A Moral Loss

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(Posted 9-7-26)

Greetings from The Booth!

You’ve heard the term “moral victory?” We WVU fans are very familiar, as we suffer heartbreak after heartbreak following “almost” wins and “we were this close” losses. Every West Virginia fan has the score “13-9” ingrained in their membrane. For the unwashed, that’s the result of the infamous 2007 Backyard Brawl, when the Mountaineers lost to a god-awful Pitt team in a game that cost them a spot for the National Championship. I could go in and on with countless other examples of the Old Blue and Gold grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory.

Here’s how I got fired up for last Saturday’s opener against Coastal Carolina: earlier in the week I watched a replay of the 2014 Chick Fil A Kickoff Game. In that contest, WVU lost to mighty Alabama, 33-23. The Tide was an almost 4-touchdown favorite, but a gritty West Virginia team hung in there until the very end. Man, nothing fires you up like a loss. On occasion, I’ll watch Tavon Austin’s incredible performance against Oklahoma, where he piled up 572 total yards (by himself!) in a–you guessed it–heartbreaking 50-49 defeat at the hands of the Sooners.

You get the idea…

So, why is it that I can’t be happy about WVUs opening win against the Chanticleers? Because that’s how we are in the Mountain State. We immortalize the legendary losses and pick apart the underwhelming victories. And make no mistake, the Mountaineers’ 31-24 win this past weekend was underwhelming.

After the homecoming hire of Rich Rodriguiez and a 4-8 campaign last year to begin RR 2.0, 2026 was/is supposed to be a return to the 2005-2008 golden era of WVU football. Quarterback Michael Hawkins, Jr. and running back Cam Young were/are going to be the second coming of Pat White and Steve Slaton. An improved O-line, and a blitzing, aggressive defense were/are going to make us the surprise team in the Big 12.

What we got in the first half against Coastal was a hint of that promise, as Young took his first WVU carry 72 yards, then punched it in one play later for a 7-0 lead. Hawkins 49-yard touchdown pass made it 14-0 Mounties. The expected rout was on! WVU added 2 more scores for a 24-0 advantage, but left points on the table as Hawkins lost the football shy of the goal line, and then, inexplicably, Rich Rod took a knee with 50 seconds left in the half and all three of his timeouts. Still, WVU went into the locker room with a 24-0 lead.

A different WVU team came out of the locker room as Coastal Carolina QB Deuce bailey torched a Keystone Cops West Virginia secondary, the WVU defense took bad pursuit angles, and the Mountaineer offense bogged down, as Rodriguez stubbornly tried to run the ball against an 8-man front. Fortunately for the lubricated Morgantown crowd, time ran out on the Fancy Chickens, and West Virginia escaped with a 31-24 victory.

It’s said that the biggest improvement for a team comes between weeks 1 and 2. I hope that’s true, because after an anticipated Saturday win against UT Martin (who?), a 2-0 start is going to have us all pretty depressed in West-By-God.

Until the next visit from The Booth…GO EERS!

RW

 

 

Views From The Booth: Commanders Takeaways

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Greetings From The Booth!

Can you feel it in the air? Fall is coming, and with it, “for-real” NFL games, not to be confused with the pre-season contests that whet our appetites this time of year. That being said, I have some takeaways from the Washington Commanders’ 17-13 loss to Detroit this past Saturday. No one cares about the score or the result–that will be forgotten by Tuesday, if it isn’t already. These are the things that concern and puzzle me as we get closer to teeing it up on September 13th in Philadelphia:

Why did Jayden Daniels even play? 3 snaps?!? Are you kidding me? I thought Week 2 of the preseason was supposed to be a “dress rehearsal” for the starters. Especially for a team with new coordinators, new systems, and new players. As for Daniels, his 3 plays consisted of a hurried incompletion, a 10-yard sack, and a “give-up” handoff on 3rd and 20. That was his day. I would have liked to see the starters play for at least a quarter. Nothing was accomplished here.

No running game. The Washington running game Saturday consisted of 45 yards. This paltry total is not so much a reflection of the Commanders running backs as it is an indictment of the offensive line. With several starters on the O-line, this was an opportunity for the “next man up,” and as John Lennon might say, they didn’t pass the audition.

The battle for QB3. Hands down, Athan Kaliakmanis is winning (or has already won) this duel with Sam Hartman. The former Illinois and Rutgers quarterback has good pocket presence and is not afraid to throw the ball downfield. On the other hand, Hartman looks for his check down receivers almost immediately after the snap. Look at the stats. Both have a pretty high completion percentage, but the yardage belongs to AK16, who simply looks to be the better option at QB3. With backup Marcus Mariotta injured, this matters.

Sonny Styles. There has been a lot of fan board and social media discussion about the Commanders linebacker and number one draft choice, who has not dazzled in the team’s first two preseason games. Styles at times looks to be out of position, as he was on a 50-yard quarterback read-option that went for a Lions touchdown. And there seems to be some concern about his size. 2 preseason games does not a season or career make, so he deserves the benefit of the doubt. That being said, maybe he would be a better (strong) safety in the pro game. Let’s give him some time.

Defensive takeaways. The Commanders’ defense has been a turnover machine in the preseason. I’m not sure how this will carry over into the regular season, but it’s an encouraging sign for a defense that couldn’t take candy from a baby in 2025. It was also fun to see a defensive touchdown on the game’s first series.

An overall sloppy effort. For a Week 2 dress rehearsal, Dan Quinn could not have been happy. The eye test revealed a sloppy effort, especially when you consider that this game was an opportunity for players who will not make the Commanders roster but are auditioning for other NFL teams.

Overall grade for Week 2: C-minus.

What can we really take away from the above? Probably nothing. Hopefully we will see a prepared and much different team when the Commanders begin a challenging schedule in Philadelphia in a few weeks. I’m ready…I just hope my team is.

Until the next visit from the Booth…HTTC!

RW

 

 

 

What’s In A Number?

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(Posted 8-17-26)

Greetings from The Booth!

As we wait for College and NFL Football, and watch another Nationals season go down in flames, jersey numbers have become a prime topic in the Nation’s Capital.

Let’s start with the wildfire that is the Jayden Daniels controversy. You can read about this–it’s everywhere–but the gist of the story is that the number 5 that Daniels wore during his time as the Heisman Trophy winning quarterback at LSU was recently given to Tiger’s cornerback DJ Pickett, who apparently was promised the number when he was recruited by the school. This move went against Daniels’ wishes, prompting the Washington quarterback to issue a cease and desist order to LSU to refrain from using his name, image, and likeness.

There’s a lot of nuance to the story, as number retirement is a very complicated thing. A statement issued by the Daniels family states that “Jayden and his family had every reason to believe that his number would…be honored and protected in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the university.” Meanwhile, the LSU policy states that an athlete must have completed competition for five years before being considered for jersey retirement. Daniels left the school in 2023.

As for the cease and desist, Daniels’ contract with LSU gave the school only 180 days after his final college game to use his name, image, and likeness, so he has every right to issue the order. Yet, he has become the villain in this whole story. Even other sports teams have been trolling the Commanders signal-caller.

(Sidebar: The New York Mets, in the midst of sweeping the Nats this past weekend, posted on social media after one of those wins that they stopped at 4 runs out of respect for Jayden Daniels. The Mets only need to look at themselves, floundering in last place in the NL East, and worry about playing baseball. The Mets can pound sand).

It seems to me that there are a host of other NFL players more deserving of being vilified than Jayden Daniels (One was just arrested this weekend for domestic abuse). He’s a model player, team leader, and by all accounts a solid citizen, whose primary focus is playing football.  And I might add that he’s the only quarterback in the recent Netflix series of the same name that doesn’t drop an f-bomb every 2 seconds.

Yet, in the world of social media, where anonymity and lack of accountability and facts rule, a quality young man is being cast as the bad guy. Facts matter, and the fact is that Daniels is within his rights to order LSU to stop profiting from his past glories, especially if they promised to protect his number (as he claims), then promising another player that he could wear that number. As former Tiger coach Brian Kelly said, we can’t treat one Heisman winner one way (Joe Burrow, whose number 9 is protected) and another Heisman winner (Daniels) differently.

I have a feeling that once NFL play starts for real, this story will fade from the news cycle and will be much ado about nothing. As for me, all I care about is number 5 raising a number 1 as he hoists a Lombardi Trophy.

Until the next visit from The Booth…HTTC!

RW

 

 

The Oscillating Fan

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(Posted 8-9-26)

Greetings from The Booth!

What a difference 8 games makes. Think about it. 8 games in a 162-game Major League baseball season is a proverbial drop in the bucket, but in this 2026 Washington Nationals campaign, 8 games recently changed the direction and philosophy of the team.

It’s said that over the course of a full MLB season, a team’s strengths will be revealed, and it’s weaknesses exposed. Going into last weekend’s key series against the Atlanta Braves, the Nats were one of the top offensive teams in all of baseball, and despite a suspect starting rotation and terrible bullpen, were finally relevant after a 7-year rebuild. With his analytical approach to the game, Manager Blake Butera had the Nationals 2 games over .500 and in the thick of the Wild Card race.

Then, they were exposed. In a 4-game sweep by the Braves, Washington proved to be a pretender, not a contender. While Atlanta came up with the clutch hits and made stellar defensive plays, the Nats left numerous runners on base, and in the field, threw the ball around like little leaguers. Oh, and let’s not forget the “Gas Can Gang,” who wasted several solid efforts by Nats starting pitchers by giving up late-inning runs with games on the line. It didn’t take an analytical genius to see who the better team was in the series.

By the time Monday rolled around, the Nationals went from buyers to sellers, and ahead of the trade deadline dealt Curtis Meade, Luis Garcia, Jr., and Foster Griffin. Garcia led the league in slugging percentage, while Griffin posted a 12-3 record with the Nats.

While the Nationals received some promising prospects in return, namely some much-needed arms, the malaise of the trades and the 4-game sweep by Atlanta carried over into the next series in Philadelphia, where former Nats Bryce harper, Trea Turner, and Kyle Schwarber had their way with Washington, winning 3 of 4. And just like that, the season was effectively over. Going into the trade deadline I was, like lots of Nats fans, all in on a possible postseason run. Just days later, I did a complete 180.

But hold everything. Like the oscillating fan that I am, I may be changing direction once again. After a 3-game weekend sweep of the Reds (their first series sweep since mid-April), the Nationals are clawing their way back to .500, and maybe with any kind of win streak, can get back in the conversation. I know, it’s a stretch.

No matter what happens with regard to the postseason, it could still be a fun remainder of August and September. CJ Abrams, still a National, is worth the price of admission. Former Yankee Yovanny Cruz gives Washington a live arm out of the pen who can hit triple digits. Cade Cavalli has been looking like an ace recently. And Trevor Williams is back and has pitched to a 0.00 ERA since his return. Although Abrams probably won’t be with the team next season, I’m filled with hope for 2027 (if there’s baseball).

But, check back with me the next time the Nats lose 3 in a row…

Until the next Visit from the Booth…GO NATS!

RW

 

 

 

 

Buy or Sell…and Training Camp Opens

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(Posted 7-28-26)

Greetings from The Booth!

Well, it’s been a minute since we got together. I got back last week from a nice week off, and a relaxing vacation at Deep Creek Lake, where I played a round of golf, ate very well, and as I always do, watched a fair amount of The Open Championship, as well as the MLB All-Star Game and Home Run Derby. A lot of folks in the lake house were glued to the FIFA World Cup. I must admit, once the USA was eliminated, I checked out. As the late NFL great Sonny Randle would say, if a soccer game broke out in my backyard, the shade wouldn’t go up.

We’re kind of in a down time in sports, with baseball’s “dog days” approaching, and football season not quite here, but I did want to weigh in on those two sports, specifically your Washington Nationals and Washington Commanders. We’ll start with the Nats. As of this post, the Nationals are a hair above .500 at 54-53 after last night’s loss to Toronto.

(Sidebar: it was really strange seeing former Nats’ great Max Scherzer in a Blue Jays uniform last night. In an emotional return to DC on his 42nd birthday, “Mad Max” got the start and threw 2 and 2/3 gutsy innings, and received 2 well-deserved standing ovations from the Washington fans, who appreciated his contributions to a great Nationals’ run over 6-plus seasons. At 42, and on a one-year contract, last night was probably his last appearance in the Nation’s Capital.)

With the trade deadline a week away, should the Nats buy or sell? It’s a tough question. The team is very much in contention for a Wild Card berth, but also very much in need of pitching for the long haul. The name being brought up most often in trade rumors is Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams, who was last week’s NL Player of the Week and has been red hot recently. As a fan, I want Abrams in Washington, and I want to see the team go all in on a playoff run. This is why GM’s get paid the big money. Do you throw all your cards on the table for 2026, or do you stay the course and get some young arms for the future? We’ll find out soon.

And, we head to Ashburn, where the Commanders open training camp this week. NFL training camps have become less important in the modern age of football, because of OTAs and year-round conditioning advances, and the strides that have been made in nutrition. Back in the day, players would arrive at camp vastly out of shape, having sold insurance or used cars in the offseason. There is no offseason now in the NFL, so camps are refresher courses for the veterans, and for developing chemistry for rookies and new acquisitions.

That’s why I think this is a very important camp for the Commanders, as the team tries to cleanse its palate from a 5-12 campaign. With an almost complete overhaul of the defense, this will be a camp where everyone on that side of the ball must get on the same page. Offensively, we need to see a hungry Jayden Daniels, who wants to show his critics that his injury-plagued 2025 was a fluke, and that he is not a one-year flash in the pan.

Interesting times are ahead for the Nats and Commanders. Until the next visit from The Booth…GO NATS…and HTTC!

RW

 

 

 

 

 

Not So Gently Down The Stream

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(Posted 7-5-26)

Greetings From The Booth!

Sometimes the old days and old ways seem better. Maybe time smooths out the rough edges, as they say, but doggone it, I miss the Magnavox TV in my living room that was connected to a tall, ugly antenna outside my house in 1970s Martinsburg, West Virginia. The only channels we could get on that television set were 4, 5, 7, 9 from Washington (on a good day, channel 2 in Baltimore), and on the more exotic UHF side, WDCA channel 20 (where are you now, Captain 20 & Count Gore De Vol?). Life was good, or maybe ignorance was bliss. Who knew then the technological advances and headaches that were headed our way?

As a fan of the Washington Redskins, I knew that on a given NFL Sunday my game was going to be on channel 9, the CBS affiliate.  If the ‘Skins were playing an AFC opponent, you might have to switch to channel 4. And if Washington was featured on a Monday Night broadcast, you would get the call from Howard Cossell, Frank Gifford, and Don Meredeth on Channel 7. There were NFL blackout rules then for the home games, but the Redskins were always sold out, and I believe we were outside the blackout area anyway. In any case, I don’t recall not ever being able to watch a game.

Fast forward to this past week, when, like millions of Americans, I looked forward to watching Team USA take on Bosnia in the knockout round of the FIFA World Cup. Also, like millions of Americans, I have umpteen streaming services. My menu includes Sling, Amazon Prime Video, and Netflix. No worries. Surely, I would be able to find the game somewhere. Wrong. The game was neither on Prime or Netflix, and my “Orange & Blue” Sling package did not have the channel that carried the game. I also noticed that Sling almost secretly removed my local channels from the package.

I then searched for a streaming service where I could find the game. And apparently, to get my local channels again, I needed to buy something called “Air TV’ ($80-$200) that connected to an outside antenna (that I also needed to buy). Not gonna happen. I already spend way too much money in streaming every month, and I don’t love soccer that much. But how am I going to watch my ‘Skins on Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays?

My journey took me to You Tube TV, where I can still get my local channels without extra gadgetry (for now), and also had the channel showing the USA soccer game. I signed up for a 3-week free trial, during which I will make the decision to keep You Tube TV or stay with Sling (unlikely). My new cocktail of steaming services will cost me more, but I will be able to watch the Burgundy and Gold on game day.

This is the confusing and costly dilemma of the modern-day sports fan. To follow one’s team means subscribing to a myriad of apps, streaming services, and local channel doohickeys. We have become addicted to sports, and like any addiction, we will pay whatever it costs to get our fix. There have been some recent hearings about the current state of the sports fan and streaming, but I wouldn’t expect much to come from them. The mighty NFL rules.

Meanwhile, a useless old-school antenna still towers above my rooftop, maybe because I was too lazy to take it down years ago. But maybe I left it up as a fond reminder of the good old days of 4, 5, 7, and 9.

Until the next visit from the Booth…where’s the remote?

RW

Views From The Booth: “Stopper”

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(Posted 6-29-26)

Greetings from The Booth!

Despite 2 wins to close out the weekend, it was not a great week for the Washington Nationals’ bullpen. Three of the losses in the 4-game losing streak were due to blown saves by the Nats’ “Gas Can Gang,” including a ridiculous 14-9 loss to the Phillies in which the Nationals pen gave up 8 runs in the ninth, all after two were out! Folks, that is Randy Woodward vs Jefferson stuff from 1977. The Nats’ starters deserved a better fate in the Philadelphia series, and you could easily make the case that Washington should have swept that 4-game set, arguably the biggest series for the Nationals since the Championship season of 2019.

To be a contending team in Major League Baseball in this day and age, you’ve got to have a quality bullpen, and it doesn’t seem that the Nationals put a high priority on that going into the 2026 season. The pleasant surprise, though, has been the starting rotation, who have been solid recently. Cade Cavalli has had nasty stuff, Zack Littell has been reliable, and even Miles Mikolas, who was acquired to eat up innings, has given the Nats some quality starts in recent weeks.

That brings me to Foster Griffin, who should (but probably won’t) be an All-Star. Griffin is 8-2 with a 3.15 ERA. The 30 year-old Griffin is a throwback, and what was known back in the day as a “stopper.” That term refers to a starting pitcher who can take the mound and put a stop to a losing streak, and that’s exactly what Griffin did this past week against the Orioles. Griffin threw 112 pitches in 7 innings, limiting the Birds to just 3 hits, a truly “old-school” performance. Alas, he did not get the “W” because the bullpen (you guessed it) gave up the tying runs late in an eventual 4-3 Washington win that ended a 4-game skid.

His performance this weekend was reminiscent of two of my favorite pitchers: Max Scherzer and Bob Gibson. “Mad Max” was another old school throwback, who dared a manager to come get the ball. Win or lose, Scherzer wanted to go 9 innings in an age where 6 innings is a “quality start.”

Scherzer would have fit nicely in 1968, the “Year of the Pitcher.” Pitchers were so dominant in ’68 that the following year the mound was lowered and the strike zone was changed to benefit hitters. It was the year Detroit’s Denny McLain won 30 games, a feat that surely will never be duplicated. And 1968 was the year that Bob Gibson dominated like no pitcher has since. Gibson gave up just 38 earned runs the entire season, and pitched to an ERA of 1.12 on his way to that year’s NL MVP honor.  I remember coming home from school that October (yes kids, World Series games were played in the afternoon) to see Gibby mow down 17 Tiger hitters via strikeout in Game 1 of the Fall Classic. I think that’s when I realized I wanted to be a pitcher.

Foster Griffin is a pitcher who has surely come to the Nats in 2026 from a 1968 time machine. Note to Griffin: next time Manager Blake Butera comes to take the ball, wave him back to the dugout. Somewhere, Bob Gibson will nod his approval.

Until the next visit from The Booth…GO NATS!

RW

 

 

Views From The Booth: Idiotic Golf Fans

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(Posted 6-22-26)

Greetings from The Booth!

I hope all the Dads out there had a great Sunday! I actually got to watch 7 hours of golf on Father’s Day without any complaints from my better half. That only happens once a year–Sunday at the US Open. If I tried to watch 7 hours of the “XYZ Dot Com Classic,” I would be sent straight to the Dog House, where there probably is no wi-fi.

In case you missed golf’s third major, Wyndham Clark won his second US Open in four years (he was the 2023 Champion), by holding off fellow American Sam Burns. World number-one Scottie Scheffler, who was paired with Clark on Sunday and was clearly the fan favorite, was stuck in neutral all day and finished at even par on the brutal Shinnecock Hills course on Long Island.

SIDEBAR: I like Scheffler. In fact, he was my pick to win the US Open and complete the “Scottie Slam.” But enough about the “World Number One” crap. Because of golf’s complicated ranking system that only a math major from MIT can figure out, Scheffler remains at number one. He hasn’t had a great year by his standards, with several runner-up finishes, and eight top-tens, but no “major wins,” which is a benchmark of the top player in the world. I’m not the biggest Tiger Woods fan, but Tiger in his prime would have found a way to win yesterday, if only by intimidation. Jack Nicklaus within 4 shots of a lead in a major was a frightening thought to those in contention on the Sunday of a major. Scheffler never made the big putts yesterday when he had several chances to grab the tournament by the short hair. This is a discussion for another day.

Let’s talk about the fan behavior at Shinnecock on Sunday. Clearly, the majority wanted Scheffler to win. After all, it was his birthday, and he was trying to complete the aforementioned “Scottie Slam,” needing only to add the US Open to his 2 Masters wins, his PGA victory, and his Open championship. I get it. It would have been a great story. But rooting for your favorite player doesn’t mean being a jackass toward his competitor, and that’s what happened yesterday.

To say the reaction toward Clark was lukewarm would be an understatement. You would have thought we were watching the Ryder Cup, where disgusting fan behavior rears it’s ugly head every two years (just ask Rory McIlroy, who is loved on Tour, but has to listen to absolute verbal bile at the Ryder Cup when it’s on American soil). Clark had to listen to hecklers all afternoon, and it’s safe to say he felt the negative vibe from the New York crowd.

To his credit, Clark made crucial par saves and several huge birdies yesterday, never losing the lead, all in the face of a gallery that made it clear they wanted him to lose. In fact, Clark led the US Open from 7:09 PM Thursday until his tap-in on number 18 on Sunday. That’s the equivalent of a Steve Austin double middle finger to a crowd that deserved it.

In golf , we root for our favorites, but don’t root against the other guy. That’s the spirit of the game many of us grew up with. That spirit was sadly lacking yesterday.

RW

 

 

 

 

Views From The Booth: Country Roads Part 2

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(Posted 6-13-26)

Greetings from The Booth!

Ticket punched! The WVU Mountaineers are in the College World Series in Omaha for the first time ever after shellacking Cal Poly in the NCAA Super Regionals by a combined score of 29-3. And as of this writing, the Mounties are in the winner’s bracket after outlasting Troy 7-5. The first-ever win in the CWS was done in typical Mountaineer fashion. WVU jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with a manufactured run, capped off by a straight steal of home by Armani Guzman, who you may very well see in the “bigs” sooner than later. West Virginia ace starting pitcher Chasen Cole did not have his best stuff against a good-hitting Troy team, but reliever and former DII star Ian Korn came to the rescue with a heroic 6 and 2/3 inning effort, giving up only 1 run.

Still, Troy was able to tie things at 5 late in the game with a 2-out, 2-strike home run. Undaunted, WVU came up with the key hit, a 2-run Tyrus Hall single in the bottom of the 8th, and the bullpen shut the door on the Trojans in the ninth. Cue Country Roads, as Omaha erupted in song!

Now it’s on to the winner’s bracket, where West Virginia will face North Carolina on Sunday night at 6. It was the Tar Heels who eliminated WVU from the Super Regionals several years ago, so there is some unfinished business for the Mountaineers, who are now assured at least two more games in the CWS.

This West Virgina team has captured the imagination of the entire nation, but let me assure you, this is not a “Cinderella Story.” These Mounties can hit, pitch, run, and play defense. Their aggressive nature on the basepaths can pressure opposing defenses into mistakes, they have one of the best pitching staffs in the country, and they can hit in the clutch. And, we now have the 2026 NCBWA Coach of the Year in Steve Sabins. By now, everyone knows about the iconic John Denver song, “Randy’s Ridge” (named after former coach Randy Mazey, who got the WVU Baseball program off of life-support in 2013), and pepperoni rolls. But this is a talented baseball team that has been to the NCAA Super Regionals three years in a row. They are more than capable of bringing a “Natty” back to the Mountain State.

The best thing about this incredible run by WVU Baseball is the pride that we now have as West Virginians. For too long, we have endured the jokes about being barefoot, toothless, and working in the coal mines (nothing wrong with the latter, by the way). Every football season, we are reminded about “13-9,” the infamous loss to hated Pitt that cost us a possible national championship in 2007. Things have not gone well on and off the basketball court in recent years, either. As Mountaineers, we are used to getting our hearts broken time after time.

The famous “You Got Pittsnogled” post-season basketball run and the Pat White football years gave us hope. With WVU Baseball, we’ve got more than that. We’ve got a pretty damn good team.

Let’s GO!

RW

 

Views From The Booth:

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(Posted 6-2-26)

Greetings from The Booth!

Take Me Home, Country Roads!

That great song echoed through the hills and hollows of West Virginia last night after WVU’s 6-5 walk-off baseball win over Kentucky in the NCAA Regional Championship game in Morgantown. A capacity crowd of 4000 at the Kendrick Family Ballpark swayed arm-in-arm and sang John Denver’s classic in unison as the Mountaineers lined up and joined in. It was a fitting serenade to a team that personifies the Mountain State: tough, gritty, resilient.

Sweeter still was the fact that the Regional Championship came at the expense of Kentucky. This was not just the Mountaineers versus the Wildcats. This was the Hatfields and the McCoys. It was WVU that knocked Kentucky out of last year’s Regionals with a 13-12 come-from-behind win, and as the saying goes, “familiarity breeds contempt.” these two teams played each other 3 time this past weekend, with the Wildcats putting the Mounties on the brink of elimination with a Saturday win over WVU. West Virginia, needing to win out, posted a 10-5 win over Wake Forest Sunday afternoon, followed by an improbable win over the Cats on Sunday evening, setting up last night’s winner-take-all final.

WVU seemed to be cruising to the Super Regional, leading 5-1 in the eighth. Not so fast. The Wildcats rallied to tie things at 5 and had several chances to take the lead and crush the hopes of an entire state. Gutsy relief efforts from Chansen Cole and Dawson Montesa (who threw 122 pitches on Sunday) kept things tied, setting things up for Armani Guzman, who’s game winning single in the bottom of the 10th sent the home crowd into a frenzy, and his team to its third straight Super Regional.

Folks, there’s a lot of crap going on in college sports these days. The transfer portal and NIL have made the landscape almost unrecognizable and smarmy. Many college athletes, especially in football and basketball, seem like mercenaries, some playing for a different team every year. In the case of WVU, the basketball roster is undergoing a complete turnover headed into the 2026-27 season. There’s no point latching on to a superstar–they’ll be gone next year, as they chase the almighty dollar. Don’t get me wrong. On a college football Saturday, I’m still rooting for the Old Gold and Blue. But it doesn’t feel the same. A season like 2007, when WVU was one bad loss to Pitt away from playing for a college football National Championship, will never happen again in my lifetime. The blueblood programs have the money, and that’s where the top players are going to go.

But last night in Morgantown, we were brought back to a simpler time in college sports. Guzman, a New York native, sang “Country Roads” even as he was being interviewed by ESPN (and knew all the words). Fans showered the players with love, and it was reciprocated by young men from all parts of the country who last night were West Virginians through and through.

It was “Almost Heaven.”

Until the next visit from The Booth…LET’S GO!

RW