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

And we’re back

July 8, 2008 by Mike Casazza

Excuse me as a I brush a little dust off the workspace here…much better. This isn’t going to be an easy week. The week before and the week after the Fourth of July is, in every summer, the slowest and most frustrating time. No one’s around. No one returns calls. No stories can be found in the places you typicaly find stories. In addition this week, I’ll be somewhat sidetracked by two days at Pete Dye Golf Club covering the Nationwide Tour.  

There are other things that drive you crazy and to segue into that story, I’ll highlight a comment from yesterday’s as-good-as-expected contributions.

Kneeb0ne said:

Mike,

Any word on how WVU’s incoming freshmen are fairing in the Pittsburgh Basketball Club Pro-Am? I heard Jones and Ebanks are both going to play. Who coaches those teams anyhow? How do they avoid breaking any NCAA rules?

Ah, the Pro-Am League. Funny you should mention that. There is word that Kevin Jones and Devin Ebanks are scoring prolifically and that Truck Bryant is proving himself both mentally and physically against some really good guards up there. That Roscoe Davis isn’t there says a lot. As for the upperclassmen, a bigger Alex Ruoff isn’t missing many shots and Joe Mazzulla has picked up where he left off in winning MVP honors last summer. Everything sounds good.

How’s it look? Beats me. A friend and I headed up there Wednesday to catch the games and I had with me a notepad, a recorder, a camera and my MotoQ, which buzzed around 6:15 as Mazzulla delivered a text message that no one from WVU was going to play that day. The Mountaineers had worked out twice and, more importantly, no one could afford gas.

I’ll keep trying.

Fill in the blanks, please

July 7, 2008 by Mike Casazza

Sorry, folks. Had to get away for a day. Back tomorrow. Feel free to comment on the long weekend that was as well as anything that happens in my absence.

No. 500: Friday Feedback

July 3, 2008 by Mike Casazza

Technically speaking, the WordPress manager says this is post No. 498. I tend to disagree. We started this thing back in September and had absolutely no momentum, no buzz for a few weeks. People began clicking and contributing in October and then out of nowhere one day, when I couldn’t get on to post something, I received a call from the Charleston office on a number I’d never seen.

I was worried.

Turns out that during some routine maintenance someone went to delete some stuff off the server and accidentally deleted the blog. The guy who called couldn’t have been more apologetic and I couldn’t have been more sympathetic. It wasn’t his fault. I wasn’t as mad as he probably thought I’d be. Accidents happen. Let’s move one.

Plus, it’s not like we had something amazing going here. I was told most of the posts could be retrieved and I felt better, but we were looking at something like 30 entries. For the longest time I assumed we got about half back. Well, I started reviewing the early work here — and, jeez, was that painful — and as best as I can tell, we got all but two back.

That makes this post No. 500. If you were here for No. 1, if you knew we had 12 comments in 30 September posts, you’d be surprised.

Something happened along the way, of course. Part of me thinks it was Rich Rodriguez and believes Product Rodriguez must be spark plugs because he was the catalyst here. The whole of me, however, thinks it’s you. This is easy stuff, really, because you make it so easy. And fruitful. And enjoyable.

I wasn’t sold when the blog didn’t miss a beat when I was on vacation — I was sold way before that. I gambled on something and was rewarded with, in my opinion, the best thing we’ve done here.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve laughed out loud at comments or thought, “Wait, can this get me fired?” I privately tell people I wish I was as funny as some of the contributions and people publicly tell me they can’t get enough of the blog. I know what they mean. Posting a subject is one thing. Posting the subjects that generate the intelligent, hysterical, relevant and provocative commentary is something different.

It’s what makes things go here. Let’s keep going, shall we?

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. Here’s why:

Frank Lincoln said:

For the life ofI me I don’t have any idea what you were talking about What does blog really meanIt seems like a long email to me.

I’m flattered.

Continue reading…

For those punching out at lunch…

by Mike Casazza

… and embarking on a long holiday weekend, I offer you one farewell tip. Well, actually, two. But here’s the biggie: Be careful with your fireworks. You don’t want those things inadvertantly catching on fire, which makes me wonder if it’s a good idea to have fireworks in the candle aisle.

Second tip: Special edition of the Friday Feedback coming a little later.

Forward thinking

by Mike Casazza

WVU won’t come out and say these kinds of things because, as is its practice, nothing is official until it’s official. That said, a little bit of hustling and some well-placed connections can fill in the blanks when it comes to finding out who WVU football will play in the future.

Sources say West Virginia has talked with at least two of Marshall’s league brethren (besides ECU) in Central Florida and Southern Mississippi. The UCF possibility is much more likely on WVU’s docket (2011 and ’12 or 2012 and ’13, perhaps?).

As for the Herd and WVU continuing the Coal Bowl after 2012, Pastilong said the seven-year series Gov. Joe Manchin helped push through the rapids isn’t getting an extension … yet.

“There’s nothing beyond what we already have in the existing contract,” Pastilong said. “For the time being, we’re going to leave it as such.” 

When $4M isn’t really $4M

July 2, 2008 by Mike Casazza

This could very well change the way many people think about WVU’s quest to collect the entire buyout it believes Product Rodriguez owes. Even if WVU wins and collects the $4 million, it’s going to take a significant hit in legal fees.

Macia said the rate West Virginia is being charged are from $175 to $245 per hour, depending on “the experience level of the attorney.”

Robon said between four and six lawyers for the university were present at each deposition.

I’ve already done the math for you … it’s a lot of money. Consider that President Mike Garrison’s deposition was 10 hours long with four lawyers on hand. Let’s go with the middle and say it’s a $210 rate. That’s $8,400 – for one day of a legal drama in its 189th day now.

Granted, the attorneys aren’t spending 10 hours every day on the case and there remains a chance Rodriguez will owe interest on the $4 million which today stands at either $50,400 or $151,200 — depending on if the judge says Rodriguez owes interest on the $1.3 million he did not pay when due Jan. 17 or the full sum WVU says Rodriguez never intended to pay. That could help offset legal fees.

Trouble is, the legal bill continues to grow with no end in sight. Rodriguez doesn’t want to settle and WVU doesn’t want anything less than $4 million. The sides are set to meet for court-ordered mediation Aug. 1, but with WVU more resolute now than ever and convinced it can disarm Rodriguez’s arguments, that seems like a formality and, in essence, a waste of money.

“The mediator has no power to make anyone do anything if they don’t want to,” Flaherty said. “Mediation has become an effective way to facilitate an agreement in disputes, but it is not binding at all.”

Prepare thyself for Summers

by Mike Casazza

One of the more memorable interviews I’ve had covering basketball was not with Mike Gansey or Pat Beilein, not with Joe Mazzulla or Joe Alexander. Not even Jared Dudley or Emeka Okafor. It was with Rob Summers, of all people, because I was struck by his sincerity.

You’ll remember he sat out the 2004-05 Elite Eight season after transferring from Penn State and then barely played the following years while backing up Kevin Pittsnogle. He showed flashes and seemed like he offered something, but there really wasn’t a way to get him a lot of minutes. Anyhow, from that interview, I remember he was in complete agreement with his limited role, but that it ate at him because he just loved the game so much and wanted to be a greater part of something special.

Yes, everyone would feel the same, but there was just something to his words that begged for understanding. You couldn’t help but like the guy … and everyone liked Rob Summers. I thought he was an unsung savior for the NIT champion who played an unheralded role with great success. Why, I once devoted a column to the way he set screens during a game and how his teammates were tickled someone had finally decided to highlight that trait.

The thought all along that season was he was better than he was allowed to show in the role and the system, but that he proved capable when given the chance. His numbers — 4.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 21.6 minutes per game and 63.3-percent shooting — backed that up, I thought, and he was always hopeful he’d have a shot to play somewhere for a living.

Well, Rob Summers is a big deal in Portugal who has found a way to cash in on his skills.

Outlook:

A a legitimate seven-footer, very athletic, who runs the floor extremely well and can step out and shoot threes, so he’s kind of like a European big man. But he also gets inside and bangs and is an extremely good passer in the interior.

Summers signed with CBA in the UZO Liga in January and averaged 12.3 points and 7.1 rebounds and — to justify the title here — has a highlight reel!

Can one treat a dusty rutledge with Product Rodriguez?

by Mike Casazza

Our mysteryman Dusty Rutledge was a guest on Hoppy Kercheval’s show Tuesday, just a day after he was again mentioned in a deposition in the WVU v. Rodriguez lawsuit — which is strange because a few lawyers have already told me they can’t imagine a scenario in which they’d allow a potentially important witness to speak in such a forum wherehe’s open to any question and any behavior. Yet he spoke freely for several minutes (audio here) and, quite honestly, didn’t act in a way that might jeopardize anything.

What he did do, however, was add to his intrigue. He’s got to have something, right?

It remains quite clear Rutledge had a good seat for the action on the night of Dec. 15, when he and Rodriguez were under the impression P-Rod would be promised certain things to make him stay. Rutledge attempted to decertify President Mike Garrison’s sworn testimony and said P-Rod never turned on West Virginia and the people and never spoke disdainfully. He also questioned whether the term Product Rodriguez is for real or just a timely creation by Garrison, a point Rutledge then used to call certain characters into question.

“Let’s put Heather Bresch, Garrison, (Craig) Walker and (Joe) Manchin in one circle over here and in another circle let’s put Garrison, Walker, Manchin and Rich Rodriguez. What’s the common denominator here? The common denominator is not Heather Bresch and Rich Rodriguez. It’s Walker, Garrison and Manchin.”

A post about rich, not Rodriguez

July 1, 2008 by Mike Casazza

The new fiscal year for WVU athletics begins today, which means the past fiscal year is now in the books … and the ink will apparently be black.

In 2006-07, WVU athletics showed a profit of $4.25 million. For the fiscal year that closed Monday, the revenue and expense lines will be closer. The final numbers will be crunched in the new few weeks.

“We’re probably going to be somewhere in the $49 to 50 million range,” said WVU’s veteran athletics financial chief, Russ Sharp. “We should be in the black, unless a very large depreciation number (on facilities) hits us, and I don’t expect that.”

West Virginia’s athletic budget ranks third among Big East Conference all-sports members, not far behind Louisville ($54.6 million in 2006-07) and Connecticut ($52.8 million).

That’s somewhat remarkable when one considers the enormous financial hit WVU took in the Fiesta Bowl as well as all the expenses poured into coaching salaries for various sports. Then again, the Mountaineers were big winners in revenue sharing plans because of success in football and men’s basketball, which helped offset the expenses.

People tend to have a lot of fun with the athletic department, but it’s truly proved to be skilled at adapting with the times and doing so as a self-sustaining entity.

Commence with the clever jokes

by Mike Casazza

No reason to hide the truth: I was startled when I read about the alleged romantic link between Kenny Chesney and Miss West Virginia.

No, not that there may be something to it all, but that the estimable author and whoever writes the headlines — by the way, reporters don’t write headlines; you’d be amazed how many and what type of people can’t get that straight — missed what I suspected was an irresistible one-liner. Perhaps she thinks his tractor’s sexy?

It’s almost an unforgivable omission and I intended to fire off an e-mail to express my pseudo-disappointment, but I was completely sidetracked by something in my inbox:

NEWSFLASH: Product Rodriguez recalled due to risk of choking.

And the floodgates swung open. What I find to be most delightful is not that product is generally associated with improving and styling one’s hair — ahem — but that The Ohio State’s fans have plenty of time to work with this. Maybe you can help.

The Sitemeter Web site allows me to track not only who visits the blog and for how long, but from where on the Web they came. I can tell you there’s a strong contingent of Buckeyes fans and message board visitors as well as people in Columbus and the surrounding area that make it here from time to time, presumably to check on P-Rod.

Make it worth their while.