When Da'Seann Butler got hurt during the game last night I stopped caring about the outcome. All I could think about was Butler and how proud I am of my alma mater and the way they carried themselves all season. WVU isn't really supposed to play in final fours or win Big East championships, but they did. A win over Duke would have been sweet, but I think that moment when Butler was lying on the floor with Bob Huggins face to face with him showed people more about what it means to be a Mountaineer and to believe in what it means to love West Virginia than any victory would have. We are always the underdog and because of that we seem to care just a little more about each other. A win would have been great, but I will never forget this season and I will never forget seeing a coach care for his player in front of the world like I did last night.

After Butler lay on the court in obvious pain for a few minutes, West Virginia coach Bob Huggins walked onto the floor. After chirping at officials, Huggins leaned over his player until they were nearly nose-to-nose. Huggins appeared to wipe a tear from Butler's cheek.
"I was just apologizing because I wanted to win it for him, too," Butler said.
"Don't be sorry," Huggins told him. "I love ya."
The scene was one of the more emotional moments in recent NCAA tournament history. A star player crumbling to the floor and his volatile coach helping pick him up.
"I'm not surprised," Butler said. "That's my coach. He's like a father to me. It's something we expect him to do. Maybe everyone else didn't, but we're all a family and we love each other."

What a day yesterday! Nearly all day was spent at the amazingly inspiring TLT Symposium here at Penn State. Another killer event and one that I will try to find words about after a little reflection. I got home last night for a small birthday gathering my wife put together for me to watch my West Virginia Mountaineers beat mighty Kentucky to earn a spot in the Final Four. The highlight had to be sharing it with my wife and calling my Mom and Dad after the game to talk about it. All four of us have WVU ties, so it is a huge deal for us all. The last time WVU pulled this off it was with Jerry West in 1959. Best Birthday present, ever! “Take me home, country roads …”

I know I am annoying most of my readers, but I need to capture this stuff just the same. I just decided not to go to the WVU – Pitt game in Morgantown this weekend — maybe it was the lack of a hotel room, or maybe I just know that showing up would somehow destroy their mojo. Either way I will be watching from home in HD and (hopefully) enjoying the last bit of work that needs to be done to get my Mountaineers into the BCS title game. I know it is a long shot, but getting there would be sweet!

I know the College Football Season isn’t even close to being over, but I never thought I would see two respected ESPN analysts have WVU in the BCS title game. Clearly it all has to play out on the field, but just seeing this gets me excited! WVU still has to win out over a very good UConn team and Pitt. Both are in Morgantown, but history is against us — this is Thanksgiving week at WVU so the crowd will not be nearly as insane as usual and you can always throw the records out when Pitt and WVU tangle in the Backyard Brawl. What a year this has been and could be.

Just as WVU Basketball was making it all go around, Coach Beileine is heading off to Michigan. Well, it was a fun little run. The last three years? Elite 8, Sweet 16, and NIT Champions. That hurts. At least we found a way to keep Coach Rod to make a run at the football national championship.

Update: It looks like Bob Huggins might be coming home. Not sure how I feel about that given his past with Cincinnati … I will play wait and see. I am happy we went out and got a big name guy and someone who understands and appreciates WVU.