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Weekend WVU Sports Notebook
June 13, 2015 01:13 PM | General
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| John Spiker |
Back when I started, we called them trainers, which to this day still drives Randy Meador nuts, but getting to know them meant you got a much better insight into the players with whom you were dealing.
That’s because the athletic trainers (and the strength and conditioning coaches, too) know these guys better than anyone. If you are not sure about someone, a quick conversation with the people who piece them back together every day is oftentimes the best way to get the answer you need.
And that brings me to John Spiker, who Don Nehlen called “Mr. Morgantown” when I asked him to sum up the 21 years he spent working with Spiker.
John is so much more than an outstanding athletic trainer. He is a knowledgeable sports fan with an incredible memory and more often than not, what he recalls about a specific game is spot-on.
For me, I frequently have to cheat and look things up. But not Spike.
During our hour-long conversation earlier this week that covered his 40-plus years working at WVU, I was amazed at all of the interesting tidbits that he came up with about certain memorable games that he worked or memorable players with whom he worked.
For instance, there's the time the team had to carry quarterback Jeff Hostetler to the bus after the severe beating he absorbed in a 16-13 loss at Pitt in 1982.
“I think someone once told me that Jeff got hit by a Pitt player on every single pass that he attempted that day,” Spiker recalled.
He was right. Hostetler did get whacked that often, 41 times to be exact. And when guys such as Rickey Jackson, Chris Doleman and Bill Maas were doing the hitting that does make the walk to the team bus a rather difficult one.
Somehow, our conversation veered off in the direction of John Holifield, a Mountaineer running back in the mid-1980s who has since gone on to achieve great things in life after graduating from WVU. Spiker instantly recalled the three rushing touchdowns Holifield had in a game against Louisville in 1985 and the two-touchdown afternoon he had in a big win at Pitt in 1984.
Spiker said that defensive lineman Joe Jelich was the single toughest Mountaineer player that he was ever around, and running back Paul Lumley, tight end Anthony Becht, linebacker Grant Wiley and offensive tackle Donny Barclay were among the most delightful and most pleasant players he got to know through the years.
As for the three best pure athletes Spiker ever worked with at WVU? Pacman Jones, Tavon Austin and Pat White, in no particular order he answered.
Sometimes, stories write themselves when you talk to your subjects and that was certainly the case earlier this week with John Spiker, a man whose accomplishments and friendships are endless..
All the best to you, Spike, on a long and enjoyable retirement chasing around those six young grandchildren of yours.
Be careful what you wish for, though, because chasing those grandkids around could be just as frenetic as those steamy August afternoons that you always spent on the practice field.
More Mountaineer Notes …
* A word of congratulations to former Mountaineer basketball player and assistant coach Bill Ryczaj, who is going into the Mid-Mon Valley Hall of Fame next week.
Ryczaj starred at nearby Elizabeth (Pa.) High before signing with the Mountaineers to play for George King in 1963. Ryczaj’s best game as a WVU player came in 1966 when his 19 points helped West Virginia upset top-ranked Duke, 94-90, at the Charleston Civic Center on February 7.
That remains one of the greatest victories in Mountaineer basketball history.
Ryczaj later became an assistant coach at WVU and also at SMU before eventually returning to West Virginia in 2001 to serve as a special assistant to West Virginia University President David. C. Hardesty, a position he held until retiring in 2013.
* Recently, the NCAA Women’s Basketball Rules Committee approved a change that will see college games being divided into four quarters beginning this season. This will bring the women’s game more in line with the WNBA game and will also address game flow and physicality issues. WVU coach Mike Carey is on record for being in favor of the changes.
However, some of the changes that have been approved for the men’s game may not benefit Coach Bob Huggins’ Mountaineer program.
Two changes that immediately jump out as detrimental to the way West Virginia plays is the elimination of the five-second count in trap situations and the reduction of the shot clock from 35 seconds to 30 seconds.
Huggins will adjust, as he always does, but I’m sure we’ll hear about it the next time he meets with the media.
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| Karl Joseph |
You get no arguments from me on that. The only other Mountaineer player I can recall in the last 20 years who approaches Joseph’s physicality may be Barrett Green. I always loved the way Green played, even when he decided to whack guys five yards out of bounds as he sometimes did, particularly against those Miami guys who always ran their mouths during games.
* I received word that Jason Calanog, who worked on West Virginia’s swimming and diving staff in 2007, has been hired as an assistant coach at Texas A&M. The men’s swimming team won the Big East and the women’s team had their highest-ever finish in the Big East in 2007. Calanog, who has a degree in business administration from WVU, most recently was an assistant coach at The Bolles School, one of the top swimming clubs in the country.
* West Virginia has pretty good representation on this summer’s Athlon Sports preseason all-Big 12 team, particularly on defense … http://athlonsports.com/college-football/big-12-football-2015-all-conference-team.
* Stewart Mandel, now writing for FOX Sports, earlier this week posted his list of the biggest winners and losers in college football’s recent realignment, which you can read here … http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/texas-longhorns-aggies-missouri-tigers-sec-big-12-pac-12-realignment-chaos-061115
Among Mandel’s five biggest losers was West Virginia, which, ironically, is the only one of Mandel’s so-called losers (he actually lists seven) that is currently a member of one of the Power 5 conferences.
* Roman Collins, the son of former standout Mountaineer defensive back Mike Collins, was recently taken in the fifth round of the Major League Draft by the defending American League pennant winning Kansas City Royals.
Roman was the 159th overall player picked after starring in the outfield at Florida Atlantic.
I don’t know much about Roman Collins’ baseball abilities, but I do know his old man was one heck of a defensive back for one of the better teams in Mountaineer football history in 1993.
Come to think of it, you can add Mike Collins to the list of some of the hardest hitters I’ve seen wearing the Gold and Blue.
Mike could really bring it. Just ask Marvin Graves!
Have a great weekend!
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