John Raese Will Double Down On Stupidity

In some ways, I'm really happy that there hasn't been much discussion about the ongoing legal issues between John Raese and the WVU athletic department on this site. It's the sad, shady side of college athletics that takes away from all that is good about sports. Sports are and should always be a break from reality. A means to leave behind all the stress and anxiety we subject ourselves to during the week for the all mighty dollar.

Mickey Furfari and Bob Hertzel have both alluded to a simpler time in college sports when the outcome on the field was more important than the income off of it in recent weeks. The truth is, they aren't wrong. At least if you put your blinders on and don't pay attention to the forces that drive college athletics. I know it's strange coming from me, but there is a lot of wisdom in what they preach. I have to acknowledge that, because it's the right thing to do. Especially when I spend so much time ripping Mickey for not presenting the full picture in his articles.

But I'm also a firm believer that you don't do anything halfway. That's why I've given a lot of support to Oliver Luck and what he is doing to try to maximize revenue for WVU's athletic department. Has he made mistakes along the way? Absolutely! But he's also proven time and again that he is dedicated to making WVU competitive on a national level. He saw the writing on the wall his first day as athletic director. He knew the Big East was on life support and that if you weren't one of the "haves" in the five power conferences you would be a have not. He set out to put WVU with the haves and he accomplished that goal by delivering us to the Big 12. But in order to be competitive in the Big 12, it takes money and a way of doing things we aren't used to seeing.

That makes some people uncomfortable and they start to long for the way things used to be and how much simpler everything was. That's also where John Raese comes in with his never ending battle to turn back the clock. We've been over a lot of this and my feelings about John Raese, Mike Parsons, and Ed Pastilong are laid out as best as I could ever formulate them. But after everything that has transpired, John Raese still feels it's in his best interest to double down on everything he's done in the past in the hopes that all of his lies are spoken so many times that they become the truth.

At some point today, a ruling is expected on West Virginia Radio Corporation's motion to void WVU's contract with IMG for tier 3 media rights. I'll try to update as that ruling becomes available. Although it's hard to imagine that WVRC will get a favorable ruling, that didn't stop Raese from penning a full page open letter to WVU president E. Gordon Gee yesterday in the hopes of winning in the court of public opinion.

In that open letter is included a cartoon figure of Oliver Luck holding a pennant with "Oliver "TEX" Luck" written on it. He also refers to Luck as "TEX" several times in the piece so as to suggest that Luck's loyalty lies with Texas and not WVU. I know that there are people that hold it against Luck that he would consider taking the UT AD job. I would just counter that Luck's ties to Texas and key players in the Big 12 are a big reason we're in the Big 12 and not that thing EDSBS described as the American Athletic Conference. As long as Luck is AD at WVU, I believe he will do the best thing for the University and athletic department. And if he gets another job at Texas or anywhere else, I'll wish him well and thank him for doing what needed done while he was here. Hell, I might even get him a Bolo tie with the letters "TEX" on it. Just because a tie doesn't have to only reflect a man's fashion sense. Every once in a while it should also be used to flip your nose at your enemies.

It's a sad state of affairs that will hopefully have a happy outcome for WVU.