The Shotgun/Throwdown (12/14/18): Syracuse leading West Virginia in Camping World Bowl ticket sales

Welcome, By-Godders, to The Shotgun/Throwdown, WVU’s best place for sports links, information, sophomoric humor and daily distractions.

Football

Seeing Orange: Syracuse leading West Virginia in bowl game sales | WV MetroNews
West Virginia trails Syracuse in the battle of enthusiasm for the Camping World Bowl, but Mountaineers fans are showing a greater appetite for visiting Orlando than they did for Dallas a year ago.

Camping World Bowl: QB Dungey Presents Big Challenge For WVU Defense | West Virginia Athletics
If there is one thing 30 years of observing West Virginia University football has taught us, it's never to sleep on a Mountaineer bowl opponent.

Mountaineers Right a Wrong In a Big Way In 1993 | West Virginia Athletics
Last week, John Antonik wrote about one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in Milan Puskar Stadium history when Syracuse came down to Morgantown in 1992 and stole a football game from the Mountaineers. Well, there is a postscript to that story.

A quiz to ponder while prepping for bowl season | WV News
West Virginia’s date with Syracuse in the Camping World Bowl game in Orlando is two weeks away now so we thought it might be fun to test your knowledge of Mountaineer bowl history.

Recruiting, bowl decisions scuttle 1 factor from college game | WV News
Hop into the Wayback Machine and set the dials to December, 2017. In that timeframe, several West Virginia players announced they would be returning for their senior football seasons.

Column: Huddled masses find success on WVU’s teeming shores | WV News
Even in the midst of West Virginia’s winning moments, the occasional call will come from a fan — “Why can’t Dana Holgorsen recruit a high school quarterback and develop him into WVU’s leader?"

Basketball

Konate joins Kevin Jones, Jevon Carter as recent record-breakers | WV MetroNews
The cameras and voice recorders were all pointed at Kevin Jones on that November day in 2011, hanging on every word after he set West Virginia’s career record for offensive rebounds.

West Virginia Athletics

Piatczyc Earns MLS Combine Invitation | West Virginia Athletics
West Virginia University men's soccer senior midfielder Joey Piatczyc has been invited to participate in the 2019 MLS Player Combine.

Eight Named to Academic All-MAC Team | West Virginia Athletics
Eight West Virginia University men's soccer players have been named to the Academic All-MAC Team, the Mid-American Conference announced on Wednesday.

Seeing the world of Mountaineer sports through the lens of Dale Sparks | WV News
For Dale Sparks, it began with a Kodak Hawkeye Instamatic Camera and a dog named Tater. This man who would go on to become probably the most proficient and prolific photographer of West Virginia University sports didn’t know it back then when he was 8 or 10 years old, but that gave his life the direction it would follow.

Around the NCAA

2 reasons a 2018 UCF title claim would carry way less weight | SBNation
And one reason the Knights should do it anyway, if they can beat LSU in the Fiesta Bowl.

A composite 2018 college football All-America team, led by Bama, Clemson, and LSU | SBNation
These are the players who showed up most at each position on the sport’s officially recognized All-American teams.

The 62 silliest college football bowl game names of all time | SBNation
A list so amazing, the Poulan Weed Eater Independence Bowl isn’t even No. 1 any more.

The Great NFL Heist: How Fox Paid for and Changed Football Forever | The Ringer
An oral history of the most important deal in sports TV history, when Rupert Murdoch and Fox stole the NFL and John Madden out from under the Big Three networks, created the modern pregame show, invented a new way to see football, and launched a television empire

What the NBA Standings Aren’t Telling You | The Ringer
The teams being helped, and hurt, by their early strength of schedule

The Best Memes of 2018 | The Ringer
We’re riding our American Choppers to the Tide Pod factory to do surgery on some grapes

‘Into the Spider-Verse’ Is a Perfect Spider-Man Movie | The Ringer
The latest Spidey film reshapes a familiar story into one of the best animated features of the year—and one of the best superhero movies ever made

The Great NFL Heist: How Fox Paid for and Changed Football Forever | The Ringer
An oral history of the most important deal in sports TV history, when Rupert Murdoch and Fox stole the NFL and John Madden out from under the Big Three networks, created the modern pregame show, invented a new way to see football, and launched a television empire

The Chargers’ very good 2018 season, explained | SBNation
The Chargers are no fluke. Bill Connelly dives deeper into three specific reasons why they’re the second best team in the AFC, with a chance to be No. 1.

Why gambling used to scare baseball and why it doesn’t anymore | SBNation
Baseball and gambling used to be mortal enemies. Here’s how they fell in love.

Markelle Fultz’s bizarre injury, explained by a surgeon | SBNation
The former No. 1 pick is suffering from an unusual injury that’s ruined his once fantastic jump shot, and the start to his career. A surgeon explains what’s happening to Fultz, and why.

The Lakers and Rockets have a rivalry brewing | SBNation
Game 1 featured spitting, punches and ejections. Game 2 was just as fun.

What the NBA Standings Aren’t Telling You | The Ringer
The teams being helped, and hurt, by their early strength of schedule

The Best Memes of 2018 | The Ringer
We’re riding our American Choppers to the Tide Pod factory to do surgery on some grapes

‘Into the Spider-Verse’ Is a Perfect Spider-Man Movie | The Ringer
The latest Spidey film reshapes a familiar story into one of the best animated features of the year—and one of the best superhero movies ever made

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