Post by rainman on Oct 13, 2007 6:42:05 GMT -5
Mountaineer Madness
By John Antonik for MSNsportsNET.com
October 12, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia basketball teams used to sneak into the season. Not any more. Not with Bob Huggins around.
An estimated crowd of about 6,000 came out to the Coliseum Friday night to get their first look at the 2007-08 men’s and women’s basketball teams. In the process they were treated to autographs, smoke and lasers, some vicious slam dunks from some of those “non-athletic” John Beilein holdovers, and a couple of very special messages to Huggs from some of the biggest names in show business.
Michael Jordan asked Huggins to quit calling him so much, Dick Vitale told the Mountaineer fans to get prepared for “Huggstown,” and Clark Kellogg, whom Huggins coached when Kellogg was a freshman at Ohio State, said that he can’t wait to get back to Morgantown to see another exciting victory like the one he witnessed first-hand last year against UCLA.
The biggest cheer, however, came when Huggins’ buddy Nick Lachey told everyone that he plans on seeing the Mountaineers in person at the Coliseum sometime this year.
Shortly afterward, Huggins walked out on the carpet for the first time since he last played at West Virginia in 1977. The Morgantown native has finally made it home after treating fans at Walsh, Akron, Cincinnati and Kansas State to winning basketball. He told the Mountaineer fans to expect the same.
“We’ve got a lot of guys that can play above the rim and we’re going to have a lot of fun this year,” Huggins said. “Do me a favor and next time bring about 10 of your friends because I hate playing in front of an empty house.”
By the way, no surprise here, Joe Alexander won the dunk contest with a slam from the foul line.
This is all new to us, but somehow I think we’ll get the hang of it pretty quickly. Mountaineer fans buckle your seatbelts because we’re about to take a wild ride.
CSTV All-Access subscribers can watch an edited version of the Madness later tonight by clicking HERE.
By John Antonik for MSNsportsNET.com
October 12, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia basketball teams used to sneak into the season. Not any more. Not with Bob Huggins around.
An estimated crowd of about 6,000 came out to the Coliseum Friday night to get their first look at the 2007-08 men’s and women’s basketball teams. In the process they were treated to autographs, smoke and lasers, some vicious slam dunks from some of those “non-athletic” John Beilein holdovers, and a couple of very special messages to Huggs from some of the biggest names in show business.
Michael Jordan asked Huggins to quit calling him so much, Dick Vitale told the Mountaineer fans to get prepared for “Huggstown,” and Clark Kellogg, whom Huggins coached when Kellogg was a freshman at Ohio State, said that he can’t wait to get back to Morgantown to see another exciting victory like the one he witnessed first-hand last year against UCLA.
The biggest cheer, however, came when Huggins’ buddy Nick Lachey told everyone that he plans on seeing the Mountaineers in person at the Coliseum sometime this year.
Shortly afterward, Huggins walked out on the carpet for the first time since he last played at West Virginia in 1977. The Morgantown native has finally made it home after treating fans at Walsh, Akron, Cincinnati and Kansas State to winning basketball. He told the Mountaineer fans to expect the same.
“We’ve got a lot of guys that can play above the rim and we’re going to have a lot of fun this year,” Huggins said. “Do me a favor and next time bring about 10 of your friends because I hate playing in front of an empty house.”
By the way, no surprise here, Joe Alexander won the dunk contest with a slam from the foul line.
This is all new to us, but somehow I think we’ll get the hang of it pretty quickly. Mountaineer fans buckle your seatbelts because we’re about to take a wild ride.
CSTV All-Access subscribers can watch an edited version of the Madness later tonight by clicking HERE.
