Truth is relative.

That shouldn't be the case, but far too often it is.

Many times it depends on the willingness of listeners to accept party-line propaganda as the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

They believe because they want to believe.

Which leads us to West Virginia University athletic officials' claims that the Mountaineers are a self-supporting athletic department.

That is balderdash.

WVU has been proclaiming that for years and it has been untrue for years. But the longer WVU spouts this fiction, the more Mountaineer fans accept it as fact.

Perception becomes reality.

That is how propaganda works.

A prime case in point is a recent article in The Dominion Post in Morgantown. The writers took the bait hook, byline and stinker.

Providing WVU athletic director Ed Pastilong a forum for his 2-for-1 demands in the Marshall-WVU football series extension controversy, The Dominion Post writers quoted him as saying, "The reason being, we are a self-supporting athletic department, one of 19 in the nation.

"We must have seven home football games and anything else would endanger us sustaining our financial stability."

That is nonsense.

Furthermore, if there are any self-supporting athletic departments in the NCAA, there are only 18.

That's because WVU isn't one.

The Mountaineers do indeed get funding from the state of West Virginia. Pastilong just happens to conveniently forget that fact of fiscal life on most occasions.

The interesting aspect of this situation is one of those forgetful occasions did not occur during a deposition for the Rich Rodriguez buyout court hearing on April 18, 2008.

Under oath and during questioning by attorney Marvin Robon, Pastilong suddenly remembered the WVU athletic department does receive funding from the state.

What a surprise.

Here is the relevant portion of the deposition. The entire transcript of the deposition can be found at http://www.wboy.com/sjuploads/Pastilong deposition transcript (C0275450).TXT.

Robon: How many coaches are you in charge of as the athletic director?

Pastilong: Well, we have 17 sports.

Robon: Correct.

Pastilong: And the head coaches and the assistants.

Robon: A hundred people, would you estimate?

Pastilong: It is less than a hundred coaches, but our total department would probably be in the area of 200 people.

Robon: Two hundred people. What kind of annual budget does the university give the athletic department for those roughly 200 people?

Pastilong: Well, our athletic department budget is in the area of $48 million.

Robon: OK. And of that $48 million, how much comes from the state of West Virginia, or does it all come from the state of West Virginia?

Pastilong: Well, portions of it come from the state of West Virginia and portions come from contributors, foundation.

Robon: And, for the jury, give me a rough approximation what percentage comes from the university and what percentage -- or the state, and what percentage comes from the foundation?

Pastilong: Well, I would say the majority comes from the state and, then, the second most would be from the foundation and there are monies that come from our particular conference via television revenues, etc.

Robon: And of the $48 million, what would be an approximation that would come from the foundation -- $10 million, $20 million or something between those two numbers?

Pastilong: Something between those two.

Robon: On an annual basis?

Pastilong: On an annual basis.

I rest my case.

Chuck Landon is a sports columnist for The Herald-Dispatch. Call him at 304-526-2827. E-mail him at clandon@herald-dispatch.com.

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