By John Antonik for MSNsportsNET.com
August 23, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Your weekly dosage of West Virginia University news and notes:
Scott Rolen opting for season-ending shoulder surgery should mean an extended big-league stay for former West Virginia University third baseman Scott Seabol. In 43 games this season, Seabol is batting .228 with a home run, five doubles and 10 RBI.
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Seabol and pitcher Steve Kline are currently the only WVU products in the majors, but that is probably going to change by Labor Day. Six-seven right-handed pitcher Dustin Nippert has been tearing it up at Double-A Tennessee in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization, tossing a two-hit shutout last Friday night against the Carolina Mudcats at Smokies Park.
Nippert is tied for the Southern League lead in shutouts with two, and is second with a 2.40 earned run average.
In the most recent issue of ESPN The Magazine, Peter Gammons listed Nippert as one of five rookie call-ups to watch down the stretch.
“The 6’7” RHP drafted in 2002 from West Virginia University could be in Arizona’s rotation before Labor Day,” wrote Gammons.
“He’s got the best stuff, in terms of projection in the big leagues, of anyone I’ve seen in the high minors all season,” says one scout.
Among the list of newcomers joining the football program at the start of the fall semester is 6-foot-4-inch, 300-pound offensive tackle Greg Isdaner from Episcopal Academy in Gladwyne, Pa. You recruiting junkies may recall that Isdaner was once a WVU recruiting target who initially opted for Georgetown before changing his mind. He was added to the team when Marquis Melvin decided not to enroll.
According to today’s Syracuse Post-Standard, Syracuse football coach Greg Robinson has named junior Perry Patterson his starting quarterback for the season opener against West Virginia on Sunday, Sept. 4. Patterson beat out sophomore Joe Fields.
From all indications, season ticket sales seem to be going well at West Virginia, Louisville, Connecticut, Pitt and Syracuse which means Big East football should be alive and well in 2005.
Former WVU defensive back Charles Fisher was in town last week evaluating Mountaineer football players. He is a scout for the Seattle Seahawks and his territory is the entire Northeast and Kentucky.
Ex-WVU quarterback Marc Bulger looked sharp in St. Louis’ preseason game against San Diego last Sunday, completing 15 of 21 passes for 181 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Other former Mountaineers seeing quality action last week included Washington wide receiver Antonio Brown who caught three passes for 46 yards and quarterback-turned receiver Rasheed Marshall who caught one pass for 21 yards in San Francisco’s 26-21 loss to Denver last Saturday night.
Michael Fragale, West Virginia University’s Director of Communications, was recently named to the West Virginia Broadcasters Association Board of Directors. The association recently met at The Greenbrier for its 59th annual meeting. Gov. Joe Manchin and his wife Gayle, along with CBS News Correspondent Bob Orr, were special guests.
Former West Virginia University women’s basketball player Rebecca Burbridge is now chief resident at Ruby Memorial Hospital.
The baseball team will conduct their fall workouts at Mylan Park due to improvements being done to the outfield drainage system at Hawley Field.
WVU women’s soccer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown has liked what she’s seen so far from her freshmen class, particularly former Canadian National Team member Amanda Cicchini.
“I think Amanda Cicchini has really stepped in and shown that she can perform at this level. So far, she's been able to eliminate many mistakes that most rookies make,” she said.
West Virginia opens its regular season on Friday, Aug. 26 against Dayton and the Dick Dlesk Soccer Complex.
I have received word through Charlie Lindsey that former WVU sports communications graduate assistant Amy Townsend and her husband Mason Logan are expecting their first child in October. Logan works at the University of Kansas as the school’s associate sports information director in charge of men’s basketball and baseball. Townsend was Miss West Virginia in 1998.
The Mountain West Conference’s decision to partner with the Las Vegas Bowl to play a Pac-10 team now virtually eliminates the possibility of that conference continuing its relationship with the Liberty Bowl, according to Monday’s Salt Lake Tribune. That could clear a path for the Big East Conference to take one of the Liberty Bowl spots to face a team from the SEC.
And some off-topic stuff:
Well you’ve got to hand it to our friends down in Virginia: at least they know how to spend money. Last week the University of Virginia gave Al Groh, the state’s second-best football coach, nearly a $1 million raise boosting his annual compensation package to $1.7 million per year. By the time his contract runs out in six years he will be making more than $2 million. Last year, Virginia lost to Fresno State in the MPC Computers Bowl.
Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage said Groh’s salary “reflects the market for top-20, top-25 coaches nationally.”
Today, Virginia Tech is about to make its football coach Frank Beamer the newest member of the $2 million club. That would be about a $700,000 raise for the 58-year-old coach. Beamer, loyal to his own, says he won’t sign an extension until the school comes up with more money for his assistants as well.
According to The Roanoke Times, the list of the top-paid college football coaches include USC’s Pete Carroll, Tennessee’s Phil Fulmer, Auburn’s Tommy Tuberville, Florida’s Urban Meyer, Florida State’s Bobby Bowden, Texas’ Mack Brown and Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops. All of them make at least $2 million per year. Carroll is the nation’s highest paid coach at $3 million per season.
Today’s salary arms race in collegiate athletics is eerily similar to what major league baseball went through in the early 1980s. It was during that time that maverick Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner was the unsuccessful stalking horse for free-agent players like Goose Gossage, Pete Rose, Dave Winfield, Don Sutton and Reggie Jackson when most of the old-school owners were trying to keep a handle on salaries.
Turner finally got his prize in 1986 when he landed 1985 Fireman of the Year Bruce Sutter for $1.67 million. Sutter wound up pitching just 19 innings for the Braves that season costing Atlanta about $100,000 an inning. Turner’s other big acquisitions included the “Mad Hungarian” Al Hrabosky for a hefty $2.2 million in total compensation in 1979, and aging outfielder Omar Moreno for $600,000 in 1985.
But the one Turner signing that gave every baseball GM indigestion came in 1980 when he offered outfielder Claudell Washington $3.5 million in total compensation including $700,000 per year. At the time, the very best players in baseball were making about $800-900,000 per season. Washington was coming off an 11-home run campaign in 1979.
This is the same Ted Turner responsible for building CNN into the world’s most watched television news network!
There was a time when I actually enjoyed watching Atlanta Braves games on television before they hit it big. Now, you get the impression watching them on TBS that they were never bad.
One of Miami’s goals when it decided to leave the Big East Conference for the ACC two years ago was to join a league that would help increase its football ticket sales. According to yesterday’s Ft. Meyers News-Press, that hasn’t quite happened yet. Miami has the cheapest season ticket of any top-10 program and must average at least 50,000 per game this year just to balance its books, according to UM assistant athletic director Ross Bjork. This year’s Miami home football schedule features games against Colorado, South Florida, Duke, North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Virginia.
According to Miami athletic director Paul Dee, attendance obstacles include competing interests like professional football, hockey, baseball, NASCAR, good weather for boating, fishing and tennis, and a comparatively small alumni base. On the other hand, Miami has won five NCAA titles since 1983 and has a national reputation rivaling Notre Dame.
After reading Ivan Maisel’s ESPN.com story last Wednesday about Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen’s reliance on computers, I’ve come to the conclusion that Friedgen doesn’t have any self-esteem problems. His willingness to publicly critique opposing players is fairly audacious as well.
Have a great week!
Note: the views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of West Virginia University or the Mountaineer Sports Network.
