Have any questions, hate mail, private comments, cease and desist letters, story ideas, death threats (that will be published) or tips? Then drop us a line at
ymswwc@gmail.com
WVU Update 1/25/08
Posted by Joel on January 24, 2008
So in keeping with my new found obsession into mismanagement of a Division 1-A (I refuse to call it the Bowl Subdivision), the latest salvo is a tried and true method made famous by Arkansas fans: The Freedom of Information Act. According to documents obtained by the AP, a series of e-mails between Mike Brown, Rich Rodriguez’s agent, WVU President Mike Garrison and his chief of staff Craig Walker show that Rodriguez long sought more operational and marketing control with the football program. He also wanted things like free game passes for high school coaches, an all-access pass for his cougar wife Rita, and seats for football recruits at WVU basketball games. Now there are two things that stick out at first glance. One, these requests are not that unreasonable, hell, they should be expected. But this is WVU so keep that in mind. The school’s football program has never been a national power (as evidence by the spot in the trophy case that has dust 9 inches thick in the spot where the national championship trophies go). The other thing that sticks out is that embattled athletic director Ed Pastilong was not involved in any of these emails, meaning that Rodriguez was so frustrated with the man that he went to his boss. Not good…
Also, there were several charges of interference by Gov. Joe Manchin into the Mountaineer program. Let’s see: the governor has time to poke his nose into the school’s football program, all the while the state has the second worst economy in the country and the third most fragile. Instead of trying to create jobs, bring in new industry, and try to raise the state’s GDP, he has time in his busy schedule to devote to the Mountaineer football team. Of course, the governor denies all of this, but let us not forget that he was all over the hiring process, even interviewing coaching candidates, so he hasn’t exactly had a clean track record when it comes to all things Mountaineer…
The final straw for the hated coach came in a last ditch meeting on Dec. 15 between Team Rodriguez and Garrison. Those same demands that Rodriguez asked for (marketing control, etc) was brought up. Garrison told Rodriguez basically “go to hell”. Instead, a couple of days later, Rodriguez went to Michigan.
On the surface, it looks like Rodriguez left over a few items that the school was too cheap to give him. But it goes deeper than that. Rodriguez was working in an environment where he wanted changes to reflect the “just about” big time status that West Virginia was obtaining, but the school was still stuck in the mentality that a horseless carriage would take West Virginia football players to the sockhop two counties over. He was sick of West Virginia being…well West Virginia. He couldn’t take anymore, and when his agent put in a feeler to the Wolverines, both sides couldn’t get to the bargaining table fast enough. Looking back, I can remember that everyone else in the country knew that Rodriguez was meeting with Michigan and Ed Pastilong thought that he was on a recruiting trip. Why this guy is still employed is still beyond me. His mismanagement of the athletic department and his smart ass attitude (he told Rodriguez after the loss to Pitt that losing would cause embarrassment for him at the Big East conference meetings, even though the school won the conference and was going to another BCS bowl game) has cost the school more than a couple of good coaches. The band of merry men that run the school, and by extension the state, have the management style of seasoned Iraqi generals under Saddam. I will nickname Ed Pastilong “Chemical Ali”.
Still, Rodriguez should cut the check and go. The school needs the money. And I just got word that they need to upgrade the above ground swimming pool that both their athletes and their administrators use for recreation. This is their current one…
3rd Down H-Back said
Garrison told Rodriguez basically “go to hell”. Instead, a couple of days later, Rodriguez went to Michigan. Nice…
This could be the most awesome picture ever
Joel said
I got this in an e-mail. I thought the power strip on some flip flops were a nice touch. If this was photoshopped, it was damn good…
JIMBO said
Magee said he was merely “exploring his options” by getting on a plane with Rodriguez, flying to Ann Arbor and allowing himself to be introduced as part of Rodriguez’s staff, and WVU should have known that and asked him to interview for the head WVU job. Since it didn’t, WVU obviously is racist.
Married guys, here’s a tip: The next time your wives catch you cheating, simply tell them you are “exploring your options.” Then, flip the script on them: Accuse your wife of being a monogamist and failing to ask you if you want a three-way with your neighbor’s wife.
Joel said
I am still hesitant to use the term “racism”, but according to Magee, he asked the “unnamed administrator” before he even went on the plane. At the very least the department needs one giant enema, starting with the athletics director…