All schools in Upshur County will close at 1 p.m. today. All B-UHS sporting events today are canceled.

Crunch Time Week 14: What I am not thankful for

BUCKHANNON – Everybody is saying what they are thankful for; me being an old curmudgeon these days, I will tell you a few things I am not thankful for.

LED lights at stadiums – Now when a team scores, they turn the lights on and off or just go pitch black inside the stadium. Yah, my team just scored, let’s turn out the lights. It’s stupid. I had a first-grade teacher that did the same thing. Back then it indicated to the class that we needed to shut up and behave.

Mock NFL drafts from May to January – Dumbest thing around. As soon as this past NFL draft was over, people I assume got paid to write this stuff are telling me the Steelers are drafting a safety in the first round of the 2024 draft before a college game is played or where the Steelers will draft. Just stop already. How about we wait for the draft order first then see who is coming out from the college game before we do these way too early absurd drafts.

The CFP rankings reveal show – So I unfortunately watched it this week. About 10 ESPN talking heads blathering on about who should be in the top four, even though there are still weeks left in the season. It is all so mindless. How about you wait until the four teams are picked then discuss it. It’s the same thing with Bracketology in January. What is the point when you still have eight weeks of the regular season left?

Being a Pirates fan – Bob Nutting is the worst professional owner in the history of sports. How MLB hasn’t forced him to sell for not putting his resources back into the franchise is beyond me. There have been some bad owners in sports, but none are worse than Nutting. Small market teams have won in Kansas City and Oakland, but not Pittsburgh because he would rather have his profit go back into his pocket than into the team.

WVU basketball – Bob Huggins had a team in place to make a deep run this year, then he couldn’t contain his drinking and got busted for an embarrassing DUI. For those clamoring that he deserved a second chance, people, he was well past his second chance when it came to his drinking. Try third, fourth and fifth. Most of his former players left and now we are stuck with a team that can’t beat Monmouth at home. I feel bad Josh Eilert and the players who arrived thinking they would be NCAA bound. What is Eilert supposed to do as interim coach? He seems like a good guy stuck in a crappy situation.

So that’s what I am not thankful for this holiday season.

In our weekly showdown, I, along with Brian and Beckie, won the week with identical 5-2 records. Brian and I are still tied for first place with 66-24 marks.

A quick check of the My Buckhannon staff standings.

Name              Week        Overall

Duane                 5-2         66-24

Brian                   5-2         66-24

Katie                   3-4         56-34

Monica               3-4         54-36

Beckie                5-2          52-38

In the Scoreboard Showdown this past week, we had one reader that was better than all the rest and that was ROB KIMBLE who went 6-1. Congrats to Rob for a great week. This week’s games can be found here. Get your picks in before the games kick off Friday night.

Now, onto our games this week.

Bridgeport (11-1) at Princeton (11-1)

Bridgeport absolutely spanked No. 1 Cabell Midland last week. They almost lucked out and got a home game before Parkersburg’s upset over Princeton last Friday came up just short. After last week’s performance, there is no way I am going against the Indians.

Duane: Bridgeport; Brian: Bridgeport; Katie: Princeton; Monica: Bridgeport; Beckie: Princeton

Arkansas State (6-5) at Marshall (5-6)

The wheels have completely come off the Marshall season after a 4-0 start to the year. Last week was especially brutal with a 28-0 loss at South Alabama. They can still get bowl eligible with a win on Saturday but face a team that put up 77 points last week.

Duane: Arkansas State; Brian: Marshall; Katie: Arkansas State; Monica: Marshall; Beckie: Marshall

WVU (7-4) at Baylor (3-8)

There have been a lot of ups and downs to the 2023 WVU season. Other than a late fourth-quarter letdown last week against UC, WVU dominated from start to finish. Baylor is not a very good team. Their two conference wins are a one-point win over UCF and a three-point win at UC. This is the type of game that Neal needs to win.

Duane: WVU; Brian: WVU; Katie: WVU; Monica: WVU; Beckie: Baylor

The Final Four:

Martinsburg (11-0) at Huntington (11-1)

Duane: Huntington; Brian: Martinsburg; Katie: Martinsburg; Monica: Huntington; Beckie: Huntington

Weir (11-1) at North Marion (11-1)

Duane: North Marion;  Brian: North Marion; North Marion; Katie: North Marion; Monica: North Marion; Beckie: North Marion

Independence (8-3) at Fairmont Senior (9-2)

Duane: Fairmont Senior; Brian: Fairmont Senior; Katie: Fairmont Senior; Monica: Independence; Beckie: Fairmont Senior

Ohio State (11-0) at Michigan (11-0)

Duane: Ohio State; Brian: Ohio State; Katie: Michigan; Monica: Ohio State; Beckie: Michigan

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