Good morning, Power Readers.
Information can be valuable. But there are often rules in place in all sorts of instances that provide barriers to those who want to acquire information. But these rules do not change the value of the information at the margin.... only the cost of acquisition. And, as they say, when there's a will, there's a way:
Nothing like a little spy scandal to spice up the football rivalry between West Virginia and Marshall.
Heading into only their second matchup in 83 years - and it took the governor's involvement to help set this September's game - school officials on both sides confirm a West Virginia student was caught spying at a Marshall practice this month.
The student was confronted April 11 after he was spotted sitting in the bleachers at Edwards Stadium taking detailed notes in a stenographer's notebook.
Thundering Herd practices have been open to the public this spring, but NCAA rules prohibit opposing coaches or football program representatives from attending another school's practice without permission.
The student works in the building where West Virginia's football offices are located. His name wasn't released because he wasn't criminally charged.
"We're treating it as a student conduct incident," Marshall Public Safety Director Jim Terry told the Charleston Daily Mail.
...West Virginia athletic director Ed Pastilong said the student was acting "without the authority of anyone in the athletic department or anyone on the football staff."
At this time, we don't know if this kid was acting on orders from a coach, player, or booster of the W. Va. football program or if he was just trying to get an inside scoop on his own. But it makes for interesting discussions.