The Shotgun/Throwdown: Mountaineer fans set to take over the former Heinz Field as West Virginia sells out allotment of Backyard Brawl tickets

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

On Sunday night, there was a report from 93.7 The Fan’s Andrew Fillipponi that Heinz Field is no more. According to Fillipponi, Kraft-Heinz has said “no thanks” to the naming rights of the stadium moving forward, opening the Pittsburgh stadium up for a new name for the first time since it was built in 2001.

Fillipponi has since updated his report with new information that claims Acrisure, a Michigan-based insurance brokerage firm, has stepped up to purchase those naming rights with an official announcement of the new name — Acrisure Stadium — coming as soon as Tuesday.

If we’re allowing businesses that are definitely legitimate to step up and throw their name on an NFL stadium, we have a better suggestion.

With the news of West Virginia very predictably selling out its allotment of tickets to the season-opening Backyard Brawl on September 1st, we’d like to offer up:

If we hurry, we can get in on the deal before the ink dries on the Acrisure contract.

Basketball

Flexing a strength, polishing a weakness will key basketball season | EerSports (Mike Casazza)
Why can't WVU overachieve if it simply does what just about everyone else in the Big 12 has to do and does it a little or a lot better than its peers? That's the crux of the season, and head coach Bob Huggins and his roster will have to make the most of an apparent strength and manage a potential weakness.

New Basketball Season Tickets Now on Sale | West Virginia University Athletics
New season tickets for West Virginia’s 2022-23 men’s basketball campaign are now on sale at the Mountaineer Ticket Office.

2022 Women’s Cancun Challenge Field Announced | West Virginia University Athletics
Taking its usual high-profile place on the college basketball calendar, the Women’s Cancun Challenge has cemented its 10-team field for 2022.

Plitzuweit Welcomes Devaney to Women’s Basketball Staff | West Virginia University Athletics
West Virginia University women's basketball coach Dawn Plitzuweit has announced that Bernadette Devaney will join the support staff as the director of recruiting.

WVU Sports

WVU golfer Todd Duncan hopeful experience as freshman pays dividends in present and future | WV MetroNews
Since gaining valuable experience as a freshman on West Virginia’s golf team last season, Todd Duncan has kept busy throughout the summer.

Mountaineer Athletic Club Launches Almost Heaven Society | West Virginia University Athletics
West Virginia University Director of Athletics and Associate Vice President Shane Lyons has announced the launch of the Almost Heaven Society, a new major gifts program of the Mountaineer Athletic Club.

Best Virginia assembles this week as the TBT draws closer | WV MetroNews
The lengthy process of building the Best Virginia roster is complete and the WVU alumni team will gather later this week to begin preparations for The Basketball Tournament. Players are expected to arrive in Morgantown Thursday and practice will begin Friday. Best Virginia will face WVU-Tech in an exhibition game Saturday at 6 p.m. at Fairmont State University.

Around the Big 12

TV Advisors Suggest Big 12 Avoid Oregon, Washington | Heartland College Sports
TV Rights advisors have suggested the Big 12 may want to avoid Oregon and Washington in expansion due to their geography, according to a report from CBS Sports.

Big 12 Must Continue to Push For Expansion | Heartland College Sports
Despite losing a bit of momentum, the Big 12 must continue to push for expansion by adding Pac-12 teams.

Big 12 Exploring Media Rights to Lure Pac-12 Schools: Report | Heartland College Sports
The Big 12 is looking into new media rights deal to lure Pac-12 schools into joining the conference.

Around the NCAA

Inside the stunning USC-UCLA move to the Big Ten -- and the chaos that followed | ESPN
Unbeknownst to nearly everyone in attendance at the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics convention two weeks ago, USC's Mike Bohn and others had been working quietly for months on a stunning move that would throw the future of the college sports landscape into flux.

Half a Wiseguy: The Genius and the Menace of Paulie Walnuts | The Ringer
A tribute to the famed ‘Sopranos’ character and actor Tony Sirico, who found his arc and made the TV gangster an icon

James Caan Was Unlike Any Other Leading Man | The Ringer
Over a career that spanned 60 years, the actor—who died at the age of 82 last week—was unmistakably himself: tough, to the point, and endlessly compelling

The Best Movies of 2022 (So Far) | The Ringer
Amid the returns of America’s greatest stuntmen—Tom Cruise and Johnny Knoxville—directors from across the world like Terence Davies, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and David Cronenberg have also submitted superlative work

The Best Songs of 2022 (So Far) | The Ringer
The importance of the letters P, F, and N, as explained by the half-year’s standout tracks

I know this is a month and a half old, but we’re gonna watch it again.

It’s good to see Hollywood is still making movies that appeal directly to 14-year-old me.

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