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

Where’s my dictionary?

Those who complained, or were at the very least concerned, that Gov. Joe Manchin was too close to the situation must commend the man for maintaining a distance and letting WVU and Rich Rodriguez slap one another. One wonders if it wasn’t simpleprogression and the fact Manchin had more important things to do for the state. Heck, he might not even notice how long he’s been gone.

Regardless, Manchin hadn’t been heard from in this arena for some time before meeting with the Daily Mail’s editorial board. He was, of course, asked for his thoughts on some Rodriguez matters and Manchin once again didn’t hide his feelings for agents, particularly Mike Brown.

Manchin blames Brown, the agent, for the less-than-savvy way Rodriguez departed from WVU. Manchin called Brown “unscrupulous.”

Rodriguez and WVU are continuing to battle in court over $4 million the university says the former coach owes for breaking his contract. Rodriguez says he was fooled into signing the contract.

Manchin said he believes agents’ influence on college coaches is a major problem. He likened agents to “used car salesmen” who take control of coaches’ lives and finances while hunting around for a better deal with a bigger school.

“It’s just so wrong to have that kind of atmosphere around the collegiate experience,” Manchin said. “A coaching staff makes it even more special when it’s right.” 

Unscrupulous. Yes. I believe that does say it all.

Bill Stewart: Not a fan of showers

Funny, but Bill Stewart made it through an entire ESPN feature on College Football Live yesterday and didn’t cry. More to the point, he looked back briefly on the Fiesta Bowl and his choice of postgame hygiene. Don’t laugh too hard, though, because you’ll miss some, shall we say, choice comments from the team leaders on offense and defense.

Your move, Mr. Aschebrook

Some clarity, at long last, regarding Larry Aschebrook and it seems he simply left WVU to take a more lucrative, more beneficial position at Arizona State. The timing remains curious, but it would seem to be nothing more than curious. It also seems we’ll have some additional clarity in the future regarding how serious Aschebrook takes the allegation levied agaisnt him.

Aschebrook first learned of Magee’s allegation in March and promptly created a sworn affidavit disputing the charge. Aschebrook and Hartley publicized the affidavit last week after Magee went public with his accusation.

“Larry thought he and Calvin and he and Rich were friends,” Hartley said. “He spent a lot of time talking with Calvin and with Rich and he thought they were friends. He’s very upset about this and hasn’t closed the door on the incident. He has not yet decided what to do from a legal standpoint. He’s leaving all the options open.”

The next big bully?

Steubenville (Ohio) linebacker Branko Busick committed to WVU’s recruiting class of 2009 Saturday and he’s regarded as a pretty good son-of-a-gun.

Make that, son-of-a-bully.

His father, believe it or not, was Big Bully Busick, a rather unlikeable “heel” in the WWF in the early 1990s. Safe to say that finisher — I think it was called the “Stump Puller” — would earn a penalty in college football. Same goes for the controversial “Bully Blaster.” 

By the way, is it sad or funny that the announcers in the Global Wrestling Federation had no idea where Weirton, W.Va., was?

Pat Microphone

Late in the media day at the Fiesta Bowl last December, Pat McAfee somehow snatched a microphone from WBOY and went around University of Phoenix Stadium interviewing WVU teammates and coaches. It was hysterical, of course, but I rememberer standing there thinking something along the lines of, “Wait, shouldn’t these guys be worried about getting crushed by Oklahoma?”

Clearly, they were not. As it went on, one couldn’t help but notice the players — and the head coach! — didn’t seem disturbingly distracted. They were optimistically relaxed. I’m not saying the Pat McAfee Show was the difference, but it was a pretty good indication the team had the utmost faith in itself and its preparations. They believed that what eventually did happen was going to happen.

McAfee was back at it again Saturday at the Gold-Blue game and when the WBOY anchor says McAfee “gave us the opportunity to tag along,” it’s not entirely true. McAfee asked to wear a mic and he made the most of it in this two-part edition of the Pat McAfee show.

My favorite part is in the second clip when he’s hanging with Bill Stewart’s son, Blaine.

“Your allowance is more than my scholarship check, I’ll tell you that. I will guarantee you that.”

Larry, we hardly knew ye

I talked with Larry Aschebrook exactly once after he was hired and that conversation came well after he was promoted to Executive Director of the Mountaineer Athletic Club in August. I know several of my peers had fewer conversations with the man and some never heard of him before this past week. I saw him at the Big East Tournament in March, but someone had to tell me who he was.

He was a chief fundraiser, an integral, though largely anonymous part of the athletic department.

If you believe some things you read, he was also an expert on race relations.

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Back with a vengeance…

…as well as a wallet. It was touched upon in the comments — more on that in a moment — but my wallet did “disappear” within minutes of landing in Newark, N.J. I don’t want to disparage the city or insult some of the fine people I do know and do not know who call Newark home, but let’s just say this wasn’t a terribly big surprise.

I’ll fast-forward through the expected headaches associated with canceling all the cards and traveling to a foreign country with no plastic currency — wife is smart enough to carry cash separately — and instead ease your burdened minds by saying it was really no big deal. Passport got me everywhere I needed to go and my folks were kind enough to wire me some cash. Wallet turned up in a trash can in Newark International and, for some odd reason, one bank card was taken while two credit cards, my license and a priceless Jose Oquendo autograph were left in place.

Plus, some things can’t be ruined, not even when birds inexplicably plunk you in the head on two different occasions. Or when you go snorkeling and the boat overheats and breaks down. Or when the natives call you Mr. Bad Luck. Or when … screw it. You get the idea.

Moving on …

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The Takeover

Let it roll…

(If you’re lost, here’s the background.)

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May I have your attention, please? Just hear me out…

It pains me to say this, but I’m going on vacation and it’ll last pretty much from the moment I finish writing a story out of Saturday’s scrimmage to the moment I sadly take a seat in my office next Saturday and figure out what I’ve missed.

And when I say it pains me, I mean it hurts so good.

I’m off to a place where even the glasses of ice water come with the little umbrellas. Where cricket is huge and Vivian Richards is Michael Jordan. Where when the last time I was there people thought West Virginia was a part of Virginia and WVU had something to do with the U.S. Virgin Islands.

This is not to say I want to get away because, gosh, it’s been lovely outside lately and, for some reason, I’m beginning to think there’s something charming about spring football — and I used to think the complete opposite. That said, it’s time to get away for a bit. I cannot complain and say this is an unforgiving job. No one would believe that. That said, for the better part of three months it was three jobs in one — WVU football, WVU basketball and, of course, Rich Rodriguez. It wasn’t just something seemingly every day. It was something big seemingly every day.

Then again, that’s the environment now. This is where big things happen. All the time. Perhaps I need a week on a beach to wrap my mind around this.

I’m actually a little worried about what I might miss. I was a little worried about what would happen on this here blog, which we’ve cultivated into something nice, yes? I had some ideas of how to keep the momentum going, but they were all flawed in some way or another and none of them solved the problem of me having to sit down and search the Internet for a week’s worth of headlines just to get caught up.

Then I found the solution. The blog is yours, my friends.

This evening an entry entitled “The Takeover” will appear. This is where you take over and use the comment section to post the headlines and the news and the commentary that might normally fill this space. I’m completely confident this’ll work because, in my view, some of the best posts here have been the ones with which I’ve had little to no input.

You control the direction here. And I mean you, the many, many people who post frequently and the many, many people who I come across all the time and admit to reading the blog, but say you’ve never commented. I need you now more than ever. The people need you now more than ever. Tell me — and everyone else — what’s happening, what we need to know, what we’re missing, what you think and what we should think, so on and so forth, so long as it’s WVU sports. It’s largely anonymous, so why not?

Thoughts on spring practice? Sure! Impressions after the Gold-Blue Game? Absolutely! Stunned by another comeback by the baseball team? Yes! Interesting clip on YouTube? Please! Disbelief over the latest act perpetuated by Team Rodriguez? Of course! 

I’ll return next week and, I hope, see a ton of comments that get me back up to speed. Our record is 56 comments. We can beat it. Either that, or I’m fired. Don’t let me down.

On to the Feedback. As always comments appear as posted. In other words, just about everyone has gotten the hint and made their work legible!

p.i. reed:

he’ll be back

Joe Alexander, of course.

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Guaranteed concern

A friend of mine who’d heard the news about Joe Alexander and was curious about his potential called last night.

“What’s a mock draft you’d take seriously?” he asked, well aware of the oxymoron contained within his question.

“I read HoopsHype.com. DraftExpress.com is good, too,” I replied.

Well, DX puts Joe at No. 21 and H2 doesn’t include him. So he’s not what anyone would call a lock … and again, mock drafts aren’t worth too much, especially the day after a kid declares his intentions.

The consensus seems to be he’s curious to see what’s out there and he’ll be more of a tourist than anything else. I don’t necessarily buy that to be the case — at least the only case. He’s doing this to prove himself. Once he’s in the environment, he’s trying to be the best. And let’s face it, he’s better than some people he’ll be competing against.

The word on Alexander today is not the same as what it’s going to be once the process begins. He could very well rise in the eyes of many and find himself in the middle of the first round — who knows how high he rises? — and things then get interesting because that’s where the money resides. It’s guaranteed money for two years with team options for the next two seasons. Even then, the big money in the NBA comes in the second contract.

He’s obviously listening to Bob Huggins and Huggins is going to be honest. He knows the NBA — 19 of his guys have played in the league — and his opinion will matter. The question that must be asked is where has Alexander set the bar and will he be there this summer of the next?