Carpenter Crunch Time Week 14: The annual “Things I’m not thankful for” column

Local sports columnist Duane Carpenter lists his top three 2025 sports grievances—Rich Rodriguez at WVU, Darian and Tucker DeVries’ departures, and clickbait sports algorithms—then recaps weekly picks and high school football matchups.

Duane Carpenter
November 26, 2025

BUCKHANNON – Thanksgiving is here which means it is time to give thanks for things we are thankful for.

Here at the Crunch, it means its time for me to list my annual top three things in sports I am not thankful for.

THINGS I’M NOT THANKFUL FOR IN 2025!

Rich Rodriguez as WVU football coach.

At the very top of the list, to no one’s surprise is Rich Rodriguez as the head football coach at WVU. The vitriol thrown my way this fall over this take caught me off guard as it’s been somewhat nasty at times. Of course, my favorite is being told I’m not a true fan of WVU. LOL. I have heard it all…give him time, let him build his roster, let WVU pile up some NIL money for him. I get all that, but I still don’t get the love affair by WVU fans with this goof. I’ve said it before, but he is a perpetual baby on the sidelines, is no longer effective coaching at this level, and is quite simply an awful, awful hire to lead the Mountaineers. In this new era of college football, we hired a 1974 Dodge of a head coach with worn out wipers, poor headlights and bald tires. WVU can’t get rid of him quickly enough for me.

Darian and Tucker DeVries made decision to leave WVU midseason.

No one has every accused many Division I coaches of having any moral fiber or good scruples, but what Darian pulled off was one of the slimiest things I have ever seen for a head coach. At the end of the day, he got a pay raise to coach a blue blood program. I get that but according to reports, he basically decided to accept the Indiana job during the middle of the WVU season. So he was leading WVU knowing little over a month in he was leaving for Indiana. Not making the NCAA Tournament was awful but his leaving meant they couldn’t even compete in the NIT. And even worse Tucker gets a NIL deal for a lot of money then plays a total of eight games then takes a redshirt so he could follow daddy to Hoosier land. I think WVU should get a refund because he wasn’t worth a dime.

My sports algorithm on my computer.

I don’t know if anyone has this issue, and I use Yahoo as my search engine , but all the clickbait nonsense that shows up as sports news now is rather annoying. Sites like the Sporting News and Athlon Sports are the worst. I wake up and check the net with these type of “headlines – “Steelers predicted to cut Rodgers for $30 million dollar quarterback”, “NFL fans want referee immediately investigated”, or “$1.1 Million Shedeur Sanders Update Emerges After Browns’ Quarterback Decision.” The actual stories are hot garbage of nothing. I always want to know who is predicting these things in these stories. I get as a writer you need content…but quit with this nonsense and making up trades and predictions that aren’t even slightly based in any truth.

So, there you have it, the top three things I’m not thankful for in 2025!

Now onto the important stuff, the My Buckhannon staff contest. The standings look like this.

STANDINGS (WEEK 13)

Name Week Overall

Duane 6-1 73-18

Brian 4-3 66-25

Monica 1-6 53-38

Katie 3-4 52-39

It was a big week for yours truly as I went 6-1 and widened my league over Brian to seven games with just two weeks to go. Looks like another title is within my grasp. Brian went 4-3 last week while Katie was 3-4 and Monica had a tough week at 1-6.

We had a four-way tie with our reader picks this week as John Davis, Willie Parker, Sandra Kimble and Danny McCauley all went 6-1. It was Willie Parker that won our week though as he claimed the tiebreaker of total points in the Oregon-USC game (69 points) as he selected 67. 67!!! So, congratulations to Willie who will receive a gift certificate to a local restaurant at the end of the season.

You still have time to get your picks in for this week, as we accept them until Friday at 6:59 p.m. prior to the high school kickoffs. (One submission only.) Please click here to make your picks this week.

Now onto our games:

University (9-3) at Martinsburg (10-2)

University pulled off one of the upsets of the year going to Huntington last week and knocking off the second-seeded Highlanders. Do they have another upset in them this week against perennial power Martinsburg. I don’t think so.

Duane: Martinsburg; Brian: Martinsburg; Monica: Martinsburg; Katie: University

Georgia Southern (5-6) at Marshall (5-6)

Marshall gets on more chance at getting bowl eligible after flopping at Appy State. Last Saturday. Hopefully at least one team in the state gets to go to a bowl game. I think they get it done this week at home.

Duane: Marshall; Brian: Marshall; Monica: Marshall; Katie: Marshall

Texas Tech (10-1) at West Virginia (4-7)

I’m thinking this is going to be a complete train wreck. Texas Tech is No. 5 in the latest playoff rankings and hoping to move up at least one spot to get that coveted No. 4 spot and a first-round bye. This one is going to get ugly fast. Thank goodness this is the end of this nightmare season. Image if dipstick could have beaten Ohio, they would be fighting for a bowl game this Saturday.

Duane: Texas Tech; Brian: Texas Tech; Monica: Texas Tech; Katie: West Virginia

The Final Four:

Jefferson (8-4) at Morgantown (11-1)