All Things West Virginian

Sports Jargon I'd Like to See

2012-02-24T17:45:16Z

The basketball scores are 112 to 98, 78 to 75, 88 to 77 and 101 to 99. In local action, Bonso Gonzago went 7 for 5 from the floor while Clayton Clearwater had a triple single. Tonight on ESPN 37 we have number 201 Brisbane Polytech takes on The Little Sisters of the Poor. Finally, left fielders and second basemen report in two weeks!

Dialing Up Things

2012-02-07T15:11:22Z

Why are commentators still talking about things being "dialed up?" On sports coverage, they are always saying things like "the defensive coach is dialing up a blitz package." In politics, they say the candidate is "dialing up negative ads against his opponent."

Dial tones went out in the late fifties and early sixties. I can just barely remember rotary phones where you actually "dialed up" the number of the person you wanted. Push buttons and now digital have replaced dialing completely. I guess "dialing" it up just sounds better than "pushing" it up but still it must be confusing to young folks when someone comments that this or that is being dialed up.

This and That

2012-02-06T17:55:40Z

Can you rant without raving? And, what exactly, is raving?

Big, bold headline: WHO KILLED JFK? When you go to the article, guess what? "Nobody seems to know for sure..." is how it starts out. Another example. WHO WILL WIN THE 2013 SUPERBOWL? "It could be any one of a number of teams, and of course there could always be a surprise...."

Political Blah Blah Blah-o-sphere

2012-01-30T15:46:16Z

Conventional wisdom is nothing more than what all of us think today which, as sure as the weather, will change tomorrow. This morning on Morning Joe all the pundits were bemoaning that Mitt Romney will be so "beat up" by the end of the primaries that he has no chance in the fall. It was only four years ago that Hilliary took Obama to the door of the convention before bowing out at the last minute. Obama was certainly "beat up" in the primaries. He did OK in the fall. This is going to be a very interesting election this year - for sure.

Insightful Political Statements

2012-01-25T14:52:48Z

"We need reform from the bottom down not from the top up!"

"If this law works, I'm in favor of it. If it doesn't, I'm against it!"

"Generally speaking, politicians are average people, untrained for the job they are doing."

"This is a critical election. The choices couldn't be clearer."

National Champion?

2012-01-10T15:05:23Z

In college football, who was playing the best football at the end of the year? Hmmmm. That would be WVU (Orange Bowl) and, of course, Alabama. So, if we had a play off system in college football, the Mountaineers would probably be national champions this year!

Spooky

2012-01-06T18:02:44Z

Nine eleven means one thing; nine one one another. Yet both are 911. Both involve danger but one is an attack and the other a rescue. Very spooky.

ORANGE BOWL VICTORY

2012-01-05T16:07:11Z

What can we learn from this 70-33 win?

1. Speed and hard tackling wins. Period.

2. The Big East (may it rest in peace) is a much better conference that folks think.

3. Players who get in the game because of injuries are often better than the "starters" they replace. Remember Steve Slaton and Pat White coming into the Maryland game?

4. Team chemistry is more important than newspaper stories in terms of what's really going on.

5. WVU could well win a national championship in the next three years.

Orange Bowl Prediction

2011-12-27T20:09:14Z

I got all excited when I saw on the ESPN website that the Orange Bowl was saying 23 West Virginia 15 Clemson. Then I realized that was their respective rankings not the predicted score.

The SuperRich

2011-12-22T16:40:55Z

Years ago when the salaries for sports figures started to go into the zillions, an agent for one of these superstars was asked how anyone could possibily justify such a huge salary when teachers, clerks and other ordinary people get so much less?? The reply was telling. The sports agent said, "Why don't you have these people rent out Yankee Stadium, put their desk in center field and see how many tickets you can sell to watch them do their job?"

2012

2011-12-12T16:07:04Z

Obama will be re-elected; however, the Senate will be controlled by the Republicans. At combination of moderate Republicans and moderate Democrats will then basically put forth the Simpson Bowles recommendation and the country will be on the right track. The far left and the Tea Party will be marginalized.

Look for Joe Manchin to be among the rising stars for this moderate group.

Orange Bowl. Who will win?

2011-12-08T17:26:40Z

No doubt about it. The winner will be West Virginia. West Virginia will score three passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. Geno will be intercepted two times. Clemson will score three touchdowns but the WVU defense will force them to use 7 or more plays each time to do so. Clemson will probably jump out to a two score early lead but by half time WVU will have tied it up. Geno will have two carries of more than 10 yards each. Clemson will lose a fumble to the 'eers.

No need to even watch the game now!

West Virginia will end up ranked 19 or 20.

9 and 3

2011-12-02T16:18:46Z

What a horrible team that is horribly coached but is such fun to watch. Unbelievable really. This has got to be the worst 9 and 3 team in country but who cares? Geno Smith is a puzzle. Why does he turn his back on the offensive line when he gets pressure? And why when it's third and one does he drop back and let it fly down the slide line thirty or forty yards? I just don't get it. The offensive line is so painful to watch. At the end of a play where we lose yardage two or three of those big guys are just standing there looking at the swarmed over ball carrier. Special teams? Forget it.

So, what does all this poor performance mean? Not much. After all this is sports not math class. Good teams lose, bad teams win and no one can predict the outcome of any game with certainty. The players are doing their best, and the coaches are doing their best. The talent level on the player side and the motivation on the coaching side just isn't there right now. But, hey, the cardiac kids won again!

Go eers.

Credit Freeze

2011-12-01T19:54:44Z

Since 2008 we have heard and seen the sheer terror created whenever an event occurs which threatens to "bring down" the capital markets. Bank failures, credit freezing up, the collapse of the "system" all gets tossed about but what does it mean?

Suppose you work up tomorrow and all of your credit cards were cancelled. No Visa, no Exxon card, no Macy's card. Furthermore, you receive notice that your home equity line is also cancelled. Now the problem becomes that you want to go shopping, travel and buy things but all you have to spend is the $75 cash in your wallet and the $500 you have in your checking account. Your next pay day is two weeks off. You have bills coming due which you probably won't be able to pay.

The same thing happens to a bank or a firm such as Lehman Brothers when its credit "dries up." Just like for an individual, if no one will loan to you, your ability to sustain yourself economically vanishes.

Gel

2011-11-26T04:13:35Z

If you saw the Pitt game, you saw the West Virginia squad finally gel as a team. Now 8 and 3, 9 and 3 should be the regular season result. Any team that can play that bad in the first half and then win is truly a good team. World beater? No way. But this is the best time to finally gel as a team. Unless Cincinnati wins out (who knows) we won't get the Orange Bowl but quite frankly whoever gets the Orange Bowl is likely to lose. So for WVU it is better to beat South Florida, go to a "lesser" bowl (probably the Belk Bowl in Charlotte) and win for the future. A truly remarkable game.