Finally, a Win

West Virginia University’s basketball team just broke a five game losing streak by dominating Providence tonight. I’m thankful. Road wins in the Big East are few and far between unless you are one of the two dominating programs—Syracuse and Connecticut. This tough conference is simply the best conference in the nation. Two members of the Big East, one of which owned only two victories in the conference, have been successful in their new league, the ACC. That only proves to me that the Big East is the premier basketball conference this year and for many years in the past.

That brings up the question of whether or not WVU can compete in this competitive conference. Witness tonight nearly 60% shooting by the good guys and the opposition losing one of their two best players to an injury with only 12 minutes gone in the game, allowed the visitors to win the game. This was a team (Providence) who had not won in the Big East this year. The streak is broken, but what about the next two games? WVU next faces undefeated Boston College and a newly resurgent Pittsburgh (combined record of 32-3).

It was obvious tonight that John Beilein’s team was short on muscle and only a bonehead move by Providence’s coach allowed the Mountaineers to sprint out to 14 and 16-point leads. History has told us that playing our team in tight man-to-man defense and pounding the ball inside is the strategy that works. Providence was content to stay in their zone defense and continued to try to shoot from the outside most of the night, leading to those big leads. Once, in the last four minutes, Providence went to the man, and trimmed the lead to three points at one point. You have to wonder how prepared the Fryers were for the game.

We’ll take the win and move on to the potential slaughters that await us. The win kept WVU from heading for the cellar of the conference. It appears the shooting touch has returned, but what is to become of this team when the next two ranked teams play their tight defense and deny our shots? Time will tell, but it appears that the Mountaineers will have to be satisfied with 15 wins and an NIT bid. Only two weeks ago the faithful were dreaming about an NCAA bid. How time changes things.

On another sad note, one of the teams West Virginia lost to, Marshall of the MAC, lost Thursday night to run their record to 3-14. Sad to say, Marshall has beaten three teams and one of those is our own Mountaineers. Some may be sold on the Beilein system. I am not one.

More Basketball Woes, but We Haven't Touched SGM

OK. I blew it on the Marshall-WVU game. Marshall, a 2-10 team, put it to WVU so I congratulate them. I in no way have changed my stance, though. We need to stop playing them in roundball until the football series is created.

What does this southern gospel thing mean? Well, let me tell you. It could be that I was raised on the three topics of this blog or just that I am more a southerner than most West Virginians are. Maybe, but I doubt it.

You see, my father sang in a gospel quartet from about 1940 until his death in 1981. He was an amateur, though his group, named the Midland Trail Quartet, made records way back in the 1950's. Dad and Mom drug me to every gospel sing he participated in and I learned to love the pretty melodies and tight harmonies associated with the genre.

This type of music is four part harmony. Every group has a lead who sings the melody, a baritone who sings the in-between part for the tenor and bass singers and the tenor and bass singers. The music is Christian music about the love of God or Bible stories set to country style melodies. These days, elaborate orchestration is played on digital tape machines for the singers. Back when my Dad sung, it was only a live piano.

My first awareness that this was more than my Dad singing with his friends was a TV show sponsored by Nabisco. It featured the Statesmen Quartet. It was on in our area on Saturdays and we never missed it because it came on just before Lawrence Welk (ugh!). The Statesmen were a group of guys who changed the direction of that kind of music. Hovie Lister, the founder of the group and pianist extrordinaire, thought the music should have showmanship mixed in, so the Statesmen danced, wore silly outfits, and delivered a message. Many hated them, but my family couldn't quit watching. I've always said that I learned how to harmonize by listening to my Dad's group and the Statesmen. The lead singer of the group was Jake Hess and he still is the standard by which these groups are judged. Jake died about a year ago and since I met him when I was just a child and the fact that I remember it, leaves a void in my life. He was featured on the Bill Gaither Homecoming Series tapes for so long that he seemed part of the family.

I got away from listening to this music about the time I graduated from college. I came back to it about six years ago in frustration from listening to commercial radio and realizing that there was no real music on the radio anymore. The great songwriters had all pretty much gone into oblivion and melody was a thing of the past.

Then, I picked up a copy of Andy Griffith's first CD of hymns. There it was -- melody, great lyrics and passion. I went on the the Gaither series and I was hooked. I contend that some of the greatest American musicians are now in Southern Gospel Music. More on this another day.

Let's Stop the Non-Rivalry Tonight

Tonight, West Virginia plays Marshall in what is known as the Capital Classic. It’s an annual game between the state’s two universities. WVU has won 13 of 16 in the series and 11 of 13 since they moved the series to Charleston, WV’s Civic Center.

In my lifetime, WVU has played Marshall in the major sports only a few times and only once in football. They met in football in 1997 and many looked forward to an annual series between the two schools, but Marshall backed out of the series leaving WVU in a bad position to schedule other teams. The blood has been bad between both schools since.

Making things more difficult was Marshall football coach Bobby Pruett’s insistence on chiding the Mountaineers at every opportunity. In an act of total inconsistency, Pruett and then Marshall president Dan Angel showed up on the capitol steps to “challenge” West Virginia to a football game a few years ago, complete with a mascot chicken. That’s real class. Never mind that it was Marshall and not WVU who cancelled the series. But, this is basketball.

The game has become kind of a non-event to most people in the state. Marshall and West Virginia haven’t been world beaters in the sport in the last few years. Marshall comes into the game at 2-10 with the two victories over East Tennessee and High Point by a combined 5 points. West Virginia has beaten two ranked teams. Word is that Marshall returned 3,000 tickets to the Civic Center they couldn’t sell. Apparently WVU fans took them because as of this morning the game is a sellout.

My preface is this. I don’t think the game is necessary anymore. Marshall, looking for legitimacy for their programs wants to beat WVU so they can shave off some of that built-in fan support that comes with the state’s land grant institution of higher learning. It hasn’t been working. In fact, little has been said about this game in the press and it’s nowhere to be found on television outside of the state of West Virginia. The outcome, though close most years, is usually the same. A bigger, stronger WVU beats a smaller, less seasoned Marshall club. WVU’s Gale Catlett and John Beilein have almost always out coached Marshall’s Bob Zuffaletto, Dana Austin, Billy Donovan, Dwight Gooden, Greg White, or Ron Jirsa. It hasn’t been much of a rivalry.

There is now talk of reviving the football series. A campaign promise by Governor-elect Joe Manchin, the game could happen with the new 12 game rule approved by the NCAA yesterday. WVU President David Hardesty says he in favor of the game “if it is financially advantageous to both schools.” That’s lawyer speak for “we’ll play every year at Mylon Puskar Stadium in Morgantown and we’ll pay you what we pay other schools.” Marshall got a sweetheart deal in 1997 and wants the same for any future games including the games being played in Huntington every other year. That’s just not going to happen.

My modest proposal is this. I think both sides ought to agree to not play ever again in any sport. I think that all Marshall and WVU coaches should have new clauses in their contracts that dismisses them if they mention the other school in public (Rich Rodriguez, John Beilein, and Ron Jirsa would not have to worry about that clause—too much class). Then, Marshall could worry about their Conference USA foes and WVU could wrestle with the futility of winning in the Big East. Simple.

By the way, my prediction on the game is a WVU win by 10. It should be 20, but the emotion that surrounds this game on the green side is always worth ten points to the Herd.

Oh Yeah...That Sport

Several who have been reading have asked me about my avocation. I do a little writing for Racing Information Systems and their webpage, www.motorsportsforum.com. I should have included that in the title of this blog, but space limitations didn't allow it. I have been a fan of automobile racing and the automobile for most of my life.

I used to trade cars every two years. Of course, I can't do that anymore, but that's how much I love new cars. Before I was old enough to buy cars, I still could get my jollies when the new models came out. I inherited this from my father who always went to the dealer when the new Fords came out. By the time I was thirteen or fourteen, I realized that in the South they were racing the new models each February at Daytona and I became interested. We would all head to Martinsville, VA in the Spring to watch the big boys of the NASCAR Grand National series race. Of course, that is now called the NEXTEL Cup Series, but it was the same--the latest models going head to head for superiority.

I never had one favorite driver. It was always who was driving the Fords. I could name Fred Lorenzen, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Lee Roy Yarbrough, Rusty Wallace, Bill Elliott, Mark Martin, and Dale Jarrett as favorites, but only when they drove Fords. Back in the 60's and 70's, there was only radio to follow the sport and the only station I could pick up in rural Greenbrier County was in Roanoke, VA, some 100 miles away. That necessitated driving to the top of Sewell Mountain to listen. Then CBS sarted showing the races live (ABC's Wide World of Sports had replays) and ESPN turned it into a weekly event and interest grew. It is no longer a regional sport.

In 1996, I was invited to participate in the reporting of the races by Mike Snow who was then the NASCAR Editor of RIS. Mike moved on to a permanent job in the sport and I found myself attending races in Rockingham, NC, Bristol, TN, Charlotte, Martinsville, and Richmond as a reporter. My biggest thrill was Labor Day in 1999, when I was privileged to cover the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway for RIS. About 2001, I became NASCAR Editor. I enjoy seeing the inside of the sport on a part-time basis and have much respect for the reporters who do this as their only living. The travel alone would kill me.

I've met most of the stars of the sport and I even had a one-on-one meeting with the late Dale Earnhardt at Bristol in 1999. It was the Spring race and I had just been diagnosed with hypertension. The medication they had given me made my ankles swell. I hd only been taking the medication for a couple of days as I headed to Bristol. It was a hot Sunday and my ankles grew twice their normal size. I finally was having trouble walking and leaned on pit road to inspect my ankles. I looked up and there stood Ironhead, bigger than life. I'll never forget what he said to me, "You better go inside where the air conditioning is and put your legs up." Nothing like getting medical advice from probably the best stock car driver of his time.

I'll comment later on the sham known as the "Chase for the Championship" later when they start going around in circles again.

Mountaineers Win, But the Future is Uncertain

The West Virginia Mountaineers rebounded from their worst loss in ten years by trimming St. John’s 64-60. Never mind that the Johnnies are probably the worst team in the Big East, it was a win to advance the Mountaineers’ record to 11-1. It will probably be enough to keep them in the Top 25, though just barely.

Everyone pretty much expected WVU to blast St. John’s out of the Coliseum, but they didn’t. Why, you ask? It’s simple, as Ross Perot used to say. Our team is dependent—really dependent—on outside shooting. In the games they won over LSU, GW, and North Carolina State, they were hitting the outside shot with great accuracy. The last two games (coincidentally Big East games), they’ve shot in the 20-30% range from beyond the arc. They continue to play great defense, though they leave too many folks open beyond the arc. Still, when you’re hold opponents to less than 70 points nearly every game, the defense is pretty good. Rebounding continues to be a problem and always will be until some new blood enters the program or Beilein changes philosophy. I don’t look for either one of these things to happen (Beilein’s system doesn’t allow for the easy rebound), so we’re stuck with that.

What a change from the years Gale Catlett ran the old UCLA high post system. Then, we were always looking to power inside and second chances. With Beilein’s system, we shoot the outside shot and hope we hit it. Is it just me or is that philosophy a little flawed? As we saw against Villanova (who got their clock cleaned by Notre Dame proving to all WVU fans that they are not the number one team in the country), we either hit the outside shot against good competition or take a butt whipping. I truly expect more butt whippings on the road in conference play.

Tuesday marks another WVU-Marshall basketball game which is known as the Capital Classic (I’ve seen it spelled ‘capitol’ more than once, thus proving that all those Marshall grads who work for the Charleston papers are here for a reason). By all indications, this should be a blowout with WVU winning by 20, but it won’t. Marshall gets up for these games so much I expect a close game with a possible win by the green clad team.. The scenario goes like this…WVU is still off on their three point efforts (Beilein was notably slowed by his injuries from the Villanova as was Collins, who isn’t much of a factor no matter what—sorry, guys, but I fail to see any value in starting Collins outside of experience. Nichols cleans his clock), and Marshall is shooting lights out. On most nights (especially in the Big East) that would mean a loss for the good guys by 20, but here they lose by 5. Talk about waking up a fan base real quick!

John Beilein and Rich Rodriguez

It's pretty furstrating being a Mountaineer fan for many reasons. Not unlike a lot of team's fans, the very loyal tend to be intolerant of those who question what goes on in the athletic program. The unloyal word comes up and usually morphs into an internet firefight. I want no part of that, but since this is my blog, I'm going to pose some difficult questions that just might be uncomfortable to many of those super fans (as if I'm not).

John Beilein. Never in the history has any coach, with the notable exception of Don Nehlen, been the object of adoration like John Beilein. Beilein came to WVU after many years at lesser schools. I won't go into all of them, but they aren't noted for being national powers. He last coached at Richmond where a common pattern was established. He won over 20 some and he won a lot less mostly. His average was about 17 wins and he was able to get to the "Big Dance" at least once. Beilein gets a lot of respect from his fellow coaches because he's "old school." He plays and demands team ball and uses an old system designed to create back-door cuts and rely heavily on outside shooting. No super atheletes or stars need apply. We're talking team here.

Beilein was hired as a third choice. The first choice among WVU alumni and friends was Bob Huggins, the volatile coach of the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. Huggins has a program that is consistently in the top 20 and playing in the NCAA tournament. He also is a former WVU player and holds two degrees from the school. For one reason or another, Huggins was offered the WVU job but declined (or withdrew from consideration--both stories have legs). Huggins had stated among friends and publicly that the WVU job was his dream job. It will be decades before we really know what happened.

Dan Dakich of Bowling Green was hired, but only stayed on the job a short time after finding several NCAA violations had occurred during the Catlett years. None were major, but Dakich headed back to BG and WVU was still looking for a coach. Enter Beilein with his antique philosophy and strong discipline.

Things started out well for the team. The 8-20 record of the previous season was immediately erased by his first season, a 14-15 record. He followed that up with a 17-14 campaign and an appearance in the NIT where he won two games. All was not well, however. Beilein is a strong advocate of his team ball approach and there were casualties. Most of the team that Catlett had assembled were sent packing. Jonathan Hargett, a blue chip recruit and the focus of the infractions Dakich found was dismissed. Tim Lyles, the other promising point guard was suspended. During the second season, leading scorer Drew Schifano was dismissed from the team for speaking out about playing time. Jay Hewitt, another Catlett recruit quit the team because he had not played one minute through midway in the season. He had started on three occasions at point guard for Catlett's teams. What was this man trying to do? His first recruit was J.D. Collins who no one had heard of. He followed it up with Joe Herber, a German international player who lacked quickness and a consistent shot. he brought in his own son, a dead on shooter with few other skills. Tyrone Shaw, a Catlett holdover, and a few others had to hold down the fort. After the disastrous last year of the Catlett regime, fans were grateful, but his teams still had trouble competing against the talent in the conference. The jury is still out, but the verdict might be a foregone conclusion. Unless Beilein can recruit Big East athletes, it might be a long haul. That appears to be the case as I write this. After compiling a 10-0 non-conference schedule which inclued such powerhouses as Radford and Duquesne, the Mountaineers were embarassed by a talented Villanova team by 38 points on national television. However, the loyal fans really like the fact that he dressed down the students and stressed team over individuals. I'll be anxious to see the reaction as we continue to go through the 2005 Big East schedule. I hope we do well, but I have my doubts.

Rich Rodriguez had Don Nehlen as an act to follow as football coach. It's a hard act and the first season, a miserable 3-8 season didn't do anything to endear him to fans. He has rebounded with a nine and two eight win seasons, but this season proved to be the most frustrating of all. Picked to finish in the top 10 by everyone, the team had chemistry and discipline problems and finished 8-3. It was capped off by the third consecutive double digit bowl loss. The fans are loyal, but it's only a matter of time before his head is called for. Rodriguez seems to be learning on the job. He played a poor passing quarterback who could run this season when it was obvious that we needed a passer to be consistenty winning. He allowed his star receiver to show him up in a game and consistently get one to two personal fouls a game. The team never meshed and what was supposed to be a special season turned into frustration. Stay tuned. This may get interesting.

My opinion? Beilein will continue what he's done other places. He'll recruit sub-par players that won't mess with him and average about 16-17 wins while never challenging for the conference title. The battle cry among supporters is that he doesn't cheat and he's a fine gentleman. Others will want more but will be shouted down by his supporters until he self-destructs like Catlett and we go through the same process again. Rodriguez will continue to recruit well but be weak in organizational skills. He'll continue to make bad decisions and continue to win just enough to keep his big contract. Some school will offer him the world to go someplace else and he'll take it and we'll be looking for a coach.

Ah, life as a Mountaineer fan. It takes no soothsayer to figure this stuff out.

The Life of a Mountaineer Fan

I can first remember going to a West Virginia University football game in 1963. That year all of West Virginia was celebrating 100 years as a state. The WVU football team wasn't the best team in the world, but I was captivated by the atmosphere at Mountaineer Field. WVU was thoroughly beaten by a Navy team led by future Dallas Cowboy star Roger Staubach, but I never forgot that experience.

Back in those days, it took nearly five hours to make the trek from my hometown to Morgantown, but we made the trip several times. Heading to college at West Virginia Tech, my trips were few and far between until 1975 when I resumed going as the purchaser of season tickets. I have been a season ticket holder for the past 28 years rarely missing a game.

You might say that it has been a frustrating 28 years. West Virginia, a poor state with little population and limited opportunity, has always had the problem of fielding a top-notch football program. Although there had been some successes prior to 1980, its teams were rarely ranked by the popular polls and their record was up and down most of the time.

Finally, in 1980, Don Nehlen, an assistant coach at the University of Michigan, was hired to coach and magic happened. In only his second season, Nehlen guided the Mountaineers to 8 regular season wins and a surprise victory in the Peach Bowl over a Florida team who was supposed to kill the Mountaineers in a game in which bettors refused to publish a line. Nehlen stayed on at WVU for 20 mostly winning seasons that included two undefeated regular campaigns.

Still, the lack of population and number of solid Division 1-A football players has hurt the program down through the years. While the team has had its successes, it has fallen short of becoming the every year top team. That will probably be the case for the rest of my lifetime. The Mountaineers are now coached by Rich Rodriguez, a former player at WVU. Although his teams have compiled 25 wins since 2002 and shared the Big East championship for two consecutive years, three nasty bowl defeats have left many wondering if WVU can ever be consistently a top team. We'll discuss this in depth as we go on.

Basketball has a rich heritage at WVU. In the late fifties and throughout the middle sixties, West Virginia was a powerhouse. Home of Hot Rod Hundley, Jerry West, Rod Thorn, Ron Williams, and Wil Robinson, West Virginia was a respected program under coaches Fred Schaus (later coach of the Minneapolis and Los Angeles Lakers), George King, and Bucky Waters.

Gale Catlett, former player with West and Thorn, came on the scene in the late 1970's after a very successful coaching run at the University of Cincinnati. By 1981, Catlett had the team in the 20 win club and continued on for many successful seasons that saw the Mountaineers play in either the NCAA or NIT tournaments. When WVU was admitted to the Big East for the 1995-96 season things changed. Catlett, who had been very successful in the Atlantic Ten Conference found the Big East very difficult. Since that time and until his retirement in 2002, the Mountaineers struggled. With the excpetion of the 1998 Sweet-Sexteen team, the Mountaineers were only average. the team self destructed in 2002, causing Catlett to retire early. After a very difficult search for a coach, John Beilein was hired. Beilein has had little success in the Big East although his 17-14 team of 2004 ended up in the NIT and won two games.

We will explore these two programs in the coming days. It won't be pretty.

Getting Started

Everyone has a blog these days, so why not me? My life (well, most of it anyway) revolves around the Cincinnati Reds, West Virginia University Mountaineer sports, and music. I won't limit myself to one particular kind of music, but I would be foolish to not admit that Southern Gospel Music--that countrified genre made more popular over the last several years by Bill Gaither and his rash of videos and DVDs--was what I was raised on and will be stressed here. Heck, I just might get into real provocative subjects like religion and politics, too. Stay tuned and see.

One last thing...just remember this is one man's opinion. I neither have the power nor do I want the power to make anything that I thing should happen actually happen. Please do not throw rotten eggs or tomatoes. I'm just blowing off steam.