This is just what I needed

Recently, I have had a difficult time coming up with stuff to blog about and, as most of you know, I have been gone for quite some time. I am officially back now and you can expect that I will be posting daily again.

What I needed was something to get me completely pissed off and motivate me to post again. That happened today thanks to an article in the Charleston Daily Mail. The title itself was enough to make my blood boil. The title read: "Patrick White's No. 5 may not qualify for retirement." My first thought was that it was a keep-over article from April Fools, but clearly it was not. It never even crossed my mind that this was even possible.

Now I know that Major Harris doesn't have his number retired because of the stupid rules that WVU has come up with to retire jerseys. That is completely ridiculous, but Pat White is even crazier. Let me lay out a few stats to back up my case:

• Starting record of 34-8 is unmatched by any quarterback in WVU history and is sixth in NCAA history.
• Is the only quarterback in FBS history to win four bowl games as a starter.
• One of only eight players in NCAA history to rush for 200 and pass for 200 in a game.
• Has three of the top seven highest rushing games in WVU history
• Highest single-game rushing total by a quarterback in Big East history
• Second in career passing efficiency at WVU
• Second most in WVU history in passing touchdowns
• First in NCAA career quarterback rushing list in yardage
• First in total offensive yards in a career in WVU history
• One of five players in NCAA history to rush for 1,000 and pass for 1,000 in a season

I could go on and on, but I think that is enough to make my point. Pat White will undoubtedly be in the College Football Hall of Fame and most likely will be a first day pick in this weekend's NFL Draft. But apparently that isn't good enough for WVU. The school has set crazy criteria for a jersey to be retired:

• The athlete must have earned an undergraduate degree from WVU (this is an outdated criteria, but Pat met this one, much to every WVU fan's enjoyment)
• The athlete must have played the maximum number of years of athletic eligibility as set forth by the NCAA (this is dumber than the first one, who gives a shit if someone player four years, if the three that they play are great...either way, Pat met this as well)
• The athlete was a consensus All-American or a two-year first team All-American as chosen by an accepted or primary organization or the most valuable player of a national championship team (absolutely absurd and should be removed all together...not many players in college football history can meet this criteria, not to mention WVU players)
• The athlete was a individual held in high standard while on campus and has maintained a role as a solid citizen in the community (fine...and this one looks like it was written for Pat White specifically)

I like the idea of setting high standards. I am not suggesting that we retire Pacman's jersey, but we aren't talking about Pacman, we aren't even talking about Steve Slaton (which I could if I wasn't so mad about Pat). Anyway, WVU just needs to get this guy's name up on the stadium. Hell, give up on the whole retiring numbers thing and just honor the players. But if they are going to keep this idea of retiring the numbers of the best WVU athletes, then this is an easy one.

Pat White provided WVU fans with four of the greatest years of WVU football that we could have ever asked for. Let's just put it this way, without Pat White, I am quite sure that we all wouldn't have had as much fun, excitement and enjoyment over the last four years. If any of you get the chance, tell WVU to get rid of this ridiculous criteria and cement Pat White as the greatest WVU football player ever.