Why it’s good WVU’s basketball programs had a much-needed ‘refresh’
In watching WVU’s basketball programs over the past week, something has become very clear to me. Both Mountaineer programs are or will be benefitting from a fresh start. One, Mark Kellogg’s women’s program, already showed that. The way the Mountaineers battled top-seed Iowa, Caitlin Clark and (many would say) the officials in the NCAA tournament […]
Ya gotta love the chutzpah behind the reworked WVU-Brown contract
When I first read WVU had extended football coach Neal Brown’s contract an additional year through the 2027 season, I was probably like many. I wondered if it was necessary. Yes, the Mountaineers had a nice season in 2023, but was that enough to warrant an extension? Then I read the details, including decreases in […]
Pining for baseball — its simplicity, its complexity — on a warm, February afternoon
As I sit here, it’s Feb. 27, 2024, and yet the temperature outside is 61 degrees with the sun shining. My office windows here at Wheelhouse Creative LLC are open to allow for the breeze. And it has me awaiting spring and, nostalgically, what used to be called America’s pastime. See, I grew up 20 […]
WVU’s place among the ‘big boys’; a young hooper named Pittsnogle
Like many longtime WVU fans, I’ve often worried about the school’s place among the “big boys” of college athletics. And it hasn’t always been easy. West Virginia was in the Southern Conference. It was independent. It was in the Big East. It’s in the Big 12. Heck, remember the Atlantic 10, and the Eastern Eight […]
Watching WVU’s basketball team — and then hearing the pain
A glutton for punishment, I watched West Virginia University’s entire men’s basketball game Monday night. In case you’re not such a glutton, TCU defeated the Mountaineers 81-65 in Fort Worth. It was ugly for WVU, which turned the ball over 19 times. And if it can be so, the previous game was even more ugly. […]
Examining, ranking all ex-WVU player performances in Super Bowls
When the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs meet Sunday in Super Bowl LVIII (is anyone really that good at Roman numerals?), West Virginia University will be represented by Colton McKivitz, No. 68, who will start along the 49ers’ offensive line. It’s always a thrill for Mountaineer fans to see one of their players […]
Turning down post-season hoops bids — was Crean right?
Older, get-off-my-lawn college basketball fans had to give a silent cheer when Tom Crean, the former head coach at Marquette, Indiana and Georgia, cut loose of strong words while serving as an analyst on the NIT bracket reveal on ESPN2. He railed against teams like St. John’s, Ole Miss, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma and Memphis for turning […]