Big Things Poppin’

Yeah, that’s T.I. on the left.  You know what it is.

[courtesy of the Boston Globe]

Let’s Give This “Basketball School” Thing A Try

Football?  What’s football?

Comment away.

War Damn Mountaineers!

Late in the second quarter, just before Pat White threw the touchdown pass to Alric Arnett, the WVU offense changed.  Down 17-3, this team (and the staff) had a choice: score points or pack up the season.  From my seat, you could almost see the exact moment it happened.  A four play, 78 yard touchdown drive in just 1:31.  It was like the Mountaineer offense of old: just plain dangerous.  And with that drive, this team bid adieu to whatever offense was trying to score points in the first six games.  From here on out, the show is back in Morgantown, and I can only think of one thing to say…

Watch.  Out.

Holy Fucking Shit That Felt Good

One game, makes you sit up and take notice. Two games, gives you a big’ol chubber. The third game, we perform as we did last night and we are back.

While last night’s performance was huge for this team, we need to temper our excitement and remember it was only one game. We looked pretty damn solid but we are still learning and that should scare the shit out of teams in the Big East. The bandwagon is a little more crowded this afternoon so welcome back my friends.

Villanova Highlights: “Put On”

[Thanks, as always, to Dougity Dog]

Stargate 2008

The title of this article does not reflect my love for science fiction movies that are eventually made into TV shows. No, no, and no. Rather, it is in reference to our recruiting haul so far this season. While we have not been scoring 5 star guys like Heastie and Boyd, the depth and potential we are collecting is unheard of for WVU at this point. We willland at least 4 more 4 or 5 star guys by signing day.

Next Time, Take Some Pride In Your Work

In what might just perfectly sum up the West Virginia University experience, I give you this beer pong table.

Basically, if you encapsulated all of my hopes and dreams into a piece of particle board and 2 by 4s, you would end up with this beer pong table.

In other news, this table is almost enough reason to actually party with engineering students. Almost. Nice try nerds.

PS: Props for Flo Rida.

PPS: If you can do the same thing, except with a naked woman instead of the flying WV, call me at 293-2821.

WVU and Sweet 16 — Like Lamb and Tuna Fish

– Oh, yes. They make terrific pair. They went together like lamb and tuna fish
– Lamb and tuna fish?
– Maybe you like spaghetti and meatball? You more comfortable with that analogy?

Actually, I like lamb and tuna fish, so we’re sticking with that.

WVU is back in the Sweet 16 for the third time in four years. It’s becoming a March tradition. The only blemish on that statistic is 2007, a year in which we won the NIT. Not the greatest parting gift, but it could have been worse.

We’re accomplishing this feat with two different coaches and two very, very different playing styles. Most people wrote 2005 and 2006 off as a Pittsnogle anomaly. Obviously, that’s not the case.

So, it begs the question, are we now a Sweet 16 fixture?

Screenshots of BCS Awesomeness

It’s A Great Night To Be A Mountaineer!

There are too many words to properly express what happened tonight. This is one of the greatest nights in Mountaineer history. It would be silly of us to make any judgments on our coaching situation tonight. Let’s just enjoy the day, night, game, etc. Truly amazing.

Trust me — tomorrow — we’ll have plenty of words. Tonight? We have only this…

Let’s Go……..Mountaineers!

PS: Your thoughts in the comments….

[Photo courtesy of SI.com]

We Play A Mean Game Of Roundball

Stiles, our resident basketball expert, will check in periodically with his thoughts on the season. Luckily for you, this is one of those times. 

I can’t take it anymore. Somebody wake me up when the new coach is hired. I’m too preoccupied with this upcoming test for the basketball team against Oklahoma.

With Charley and 5th Year playing the role of Woodward and Bernstein, let’s take a look at the upcoming showdown…

Since the narrow loss to Tennessee, the Mountaineer basketball team has been a juggernaut. This has included blowing out teams left and right, featuring decent Auburn and Duquesne teams. With these blowouts, three positive trends have emerged during the stretch. They are (in no particular order):

Holy Shit We’re Good — Basketball Edition

Stiles, our resident basketball expert, will check in periodically with his thoughts on the season. Lucky you, this is one of those times.

Yeah, so, it might be time to revisit my preseason prediction (insert link) for the basketball team. Why? Because the last two games have shown me that WVU is for real this year.

As you could see I thought this team could be pretty good, but I didn’t think they could be this good. I don’t even know where to start, but let’s go…

Terrelle Pryor Should Get Used To This

Didn’t think the hype machine would start a week early? Thought the mainstream media might wait a week until the BCS National Championship game was officially set? Well, you were wrong. The hype, or as I like to call it, “The 2007-2008 West Virginia Kicks Ass In Recruiting For The Next Decade Tour, presented by Tostitos,” has begun in earnest.

Here, as exhibits A, B, and C, I present to you the front pages of ESPN, Yahoo, and SI.

Remember, we have over a month of this. Yay!

“Chill Son” Returns To Mountaineer Field

From time to time, we at WBGV bitch and moan about the current state of WVU’s fan-base. Not because we don’t have a great one, because we do. We just expect perfection from our fans, and attaining perfection is a little easier said than done. It is nice, then, to be reminded just how fucking awesome Mountaineer fans really are. Enter Shawn Courchesne, UConn beat reporter for the Hartford Courant. Mr. Courchesne got to experience Mountaineer Field in all its glory Saturday, and let’s just say he came away impressed:

It was there standing on the field that I experienced something amazing. I knew things were different in Morgantown before the game when the place was 95 percent full 15 minutes before kickoff. I knew this was truly the experience of big time college football.

But the post game just solidified that fact even more.

No matter how hokey one might think John Denver’s “Country Roads” might be, it was just absolutely amazing to stand on that field and listen to a stadium that size recite the song in unison. There we were, the game over, and there had to still be 50,000 people who weren’t going anywhere.

On Nov. 17 there wasn’t even reason for UConn players to take a victory lap at Rentschler Field after beating Syracuse to finish off a perfect 7-0 home record this season. There was virtually nobody left in Rentschler by the time the game was over.

And yet here there were more then 50,000 fans who stuck around not only until the end, but long after the end of a game that was basically over midway through the third quarter Saturday in Morgantown.

This was what big time college football is about.

I think the last time that I felt those kind of chills after a sporting event was as I stood in the Hartford Civic Center after the final Hartford Whalers game.

Simply, it was a stunning experience like no other I’ve seen in two years covering the UConn football team.

If that doesn’t send chills down your spine, I don’t know what will. So, in closing, we will remember to take stock of just how great West Virginia fans are just a little more often. Because, as you can see, we’re pretty awesome.

Dare I Say It?

You’ll get the full rundown later this morning, but for now, I have just one thing on my mind…