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By Michael Minnich
Tribune Sports Editor
mminnich@newstribune.info
KEYSER—Rumors that West Virginia head coach Bill Stewart would retire at season’s end have been, in the word of Sarah Palin, refudiated.
"First and foremost, let me begin by saying the reports of my retirement are greatly exaggerated. In fact, you’re hearing it directly from me, Bill Stewart - I have no intention of walking away. I’m not focusing on retirement. Lastly, and most importantly, I’m focusing on Rutgers," said Stewart in his weekly Sunday teleconference with media. "All of my thoughts and my focus are on round seven and game No. 12. I’d be very happy if we won this game."
A pay-to-read report on eersports.com surfaced Saturday night with the headline: "Sources: Stewart seriously mulling retirement", which rapidly spilled onto the WVU-centric message boards and blogs.
One such blog, hailwv.com, posted an apology to its readers Sunday afternoon.
"I was convinced I was doing my readers a huge service by posting a “pay to read” story… text obtained from a trusted source of mine. But, it appears I was dead wrong, and as such, I am officially retracting the story," posted Jim, the site's lead blogger. "EerSports.com ought to be embarrassed and ashamed of themselves for using a headline that’s a hot-button issue with WVU fans as bait in order to obtain paying memberships."
Meanwhile, WVU has a chance to go to their first BCS game since Stewart--in an interim role--led the Mountaineers to a 48-28 win over Oklahoma in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl.
West Virginia must defeat Rutgers at noon on Saturday, then hope that South Florida--fresh off of a win at Miami--can upset Connecticut that night.
UConn, West Virginia, and Pitt all have two losses in-conference, but UConn holds tiebreakers on both I-79 schools since the Huskies won the head-to-head matchups.
West Virginia would win a tiebreaker with Pitt after Thursday's 35-10 win in the Backyard Brawl.
But none of that matters unless the Mountaineers take care of business against the Scarlet Knights, who are in last place in the league at 4-7 and have never won in Morgantown.
"I did not watch one snap of the Connecticut-Cincinnati game," said Stewart. "I don’t really care if I see one snap of the UConn-USF game Saturday night. If we beat Rutgers, we are BIG EAST champs, and that was our goal. The rest of that stuff is for others. My focus is Rutgers."
"We can’t worry about others’ business," said Stewart. "I’m going to keep pounding that into these players’ heads, and I will run them up Law School Hill if I hear any talk come out of that locker room."
Helping to take care of this business will be defensive tackle Chris Neild, who left the Pitt game early with an injury but should be good to go Saturday.
“He’s going to be OK – he’s not going to be great. I couldn’t see what happened Friday. He was straining – he had the girth of two men on him. (Coach) Kirelawich saw it.
“(Athletic trainer) Dave (Kerns) says it’s a third-degree injury – not too serious. All indications say he will play this Saturday, and he should be able to play well.”
By Michael Minnich
Tribune Sports Editor
mminnich@newstribune.info
KEYSER—Rumors that West Virginia head coach Bill Stewart would retire at season’s end have been, in the word of Sarah Palin, refudiated.
"First and foremost, let me begin by saying the reports of my retirement are greatly exaggerated. In fact, you’re hearing it directly from me, Bill Stewart - I have no intention of walking away. I’m not focusing on retirement. Lastly, and most importantly, I’m focusing on Rutgers," said Stewart in his weekly Sunday teleconference with media. "All of my thoughts and my focus are on round seven and game No. 12. I’d be very happy if we won this game."
A pay-to-read report on eersports.com surfaced Saturday night with the headline: "Sources: Stewart seriously mulling retirement", which rapidly spilled onto the WVU-centric message boards and blogs.
One such blog, hailwv.com, posted an apology to its readers Sunday afternoon.
"I was convinced I was doing my readers a huge service by posting a “pay to read” story… text obtained from a trusted source of mine. But, it appears I was dead wrong, and as such, I am officially retracting the story," posted Jim, the site's lead blogger. "EerSports.com ought to be embarrassed and ashamed of themselves for using a headline that’s a hot-button issue with WVU fans as bait in order to obtain paying memberships."
Meanwhile, WVU has a chance to go to their first BCS game since Stewart--in an interim role--led the Mountaineers to a 48-28 win over Oklahoma in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl.
West Virginia must defeat Rutgers at noon on Saturday, then hope that South Florida--fresh off of a win at Miami--can upset Connecticut that night.
UConn, West Virginia, and Pitt all have two losses in-conference, but UConn holds tiebreakers on both I-79 schools since the Huskies won the head-to-head matchups.
West Virginia would win a tiebreaker with Pitt after Thursday's 35-10 win in the Backyard Brawl.
But none of that matters unless the Mountaineers take care of business against the Scarlet Knights, who are in last place in the league at 4-7 and have never won in Morgantown.
"I did not watch one snap of the Connecticut-Cincinnati game," said Stewart. "I don’t really care if I see one snap of the UConn-USF game Saturday night. If we beat Rutgers, we are BIG EAST champs, and that was our goal. The rest of that stuff is for others. My focus is Rutgers."
"We can’t worry about others’ business," said Stewart. "I’m going to keep pounding that into these players’ heads, and I will run them up Law School Hill if I hear any talk come out of that locker room."
Helping to take care of this business will be defensive tackle Chris Neild, who left the Pitt game early with an injury but should be good to go Saturday.
“He’s going to be OK – he’s not going to be great. I couldn’t see what happened Friday. He was straining – he had the girth of two men on him. (Coach) Kirelawich saw it.
“(Athletic trainer) Dave (Kerns) says it’s a third-degree injury – not too serious. All indications say he will play this Saturday, and he should be able to play well.”
