West F-in Jihad: Day IX

It's all in order! We are very organized! All of the organs! A key point in this shredding kerfuffle is the credibility of West Virginia University as a place more organized than a ferret kegger. If Rich Rodriguez is the human being in this commercial:



Then we can safely assume WVU has no idea what it's doing and, in lieu of any better ideas, is just flinging poo.

Exhibit A:

It started with a phone call from a newspaper reporter in October seeking to verify the academic credentials of Gov. Joe Manchin III’s daughter Heather Bresch. But in less than three months, the inquiry has mushroomed into a controversy that risks casting a shadow of cronyism over this state’s flagship university.

Officials at the college, West Virginia University, have been accused of rewriting records last fall to document that Ms. Bresch had earned an executive master of business administration degree in 1998. An investigation by The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette concluded that she had completed only 22 of the required 48 credit hours.

Manchin, of course, is the governor who's made three or four public comments implying that Rodriguez has been "corrupted by high priced agents" and the like.

Exhibit B:

West Virginia University athletic department officials acknowledged Tuesday that they used money from a WVU Foundation account set aside for football recruiting expenses to manage other costs in the athletic department.

However, WVU Athletic Director Ed Pastilong and Associate Athletic Director for Finance and Administration Russ Sharp contend they did nothing wrong by taking money from the 1100 Club to pay other bills.

Former Coach Rich Rodriguez grew frustrated at the way the account was used and was dissatisfied that he was never able to control it, a source said.

This "1100 Club" business seems completely petty (basically, WVU spent money allocated for recruiting flights on other football expenses) but the way it was handled -- badly -- is further evidence that WVU's athletic program is, as we speak, blasting "Come On, Feel The Noise" and partying wildly about Rodriguez's departure.

On one side, we have a highly competent football coach capable of driving an ill-funded and talent-deprived football program into the top five. On the other are the guys who managed to screw it up. Their credibility is not exactly off the charts.

Word. Bill Stewart:

“He’s the football coach at Michigan and I’m the football coach at West Virginia and that’s what we need to be doing,’’ Stewart told the Gazette late Tuesday night. “The wounds need to heal. We need to go on.’’ ...

“Who is any of this helping? It’s certainly not helping West Virginia University or Michigan. It’s not helping Billy Stewart or Rich Rodriguez,’’ Stewart said. “I understand there are issues and a lot of them have to be dealt with. But hasn’t it just all gotten ridiculous? How did we get to this point?’’

I'm with him. Let WVU and Rodriguez settle their lawsuit on page six, and let's just get on with it. Promised "bombshells" should be quietly filed without comment in whatever court has the case, and both parties should vow to never speak of the other again.

In that spirit... this feature's brief lifespan has expired. Assumptions going forward: the shredding thing was much ado about precisely nothing, Rodriguez is neither Satan or Carr, and no one should particularly care about the outcome of the WVU-Rodriguez lawsuit. Occasional links might make their way into UV or on the sidebar; from now on this is all sideshow.