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

Friday Feedback

May 16, 2008 by Mike Casazza

Last weekend someone asked me a simple question about the blog that really wasn’t all that simple:

“Why is it so good?” he wondered.

Blush is not my color and I struggled to blurt out some answer. “Beats me. We’ve had some good material to work with and, to be honest, the less I have to do with it, the better it is.”

He thought for a moment and said, “Yeah, it is hilarious.”

I’m not even sure what to say other than it’s time for the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, make sure you think things through.

Don’t you agree, Asdrubal Cabrera?

jmbwvu said:

On SportsCenter this morning they had their “All Access:Michigan” piece. This was preceded by a story about the #1 being issued to the freshman DB. People in Michigan are not happy about that. But what gets my attention is of all the stories surrounding this issue that is the one they picked to elaborate on.

I’m not sure who I would most NOT like to be right now. Rich Rodriguez or Roger Clemens. One is facing personal and legal battles, the other is 1 step away from bankruptcy.

Who is who here? I need help. Wait for it …

Continue reading…

Sometimes, WVU can’t help but be hopeless

May 15, 2008 by Mike Casazza

One does not need a paragraph up top reminding them of the sticky situations WVU has found itself in regarding contracts in recent years…a few words will do. Dakich. Beilein. Rodriguez. Buffalo. Central Florida.

To review: Dakich never signed one, Beilein negotiated a buyout settlement, Rodriguez is embarrassing himself and Buffalo and UCF backed out of football game contracts and tried to ignore buyouts, but eventually paid.

WVU is to accept blame maybe once, though does anyone really hold feet to the fire over the Dakich exit? Things turned out rather nicely, don’t you think? Beilein had a good argument, WVU can’t help that Rodriguez thinks he can win and, to be honest, the administration was really trying to collect from Buffalo and UCF, who were all screwed up by external factors.

So sometimes contracts are just crazy. Consider — and please, do not worry about — the lifetime contract signed May 1 by Bob Huggins.

Rather, Huggins is guaranteed the mean salary for Big East coaches every year beginning in 2009. It’s a shrewd, if not selfless move in that one of the country’s winningest active coaches is taking a middle-of-the-pack salary in the Big East.

However, it is and will continue to be almost impossible for WVU to determine the mean because, as Associate Athletic Director for finance Russ Sharp says, “you’re only as accurate as the information people share and some people don’t share that information.”

If true, imagine the implications

by Mike Casazza

There have been quiet denials, but the talk about Memphis joining the Big East just doesn’t go away and now a local TV station is reporting “serious talks” about admittance.

Ever since the Memphis Tigers got left behind in the Great Bum Rush to leave Conference USA– also known as the Big East expansion in 2003– Tiger fans have had one singular goal. To follow their old rivals from Louisville, and Cincinnati to the greener pastures of the Big East.

And here’s where it gets interesting.

Sources have confirmed to FOX13 Sports that University of Memphis officials have been in serious talks with the Big East about joining the conference.

The immediate thought is that it cannot possibly be true because then the Big East has 17 teams and that is just too big. Then again, maybe this is the first step toward the split of football schools and non-football schools.

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Oh, basketball…forgot about that

by Mike Casazza

I must say, Rich Rodriguez is probably exactly what Joe Alexander was hoping for when he decided to enter into the NBA draft process in April. Really, haven’t we more or less forgotten about the very real notion Alexander is generally regarded among the best 15 or so players in the draft? Now if that was contained in some sort of a deposition, we’d be buzzing for sure. As it is, Alexander’s status is still on our minds, but not up front and one can’t help but think Alexander rather likes that.  

This is a big weekend. Devin Ebanks will graduate from St. Thomas More Saturday and announce his college plans sometime after. If the nation’s top unsigned player signs with WVU — by all acounts, it’s WVU, Memphis and Rutgers in some order — does it affect Alexander?

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Pop quiz

May 14, 2008 by Mike Casazza

Who is this man?

 mystery-man.jpg
(Click picture to enlarge) 

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Notes on the Rodriguez depostion

by Mike Casazza

Sadly, this was nowhere near as enlightening or entertaining as the Ed Pastilong Deposition. True, there were a few nuggets, most notably Rich Rodriguez’s admission he didn’t completely understand that what’s written in a contract is final, that he was told Mike Garrison would be WVU’s next president well before it was official and that, shockingly, Garrison conducts presidential business in his pajamas.

Actually, that raised a big eyebrow for me. Here’s Rodriguez, seemingly hat in hand — mind you, he’d been throwing that hat on the ground for a loooooong time — as he shows up at the presidential estate and Garrison greets him as if he was getting ready for bed. Rodriguez surely saw it as an unwillingness to work around the clock to keep him. That stuff matters to him.

Continue reading…

Rodriguez deposition released

May 13, 2008 by Mike Casazza

It’s longer than the Pastilong deposition, though, as far as my early skimming can tell, not nearly as entertaining. Give it a read, if you have a few hours on your hands, and allow your thoughts to flow freely.

It had to be said

by Mike Casazza

We mentioned it here early yesterday as part of the talking points and, frankly, that’s all I thought it deserved here. It’s getting enough attention — and quality attention, at that — everywhere else on the Internet. A lot of people seem ready and willing to hammer Southern California for deficient institutional control and, of course, Mayo and his handlers for immorality. Hard to argue with that, though it’s hard to imagine a more firm limb on which people can take a stand.

Taking money from a sports agent is bad! Corrupting amateur athletes is unethical! Failing to recognize and address the problem is inexcusable!

Mayo is a state native and there is a natural homegrown buzz about this story, but it seems to altogether miss a rather large implication. Well, until now.

If, indeed, Guillory was providing the hanky to go with whatever panky Mayo would accept, then it’s time the state moved in hard, investigating just how all those Division I players wound up at Huntington and if there were any rules broken at the time.

The tools are there to move forward.

When Gov. Joe Manchin was Secretary of State the Uniform Athlete Agent Act was passed an enacted as Chapter 30, Article 39 of the West Virginia Code.

Section 30-39-14 (2) states that “an athlete’s agent, with the intent to induce a student-athlete to enter into an agency contract, may not:

“Furnish anything of value to a student-athlete before the student-athlete enters into the agency contract.”

If the agent violates this rule he is “guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than fifty thousand dollars or confined in a state correctional facility for not less than one nor more than three years, or both fined and confined.”

Indeed, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where the investigation stops at USC and Mayo, Inc. It might not be the most pleasant direction to go, but it’s certainly understandable. It ought to be imminent, if even to clear names and rid people of the perception of guilt.

Here with your forecast, Pat White

by Mike Casazza

Probably very few people across the college football world doubted what would happen next when Patrick White stood in the center of University of Phoenix Stadium the night of the Fiesta Bowl and endorsed Bill Stewart for head coach.

Stewart was named to that very position a few hours later and I still sometimes struggle to imagine how they wold have ended the riots in Morgantown had the decision-makers headed in another direction.

Anyhow, on primary day here in West Virginia, one wonders how much weight White’s words carry.

Barack Obama is pulling in some star power leading up to Tuesday’s vote in West Virginia.

Charleston native and Emmy Award-winning actress Jennifer Garner is featured in automated calls urging voters across the state to support the Illinois senator for president.

The campaign also announced Monday that former Mountaineer quarterback Major Harris and current quarterback Pat White are behind Obama.

In the interest of fairness and accuracy, we’re working on the validity of this story. (Edit: It’s not entirely true. White says he never endorsed Obama and actually wonders how his name got in that article. And for the record, it’s an Associated Press article published by the Daily Mail.)

Slaton’s slick

May 12, 2008 by Mike Casazza

(My apologies to comments not getting through. Something’s wrong. There were two new commentors I tried to approve, but for some reason they were “spammed” in separate incidents. Must be a glitch. I’ll see if I can fix it. Keep the comments coming, though. I’ll get you in next time. I promise I wasn’t censoring the content.) 

I always thought Steve Slaton was perhaps too criticized for fumbling — remember, he played his sophomore season with one hand … and was a consensus All-American — but, boy, he did pick some bad spots in big games to put the ball on the ground.

This did not escape the eye of the NFL.

Slaton carries the ball high near his shoulders, which is somewhat unusual in the NFL. But Texans coach Gary Kubiak said he doesn’t plan to change that.

“He carries the ball correctly,” Kubiak said. “He’s got the pressure points and stuff. You know, he’s small in stature, and a lot of the contact with him is around the ball, whereas some guys it’s around the legs. So it’s been a rude awakening for him these last few days.

“We’re constantly trying to strip the ball. But I have confidence in him that he’ll try to protect the ball. I thought he did some very good things this weekend.”

This weekend, of course, was minicamp in Houston and Slaton did indeed do some very good and very interesting things.

Steve Slaton fumbled a pitch on one play and got his helmet knocked off on another during the Texans’ second day of minicamp Saturday in Houston. Later, he dodged three would-be tacklers and sprinted down the field.