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

Interest is interesting

It appears we may have been misled about the amount of pre-judgment interest Rich Rodriguez might owe WVU on the now-breached $4 million buyout clause in his contract. WVU attorneys have told various media outlets — including mine — that the university is expecting to collect the full amount, plus interest at about $4,000 daily.

This opened eyes … and legal books. Seems it might not be accurate. Let’s take a trip inside my e-mail inbox…

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Unbelievable…

The true surprise is that it took so long for someone to do something like this, but West Virginia’a ECHL hockey club, the Wheeling Nailers, is offering “Shred Rich Rodriguez Night.” And I find it very appropriate that the story that will not go away will be reprised one more time on Groundhog Day.

Rodriguez, who took time to shred every file in his WVU office before departing to become the head coach at the University of Michigan, will have the favor returned at the Nailers game on February 2.

The Nailers are offering discounted tickets to any fan that brings in a newspaper article of picture of the former West Virginia University football coach to contribute to the industrialized paper shredder that will be stationed in the concourse.

Tax dollars at work

In advance of tonight’s State of the Union, let’s jam some politics in here. Congressman Alan Mollohan’s resolution to honor WVU’s football team passed through the House of Representatives Monday.

Resolved, That the House of Representatives–

(1) Congratulates the West Virginia University Mountaineer football team for winning the 2008 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl; and

(2) Commends the team for demonstrating throughout the season the best qualities of teamwork, dedication, and sportsmanship.  

And now, the dissenting opinion

But the assertion in the resolution that the WVU had to “overcome adversity” to win the Fiesta Bowl doesn’t really make it for me.

As one Crypt colleague pointed out, if there was one team that really overcame some adversity this year, it was the Virginia Tech Hokies, whose campus saw the horrific murder of 32 students and teachers in April 2007. Virginia Tech came back and almost won the national championship this season. West Virginia, meanwhile, choked horribly in a Dec. 1 loss to the Pittsburgh Panthers. which cost the Mountaineers a chance to play for a national championship. Not good.

So if WVU, which is a great school with a great football program, deserves a resolution honoring it’s bowl victory, let the House also pass resolutions honoring the other 30 bowl champions. Fair is fair

Deja vu

Not going to comment on the (non)goaltending at the end of Saturday night’s game other than to say it as a great play to end a great game. I will say, however, that it felt very familiar, from the foul free throw shooting to the finish. Remember the 2005 Guardians Classic?

After the Mountaineers’ Johannes Herber and Kevin Pittsnogle missed the front ends of 1-and-1 opportunities, Tucker’s follow shot got Texas within 75-74 with 15.4 seconds remaining. Pittsnogle missed another 1-and-1 with 14.7 seconds to go, and Aldridge converted after misses by Paulino and Brad Buckman. 

“Our usual trademark is to make foul shots down the stretch, and tonight we didn’t,” West Virginia coach John Beilein said. “We had two of our best free throw shooters at the line.” 

After his game-winning putback, Aldridge blocked a last-second layup attempt by Gansey, who led the Mountaineers (2-1) with 28 points. 

“We’ve run that play for years, and it’s never been that wide open,” Beilein said. “We had a clear layup. I don’t know where Aldridge came from.” 

Replays appeared to show Aldridge leaving his feet and making contact, but no foul was called. 

“The referee made the right call,” Gansey said. “Texas made a great defensive play. At the end of the game, the referees don’t want to determine it and kind of let us play. It was the right call not to make the call.” 

Aldridge declined to comment on the no-call, but Texas coach Rick Barnes said there was no foul. 

“I saw it. It was a clean block,” Barnes said. “There’s no need to talk any more about it.”

Congratulations to Kirsten Haglund, who was named Miss America Saturday night. Sorry, West Virginia, but she is also Miss Michigan. And leave it to the press to dig deep and ruin another Michigan coronation!

Just three years ago, newly crowned Miss America Kirsten Haglund was eating tiny portions of food and became so thin her concerned parents “dragged me to the doctor.”

Haglund was diagnosed with anorexia, and the lack of nutrition caused her collar bones to stick out, her heart rate to drop and her relationships to suffer.

“I would feel fatigued walking up six stairs,” the 19-year-old Haglund said Sunday, a day after being crowned Miss America 2008. “I was a completely different person. It’s not a pretty sight.”

I don’t think anorexia is funny — well, sometimes — but I must admit that in light of recent events, the symmetry of seeing a less-than-flattering story about a Michigan personality made me laugh.

But not as much as Miss South Carolina makes me laugh!

…I believe that our education like such as South Africa and the Iraq everywhere like such as and I believe that they should our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S…

Friday Feedback

As I sit here and wonder what happens next — and I doubt it’s anything much more “major” than what we’ve already witnessed — it occurs to me that we’re beginning to become desensitized to all of this.

For example, we learned this week that WVU was basically feeding football players with money from the 1100 Club and it hardly resonated with people. Look, I wasn’t expecting an invitation to speak with Hoppy Kercheval and, please, do not misconstrue this as sour grapes, but I happen to think the reaction was rather tepid. There is nothing criminal or bombshellish in nature to the admitted actions, but to me, at least, it’s a little weird that a multi-million dollar institution often needs to secretly dip into a football recruiting account to pay some bills. It’s not Watergate, but isn’t it more than water under the bridge?

Now, have people clearly chosen sides in this battle? Absolutely. And is this an indication that WVU’s soldiers are willing to accept some flaws as a way to disarm Rich Rodriguez? Absofreakinglutely. The concern, though, is that we cannot be shocked anymore. Face it, we’ve been hit so many times and from so many angles now that there’s a likelihod it will take something major for us to be surprised or appalled in the future. And I think that’s dangerous because the vigilance of the people is often the most significant factor in revealing and deciding issues that matter. If nothing else, that’s what’s been established the past few weeks and we cannot lose that.

As I step off the soapbox, let’s jump into the Friday Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, I still haven’t figured out how to install a spell-check tool for your use.

X-Rayted said:

Wow, this has gotten Venus Williams ugly hasn’t it! I guess I can buy the voicemail explanation, although I find it strange that the University’s voicemail system wasn’t adequate enough for old Rich. Secondly, just when I thought I couldn’t despise this guy anymore, he started referring to himself in the third person! Are you kidding me? Roy Jones Jr. finds that ridiculous. Muhammad Ali & Terrell Owens think this guy’s ego is out of control. Who does this guy think he is? Well X-Rayted has one thing to say about this jerk that up until now, was reserved only for Brad Lewis…Boo this man, & boo him often!!

Well, we finally found someone who benefited from this, and it only took the exit of the coach who turned a bowl game hero into a villain, but Brad Lewis is off the hook! Let me ask this question: Since Rich clearly holds the title now, what West Virginia figure had been as widely and passionately hated prior to all of this? I’m going with Arch Moore.

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If once is an accident…

I got an e-mail a few days ago reminding me not to ever share the call-in numbers for coaches’ teleconferences with others who might not make good use of the occasion. Obviously, this was in response to an incident earlier this week in which prank callers invaded the SEC women’s coaches’ teleconference.

The prank callers, who were claiming to be legitimate reporters from actual media outlets, managed to get on and ask at least six questions to more than half of the league’s 12 coaches. The questions were graphic in nature and included inquiries about coaches having sexual relations with players and players’ performances based on their menstrual cycles.

“It was a little surreal,” said Wilson, who was moderating the call between the media and the head coaches.

“The very first question that was asked, honestly, I thought this was some crazy media person who was trying to ask a question and didn’t know quite how to ask it,” she said.

Tom Collen, the Arkansas coach who was asked the first faux question, also seemed to think something similar because he responded to it as if it were a legitimate question.

Well, the Big East had its men’s coaches’ teleconference Thursday and, of course, it happened again. Marquette’s Tom Crean was up first and he was victimized a few minutes in by a rather juvenile question not fit for print — not even here!

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” a puzzled Crean said.

The caller hung up and the moderator, associate commissioner for communication John Paquette, moved on. The next caller was legitimate and asked Crean how he was doing.

“I’m a little stunned by the last call. It just dawned on me. John, that’s got to be the first prank call in Big East history. I’m part of history, so that’s good,” Crean said.

We can only assume it was a first. It was not the last…

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Mike Carey would like some bobbleheads, please

Poor Mike Carey. Coaching one of the best women’s basketball teams in the country and it’s barely a ripple in Morgantown because of the mud slung around the football program — and remember, of course, the women would normally be overshadowed by the men’s program. Carey can’t control the former, but would like to see his university address the latter. So he took to the newspaper this week and made his case, only to see his well-intended plea for more marketing support get completely and unfortunately blanketed by the latest football finger-pointing.

“My biggest frustration is that we go on the road all these places, and we see what other schools are doing to promote women’s basketball,” Carey said. “Our people do very little to promote us.

“I thought and I was hoping that once we got nationally ranked, things would change, but it’s no better, no bigger.

“I just believe with some promotion we could get better crowds and get more interest going.”

Carey said he just wasn’t referring to the crowds that have watched WVU in recent seasons at places like UConn, Tennessee, Notre Dame and LSU.

“A lot of places that don’t have programs as good as ours make it special,” he said. “It’s an event, not just a game. Promotional things a lot of these places for women’s basketball are much, much farther along than we are.”

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Warning: Sarcasm

In truth, everyone needs to step back, take a deep breath and ask themselves if it is perhaps time to move on. The answer should be ‘YES!’ Begin the process with a laugh and a different perspective on this whole sordid affair.

MORGANTOWN – West Virginians are warning that the failure of a coming Rich Rodriguez peace conference, convened by the US, could undermine chances of a two-state solution and may threaten a return to the state’s trademark violence against upholstery and Rodriguez-related paraphernalia.

Michigan athletic director Bill Martin reiterated after talks with defense secretary Robert Gates in Ann Arbor Monday that the conference, scheduled for Annapolis, Maryland, next week, would focus on core issues – such as ending the alleged bounty on Rodriguez’s so-called “shreddin’ hand” should he ever re-enter the Mountain State – rather than detailed negotiations, fuelling fears that the talks could carry unacceptably high risks.

Busy day…

…and here’s one reason why. That rumor, apparently, is put to rest.

So, too, is another. Joe Alexander’s MRI Monday night revealed no serious damage to his groin, but Coach Bob Huggins said Alexander needs rest and assumes the team’s top rebounder and second-leading scorer will not play tomorrow night against Marshall. Freshman John Flowers said he expects to start, though Huggins said Wellington Smith is an option. The lineup depends on matchups.