West Virginia fans were over "the school down south" the second that game ended. The school down south, on the other hand, is still not over the fact that they, yet again, got embarrassed by the Mountaineers.
Marshall's season ended with a sound defeat at the hand of the Mountaineers. Prime example of this fact is Saturday's game at "The Joan" brought in an eye popping 18,800 "fans." Rumor out of Huntington, however, is that there were actually only 9,400 fans in the stands, but everyone was so fat they had to be counted as two people.
So why am I talking about Marshall if we were over them a few weeks back? Well, my friends, Chuck Landon is at it again, and I just could not let his idiocy continue....
The Tuesday after the WVU game, Chuck Landon wrote an article in the Herald-Dispatch titled, "Fact is, Mountaineer athletics are subsidized". In it, he shows his journalistic chops by "proving" WVU's athletic department receives state funds. His "proof" is simply Pastilong's words in a deposition from the Fraud case. He does no other research and basically calls all WVU fans, and our AD, liars.
Immediately after the above article was published, a WVU athletic department official contacted Landon to tell him he was a complete moron [ed. I wish we all could do that.]. They explained to him what Pastilong meant by "state funds" in his deposition. In response to that call, Chuckie writes what is supposed to be a retraction of his first article, but instead just goes further in showing his idiocy.
You see, when most of us read or hear about state funds, we think of tax-based funding from the state of West Virginia.
But that's not what Pastilong meant.
Instead, he was referring to money WVU generates from ticket sales, BCS revenue, television contracts, other bowl revenue, etc.
Since WVU is a state agency, it is required to deposit that money into state accounts. But that money doesn't actually go to the state. Instead, the state allows WVU to keep the "state funds" it generates in order to support the athletic department.
So far, so good in the retraction department. While he does not admit that he was wrong, he does finally state real facts about the situation. After this, however, is when the train flies off the tracks.
Just because WVU chooses to force its athletic department to be self-supporting doesn't give the Mountaineers the right to hold other schools accountable while negotiating game contracts.
Yet, that's precisely what Pastilong did recently.
He explained that any contract extension of the WVU-Marshall football series had to be a 2-for-1 because, "We are a self-supporting athletic department. We must have seven home football games and anything else would endanger us sustaining our financial stability."
Um, Mr. Landon, are you a jackass? Rhetorical question, of course.
WVU is not holding anyone else "accountable" for its choice to be self supporting. It is holding itself accountable for this choice. It is taking a hard line stance by saying we need to pay the bills, and the only way we can do this is by having seven home football games.
Marshall didn't force the Mountaineer athletic department to be self-supporting.
WVU's own administration did that.
It was self-inflicted.
Self-inflicted? We did not throw a shoe at ourselves. We simply made the decision to not take a hand out from the state.
So, how can WVU reasonably ask Marshall to accept unrealistic terms just because the Mountaineer athletic department is forced to be self-supporting?
It can't.
Not reasonably.
Yet, that is what WVU is trying to do.
Reasonable? Chuck, you wouldn't know reasonable if it came up behind you and cut off your mullett.
The fact that we are self supporting is not the only reason we want a 2-for-1. You are forgeting the fact that Marshall has yet to beat WVU. You are forgeting fact that Marshall has yet to play another school of WVU's caliber on its home field on a 1-for-1 basis. Not to mention the fact that WVU needs a good strength of schedule because "WE PLAY FOR CHAMPIONSHIPS."
If WVU's athletic department wants to be self-supporting, more power to them. It is an admirable distinction.
But there is nothing admirable about WVU trying to force Marshall to accept an unreasonable series extension just to help the Mountaineers' finances.
But it is alright for WVU fans to help Marshall sell more season tickets than ever before? Hypocritical? The sad thing is, Marshall athletics could not survive without tax money from WVU fans.
If WVU's athletic department needs some fiscal relief, Pastilong needs to talk to school president James Clements.
It isn't Marshall's concern.
Aww Chuckie, aren't you cute. Standing up to big bad WVU. I hope your AD continues his stance because the Marshall series does nothing for either team or the state.
The state would have "new" money coming to town if both WVU and Marshall had home games. Any money generated by a continuation of the WVU vs. Marshall would have been spent in either Morgantown or Huntington on gamedays. Having two sets of opposing fans traveling into our great state would generate more revenue for the state.
WVU gets downgraded on SOS, loses money because our fans care more about Liberty than Marshall (see attendance), and we have to worry about cheap shots from their no class players.
Marshall can not beat WVU, they then get sad and eat their feelings causing them to be the fattest city in the US.
It is time for both teams to move on and admit that Marshall is the best commuter school in the state and WVU is THE flagship University for the greatest state in Union.