Classic Blunder #2

by Dr. Charley West on Apr 8, 2008 12:19 PM EDT

You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this:

Don't ever tell me what I am thinking. If you turn out to be right, it just annoys the shit out of me. If you're wrong, like this gentleman is, you make me want to punch you straight in the throat.

Borton's Blog: The rich get richer through Rich

We're already off to a rising start with this amazingly clever title. Tell me, Dickens, just how do you do it?

Back in Morgantown, they're still writing columns about the one that got away. They're forcing Rita Rodriguez to speak up and remind the locals of where they were and where they are, and why they ought to be proud of, rather than revile, her husband. All the while, Michigan fans continue to smile.

No. No No No No No. No.

Trust me, no one is forcing Rita Rodriguez to speak. To be honest, we'd be glad if Rita Rodriguez just went away. Forever.

And why are Michigan fans smiling? They don't have a QB, their offensive line is quitting because they hate the coaching staff, and they're holding their spring game at a high school stadium. If you replaced "continue to smile" with "search for the cyanide pills," you might be a little closer.

No, Michigan fans are smiling because they have what somebody else wanted – badly. Take the head football coaches out of Navy, Ohio U. and UTEP, put them in Ann Arbor, and nobody's wailing – except for Michigan football fans, that is. No matter how good the new boss turned out to be, he wasn't a smokin' hot commodity at the time of purchase.

Rich Rodriguez is precisely that – and West Virginia fans know it. Sure, they're still steamed about Pitt, and murmuring to each other in the evening chill around the still that Michigan now has a coach on a losing streak. But they know. And they ache.
When I ache, I take Ben Gay. Usually, it happens after I play basketball or fall off my roof. But I certainly don't ache about how a coach with a playbook more predictable than the sunrise left my school.

The same thing happened in basketball, before Prof. Bob Huggins came back home and took a John Beilein-recruited roster into the Sweet 16. You don't hear much from the Mountaineer basketball faithful anymore, except when it comes to the notion that they got the better end of the deal (check back in five years for a genuine assessment).

You're an idiot. We got the better end of the deal.

Deep down, those around West Virginia football know all too well what Rodriguez did for them. They know what he can do. They know what Calvin Magee, the other transplanted assistants, Mike Barwis, etc., can and will do in Ann Arbor.

You laud Calvin Magee now. But just wait until, in the Ohio State game, none of his playcalls get to the field. Just wait until Rodriguez vetoes every single imaginative play with the same boring nothingness. Then you'll see why we're not "aching."

That probability makes them sick, even while Wolverine watchers smile in anticipation. Michigan got what somebody else desperately wanted to have, what most programs ardently wished to attain.

It's not business as usual in the hiring process on State Street these days. How soon that affects business in The Big House remains to be seen, but they won't be hosting any Band Days to try and boost attendance in the meantime. And yes, the miserable in Morgantown will be adjusting the rabbit ears to catch Big Ten scores more than they ever have before.
I looked up "miserable in Morgantown" in the dictionary and this is what I found:

Fiesta Bowl Champions

NCAA Sweet 16

Top WR recruit in the country (along with #21 QB)

Pat White and Noel Devine

The PRT

How will we ever get through life?

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I love the PRT.

by Hamhands on Apr 8, 2008 12:30 PM EDT reply actions

I have a friend who is a Michigan fan, he told me that through is contacts, the shine, the new car smell, the love affair has dwindled so much that if pulls a 4-8 or 3-9, something pathetic this year, he very well might get kicked to the curb.

I used to Respect Michigan. Now I hate Michigan almost as much as I do, Pitt, Notre Dame, and the ACC. I have more respect for Ohio State, which isn’t a lot, than I do Michigan.

As for the basketball comments, I would like to think that with the track record that Belein had as to his length of stay at each program, most WVU fans knew he was a carpetbagger and wasn’t staying. I for one was not surprised at all.

by BurghMountaineer on Apr 8, 2008 1:09 PM EDT reply actions

Did Rodriguez write that blog? Only he could come up with that dribble about himself. It also had some very fimine undertones and the sound of a man who’s brain has been forever damaged by hair plugs.

by chuckzub on Apr 8, 2008 1:40 PM EDT reply actions

Oh yea, charlie, are you sicilian? cause if you are, i believe death may be on the line.

by chuckzub on Apr 8, 2008 1:43 PM EDT reply actions

Inconceivable!!!!!!

by WVUIE97 on Apr 8, 2008 2:29 PM EDT reply actions

The article is pointless dribble by a guy who obviously needed to write a story and couldn’t come up with a legit topic. But, if you’ve read Laise over at the WVU rivals counterpart, you know that journalistic ability is not at the top of the rivals job requirements.

However, I am getting annoyed by the knee-jerk reactions of WVU fans who let their anger blind them to the fact the Rodriguez was a good coach. I’m not defending him bailing or the manner in which it has played out, but you can’t laud the football team’s recent successes and bash Rod’s coaching out the other side of your mouth.

WVU football is a better program because of his tenure, and that fact is indisputable. It remains to be seen if his success will translate to Michigan. Bash the guy for his ethics, but I’m calling for a cease-fire on attacking his football cred.

by EchoWhiskey on Apr 8, 2008 2:59 PM EDT reply actions

Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.

by 2000Grad on Apr 8, 2008 3:29 PM EDT reply actions

I <3 the PRT

by Chris on Apr 8, 2008 4:56 PM EDT reply actions

Fezzik: You never said anything about killing anyone.
Vizzini: I’ve hired you to help me start a war. It’s an prestigious line of work, with a long and glorious tradition.
Fezzik: I just don’t think it’s right, killing an innocent girl.
Vizzini: Am I going MAD, or did the word “think” escape your lips? You were not hired for your brains, you hippopotamic land mass.
Inigo Montoya: I agree with Fezzik.
Vizzini: Oh, the sot has spoken. What happens to her is not truly your concern. I will kill her. And remember this, never forget this: when I found you, you were so slobbering drunk, you couldn’t buy Brandy!
[turning to Fezzik]
Vizzini: And you: friendless, brainless, helpless, hopeless! Do you want me to send you back to where you were? Unemployed in Greenland!

by Cinny on Apr 8, 2008 6:28 PM EDT reply actions

All you need to know how objective this piece is to look at the site it is written for: wolverine (a.k.a. “massive weasel”) .com. He is obviously putting the best face possible (not Rita’s!) on the situation.

As for Mr. Rodriguez (he lost the right to the title “Coach” when he left the team before the bowl game…) I thank him for keeping WVU in the national picture, but wish he’d just pay the $4M and get it over with..

by 1981_WVU_EE on Apr 8, 2008 6:45 PM EDT reply actions