Mountaineers Set to Score Big This Year

One of the "Up and Cuming" stars of the WVU spring practice is John Holmes. Coach Rod says "he moves pretty good for a dead, three legged white guy! "






Jack Horner (pictured at left instructing Dirk) is putting all his money on WVU to "score, and score often" with the addition of Holmes.







In other news, Coach Rod admitted that he is still looking for a "hole plugger" in the middle of his defensive line, and has inquired about the availability of Ron Jeremy.

Habitual hole plugger Ron Jeremy could be headed to Morgantown

Marshall Spring Report

It seems Marshall just can't wait to get on the field and start smacking people around!

The day was set to be the first practice in full pads for the Thundering Herd and as fans began to stroll into the stadium and find their seats, the players were warming up in full equipment. Shortly before practice was set to begin, however, the coaching staff met with the team in the middle of the field and after a few moments the entire team sprinted to the locker room. Two minutes later they would all return to the field in just shorts and helmets.

Shit, we forgot to practice

Defensive Coordinator Jim Collins has been bugging Head Coach Mark Snyder to move running back Ahmad Bradshaw to the defense all winter long. He was impressed with Bradshaw's ability to "see what he wants, and take it".

In order to get psyched for the big game, who better to speak at the Annual Big Green Scholarship Foundation Dinner than Jim Tressel.

Prior to his successful Buckeyes stint, he spent 15 seasons at Youngstown State, winning four Division I-AA nationals championships and qualifying for the Division 1-AA playoffs a remarkable 10 times.
Tressel's Youngstown Penguins defeated Marshall twice in championship games, 25-17 in 1991 and 17-5 in 1993.

There's still time to go for the gold Marshall! Don't stop believing!

Blah

Sorry it's been so quiet around here since the loss to Texas. I've been looking through the internet for some puppy uppers over the past few days. I had to get some links up there on the right, too. The football team seems to be doing pretty good, Coach Rod is pissed! When you only single out one offensive player on the team, Owen Schmitt, it has to be a good thing. This team will not be able to just line up and run the ball to a top 5 finish. He needs to really push this offense to make them better. It also sounds like he is finding some defensive backs that he likes. I predict that a lot of people are going to hear the name Johnny Dingle before the end of next year. WV has sadly missed a rush end for the past few years. You really need a player that other teams need to scheme around, and I hope he can be that this year.

In other news, I wanted to do something like some of the other movie character association posts. So how about an "Office Space" post.





I'll go ahead and get it out of the way, WV will be Lawrence! And really, who else could it be? Kick-Ass Mullet, and a good enough friend to tell you to "watch out for the corn hole" as you're leaving for prison. He leads a simple life, except for an admirable desire to get it on with two chicks at the same time, and is probably the happiest character in the movie except for........








Drew, who will be representing Marshall. Marshall talks a lot about how they play for championships, or in this case, show the girls their "O-face", but much like Drew it never seems to happen.










Bob Slydell, the consultant, played by Penn St. Much like Bob, Penn St. is old school. And much like Bob, Penn St. likes to prove they can keep up with the latest trends by switching to the spread offense, or slipping in a "I celebrate Michael Bolton's entire collection."











The role of Bob Porter is played by Florida St. Just give Bob a straw hat and a Seminole pull-over. He seems the more dignified between himself and his partner, Bob Slydell, but just like Bobby Bowden is only sticking around to make sure he has more wins when Joe Paterno retires, Bob is just sticking around to be the "Pink Slip King" at Initech.












Tom Smykowski is played by Boston College. So much stuff is out of his control, but that doesn't stop him from being in a panic about it. He has grandiose ideas about what he's going to do, but he never gets around to doing them.










In order to be fair, I'll leave the rest up to you. There are plenty of good characters out there for you to attach your favorite or most hated team to. Enjoy!

Meme-rific

Ok, I saw this first on Journalism Is For Rockstars. And since most everyone else has done this, I thought I would join in.

1. A favorite political track. Matt Good- Alert Status Red

2. One of those tracks that will make you dance on the dancefloor no matter what. Johnny Sacko- Tired and Happy Life

3. The song you’d use to tell someone you love them. Me- Hope You Figure It Out (One of the perks to being a songwriter)

4. A song you know would sell lots of VWs (or ipods, or whatever) if they paid for it. (One that hasn’t already been used). Mclusky- To Hell With Good Intensions

5. A song that forced you to sit down and analyze its lyrics. Replacements- One Good Dose of Thunder

6. A song you like that a 2 year old would like too. Todd Burge- Where'd My Jesus Night Light Go?

7. A song that makes you drive too fast. Megadeath- Black Friday

8. A song that makes you feel like kicking someone’s ass. Pantera- Coboys From Hell

9. A song that both you and your grandparents (would probably) like. Glenn Miller - King of the Road

11. The song you’d send to someone you hated. N/A - Fuck 'em. I'm not sending them jack. (Journalism Is For Rockstars said it best)

12. A sad instrumental song that would be in the soundtrack to a movie about your life. Josh Buskirk- Dust

13. The peppy song that would start the opening credits in the soundtrack to a movie about your life. REM- It's the End of the World

14. An a cappella song. Suzanne Vega-Tom's Diner

15. A good song from a genre of music that no one could guess that you liked. The Gourds- Gin and Juice

16. A song you think should have been playing when you were born. Donovan- Season of the Wictch

17. A favorite artist duo collaboration. Seeing Keller Williams and the Flute Player from Bela Fleck and the Flecktones jam out a Keller song live!

18. A favorite song that you completely disagree with (politically, morally, commonsenically, religiously etc.) He's Got the Whole World in His Hands

19. The song that you love despite the fact your IQ level drops several points every time you listen to it. Kiss- Rock and Roll all Night and Party Every Day

20. Your smooth song, for relaxing. Spoon- The Way We Get By

21. A song that you like but would play loud to annoy the neighbors. Van Halen- Panama

22. A favorite song that’s about a sport or sports. John Fogerty- Centerfield

23. A favorite track from an outfit considered a “super-group.” Yes-Yours is no Disgrace

24. The song that makes you want to drink more beer. Cramps/Hassil Atkins-She Said

Shit Shit Shit, and Double Turd

Saying goodbye sucks! I don't want to dwell on it too much, but it does suck to have this group of seniors leave. They meant a lot to the university, and the state. Thanks for the memories, and good luck!

Seniors

Kevin Pittsnogle





















Mike Gansey




















Patrick Beline






















Johannes Herber




















J D Collins

Game Time

It's almost sweet 16 time. Here are my predictions for tonights games:

UCLA by 15 over Gonzaga

Memphis over Bradley by 5

Duke by 2 in 2 ot's over LSU

WVU sets a new record for 3-pointers in an NCAA tournament game, but manages to only win by 3 over Texas

Reason #101 That ESPN Sucks!

This was the first time I have heard of a sports radio personality plagiarizing a sports blog, but Colin Cowherd of ESPN radio more or less ripped the MZone off in broad daylight. When talking about the Wonderlic performance of one Vincent Young, he used, and I do mean used, a marvelous bit that Yost put together a few days ago. If you go over, you can see he refused to apologize about it to boot.
Here is a link to reasons 1-100 why ESPN sucks!
For other perspectives on this go here and here.

Keep it up ESPN, we already turn down the volume on the TV and listen to the Voice of "insert your team name here" 99% of the time during games. How long do you think it will be before the technology is available for all these bloggers to do their own live show and reder you useless?

Big Thanks!

Big thanks to Paul over at the Georgia Sports Blog for interviewing me about the upcoming WVU football team. He's got a hell of a blog that you should be reading every day!

Going to Mississippi..... State that is

For a long time, I have wanted to experience a game in SEC country. As a kid watching the great Bear Bryant teams of Alabama, there always seemed to be something special about SEC football. I wouldn't trade anything in the world for a game in Morgantown, but I have to admit that I am a bit envious of the tradition of the SEC. And while I know Mississippi St. isn't exactly the cream of the SEC, WVU will be playing at Mississippi St. on October 7th. For me personally, this is great, because I have family and friends that live about an hour away from Starkville. They are Ole Miss fans, but have agreed to get the tickets if I supply the WVU gear. So, God willing, and the creek don't rise, I'll be making the first of many trips down south to experience the tradition of SEC football.

Hopefully in Celebration

Normally I reserve this type of info for my other blog, but I will be playing with a few friends in the Mountainlair at the WVU student union this Friday night. Hopefully the smell of burning couches will still be present.

Restless Anticipation

Thursday can't get here soon enough! A big rematch with the Texas Longhorns. When these two teams met in November it was a heartbreaking loss, but it did help WV to gain a certain measure of respect. It also helped to validate the early season ranking of the Mountaineers. I don't think there was any question that the Mountaineers would make the NCAA tournament, but how good they would be was a major question. This has to be one of the toughest non-conference schedules they have ever played. And when you combine that with the strength of the Big East, there was no question that this team would be challenged early and often.
This isn't the same team that won nail-biters for weeks on end to get to the elite 8. This year, after a disappointing showing in the Big East tournament, they have had a fairly easy road to the sweet 16.
That road is about to take a huge u-turn. Texas is playing good ball at the right time, while WV has won, but has not been dominant. At least we win every time Pete Fiutak pics us to loose. And if we should win, I doubt he would go against Duke or LSU against us!
Keep an eye on the The Burnt Orange Nation over the next few days to get a perspective of the Texas fans thoughts going into the game.

Me? I'll be over in the corner warming up the Huka with a few of my closest friends, and riding the coolest slicky slide in the world to pass the time until gameday....

Way to go guys!

Way to almost give me a heart attack! Northwestern played with a lot of determination in the second half, and a lot of credit should be given to them. They would have been scary if they didn't turn the ball over so much.
We have got to find a way to get some fluids into Gansey! He might need to get on the banana diet while he's at it. I think it's time for a drink or 10!

Halftime 41-19

Northwestern just can't seem to get out of their own way. They started playing some pretty good defense toward the end of the first half. Good move by Beline to get Nichols and Collins in there at the same time to protect the ball, and to make the circus shot at the end of the half!

Well, Shit!

There goes the all Big East final 4. I hate these mid-major schools. Makes me want to have a few more cigarettes and devise a devilish plan for world domination, or at least a WVU victory! Eyes crossed just to be sure!

Better

Wow, Big East 5-0 today! My dream of an all Big East final 4 is still alive. Still to early for that, but there were a ton of upsets today.







Artist rendition of the celebration

The game was closer than the final score showed, but I was impressed with WV's performance today. I didn't see any off balance 3pt shots. OMG, we out-rebounded someone! From a slight glance, Northwest St. seems to be the same type of pressure defense as SIU. Should be fun. Hopefully Gansey getting his shot back in the second half is a sign of things to come. He more than did his part in other areas, but we need his shot to keep moving on.

Ding Dong, Round One

I really believe Adam Morrison was going to crush that basketball at the end of the Xavier game. Wouldn't it have been great if he would have pulled a Gus Ferotte while he was bouncing the ball off his head. I love excitement and passion for the game, but....I think we all remember the look on his face after he bounced his head off the wall. 8 seasons and 15 teams later, some would say he was never the same again.

Somehow, Gus forgot that he was a righty

Nice comeback for GW ! Marquette almost made a big one themselves, but came up just short to Alabama.

I think the madness has begun!

And Finally.....

An agent for Randy Moss was charged with possession of crack cocaine

"Oh well, sometimes you just gotta say what the fuck!"

Final Four

Oh how I would love to see an all Big East Final Four. It looks a little like this:


Washington-Uconn

Minneapolis-Villanova

Oakland-Pitt

and....

wait for it...

Atlanta-WVU

Ok, that last one is a bit of a stretch, but if this guy can be a homer, so can I! Pitt needs to get over the flu real quick, but I can easily see them in the Final Four. And I think Uconn and Villanova are as much of a sure thing as there is this time of year.

For anyone interested, here is a nice video of WVU's run to the elite 8 last year. I like Tony Caridi, WVU's play-by-play voice, but I'm sure all Steeler fans will agree that it would have been fucking fantasmigorical for Jack Fleming to have done this!

Ding Ding, the Round One Edition

Pacific takes BC to 2OT's before losing

UMW or UWM takes out Oklahoma

and Seton Hall lays a big fat turd.

This has to be the best non-football related time of year! But, if you need a little couch burning humor, try this. If you are unfamiliar, the song at the end is the Mountaineer fight song.

Cincy Got Screwed!

Yup, they got screwed. Seemingly, a thought that everyone in the Big East can agree on. Not to mention the Kentucky and Louisville fans that chimed in. What's next? Cats and dogs living in harmony?

What the hell is going on here?

And just how the hell did Air Force get in?

Just ask the chef at the selection committee!

Oh, I bet they all had a "high" time. It really is the only way I can see Tennessee at a #2 seed.

One good thing is that I don't think WV could have been put in a better place if they asked. Considering what I talked about above, maybe they did. Even though WV lost to LSU and Texas earlier in the year, both were very close games.

But, before I start looking at the sweet 16 and beyond, Southern Illinois and Iowa will both be tough games. I'll talk more on that later.

Pitt Thoughts

What did I say about taking 28 ft. jumpers? Pitt played the better game, and deserved to win, but when you have a team trying to come back on you, you want to try to work for a good shot, not hoist it up after one pass. I hate to think what the score would have been had Gray been able to sink a few of those shots in the first half.
I haven't seen any word on Mike Gansey's injury/illness, so he is either fine, or they are hiding it until right before the next game. One thing is for sure, this is not the way to go into the NCAA tournament!

Rubber Match

It's already been a hell of a day with the Orange beating UConn in overtime. The best response to that is "Holy Fucking Christ". A big win for sure, and I can't wait to see what Coach Boeheim said in his post game comments today!
Georgetown got by Marquette 62-59. I keep waiting for Georgetown to wake up and go on a big run. Also, someone's bubble burst today when Temple and Coach John "I'll Fucking Kill You" Cheney beat George Washington.

Sorry about all the F-bombs today, it's been that kind of week for me.

Villanova should easily handle Rutgers in the 7pm game, and the winner will get the winner of tonight's rubber match between WVU and Pitt.

I made sure to buy a lot of beer for tonight's game. I think I am going to need it. I'm sure at some point today coach Dixon has sat down with the players and reminded them that they had 18 and 17 turnovers respectively in the first two matches. Likewise, I'm sure coach Beline pulled the guys in and told them that there would be no 28-35 ft. jumpers tonight. At least I hope he did. We don't need any hero's tonight, just some solid teamwork, and that one extra pass. Look for another close game decided in the last minute.

Revamping et al.

With what little time I have for this at the moment, I'm trying to update my blog as best I can. If you are a college sports blogger, and you want your link on here, drop me a line, or buy me a beer and tell me a story. If your blog is of another nature, you can go here. If you are listed on here and don't want to be, let me know. Now, get in front of your television and watch the best basketball conference decide who the best team is on ESPN.

Adding a 9th

How long will it be before the Big East will add a 9th football team? Sooner or later, the football schools are going to break away from the basketball only schools and form a new all sports conference. In a Q&A with Paul Zesie the question was asked:

As for adding a football-only member to balance the schedule, I would expect this to happen, probably sooner than later. As Jeff Long said, it is simply too tough to find five non-conference games every year, which is what they essentially have to do with a 12-game schedule. It is a safe bet that Central Florida would probably be the top candidate for this. The school has been working diligently to get itself in position should the opportunity arise.

Personally, I hate the idea of bringing UCF into the Big East. We already have a team in Florida, and I think we would be much better off getting a team close to home. Which brings me to my next point, Marshall? NO! For the same reason I don't want UCF, and their status in the leaderboard of the the Fulmer Cup. Also, the motto they used to flash at every opportunity when they were in the MAC: Marshall, we play for championships! Isn't that kind of like Anthony Michael Hall's role in 16 Candles?

I guess you could call me King of the Dip-Shits!

Ideal teams would include:

Maryland

Penn State

Notre Dame

and while I'm at it, I guess I could ask God for a million bazillion dollars.

Realistically, there are not any worth while teams out there.

Kirby Puckett

Kirby Puckett passed away today as a result of a stroke. Thoughts and prayers to his family. It was way too soon.

Give Him The Damn Job!

What cold be worse than hiring a guy that can motivate young men when the chips are down? Not hiring Andy Kennedy, in my opinion, would be bad. He's been around long enough with the program to have built up some relationships in the recruiting area. That point guard, Devan Downey is going to be strong for the next three years. If you want some help recruiting, just show clips of today's game! Who wouldn't want to be out on the wing with Downey driving to kick it out for a three?
I was happy with WVU's effort to get back in the game, but Cincinnati was just a little bit better. Welcome to the Big Dance Bearcats.

Huggie's Back!

Hard to believe, but Huggins is coming back to walk with Eric Hicks for senior "Ring of Red" night. So there should quite a bit of emotion floating around the Shoe tomorrow. Probably the only time Huggins at a WVU game would be a non-story. Distraction or rally point? Guess it depends on how the game turns out. It would be easy to spin something like that. The harbingers of couch burning should be rested enough to have some say in that. Beline is taking it as a great opportunity to build some momentum going into the tournament.

"We're going in there with a lot to gain as far as momentum going into the Big East tournament," Beilein said.

But the coach concedes that much more is at stake for Cincinnati (18-11, 7-8) which is desperately looking for a signature victory to enhance its NCAA tournament resume. The Bearcats lost 72-62 at Seton Hall on Tuesday night and is squarely on the NCAA tournament bubble.

In addition to it being Senior Day for UC standouts Eric Hicks, Jihad Muhammad and James White, the school has proclaimed the West Virginia contest a "Ring of Red" game meaning all fans are being asked to wear red to the game because of its importance. All victories in designated Ring of Red games are engraved on a plaque that resides in Fifth Third Arena. The tradition started in 2002.

"I know we will be walking into a tough environment on Saturday"


With the 3rd seed in the tournament locked up, this would also be a good time to get some experience for the bench if things get out of hand one way or the other. I would love to see Alex Ruoff get some extended playing time.












Asst. Coach Jerry Dunn
with Alex Ruoff

First post, and I'm already going against my Manifesto, but.....

...this takes the cake!

LONDON (AP) - Wheelchair tennis player Ilanit Fridman of Israel has been suspended one month after testing positive for a banned substance that is used to treat asthma.

I never knew the stakes were so high! I was going to post a picture, but I think anything I post past this point would be in extremely bad taste.

Finding a Niche

These fuckers have one in spades (sorry about the fuckers comment, it's only rooted in jealousy)! I'd pay good money to subscribe to that blog. Brian is on the cusp of greatness, and domination of the "Central Asian Steppe" with the Blog Poll et al. Oh, the painful truth that Chas is so freakishly on top of everything Big East and Hoopie related.

Thankfully, the list could go on. It makes for some great reading, and a much needed alternative to the corporate hacks that belive they are as smart as they think they are ( Dickey V., Stuart Scott, Chris "Whoop" Berman, etc.). So, how does one find their niche? Apparently just being a WVU blogger has a uniqueness all to itself. Outside of We Must Ignite This Couch, there really isn't much to choose from. That's sad, considering the level of accomplishment the football and basketball teams have achieved over the past year. So, for now, my manifesto will be defined as bringing light to the Mountaineer teams that I love, and an occational screen shot with the appropriate humor added.

Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?

Worst of the Worst

originally started @ Gunslingers

1) What is the worst DVD/video you own? Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Why on Earth I thought this one would be worth a damn is beyond me. I guess Selma Hayek and Johnny Depp.

2) What is the worst concert you've ever seen in person? Charlie Sexton on Mountain Stage in Athens, OH. I remember him being one of the reasons I ever picked up a guitar 20 some years ago. It wasn't so much that he was bad, but that the sound guy/guys apparently shat themselves and had to leave the sound board for his performance.

3) What is the worst experience you've ever had at a restaurant? I started out my career in IT as a computer repair tech for a company that worked on restaurant computers/registers. One of the registers was not connecting to the server at the Bob Evans in Martinsburg, WV (this is your hint to never, never eat there). The Cat. 5 connections looked good on both ends, so I decided to pull a new line to the register. When I yanked on the old line, it snapped, and the worst smell you have ever smelled immediately consumed the entire restaurant, which brought a lot of strange looks from everyone eating and working there. Apparently a rat had gotten down into the conduit got logged. His last attempt to save his life was to chew through the Cat. 5.

4) What is the worst movie you've ever seen in the theatre? Bewitched! It's beyond me to think that Will Ferrell could do such a bad movie. If he could have just been funny for 5 minutes I could have saved some face.

5) What is the worst book you've actually finished? I, like many others that I have read that did this survey, will go with a Tom Clancey book. SSN, based on a hypothetical engagement with the Chinese. To read that book, you would think the US Navy was "Invincible".

But I'm Invincible!

6) Who is the worst looking or least appealing celebrity you would have intimate relations with "just to tell the story"? Ann Coltier is a popular choice, but I would have to go with the smug, but still fairly attractive laura Ingraham.