Friday, April 06, 2007

Easing into the Huggins Era



After looking back at yesterdays post you can understand that I just don't have the Woop! Woop! feeling about Huggins coming back to WVU. At least not to the point as my fellow Mountaineer fan to the left.

Say what you want about Beilein leaving, he runs an incredible program and brought respect and admiration from all over the country. With Huggins track record, and close ties to Cincinnati, I'm afraid we're going to see a lot more of the Chris Henry's of the world and a lot less of the Frank Young's. But I can't read the future. So I'm just going to let it go at that for now.

It is a good feeling to know that both our Football and Basketball coaches are West Virginia natives and alumni. And if we can get one to feed off the other, both programs could get a huge boost in recruiting et al.

Still, in the back of my mind I feel like I just shook hands with the devil. "John, just sign here. In blood if you don't mind."

4 comments:

singlebidnation said...

i agree. i have loved west virginia since following them in their miracle run in the 04 big east tournament, leading to an at-large berth. i loved their style of play, loved the fact that it was a bunch of kids not even considered by bigger programs that could ALL hit the 3 pointer and played great defense. but most of all, i loved the coach. beilein never took it overboard with the officials, didnt yell at his players much at all and was 100% class. so i made a bold move and picked them to go to the elite eight. and what did they do? they went to the elite eight and i they have been my second favorite team ever since. i like their football program as well, but one of my all time favorite moments watching college basketball that had nothing to do with my team (kansas) is west virginias magical run from bubble team to elite eight, and the fact that they did it with a coachs son at pg knocking down 27 footers and with a 6'11" big man knocking them down as well made it all the sweeter.

i was depressed when belien went to michigan, ive always hated michigan but belien has earned a special place in my heart and i think he could be the best coach in the country. however, with the hire of a cheater like big fat bobby huggins i dont think i can root for the mountaineers any more. i hate huggins, absolutely hate him, and while ive been a loyal wvu fan for the last couple years im afraid that the wvu athletic department scared me away by sacrificing what i loved about wvu (the kids with hardly any athletic ability taking down chris paul and co.) and instead focusing solely on winning with players you paid to get.

good luck with your 'eers, ill still be a fan of your football program but the huggins hire has permanently ended my fanship of your basketball program.

John Radcliff said...

Exactly what I meant when I said we got respect from all over the country because of Beilein and the players he brought. Thanks for stopping by Cory.

MountainLaurel said...

All I've got to say is that we will endure. I've been following WVU for all my life. My first game was when I was six. WE survived Frank Cignetti in football and Gale Catlett in basketball. There are ups and downs, but the Mountaineers persevere and eventually rise. That's just what we do.

John Radcliff said...

The good thing is that Huggins will keep the team at least at the same level if not raise it. Morgantown is a tough place to dry up, though.

I used to harp on Cignetti a lot, but he is the one that made new Mountaineer field happen, and recruited Oliver Luck and Darryl Talley among others. I could just never get over what poor free throw shooters Catlett's teams were and the leather sports coats! Hehehe