First things first — I know I wussed out and left at halftime, but at least I have a real excuse (one that doesn’t involve meteorlogical conditions on the Allegheny Ridge, Lee). The excuse: my six-week-old son (whose mother went into labor a couple hours after the BC game). I haven’t had a full night’s sleep in five weeks. And anyway, by bolting just as the 2nd quarter clock ran down, I made it to my in-laws by the start of the 3rd and enjoyed the fantastic second half in front of a warm fire with a big plate of Thanksgiving leftovers. A great night.
Maybe it’s because I spent this season in Morgantown, but I didn’t feel that much surprise last night. The Mountaineers have been off-track for quite a while now, and at the same time that Pitt has been looking up. The sloppiness and lack of discipline have been on display for quite a while, and the Henry situation has been a major story/distraction around here ever since he was ejected from the WVU-Rutgers game a couple weeks ago.
By the way, Coach Rodriguez gave my favorite quote of the year when, after that Rutgers game, he was asked if he would bench Henry for getting ejected and giving the Rutgers fans the finger: “As a coach, you wish he would be disciplined, but who else do you have that makes that play?” Rodriguez took a lot of heat for his lack of team discipline after that, but his comment proved to be correct when he did bench Henry yesterday and discovered that yes, in fact, nobody else could make the necessary catch. You have to love the lack of coaching-cliche spin in that quote, though — I’ll play him, no matter how much of a thug he is, because he gives us a chance to win.
But then Rodriguez had to go and counteract his own savvy by benching Henry for “unspecified violations.” Wonder how he and the rest of the Mountaineer faithful (including those a-holes who set up a sound system in our parking lot, blasting the rest of us with country music and periodic chants of “eat s—, Pitt!”) feel about Rod’s tough attitude now?
Anyway, I haven’t enjoyed a game so much in a long time. Go Orange!
