Country Roads Confidential

"Pardon me for asking, but. ...

— Didn’t Oliver Luck’s rhetoric about the Marshall-WVU football series make you throw up in your mouth a little?"

No Chuck, you make me throw up in my mouth a little everytime I see your name.

He's a useless human...

Nothing like a Marshall homer, putting down Oliver and WVU

Never post a link to a chunky article...that jackass doesn't deserve the hits on his article! Always copy and paste!

Chuck Landon: Luck gives MU cold shoulder once again
June 30, 2012 @ 12:26 AM
CHUCK LANDON
Herald-Dispatch.com
Pardon me for asking, but. ...

— Didn’t Oliver Luck’s rhetoric about the Marshall-WVU football series make you throw up in your mouth a little?

It should have.

WVU’s controversial athletic director made an appearance in Huntington at the 21 Club in the Frederick Building Tuesday and addressed the intra-state rivalry.

Long story short?

Luck is ending the politically mandated series despite the fact Marshall vs. WVU produces rare sellouts for both schools, national television audiences and is good for the state of West Virginia.

The final game will be Sept. 1 when the Mountaineers host the Herd in Morgantown.

So, how did Luck spin all this while appearing in the home of the Herd? By talking out of both sides of his mouth, as usual.

“I see us down the road playing Marshall at some point,” Luck told The Herald-Dispatch’s Grant Traylor. “When that is? Who knows? It could be five years from now. It could be 20 years from now. We have to figure out how we do our non-conference going forward.

“We get the same question about Pitt, Virginia Tech and other natural rivals that we used to play.”

Really? Last time I looked at an Atlas, Pitt and Virginia Tech weren’t located within the borders of West Virginia. Marshall is.

Besides that geographical fact, Pitt and Virginia Tech are choosing not to play WVU. They ended the series, not the Mountaineers.

So, no, it’s not the same question.

Then, Luck inferred that the new four-team playoff, which uses strength of schedule as a component, also affects any future games with Marshall.

“One of the things we have to see is does strength of schedule really matter and, if so, how do you do that in your non-conference knowing the conference games we are going to have. …

“There’s a lot to still figure out, a lot of unknowns that make it difficult to make any real commitments.”

Really? Well, WVU has made a commitment to play Conference USA member East Carolina. And Luck has publicly stated he favors playing one FBC (I-AA) opponent each season.

That certainly doesn’t indicate any concern about strength of schedule.

As always, Luck does one thing very well.

He talks out of both sides of his mouth better than a ventriloquist.

— Shouldn’t Marshall fans boycott the ESPYs?

I will.

If Herd wide receiver Aaron Dobson’s freakish catch against East Carolina didn’t rank among the top 16 nominations for “Best Play,” then this pretentious ESPN awards show simply isn’t worth watching.

— Do readers remember George Rorrer?

I hope so.

He was a Herald-Dispatch sportswriter in the 1960s before going on to fame with the Louisville Courier-Journal newspaper. But Marshall was always Rorrer’s first love. He is a member of the school of journalism’s Hall of Fame.

Rorrer was a very good sportswriter and an even better man. Personally, he was a mentor, friend and staunch supporter. He went out of his way to be kind to me.

That was George’s way.

He died Wednesday at the age of 79. Rorrer hadn’t been healthy for quite some time, but he went out in true sportswriter fashion.

The last outing of his life was to attend a Cincinnati Reds game. He passed away shortly thereafter.

The sportswriting industry has lost one of the good guys.

Goodbye, George.

Chuck Landon is a columnist for The Herald-Dispatch. Call him at 304-526-2827, or email him at clandon@herald-dispatch.com.