Parkersburg Rundown 7/16

Titletown Rally at Stadium Field on July 18th--Its official, when ESPN comes to town on July 18th, the party will be at Stadium Field and it starts at 6 p.m. It was announced Wednesday that the community rally celebrating Parkersburg’s designation as a TitleTown USA finalist will include a television presentation that will showcase some of city’s 192 state championships, as well as interviews with school officials and tours of the city’s sporting venues.

It is the desire of rally organizers that one side of the stands be filled to capacity so camera crews can create a ESPN Gameday feel to the event. To encourage fan attendance, the first 600 fans will receive commemorative TitleTown USA rally towels. Gates open at 4:30 p.m. with filming for the broadcast beginning around 6 p.m. Concession stands will be open during the event, and entertainment in the form of school marching bands and cheerleaders will supplement the activities.

Rich-Rod Forced To Payout Contract--The saga that was Rich Rodriguez vs. WVU is officially over. On Wednesday it was announced that Rodriguez had settled with suit with his former employer, agreeing to pay the 4 million dollar buyout clause that was outlined in the contract he broke last December. As outlined in the settlement, Rodriguez himself will pay $1.5 million of the buyout, and his current employer, the University of Michigan will pay the remaining $2.5 million. It was announced that Rodriguez will pay the 1.5 in three annual payments, to be concluded by the year 2010.

One has to wonder what WVU really won in this case however. In his parting comments Rodriguez stated that he “had to do what he felt was right, even if it is more painful.” The comments appeared throughout the national media, and in-turn paint Rodriguez as the victim in a vengeful suit on behalf of WVU and the target of slanted judge in the Mountain State. Fans in West Virginia have a very different opinion of Rich-Rod, as expressed by the various death threats and tee-shirt slogans, however WVU is endangering a status they have worked hard to create. The Blue and Gold became fan favorites when Bill Steward and his happy go lucky bunch of blue collar heroes toppled Oklahoma in Glendale. With this ruling, the university and program need to tread lightly as it is easy to paint the school a villain against a coach who simply took a “better” job.

South Targeted in OVAC Expansion--For those who don’t know the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference is a mega-conference comprised of schools from Ohio and West Virginia. With schools ranging in size of that Fort Frye high school to Wheeling Park, the OVAC has functioned more as a means of affiliation than a typical conference. In the case of the Patriots, the school has played in the OVAC before (1975-76) winning a football title in its only year.

Should South join the OVAC they would likely play fellow OVAC tier one schools Brooke, John Marshall, Wheeling Park, and Zanesville. The addition of such schools would pay immediate dividends for schedule makers as it seems the school has struggled to find gridiron opponents. This year two Washington D.C. schools will travel to Parkersburg for a game, ultimately guaranteeing South a sparsely attended home game. South will continue to play PHS, and will likely keep Marietta on schedule as it has been rumored that Marietta was also in talks of joining the OVAC.