Post by cviller on Aug 23, 2008 8:35:33 GMT -5
Tony Caridi
Morgantown
I got a bit misty eyed the other night. It always happens this time of the year when I begin working on my football spotting charts for the season opener. The cause of my near-tears is that I was performing the annual ritual of saying good-bye. Good-bye to some wonderfully talented Mountaineers.
You see my charts are stored on a computer program. So before a new season begins I delete the guys no longer on the team and add newcomers to the depth chart. See ya later Marc Magro. Hello Tyler Urban.
The adding part is easy; those are the young guys with so much football to play. The hard part is deleting the guys we watched grow up before our eyes who helped put together the most successful era in school history. Good-bye Steve Slaton, we’ll never forget you for Louisville 2005 or Sugar Bowl 2006. There goes Johnny Dingle. The Sooners couldn’t block you in the desert.
I really do sometimes just sit there an extra moment before hitting delete on some of these guys and not just the stars. It bums me out to know Bobby Hathaway is no longer on my board. I love guys who arrive with just a dream and leave on scholarship, with a degree, and a bucket full of great college football memories.
Pushing the big “D” key on Owen Schmitt really took some time. Will there ever be another player who defined West Virginia football like Owen? I hope so, but I really don’t know.
It’s tough to know that chart regulars like Reynaud, Wicks, Rivers, Lewis, and smiling Keilen Dykes are regulars no more.
But over the years, I always seem to find a way to rid myself from my annual “deleting” blues.
What happens is that the first game is played, fresh faces and stars emerge, and new relationships begin to build. Call it the college football version of the “The Circle Of Life.” Insert Elton John tune here.
So thanks for the memories guys and good-bye.
The delete key has been pressed, it's time to move on.
