Q&A Podcast With Roll 'Bama Roll
by WVUIE97 on May 21, 2012 10:21 AM EDT
in Staring Down The Musket At...
With the announcement of the 2014 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic game between Alabama and West Virginia to be played in Atlanta, the fine folks over at Roll 'Bama Roll were kind enough to include me on their podcast this past weekend for a Q&A session. With the timing of the podcast, we were also fortunate enough to discuss the new Big 12/SEC Champions Bowl (or whatever it will be called). Nick Saban was a big point of discussion, his ties to West Virginia and WVU, whether he is The Bear 2.0, why he's the reason I'm a blogger right now and more. We also managed to fit in a few questions regarding the whole conference realignment saga, scheduling, recruiting and Missouri. There's even a fashion segment centering around 5th Year Senior's blue and gold houndstooth pants. We have approximately an hour's worth of listening for you, either by direct MP3 DOWNLOAD or the widget below. Thanks again to Roll 'Bama Roll for taking the time to talk to us and setting up the podcast!!
8 commentsWVU Baseball Coach Greg Van Zant Not Retained
In a move that really shouldn't surprise anyone, AD Oliver Luck has made the decision to replace baseball coach Greg Van Zant. With the impending move to the Big 12 where baseball may be regarded ahead of even basketball, and it's a sport that has struggled at WVU, improvements to the program were blatantly necessary. The first move to improve the situation has just been made. A national search is now underway. Now, about those facilities...
If you haven't noticed, the top level of college football is now narrowed to the Big Four – Pac-12, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC. Those 48 schools control most of the influence, power, money and, most importantly, product in the Football Bowl Subdivision."
Big 12 And SEC Announce Major Bowl Partnership
The Big Ten and Pac-12 aren't the only major football conferences with official buddies now. The SEC and Big 12 have linked arms -- setting up a "new January bowl tradition," as Mike Slive calls it -- pairing their conference champions or runners-up beginning in 2014.
While SEC and Big 12 champs missing the playoffs would be a very, very rare event, the importance here is that the two have effectively created another Rose Bowl, and one that would quite often trump the Granddaddy, at least in terms of highly-ranked football teams. It also creates a very clearly defined upper tier in college football, with everyone from the ACC on down all but walled off from the highest level.
Follow the header link for more info on this awesome development.
The Shotgun/Throwdown: Friday (5/18/12) Edition
by WVUIE97 on May 18, 2012 11:18 AM EDT
in Shotgun/Throwdown
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 Hofbräuhaus, where the food is great and the beer is better.
Today we have reactions to the Bama game, Ollie isn't going anywhere and the basketball coaches are interviewed. Athlon is also heavily featuring WVU today. All of this and more. Sorry for the delay. Have a great weekend.
WVU vs. Alabama To Open 2014 Football Season
by WVUIE97 on May 17, 2012 6:38 PM EDT
in Mountaineer Football
Just when we thought the offseason was going to be boring:
WVU v. Alabama to kick off 2014 season is "in the works." Requires some juggling on WVU's end to make it official.
— Mike Casazza (@mikecasazza) May 17, 2012
The juggling he's referring to is WVU likely dropping a home game, perhaps ECU or Maryland (not necessarily dropping, but deferring). While this would normally mean a monetary loss, if this does pan out as a Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta, the normal $2M home take would be offset by a $3.1M payout, if past numbers hold true. The other possibility being bandied about on Twitter is the possibility of Big 12 expansion and less league games, making the juggling a bit simpler. Time will tell.
This game has the possibility of being absolutely juicy. Holgorsen vs. Saban. Holgorsen's offense vs. Saban's defense, both with the summer to prepare. The possibilities are endless and almost too fun to think about. Ollie, let's get this done!!
UPDATE: Apparently, it's going to happen:
This WVU v. Alabama thing is basically done done. I'm told the juggling is finished and the one 2014 opponent has disappeared.
— Mike Casazza (@mikecasazza) May 17, 2012
ZOMG!!!
UPDATE 2: It's OFFICIAL NOW
Military Veterans: What's Your Favorite Sports Memory From Deployment?
Mountaineer Veterans, Matt Ufford is looking for your help/input (we'd love to see your stories too):
Memorial Day is looming, and SB Nation's YouTube channel wants to honor veterans with an original video. And if you served overseas, we want your help: we're seeking video of veterans talking about their favorite sports memories while deployed.
It can be anything: how you learned who won the World Series, watching the Super Bowl at 3 a.m., playing soccer with Iraqi kids -- whatever sports memory that has stuck with you through the years. Tell us how you felt, what the atmosphere was like, why it mattered to you.
No need for fancy production: webcams are fine, and you can upload it to twitvid or YouTube and tweet it at me, or email me the video file. Please include your name, your service, and the years you served.
Thanks, and we look forward to sharing your memories.
What's Your Mountaineer 30 For 30
by JohnRadcliff on May 16, 2012 1:00 PM EDT
in Mountaineer Football
ESPN announced it will do another set of 30 For 30 documentaries. They already have a few subjects lined up like Bo Jackson, the 1983 NC State basketball team, and one called "Broke" about athletes that lost their fortune. Looking at all the great stories they put together for the first round of 30 for 30's, you'd think the announcement to do more would be followed by "duh".
So what about West Virginia University? What story would you want them to tell? Would you want it to center around an icon like Jerry West, or a team like the 2005 Mountaineer football team?
One that lives with me is the 1984 football team. It's one of my favorite years of WVU football. In a way, if you've read Waiting for the Fall by Mike Casazza, it fits the theme perfectly. Jeff Hostetler was gone and expectations were not as high for Kevin White, but they beat Penn State for the first time in 28 years. They took out Boston College and Heisman winner Doug Flutie. They beat Pitt, Virginia Tech, and everyone else but Maryland (Damn you Frank Reich!). They were ranked higher than I had ever seen them. Then lost the last three games of the regular season to teams they should have beat. Depth was an issue, and when key starters went down the season fell apart.
I throw it out there because I doubt it would be in most people's top five or maybe ten. Beating TCU was a sweet end to a roller coaster ride of a season, though. What's your Mountaineer 30 for 30?
