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

13 unlucky again

July 31, 2008 by Mike Casazza

Maybe I should have known better than to write about WVU football recruiting when the class boasted 13 players (bottom of the notebook). Sure enough, the 14th committed today.

“He definitely has that mean streak in him and definitely loves the physicality of being an offensive lineman,” said Jeff Boger, Kindler’s coach at Trinity High, in Camp Hill, Pa. “He loves to hit up until the whistle and maybe a little bit after that whistle sometimes. They’re getting the type of lineman you want to have.”

Kindler could not be immediately reached for comment. He had a host of offers, including Connecticut, Rutgers, Maryland and Virginia, and picked WVU after narrowing his final list to include Illinois and Boston College.  

Pat White adds to resume

by Mike Casazza

Patrick White 

July 31, 2008

Hey, here’s some Patrick White new I’m glad to be writing about. Sporting News debuted its daily Web-only publication July 23 — beginning of a trend, I assure you — and today showed off one of its prized recruits.
 

T.G.I.T.

by Mike Casazza

One of the most unusual weeks for WVU in recent memory nears its conclusion. Little did we know, though, that it began in appropriate and unusual fashion.

Former WVU football player Michael Villagrana is facing felony charges for allegedly stealling a car while drunk. Morgantown police arrested the 24-year-old Villagrana Saturday morning on Charles Avenue while driving the car that was stolen minutes earlier from the Willey Street Dairy Mart. Police say two girls left the car running when they went in the store and when they came outside it was gone. Villagrana was arraigned in Monongalia County Magistrate Court and faces charges of grand larceny auto and DUI. 

This is disappointing, too. Tough and underrated player and a nice guy from a rough situation in Youngstown, Ohio, who, it always seemed, was doing all right. Yet if you’re counting at home: Villagrana Saturday night, Mazzulla and Thoroughman Monday night, Pat White speaks Tuesday and Wednesday it’s learned former receiver Kendall Washington is accused of robbing and shooting someone.

Considering it’s Thursday in Morgantown and — I must put this properly — the last hurrah before preseason football starts Saturday, let’s hope the list doesn’t grow any longer. When Saturday arrives, you can bet something is going to go wrong with incoming football players. Someone is going to stay home, someone won’t qualify, someone will be flagged by the NCAA’s eligibility center. It happens every year.

And away we go…

July 30, 2008 by Mike Casazza

You’ll remember our conversation last week about heading in a new direction. It begins Saturday when preseason football practice opens. I’ll be there with a recorder, notebook and camera. The immediate obligation, of course, is to report on camp and the team and the storylines, but I do want the blog to have a more active role in reporting on other aspects of the beat.

This is where you come in. I think I’ve got an idea about what needs to be written for the newspaper. As I said last week, though, I recognize there are other areas that interest people and I sometimes fail to see and appreciate those. Feel free to offer up some ideas, mention things you want to see, point out stuff your curious about, so on and so forth. Either post it here or, if you want to keep your ideas to yourself, drop me a line: mikec@dailymailwv.com. I can’t guarantee I’ll do them all, but I pledge to consider everything.

Attention conspiracy theorists

by Mike Casazza

Finally, fuel for the fire that burns deep inside those of you who believe the ambiguous “they” are out to get West Virginia University.

Can a team that has done so much good for the Big East actually be the most hated team in the conference?

After the ACC raided the Big East for three of its teams in 2004, West Virginia put the league back on college football’s map by upsetting Georgia 38-35 in the 2006 Sugar Bowl (which was played in the Georgia Dome). Last season, the Mountaineers routed Oklahoma 48-28 in the Fiesta Bowl, giving the new-look Big East even more credibility.

But the Mountaineers still gets fans’ blood boiling more than any other Big East team.

Personally, I would have guessed Notre Dame.

The hits keep coming (not really)

by Mike Casazza

Kendall Washington, one of West Virginia’s top receiver recruits in the class of 2007 who positioned himself for playing time in spring practice, is accused of robbing a man as he slept and then shooting him twice.

“Washington denies the charges and will vigorously contest this case,” said defense attorney Jeffrey Jakmides.

It’s unclear what this means for his football future at West Virginia University, where the 6-foot-2, 192-pound Washington was in the mix to be a receiver for the nationally ranked Mountaineers this season, according to the team’s media guide.

He has no football future at WVU. Director of Football Communications Mike Montoro said Wednesday that Washington has not been a part of the program since the end of the spring semester.

From Media Day

by Mike Casazza

Patrick White’s comments were, unfortunately, the big West Virginia news emanating from Big East Media Day yesterday, but other things were written about the Mountaineers, who again were picked to be No. 1 in the conference. Let’s look at the best of them and then have a final word about Patrick.

– Pete Thamel, of the New York Times, says Bil Stewart is more Ned Flanders than Woody Hayes.
– Brendan Prunty, of the Newark Star-Ledger, says all is well in WVU’s football program.

That’s the type of stuff we should be talking about. Obviously, we’re not.

Continue reading…

Ouch

July 29, 2008 by Mike Casazza

Definitely would have liked to witness this at Big East Media Day.

Asked if he had spoken directly with Van Zant about playing for him, White said: “(No), he wasn’t (excited). He wasn’t interested.”

Then he paused and added:

“In my knoweldge of West Virginia baseball, there’s not been many players of my race on his team. He’s not too high on it.

“Every player I’ve talked to doesn’t like him. He’s not a well-liked coach but I guess he has tenure so they never got rid of him. They’re not successful at all.”

Asked if he might have played if there were a different baseball coach at West Virginia, White said, “Maybe.”

Basketball players arrested (Update)

by Mike Casazza

Bad news for Cam Thoroughman and Joe Mazzulla.

Update and a possible explanation after the jump.

Continue reading…

Syracuse, not WVU, unanimous pick

by Mike Casazza

As expected, WVU is No. 1 in the preseason poll with 189 points and 22 first-place votes. South Florida was second with 149 points and one first-place vote. The final first-place vote went to Pitt, which finished third with 128 points. Syracuse actually managed to receive every last-place vote.

WVU has been voted the preseason favorite three straight seasons and four times in five years. Preseason practice and the quest to stay on top starts this weekend.

College football begins here Saturday with the first practice of preseason camp. As has become the custom in an unprecedented run of exposure and success for West Virginia, people like to think not about the beginning, but about the last game of the season.

One of those played after New Year’s Day. On Fox. Usually somewhere that provides a rewarding respite from the bitter mountain winters.

It’s not unreasonable. Not anymore, at least.

WVU was again picked today overwhelmingly by the Big East media to be the best team in a league that gives its champion one of those Bowl Championship Series bids, so why not?

Why not? Ask Lonnie Galloway.