Bleacher Report - Articles by John Radcliff

Mick Cronin: Motivational Speaker

John Radcliff — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 21:17:00 -0500

Mick Cronin makes his mildly suggestive way back into our powdered sugar hearts again this Thursday when West Virginia travels to Cincinnati.

We all know the man on the sideline, the one that makes us question just what he's trying to get his team to do in that picture to the right.

But what about the man away from the court? Mick was kind enough to send us the transcript of his "Losing is a Great Motivator" speech from this past offseason.

Men, losing is a great motivator. Remember when you were a little kid and you used to get picked on by all the other kids in your neighborhood? Crowd sits perfectly still.

Remember how you would have to run home with your underwear pulled over your head? Crowd sits perfectly still. I could go on but I said I would keep this to an hour. The point is, those were some powerful feeling! And you need to find a way to turn those feelings into action!

Now when I was a kid, those feelings motivated me to run home and cry in my bedroom all afternoon until mom got home with the jelly beans. I found a way to take that motivation to cry from my bedroom to the court. Back rows start to empty out. I cry about everything that happens out there.

My guy misses a layup, I'm screaming for a foul whether there's anyone around him or not. They dribble, I cry. They set a screen, I cry. I'm in that ref's head so deep, he probably can't stop thinking of the sound of my voice days after the game.

And one of these days I'm going to turn that approach into basketball glory! Woooo! Look where it's gotten me so far! Crowd starts talking amongst themselves and filing out.

It's in every last one of you. All you have to do is let it out. Last man in the crowd walking out the door, "Would you shut up?!"

Spreading the Wealth to Beat Rutgers

John Radcliff — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 21:11:00 -0500

Rather than Da'Sean Butler or Alex Ruoff doing all the scoring this time, West Virginia had to rely on some unfamiliar faces to get some points. The game started off with West Virginia scoring like they were playing the Washington Generals. The Mountaineers jumped out to a 21-4 early lead. But when Rutgers switched to an odd three man-two zone defense, WVU went cold.

Some point in the second half folks like Dee Proby, Wellington Smith, and Kevin Jones found a soft spot in the Knights defense and started knocking down jumpers.

Rutgers got close a couple times but never took the lead back. The final ended up being 74-56 after the last two minutes of fouling by Rutgers and free throws by West Virginia. You hear coaches talk all the time about every game being "big." Most of the time, I throw that out the window as coach speak.

But today and the rest of the regular season every game is going to be big for this team as they position themselves for a high seed in the Big East tournament. As well as a high seed in the NCAA tournament.

Next up is a trip to Cincinnati and a big night for Huggins. I don't want to take anything away from that, but I'm still going to work on the "punch Mick Cronin in the face" t-shirt.

Photo from BGN

West Virginia-Notre Dame: Bully Game Goes Well for Mountaineers

John Radcliff — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:13:00 -0500

If you were tuning in to the WVU-ND game to see offensive precision, you probably liked the first five minutes of the game. After that, it got personal.

West Virginia came out flat, and Notre Dame made nifty cuts to the basket and hit threes like they were layups. Honestly, they were hot the whole first half. But at least the Mountaineers made them work for baskets after the opening five minutes.

It got physical, and the refs seemed to be good with the heavy contact. Fouls were called, but a lot more weren't. That's the hardest thing about the Big East. It's always physical, but the manic shifts in the way the games are called can leave you guessing about your plan of attack.

I hate that someone threw anything on to the court. It was just a candy bar, but still not what you want to be known for and an unacceptable act on top of that. Even when their goon slams our goon.

The win puts the Mountaineers in a tie with three other teams for the six spot in the conference. Three road games up for WVU before finishing out the season at home.

This game was important because the Mountaineers need some momentum going into the tournament. There's been a lot of ups and downs through this tough stretch of the schedule. Getting a little consistency at the right time can go a long way. We know this.

Notre Dame-West Virginia: Worst School Ever Coming to Morgantown

John Radcliff — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:00:00 -0500

It's not that I really really really hate Notre Dame. It's a little bit that I've been way too nice here lately, when I have been here. It's a little bit hate since I've really enjoyed Notre Dame falling out of the polls with a huge thud.

And of course, with the whole thing about having a D-I football team but not being in the football side of the Big East. I just think of them as freeloaders. If you're going to be independent in football, you should have to be in all sports.

Having said that, for everything the Villanova game did for validating the season, a loss to the Irish could take that away.

It's going to be just as important for a big rowdy crowd to show up. It's going to be more important for Truck Bryant to stay out of foul trouble, Alex Ruoff to hit some shots, and Devin Ebanks to fly to the rim. Because if Notre Dame is worth a damn as a basketball team at all, they are going to have a plan to slow down Da'Sean Butler.

We beat Nova because everything went right and everyone was on the same page. The Irish got a shot of confidence when they beat Louisville and South Florida at home. Let's make them feel unwelcome when they come into Morgantown tomorrow.

College Basketball Blogpoll Explained

John Radcliff — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:37:00 -0500

- UConn was a no-brainer until last night, of course.

- UNC seems like a team with more intensity than Oklahoma, and the scoring comes from more than just three players. UNC has six players averaging in double figures, where Oklahoma has three.

- Despite Louisville knocking off Pitt earlier in the year, I think Pitt's been hitting on all cylinders all year. Louisville has had some ups (Pitt) and downs (UNLV, Notre Dame).

- Memphis hasn't played the schedule that Wake or anyone else in the ACC has. But they have gone outside of conference with some big games. Maybe I'm putting too much on that win at Gonzaga.

- Michigan St. is in the Big Ten, but they've been on quite a tear since the loss to UNC. I don't know that they are better than Marquette, but you have to give some credit for winning.

- Moving Villanova below Clemson and Arizona St. was a mistake. I know better than anyone what can happen to a team in Morgantown. What they did before that game should have still been enough to keep them in the top 10.

- Outside of the top 10, I think it's all darts. Your bias comes into play a lot more. And with all the upsets last week, it's not a good time to be sure of anything. Leave your comments about anything you like or don't like, as you'll have a chance to influence my poll next week and beyond.

Blogpoll Basketball Style

John Radcliff — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 20:56:00 -0500

Wow, this is a lot tougher than the football poll. Especially when you have so many ranked teams falling over the weekend or being on the longest losing streak of the season.

Some general thoughts about the poll: It doesn't surprise me at all to see Michigan go into UConn and give them a game. Despite being so good, Oklahoma has seemed to sail under the radar; maybe because the Big 12 is down. I'd love to put Duke lower, but I don't see how I can. Villanova is the big jumper on this poll. They've been hot lately, and all their four losses have been against quality opponents. Memphis probably deserved to move up further after the win at Gonzaga. After that, though, I think you have a group of teams that are fairly interchangeable.

Your thoughts in the comments. I believe we still have a window to make changes before the final poll. So change my mind.

Rank	Team

1	Connecticut
2	North Carolina
3	Oklahoma
4	Pittsburgh
5	Louisville
6	Clemson
7	Duke
8	Villanova
9	Wake Forest
10	Marquette
11	Memphis
12	UCLA
13	Butler
14	Michigan St.
15	Xavier
16	Kansas
17	Utah St.
18	Purdue
19	Washington
20	Illinois
21	Gonzaga
22	Arizona St.
23	Missouri
24	Davidson
25	Ohio St.

Alex Ruoff Would Like to Remind You Why You Should Guard Him

John Radcliff — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 09:16:00 -0500

I think you can point to a lot of reasons why Alex Ruoff hasn't been as effective this year shooting three-pointers. The Joe Mazzulla injury has forced him to take on more roles, being a senior and taking on more of a leadership role, people guarding him tighter, etc.

Even though Da'Sean Butler didn't have his best night shooting, I was happy to see that the offense was running through him early in the game. Because this left Ruoff open to do what he does best, and obviously Butler should be the focus of the offense.

It's an offense that is still finding itself, though. With the development of Devin Ebanks, Darryl Bryant, and Kevin Jones, the offense is diversifying, and the onus to score isn't solely on Ruoff and Butler. Hopefully that is going to benefit those two as the season plays out.

As we saw yesterday, when you aren't guarding Ruoff, he will kill you.

Louisville-West Virginia: Well, That Was Fun

John Radcliff — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 14:10:00 -0500

Not really.

Honestly, the Mountaineers didn't look like they belonged on the same court with Louisville. The Cardinals beat West Virginia in every way you can imagine.

I mean you want to win, but being down by 20 at the half and coming back to make it a game has to be worth something. Right?

Watching the first half, there were so many situations where I thought West Virginia was fouled, but nothing was called.

The second half was the complete opposite. This was the perfect game to show your team that the refs favor the team that is aggressive.

Louisville came out in the second half sluggish and West Virginia was the more aggressive team. The commentators noted that Louisville was standing around on offense several times. When they couldn't buy a basket, the pressure defense disappeared. Likewise West Virginia was able to get into their offense and score easy baskets.

Still, that first half lead for the Cardinals proved to be too much for West Virginia as the Mountaineers fell 69-63.

And the schedule doesn't get any easier with four of the next five against ranked teams—possibly five if Providence can beat UConn today. At least three of the next five will be at home.

Photo via ESPN.com

West Virginia-Pitt: Thoughts on the Game

John Radcliff — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:19:00 -0500

I think Dave Poe said it best, that Pitt was just the better team. For most of the game I didn't feel like West Virginia was doing anything wrong. Pitt had a size advantage in the paint that West Virginia just wasn't equipped to deal with. I also like that Dave worked in a Yes reference.

One of my favorite rock groups in my formative years—there I go dating myself—was Yes, who produced the album Yours Is No Disgrace.

That's an apt description of the 79-67 loss suffered by West Virginia University's basketball team on Sunday at the Coliseum against archrival Pitt.

It's no disgrace in athletics to give your best effort and lose to a clearly superior team, which is exactly what took place.

West Virginia can make up for that if they can force turnovers, but Pitt's guard play was up to the task. Pitt only turned the ball over nine times, and that one stat sealed the Mountaineers' fate. There were some head-scratching turnovers for the Mountaineers, but there were also some that were excellent plays by Pitt.

The good news is that we probably beat 98 percent of the teams in America with that effort. One game certainly doesn't kill your season. And yes, everything will be fine.

On an unrelated note, I've really enjoyed the time away from this blog. I'm not saying I'm going to hang it up. It's just going to be spotty.

Blogpoll Final Ballot: Florida, USC Top Two Teams

John Radcliff — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:01:00 -0500

Not a lot of changes from my original ballot. I had to work Iowa in there and get Northwestern out. I feel comfortable with the winner of the UF/OU game being the No. 1 team. Utah had a great season, but I just can't see them as the best team this year.

Southern Cal is a team I feel sorry for just a little, but they knew what they had to do at the beginning of the year considering they don't have a championship game, and they didn't do it.

More than anyone, Texas got screwed by not getting a shot at the Big 12 title game. Even though I ranked them below OU at the end of the season, I've had a change of heart about what they did this season. They lost their only game by one second. One missed tackle. They didn't exactly prove they were deserving in their bowl game the way USC did.

So that's how I came up with my top five. The rest was just a matter of head to head and how I thought they would fare with everyone below them.

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Florida	--
2	Southern Cal	3
3	Texas	--
4	Oklahoma	2
5	Utah	3
6	Alabama	2
7	Penn State	1
8	TCU	3
9	Ohio State	1
10	Oregon	10
11	Georgia	3
12	Boise State	3
13	Mississippi	11
14	Texas Tech	7
15	Oklahoma State	--
16	Virginia Tech	5
17	Iowa	1
18	Missouri	5
19	Georgia Tech	6
20	Cincinnati	8
21	Michigan State	1
22	Oregon State	4
23	Brigham Young	4
24	Pittsburgh	7
25	West Virginia	1

Dropped Out: Northwestern (No. 16), Boston College (No. 25).

West Virginia-Marquette: Mountaineers Fall in Frustrating Loss to Golden Eagles

John Radcliff — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 10:51:00 -0500

For a game that was so physical, and quite ugly at times, it's hard to imagine such a disparity in fouls—more importantly, such a disparity in foul shots. Marquette ended the game 24-27 from the line, while WVU was 6-10.

It would be real easy to cry foul or some other frustrated gut reaction, but WVU didn't get screwed by the refs. They got screwed by bad decisions and not moving their feet.

Truck Bryant running headlong into defenders for two charging fouls took him out of the game early and forced the Mountaineers to run the offense with Alex Ruoff and Da'Sean Butler handling the ball.

West Virginia can do that, but it changes responsibilities for those two and keeps them from their primary role, which is moving without the ball and scoring. It also forces them to defend smaller, faster guards. Over the course of a game that will take a toll.

Having said that, I don't mean to imply that this loss is all on Bryant. I'm just pointing out the precarious situation the Mountaineers are in with only one true point guard.

This was compounded by West Virginia failing to capitalize on the cold shooting of Marquette in the first half. Instead of playing smart basketball, we committed pointless fouls and poor shooting decisions that allowed Marquette to stay in the game. Also of note, Marquette kept West Virginia from second chance points that have helped the Mountaineers to this point in the season.

Unlike the UConn game that was frustrating, but where you could see how easily we could have won, there is no silver lining in this loss. It's time to regroup and focus on the things that work and the things that don't.

West Virginia has games against Marshall in Charleston and South Florida in Morgantown this week. West Virginia needs to regain the confidence that brought them to this point and focus on making good decisions.

photo from Blue Gold News

Lineman Greg Isdaner of West Virginia Going Pro

John Radcliff — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 10:14:00 -0500

Well, this is a bit of a kick in the shin. Greg Isdaner has decided to enter the draft and pass on his senior season.

Stanchek was an All-American last year, and Isdaner was first-team all-conference. He didn't make an all-conference team this past season, though WVU finished in the top 15 in rushing yards again.

"He has been an integral part of our success, and I want to thank him for everything he has done for Mountaineer football," Coach Bill Stewart said.

WVU also loses Stanchek, center Mike Dent, and right guard Jake Figner to graduation.

So basically, we have one starter returning on the offensive line. Awesome! We'll find out what we have as far as depth goes. Josh Jenkins and Gino Gradowski were both highly recruited, but have yet to see significant game experience. Eric Jobe filled in for Mike Dent at center after the UConn game. Capers returns at tackle, although he is listed on BGN as a senior. I should really pay more attention to stuff like that.

The thing that scares me is that behind the starting five, whomever that might be, there isn't much depth.

But hey, good luck Greg. Maybe you'll get to block for Slaton again.

For not reason...

West Virginia's Shot Selection Major Factor in UConn Loss

John Radcliff — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 18:10:00 -0500

Huggs on the right there pretty much sums it up. The 61-55 loss to the Huskies was both frustrating and refreshing.

Frustrating because we definitely took some ill-advised shots. Those shots were mostly taken from inside five feet of the rim, but there were quite a few three-pointers that were equally frustrating. Shot selection is really key when you go against a team that you know is going to out-rebound you.

The most used quote from Huggins was that we can't make mistakes and hope to win. Offensively, that was true.

However, with a minute left in the game, it wasn't over. Huggins has put together quite a defensive team. Seriously, only one team has scored over 70 points on the Mountaineers, and that was a victory at Ole Miss.

You never like to lose or consider anything a moral victory, but that was the No. 5 team in the country. It was a close game from start to finish and was generally fun to watch.

It's just the start of what promises to be a very exciting season for West Virginia. The hope is that Joe Mazzulla will be able to come back and contribute by the middle of the month. He is sorely missed, but at the same time you can't take anything away from Truck Bryant and the way he has played.

Like I said earlier, that injury might just be a blessing in disguise as the season rolls on. We've gotten used to having two experienced point guards at West Virginia. It really comes in handy when you go against the Villanovas of the Big East. For obvious reasons, it also helps when you sub in and don't lose anything.

Just keep up the defense and look for good shots. M'kay guys?

Why Yes, It Is a Great Day to be a Mountaineer

John Radcliff — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 21:44:00 -0500

And a great day to drink! If that's your thing. There's a lot of mixed emotions with it being the last time we'll see Pat White in a Mountaineer uniform. If we don't retire his number right away, I would call on Stew to at least ban anyone from wearing No. 5 next year. Something needs to be done to honor Pat and all he's done. That's all I'm going to say on that at the moment.

On to basketball where West Virginia throttled Ohio State @ Columbus 76-48. Sadly, I didn't get to watch much of the game. I only caught the last ten minutes. But enjoyed Clark Kellogg mentioning West Virginia scoring points "buffet style."

Which means three offensive rebounds in a row before scoring. Even with Joe Mazzulla out, this team is really starting to come together. The young players are stepping up and taking charge. It's a beautiful thing, and it made this one of the better days to be a Mountaineer fan.

WVU-UNC Football: Second-Half Live Blog

John Radcliff — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 14:31:00 -0500

If anything, WVU has been a second-half team this year. That trend will need to continue, obviously!

Let's see what Pat White and the offense can do to start the second half, and what plan Casteel comes up with to stop Nicks.

Third Quarter

9:30—WV moved the ball down the field with ease, but the drive stalled at the UNC 8. Pat McAfee made the 25-yard field goal.

White was sharp and even hit Tyler Urban for a couple first downs. The running game wasn't much help in the drive, though. That needs to change if we can hold UNC on their next drive.

Time for some separation, Bill! 24-23, WVU.

6:23—Nicks just made the sickest catch you are likely to see this bowl season, trapping the ball with one hand against his back and then bringing it around his back to the other hand and running for the first down. I hate him!

4:29—Yates made a great effort to stretch the ball over in the corner of the end zone to give UNC a 30-24 lead. He just made my hate book as well, considering he's the one throwing to Nicks most of the time.

3:13—The WVU drive stalled in UNC territory, and McAfee dropped the ball on the 2-yard line. Let's see something, defense!

1:38—Wow, we got a huge break on 3rd-and-10 when Little dropped a perfect pass that could have gone for a TD. UNC punts, and the Mountaineers will take over at the WVU 48.

0:42—Arlic Arnett fumbles after a catch and UNC takes over. The play is being reviewed, but I'm not sure he had the ball or not. At first glance you think he does, but a close up shows the ball bouncing around in his hand. But it was a fumble. UNC, 30-24, at their own 41.

End of the Third

Fourth Quarter

14:17—WVU defense holds again and UNC has to punt. Jock Sanders muffed the punt near the goal line, and probably should have let it go. He barely made it out of the end zone and ended up at the 4-yard line.

WVU-UNC Liveblogish

John Radcliff — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 12:57:00 -0500

The game is about to get underway. Stew is fired up and wants Mountaineer fans to take over the city of Charlotte. We don't quite know what that means, but we just nod our heads and go along to get along. Right? Right!

West Virginia kicks off to start the game. Full house, which is nice for a second tier bowl. Thanks to some timely penalties on the Tar Heels, WVU's D forces a three-and-out 13:06.

8:56 WVU moves the ball down the field after the punt for a 7-0 lead. It was a good mix of run and pass. We could use a little less high snap, thank you. Jollah and Devine both broke some tackles to turn short gains into big ones. Devine's being a 17-yard TD in which he broke several arm tackles. Let's hope arm tackles are the word for the day!

8:29 Chris Spielman, in a rare goof on the ESPN playbook is complimenting WVU on their speed and focus while pointing out the lack of focus for UNC. And just that quick, Nicks catches a tipped ball and carries a WVU defender into the endzone for a 73-yard TD. 7-7. Shit!

5:11 OMG!!!! Alric Arnett with a 43-yard beautiful one-handed TD catch. Boom Mother F'ers! We could be in for an offensive shootout. 14-7 WVU

4:57 Shit!!!!! Nicks on one play ties the game up at 14. What was I saying about the defense earlier? Forget I ever said it. Not really, but shit man!!

2:23 Bradley Starks catches a 35-yard bomb from White to put WVU up 21-14. Yeah, we're still in the first quarter. White is 7-7 for 140 yards so far.

1:03 Nicks catches a pass that doesn't go for a TD. The D is stiffening up now, yes? No. UNC is moving the ball just as easily as WVU.

End of First Quarter: WVU 21-14 with UNC on the WV two-yard line. WVU 180 yards of total offense, and UNC 202. WVU no penalties, UNC 3-31. With everything else looking equal, penalties might tell the tale if WV can keep this up.

2nd Quarter

13:27 UNC goes for it on fourth and goal and WVU's number one ranked red zone defense comes through again holding UNC on four straight plays from inside the two yard line. And of coulay is being rerse UNC gets the safety on the next play. Shit! 21-16 WVU.

10:43 Kickoff coverage is killing WV. No shit, we would be better off onside kicking every time. At least we would have a good shot at getting the ball. UNC couldn't start in any better field position than what they already are. The seem to be starting in WVU territory way too much. Thankfully, UNC is countering this play with drive killing penalties. 3rd and 11 from the WVU 26.

10:37 That Nicks guy scores on an easy pitch and catch. UNC leads 23-21. Shit! It was a nice route, though. Bastard! He's killing us Bill! Get someone on him! Oh, that guy you were going to put on him is out for today's game? OK, keep scoring!

8:54 Mountaineers first punt of the game. Now WVU defense needs to figure this thing out or it could get ugly. We have to keep it close so we can go out in the second half and take the lead if not sooner. But we have to get back in this game. We can't let UNC get a big lead and try to pass our way back into the game. We pass well when the game is close, not when we're behind.

7:21 The D holds and UNC will make their second punt of the game.

2:30 WVU is moving the ball down the field with short plays, just enough for the first down. With 3rd and 3-4 at the UNC 35, that trend needs to continue. Now if we can score to end the half and again to start the second half, the game will be in our hands. Our defense could use the break as well. I've seen quite a few hands on hips on defense.

1:30 Pat White is just out of his mind, passing for 160 yards on 15-17 passing with two TDs. I say this because we average 135 yards passing a game. No matter. This is exactly the type of game you want to see him have in his last game.

:52 Of course the next play is an interception! That's the way the karma thing works, right?

End of the Half UNC runs the clock out up 23-21. New post for the second half

Because We Car Care

John Radcliff — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 09:50:00 -0500

Hey, we'll be liveblogging the WVU-UNC game today. We might do the WVU-OSU basketball game later today. It really all depends, ya know?

We're most likely going to go without Sidney Glover and Brandon Hogan on defense. But we are deep at safety and cornerback, and by this time of the year if you don't know what you are supposed to do there are bigger problems than injuries.

I don't expect a drop off because we have a pretty good defensive coordinator in Jeff Casteel. He and the 3-3-5 have taken a lot of crap over the years, but he's really proven himself this year after losing eight starters.

Something that doesn't matter at all but worth mentioning, WVU is 1-5 against Butch Davis and 0-1 against UNC.

We're not into doing a big preview of the game. We'd rather just go with it. But check here, here, and here if you're into that type of stuff. Look here, here, and here for the UNC side of things.

West Virginia Basketball Hammers the Ohioans of Miami

John Radcliff — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 16:01:00 -0500

The Butler did it.

Going for a career high of 28 points on 11-of-17 shooting and 5-of-7 from three-point range, Da'Sean Butler lead West Virginia to an 82-46 victory of Miami University.

The game also served as a welcome back for Mountaineer senior Alex Ruoff, who missed the past few weeks with injuries.

Rouff chipped in 15 points, eight assists, four rebounds, three steals and two blocks while logging a team-high 35 minutes. Freshman Truck Bryant added 16 for the Mountaineers.

The Mountaineers didn't dominate on the boards (31-26) the way they have the past few games, but that's mainly because they shot 50 percent from the floor and 40 percent from three-point range.

Defensively, the Mountaineers held Miami to 41 shots and 36 percent from the field. The WVU defense forced 26 turnovers and blocked seven shots.

If it seems like I didn't watch this game from my description, it's true. Unfortunately, I only caught the end of the game due to Christmas shopping. Woot!

Next up for the Mountaineers is Radford (3-7) Tuesday night at the Coliseum. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.

Happy Birthday Joe Paterno, from a West Virginia Fan

John Radcliff — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:30:00 -0500

I've had my fun making fun of Joe Pa. But at the same time, I have a lot of respect for Joe that I think I have more than mentioned on here over three-plus years. Over at JoePa's Virtual Birthday Party, they are putting together an "82 reasons we love JoePa" post and giving away stuff and stuff.

I have a lot of memories of him beating West Virginia—memories of crushing defeats that just made my blood boil. There was a time when disrespecting him anywhere besides opposing college campuses wasn't too cool, though. Because he always did the right thing. People hated him, but respected him. Because he won a sh*t load of games.

That's the Joe I want to remember, and leave any mean-spirited comments for another week...month...year.

My fondest memory of Joe was the 1984 game where West Virginia broke the 28-game losing streak to PSU. I was there, and 14 at the time, so I was young enough to get reeeeeally excited about it and old enough to understand how big it was. So that's the most sincere thing I can say.

It was the biggest victory you could imagine. The fans rushed the field before the last couple seconds ran off the clock. Rather than raise a stink about it, Joe just ran across the field and conceded the game, and shook some hands and took his team off the field. It's just classy.

It seems like people have been calling for him to step down for about 20 years now. Obviously, it seems more plausible now than 20 years ago. But the program doesn't seem to have been hurt too much by his presence.

So...Happy Birthday, Joe!

West Virginia Basketball: Injuries are a Blessing

John Radcliff — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 08:43:00 -0500

The loss to Davidson would have almost certainly been a victory if we would have had the services of Alex Ruoff and Joe Mazzulla. But if you think about it, that would have been a short term victory that probably wouldn't mean all that much at the end of the season. Sure, beating a top 25 team on a neutral court is nice. But no one is going to OMG!!!! because of it.

West Virginia benefited from that loss and the victory over Duquesne Saturday in ways that will be huge the rest of the year.

Truck Bryant, more than anyone else, is getting invaluable experience. The point guard got his baptism by fire at Madison Square Garden against Stephen Curry and again against Duquesne in Pittsburgh.

There's a learning process that involves ups and downs, but when it matters, he's going to be prepared to handle the pressure of a Big East road game. Kevin Jones is also getting some extra minutes because of the injuries.

I know it's ugly now, and just because they are getting more experience doesn't mean they will be unflappable in the future. But when they are called upon later in the season they should be able to come in and give the starters a rest without much of a drop off in production.

I don't know if we could say that if they weren't getting meaningful minutes now.

Bill Stewart's WTF Moment Explained

John Radcliff — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 10:58:00 -0500

There's an old chant that West Side/Stonewall Jackson folks used to...well...chant in response to East Enders/Charleston High folk that I couldn't reproduce if life depended on it. But I would know it right away and what it meant if I heard it. But I would never use it here, because I'm pretty sure most of you aren't from Charleston, WV. It would leave you far more confused than enlightened.

So that's pretty much what Bill Stewart did when he ended his press conference after the WVU-USF game. But here's the explanation if you just had toknow.

“Glorious old Wetzel! Whose sons are brave and daughters fair, and which today
produces gas enough to light the world, oil enough to lubricate it, and brains
enough to rule it.”

Things were so much different in the 1890s.

West Virginia-Davidson Liveblogish

John Radcliff — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:37:00 -0500

We have a plan to stop Curry!

Come on frat boys! Know your role!

We'll get things started as soon as the ball goes up.

7pm: One of the good things ESPN does is the Jimmy V Foundation promotions. Good for them! I haven't seen Robin Roberts in a while, so I'm kind of in shock at how much different she looks. Glad she's a survivor!

I participate in Relay for Life every year, and if you have friends, you should get involved! Everyone needs at least one night of the year spent sober and without a cigarette in your mouth raising money for Cancer research. Find out if there is one in your area.

Bob Knight, John Saunders, and Digger Phelps are on hand for pregame. Jay Bilas and...a bunch of people are working the game. Ruoff has back spasms, and Joe Mazzulla can't raise his left arm above his head.

18:00 West Virginia is playing very tight defense. Maybe too tight sometimes because I can see some back cuts. WV up 5-2.

15:32 West Virginia is missing a lot of scoring opportunities. The defense is getting a lot of turnovers (sorry I haven't been keeping a running count)—4-6 turnovers in the first five minutes. But they aren't capitalizing. No Ruoff so far. WV down 8-7.

13:47 WVU is getting the ball inside on every possession and getting results. Da'Sean Butler is killing it on the second chance points. 14-10 WVU.

11:55 And just like that, Davidson hits a couple shots and they are up 15-14. Despite all the injuries for WVU, they are doing well at dictating their brand of basketball on Davidson. When they miss a shot or turn it over, they aren't getting set on defense. Curry is not the guy you want to leave all by himself behind the three-point line. Never.

10:25 Curry showing himself now. 20-15 Davidson.

7:15 West Virginia is stealing the ball or rebounding the first shot every time Davidson comes down, but the Mountaineers cannot run the floor. They need to pull up and get a good shot if one isn't available on the fast break. But yeah, playing great defense. Should be up, but Davidson still leads 22-20.

6:12 Everything I said above is still true, but Davidson has a white guy that looks a little overweight and has a knee brace on. He's dunked on us the last two times down the court. 26-22 Davidson.

3:38 West Virginia is kind of a mess on offense with the turnovers, but still down only 31-27.

Half: West Virginia is 6-16 on free throws. Da'Sean Butler has 12 points, and Truck Bryant has nine. But Bryant has also bought himself a seat on the bench with sloppy play. Gotta know when to pull up and run the offense.

Curry isn't having a great game by his standards, 4-15 shooting and 10 points. But he's still making everyone around him better.

In the Mountaineers defense, I haven't seen half these guys playing this year. Lots of subbing going on. Also of note, Johnny West broke his foot in practice yesterday. Not sure how long he will be out. Ruoff and Mazzulla have been sitting on the end of the bench. Sad thing to see. 36-29 Davidson.

15:00 No stop in play. West Virginia down 44-40. Yup, that means we are scoring. We're taking advantage of the turnovers and getting tons of offensive rebounds. 13 for the game to be exact. Ebanks is coming into his own. West Virginia was down 44-33 before they turned it around.

14:16 OK, that white guy, Allison, isn't so fat after all. He just dunked on us again. 47-42.

9:29 WVU down 49-44. Things have slowed down quite a bit lately. Our shooting is horrible, 34 percent, but the defense and offensive rebounds have kept us in the game.

7:24 WVU down 51-50. Offensive rebounds, people! Never seen a West Virginia team get offensive rebounds like this. Ever! Da'Sean Butler has kept West Virginia in the game.

4:10 56-56. West Virginia was up 56-53, but then Curry remembered he was Stephen Curry and hit a three.

2:40 58-58. WVU had a ton of chances to take a four-point lead, but turned it over and Curry got two on a fast break jumper.

1:09 Damn that Curry! 62-61 WVU.

:34 Damn that Curry! 64-62 Davidson.

Damn that Curry! Davidson wins 68-65

Final Blogpoll Ballot

John Radcliff — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:37:00 -0500

Well, the final regular season ballot. Not a lot of changes from last week. Comments welcome as always. I put Florida No. 1 because I remember how well that "awesome" offensive line for Oklahoma did against speedy defenders...48-28.

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Florida	--
2	Oklahoma	--
3	Texas	--
4	Alabama	--
5	Southern Cal	--
6	Penn State	--
7	Texas Tech	--
8	Utah	--
9	Boise State	--
10	Ohio State	--
11	TCU	--
12	Cincinnati	--
13	Georgia Tech	--
14	Georgia	--
15	Oklahoma State	--
16	Northwestern	1
17	Pittsburgh	5
18	Iowa	--
19	Brigham Young	--
20	Oregon	--
21	Virginia Tech	5
22	Michigan State	1
23	Missouri	2
24	Mississippi	--
25	Boston College	9

Dropped Out: Ball State (#25).

We All Just Need to Relax and Give Bill Stewart the Benefit of the...WHAT?!?!?

John Radcliff — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:27:00 -0500

If anyone can tell me what this was in reference to, I would be very eager to learn!

We've got enough coal in the state of West Virginia to heat the world. We've got enough oil in the state of West Virginia to lubricate the world. We've got enough brains in the state of West Virginia to run the world.

I had been mulling over a post about how we need to all calm down and stop calling for the firing of Bill Stewart. How it would be in the best interest of the program to have some stability. But without the context of those words, I'm just going to hold off on that post.

Maybe this will shed some light:

I have no idea what that meant, but Stewart, who is a powerful and effective speaker, was bothered and he bit back. Could be the media. Could be the fans. Could be the people who call his talk show. Could be all three.
He keeps up on what people say and write about his team and he cares what people think. Was this an accumulation, a reaction or just calculated?

It was a little awkward, but I enjoyed the entire scene, even the parting shot. Part of me — a big part, in fact — likes Stewart’s class and restraint. Few people in his profession are like him and that’s refreshing. It’s not fair to criticize that side of his personality because it’s genuine. It is who he is. Not only that, but he was pretty calm when he 48-28′d Oklahoma.

Still, another part of me thinks he is, at times, too cool and the fire that burned so hot leading up to the Fiesta Bowl hasn’t been here at all times this season. WVU has lacked an edge and I think that’s contributed to slow starts. I also think there’s an edge in the second half, so perhaps something is said at halftime. IrRegardless, he’s heated up the past few weeks and the nature of that Pitt loss must have had his blood boiling. We saw enough Stewart to heat the world.

White, Mountaineers Hold On 13-7

John Radcliff — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 16:21:00 -0500

I think, if we're honest with ourselves, we can say that South Florida lost that game. Or at the very least blew every opportunity they had to win.

I can't count the number of times Grothe missed on sure touchdown passes. I also can't count the number of times a South Florida receiver got open for a first down when West Virginia was dropping eight in coverage.

As has been the case for South Florida in most of their losses this year, they turned the ball over and gave their opponent way too many chances. You have to take your hat off to the Bulls defense for only giving up six points on three turnovers.

White and the offense had difficulty at times moving the ball. Devine, despite not playing in the first quarter, had 90 yards on 17 carries. Whatever the reason, it seemed to motivate him.

Although there is still a bowl game to play, the coaches have to find a way to get the ball in Devine's hands next year. He's just too dynamic a player to not touch the ball 20-25 times a game.

Speaking of bowl games, we are headed to the Car Care Bowl. Most likely, we will play North Carolina. But we'll have to wait on that call tonight.

WVU Mountaineers Win Ugly Again, But Win Nonetheless

John Radcliff — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 17:52:00 -0500

It's not hard to understand why Bob Huggins wasn't happy with the performance today by looking at the box score. But it was a win against a better team than you would expect with a name like Cleveland State, 53-43.

West Virginia was without starting point guard Joe Mazzulla, shot 34 percent from the field, and 12 percent from three-point range. The Mountaineers also had 11 turnovers in the first half.

The good news is they finished the game with 14 turnovers and actually shot 71 percent from the free throw line. Since the game wasn't on TV, I can't tell you how well the defense looked today, but it had to be decent since it forced 20 turnovers and held Cleveland State to 33 percent shooting from the field.

In his postgame comments, Huggins apologized to the crowd for having to watch such a poor game. He also sent a message to the pouters on the bench: "If you're going to pout on the bench when I take you out, I have no use for you."

I don't know who he was talking about, but I would expect to see a fired up team this Tuesday night, when West Virginia meets No. 24 Davidson at the Garden. Huggins also apologized for not practicing the team as hard as he should have. Another reason to expect a sharp Mountaineer team Tuesday. Huggins generally sounded like a coach that has let a lot of things go and has had enough with the excuses.

There were bright spots today, though. Besides the better than average free throw shooting, Devan Ebanks and Da'Sean Butler had solid games. Ebanks had the most rebounds in a game for a WVU player, 17, since 1977. He also added 10 points.

Butler led all scorers with 18 points. Alex Ruoff handled the point guard duties for most of the game and was limited to just four shots.

Stuff, Stuff, and More Stuff: Who Should Be the Next Syracuse Football Coach?

John Radcliff — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 10:25:00 -0500

I think I speak for everyone when I say that last nights Big East Roundtable was a big success. Far too much talk about Syracuse sports for me to be much of a factor, though.

The amount of cold meds I'm on also kept me from participating as much as I would have liked. I was seeing two of every letter on the keyboard. But unfortunately I didn't have a gun for each one.

Wait for it...

I want to officially throw my hat in the ring for Tommy Tuberville as the next Syracuse coach. What the Big East needs as much as anything else is good-to-great coaches, and Tuberville certainly falls in that category.

The people have spoken, and it seems we should retire numbers if you go by the poll on the right. Thanks everyone that voted! So, do you retire Darryl Talley's No. 90? I do before anyone else. If you aren't old enough to remember him in Old Gold and Blue, you really missed out.

My relatives that graduated from Ole Miss are completely ignoring my emails this morning. It wasn't a dominating win, but on the road against an SEC opponent that had won its last 25 non-con home games is a good thing. It was exciting to listen to and probably another reason I wasn't more active in the roundtable.

I don't think we need to be ranked in the top 25 just yet, but looking at this weeks CBB rankings I really have to wonder what the F is going on! Michigan? Navy? Both ahead of WVU? Really?!

Thoughts on South Florida and the Whiteout later on this evening.

Week 10 Blogpoll Ballot Draft

John Radcliff — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 06:35:00 -0500

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Alabama	1
2	Penn State	1
3	Oklahoma	2
4	Florida	2
5	Texas Tech	3
6	Texas	5
7	Southern Cal	--
8	Oklahoma State	1
9	Utah	2
10	Boise State	--
11	Georgia	7
12	Missouri	1
13	Ohio State	1
14	LSU	1
15	TCU	7
16	Brigham Young	10
17	Ball State	1
18	Michigan State	1
19	Georgia Tech	7
20	Maryland	3
21	North Carolina	1
22	California	4
23	Pittsburgh	3
24	Cincinnati	2
25	West Virginia	1

Dropped Out: Florida State (No. 14), Tulsa (No. 16), Minnesota (No. 17), Oregon (No. 21), Connecticut (No. 24), Louisville (No. 25)

The big thing on my mind as I did this ballot concerns the Big 12 and that inevitably all of them will have at least one loss before it's all over. It seems to me that home field advantage played a huge part in every upset or win for that matter, so I'm still a big believer in Oklahoma.

It might be an interesting tiebreaker situation if Tech, Texas, and Oklahoma all end up with one loss. Oh, and Okie St. Is that even possible?

Penn St. and Alabama have both had big road victories this year, but I still give the nod to Bama. I probably shouldn't pat Cincy on the back too much for the win at home against USF after getting smoked by UConn the week before. If they would have done it on the road, then yeah.

I'm kind of impressed with the Pitt win. Not so much because I think ND is all that. But I think in years past, Pitt would have had a mental lapse. Despite the loss to Rutgers the week before, this is a different Pitt team. Good for the Big East.

Oh yeah, welcome back WV! Just below Cincy to avoid the wrath of the CK award.

UConn, West Virginia Both Hitting Their Stride Coming into Key Big East Matchup

John Radcliff — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:35:00 -0400

When I think about Connecticut football, I think about the 2007 season: a nice record, but they never really beat anyone.

Yes, they beat South Florida last year. But that was after South Florida turned into a shadow of their former selves.

They played Duke, Maine, Temple, and Akron in four of their first five games. They beat a lesser Louisville team with the help of a fake fair catch. I just didn't see anything that impressed me.

When they had a chance to make a name for themselves and win the outright Big East title, they got completely smoked by West Virginia 66-21. But they were a young team that was just growing into itself.

Fast forward to 2008, and they beat Hofstra, Temple, Virginia, Baylor, Louisville, and Cincinnati—not exactly a murderers' row. They gave one away to Rutgers and got throttled by North Carolina. Outside of the Cincinnati win, there's nothing impressive to look at.

But that Cincinnati game was their last game, and that does concern me. Because up until that game, I thought Cincinnati was going sneak into a BCS berth out of the Big East. Obviously, a lot has changed in the past week.

Any talk about the Huskies' success starts with Donald Brown. He leads the nation in yards per carry, yards per game, and is second in total rushing yards.

Other than that, they don't stick out in any categories that would lead you to think they are doing something sneaky like not turning the ball over or not being penalized. They're 50th in penalty yards per game and 37th in turnover margin at +.50.

Like West Virginia, they are one of the worst passing teams in D-I. They just run the ball very well, and they do it often.

As I say all this, it is with the understanding that West Virginia hasn't been a world-beater outside of the Auburn game.

But Connecticut, with their third string quarterback, overpowered what I thought was a tough Cincinnati team—much in the same fashion West Virginia beat Auburn. Both teams just took over the second half and capitalized on the other team's mistakes.

If you believe West Virginia is just now hitting its stride, you can say the same thing about the Huskies.

What to take from all this? Mistakes will be the difference in this game. Turnovers and penalties...

Auburn Has a Problem With Thursday Night Games

John Radcliff — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 09:40:00 -0400

But not a problem at all mixing the Slim Goodbody/Elvis/Carrot Top look.

I sometimes forget that real football conferences play on Saturday. So it was kind of funny to read that a Thursday night game would cause problems for anyone.

Ever since Auburn lost to Arkansas and headed into its open week with Thursday’s primetime kickoff at West Virginia looming on the horizon, the calendar’s been a bit askew for Tuberville and the Tigers.
“It’s just your consistency of what you normally do,” Tuberville said. “Tuesday was Monday, yesterday was Wednesday, today’s Thursday.
“You try to keep it all the same, but it’s really hard to do that.”

When I read things like that and the rumors about Tuberville having a stroke that he didn't have but felt like he needed to address and rumors about a pending retirement, I wonder how much attention is being paid to the game.

I think we've seen the pitfalls of weeknight road games over the past couple years, and we're used to it. I can only imagine how it would affect a team that sticks mostly to the Saturday games.

Lots of teams have trouble coming into Morgantown for a Thursday night game. I don't even know the last time we lost one. That first article said something like 1926, but...what? 1926? Joe Paterno was finishing up his law degree in 1926.

Lou Holtz and Mark May will be doing the color analysis and Rece Davis will do the play-by-play this Thursday night. Holtz has put his foot in his mouth the last couple weeks in controlled situations in the studio, so I find it kind of funny that ESPN will now throw him out there on live TV for an entire game.

I have no idea what he will say, but you bet your ass I will be recording this one, as it could very well be his last appearance on ESPN.