By Carl ‘Butch’ Antolini
General Manager and Executive Editor
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West Virginia will be playing tonight for a spot in the Final Four.
If you listen and pay attention to most members of the national media, it’s a wonder the Mountaineers haven’t developed a complex and skulked off into the corner somewhere, mired in a deep state of depression — despite having earned a spot in the Elite Eight.
They always want to ship WVU down the road, and recent history spells it out.
In football, before both the 2006 Sugar Bowl and 2008 Fiesta Bowl. We all know what happened in those two games and it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Georgia and Oklahoma still haven’t recovered.
In basketball, earlier this month before the 2010 Big East basketball championship game and more recently all day Wednesday when it was learned that Truck Bryant had sustained a broken foot and would be out for the remainder of this season.
Do these people really think Mountaineers aren’t used to overcoming a little adversity?
Did they think because Bryant wasn’t available that a Bob Huggins team was just going to pack it in and say, “Well, we made it this far, but that’s it.”
WVU played its expected fabulous defensive game and owned the backboards Thursday night in a regional semifinal, and while the Mountaineers handled the ball poorly against Washington, they still won by 13.
I keep shaking my head, as I know many others do, but they just keep finding a way to win. It’s a will. They’re afraid of no opponent. Losing doesn’t seem to be in their vocabulary at this stage.
All traits that can be traced directly back to the fiery, unflappable Coach Huggins.
I guess we should actually thank some of these half-baked talking heads (Colin Cowherd, Doug Gottleib — they are just the first two that come to mind in a long list of commentating clowns) for continuing to dis WVU.
Oh, and don’t forget the NCAA tournament committee and the unfairness it displayed when it came time to seeding.
All factors helping another Mountaineer team build a rather large chip on their shoulder.
The lack of respect for the Mountaineers started again early Friday morning, just minutes after Kentucky secured its spot in the East region final. Dick Vitale was in a lather, cutting loose on another of his verbal spewing sessions and spouting off about Kentucky this and Kentucky that, John Calipari this and John Calipari that.
Kentucky is great, no question. The Wildcats are now the prohibitive favorite to win it all. They have the most talent. They also have the CBS television network, the NCAA hierarchy and most of the rest of the country pulling for them. They are the draw; they’ll pull down more cash for CBS and the NCAA if they keep advancing. They are the darlings.
Just us Mountaineer fans, some diehard Big East backers and a few SEC opponents of the “Big Blue” will be pulling for the old gold and blue.
Despite it all, the Mountaineers are getting their due time to bask in the bright national spotlight because a few minutes after 7 p.m. this evening the best two teams remaining in the dance will take to the court in Syracuse.
Nobody will really be surprised if Kentucky beats West Virginia in the de facto national championship game. They are the No. 1 seed in the region and the highest ranking team left in the tournament.
But you’d better count on this — WVU won’t roll over. It’s not in the makeup of this Mountaineer team. It’s about that chip, it’s about respect, it’s about who is the toughest.
WVU will be a challenge for the already anointed champions from Lexington, and should the game be one where the final score for both squads ends up in the 50s or 60s, remember just one thing: WVU is unbeaten this season when limiting their opponents to under 70 points.
There is something about a team with a will that seems to have that special knack for finding a way.
— Carl “Butch” Antolini is the general manager and executive editor for Beckley Newspapers
