The Shotgun/Throwdown: Thursday (12/9/10) Edition
by WVUIE97 on Dec 9, 2010 9:22 AM EST
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Welcome, By-Godders, to the Shotgun/Throwdown, WVU's nationally recognized best place for sports links, information, sophomoric humor and daily distractions. We're being brought to you today by Very Bad Elf Special Reserve Ale, in honor of the holiday season.
Huggs isn't happy with us. And by "us," I mean the fan-base as a whole. Attendance lately has been, let's call it, "sparse." Of the callers last night on Caridi's show, the most common refrain was the parking situation. Some were put off by the $20 fee, others by the walk (terrain and weather, especially for the older fans and those with children) if you don't get to the Coliseum early enough to get a spot. My situation is this: I have a 2+ hour drive across I-68 through Frostburg/Keyser's Ridge in the winter and during the work week, that just isn't feasible on a regular basis. But because of that, I also don't have season tickets that go un-used. If I was closer, I would have season tickets and I would use them. I want to know your take. Comment below, please.
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What You May Have Missed:
Head Coach Mike Carey - Mountaineer TV
Coach Carey talks about what he expects to see from Villanova during Thursday night's game.
Guard Liz Repella - Mountaineer TV
Liz Repella talks about the challenge Villanova presents for WVU's defense.
VIDEO: No. 9 WVU Women's Basketball Interviews Prior to Big East Opener at Villanova - WVillustrated.com
Coach C, Repella and Ali
Ali in final leg of long, strange journey - Times West Virginian
WVU women to entertain Villanova - Parkersburg News and Sentinel
Football's Grad Rate Recognized - MSNsportsNET.Com
Four Make all-Big East First Team - MSNsportsNET.Com
BIG EAST Announces 2010 Postseason Football Honors - BIG EAST Conference
No major awards, but 11 named to First and Second team All Big East
Bill Stewart: CSB Media Event In Orlando (Audio) - WVMetroNews.com
Stewart talks about the Wolfpack to the Orlando media and what it will be like to play in this bowl game.
Tom O'Brien: CSB Media Event In Orlando (Audio) - WVMetroNews.com
NC State's head coach talks about the Champs Sports Bowl and what he knows about the Mountaineers to the Orlando media.
Football: Champs Sports Bowl Tickets - MSNsportsNET.Com
Football: Alumni Association Travel Packages - MSNsportsNET.Com
Champs Sports Bowl Fan Central
Info page, seating charts, merchandise, discount opportunities, etc.
2010-11 College Football Bowl Travel Guide - One Great Season
Women's Soccer: WVU Earns Final Ranking - MSNsportsNET.Com
The Mountaineers finished with a ranking of No. 13 in the final National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll and was tabbed No. 14 by TopDrawerSoccer.
News of Note:
Huggins Makes Mass Substitution Work - WVillustrated.com
Huggs Views - WVillustrated.com
Huggins on fans: WVU’s program hasn’t arrived yet - Daily Athenaeum
"I've got great respect for the game and the way it's supposed to be played. The 6,334 that showed up deserve a little better," Huggins said. "I think that's what it was. Sorry, the 6,443. I hate to short them."
WVU basketball: Huggins at a loss for words - Charleston Daily Mail
Bob Huggins was bored last night - WVU Sports with Mike Casazza
Huggins calls out absent WVU fans - Charleston Gazette
Photo Gallery IV: WVU vs Robert Morris - BGN
Musings of a Mountain Man: 12/8 - WVillustrated.com
More kudos for WVU defense - Charleston Gazette
Analyzing the All-Big East teams - ESPN
Everyone except the coaches seems to agree Geno should have got the first team QB nod
WVU football: Four Mountaineer defenders earn first-team All-Big East - Charleston Daily Mail
Big East honors WVU's Irvin - Register-Herald
Wrapping up the Big East regular season - ESPN
Only one true winner in Big East - Parkersburg News and Sentinel
Not This Time Notre Dame - WVMETRONEWS.COM
WVU football: Mullen candidate for Kent Sate job - Charleston Daily Mail
WVU offensive coordinator Mullen a candidate at Kent State - PPG
Jeff Mullen a strong candidate at Kent State - 'Eers to the Ground
KSU football coaching search continues; rumor names begin to surface - Recordpub.com
Yes, there IS a chat today at 1 p.m. - 'Eers to the Ground
Recruiting:
Update: JC All-Amer. Chooses WVU - WVMETRONEWS.COM
Florida recruiting will be affected by departure of Urban Meyer - USA Today
Around the League (and Beyond):
Louisville wakes up, rolls over San Francisco - Card Chronicle
61-35
Pitt Vs. Delaware State: Dante Taylor's Big Game Lifts Panthers - Cardiac Hill
70-48
Brawl losses played role in Pitt firing - Times West Virginian
Hertzel Column
Ben Kline Decommits From Pitt: First Shot Is Fired - Cardiac Hill
Things USF and Clemson Players Might Have Received from the Meineke Car Care Bowl - Voodoo Five
Cronin: ‘Rebuilding the program all that matters’ - Cincinnati Enquirer
Marrone Passed Over For Big East Coach Of The Year - Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician
Sources: Rutgers to shake up coaching staff - Metro.us
College basketball, UConn, FDU - Hartford Courant
78-54
UConn football player arrested on child pornography charges - The UConn Blog
Very disturbing news out of Storrs.
Despite career night from Jordan Theodore, Seton Hall falls to Arkansas, 71-62 - Star Ledger
postGame: Villanova 65, Penn 53 - The Nova Blog
Terrence Jones Takes Over, Kentucky Pulls Away From Notre Dame - NCAABB FanHouse
72-58
Dan Mullen and Four Others Who Could Replace Urban Meyer at Florida - NCAAFB FanHouse
College Football Mailbag - Stewart Mandel - SI.com
College Basketball Mailbag - Seth Davis - SI.com
What's On Tap:
Mountaineers to Open BIG EAST Play - MSNsportsNET.Com
No. 9 ranked West Virginia women’s basketball team travels to Villanova to take on the Wildcats in its first BIG EAST game of the season on Thursday night at 7 p.m.
(10) Georgetown Hoyas vs. Temple Owls - ESPN
9 pm tonight from the Licorice Center (not really, it's Liacouras) in Philly on ESPN2.
Video of Interest:
Video of (Dis)Interest:
After seeing the movie, I said I wanted this included in the DVD extras. I just wish you could choose which to watch in regular speed. Somebody must've been sorta listening... (Warning: SPOILERS)
Miss Throwdown:
Today's Miss Throwdown is Sarah James. A lovely gallery awaits those who click on the pic.
Very Bad Elf image via beeradvocate.com
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Anybody else wonder if
This parking thing is a way to force action on a parking garage?
(Kinda like how they cancelled the rifle team, knowing full well the outcry would result in private support of the team and they could get that expense off the books?)
agree with parking issue but---
Parking is a problem and the administration wants to make every penny it can squander from us fans, it is getting ridiculous but expected if ya gonna pay big salary to a coach.
What I don’t get is the quality of some of the recruits. Big guys arent prepared to face up to the basket and be offensive threats, is this Div 1 basketball or single A WV High School B’ball.
and some of those small time high school guys can move and set screens, pass and block out! oh and shoot foul shots at a respectable % !! Guards too slow to play defense or match up to opponents with any size! guard play that is questionable when under pressure…c’mon Huggy you gotta be better than this!
Playn panzy schools at the beginning of season is accepted, you will get litl crowd, then mix bad weather and you get 4-5K thousand attendance.
what I’m afraid of, is that when were halfway through the season and 10- wins 9 losses in 2010-11 season, will there be many fans sitting with me to watch the game, if not, i might be able to bribe a facility security staff member to let me move closer to the action.
Plus I hope Huggy Bear doesn’t lose interest if the fans do!!!
by good ole boy on Dec 15, 2010 2:29 PM EST up reply actions
Huggins stating exactly what I said the other day.
Our fans are not fans of a big-time program. They don’t show up or watch and then cast stones.
That is like not voting and then complaining about what politicians do. Doesn’t make sense
Leave no doubt tonight! Leave no doubt tonight! No doubt! They shouldn't of played the Old Gold'n Blue.
I disagree
Who says these ‘real’ fans aren’t watching on TV? Besides, who cares what they think anyways.
The three main problems, as I see them, are population, tv and ticket prices.
As mentioned below, Morgantown isn’t that big (30,000) and the areas south of Morgantown aren’t that big. For instance, at Indiana, there are 70,000 people in Bloomington then an additional 800,000+ 50 miles north in Indianapolis. At Kentucky there are almost 500,000 in the metro Lexington area. In Cincinnati, where Huggins knows well, the metro population is 2 million. Really, it is a tribute to the fans that so many people came to the game.
In addition, nearly every game is on TV, so when weighing everything, especially a week night game, the thought of just catching it on TV isn’t that bad. I don’t blame them.
Finally, and most importantly, I think you are seeing people hit their max as far as ticket prices go. They will pay 25 bucks to go see UCONN or Pitt, but seeing American or Robert Morris, especially if you are bringing a family of four, it just isn’t worth it.
A few aspects
First, the weather combined with mid-week games makes it tough on anyone nearby.
My thoughts are a bit that Morgantown is a primarily college-age town comprised by what I would guess is in the 80% of the population being students. People don’t graduate and get jobs (in mass) in and around town. They go back home, or somewhere more suited for their skills out of state. So, there isn’t a large population of working adults with the financial means to buy season tickets, pay to park, ect. living around town to sell season tickets to for 18 to 22 home games each year. And students, you know, as much as they are at fault during football season on a saturday, do actually have school crap to do on a tuesday night in December.
When you play twice a week, its tough to expect fans to travel from Charleston, Mt Pleasant, Martingsburg, Pittsburgh, Beckley, ect. 6 or 7 times a month in the poor conditions, with many having jobs to go to the next day, for a 7 or 9pm game. Its not football, and while I see Huggins’ point, its not fair I don’t think to expect it to be.
I don’t have any answers, but I know that the games in January and February that matter are packed. The Georgetowns, the UConns, the Syracuses, the Notre Dames… so expecting basketball fans to show up for American and Robert Morris in the same numbers and with the same intensity is also a bit wishful thinking. And perceptions about the program compared to other schools needs to be left at the door. There’s about 4 schools where basketball is a sellout every night (Duke, Kansas, UNC, Mich State), and 300 others that wish they were in our shoes.
I can tell you that I saw Carolina play in December of their ‘05 Championship season agaisnt Southern Cal, and the Dean Dome was not filled. I’ve also been a December UK game against High Point, and Rupp was not filled.
If I lived in town, I would go to every game, as would many people. But that’s the problem, there just aren’t a lot of people.
RE:A Few Aspects
I agree. Surely the school sees a need for a parking garage. It’s “dog eat dog” to get out of that parking lot. I am unsure the “cost” is the entire concern for everyone. We all bucked up when football tickets went up. I think we just want our money’s worth in today’s economy. I agree attendance will rise when we get into Conference play, etc. I personally am not going to take a “chance” on the weather during the week to watch them play Walsh.
Perfect Storm
Attendance was poor and I understand the desire to play in front of a packed house every night but a lot of things lined up poorly for WVU: Tuesday game, Believe it is Finals Week, Poor Opponent, Questionable Weather, Holiday Season/Obligations. Huggs needs to accept it is going to happen occasionally. He doesn’t have to like it but should accept it.
I have tickets and a parking pass and live two hours away. I could not go to a game during the week without the pass as most times I have to drop passengers at gate and then park and may or may not make the tip. We had family obligations and could not make the game. I tried for two days to give away the tickets and could not find anyone that was willing to go. If Huggs is using this as leverage to increase parking, then use it. Otherwise know this is going to occur some games. Tickets are paid for and the contributions have been made. Similarly, why else have a mid season exhibition game other than as a revenue boost?!
I had season tickets last year when I lived in Morgantown
And we went to every game, except for one that was two days before Christmas. I really enjoyed the games, even against the cupcake schools. Since I moved to Charleston in the spring, it’s just not feasible to make the trip to the mid-week games. I wish I could, but there’s just no way.
by Mountain Mama on Dec 9, 2010 1:30 PM EST via mobile reply actions
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