t,” Huggins said. “You have the best crowd when you show up all the time. If that offends somebody, then so be it.”

“They show up when they want to show up. And that’s not right.”

Huggins has long hinted that the student section tickets that go unused should be sold to the general public. 

“We are getting to the point now where people want to buy those tickets,” Huggins said. “Why do we have sections sitting empty when the students don’t come?” 

“We need them,” Huggins said concerning the support of the students. “We are fighting like crazy to get to the NCAA tournament. It would be great to have the whole student section filled. It’s an unbelievable atmosphere. We need that help.” 

Well played, sir. It’s a road game. People are listening at home. A big game awaits Friday against Villanova. I’m thinking the message was delivered. That said, I’ll also side with the students for just a moment. I don’t think they have very good seats.

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Conspiracy!

February 10, 2009 by Mike Casazza

Or not, but Huggins foil Nancy Zimpher will leave the University of Cincinnati.

“Anybody that was a big Bob Huggins supporter is kind of, ‘Thank God she’s finally gone.’ And I feel that maybe now we can finally get some closure to that,” UC senior Nate Smith said.

Interesting timing, don’t you think?