Here are the 2007 Big East vs. ACC games:

You may view the final petiton results and submitted comments here...

I just sent it to:

Governor Manchin, Ed Pastilong, David Hardesty, Rich Rodriguez, Calvin Magee, Jeff Casteel, Rick Trickett, Herb Hand, Tony Gibson, Bill Kirelawich, Bill Stewart, Bruce Tall, Butch Jones, Shelly Poe, John Antonik, Mitch Vingle, Mike Casazza, and Kevin Kinder.

Here is the email:

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You may or may not be aware that we hosted a 24 hour petition drive to let the WVU Athletic Department know that we, as fans, are OK with paying more for Coach Rod.

In those 24 hours, we collected 99 pages of signatures and comments of how important Rich and his staff are to us.

You may view the final petiton results and submitted comments here...

I realize that this probably won't stack up to a hill of beans, but it is nice to read all the comments of what RR means to each person. You might enjoy it too.

Jim Dierwechter

P.S. Now my personal opinion:

Please do NOT be short-sighted on this. You keep quoting how this is a business like any other... and you need to balance the checkbooks.

Well, do what any other business would do... pass on the costs to the consumer, i.e. the fans. As this petition shows, we are willing to pay for the product WE WANT.

And, we want RICH.

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I'll keep you posted if I receive anything (I doubt I will). But, again, I really enjoyed reading the comments from fellow Mountaineers.

If we lose Rich to Alabama, I think we have a far greater problem than just finding a new coach. I think we have to fix the problems that caused us to lose a great one. If we can't keep Rich, who could we keep?

It's no secret that Rich, compared to other coaches, is severely underpaid. Although if Coach Rod is genuinely interested in Alabama, I'm sure that it is NOT completely based on money. Rich wants to win. To win, WVU has to commit to winning.

Continuity breeds success. Replacing a coach every 5-6 years will NEVER amount to an elite program. Look what's happened to Utah since Urban Meyer left. On the flip side, look what's happened to the status of Virginia Tech football by being able to keep Frank Beamer. Continuity breeds success.

There are many components to a commitment from WVU, none more obvious than money. When we talk money, it's not necessarily directly for Rich. In fact, from what I know of Rich and what I've heard about the contract negotiations... "staff money" is one of the biggest problems.

The success of a head coach is largely related to the quality of his staff. To get a quality staff, you have to pay market value. To keep a quality staff, you have to pay above market value. Continuity breeds success. Unfortunately, WVU pays under market value AND expects the quality staff. Somehow, to this point, we've been able to accomplish that. Our current staff is top notch and we need to keep them.

So, now let's get specific.

Rich is the 3rd highest paid coach in the Big East. Over the past 4 years, we've been the best team and have by far the largest average attendance and best TV ratings in the conference... so why is Rich the 3rd highest paid coach? Rich makes $643,000 less than Bobby Petrino. That's 58% more than Rich.

Now the assistants... Back in June, Rich was seeking a $50,000 pay raise for each assistant. That would be $450,000 (9 assistants). If Rich went to Alabama, taking the expected pay for Alabama assistants, there would be well over $1 million available for that cause. I have been told that assistants would about double their current pay. All Rich was seeking was $50,000 per coach.

So, let's quickly total how much we're short in my personal assessment of market value.

First, make Rich the highest paid coach in the Big East, using SEC rates. His new salary? $2 million. We need $900,000.

Second, get the assistants their due. Match Alabama's model and bump the staff pay $1 million, distributed as Rich sees fit.

So, where do we come up with $1.9 million?

To answer that question, we need to see where we differ from other "big time" schools. Specifically, I gathered some data with the help of BamaMag.com and Inside The Ville's message boarders.

WVU seems to be in line with average ticket prices, although a little under those of our "peers". WVU's range from $32-$35. Louisville from $32-$38, and Alabama from $40-$45.

This year, we had 7 home games. Next year, we only have 6. Using data gathered from my buddy Mark DeVault's MountaineerStats.com, we're averaging 58,518 this year. Without the dismal USF game, we're averaging 59,663. So, if we took the worst-case of 6 home games and multiplied it by an average attendance of 58,000, that's 348,000 tickets. If we do a modest ticket price bump of $3/ticket... that's an additional generated revenue of $1,044,000.

OK, we have $856,000 to go.

Now, here's where WVU really differs from schools in our "class". The donations. I am a Director's Level donor in the Mountaineer Athletic Club. We have Red Zone seats. Essentially, to sit in the Red Zone, there is a required donation of $300 per ticket (+ the ticket price). To many of you, this may seem like a lot. But, compared to the similar structures of the Louisville and Alabama athletic clubs, it's a bargain.

Without going into all the differences, I can simplify it greatly. My donation level gets me seats on the 27 yard line. My donation level is the same as those sitting on the 50. This donation level is also the same for those sitting in the upper deck on the 35. In total, there are 11 sections in Mountaineer Field that are Red Zone seats, i.e. the same donation level (see: http://www.msnsportsnet.com/page.cfm?section=9606).

With the help of a nice lady at the WVU ticket office, I came up with the following assessment. Each Red Zone section is a little different in the number of rows and number of seats in each. But, as a rough estimate, let's figure on 44 rows, 30 seats wide. Now, if we re-classify the 4 best sections in the Red Zone, i.e. those between the 40s on each side, we have just matched the practices of our competitors.

Specifically, at Alabama those 40-50 yard line seats require up to a $1,000 donation. At Louisville, it's up to $700. At WVU? $300. Each section sits about 1,320 people (44x30). 4 sections is 5,280 people. If we bump these 4 sections to a still-below-market-value of $500 donation, that's an additional $1,056,000 in revenue. So, now we not only have our $1.9 million of wishful thinking money, but we have $156,000 to boot.

We, as a fan-base, have been spoiled with getting incredible personnel for well below their value. To survive, to compete, to endure the tribulations of college football, we cannot expect to keep doing that.

The above scenario is only one example of how creativity can solve problems. I'm sure many of you could derive your own ideas. If that's true, then what's the problem? Why can't there be one "scenario" that works to get it done and keep these guys here? They, and we, deserve nothing less.

I'm not a rumor-spreader, and I'm not one quick to bite on some stranger's "inside source". So, I've been trying to rely on facts and credible sources, as few and far between as they may be.

When the Dominion Post states that an ABC affiliate in Alabama informed them RR would be announced as the new coach soon (see the DP today, November 30th), and hours later retracted the story... what's up?

When the Charleston Daily Mail cites possession of flight logs for a plane registered to The Tide Pride flying from Tuscaloosa to Lewisburg, WV for about a half an hour excursion, and then flies back... what's up?

When "possibly credible" sources, such as the host of a UA sports radio program, columnist to BamaMag.com, and Ivan Maisel from ESPN post updates that RR has been contacted... yet RR denies any such contact... what's up?

It is now Thursday. I listened to the Coach Rod show last night, and I accept his words to be genuine. Over the past day and a half, I just wonder how we got here...

Would you leave Pat and Steve (as sophomores) and a team slated for greatness next year, your alma mater, your hometown area, and demi-God status here? ... especially for a place (Alabama) shown to be quick triggered when it comes to firing coaches?

Rich has so much "fan-credit" in the bank, that it would take season after season of failure for people to turn on him. At Alabama? 8-4 and bye bye.

Don't think we don't have our hopes on greater things than 8-4 too. In fact, if he wants a national championship, it's obviously easier to do it from WVU than it is from Alabama in the SEC.

I can only hope, like many of you, that this is a bargaining chip to get what he wants here. Lord knows that people like Herb Hand can never be appreciated enough. I read that our assistants would about double their pay at UA. Wow.

So, I think I've finally made it to the point of making a point. If the "rumors" are true... obviously there's a lot we don't know about the association of (RR and his staff) and the University. As I mentioned above, on the surface, why Alabama? Why now?

It amazes me how much I care about this program. Yet, it's probably not any more than you (the one reading this). My inner-fabric is hoping RR stays one of us. If he goes, I think we have a bigger problem than just finding a new coach. We will need to correct the problems that caused us to lose a great one.

If we can't keep RR... a WV native, a WVU alum, a Cheat Lake dad, and a guy previously quoted as saying this was his "dream job"... who could we keep?

We all knew Don Nehlen's tenure was an exception to the rule. But, perhaps we never accepted that knowledge.

Here's to hoping my son walks on to play football for WVU in 2014... for Coach Rodriguez.

I asked Mr. Tranghese if he had spoken to the Gator in relation to who they'd prefer... WVU or Texas.

His answer... "Yes".

But, he said that's all he wanted to say, and that he had talked to some Athletic Directors about that. He said something along the lines of...

"Of course, your interest is on West Virginia, and they still have to play Rutgers."

And, he mentioned that committees have opinions on Monday that may not be the same on Friday. So, no matter what they discussed, it could still change.

Basically, he was polite about it, but would not expand on the content of the conversation(s) with the Gator. But, WVU is being discussed.

However, my personal sense (perhaps on the optimistic side) was that WVU-Clemson would be enticing, and WVU's chances in the Gator completely hinge on us beating Rutgers. Without him saying so, I came out of that conversation with the sense that the Gator just might be swaying to us.

Sorry this wasn't more informative, but I wanted to pass along this little conversation I had with Mr. Tranghese today.

UPDATE: 28-NOV-06: A great write-up by the Charleston Gazette points out that the Gator needs to do 2 things to help their cause in finding a new sponsor next year...

However, Pitt still is looking for the mysterious "speed pill", and the Cardinals looked like a team ready for a BCS challenge.

Perhaps I'm the perennial optimist, but here are some new thoughts from my silver-lined cloud. Are you kidding me? Could it still be true? I broke down the BCS bids, and discovered a chance for WVU just yet.

Before we begin, we have to announce the new BCS rankings. WVU is #15. To be eligible, we have to be top #14. But, thankfully, Rutgers is prey at #13 for our bump-up chances. Plus, #9 Arkansas must play #4 Florida, and #12 Oklahoma must play #20 Nebraska. If Arkansas and Oklahoma lose, we should jump to at least #12.

Before Rutgers lost, everyone was assuming a 3-way tie for the Big East title, as if WVU beat Rutgers, each of RU, UL, and WVU would be 6-1 in conference. The tie would first attempted to be resolved by defining a "mini-conference", as follows... each of the 3 teams would be 1-1 against the other 2. So, the tie would need to go to the 2nd tie-breaker, which is the BCS ranking. So, in the event of the previously expected 3-way tie, the highest ranked team in the BCS would get the Big East's bid. Again, in this previously expected scenario, WVU would have been that team.

However, Rutgers losing now makes the likely scenario to be a 2-way tie between WVU and UL. In this event, UL would get the bid because of the head-to-head win against us.

So, with that "common knowledge" out of the way, let's start talking about how WVU could still get a BCS invite. All scenarios are based on WVU winning out. Although I personally am taking nothing for granted, the analyses below assume that.

There are 10 teams in the BCS, 6 of which are derived from the designated conference champions... leaving 4 "at-large" teams.

Amongst the many clauses of the BCS, they begin with: To be eligible for a BCS at-large invitation, a team must be in the top 14 of the final BCS.

AT-LARGE #1:

Clause: If Notre Dame is in the top 8, then they are an automatic invite.

However, I find little value in this rule, as if Notre Dame is eligible, i.e. in the top 14, they most likely will be selected anyway. So, essentially, if Notre Dame is in the top 14, then they will get an invite.

Notre Dame is currently #5 in the BCS. Their only game left is at #3 USC. It would be hard to imagine a scenario where, even if they lose, they would fall outside of the top 14. So, consider Notre Dame as at-large #1.

AT-LARGE #2:

Clause: Any team from a non-BCS conference gets an automatic invite if they do either of the following:

a) They finish in the top 12

b) They finish in the top 16 and finish ahead of a BCS conference champion

Boise State is currently #11. And, each of the possible champs of the ACC (Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Boston College, and Maryland) are #16, #20, #18, and #26 respectively. So, unless Boise State loses at Nevada in their final game, consider Boise as at-large #2. However, I would like to go on record that Boise very well could lose this week.

AT-LARGE #3:

Clause: A BCS conference team that didn't win their conference's automatic bid, yet finishes at #3, will get an automatic invite as an at-large.

Michigan is currently #2.

AT-LARGE #4:

Clause: A BCS conference team that didn't win their conference's automatic bid, yet finishes at #4, will get an automatic invite as an at-large if (and only if) no team qualified the same way as the #3 team.

WVU is currently #7. If LSU beats #6 Arkansas in their final game, and then Arkansas beats #4 Florida in the SEC Championship, that means 2 teams ahead of us will lose. #3 USC and #5 Notre Dame play each other. One must lose, so make that 3 teams ahead of us that will go down. Put us at #4 then.

So, if Michigan finishes at #2, we are an automatic at-large by finishing in the top 4. However, if Michigan finishes at #3, we don't get an automatic bid by finishing at #4.

If we don't get the AUTOMATIC at-large by finishing #4, let's look at how we could be "selected" for the 4th at-large.

There appear to be 3 legitimate options for who will play Ohio State in the BCS Championship. Let's see what each option brings. But first remember, no conference can earn 2 at-large bids to the BCS

I'm sure our 6 hour drive will feature previous seasons' highlight DVDs, including last year's UL game. I'm sure I'll lose my voice Wednesday night somewhere. I'm sure win or lose, it'll be another road trip well worth it.

Here are a couple of things I wanted to make sure everyone traveling to Louisville was aware of...

Today, like most days, my "day job" was enhanced by ESPN Radio streaming in the background. Combine that with a 105 minute commute between Fairmont and Morgantown because I-79 was closed for an accident... which meant I got a fill of Sirius Radio and then the Statewide Sportsline. Here's a summary of what I learned today.

1) The All-Criminal-Conference (ACC) is just that. A one game suspension for brawling... that's hilarious. Randy Edsall recently kicked 5 players off the UConn football team merely for buying beer... and most of them were over 21! Contrary to the statements of Miami and the ACC, Larry Coker does not have control. Randy Edsall... he has control. The ACC cited an interest in academic and institutional reputation when they recruited Miami. Again, that's hilarious. A one game suspension for 12 of the 13 they've fingered. Hilarious.

2) The beauty of the computer polls... WVU ranges from 5th to 22nd amongst the 6 polls. 22nd? Jeff Sagarin and his Elo-Chess formula don't like WVU football. Likewise, the WVU Chess Team is also getting the shaft from his Elo-Football formula.

3) On the other hand, Richard Billingsly has us 5th. Know what I learned today? RB uses last year's finish as the initial starting point for rankings this year. Most of the computer polls start with "empty" values, and await until week 4 to consider themselves to have enough data for an initial "base". Not RB. So, although I'm loving the RB poll right now (it's WVU's best of the 6), I hardly consider it fair to involve 2005's campaign at all.

4) The WVU defense, at this point in the season, is statistically better than last year's. John Antonik had a great article on MSN today on that.

I am a Philadelpia Eagles fan... which embeds an appreciation of the bend-don't-break defense. Jimmy Johnson's (not the blow-dried JJ that founded Thug U) defenses perennially were the class of the league in scoring defense, but not total defense. As such, I have come to realize that I'm not as freakazoidal as others on the essence of this year's defensive units. Once we get past running just the base sets, we'll be even more "statistically significant".

5) Despite my assessment above, I still was shocked about the manner in which the deep ball was successful in the first half versus Syracuse. We had two 10 year olds sitting with us this week... one plays safety and one plays outside linebacker for a local youth football team. Both kids know the cardinal rule of a safety. I read today "why" the safety was burnt... but I still don't understand it. I equate this to missing the bunt on a suicide squeeze.

6) Cincinnati is for real... despite their 3-4 record. If Grutza puts 2 more feet on that running heave, it's a 14-13 Cincy lead at halftime in Columbus. The Hokies needed every second to prevail in Blacksburg. Louisville suffered the same plight at home as VaTech. That's 3 road games against major competition. Yes, it's 3 losses... but it's 3 tough showings. So, when the Bearcats come rolling into Morgantown on November 11th, I hope we're ready.

7) I really, really, really wish Marshall would quit blowing 2nd half leads. Our strength of schedule is suffering for it. However, the current record of our last 5 opponents is 26-7. That should help down the stretch. "We Play For Championships"? Marshall is 1-8 in their last 9 games... and the lone win was against Hofstra.

8) It's mid-October and the Big East already has 4 teams bowl-eligible. If things go wacky enough, there are permutations of all 8 teams getting to 6 wins, as the NCAA voted this year to consider 6-6 as bowl eligible. 7 of the 8 being bowl eligible is less wacky, and 6 of 8 is realistic.

9) Marlon LeBlanc, head coach of the WVU men's soccer team, had a great comment on the Statewide Sportsline tonight. WVU has the best "football" program in the country. Each of the "football" team, and the men's and women's soccer/"futbol" teams are in the top 10. No other school can make that claim.

For the not-faint-of-heart, see the basis for my Big East Stength of Schedule / Out of Conference tracking: http://www.tellshowbcs.com/SOSP.html

Anyway, here's this week's list of who to root for... in regards to improving our strength of schedule by rooting for Big East out-of-conference opponents. I've eliminated the teams with byes, Div 1-AA teams, those playing a Big East team this week, and those that already played (UCF @ Marshall).

Plus, we all know that any WVU fan is rooting for Michigan State over Michigan, Washington over USC, etc. But, today's blog is solely based on BE OoC Sos. If you understand what I just wrote, you are within the demographic for this article.

Number of games versus the Big East in parentheses.

As a result, WVU's projected strength of schedule dropped from #72 to #81.

I have amassed the list of Big East out-of-conference (OoC) opponents this year, eliminating the ones that either have a bye week or are playing a Big East team this week (and, one already played on Tuesday... UCF).

In today's day and age, it's hilarious, yet deflating, to realize that the Arkansas State @ FIU game might matter to the pursuits of WVU. Yes, that game is a small fragment in the sum, but the accumulation of these small values is why our projected strength of schedule is in a quandry. See: http://www.tellshowbcs.com/SOSP.html

If you are a WVU fan, or a supporter of the Big East in general, here's your "who to root for" guide for the weekend of September 30th, 2006. As I mentioned above, this excludes the obvious ones... come on Iowa! Plus, I can't wait to watch real grass in HD with the overhead cam on ESPN tonight, as I hope my remote energy is what catapults South Carolina over Auburn.

Number of games against the Big East in parentheses.