This shows a level of insincerity, dishonesty, and incompetence that must not go unpunished. It’s embarrassing that Stew cannot, on his own, defend his playcalling and must resort to canned questions and answers. And shame on Caridi for participating in it. Stew must be pretty comfortable with the the situation to so blatantly tell Caridi- on tape and in front of the media- to ask this question. Apparently, Stew realizes how f***ed he is, so we are now treated to pretend press conferences to go along with pretend coaching. I’M DONE- I cannot support this bozo any longer.

You accidentally called Tony Cardi a journalist in this blog entry.

A make-believe press conference for a joke of a coach, this doesn’t surprise me one bit, I knew this idiot never had the capabilities to handle anything that goes along with being a coach. Way to participate Caridi, boner. This is just a fucking shame.

Nice work Charley, but can we start to weigh the blog topicsa little more in the direction of the #9 team in the nation in hoops, and a real coach. I thought I saw Huggins do this same set up to Caridi last year after the Dayton loss, “Ask me why Rouff can’t shoot worth a shit, ask me….”

Bearcats lol, you are still around, that’s great, you are a comical little douche, I am beginning to like having you around. Congrats on your 6 point win over Prairie View the other night.

what a joke.

that was a joke!! You’re going to ban a post due to a joke???

When they bring you up, stage whisper “Ask me about the kickoffs. Kickoffs”

I can’t find a problem in any of this. Some people are assuming that Ciardi was put in that seat just so Coach Stewart could have him ask this question. What would be the point? What’s gained by doing it that way? If it were planned ahead of time, why would Coach Stewart have to ask so specifically for that question?

The question about the kick-off problem was certainly something worth asking. I know that I was asking about it when I was watching the game. I can’t claim to know what was actually happening, but if I were to guess, I’d go along with the idea that Coach Stewart meant to talk about it in opening remarks and forgot, so this was the equivalent of saying, “Remind me to talk about the kick-off situation.”

I’d bet that just about any regular sportswriter in the room would have been willing to do that, but if Coach Stewart remembered it at that point, the natural person to ask is the one sitting in that spot. I can’t find a trace of disrespect, and if some of the other writers actually are getting upset, what they should be asking is, “Why hadn’t I already asked Coach Stewart about the kick-offs?”

Oh, and the part about this isn’t how a press conference works is quite bogus. This isn’t an inquisition, a matter of constitutional rights or even parliamentary procedure. This is a chance for the coach and the writers to get together and exchange information so those reporters can write their stories.

Was Coach Stewart trying to hide something or refusing to talk? No, he has always been one of the most forthright coaches in the game and a friend to press and fans. Was this some soft question posed to make Coach Stewart look good? No, it was a question about a mistake the coach made and a chance to stand up there and take responsibility for what went wrong.

Some people just like to gripe, and some people have short fuses, shorter some days than others. Luckily Coach Stewart isn’t such a person.

What a goofball. It cracks me up the way he thinks he’s a PR genius. This one was even better than the “lubricate the world” speech.

I saw a link to this conversation on Twitter and wanted to add some information.

The reason I was sitting in front this week was because Greg Hunter was unable to attend. He prints the Blue & Gold News on Monday and the press conference normally takes place on Tuesday. That’s also why Greg doesn’t appear on Sportsline on Monday nights. I sat in front to tape the press conference for use on the show.

Before the press conference I asked Stew what had happened on those two kickoffs that resulted in penalties. He said I wasn’t alone and he wanted to talk about it during his press conference.

I forgot to ask and he remembered that he wanted to talk about it. That’s when you see him asking me to ask him about it.

I agree it does look weird….but that’s the background on how and why that happened.

Just wanted to give you some info.

Thanks,

Tony C

Actually, “all we could do was speculate” is a poor excuse. First, there’s asking for additional information before speculating. Second, there’s always the option to keep quiet. There was no need for anyone to rush off and post about something so utterly minor, and much of the speculation was quite absurd when compared to any rational consideration of what evidence we did have. Those who kept claiming that it was planned were either choosing to be disruptive for the sake of it or were just plain silly. That’s why I decided against option B (keeping quiet).

And yes, the original posting here did jump to very poor conclusions as well as acting to stir others into doing the same. Unless stirring the pot was the reason for the post, then it’s simply poor quality writing with no reason to exist. It comes under the heading of just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
Forrest D. Poston

You fail to mention that you also claimed that that Stewart attempted to make the exchange in secret, an absurd assertion given the visual and auditory evidence. You also claim that Ciardi was planted, which was an unfounded assumption that has turned out to be false.

To top it off, you phrase one of your later posts as “Tony’s explanation is certainly plausible”. Using the word plausible hints at disbelief, and based on the rest of your writing appears to be an attempt to further create controversy out of thin air by suggesting that Mr. Ciardi isn’t telling the truth.

Sorry if you don’t like having people take the time to clearly point out the problems in your writing, but that’s the risk you take by posting and by writing in such a way that things need to be pointed out.

Forrest D. Poston

Yes, I am, as well as being a fan of the entire state of WV despite some of what they do. In various places, I think I’ve used “Mr. Ciardi”, “Tony Ciardi”, and perhaps, “Ciardi”. I generally believe in being polite and granting some degree of polite respect unless someone has done something to lose that degree of respect.

Forrest D. Poston

My apologies to Mr. Caridi for getting it jumbled.

Forrest D. Poston

Forrest, you write like someone has annointed you the patron saint of internet blogs. We get it. You think you are more intelligent than anyone on the internet. Well done. It was a legitimate post to place on a blog, and perfectly OK to question why a head coach of a major university would whisper to a semi-journalist (the teams radio play by play man at that) what question to ask him next. It looks, and is, inappropriate, based even on the perception that he planted him there. As far as you showing up on EVERY site to ramble and lecture like a self-indulged, arrogant Keith Olbermann, most people see you for what you are…an insecure loser whose depth of arrogance is only matched by his depth of low self-esteem. So please..for the sake of normal people everywhere..STFU.

Sincerely,

Me

It’s always impressive when someone responds with such bitterness and complete lack of content when I’ve taken the time to write cohesive statements that clearly point out the fallacies of previous statements. It’s unfortunate that some people feel that an emotionally based attack is an appropriate response.

I have responded to this absurdity on multiple boards because it has been perpetrated on multiple boards. Every once in a while someone has to take time to stand up for reason and ethics even knowing that others will take cheap shots.

Forrest D. Poston

Yeah…yeah..yeah Forrest D. Poser, I’m sure journalists, many who have covered WVU football for years, would know a weird incident when they see one. You are arrogant, hyper-sensitive, and annoying as hell. You strive to sound smart, and I’m sure in your head you’ve built yourself up as a genius, but reality is a lot more cruel. I don’t think Caridi was “in” on any weird conspiracy. I think they discussed the kickoff coverage before the press conf., and then Stewart made an uncomfortable reminder to Caridi to ask about it during the press conf. I think Stewart put Caridi in a bad spot. It just shows how Stewart is not cut out to be the head coach at a major university.He is a joke. If this were done after a loss by Urban Meyer, Charlie Weis, Pete Carroll, etc., you don’t think local reporters and probably the national media wouldn’t write about it? You are not the standard bearer of “ethics and reason” on internet blogs. You talk about “emotionally based attacks”, yet I’ve seen your condescending posts on different message boards on a range of topics, under the guise of “helping” people with their writing and ethics. Along with your one friend, your family, and most likely any woman you’ve ever met, count me as another person who thinks you are a self-righteous, intolerable asshole.

P.S.-How was that for an emotionally based attack?

It was about on a par with what I would expect.

For me this blog is about entertainment…I spend a few minutes most days reading it to get my jollies…so I appreciate seeing this kind of stuff, reading the rumors, etc. Most of this stuff can’t be had on Sports Center where they need to worry about legal crap and sponsors.

So thanks Charley for bringing this idiot’s press conference to our attention. If he really wanted to talk about the 2 kickoff penalties he (Stewart) could have brought it up himself at any time. He didn’t need the sham of having Caridi ask the question, as though it caught him unrehearsed. Unrehearsed press conference example is Charlie Coles lambasting the stupid reporter who asked him “how did you let the UK game get away?”

So, now that I’ve caught my breath, I’m seriously wondering if the exchanges between Dr. Charley West, Forrest D. Posten and MGA (above) were legitimate or scripted, because I couldn’t stop laughing. You guys were better than Jesse (the Body) Ventura and Vince McMahon doing WWF/WWE play by play. Posten (oops, sorry, Mr. Posten) makes a valid point about the “speculative” nature of this post, the accusation of a “conspiracy” and proceeds to stir the pot by accusing Dr. West of “stirring the pot”, and Dr. West’s head nearly explodes. MGA (Rowdy Roddy Piper) joins in with the verbal smackdown of Mr. Posten. Okay, gentlemen, come clean with us…please. Was this blog scripted?