The trip to Morgantown ended in defeat – again. Somehow, though, I just can’t bring myself to hate the Hoopies in the same manner that I hate Penn State and Notre Dame.
Maybe it’s the time that I grew up, watching Pitt dominate – WVU was always an inferior program, and considered an expected victory, back in the Majors I, Sherrill, and Fazio eras. Even though Pitt lost a few of those games, it was expected that Pitt would win. When Pitt started losing to them regularly, it was a sign of how bad Pitt had become, not how good WVU was.
Even in the 1990’s, when Pitt was god-awful and WVU was beating us nearly every year, most WVU recruits went there because Pitt (or PSU) didn’t offer them a scholarship. I never hear of Pitt and WVU going head-to-head for a recruit and the guy ends up choosing WVU.
I like their fans (I echo Lee’s comment here). They root for their school, or show in-state loyalty, because that’s what you’re supposed to do, damn it! They are loud – when Mountaineer Field is full, it’s as loud as anyplace in the country (and even when it isn’t full, often). They are proud of their school – unlike a lot of Pitt students and alumni who either don’t give a damn about football or b-ball, or are outright traitors and root for other college teams. And most of all, they don’t have that superior attitude that Penn State and ND (and OSU, Michigan, etc.) have about their team or their school. Granted, WVU isn’t all that good, and the academics suck, so how could they, right? But they have that “Yeah, I’m a Mountaineer, what of it?” attitude that I like. I guess I see them as a constant underdog, and I always like the underdog. Even though they hate Pitt more than any school (although lately VaTech, Miami, and in years past, Penn State earned much hate from the Hoopie faithful), I still can’t bring myself to hate WVU back.
Sure, they are easy to pick on. West Virginia jokes abound, and have nothing to do with football or basketball. As we walked away from the stadium Saturday, looking at the subtle poetry to the t-shirt vendors’ products (“Shit on Pitt”, “Pitt Sucks”, and the sublime “Fuck Pitt”), and listening to the taunts of the drunken WVU faithful as they saw us in our Pitt gear, I could still mutter (not quite under my breath) “we may have lost the game, but you still live in West Virginia” as I walked on by. It wasn’t out of hate, but almost empathy and pity. I became more irritated at the rest stop on I-79 on the way home, which was full of WVU fans, most of whom were talking shit. All I could think of was “Yeah, but the degree hanging on your wall still says ‘West Virginia University’, ass-hole” as I walked back to the car. But, they won, and we have to eat crow until next year. Such is the way of things.
Game and Stadium comments:
The lines to get into the stadium were ridiculous! We left John’s house, not a mile away from the stadium, at a little past 6pm. Somehow I maneuvered my way though the throngs and was the first one of our group to the seats, and I was barely there by 7pm. Some of the guys missed the first TD of the game because they were still in line. The entire home side of the stadium, probably close to 30,000 fans, were expected to file past a total of four ticket takers. I thought that Beaver Stadium was the worst, but this set up took the cake. And it wasn’t because of the stadium design – there were plenty of gates, just too few of them open.
I again echo Lee’s comments, but I do like the stadium. It is a great place to watch football. The Steelers played some exhibition games there when Heinz Field wasn’t ready a few years ago, and I envy those fans. The stands are on top of the field, great sight lines, the bleachers aren’t nearly as cramped as other college stadiums, and there is plenty of leg room (unlike Pitt Stadium). Lots of bathrooms and concession stands, and just a great atmosphere. They expanded their scoreboards, and now have a large instant replay board at the south end zone.
The game, well Pitt’s run defense sucks. It sucks ass. But why? Are they too slow? Are they not big enough, or strong enough up front? Is it a matter of mechanics, that they can’t shake blocks or tackle? Are they not on the good steroids anymore? As I said earlier, Pitt always wins the recruiting battles with WVU, so there shouldn’t be a talent gap. Perhaps their players are weak academically, so Pitt stayed away from them, or perhaps they were late bloomers that Pitt didn’t notice because they didn’t play much their junior or sophomore years in HS. I can’t figure it out. Rhoades was a fine coach last year, and he didn’t forget how to coach after one season. There has got to be a reason – I just don’t know what it is.
The fans:
I was a little disappointed that they didn’t riot. Plenty of cops on the field and in the stands near the end of the game – some sporting riot gear right out of a South Korean newsreel – big, long wooden sticks. No pepper spray, just John Denver piped over the PA system. As the night went on, things stayed relatively calm. That’s relative, for in Morgantown a few fires on a Saturday night are just a normal occurrence.
