Gold/Blue game

This time, it’s for real.

I am stepping down as Lead Editor of HailWV.com… this isn’t a lame attempt to continue an April Fools Joke. This year, I have found I just do not have the time to maintain this site like I used to… and that’s a huge disservice to everyone that relies on this site for news.

It has been a great ride, and I have immensely enjoyed covering WVU football and basketball since April 2010. However, the time has come for me to step aside. Hopefully, someone can take this site to even bigger heights than I did, as well as do a better job. Other sites you all could add to your daily news cycle: Smoking Musket & WVU Pros. Try ‘em, you’ll like ‘em.

First off, I want to thank Dwayne, Jeremy, Tyler, Amy, Christopher, & Josh for being a part of this current team. You all were great to work with, and hopefully, we can all do it again in the future.

I’d like to give a special shout-out to the actual haters of this site… you all should devote your energies elsewhere. Try it, just may do you some good.

Finally, I’d like to thank each and every one of you that have read our site and used it as one of your relied-upon news sources for WVU athletics. It was an honor and privilege to bring you WVU news, with an oftentimes biting and snarky twist. I’d also like to thank all 2,538 of our Twitter followers… you guys are a great bunch to interact with on a daily basis. I am going to miss that.

Enjoy the Spring game tonight, enjoy the Big12, and LET’S GO, MOUNTAINEERS!!!

Thank you, Mountaineer Nation - Hail WV - Hail WV - A West Virginia Mountaineers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more.

Hate is the bedrock of college football fandom. Well…. hate and beer. In a multiple part series between now and kick-off 2012, I’ll help you hate and make fun of our new Big 12 rivals. 1st up….The Texas Longhorns.

Texas is one giant penis envy joke. Think about it….the jacked up pick-up trucks….the huge buildings in Dallas….”Everything’s Bigger in Texas”….right down to the University literally calling its athletic teams ”Longhorns”….. Texas is really trying to overcompensate for something here. Texas’ motto shouldn’t be ”Everything’s bigger” it should be ”look at this distraction”. Example A: The Longhorn Network. You would think that if a school was going to get its own network, it’d have to be the best and have most successful athletic programs. Texas on the other hand, is about average. Mack Brown is a great at going around to various functions…..winning over moms in recruiting ……being Texas’ Head Football Coach….and hiring high profile assistants who suck. Let’s be very honest here- Texas should dominate in football. They have either the best or second best high school football in the country, depending on how you feel about Florida. They have zero equals in terms of stature in state, unlike say, Florida having to compete with Miami and FSU as equals.UT should dominate in-state recruiting, then land helicopters and marching bands in the back yard of any recruit they want nationally. Instead, they’ll go 9-3, have their own network, make a lot of noise, and ultimately disappoint, the pay some assistant twice what your Head Coach makes to finish 60th nationally in scoring offense. Because with all the resources and hype, everything is always more disappointing in Texas.

Learn to Hate: Texas - Hail WV - Hail WV - A West Virginia Mountaineers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more.

Our friend R-Skid asked us to promote his new mixtape, titled “Glory Days, Gauley Nights”, and of course, I was more than willing to oblige. He is a friend of the site, obviously. And, despite not being a fan of rap, I must say, this is good stuff.

This was released yesterday so you can stream it all across the web. You can download the tape instantly by clicking THIS LINK and you can stream the entire thing HERE.

Here’s what Skid had to say:

I come from Flatwoods, WV and this is our 2nd official release (first was Most Likely To Succeed). This project is aimed at providing some insight into myself and kids that grow up how I did, with bigger dreams than the small towns they live in. It’s also meant to serve as a warm-up for our larger, conceptual project, which is on the way soon.

Get ahold of R-Skid by Facebook, Twitter, and his website.

Twitter

Facebook

Web

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Look who's comin' to town...

Game 3 of our “Big 12 in 11 Sim Series” features the Red Raiders of Texas Tech University coming to Morgantown. The Red Raiders are coached by Tommy Tuberville, who has pretty much destroyed any success TTU once enjoyed until Craig James brought down Mike Leach, and is no fan of WVU’s. Probably has something to do with WVU beating Auburn in Morgantown… and something about the Pittsburgh airport?

When asked about West Virginia, Tuberville immediately brought up another school from the Big East Conference, “I thought it would be Louisville (added to the Big 12).  I thought they would be a better fit for the situation of the Big 12. West Virginia’s going to be great, it’s just that the distance to travel is going to be a little different for everybody and for fans getting in-and-out (of Morgantown).”

So, there’s that. Anyway, WVU is coming off the heels of a victory against Big12 political kingpin Texas 37-17 at Homecoming, the Mountaineers look to extend their Big12 win streak to 2 games.

In the first quarter of action, Tech QB Seth Doege connected with Aaron Crawford at the 13:37 mark (nerds rejoice) to put the Red Raiders up 7-0. WVU fails to get anything going on their 1st possession of the game and punt it… at the 8:04 mark, TTU again got on the board when Jace Amaro caught a 3 yd pass from Doege… 14-0 Red Raiders. Tuberville seems to believe he’ll get the last laugh leaving Morgantown (well, the Pittsburgh airport) today. But, as a former Louisville football coach always says, “Not so fast, my friend.” With 4:41 to go in the 1st, Devon Brown receives a 16-yd lob from Geno Smith to cut Tech’s lead by 7… and TTU couldn’t increase their lead in the 1st quarter.

Going into the 2nd quarter, the highlight for most of the 2nd quarter was Tyler Bitancurt’s missed FG from 47 yds out with 12:43 to go, which drew the ire of the Mountaineer Faithful in attendance, but the pain was eased a bit at the 7:02 mark when Tech’s kicker, Donnie Carona shanked a 45 yd FG. Finally, some offense took place in the 2nd quarter at the 4:26 mark when Ivan McCartney caught a 4 yd pass from Geno, tying the game at 14-all. Texas Tech managed to get a drive going to wind down the quarter, but decided to settle for 3 points at the 0:03 mark with a Carona 31 yd FG, putting TTU up by 3 (17-14) going into halftime.

Second half/3rd quarter is now underway, and not much happened at first, but WVU decided now was the time to run away with the game at the 8:55 mark as Geno Smith once against connected with Devon Brown for a 3 yd pass in the Red Zone, putting WVU up 21-17. Texas Tech could not get anything going, and another missed FG by Carona at the 43 mark (today just wasn’t Carona’s day from long range) just killed any momentum Texas Tech scraped together. With 1:26 to go, Ivan McCartney caught his 2nd reception of the day from Geno Smith, this one a 15 yd pass, putting WVU up 28-17, with Texas Tech unable to string together a run to end the 3rd quarter.

The fourth quarter started out with Tyler Bitancurt nailing a long one from 46 yards, putting WVU up 31-17 at the 11:46 mark. In a bout of redemption for Tech kicker Carona, he nailed one from 27 yds to cut their deficit to 11 (31-20) with 7:57 to go. WVU did put another TD on the board when Geno Smith connected with Tight End, er, Inside Receiver Tyler Urban for 21 yards, putting WVU up 38-20. The last score of the game had some jackass in Section 134 laughing his ass off and yelling, “FIRE CRAIG JAMES” a million times after Tech QB Doege connected with none other than Shed Boy himself, Adam James for a 19 yd touchdown, cutting down WVU’s lead to 11 (38-27.) The musket finally went off in Morgantown, and that did it. WVU wins another one in the Big 12.

Final scoreboard…

Now some team statistics…

Some individual stats for Texas Tech:

Now for WVU individual stats…

With today’s win, WVU is 2-1 in the Big12 Conference and 4-2 overall. WVU hits the road next week, going to Manhattan, KS to take on the Bill Snyder-coached Kansas State Wildcats.

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Wow… this seems to be the lowest of lows for Greg Van Zant and the WVU Baseball team.

An article was brought to my attention very recently regarding GVZ and the team’s trip out to Corvallis, OR for their matchup against the Oregon State Beavers.

This article came from the Gazette-Times in Corvallis… when I read this, I instantly went through the roof. Such a sad state of affairs our baseball team has to go through.

From the article…

Before Ben Wetzler threw one pitch against West Virginia, the Mountaineers had already asked for mercy.

Maybe they shouldn’t have.

Wetzler was without mercy in throwing a one-hitter with eight strikeouts in Oregon State’s first appearance at Goss Stadium this season.

The sophomore lefty got plenty of support, as the Beavers turned eight hits, seven walks and two hit batters into an 11-0 victory over West Virginia in the first game of the Nike Collegiate Classic on Friday in front of 2,255 fans.

The game was shortened by a 10-run rule, and presented Wetzler (3-0) with his first collegiate complete game.

“Not since high school,” Wetzler said. “I hadn’t thrown one in college. That was kind of a cheap one, but I’ll take it.”

Wow… “not since high school” and calling it a “cheap win” makes this a very embarrassing situation.

How is Greg Van Zant allowed to do this? Does he not have confidence in his players, even after spending a lot of time with them at Golden Corral? Actually, how the hell is GVZ still employed at WVU? He seemed to get away with whatever when Pastilong was in charge, but there’s a new Sheriff in town, and we know he won’t put up with this for much longer. Personally, if I were Oliver Luck, I would have fired GVZ on the spot for this.

More from the article…

As for the 10-run rule, that was decided on before the game, but still came as a surprise.

“I did not know until I got to home plate and their coach asked me if we’d play with a 10-run rule,” OSU coach Pat Casey said. “I don’t know what you say to that. I guess you say ‘Yeah.’

This is the type of stuff that will make WVU the laughingstock of the Big12 Baseball if this keeps up.

Absolutely disgusting from the coach, and he needs to be immediately fired. The Big12 takes baseball seriously, believe it or not. Plus, with TCU coming in, their baseball ranks are just going to improve. Not so much with West Virginia.

Last year, Luck gave Van Zant a 1-yr contract extension. Maybe this is nothing more than Greg Van Zant’s swan song and Luck hasn’t found someone for the baseball team yet.

People (myself included) want to care about WVU Baseball, but we can’t as long as GVZ continues to run it like a Little League team… complete with terrible facilities. I mean, Hawley Field doesn’t even have locker rooms! Luck has even entertained the idea of moving games to Charleston. That would be a solid idea (one I could get behind) and I think would increase attendance and interest in WVU Baseball. Hopefully they get a new field built in Morgantown within the next 5 years.

It’s time to get rid of Greg Van Zant, plain and simple.

Greg Van Zant did WHAT!? - Hail WV - Hail WV - A West Virginia Mountaineers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more.

THANK GOD, IT’S OVER! - Hail WV - Hail WV - A West Virginia Mountaineers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more.

Kevin Jones (Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-US PRESSWIRE)

The West Virginia Mountaineers are one and done in the tournament after losing to Gonzaga, 77-54. The Mountaineers finish the season 19-14.

The Mountaineers fell behind with 18:38 remaining in the first half and it was all downhill from there. Gonzaga led by 18 at the half and continued to dominate for the remainder of the game. The Zags shot 56% from the floor, 52.9% from 3-point range, and 75% from the free throw line compared to 32.7%, 17.6%, and 67.9%, respectively, from the Mountaineers.

Gonzaga had four players in the double digits and every player except one, starting and from the bench, scored at least two points. Pangos had 13 points and 8 assists. Gary Bell and Robert Sacre each had 14 points and combined for 10 rebounds. Ryan Spangler led the team in rebounds with 8.

Gary Browne led the Mountaineers in scoring with 15 points. Browne also had as many rebounds as Kevin Jones, 4 apiece. Kevin jones had 13 points on the night and Truck Bryant had 9. Dominique Rutledge led the Mountaineers in rebounds with 6.

It is a sad ending to a turbulent season. The Mountaineers will surely miss Kevin Jones. He had an amazing season. I wish him, and Truck Bryant, nothing but good things for their future.

As disappointing as this loss is, we have a bright future ahead of us. We will have some quality guys returning and some new faces that are sure to shake things up. Plus, we will be playing in the B12. I look forward to next season with big hopes for our Mountaineers.

WVU 54, Gonzaga 77 - Hail WV - Hail WV - A West Virginia Mountaineers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more.

The West Virginia Mountaineers drew a 10th seed NCAA bid and are set to face the 7th seed Gonzaga Bulldogs from the West Coast Conference. The Mountaineers were fortunate to make the tournament having the lowest RPI and wins for any other at-large team and even more fortunate to open the tournament a short distance away in Pittsburgh.

Who is Gonzaga you ask? Gonzaga is a Catholic University located in Spokane, Washington. The Zags are making their 15th appearance in the tournament and are 16-14 in all previous match-ups. Head coach, Mark Few, has been with the team for 13 years and has led them to the tournament since starting his career there.

Gonzaga finished the season 25-6 overall. In their last game, they lost to St. Mary’s in the WCC championship game. Statistically, the Zags look like a pretty tough opponent and they shoot well. The Bulldogs are 30th in the nation in field goal percentage at 47.3%.They are 44th in the nation in PPG and RPG. They average 74 and 37.1, respectively.

Kevin Pangos and Elias Harris are the team’s top two scorers, both averaging a little more than 13 PPG. Harris also leads the team in rebounds averaging 8.7. These two are also dangerous from 3-point range shooting 40%. Another possible problem for the Mountaineers is the WCC defensive player of the year, Robert Sacre. Sacre, towering at 7 feet, averages 11.7 PPG and 6.3 RPG.

The Mountaineers will look to seniors Kevin Jones and Truck Bryant to lead the team in this tournament. The duo definitely has the experience and has had success. This season, the Mountaineers have had difficulty making shots. They are currently 141st in the nation in field goal percentage at 44.1%. Fortunately, they have had success rebounding the ball and are 23rd in the nation in that category. The team averages 38.4 RPG.

Kevin Jones finished the season leading the team, and Big East but let’s not go there again, in PPG and RPG averaging 20.1 and 11.1, respectively. Bryant averages 17.2 PPG. Jabarie Hinds and Gary Browne lead the team in assists combining for an average 6.3 per game.

The Mountaineers have a few advantages in this game. Maybe the most important is location. The Zags have a long trip to Pittsburgh and that could have an effect on the players. Another advantage, to the location, may be the presence of more Mountaineer fans. We all know the 6th man can play a big role in games. The Achilles heel of this Mountaineer team this season is closing games. They have let more than a few get away from them in the waning minutes of the game. The loss to UCONN is a prime example of this. It will be interesting to see how the team responds to this environment and the pressure of being in the NCAA tournament.

The game tips at 7:20 on Thursday and can be seen on TNT. As always, Let’s Go Mountaineers!

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The game was back and forth the entire first half of play. The Mountaineers would pull away by 4, 30-26, at the half. With a little over 3 minutes left in the game, the Mountaineers led by 6. UConn forced turnovers, shot with accuracy, and tied the game. Overtime was a mess for the Mountaineers. The team only scored 2 points, off of Truck Bryant free throws, in the period.

Kevin Jones had 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead the team. Truck Bryant had 20 points and Dominique Rutledge led the team in rebounds with 11. The Mountaineers shot 34.7% from the floor, 15.8% from 3-point range, and 82.4% from the free throw line.

Shabazz Napier and Jeremy Lamb led the Huskies with 26 and 22 points, respectively. The team shot 49% from the floor, 38.9% from 3-point range, and 63.6% from the free throw line. The Huskies also had 10 blocks and 6 steals.

The Mountaineers may be finished in the Big East, but tournament play is still to come. We can’t be sure which tournament it will be, NCAA or NIT, but the season isn’t over. I am sure that all of us will be holding our breath come Sunday.

WVU 67, UCONN 71 - Hail WV - Hail WV - A West Virginia Mountaineers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more.

Kevin Jones (Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-US PRESSWIRE)

The stage is set for West Virginia’s first game in its final Big East tournament. The Mountaineers will face UCONN on Wednesday.

Before we get to that, let’s talk the travesty that is the Kevin Jones snub for Big East Player of the Year.  After we learned that Kevin Jones wasn’t a unanimous pick for the All Big East team, I had a bad feeling that Big East Player of the Year was probably not going to happen. Turns out, I was right. Jae Crowder from Marquette accepted the award earlier this afternoon.  How? Why? I really can’t understand the reasoning behind this decision. I have heard many reasons, but none hold water in my opinion. Sure the team, as a whole, didn’t have a stand out season, but the fact is, without Kevin Jones, it would have been much worse.  Jones led the conference in PPG and RPG. How can that be ignored?  I feel bad for KJ. I am sure that he is disappointed. I am angered and frustrated as a fan, so I can’t imagine how he feels.

Now, let’s get back to the business at hand. The Mountaineers last faced the Huskies on January 9, 2012, in Connecticut. The Mountaineers lost that game 64-57. Since then, the Huskies have gone 6-9. They beat DePaul 81-67 today to advance to the second round.

Jeremy Lamb and Shabazz Napier lead the Huskies in PPG averaging 17.6 and 12.4, respectively. The team is 156^th in the nation in PPG averaging 68.8 PPG and 93^rd in the nation in field goal percentage at 45.4%. Andre Drummond and Alex Oriakhi help give the Huskies its 37^th ranking in rebounds. They combine for an average 12.6 a game.

Kevin Jones still leads the team, and the conference, in PPG and RPG. He averages 20 and 11.2, respectively. Truck Bryant is averaging 17.1 PPG, 2.8 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. Jabarie Hinds and Gary Browne lead the team in assists averaging 6.4 per game. The team is 125^th in the nation in field goal percentage at 44.5% and 87^th in the nation in PPG averaging 71.8.

I want this team to be successful in this tournament. I want them to win it all. Is it probable, maybe not, but nothing is impossible. The game tips at noon and can be seen on ESPN.  Let’s Go Mountaineers!

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