recpros: Who has the toughest road schedule among the top four Big East contenders?

Chuck Finder: Good question for starters. (gold-and-blue star for recpros!) South Florida has to play at Cincy, at L'ville and at Mountaineer Field. No low road there. Granted, West Virginia -- which, my spider sense is tingling, just might be the answer you're looking for -- certainly has a far tougher non-conference road than perhaps anyone else in the Big East, but at least they only have L'ville (a potential surprise team this season in the league) on the road. Pitt is so close by, and so many fans can attend Heinz Field, that it's hard to consider that a roader. Unless, of course, the field is a quagmire by Thanksgiving, six days after that L'ville game. And it could be just that.

major_harris: Pat White, your 2008 Heisman Trophy winner. True or false?

Chuck Finder: Today's story sounded kinda positive about him, eh? The thing with the Heisman is, rightly or wrongly, your team needs to be at the top of the rankings. that might explain Tim Tebow of Florida and Chase Daniel of Missouri last December, and why White dropped down to sixth after the Pitt loss. If WVU goes 12-0, maybe even 11-1, he's no lower than the top two, right?

major_harris: Do you think Bill Stewart is just a placeholder for a season or two until a new coach is found? Like Frank Solich at Nebraska or Larry Coker at Miami?

Chuck Finder: Man, the guy hasn't even coached a game yet, and you're asking about running him off? Put it this way, with another question: he doesn't have a buyout, does he? So that certainly would make it easier if the WVU administration wanted to bump up somebody or bring in another coach. You got anyone in mind?

thebowl: Chuck, Why have you neither meaningfully reported on Larry Aschebrook's rather pointed rebuttal of the Magee/Rodriguez claims of institutional racism at WVU or his suggestion that you were used by Magee and Rodriguez to do their bidding where these claims are concerned. Surely these are very serious matters, the former where the school's reputation is concerned, and the latter where your own reputation is concerned. Why the deafening silence?

Chuck Finder: My lawyers are working on it. (any points for irony there?) put it another way: the Post-Gazette stands by its reporting. believe what you read in our paper.

YTOWN_EER: In your opinion does WVU continue the success they had under Rodriguez?

Chuck Finder: If I'm reading you right, I believe the question is: does WVU continue it long term ... man, I'm just a reporter, not a soothsayer (and, for copy editing's sake, I hope I spelled that correctly). But the way the Stewart administration has recruited, and the talent on the field this season, the program certainly appears headed on a successful run, doesn't it? BTW, didja happen to see Greg Isdaner's quotes about White today, how he makes them a Top-5 team when he's at quarterback? So it'll be interesting to see how good the Mountaineers will be without White.

YTOWN_EER: Looking at the schedule where do you see potential land mines?

Chuck Finder: being a professional skeptic (and i'm sure other folks will find additional seven-letter words, or less, to describe me), the schedule to me seems to hold traps in a lotta places. East Carolina, outside of last season, historically plays WVU tough; methinks Skip Holtz, after having an interview lined up the morning of the Fiesta Bowl only to have the Mountaineers "go in another direction" (to use bosspeak), might have a little something extra in his Pirates plan for WVU in an ESPN-televised affair on his home turf. Colorado likewise will want to use its national exposure on an ESPN Thursday; remember, it's one of the few other teams in 2008 to topple mighty Oklahoma. and, finally, just in the non-conference alone, Auburn is a biggie. Rutgers' and L'ville's passing attacks, South Florida's penchant for the upset and, finally, Pitt being Pitt also bear considerable attention. so, guess I'm saying, in short, it's all tough.

recpros: I think the issues involving Coach Rod are tedious and disingenuous at best. Can we get on with the future at WVU?

Chuck Finder: C ome on, didn't you see "Lion King?" next question.

recpros: What has been Pitt insiders' view of the first nine months under "Stew"? New assistants, recruiting, etc.?

Chuck Finder: man, you ask so many questions, recpro, ya oughtta be a reporter ... sorry to deflate anybody's balloons, but i really don't know any Pitt insiders, outside of our fabulous beat writer Paul Zeise. Oh, and I called Beano Cook yesterday to wish him happy birthday (77 years young ... salute!). anyway, the buzz among the "foreign territory" of Pittsburgh is, Stew seems to be a genuine and nice fellow, he seems to have pieced together a staff with a long and rich history (much of it from WVU) and he has a team that really, really seems to like him. reading between those lines, I'm guessing Pitt folks are more than a tad concerned about Nov. 28.

rrod: So you stand by your words or Rrod's claims that you are quote "on his side" during the lawsuit?

Chuck Finder: Far as I know, Rodriguez and Magee have denied saying that to Aschebrook, whom neither i nor any other reporter has been able to interview since. didn't someone else just ask us to move on post-Rodriguez? or is there latent bitterness that the Post-Gazette -- which I call "Switzerland" because of our neutrality toward the state of West Virginia -- has done balanced, fair, objective reporting about your university?

E-I-E-I-O: Do you think Rodriguez will have success at Michigan, or is this going to be one ugly Karmic stew? He seems to have already upset people up there too, and the team's stars all transferred or went to the draft ...

Chuck Finder: Karmic stew ... clever wordplay. but i'm not sure all his talent transferred or went pro, though certainly several of his best offensive talent did. His first year at WVU was 3-8, right? it would be difficult to envision a fabulously successful season, wouldn't it?

YTOWN_EER: Have you seen the team practice during fall camp? If so, what do you think of Jeff Mullin's version of the spread attack?

Chuck Finder: The guy is impressive. I'll leave you with my favorite quote of camp, from linebacker J.T. Thomas: (sorry, it took me a sec to look up in my notes) "Coach Mullen's a mastermind. A lot of the plays they run. . . we don't even seem 'em coming. Kudos to Coach Mullen."

major_harris: Having had a year almost to think on it, did WVU blow it in the Backyard Brawl or did Pitt play the game of its life? Or both? Or neither? ...

Chuck Finder: both. Pitt tackled amazingly well, Paul Rhoads (now the -- ahem -- Auburn defensive coordinator) jammed eight and nine players around the line and dared mostly Jarrett Brown and later Patrick White to throw, and the Mountaineers played ... timid, is the most diplomatic word I can derive at this moment. the play-calling, especially when Slaton or Devine hardly get the ball the second half, certainly was open to questioning. And it makes Nov. 28 that much more interesting, eh?

recpros: The Pirates and the Mountaineers are my passion here in far off London, Ontario -- this chat is great for the proverbial Mountaineer soul!

Chuck Finder: Speaking of "eh," eh? Welcome south of the border, virtually speaking. man, Mountaineers fans are everywhere. No need to rent "Lion King" now, though. The new coach never mentions it ... (though it was a fine film for kids, if ya got 'em)

major_harris: What do the players think of all this mess? Are they glad to have it behind them?

Chuck Finder: Another good question, Major. But, hey, being Major, you're brilliant! They're glad to be all about football. Put yourself in their turf shoes: they were recruited, were given the opportunity to play and star, they spent thousands of hours with the previous staff, so there was an undeniable bond there. It was hard for them to hear criticism on both ends, coming and going. They are 18- to 22-year-olds, too, so it was a cold, cold lesson about business, relationships and such.

rrod: Care to comment about the Rich Rod settlement? What was your take on Larry Aschebrook's statements regarding the entire fiasco?

Chuck Finder: RRod, so nice of you to join us. Don't you have Utah film to watch? Well, I'm a reporter, not a columnist, so i don't get paid for opinions. But as I wrote the moment it happened: West Virginia got the $4 million it wanted, and Rodriguez got the terms that he mostly sought from the start. My question is: between the time the lawyer's' $330K gets subtracted from Michigan's up-front $2.5 million and the time when the final $500,000 comes in 2012, will it still equal $3.6 million in 2008 dollars? Or will inflation lower it closer to, say, $3.3M ... or $3M. shoot, now you got me worrying about the price of gas in 2012, and it's hard to afford these days!

PittsburghEer: Do you think Mike Barwis is a key loss to the WVU S&C program, or do you think Mike Joseph more than makes up for it? Your thoughts on Mike Joseph?

Chuck Finder: The players swear by Mike Joseph so far. And how about Brantwon Bowser recovering from season-ending ACL surgery in, what, 4 1/2 months? but Barwis really raised the bar as a S&C coach. I hear he's a deity in Michigan already. (By the way, about Stew talking about scheduling I-AA schools ... it was spoken as a true, former I-AA coach. It won't help recruiting, cause players want to play the best AND go to good bowl games, and you need I-A opponents to secure that. Methinks he's trying to embarrass, say, a Kentucky or a Virginia Tech into scheduling WVU. how about another (barely) border state: Tennessee?!)

Chuck Finder: We went OT right outta the box, no extra charge! really, thanks for showing up. I tried to answer all your questions -- not ducking anything here. this correspondent will venture to address your concerns and questions in a fair, accurate and professional manner. So take care, keep reading the PG and Redshirt Diaries (how's that for a shameless plug?), and until next week ...