Post by wvumaryjane on Aug 27, 2007 17:00:12 GMT -5
This is a good article that apparently was published on Monday before the Sugar Bowl Game in an Athens, Georgia newspaper.
If you have not seen this, it is very well written, worth reading and now, unfortunately, even more timely considering the Upshur County mining disaster.
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On a pleasant, short-sleeved afternoon in Morgantown, W.Va., under a brilliant, almost cloudless sky, shaggy-haired, bespectacled John Denver ambled toward the 50-yard line to, in effect, christen the new 50,000-seat Mountaineer Field, home of West Virginia football team. It was September 6, 1980, and the university wanted to do something special to introduce both its new stadium and a young first-year WVU coach named Don Nehlen. So Denver was invited to sing one of his signature songs - "Country Roads" - during pregame festivities. Denver, who died in 1997, accepted the invitation apparently under the impression that he would perform a quick novelty gig: hop off his helicopter, take an escorted ride into the stadium, sing "Country Roads" and then bail out. But that's not exactly what happened. Denver entered the stadium and found his microphone at the center of the field, amidst the 325-member Mountaineer Band, which around him had formed an outline of the state of West Virginia. Then as he crooned the opening lyrics - "Almost heaven, West Virginia" - Denver was joined by about 50,000 backup singers. Those who were there say the crowd's collective voice swelled to a climax at the conclusion: "Country roads, take me home, to a place where I belong. West Virginia, Mountain Momma. Take me home, country roads." Those attending also say that when Denver finished his song, he gazed in all directions - perhaps dumbfounded at the reaction. Some among the crowd wept. Most just cheered for a long time. "I'm pretty sure he had no idea what that song means to this state," said Dan Miller, an executive with the West Virginia Coal Association and an unofficial Mountaineer football historian. "I was stationed in Germany in 1971 the first time I heard 'Country Roads,' and I'm not ashamed to say that while I was listening I started crying," Miller said. "It means a lot when you come from a place that most people don't appreciate or understand. And here's someone singing about its beauty."
West Virginians, you see, feel they're underdogs - almost always fighting an uphill battle. Economists tell West Virginians it's tough for their state to prosper, because the mountains are so steep and rugged that land development is a challenge. Educators used to say it was tough for many West Virginia children to get ahead, because transportation to schools was difficult and winters are harsh. In the sports realm, there annually aren't many young top-tier athletes in the state, in part because most schools are small and competition is not as daunting as in denser
population areas.
There are, of course, exceptions - many of them. Native West Virginia athletes include Randy Moss (football), Jerry West (basketball), John Kruk (baseball) and Mary Lou Retton (gymnastics). Author Pearl Buck was a West Virginian; so was Tuskegee Institute founder Booker T. Washington. Nobel Prize winning mathematician John Nash was from West Virginia.So is country singer Brad Paisley. Actor Don Knotts is from the Mountain State, as is actress Jennifer Garner, who still speaks fondly of the "hillers" and "creekers" from her alma mater, George Washington High School in Charleston. Most have spoken of both loving life, and overcoming tough times, in West Virginia.
So when Denver sang about Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah River, it doesn't matter to most West Virginians that the Blue Ridge is primarily a Virginia-North Carolina strand and the Shenandoah runs only a few miles through their state's Eastern Panhandle. To people who have lived their lives fighting uphill battles, hearing someone tell them their home is "almost heaven" was more than music to their ears. West Virginians,by and large, love their state. And with the exception of diehard Marshall University fans, mostly in southern West Virginia, state residents also embrace West Virginia's football team. Georgia fans are likely to get a strong taste of that devotion at the Sugar Bowl tonight. While Georgia's football team will be contending with the young, hard-hitting Mountaineers, Bulldogs faithful will hear from a loud, passionate, fun-loving crowd of 25,000 or so Mountaineers fans. "Our allotment is 15,000 tickets, and
that's nothing," said West Virginia Sports Information Director Shelly Poe. "You can probably double that, just from the people going down hoping to find a ticket." West Virginia fans, as they say in college football circles, travel well. Roughly 6,000 fans attended this year's game at Rutgers, more than 10,000 were at Cincinnati for a mid-week game. "About half the stadium (in Cincinnati) was our people," Poe said. "It was about the same way at South Florida. Half the stadium seemed like it was West Virginia people." West Virginia fans also show up on the road for a second reason, one native West Virginians find unfortunate. For decades, the state's economy struggled as some of its core industries - steel, coal and chemicals - scaled down work forces. With fewer available jobs, many people left the state, often reluctantly.
They carried their passion for West Virginia football with them. "Our fans are everywhere," Poe said. And if you think they're impressive on the road, you should see and hear them at home. They rattle opponents with enthusiasm and noise levels you find at, well, many SEC stadiums. Noting that since 1980 more than 10,000 seats and a section of luxury boxes have been added to Mountaineer Field, Poe said recent media visitors from Georgia to Morgantown have described the town as having an "SEC feel." "I don't think they expected that," she said.
As much of the college football world knows, West Virginia students also celebrate in style. A Mountaineers victory in a big game incites a ritual outsiders find perplexing: couch burning. In the street, no less. The university's administration highly discourages the activity and threatens participants with legal action, but a victory over Georgia would certainly put every fire department and police detachment in Morgantown on high alert. Although West Virginia fans can yell,taunt and party with the best of them, they don't appreciate what they see as unfairness from outsiders.
Three years ago, at the Continental Tire Bowl in Charlotte, N.C., Virginia's makeshift pep band mocked West Virginia during a halftime show by portraying its people as backward, slow-talking hillbillies. The Virginia band had performed a similar stunt 20 years earlier, an event West Virginians hadn't forgotten and won't forget.In Charlotte, West Virginia fans responded by jeering the Virginia band, then giving a prolonged standing ovation to its own Mountaineer Marching Band, an organization known as one of the finest in the country.
Though West Virginia is mountainous almost everywhere and
many of its people have lived in small communities their entire lives, natives are quick to say that doesn't mean they're hillbillies. A quick look at a West Virginia map offers glimpses of a strikingly diverse state. West Virginia's southernmost borders are deep into rugged Appalachian, coal-mining country. But the state's northernmost point is north of Pittsburgh, and that region's heritage is linked to the steel industry. West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle, the state's fastest growing area, is in
danger of becoming a Washington, D.C. bedroom community. Italian influence is heavy in many parts of the state, particularly in north-central West Virginia. The cultures merge in Charleston, a progressive small city that is the state's capital, and in Morgantown, home of the state's largest university. "We're proud of our non-citified image, but we get a little irritated when people think Deliverance was filmed here," Miller said. "That, correct me if I'm wrong, was set in Georgia." Though defensive about stereotypes, West Virginians understand that their common bond is the mountains and they embrace that heritage. And they often treat themselves with self-deprecating humor. West Virginia's mascot is a rifle-toting Mountaineer that wears a leather suit and coonskin hat. To the delight of the home crowd, the Mountaineer fires the rifle any time his team scores.
"Yes, we know all about Georgia. Georgia's mascot is a butt-ugly bulldog," said West Virginia fan Terry Shorr, of Charleston. "We've got a proud, dignified mountaineer, a rangy looking guy that carries a rifle and keeps an eye on things. "And if I've got to choose between the mountaineer and the bulldog, I'll choose the one with the loaded weapon, especially if he's able to shoot straight."
So Georgia fans, get ready. The Mountaineers are coming!
(Randy Coleman is a University of Georgia graduate and former newspaper and wire service reporter and editor. He is now vice-president of public relations for Charles Ryan Associates, Charleston, W.Va.)
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 01-02-06)
If you have not seen this, it is very well written, worth reading and now, unfortunately, even more timely considering the Upshur County mining disaster.
--------------------------------------------------
On a pleasant, short-sleeved afternoon in Morgantown, W.Va., under a brilliant, almost cloudless sky, shaggy-haired, bespectacled John Denver ambled toward the 50-yard line to, in effect, christen the new 50,000-seat Mountaineer Field, home of West Virginia football team. It was September 6, 1980, and the university wanted to do something special to introduce both its new stadium and a young first-year WVU coach named Don Nehlen. So Denver was invited to sing one of his signature songs - "Country Roads" - during pregame festivities. Denver, who died in 1997, accepted the invitation apparently under the impression that he would perform a quick novelty gig: hop off his helicopter, take an escorted ride into the stadium, sing "Country Roads" and then bail out. But that's not exactly what happened. Denver entered the stadium and found his microphone at the center of the field, amidst the 325-member Mountaineer Band, which around him had formed an outline of the state of West Virginia. Then as he crooned the opening lyrics - "Almost heaven, West Virginia" - Denver was joined by about 50,000 backup singers. Those who were there say the crowd's collective voice swelled to a climax at the conclusion: "Country roads, take me home, to a place where I belong. West Virginia, Mountain Momma. Take me home, country roads." Those attending also say that when Denver finished his song, he gazed in all directions - perhaps dumbfounded at the reaction. Some among the crowd wept. Most just cheered for a long time. "I'm pretty sure he had no idea what that song means to this state," said Dan Miller, an executive with the West Virginia Coal Association and an unofficial Mountaineer football historian. "I was stationed in Germany in 1971 the first time I heard 'Country Roads,' and I'm not ashamed to say that while I was listening I started crying," Miller said. "It means a lot when you come from a place that most people don't appreciate or understand. And here's someone singing about its beauty."
West Virginians, you see, feel they're underdogs - almost always fighting an uphill battle. Economists tell West Virginians it's tough for their state to prosper, because the mountains are so steep and rugged that land development is a challenge. Educators used to say it was tough for many West Virginia children to get ahead, because transportation to schools was difficult and winters are harsh. In the sports realm, there annually aren't many young top-tier athletes in the state, in part because most schools are small and competition is not as daunting as in denser
population areas.
There are, of course, exceptions - many of them. Native West Virginia athletes include Randy Moss (football), Jerry West (basketball), John Kruk (baseball) and Mary Lou Retton (gymnastics). Author Pearl Buck was a West Virginian; so was Tuskegee Institute founder Booker T. Washington. Nobel Prize winning mathematician John Nash was from West Virginia.So is country singer Brad Paisley. Actor Don Knotts is from the Mountain State, as is actress Jennifer Garner, who still speaks fondly of the "hillers" and "creekers" from her alma mater, George Washington High School in Charleston. Most have spoken of both loving life, and overcoming tough times, in West Virginia.
So when Denver sang about Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah River, it doesn't matter to most West Virginians that the Blue Ridge is primarily a Virginia-North Carolina strand and the Shenandoah runs only a few miles through their state's Eastern Panhandle. To people who have lived their lives fighting uphill battles, hearing someone tell them their home is "almost heaven" was more than music to their ears. West Virginians,by and large, love their state. And with the exception of diehard Marshall University fans, mostly in southern West Virginia, state residents also embrace West Virginia's football team. Georgia fans are likely to get a strong taste of that devotion at the Sugar Bowl tonight. While Georgia's football team will be contending with the young, hard-hitting Mountaineers, Bulldogs faithful will hear from a loud, passionate, fun-loving crowd of 25,000 or so Mountaineers fans. "Our allotment is 15,000 tickets, and
that's nothing," said West Virginia Sports Information Director Shelly Poe. "You can probably double that, just from the people going down hoping to find a ticket." West Virginia fans, as they say in college football circles, travel well. Roughly 6,000 fans attended this year's game at Rutgers, more than 10,000 were at Cincinnati for a mid-week game. "About half the stadium (in Cincinnati) was our people," Poe said. "It was about the same way at South Florida. Half the stadium seemed like it was West Virginia people." West Virginia fans also show up on the road for a second reason, one native West Virginians find unfortunate. For decades, the state's economy struggled as some of its core industries - steel, coal and chemicals - scaled down work forces. With fewer available jobs, many people left the state, often reluctantly.
They carried their passion for West Virginia football with them. "Our fans are everywhere," Poe said. And if you think they're impressive on the road, you should see and hear them at home. They rattle opponents with enthusiasm and noise levels you find at, well, many SEC stadiums. Noting that since 1980 more than 10,000 seats and a section of luxury boxes have been added to Mountaineer Field, Poe said recent media visitors from Georgia to Morgantown have described the town as having an "SEC feel." "I don't think they expected that," she said.
As much of the college football world knows, West Virginia students also celebrate in style. A Mountaineers victory in a big game incites a ritual outsiders find perplexing: couch burning. In the street, no less. The university's administration highly discourages the activity and threatens participants with legal action, but a victory over Georgia would certainly put every fire department and police detachment in Morgantown on high alert. Although West Virginia fans can yell,taunt and party with the best of them, they don't appreciate what they see as unfairness from outsiders.
Three years ago, at the Continental Tire Bowl in Charlotte, N.C., Virginia's makeshift pep band mocked West Virginia during a halftime show by portraying its people as backward, slow-talking hillbillies. The Virginia band had performed a similar stunt 20 years earlier, an event West Virginians hadn't forgotten and won't forget.In Charlotte, West Virginia fans responded by jeering the Virginia band, then giving a prolonged standing ovation to its own Mountaineer Marching Band, an organization known as one of the finest in the country.
Though West Virginia is mountainous almost everywhere and
many of its people have lived in small communities their entire lives, natives are quick to say that doesn't mean they're hillbillies. A quick look at a West Virginia map offers glimpses of a strikingly diverse state. West Virginia's southernmost borders are deep into rugged Appalachian, coal-mining country. But the state's northernmost point is north of Pittsburgh, and that region's heritage is linked to the steel industry. West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle, the state's fastest growing area, is in
danger of becoming a Washington, D.C. bedroom community. Italian influence is heavy in many parts of the state, particularly in north-central West Virginia. The cultures merge in Charleston, a progressive small city that is the state's capital, and in Morgantown, home of the state's largest university. "We're proud of our non-citified image, but we get a little irritated when people think Deliverance was filmed here," Miller said. "That, correct me if I'm wrong, was set in Georgia." Though defensive about stereotypes, West Virginians understand that their common bond is the mountains and they embrace that heritage. And they often treat themselves with self-deprecating humor. West Virginia's mascot is a rifle-toting Mountaineer that wears a leather suit and coonskin hat. To the delight of the home crowd, the Mountaineer fires the rifle any time his team scores.
"Yes, we know all about Georgia. Georgia's mascot is a butt-ugly bulldog," said West Virginia fan Terry Shorr, of Charleston. "We've got a proud, dignified mountaineer, a rangy looking guy that carries a rifle and keeps an eye on things. "And if I've got to choose between the mountaineer and the bulldog, I'll choose the one with the loaded weapon, especially if he's able to shoot straight."
So Georgia fans, get ready. The Mountaineers are coming!
(Randy Coleman is a University of Georgia graduate and former newspaper and wire service reporter and editor. He is now vice-president of public relations for Charles Ryan Associates, Charleston, W.Va.)
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 01-02-06)
