America's Greatest Fan

I have an interview with Tony Milano from America's Greatest Fan that will be up on the AOL Blog about 9 am EST today. I encourage you to go over and check it out! Not just because I interviewed him. It really is a neat story, and an adventure that I would think any college football fan would love to experience!

Update*** I'm going to be taking the next few days off. I'll post on my way to Mississippi as best I can.

Let's Go.......Mountaineers!

BlogPoll Week 5 and Roundtable Round-ups are out

These are the things that keep us together functioning as a semi-cohesive unit.

First Brian has the Week 5 BlogPoll up. Well worth your time to see who is right on the money with their rankings. I eeked into the straight Banging category at #3, and Mr. Manic Depressive, for those of you that know me, at #5. Not so sure those are something to be proud of, but hey.

Also, the round up of the latest BlogPoll Roundtable is up at Maze n Brew. They don't like my chasing beer with Wild Turkey idea, but they weren't here for the Pitt game last year. So they don't understand how much the high-test anti-freeze is needed for situations like that! I know it gets cold in Michigan, but that was just crazy!

Head over and enjoy these two fine Michigan blogs.

Ever wonder why WVU's schedule sucks so bad?

One reason could be that we have this thing for scheduling MAC teams that don't know the meaning of a contract. Like Buffalo this past March, Ball State is looking at a way to get out of the home opener for the Mountaineers next year. At least they have the courtesy to give us a reach-around, and give us enough time to schedule a top notch 1-AA team. Unlike Buffalo, who gave us less than six months to replace them on the schedule. And we haven't forgotten you UCF.

The time has come and gone to get some top notch OOC games scheduled. The excuse of losing those three schools to the ACC is a broken crutch that needs to be cast aside! Virginia is just on the other side of the Appalachian mountains. Fresno St. would be fun. I would say a real SEC team, but I don't want to jinx us for next week, and we have a series set up with Auburn to start in 2008. We have a series with Michigan St. coming up, and we can only hope that John L. Smith will stick around long enough to implode against WVU. Speaking of imploding, NC State would be a good OOC for us. And oh yeah, how bout Penn St.?

I've heard some people complaining on message boards about the game with Mississippi St. not being on TV. Well? Who outside of West Virginia and northern Mississippi wants to watch that game? Yup, no one!

Speaking of crazy fans....

Just a follow-up to my last post, the word psycho applies to this guy. Click on the hipcast at the bottom of the post.

Comprehensive Action Plan to Address Student-Athlete Behavior Working Like a Charm in Blacksburg

Hats off to Virginia Tech for installing the Comprehensive Action Plan to try to curb off field incidents with the program! No really, I mean it! Step one is realizing that there is a problem. Step two is devising a plan to curb the problem. And Step three taking action.

However, the latest news out of Blacksburg that two players were arrested for obstructing justice might be a signal that nothing has changed. While we applaud the school for taking immediate action, something says to us that it is not working.

How much control does a coaching staff or institution have over it's student athletes is a question that seems to have been answered in the negative over and over lately. There certainly are schools that run clean programs. And there are programs that seem to never quite get a handle on minimizing off field issues. We all know who they are. They know who they are. But a resolution doesn't seem to be in our future.

Is it a product of the times we live in? Is it highschool coaches going along to get along, and players realizing they can get away with just about anything with little or no consequences? Does anyone care, as long as it doesn't happen at their school? These are all very negative views about the subject, but all too often, the first to be discussed.

Are fans too demanding on the student-athletes? Are we fair to the players? After all, the behavior of your average fan on gameday could easily get a student-athlete suspended if the player mirrored the fans actions. In this situation, however, "fair" does not apply.

It's a gift and a curse.

There is a minimum expectation for young people that are given the opportunity to receive a free education that most of us spend half our lives paying off. Being treated like a Rock Star has it's drawbacks. You give up the right to privacy. You give up your right to act how you want, when you want. You are no longer just representing yourself. You are representing everyone that ever went to your college, and in some cases everyone that was born in the state your college resides in. It's a very serious business to a lot of people for a lot of different reasons.

Peoples jobs are on the line. Some over obsessed fans very mental well being is on the line. Right or wrong, when these things happen, these people react. And people over react, and some send death threats while in the midst of over reacting.

The one-upsmanship among news outlets is at an all time high. Be it legitimate news sources or (covers his mouth and mumbles) blogs. And that statement begs the question that's really at the heart of the matter. Was it always this bad, or are we finally getting the whole story? Is it like a crack in your foundation? If you aren't constantly updated about the situation, can you really tell when it's going to crumble?

GGGIEEIJHHAAHAHHHHHHH

I almost forgot how funny this blog is! If you do not click on that link and look, you will have missed the best laugh you've had since Will Ferrell shot himself with the tranqulizer gun!!!!!!!!! Having several drinks before you click is the best, but I'm sure it will be just as funny tomorrow!

Since we ran a variation of this picture a week ago, we thought we'd bring it back!

A nice night for Chris Henry

Brought to us as only Deadspin can, Chris Henry threw up, but didn't get arrested! Now I thought we went through this earlier, Chris. Chris Henry, Criminal or Headline Whore? and Chris, Please Stop! Oh hell, we give him style points for not getting arrested too! Well done Chris!

Week 5 BlogPoll

As always, you are asked to leave your comments and try to persuade me to change my crackpipe induced rankings. You have until 10am Wednesday.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Auburn	2
2	Ohio State	1
3	Southern Cal	1
4	Louisiana State	1
5	Florida	1
6	Texas	--
7	Michigan	1
8	Louisville	1
9	Oregon	9
10	Cal	9
11	West Virginia	4
12	Georgia	2
13	Virginia Tech	1
14	Tennessee	--
15	Iowa	4
16	TCU	1
17	Rutgers	3
18	Notre Dame	5
19	Oklahoma	5
20	Boise State	6
21	Clemson	--
22	Georgia Tech	4
23	Wake Forest	3
24	Arkansas	2
25	Missouri	1

Dropped Out: Boston College (#16), Alabama (#17), Florida State (#22), Penn State (#23), Nebraska (#25).

Games I watched:
WVU-ECU
Ohio St.-Penn St.
Florida-Kentucky
Michigan-Wisconsin
Louisville-Kansas St.
Tennessee-Marshall
Notre Dame-Michigan St.
NC State-Boston College

A sure sign that the voters didn't watch football yesterday!

We give you the AP Poll courtesy of In the Bleachers.

1 Ohio State (59) 4-0 1617 1
2 Auburn (2) 4-0 1513 2
3 USC (2) 3-0 1491 3
4 West Virginia (2) 4-0 1404 4
5 Florida 4-0 1363 5
6 Michigan 4-0 1318 6
7 Texas 3-1 1196 7
8 Louisville 4-0 1166 8
9 LSU 3-1 1114 10
10 Georgia 4-0 972 9
11 Virginia Tech 4-0 945 11
12 Notre Dame 3-1 879 12
13 Iowa 4-0 864 14
14 Oregon 3-0 805 13
15 Tennessee 3-1 658 15
16 Oklahoma 3-1 613 17
17 TCU 3-0 563 16
18 Clemson 3-1 529 19
19 Florida State 3-1 510 18
20 Cal 3-1 508 21
21 Nebraska 3-1 327 23
22 Boise State 4-0 226 25
23 Rutgers 4-0 117 NR
24 Georgia Tech 3-1 77 NR
25 Missouri 4-0 70 NR

Teh Sucktastic Saturday

-I'm probably leaning on this crutch too much in trying to explain why West Virginia wasn't able to run the ball against one of the worst run defenses in the country, but everyone looked bad yesterday.

-Really, how else do you explain NC State beating BC? Well, besides hiding Chuck Amato in an equipment locker for the second half. Anyone that taped that game, please tell me what Chuck said in the half time interview. I was laughing so hard when I saw his pec's I couldn't understand a word he said.

-Is there any doubt that John L Smith is a dead man? Speaking of dead men, Alabama is looking for a new kicker. Rumor is that the Bush administration ordered the secret service to get Leigh Tiffin on the first plane out of the country.

-Joe Paterno forgot to wear his "Oops I crapped my pants", and had to excuse himself from the tOSU-Penn State game. Must be the same time he thought about passing late in the game to keep Vegas happy.

Joe honey, don't forget your diapers!

-Actually had to look up where Red Jacket, WV was on the map during the Kentucky-Florida game. It's closest to Williamson, WV. Pretend you are giving someone the finger with your thumb extended. Looks a lot like the state of WV, right? Ok, the very bottom of you palm under your pinky finger is Williamson. Hatfield and McCoy country.

-That Maryland victory isn't looking so good now.

Sam Hollenbach threw a pair of first-half touchdowns passes and Christian Varner intercepted Josh Padrick's pass at the 3-yard line as time expired, preserving Maryland's 14-10 victory over Florida International on Saturday.

Yuck!

-Tuned into the Tennessee-Marshall game just in time to see Marshall fall apart. Moral Victory U just keeps chugging along. Who gives a damn about the season, you shine in the offseason, right?

-Georgia has a quarterback controversy, and Colorado is like the best 0-4 team in the universe.

ESPN2 has the plug pulled

Apparently ESPN2 didn't pay their electric bill, or they finally have given up on the Gary Thorne/Andre Ware experiment. Usually when I lose cable, I lose all the channels. Today I only lost ESPN2 at the end of the third quarter of the WVU-ECU game. I'd rather listen to Toni Caridi anyway. I won't link to it, but earlier this year I was excited to have Gary Thorne calling college football, but I take it back. Maybe it's Adre Ware, but I'm more inclined to think that Gary just needs to stick to Hockey, where he is great. And Andre needs to not get behind the microphone again.

West Virginia has more passing yards than rushing yards today 200-157. With 9:37 left in the game, I would expect to see West Virginia run, run, and then just for fun, run. Well, I would expect to see it, but yeah there's that whole ESPN2.

Youtube stuff

First up is the ultimatum presented by OU fan to the Pac-10 and Oregon to apologize or die, or something.



Next is the video of coach Knight giving us instruction on how to cuss after a bad golf shot. Again, don't watch this at work or around small children without putting on the headphones!



A little more Knight.



And finally, I'm glad to say that my old pal Rudy is back on the air after a (damn I'm old) 16 year hiatus.


Get this video and more at MySpace.com

Final notes on the stolen tickets et al.

For those of you wondering, at the Maryland game, no one showed up to sit in my seats. I can't really say if I am happy or pissed about this. If I had to lean one way or the other, I would have to go with pissed. I had been practicing my flying tomahawk chop all week leading up to that game, and I was surely drunk enough to use it when the moment presented itself. But alas, no one showed up. The only possibilities of why I can come up with are that this person or people knew better than to go to the seats, and watched the game from somewhere else in the stadium. Or they went to Appalachian St., not knowing that there are two Mountaineer teams that play college football. Hey, there's plenty of stupid people in the world.

Also of note is that I got my recording equipment back from the police. They were not able to find any fingerprints on any of it?????? I've only been playing guitar for 20-some years now, and writing and recording songs for 6. Add to that that the jackasses that stole the equipment must have dropped it several times, as none of it works now. So for those of you that were still holding out hope to hear the podcast I recorded at the Marshall game. It is ok if you want to get on with the rest of your life. There will be no podcasts until I can purchase some new recording equipment. Hopefully by then we'll be talking national championship stuff!

1st 2008 Commitment?

West Virginia has landed it's first commitment for the class of 2008, Josh Jenkins. The Parkersburg High Junior has decided to skip the recruiting process and go where he's wanted to go all along.

"“It's a load taken off my shoulders,"” said Jenkins moments following the Big Reds' 35-7 victory over Huntington. "It was completely my decision. There was never any pressure to commit early or to wait until next season."”

A first team choice after his sophomore campaign with the red and white, Jenkins made his choice official Friday prior to his team'’s MSAC matchup with the Highlanders.

Not many sophomores are selected first team all-state, even in West Virginia. Josh has the size and quickness to excel in the West Virginia offense. And he still has a couple more years to grow. I've met Josh, and he seems like a good kid. Be very excited Mountaineer fans, Josh has the potential to be very special!

430 Kickoff

The game with East Carolina kicks off at 430pm tomorrow on ESPN2. For all my analysis, or lack there of, of the East Carolina game check out the AOL Blog.

NSFW!

I mean it!!! This is so not safe for work!!! If you have headphones, maybe. But I'm just saying, don't blame me if you get fired. Luckily, I work 5 blocks from my house, so I can check this stuff out and post about it from home. I might come back later on in the day and add the video to this post, but until then, go over to deadspin and check out this video of coach Knight. F-bombs a plenty! But funny as hell! If he wasn't a coach, he would surely be locked up!

Wait, there's more!

An addition to the most recent BlogPoll Roundtable is brought to us by Sunday Morning Quarterback.

What gridiron memory sears you so deeply, down to your appropriately-colored veins, that a simple acknowledgement, a "sorry" from the proper source - even if it didn't change the outcome - would lift a burden and cleanse a scarred corner of the soul? What injustice do you still carry, and want officially recognized?

I can't point to a blown call that cost us the game, at least not to the degree that Oklahoma is feeling right now. Rather, I would take it in another direction. Over the years, West Virginia fans have felt like they are constantly getting screwed by the national media, or to put it better, disrespected. While there are still doubters out there, for the most part that "apology" has been issued in the form of praise this year. Just look at any of the MSM. You can usually find something about WVU in there. One example is Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post. He's keeping an eye on the Mountaineers this year. And he is even reporting on a rap song devoted to the Mountaineers in his blog today. I'm not a super big fan of the song. I'm more of an Alt-Rock type. But hey, we're getting noticed.

Thanks for the ad-on SMQ!

BlogPoll Roundtable #3

Brought to us by the fine folks at Maze and Brew. We congratulate you on a fine victory. However, you might have just sent the Big East #2 to the Sun Bowl instead of the Gator. It's up to the rest of the Notre Dame schedule to ensure that they make a BCS bowl! Now on with the Roundtable.

1. Its only the third week of the season and we've already seen some highly ranked favorites drop out of national championship contention. Preseason favorite Cal dropped to #21 after a loss and a pair of underwhelming victories. Who's your pick as the next NC contender to take a fall?

For obvious reasons it would have to be someone in the SEC. Florida, Auburn, or Georgia are all in position to make a run for the title. It's just a matter of which one will fall first. A tOSU fan said something to me about being afraid to play Penn State this weekend. I tried to soothe their feelings of dread, but some people just can't get over what happened last year. For me, I don't see it as being a problem. I guess you could say USC as my honorable mention. I wonder if they have the ability to come back like last years team did.

2. By that same token there are several schools hanging around without a loss that all of a sudden look like surprise contenders. There are also a few one loss teams with a legit shot at getting back into it. Looking at the rankings who's the team no one's talking about with the best shot at crashing the party ?

Off the bat, I would say Louisville has positioned themselves real well for a shot. I felt pretty strongly that Louisville would get a huge boost if they beat Miami. I don't see a lot of difference in how the team goes with Hunter in there at quarterback. Anyone that can play with cotton shoved up their nose is alright with me. It's not a surprise to me that Georgia is undefeated so far, but I don't think too many people were talking about them in a National Championship game going into the year.

3. Every team has their quicksand away game. You know. That place you should win but somehow find ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory or at least scare the &*%^ out of you every year. Did you know that over the last 21 years Kentucky hasn't won once in Knoxville? Where is your team's yearly sandtrap?

We haven't played at Pappa John stadium yet, so I can't really speak to that. I thought that the East Carolina game could be a trap game for us just because of the close score (20-15) last year in Morgantown, but I don't feel that so much anymore. However, Pitt has been a thorn in our side for-like-ever and stuff. Most recently, while West Virginia was in a free fall in 2004, Pitt broke our hearts, as we still had a chance for a BCS bowl birth going into that game. It would have been fun to see the Meyer spread vs. the Rodriguez spread.

4. Now that you've looked into the darkest place in your football soul, free Escalades aside, turn and look into your crystal ball. Conference play is either just starting or a single game in. Based on what you've seen so far, give the order of finish in your conference, and if you've got a Conference Championship game tell us who the winner will be. Independents must predict the remainder of their schedule. The results your predictions will be held against you at the end of the season.

West Virginia
Louisville
Rutgers
Pitt
UConn
Syracuse
South Florida
Cincinnati

Normally the Big East doesn't have a title game, but I think everyone knows the title will be decided on November 2nd, and I take West Virginia in another high scoring game.

5. In keeping with the spirit of Maize n Brew, name your beverage of choice on game days and why. It need not be alcoholic, as there are some of us who choose not to imbibe on game day. Further, it need not be limited to a single brand/type/category. If you enjoy drinking PBR and Kraft Turkey Gravy at the same time (which I have personally witnessed), please, elaborate. Finally, if you should feel so inclined, and this is not a requirement, add an anecdote involving said beverage choice.

I hate to be so in line with the host, but really, Miller Lite is just the best. Less filling, tastes great. However, as the season get's into the cooler temps, a drastic switch is needed. And there is only one cure for the cold, and that is Wild Turkey! I wish I had video footage of myself walking back to my tailgate from the Syracuse game a couple years ago. Ugh, mom would not be proud.

I couldn't pass this question up without mentioning Tom and Ron and Ron for providing so many great eats for the tailgate. You guys rock! The food you put in my belly is probably the only thing between me and oblivion. Brats, Buffalo burgers (that was a nice touch for the Marshall game by the way), and the best chicken wings ever. EVER!

Talk like a Pirate Day

Today is Talk Like a Pirate Day. And in honor of that and our meeting with the Pirates of East Carolina on Saturday, we're going all Pirate talk today.

Ok, maybe not. All the translators that we have come across are jammed up with traffic at the moment, so we'll just say Arrr! from time to time.


There's something really, really sexy.....



















about women dressed up as Pirates. Teh guys, not so much! Photo's courtesy of Talk Like A Pirate.com

Pirates a Trap Game?

Looking at the schedule this spring, I felt like East Carolina had the possibility of being a "trap" game. After the way last years game ended up, I thought this was a team that just might have our number. The one difference in that West Virginia team and this one is that, yeah you've heard it a million freaking times, Patrick White and Steve Slaton were not starting. Call it what you want, but those two have brought a spark to this team. They went from being a good team to being one of the scariest teams in the country. At some point, someone will get the right combination of scheme and talent to stop the running game, but it hasn't happened yet.

When they do, I'm not so sure that Patrick White isn't going to be able to pass his way out of it. He has looked real sharp in passing the ball this year. He just hasn't been aske d to do it very often. Actually, I'm really looking forward to the day someone dares us to beat them with the passing game. I have visions of the 2003 Viginia Tech game. What was that, a ninty-three yard bomb? Plus, I think Patrick White is already way ahead of where Rasheed Marshall ended up.

East Carolina has played everyone on their schedule tough. They pass almost twice as much as they throw, though. That could be because they have tried to make a comback in all of their games this year, but if they have plans on passing all day on West Virginia, they might be in for a long day. The Mountaineer defense is designed to make you work the ball down the field slowly with no mistakes. They try to keep everything in front of them. If you have success running the ball, you then have a chance to get the deep balls down the field. As the safeties will have to crowd the line. But with no running game, well you've seen the first three results.

This still could be a trap game if WV doesn't show up ready to play, but given how they played their first two games this year, I don't think they will be looking past ECU.

SI On Campus

I just noticed that SI On Campus has a link over to my little corner of the internet. Just wanted to say thanks for noticing! I would suggest a couple additions to that list: We Must Ignite This Couch (obviously!), and even though they are our hated rival to the north, Pitt Blather.

I have to say that that is the most unique way I have ever seen Mountainlair spelled, "Mountain Layer." But I'm not bitching. I've seen it spelled several ways, and am happy for all the links. When I named it, I used the spelling of the WVU student union, the Mountainlair. Yeah, so that's how that works.

Ahh, but still no Marshall blog. Is it (blog) a four letter word in Cabell County? East Carolina has a blog, and very well named one at that, Pirate Botty!!! They even have a Pirate Name generator, or a link to one. I'm Black John Roberts, even though I chose Blue as my favorite color. I wonder how that works if you choose purple for your favorite color? At any rate, it's safe to say that East Carolina has it all over Marshall in the blog department. And judging by their games this year, they have it all over Marshall on the football field as well. For my analysis on the ECU-WVU game be sure to check out the AOL Blog.

Arrrr!

Week Four BlogPoll

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	--
2	Southern Cal	--
3	Auburn	--
4	Florida	1
5	Louisiana State	1
6	Texas	--
7	West Virginia	2
8	Michigan	4
9	Louisville	2
10	Georgia	--
11	Iowa	3
12	Virginia Tech	1
13	Notre Dame	6
14	Tennessee	--
15	TCU	3
16	Boston College	1
17	Alabama	2
18	Oregon	5
19	Cal	1
20	Rutgers	1
21	Clemson	5
22	Florida State	6
23	Penn State	1
24	Oklahoma	2
25	Nebraska	1

Dropped Out: Miami (Florida) (#15), Fresno State (#25).

Games I watched:
WVU-Maryland (live)
Parts of:
Ohio St-Cincy
USC-Nebraska
Auburn-LSU
Michigan-Notre Dame
Louisville-Miami
Boston College-BYU
Clemson-FSU
Oregon-Oklahoma

Not really a whole lot to explain here, but if you have a reason you think I should change some of these, leave a comment.