Say it out loud and don't blink

I’m going to apologize right now for the long blog, but I have some things I need to talk about.

The biggest thing related to the old gold and blue that is on my mind are the recent recruits that have verballed. Jeremy Johnson, who is the 9^th rated dual threat quarterback signed with us out Texas. We were not finished there, Stew and crew also ventured down into Memphis to nab the 1^st rated dual threat hurler who is named Barry Brunetti. I’m excited and most of the mountaineer nation is excited from what I can tell, but its early. This time last year we had Tajh Boyd and he committed to about every school on the east coast before it was done. This staff really has it together, and WVU has some serious momentum on the recruiting trail. However, I just can’t get all that excited about a kid from Texas and a kid from Memphis coming to WVU. Not that they won’t , but it’s a long season, and folks Morgantown is a whole lot different than Texas or Memphis. Lastly, we now have three premiere QB recruits over the last two years, and Stew has said they will all get their shots after JB is done. QB is a glamour position, and I don’t know any of these kids, but I can imagine their ego’s aren’t small. Two of them will have to prepare for their egos to be bruised and be asked to sit the bench for the first times in the lives.

Colin Cowherd, an ESPN radio network talk show host, and I have a serious love-hate relationship. He really pisses me off sometimes, but he does make some great points. I like his show a lot better in the summer because he’s not polishing Belecheck’s and Charlie Weiss’s helmets and he tends to get a little slightly off topic. A guy called in asking some ridiculous NBA question, and Colin simply told him to say what he was thinking out loud, and if it makes sense once you hear the words come out of your mouth, it is probably safe to say that it will make sense if you try to argue the point to others. A little while later, I started to think about Pat White and WVU and how there could possibly be a snag in getting his number retired. Shit, even god himself, made it snow in Morgantown for his last game just to show us mortals how much even the creator enjoys watching Pat play. I’m not a religious man, but even an agnostic cat like myself can see that act was something even more Devine than No. 7. (Ok, maybe I’m getting a little carried away, but to say Pat’s career at WVU was anything less than storied would be a equivalent to comparing George Bush’s intellect to anything better than stupid). So, apparently you have to either win a national championship, be a unanimous All-American, or blow Ed Pastilong to have that honor. Pat, although deserving of two of three honors, never got to that award. I just want all of the six mountaineer fans that read this blog to step away from the mouse right now, and with all of the blue and gold fervor in their hearts say the following words. “Pat White’s number Five should be honored at Mountaineer Field and never be worn again by another WVU player”. Now doesn’t that make sense once you have said it out loud?

Speaking of Cowherd, a few days ago he was discussing A-Rod and how Alex’s chest was not as full as before. Despite the homoerotic insinuations in this bit, he somehow incorporated his man-crush into an informative and enlightening piece about a book he had just read titled Blink. This novel, about the first little thoughts that come to your head when you first receive a slice of information, and how, more often that not, they are closer to the truth than our well thought out plans. For instance, if you think she’s cheating on you, she probably is. As soon as he said this, my mind didn’t race to all the times I had thought a girl was cheating and chose to ignore it, nor did I revel on all of those times that I was fooled by a well-crafted but skeptical lie. A little while later, I started to think about jocks and DUI’s , the Fulmer Cup, and the way College athletes act and how some folks are very quick to throw the first stone without doing some administrative looking back. Every year during the Summer, ESPN has a special about all of these kids getting in trouble and how certain programs recruit less savory kids than others. (Shocking I know, but Vanderbilt tends to have fewer student athletes with off-season issues than Florida.) I’m not promoting DUI’s, drunk and disorderly conducts, or possessions, but I think we can all remember what we were like in college and what we did. Lets face it…you have good times in college and this why, when you are on your death bed, you tend to look back on those college years as the best and not those years pushing papers behind a desk and trying to dodge a boss you despise. You laugh, you drink, you drive fast, you chase women/men, …its all part of it when you are 20. I was an uptight science major, and I had a good time. I can’t even imagine what the summers are like for the athletes. I’m not saying the media needs to turn a blind eye to bad jocks, but I think that most of them are just doing things that most college kids do. If a kid gets busted with some grass, is it really that big of a deal? How many other kids get busted with grass everyday on Campuses across the country? Hell, a poor kid from FSU the other day, got a felony for removing a tire boot from his car. Now we all know how hard parking is on college campuses, and I’m sure many of us have had car trouble in college as well. Turns out this kid’s motorcycle wouldn’t run and he had to leave it, they booted it, and he removed it. Now he is being treated like he was dealing or something and people made a big deal about on ESPN how Bowden has lost control of his program. No big deal right? Not sure how I was going to relate all of this back to my original point about Blink, but I’m pretty sure that upon hearing my argument, that initial reaction of any person that possess reasonable intelligence will agree with me that the “mother ship” known as ESPN and the media in general (that’s you Mitch Vingle) judge our athletes a little too harshly at times and forget that they are just kids. How about the next time these guys hear about a free safety jay walking they should say it out loud first before they write it , or try not to think about it too much.

A stranger on the Prarie

I live in Oklahoma now, and I have to say that the general public has a different opinion of me than they did 4 years ago. You see 4 years ago, Pat, Owen, Steve, Darius, and Noel etc were not well known. There was no Sugar Bowl and the immaculate comeback against Louisville was much over-shadowed by other nail biting games that took place on that Mid-October night. We Mountaineer fans know pain...and the worst is getting our asses handed to us when we think that a game will be a simple walk in the park. I won't mention the game that shall not be mentioned, but we all (and so does the rest of the country) know the circumstances and the events that took place afterwards. The friends of Tom Joad knew this t00, and they flocked westward down 1-40 and then down I10 to their little party in the desert. However, as quickly as the football gods rained on our parade and left us with that soul-crushing feeling of defeat and loss of our leader we awarded with an unexpected and dominant victory against an opponent that everyone expected to handle us easily.

After work and on the weekends I pretty much only wear T-Shirts that profess my love for WVU or the Theatrical masterpiece known as The Big Lebowski. (And yes if you are wondering this Dude does, always has, and will continue to abide.) The weather here is hot and dry and it is not conducive to someone of Belgian decent like me. In order to combat the heat I thought a white t-shirt would be perfect. I didn't realize, until I made it out on in public, that it was the shirt I bought after the Fiesta Bowl. For the most part Oklahoma Fans and Okies are the nicest people I have ever lived around and every comment was nice. I did get some dirty looks and one lady in a gas station asked if was from WV. She carded me too so it kind of confirmed it and then told me that she has a cousin in Richmond. I quickly responded that I have an uncle in Dallas.

On Saturdays on Pennsylvania Avenue in OKC, folks stand out on the corners with signs and solicit money from people stopped at the lights. I was feeling good and generally humanitarian and decided to give the guy a dollar. He approached slowly and commented on my WVU license plate on the front of my car; he then noticed my shirt told me I was brave for wearing that in OK. What a difference one game makes. The OU fans, who rightfully consider themselves one of college football's elite, once considered us a cute little team who did well every now and then. Now after one game, they look at us as a maybe not an equal but at least a worthy adversary. (Much like the man in the black pajamas...sorry Walter).