By Tony Caridi for MSNsportsNET.com
December 14, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - It’s been a quiet week in the world of Mountaineer sports with final exams taking place. The break ends this weekend with all WVU sports teams returning to play or practice. The West Virginia football squad will practice throughout the weekend including a double-session on Saturday.
The team will closely follow the same practice routine it has used over the last three years. It seems to contain just the right mix of preparation and relaxation to make sure the team peaks on game day.
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Ryan Stanchek |
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Allow me to get this right: junior left tackle Ryan Stanchek is not good enough to earn first or second team recognition in voting by Big East coaches, but he does earn All-American status in some form from the Associated Press, Football Writers Association, Walter Camp Football Foundation, Sporting News, and Rivals.com.
It looks to me like too many sports information directors took care of the voting that was supposed to be done by the league’s coaches.
Did you notice that just one team has scored more than 70 points against the Mountaineer basketball team this season? In fact of eight opponents, only three have scored more than 60. Bob Huggins says a lot of that has to do with the Mountaineers schedule so far this season. However, as of this writing, seven of WVU’s eight opponents had their lowest offensive output of the season against the Mountaineers.
One guy’s computer who loves the Mountaineer basketball team is Ken Pomeroy. He has West Virginia as the No. 1 team in the country in his rating of all 341 playing schools. Ken uses a very intriguing formula, which determines a team’s rating based on its offensive and defensive efficiency per possession. You can check it out at www.kenpom.com
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Darris Nichols |
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The Mountaineers will play their first true road game on Wednesday night at Radford. The game will mark the homecoming of WVU senior guard Darris Nichols. The Dedmon Center holds 5,000 and will be juiced and jammed for the Mountaineers. Nichols, who’s a Radford native, has spent countless hours on that court playing pick up games and practicing. It’s a great reward for a young man who has quietly put together a wonderful career at WVU.
Fans can watch that game for $4.95 through the Big South Conference web site at BigSouthSports.com. Registration is to the right on the Edge.
Have you ever just stopped and thought for a moment what a great job Mike Carey has done in building the WVU women’s basketball program. The Mountaineers enter tomorrow afternoon’s game against Presbyterian rated 13th in the nation. The team’s depth is what stands out to me. The good programs have a bunch of good players and that’s how Mike has elevated the WVU woman to the top shelf of the Big East.
By the way, if your coming to tomorrow’s doubleheader at the Coliseum please bring a canned food item. The annual food drive to help the less fortunate will be underway. Donate a non-perishable food item and receive a coupon for a free ticket to a future women’s basketball game.
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Fred Schaus |
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I had the pleasure of attending a luncheon last Saturday to honor WVU legend Fred Schaus. It was absolutely wonderful to see the respect and gratitude that Coach Schaus’ players have for him. We live in a different era today when it comes to relationships with coaches and their former players. It’s an era that’s gotten worse rather than better.
Many tears were shed as players recounted how their lives were changed forever by accepting a scholarship to play at WVU for Fred Schaus.
I had the chance to meet former Mountaineer Don Vincent, whose broken leg in the 1958 Southern Conference tournament likely ended West Virginia’s chance of winning the national championship. Don’s wife told me that her husband has never forgotten the significance of that injury or the Mountaineers loss without him in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.
Sure it would have been wonderful to win the national championship, but to see and hear how that group of players has succeeded shows they’ve won the biggest game of them all … the game of life.
We'll see you at the Coliseum on Saturday.
