Guess Huggins is handling it internally.

Remember when the news broke that the Power's new affiliation would be Pittsburgh? Well, if you're like me, your thoughts went immediately to the old Charleston Charlies logo.

You remember. The baseball with the smile and the derby hat. The cigar coming out of the corner of the mouth. Perhaps the best minor league logo ever. The Gazette, in fact, used to display the logo on the front page every day during the season. If the team lost, Charlie had a frown. If it won, he wore a smile.

Anyway, we received an email from Travis Bailey asking if the Power might revert back to the lovable Charlies nickname.

Here's the surprising answer: Sort of.

When reached Tuesday afternoon, Power general manager Andy Milovich said no, the name wouldn't be permanently changed.

But he said plans are in place to update the old Charlies logo (sadly taking out the cigar in these politically correct times) and holding a Charleston Charlies night once a week during the season.

Hey, you can't always get what you want. But, as Jagger once sang, if you try sometimes ...

Last week, I included a quote from Denver Post sports writer John Henderson, who, before WVU's football game at Colorado, typed that, "Considering what was on the line, West Virginia's prowess, the point spread, the venue and the timing, West Virginia's 13-9 setback [to Pittsburgh last season] is arguably the greatest choke job in the history of American sports.''

I asked for feedback.

John E. King of St. Albans pointed instead to the 1954 Cleveland Indians, who cruised to a pennant after winning 111 games then, shocking, rolled over to the New York Giants in four games. (That, by the way, was the series in which Willie Mays made his over-the-shoulder grab to rob Vic Wertz.)

Dunbar's Mark Allen pointed to the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. (See Namath, Joe "Willie.") He also cited the 1969 Baltimore Orioles. (See Mets, "Miracle.'')

My favorite response? An anonymous reader wrote that WVU's loss was "a contrived effort to provide impetus in pursuing other employment without drawing attention to the pursuant." (See Rodriguez, Rich.)

Surprisingly, though, by a more than two-to-one margin, those responding agreed with Henderson. ("WVU,'' wrote Mel, "laid the biggest egg ... Ripped the heart out of an entire state.")

Todd of Clarksburg agreed. Then, thankfully, offered the best advice.

"It's over and time to move on,'' he wrote. "So let's move on.''

Done.

Reach Mitch Vingle at 348-4827 or mitchvin...@wvgazette.com.

The views from here:

To those in charge of the state's major college basketball teams.

Both were smart enough to use an early season practice rules "loophole'' to set up fan events this coming weekend. According to USA Today, four schools are taking advantage - WVU, Marshall, Kentucky and Illinois - to hold the events a week ahead of the official practice start date.

Here's the deal. According to the NCAA, coaches can only work with their teams for two hours a week from Sept. 15 to Oct. 17. But there's currently nothing in the rules - although that may quickly change - that precludes teams from packaging a fan gathering with that two-hour window.

So WVU set up its "Mountaineer Madness" for 9:30 p.m. this Friday. Coach Bob Huggins is thumping the tub, trying to fill up the Coliseum. The first 500 students get a free pizza. There will be a laser light show. There will be a dunk contest and a two-ball competition. And Mike Carey's women's team will be involved.

"Last year we had 5,000 here,'' said Jerrod Calhoun, director of WVU basketball operations. "But I know Coach Huggins is looking for 10,000 to 12,000 this year. He wants to fill the Coliseum.''

Calhoun said he and Huggins came up with the idea while brainstorming during one of their many drives across the Mountain State. The idea was to have the event after Morgantown's 8 p.m. parade for Homecoming and the night before the football team's noon Saturday matchup with Syracuse.

Oh yes, and it just so happens to be a recruiting weekend.

Marshall sports information director Randy Burnside, meanwhile, said Thundering Herd coach Donnie Jones caught wind of Kentucky's plans.

"Donnie was like, 'Hey, let's do this,' '' said the SID.

In MU's case, Conference USA will hold its basketball media day Thursday, Oct. 16. So that would crowd Jones and his team if they tried to hold a fan event next weekend. Burnside said the coach also likes the fact that MU's football team is off this week. The belief is the media and fans around Huntington will focus their attention solely on the basketball players.

The Herd's event begins at 7 p.m. Saturday.

He said that seven Mountaineer players have put on at least 11 pounds of muscle and four have put on at least 15.

Of the newcomers, Kettler said Kevin Jones has moved from 216 pounds to 233. ("He's made significant progress," Kettler said.) Blue-chip recruit Devan Ebanks is at 208 pounds.

"Most all of the guys have done a real good job," Kettler said.

When quizzed, the strength director said the strongest Mountaineer is now junior Wellington Smith. Said the fastest is probably sophomore Will Thomas. And said the best vertical leaps are owned by Smith and sophomore John Flowers.

Well, when asked if the pair would miss any games because of suspension, WVU sports information director Bryan Messerly said Huggins is "handling it internally.''

When the question was phrased a bit differently, Messerly said Huggins is "handling it internally.''

Guess Huggins is handling it internally.

Remember when the news broke that the Power's new affiliation would be Pittsburgh? Well, if you're like me, your thoughts went immediately to the old Charleston Charlies logo.

You remember. The baseball with the smile and the derby hat. The cigar coming out of the corner of the mouth. Perhaps the best minor league logo ever. The Gazette, in fact, used to display the logo on the front page every day during the season. If the team lost, Charlie had a frown. If it won, he wore a smile.

Anyway, we received an email from Travis Bailey asking if the Power might revert back to the lovable Charlies nickname.

Here's the surprising answer: Sort of.

When reached Tuesday afternoon, Power general manager Andy Milovich said no, the name wouldn't be permanently changed.

But he said plans are in place to update the old Charlies logo (sadly taking out the cigar in these politically correct times) and holding a Charleston Charlies night once a week during the season.

Hey, you can't always get what you want. But, as Jagger once sang, if you try sometimes ...

Last week, I included a quote from Denver Post sports writer John Henderson, who, before WVU's football game at Colorado, typed that, "Considering what was on the line, West Virginia's prowess, the point spread, the venue and the timing, West Virginia's 13-9 setback [to Pittsburgh last season] is arguably the greatest choke job in the history of American sports.''

I asked for feedback.

John E. King of St. Albans pointed instead to the 1954 Cleveland Indians, who cruised to a pennant after winning 111 games then, shocking, rolled over to the New York Giants in four games. (That, by the way, was the series in which Willie Mays made his over-the-shoulder grab to rob Vic Wertz.)

Dunbar's Mark Allen pointed to the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. (See Namath, Joe "Willie.") He also cited the 1969 Baltimore Orioles. (See Mets, "Miracle.'')

My favorite response? An anonymous reader wrote that WVU's loss was "a contrived effort to provide impetus in pursuing other employment without drawing attention to the pursuant." (See Rodriguez, Rich.)

Surprisingly, though, by a more than two-to-one margin, those responding agreed with Henderson. ("WVU,'' wrote Mel, "laid the biggest egg ... Ripped the heart out of an entire state.")

Todd of Clarksburg agreed. Then, thankfully, offered the best advice.

"It's over and time to move on,'' he wrote. "So let's move on.''

Done.

Reach Mitch Vingle at 348-4827 or mitchvin...@wvgazette.com.