Of course, that was shattered in the waves upon waves of silliness that kept coming and coming and coming all day and half the night. If Jeff Casteel wasn't packing his bags for Pitt, then Bill Stewart was being outright fired and either his big mouth or his wife's was the reason. His contract was in jeopardy, as is the very future of West Virginia football.

So here it is, a response to all the lunacy in place of the nice little piece I'd written about something completely different earlier in the day.

Ready? The bottom line?

Two percent fact.

Ninety-eight percent unadulterated imagination.

But hey, it's a slow news cycle, right?

In case you were among the lucky few who missed it, here's the synopsis. Over the weekend, stories began to circulate that it was someone within the West Virginia football program - perhaps even Bill Stewart or his wife, Karen - who were responsible for spreading tales of Dana Holgorsen's late-night drinking and carousing exploits.

Monday morning, the Daily Mail then reported that WVU officials were trying to find out exactly who it was - if anyone - who was talking to reporters and indicated that the final signing of Stewart's contract was being held up while the school tried to find out if it was, in fact, Stewart doing the gossiping.

From there, it just exploded.

Fueled by even more anonymous "reports'' on web sites saying that high-ranking WVU bigwigs considered the football coaching staff "in disarray,'' it then became Holgorsen and his new offensive staff against Casteel and his defensive coaches.

Casteel was said to be so angry that he was ready to join Todd Graham's staff at Pitt. Where Stewart fit into all of this isn't quite clear except that he was involved enough that by late afternoon some nitwit on a radio station in the southern part of the state reported Stewart had been fired.

At which point, of course, my phone began ringing off the hook. And suddenly a story that I sat and laughed about and shook my head over in disbelief had become Dewey Beats Truman. As ridiculous as it all seems, it still has to be addressed.

So here, in a nutshell, is the address: Again, 2 percent fire, 98 percent smoke.

What is true about all of this? Well, let's forget for a moment the innuendo and just go with the facts. And the fact is that WVU athletic director

Oliver Luck is, in fact, curious to know from where all the stories of Holgorsen's exploits came. I wouldn't call it a full-blown investigation, but he's asking questions like the lawyer he is.

We can also assume, given that he has not publicly or privately cleared Stewart of suspicion - Wouldn't that be the easy thing to do to put this to rest? - that Luck has not yet formed a binding opinion.

And that's it. All of the facts. Period. End of discussion. There is nothing else out there.

Except, of course, what people insinuate, intimate or just plain fabricate.

Is any of it true? Maybe. Maybe Casteel is unhappy. Hell, if I were a part of this ridiculous soap opera I'd be unhappy. Maybe the coaching staff is in disarray. With essentially two head coaches on the payroll, can't we assume some disarray?

But is Stewart's contract being held up while investigations are launched into whether or not he was Deep Throat? No.

The language of his contract has been completed for seven months and according to the best source I can find there is nothing at all in dispute or any reason to delay it. There are simply some minor issues that lawyers like to iron out and, like most WVU athletic contracts (see Dan Dakich), it just hasn't been done yet.

"Stew has a valid contract,'' the source said. "There's no leverage [the university] has over him.''

And what if Stewart or his wife or anyone else involved in the program is found to have gone around telling tales out of school? Is that a fireable offense? Not on your life.

When Luck was presented with evidence of Holgorsen's only confirmed after-hours mess, he responded by reprimanding Holgorsen privately and publicly. If he is presented with evidence that Stewart or anyone else is similarly responsible for spreading tales, Luck is quite likely to react the same.

Really, now, can he reprimand one coach for getting thrown out of a casino at 3 a.m. and then fire another for telling someone about it? Hardly.

The bottom line in all of this, of course, is that it is, in fact, an awkward situation in which WVU's football program finds itself.

There is a head coach who has been fired and is waiting for his departure date. There is another head coach who has been hired, has to work for a year until he takes over and is about as different - personality-wise - from his predecessor as night and day.

Throw in the fact that Stewart has no real control over Holgorsen (he is contractually granted full control of his offense and hiring his staff) and it's just an uneasy situation.

There are loyal, long-time WVU coaches and graduates populating the defensive staff, and new, first-year, generally young guys on offense. Shoot, they've even just recently finished five weeks of spring practice in which the only opponent was each other - offense vs. defense.

Show me two groups like that anywhere that are going to get along perfectly.

From all indications, though, there's not that much friction. Then again, it's early June and if someone mentions disarray, leaks to reporters, nefarious deeds by wives, unsigned contracts, Pitt or anything else that seems like it might be juicy, we pounce on it, right?

Well, if you choose to sink your teeth into this one, feel free. I'm only doing it because someone needs to clear out a little bit of the smoke.

And when that happens I don't think you're going to find much fire.

Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.