June 9-15 Blog
June 11, 2008 10:56 AM | General
The Fragale
Posted By John Antonik: June 15, 2008 (10:33 am)
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| Lester Rowe |
There is the Johnnie Walker Classic, The Memorial, and for those of us living in Morgantown, The Fragale. Folks at the WVU Athletic Department like to refer to it as the fifth major.
It’s our one opportunity of the year to get together with staff, former staff and friends for some fun, fellowship and food. Last Friday was the 14th consecutive year for The Fragale – most of them played at Mountaineer Golf & Country Club located on Route 19 just north of Morgantown.
What began as a quaint 16-person endeavor in 1994 has since grown to more than 80 golfers because of the hard work of many, led of course by tournament namesake Michael Fragale and tournament organizer Bubba Schmidt - whose well-placed connections made this year’s Fragale another first-class event.
The Fragale once again had all 18 holes covered with teams with golfers coming from as far away as Albany, N.Y. Former Mountaineer basketball standout Lester Rowe’s team took top honors by shooting 13-under-par 57 – that’s 13 under on Friday the 13th.
From what I can recall, every single team finished under par this year which is a real accomplishment. The scores also seemed to be accurate and reasonable (there are no erasers on the pencils at Mountaineer).
My team, made up of old buddies from my hometown of New Martinsville, finished fifth at 10 under. I contributed little to the effort other than getting some poison ivy on my leg trying to locate our wayward tee shots.
I heard no reports of car or home damage.
Papa John’s provided the food and Coca-Cola was responsible for the beverages.
For those of you who made it to this year’s Fragale, we hope to see you once again next year.
Those that couldn’t make it and did not have legitimate excuses – and you know who you are, shame on you.
Rating the Linebackers
Posted By John Antonik: June 13, 2008 (9:47 am)
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| Mortty Ivy |
Mortty Ivy believes this is the best group of linebackers West Virginia has had - even if senior Reed Williams isn’t fully recovered from off-season shoulder surgery.
“We’ve got speed and strength all around, plus everybody knows everybody’s position,” Ivy said last week. “That’s what you really need.”
Ivy also believes the defense can be just as good as last year’s despite inexperience at defensive line and in the secondary.
“As long as everybody works hard and everybody is on the same page,” he cautioned. “As long as we do that we’re going to have a great season.”
Ivy, being one of just a handful of seniors on this year’s defense, will have to take on more of a leadership role this season. He says he’s prepared to do that.
“I’ve always liked to be a leader,” he said. “I’m not much of a vocal guy but I’ve got to bring up that role now and be more vocal. I’ve learned over the years how the seniors are vocal. Now I’m a senior and I have to take on that responsibility now.”
Ivy explains.
“You have some young guys that will get out of hand but you’ve got to be able to put them back in their place and tell them that if you want to win that national (championship) you’ve got to quit playing around and just go out there and work hard.”
Speaking of work, Ivy says the team is getting plenty of that with new Strength and Conditioning Coach Mike Joseph.
“Workouts are going really well,” Ivy said. “We’ve all been here working out and doing seven-on-seven drills (without the coaches) to get ready for the upcoming season.”
Ivy indicated that summer workouts are basically the same as they were last year.
“Mike Joseph is more about making sure everything is right,” Ivy said. “Your form has to be right. It doesn’t matter how much weight you’ve got to lift, you’ve got to have perfect form. Mike Barwis was more like, ‘Let’s go.’ We’d hit the weights and then get out of there.
“I’ve been with Mike Barwis for four years so I had to make the transition and it’s kind of hard for me but the young guys will be fine,” Ivy said. “They will come in and get used to it and be able to prepare well.”
Ivy says that he wants to add a little speed and strength before the start of fall camp in August.
“But more than that,” says Ivy, “it’s about knowing my position and what I’ve got to do and making sure I can put myself in positions to make plays.”
Giving Back
Posted By John Antonik: June 12, 2008 (3:55 pm)
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| Noel Devine |
Noel Devine had a lot of help becoming a major college football player so he figured it was time he helped others. Last month, Devine, South Florida cornerback Quenton Washington, Iowa State cornerback Chris Singleton and other former Ft. Myers football stars returned home to put on a free football camp for little kids aged 7 to 14.
“It was to just go out and hang out with little kids,” Devine said. “It was a way to give back to our community and to show love toward my hometown and to the little kids that look up to us and let them know that they can pursue their dreams.”
Devine says he had plenty of guidance having the benefit of growing up with older brothers.
“Every day was like a camp to me being the youngest brother. It was tough,” Devine said. “I always got beat up but I thank them for that because now I’m the toughest. Whenever my big brothers made mistakes I learned from them. I’m glad I had older brothers.”
Devine said the idea to put on a camp for little kids simply came from his heart.
“I got up one day and my cousin runs the boys and girls club and it was just something that I wanted to do,” Devine said. “Being up here I learned a lot about working with little kids by going to (Children’s Hospital) and seeing kids that were sick. I figured I’ve been so blessed and I just wanted to work with kids.”
The kids were put through different drills and then later were paired into teams to play flag football games. As important as the instruction they received was the message Noel Devine delivered - stay focused and pursue your dreams.
“We don’t realize it sometimes that we are a big factor in little kids’ lives and they want to follow and be like us,” Devine said. “It was fun to see all those little kids with such great talent.”
Defending the Deep Middle
Posted By John Antonik: June 12, 2008 (2:55 pm)
A lot has been made of West Virginia’s attempt this spring to attack the deep middle of the field in the passing game. One of the hidden benefits of this change of philosophy is that the defense now has to defend that in practice.
In the past teams with sophisticated passing attacks like Louisville were able to exploit that area of the field against the Mountaineers.
“We play against certain teams that don’t run the spread but even against our offense they are throwing routes at us that we haven’t seen playing against the previous teams’ offense,” linebacker Mortty Ivy explained. “The deep middle and the little quick routes that (offensive coordinator Jeff) Mullen has added have helped us a lot.”
So when Louisville, Rutgers, Colorado, Marshall, Pitt or South Florida tries to exploit the deep middle of the field this year, at the very least the Mountaineer linebackers and secondary will be used to it because they will be seeing it every day in practice.
Summer Prep
Posted By John Antonik: June 11, 2008 (10:03 am)
Every coach Pat White has had at West Virginia – and he’s had a bunch of them in four years – have all been complimentary of the way he studies and prepares for each game. Out of curiosity, I asked White last week where that came from.
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| Pat White talks to ESPN's Erin Andrews after last year's East Carolina game.
All-Pro Photography Dale Sparks |
He shrugged.
“I guess it comes from my mom being a teacher and my dad making me start my homework over if it wasn’t right,” White said.
White is spending this summer preparing for a senior season that he hopes will be his best at West Virginia. While many other players have part-time summer jobs, White has chosen to devote 100 percent of his energy toward his senior campaign.
“I actually thought about getting a job myself but I’d rather focus most of my attention on this facility because this is my last year,” White said.
He said he can wait another six months or so to start making money. He plans on graduating in December.
“I guess it is play now and get paid later,” White said.
Other White observations …
Do you have any advice for your little brother, Pat?
“He’s been working really hard actually,” White said. “When I was home I got up really early in the morning and went to work out with him. He was out-working me.”
Before spending a few minutes with reporters, White went down to West Virginia’s Television Productions department to video tape a message for the Alabama Sportswriters Association which honored him as the state’s amateur athlete of the year. White has twice been named the West Virginia amateur athlete of the year.
More Notes
Darris Nichols is among eight players invited to workout today for the Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center, according to the Washington Post.
Clara Grandt will be competing in the 10,000-meter run where she has a top time 34:15.70. Grandt is ranked 24th in the 10,000.
Pitcher Josh Whitlock has also signed and is in Mesa, Arizona, working out and awaiting his assignment.
Also, head basketball manager Mark Richmond has landed an assistant coaching position at Centenary. In addition to on-floor coaching, the Martinsburg High product will also be responsible for recruiting and camps for the Louisiana school.
Incidentally, West Virginia’s associate athletic director for business Russ Sharp came to Morgantown from Centenary where he served as athletic director.
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| Jerry West talks to some fantasy campers at last weekend's Bob Huggins Fantasy Camp at the WVU Coliseum.
All-Pro Photography Dale Sparks |
I happened to catch a little bit of Jerry West’s talk to the fantasy campers and it was fantastic. He told a story about how as a kid he would cut grass to earn spending money during the summertime. Eventually, just about everyone in town that needed their grass cut would ask West to do it because he cut it so well.
“There wasn’t a single high blade of grass left when I was done cutting it,” West said.
West also told a great story of how he improved his shooting. As a child he used to practice on a court that sat next to a steep hill. Whenever he missed a shot the ball would roll all the way down the hill. He hated running all the way down the hill to retrieve the ball so he figured the best way to keep from doing that was to make everything he shot.
What a simple solution!
And now you know why Jerry West is one of the five greatest to have ever played the game.
