FOR THE sports nation as a whole, 2011 will be best remembered for headlines you didn't want to see, from the scandals at Penn State and Syracuse to the lockout that made a mess of the NBA season.
FOR THE sports nation as a whole, 2011 will be best remembered for headlines you didn't want to see, from the scandals at Penn State and Syracuse to the lockout that made a mess of the NBA season.
Here at the Gazette, though, where I man the sports desk, we escaped the sordid and scandalous (for the most part) and welcomed the sunny and sensational side of sports. Things such as . . .
State story of the year: WVU football.
When isn't WVU football the story of the year, especially in recent years?
This one, though, had numerous twists and turns that often moved the news off the front of the sports section to the front of the paper.
Key dates? Well, at approximately 3:19 a.m. on May 18, Nitro police escorted new Mountaineer offensive coordinator and coach-in-waiting Dana Holgorsen from the Mardi Gras Casino in Cross Lanes. No charges were filed, and it really can't be classified as scandalous, but the court of public opinion agreed that Holgorsen's alleged behavior that night (or morning) was unbecoming a future Mountaineer head coach.
Less than three weeks later, on June 7, it was revealed that Bill Stewart, WVU's coach and still Holgorsen's boss, asked a former Pittsburgh sportswriter to "dig up dirt on this guy," meaning Holgorsen. Three days after that, Stewart resigned, prematurely elevating Holgorsen to the top spot.
While the Holgorsen Era was getting underway Sept. 4 with a storm-shortened 34-13 win over Marshall, which included 41/2 hours of delays and ended while the game was early in the fourth quarter, the dominoes started falling on college football's ongoing conference realignments, leaving Mountaineer fans to wonder if their team would be stuck in a depleted Big East.
Well, WVU was welcomed to the Big 12 on Oct. 25 - prematurely, as it turned out. After some political wrangling from across the border in Kentucky (on behalf of Louisville), WVU was officially welcomed to the Big 12 on Oct. 27.
After a season of alternating highs (freshman Dustin Garrison's 291-yard rushing game against Bowling Green, the 21-20 comeback win over Pitt) and lows (47-21 prime-time punking by LSU and the how-does-that-happen 49-23 loss at Syracuse), the Mountaineers finished where most people thought they would, representing the Big East in a BCS Bowl. That comes a week from today in the Orange Bowl against Clemson.
Also in 2012, we'll learn the fate of the ping-ponging lawsuits surrounding WVU's exit from the Big East. Stay tuned.
Best high school story line: George Washington's banner year, especially in boys sports.
On March 19, the Patriots won their first boys state basketball title in 40 years, de-
feating Wheeling Park 55-54 in a game that wasn't decided until a video review of the game's final shot. When the shot by Park's Bubby Goodwin was ruled a 2-pointer and not a 3-pointer, GW had its championship.
GW also had an amazing fall season, with the boys soccer team winning the Class AAA championship (Charleston Catholic's girls won in Class AA-A), and then the football team put together a near-perfect season, losing to Martinsburg 35-27 in the championship game.
I think it's safe to say that GW's Ryan Switzer was the most-photographed local athlete in the Kanawha Valley in 2011. That's what happens when you're a near-unanimous choice for the Kennedy Award as the state player of the year. (His name was most likely in the most sports-page headlines, too, including one that erroneously called him "Swisher." Oops.)
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2011: Here, a year of (mostly) good news
FOR THE sports nation as a whole, 2011 will be best remembered for headlines you didn't want to see, from the scandals at Penn State and Syracuse to the lockout that made a mess of the NBA season.
Here at the Gazette, though, where I man the sports desk, we escaped the sordid and scandalous (for the most part) and welcomed the sunny and sensational side of sports. Things such as . . .
State story of the year: WVU football.
When isn't WVU football the story of the year, especially in recent years?
This one, though, had numerous twists and turns that often moved the news off the front of the sports section to the front of the paper.
Key dates? Well, at approximately 3:19 a.m. on May 18, Nitro police escorted new Mountaineer offensive coordinator and coach-in-waiting Dana Holgorsen from the Mardi Gras Casino in Cross Lanes. No charges were filed, and it really can't be classified as scandalous, but the court of public opinion agreed that Holgorsen's alleged behavior that night (or morning) was unbecoming a future Mountaineer head coach.
Less than three weeks later, on June 7, it was revealed that Bill Stewart, WVU's coach and still Holgorsen's boss, asked a former Pittsburgh sportswriter to "dig up dirt on this guy," meaning Holgorsen. Three days after that, Stewart resigned, prematurely elevating Holgorsen to the top spot.
While the Holgorsen Era was getting underway Sept. 4 with a storm-shortened 34-13 win over Marshall, which included 41/2 hours of delays and ended while the game was early in the fourth quarter, the dominoes started falling on college football's ongoing conference realignments, leaving Mountaineer fans to wonder if their team would be stuck in a depleted Big East.
Well, WVU was welcomed to the Big 12 on Oct. 25 - prematurely, as it turned out. After some political wrangling from across the border in Kentucky (on behalf of Louisville), WVU was officially welcomed to the Big 12 on Oct. 27.
After a season of alternating highs (freshman Dustin Garrison's 291-yard rushing game against Bowling Green, the 21-20 comeback win over Pitt) and lows (47-21 prime-time punking by LSU and the how-does-that-happen 49-23 loss at Syracuse), the Mountaineers finished where most people thought they would, representing the Big East in a BCS Bowl. That comes a week from today in the Orange Bowl against Clemson.
Also in 2012, we'll learn the fate of the ping-ponging lawsuits surrounding WVU's exit from the Big East. Stay tuned.
Best high school story line: George Washington's banner year, especially in boys sports.
On March 19, the Patriots won their first boys state basketball title in 40 years, de-
feating Wheeling Park 55-54 in a game that wasn't decided until a video review of the game's final shot. When the shot by Park's Bubby Goodwin was ruled a 2-pointer and not a 3-pointer, GW had its championship.
GW also had an amazing fall season, with the boys soccer team winning the Class AAA championship (Charleston Catholic's girls won in Class AA-A), and then the football team put together a near-perfect season, losing to Martinsburg 35-27 in the championship game.
I think it's safe to say that GW's Ryan Switzer was the most-photographed local athlete in the Kanawha Valley in 2011. That's what happens when you're a near-unanimous choice for the Kennedy Award as the state player of the year. (His name was most likely in the most sports-page headlines, too, including one that erroneously called him "Swisher." Oops.)
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FOR THE sports nation as a whole, 2011 will be best remembered for headlines you didn't want to see, from the scandals at Penn State and Syracuse to the lockout that made a mess of the NBA season.
Here at the Gazette, though, where I man the sports desk, we escaped the sordid and scandalous (for the most part) and welcomed the sunny and sensational side of sports. Things such as . . .
State story of the year: WVU football.
When isn't WVU football the story of the year, especially in recent years?
This one, though, had numerous twists and turns that often moved the news off the front of the sports section to the front of the paper.
Key dates? Well, at approximately 3:19 a.m. on May 18, Nitro police escorted new Mountaineer offensive coordinator and coach-in-waiting Dana Holgorsen from the Mardi Gras Casino in Cross Lanes. No charges were filed, and it really can't be classified as scandalous, but the court of public opinion agreed that Holgorsen's alleged behavior that night (or morning) was unbecoming a future Mountaineer head coach.
Less than three weeks later, on June 7, it was revealed that Bill Stewart, WVU's coach and still Holgorsen's boss, asked a former Pittsburgh sportswriter to "dig up dirt on this guy," meaning Holgorsen. Three days after that, Stewart resigned, prematurely elevating Holgorsen to the top spot.
While the Holgorsen Era was getting underway Sept. 4 with a storm-shortened 34-13 win over Marshall, which included 41/2 hours of delays and ended while the game was early in the fourth quarter, the dominoes started falling on college football's ongoing conference realignments, leaving Mountaineer fans to wonder if their team would be stuck in a depleted Big East.
Well, WVU was welcomed to the Big 12 on Oct. 25 - prematurely, as it turned out. After some political wrangling from across the border in Kentucky (on behalf of Louisville), WVU was officially welcomed to the Big 12 on Oct. 27.
After a season of alternating highs (freshman Dustin Garrison's 291-yard rushing game against Bowling Green, the 21-20 comeback win over Pitt) and lows (47-21 prime-time punking by LSU and the how-does-that-happen 49-23 loss at Syracuse), the Mountaineers finished where most people thought they would, representing the Big East in a BCS Bowl. That comes a week from today in the Orange Bowl against Clemson.
Also in 2012, we'll learn the fate of the ping-ponging lawsuits surrounding WVU's exit from the Big East. Stay tuned.
Best high school story line: George Washington's banner year, especially in boys sports.
On March 19, the Patriots won their first boys state basketball title in 40 years, de-
feating Wheeling Park 55-54 in a game that wasn't decided until a video review of the game's final shot. When the shot by Park's Bubby Goodwin was ruled a 2-pointer and not a 3-pointer, GW had its championship.
GW also had an amazing fall season, with the boys soccer team winning the Class AAA championship (Charleston Catholic's girls won in Class AA-A), and then the football team put together a near-perfect season, losing to Martinsburg 35-27 in the championship game.
I think it's safe to say that GW's Ryan Switzer was the most-photographed local athlete in the Kanawha Valley in 2011. That's what happens when you're a near-unanimous choice for the Kennedy Award as the state player of the year. (His name was most likely in the most sports-page headlines, too, including one that erroneously called him "Swisher." Oops.)
Huggs all around: Whether or not he ever leads the Mountaineers to another Final Four, WVU basketball coach Bob Huggins has put West Virginia basketball back on the national map, perhaps to stay.
Following up the 2010 Final Four trip, Huggins and WVU in 2011 defeated a top-10 team (Purdue) and won an improbable NCAA tournament game against Clemson (is Dalton Pepper's nickname Doctor or Sergeant?).
Then, on back-to-back nights last week in Las Vegas, the Mountaineers gave Huggins his 700th career coaching victory and nearly knocked off No. 6 Baylor. Both Vegas games went to overtime.
Best Marshall moments: The Thundering Herd is used to playing second fiddle to the Mountaineers in these parts, but MU was not without its precious victories.
The first one of 2011 came at Huggins' expense, when the Marshall men's basketball team - a double-digit underdog - defeated West Virginia 75-71 on Jan. 19 at the Charleston Civic Center.
The next one came just last week, on Dec. 20, when the Herd won its bowl game. OK, it was the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl St. Petersburg, and it was against Florida International, but a bowl win is a bowl win no matter how much ketchup you put on it, and the Herd will take the 20-10 decision.
Sweetening the result was the fact that the Herd's MVP in the game was South Charleston's Aaron Dobson, who scored both of Marshall's touchdowns.
Favorite personal moment - Bryce Harper's visit: I consider myself fortunate to have watched Harper play in 2011 as an 18-year-old wunderkind with the Hagerstown Suns when they came to Charleston in April to face the West Virginia Power in a four-game series at Appalachian Power Park.
Harper didn't disappoint - well, maybe he did disappoint those who wanted to see him fail - and he showed the kind of talent that made him the No. 1 pick in the 2010 draft. Sometime in 2012, I expect to see Harper playing in the outfield for the Washington Nationals.
The No. 2 pick in that same draft was Jameson Taillon, picked by the Pirates, who placed him here in Charleston for his low-Class A season. Alas, the Harper-Taillon head-to-head battle was short-lived - Taillon walked Harper in the first inning, and the game was halted by rain in the second.
The Greenbrier Tiger Watch: The official name of the event, of course, is The Greenbrier Classic, West Virginia's own PGA Tour event, which played for the second time in 2011.
Most of the time leading up to the late-July Classic was spent speculating as to whether or not Tiger Woods would be playing in it. He didn't, of course, and the first-round threesome of defending champion Stuart Appleby playing alongside PGA legend Tom Watson and Tiger rival Phil Mickelson was the best story of the tournament.
Best story, that is, until they all missed the cut, but the weekend was saved when the final day came down to a three-man playoff, won by Tour rookie Scott Stallings over Bill Haas and Rob Estes. No, they're not the biggest names in pro golf, but everyone has to start somewhere, right?
All in all, it was a memorable year for sports in the Mountain State, and here's to a stupendous 2012.
This article is available only to our premium digital content subscribers.
2011: Here, a year of (mostly) good news
FOR THE sports nation as a whole, 2011 will be best remembered for headlines you didn't want to see, from the scandals at Penn State and Syracuse to the lockout that made a mess of the NBA season.
Here at the Gazette, though, where I man the sports desk, we escaped the sordid and scandalous (for the most part) and welcomed the sunny and sensational side of sports. Things such as . . .
State story of the year: WVU football.
When isn't WVU football the story of the year, especially in recent years?
This one, though, had numerous twists and turns that often moved the news off the front of the sports section to the front of the paper.
Key dates? Well, at approximately 3:19 a.m. on May 18, Nitro police escorted new Mountaineer offensive coordinator and coach-in-waiting Dana Holgorsen from the Mardi Gras Casino in Cross Lanes. No charges were filed, and it really can't be classified as scandalous, but the court of public opinion agreed that Holgorsen's alleged behavior that night (or morning) was unbecoming a future Mountaineer head coach.
Less than three weeks later, on June 7, it was revealed that Bill Stewart, WVU's coach and still Holgorsen's boss, asked a former Pittsburgh sportswriter to "dig up dirt on this guy," meaning Holgorsen. Three days after that, Stewart resigned, prematurely elevating Holgorsen to the top spot.
While the Holgorsen Era was getting underway Sept. 4 with a storm-shortened 34-13 win over Marshall, which included 41/2 hours of delays and ended while the game was early in the fourth quarter, the dominoes started falling on college football's ongoing conference realignments, leaving Mountaineer fans to wonder if their team would be stuck in a depleted Big East.
Well, WVU was welcomed to the Big 12 on Oct. 25 - prematurely, as it turned out. After some political wrangling from across the border in Kentucky (on behalf of Louisville), WVU was officially welcomed to the Big 12 on Oct. 27.
After a season of alternating highs (freshman Dustin Garrison's 291-yard rushing game against Bowling Green, the 21-20 comeback win over Pitt) and lows (47-21 prime-time punking by LSU and the how-does-that-happen 49-23 loss at Syracuse), the Mountaineers finished where most people thought they would, representing the Big East in a BCS Bowl. That comes a week from today in the Orange Bowl against Clemson.
Also in 2012, we'll learn the fate of the ping-ponging lawsuits surrounding WVU's exit from the Big East. Stay tuned.
Best high school story line: George Washington's banner year, especially in boys sports.
On March 19, the Patriots won their first boys state basketball title in 40 years, de-
feating Wheeling Park 55-54 in a game that wasn't decided until a video review of the game's final shot. When the shot by Park's Bubby Goodwin was ruled a 2-pointer and not a 3-pointer, GW had its championship.
GW also had an amazing fall season, with the boys soccer team winning the Class AAA championship (Charleston Catholic's girls won in Class AA-A), and then the football team put together a near-perfect season, losing to Martinsburg 35-27 in the championship game.
I think it's safe to say that GW's Ryan Switzer was the most-photographed local athlete in the Kanawha Valley in 2011. That's what happens when you're a near-unanimous choice for the Kennedy Award as the state player of the year. (His name was most likely in the most sports-page headlines, too, including one that erroneously called him "Swisher." Oops.)
