The Shotgun/Throwdown (4/3/18): Hot Rod, Tonk, and Jenga

Welcome, By-Godders, to The Shotgun/Throwdown, WVU’s best place for sports links, information, sophomoric humor and daily distractions.

Football:

A New Man in the Middle - West Virginia Athletics
Early experience and success has sophomore and West Virginia native Dylan Tonkery in the starting Mike Linebacker spot for the upcoming season. Tonk gained valuable experience last season, starting in his first game as a Mountaineer, and Tony Gibson is hoping that experience will translate into leadership this fall.

Fate of WVU may rest with someone you wouldn’t expect | The Times WV
The Mountaineers will need leadership from the experienced junior, cornerback Hakeem Bailey this season in the secondary. If Bailey can have a solid season and lead him teammates in the secondary to do the same, it could lead to a successful season for WVU.

Dallas Morning News experts like West Virginia's Big 12 title chances in 2018 | Diehards
Can West Virginia’s offense lead them to a Big 12 title? A handful of writers in Dallas believe so.

College Football's 2018 Final Four Dark Horses | Bleacher Report
While the Mountaineers may not be among the list of College Football Playoff favorites heading into next season, some believe they are at least a dark horse to make their way into the CFP.

Basketball:

AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh will be premiering the documentary on legendary Mountaineer, “Hot Rod” Hundley tonight. The documentary, titled “Hot Rod,” tells Hundley’s incredible life story, and gives insight into his personal life, as well as his careers as a basketball player and a sports broadcaster.

Nash, Kidd, Hill, Thorn in 13-member Basketball Hall of Fame class | Charleston Gazette-Mail
It was announced Saturday that West Virginia native and former Mountaineer Rod Thorn will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame this year. Thorn is joined by many notable stars in the basketball world, including Grant Hill, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Ray Allen, Maurice Cheeks, and seven others.

Carey believes he has best perimeter game in nation coming back | The Times WV
The WVU women’s basketball team was set back this season by injuries. Coach Mike Carey believes that with Tynice Martin and others returning for the Mountaineers next season, they will have one of the best backcourts in the country.

Baseball:

Road Swing Concludes at Penn State - West Virginia Athletics
After winning the first of three games at #7 Texas Tech, the Mountaineers get ready to take on Penn State in the first of two games against the Nittany Lions during the regular season.

Around the Big 12

Pittsburgh Steelers and Mason Rudolph are ideal match, per NFL.com | Diehards
Many Mountaineer fans root for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL. If the Steelers decide to draft a quarterback in this year’s draft, it could result in Mountaineers fans rooting for a former Oklahoma State standout on Sundays in the future.

Around the NCAA

Purdue’s special teams coach Tony Levine is opening a Chick-fil-A | SBNation
It’s not every day a headline like this comes up.

Here’s the ‘One Shining Moment’ montage to commemorate Villanova’s national championship run | SBNation
This video is a timeless classic.

An extremely early top 25 for college basketball’s 2018-19 season | SBNation
We’ve got seven months to go until next season starts and there will be a billion roster changes between now and then, but let’s do this anyway.

2018 NFL mock draft: The QBs aren’t even the best players available | SBNation
Some believe that if more quarterbacks are drafted early in this year’s NFL Draft, then the best available players will be up for grabs later in the draft.

How the Chicago White Sox Are Trying to Perfect Tanking in MLB | The Ringer
The South Siders haven’t merely embraced the rebuilding methods that led the Cubs and Astros to World Series glory. They’ve taken the modern baseball tank to the extreme—and it looks like it’s going to work.

The Sporting Event of 2018 Was “Huncho Day,” Quavo’s Celebrity Football Game Birthday Party | The Ringer
An afternoon celebrating Migos’s beloved leader featuring Julio Jones, 21 Savage, and Von Miller was a perfect vision of Atlanta in 2018

Is Steven Spielberg Any Fun? | The Ringer
‘Ready Player One’ is being marketed as a return to the director’s crowd-pleasing roots—a riff on the pop culture he helped create. But is the Amblin’ Man still capable of having a laugh? And is ‘Ready Player One’ actually that enjoyable?

How ‘Beetlejuice’ Was Born | The Ringer
On its 30th anniversary, this is the true story of the horror writer and the unsung heroes who helped Tim Burton bring his afterlife classic to life

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