In this thread we see much of the delusion necessary to follow WVU sports, and why nobody over 12 who is unwilling to suspend disbelief, can.
- "WVU has this long history of football acomplishment". No, to quote its former AD, now promoting the new XFL, a combination of pro wrestling and football, "the Big East (sic) was not major college football". Pre-B12 the WVU game plan was to play as light a schedule as possible, and tell its mind numbed fanbase that what they were seeing was somehow the same as what happened in national programs. It was not.
- "WVU wouda coulda shoulda won the 88 national championship". WVU, as typical, played a cupcake schedule in 88, and, to be fair, was 11-0. And probably no better than the 15th or so best team in the country. (Which is the high water mark of WVU football to this day). Notre Dame assreamed the team, scoring at will. They were the first legitimate team WVU had played. More broadly, that was WVU in the pre-B12 era. Play cupcakes, tell the ignorant that Temple=Alabama, etc. Go to bowl, be assreamed.
- "WVU gets a lot of big recruits". This is the most ignorant of all the WVU idiocy. Think about it. Outside of the rare kid FROM WV (and most of them leave) or some other relationship with the state, is there ANY 12 year old boy praying tonight "please, God, let me grow up to play for WVU" ? If you believe that, you are an idiot, pure and simple. When Crap-ridi, et al, tell you that "you" beat out true national programs he lists, for a recruit, he is lying, and he knows he is lying, and he is laughing at you. Players SETTLE for WVU after their childhood dreams are shattered. Pure and simple.
- "We is getting elevently billions dollars" (for being a field filler in the Big 2, Little 8). Let me explain this slowly. WVU sports, according to the USA Today data base taken from NCAA records in a money losing proposition. That simple. (and yelling "NO" really loudly does not change that, take it up with USAT, not me, I just quote it prints, which is what WVU reported to the NCAA). Fine. The B12 is run differently than the other conferences in that the so-called third tier rights are retained by the school. WVU, the second smallest state to have a P5 program, sells its to an obscure Pirates channel. Not only do the Big 2 get factors of ten more for those rights, but the remainder of the Little 8 do as well, as they represent larger fan bases in larger states with greater prosperity. But go past that to the league rights. Yes, WVU takes in designated victim money from the true national programs. So does Purdue, or Minnesota, or Georgia Tech, or Oregon State or whoever. And? First, times change. Not that long from now, the TV deals all expire. And, the SEC and Pac 12 are going to make a play for the Big 2 again, and if they can make the math work, welcome home to your ancestral home, the AAC, FKA the "big" Least, AKA the Leastleftovers. But, even if the B12 survives and you get another 10-15 years of payoff from the Big 2, so what? THAT is what you wanted to be? You really are proud of being the Washington Generals?
- "I root for MU when they are not playing WVU." I take you at your word. But, two things. A lot of non-alumni WVU fans do not, and most are insulting know-nothings who, when yet another certain victory turns, as always, to ****, have "But Marshall..." as their last refuge. But more importantly, leaving out sports, what is good for WVU is bad for WV, and v-v. The WVU management uses sports to influence the state govenment, and WVU is a black hole. That simple. As to basketball, at one time MU was way ahead of WVU in that sport, which is why WVU refuesed to play in that era. That is DD's era. Then we played for a long time at about even, and then WVU moved up and we moved down with a succession of moron coaches. There is no real purpose in us playing anymore and we need to move on.
- "BP called out WVU in the 90s". BP was trying to build a program and it was all in fun. He and DN were and are friends and they knew it was in jest. In THAT era, with WVU papering the house with heavily discounted tickets and still playing before plenty of empties, playing MU meant a full house at full price. Those days are gone and, no, MU should forget about playing WVU in THIS era. WVU, although it still sells tickets WAY below true national level programs and has a WAY bigger (esentually free, in game day revenue terms) student section than most true national level programs, come close to sellouts, now. Thus we have less to offer. See me in 10 years when the Big 2 cut you off and you are swearing to be damned that beating East Carolina or Tulane is just like beating Alabama and Clemson.
