Published: July 25, 2008 01:48 am            

COLUMN: Stewart gets last look at Yankee Stadium

MORGANTOWN — A few thoughts from an empty mind as July churns toward August and football camp awaits.

So how does the new head football coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers spend his final free day before ending his vacation and heading back to work to put the final touches on camp, which begins Aug. 2.

That was what we wanted to known when we tried to reach Bill Stewart on Wednesday morning.

He returned the call at about 11:10 a.m. and I didn’t even have to ask him.

“You’ll never guess where I am,” he began. “I’m tailgating two blocks from “The House That Ruth Built.”

That’s right, Stewart had taken his son, Blaine, to Yankee Stadium to see the afternoon finale between the Yankees and the Minnesota Twins, his last chance to be in the great ball park before it is torn down this offseason.

Had Stewart ever been there before?

Sure had, he said.

“It was back in ’96 and I was there the day Dwight Gooden pitched his no-hitter,” he said. “You should have heard that crowd roar. I mean I almost … I mean, I had tears in my eyes.”

Pretty good game to pick. And just who did Gooden no-hit that year? The Seattle Mariners, who had a guy named Alex Rodriguez batting second, a guy named Ken Griffey Jr. hitting third and a guy named Edgar Martinez, the designated hitter, batting fourth.

Mazzulla is cooler

There has been a whole lot of attention on Bob Huggins’ recruiting class for this year, for good reason.

It may be the best at WVU since the Jerry West days.

Or ever.

But here’s a word to the wise. If you must, drool over the recruits but look for Joe Mazzulla to be the centerpiece of this year’s team.

He’s been dead serious about getting ready for the season and all you have to do is look at him to see that.

A well-conditioned athlete before, there is no longer a drop of fat on him.

Well, maybe a drop, whatever 3 percent body fat is.

Mazzulla worked during the off-season to change his body and now has hard, lean look, cutting that body fat and dropping 10 pounds, much of it he may pick up again in the form of muscle when he gets into heavy lifting in preparation for next season.

You might remember the Mazzulla who dominated Duke. That’s the kid who everyone expects to show up this year running the team, shooting better than ever from the outside and driving and dishing on the inside while inspiring the defense and hitting the boards as if he were a 6-8 forward.

Don’t panic, but ...

It isn’t reason to push a panic button yet, as neither has been declared totally out for next year, but WVU’s attempt to rebuild its defensive line may be on the verge of taking a hit. Highly touted rookie defensive lineman Tevita Finau from Phoenix Community College has been pushing hard but doesn’t appear as though he’s going to be able to complete the academic courses he needs to qualify.

He was supposed to provide immediate impact to a defensive line that lost Keilen Dykes and Johnny Dingle from last year.

In addition, the fate of defensive lineman Pat Liebig is in the hands of the NCAA, always a risky situation.

Liebig would have probably started last year had he stayed in the program but his father fell ill and he felt obliged to return home to help the family get through the tragedy. Since then, however, things have settled down at home, the car dealerships the family owned and Liebig was helping run were sold and he wanted to return to school and complete his eligibility.

Having missed a year with a knee injury, he needed to be granted another year by the NCAA and while Coach Bill Stewart remains upbeat about his chances, until Liebig gets the OK he’s in limbo.

Olympian performances

You don’t often think of West Virginia when it comes to Olympic sports but that may be changing. WVU is sending a contingent of five to the Olympic games representing four different countries.

The latest to qualify was pitcher Jeremy Cummings, the former South Charleston and WVU pitcher who, as hard as it is to believe, is now 32 years old and pitching for the Durham Bulls … but not to Crash Davis.

Cummings is 7-2 with a 2.82 ERA and struck out two batters in a scoreless inning of work in the Class AAA All-Star game.

Also representing the USA will be rifle champion Mike Anti in smallbore. He is the silver medalist from the 2004 Olympics and will be competing in the Olympics for the fourth time.

Then there’s former WVU women’s track star Megan Metcalfe. She won the Canadian 5,000-meter final and will compete in Bejing.

And not to be overlooked is WVU rifle coach Jon Hammond, who will be the first Mountaineer with a Scottish accent as he represents Great Britain in the Olympic rifle competition.

Finally, former All-American hurdler from WVU Pat Itanyi is coaching the hurdlers for her native Nigeria.

Give it to Avon

You have to feel for former WVU running back Avon Cobourne.

Oh, he’s running just fine, averaging 5.9 yards a carry.

The problem is, the last two games, his team has given up running the ball. Cobourne has carried a combined nine times in the last two games. In the last game, Montreal ran the ball five times and threw 42, which isn’t exactly West Virginia football. Cobourne had four of the carries.

Cobourne, WVU’s all-time leading rusher, has blossomed as a receiver out of the backfield, however, catching 28 passes for 300 yards and a touchdown of 60 yards.

E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.

        

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