The Life of a Mountaineer Fan
I can first remember going to a West Virginia University football game in 1963. That year all of West Virginia was celebrating 100 years as a state. The WVU football team wasn't the best team in the world, but I was captivated by the atmosphere at Mountaineer Field. WVU was thoroughly beaten by a Navy team led by future Dallas Cowboy star Roger Staubach, but I never forgot that experience.
Back in those days, it took nearly five hours to make the trek from my hometown to Morgantown, but we made the trip several times. Heading to college at West Virginia Tech, my trips were few and far between until 1975 when I resumed going as the purchaser of season tickets. I have been a season ticket holder for the past 28 years rarely missing a game.
You might say that it has been a frustrating 28 years. West Virginia, a poor state with little population and limited opportunity, has always had the problem of fielding a top-notch football program. Although there had been some successes prior to 1980, its teams were rarely ranked by the popular polls and their record was up and down most of the time.
Finally, in 1980, Don Nehlen, an assistant coach at the University of Michigan, was hired to coach and magic happened. In only his second season, Nehlen guided the Mountaineers to 8 regular season wins and a surprise victory in the Peach Bowl over a Florida team who was supposed to kill the Mountaineers in a game in which bettors refused to publish a line. Nehlen stayed on at WVU for 20 mostly winning seasons that included two undefeated regular campaigns.
Still, the lack of population and number of solid Division 1-A football players has hurt the program down through the years. While the team has had its successes, it has fallen short of becoming the every year top team. That will probably be the case for the rest of my lifetime. The Mountaineers are now coached by Rich Rodriguez, a former player at WVU. Although his teams have compiled 25 wins since 2002 and shared the Big East championship for two consecutive years, three nasty bowl defeats have left many wondering if WVU can ever be consistently a top team. We'll discuss this in depth as we go on.
Basketball has a rich heritage at WVU. In the late fifties and throughout the middle sixties, West Virginia was a powerhouse. Home of Hot Rod Hundley, Jerry West, Rod Thorn, Ron Williams, and Wil Robinson, West Virginia was a respected program under coaches Fred Schaus (later coach of the Minneapolis and Los Angeles Lakers), George King, and Bucky Waters.
Gale Catlett, former player with West and Thorn, came on the scene in the late 1970's after a very successful coaching run at the University of Cincinnati. By 1981, Catlett had the team in the 20 win club and continued on for many successful seasons that saw the Mountaineers play in either the NCAA or NIT tournaments. When WVU was admitted to the Big East for the 1995-96 season things changed. Catlett, who had been very successful in the Atlantic Ten Conference found the Big East very difficult. Since that time and until his retirement in 2002, the Mountaineers struggled. With the excpetion of the 1998 Sweet-Sexteen team, the Mountaineers were only average. the team self destructed in 2002, causing Catlett to retire early. After a very difficult search for a coach, John Beilein was hired. Beilein has had little success in the Big East although his 17-14 team of 2004 ended up in the NIT and won two games.
We will explore these two programs in the coming days. It won't be pretty.
Back in those days, it took nearly five hours to make the trek from my hometown to Morgantown, but we made the trip several times. Heading to college at West Virginia Tech, my trips were few and far between until 1975 when I resumed going as the purchaser of season tickets. I have been a season ticket holder for the past 28 years rarely missing a game.
You might say that it has been a frustrating 28 years. West Virginia, a poor state with little population and limited opportunity, has always had the problem of fielding a top-notch football program. Although there had been some successes prior to 1980, its teams were rarely ranked by the popular polls and their record was up and down most of the time.
Finally, in 1980, Don Nehlen, an assistant coach at the University of Michigan, was hired to coach and magic happened. In only his second season, Nehlen guided the Mountaineers to 8 regular season wins and a surprise victory in the Peach Bowl over a Florida team who was supposed to kill the Mountaineers in a game in which bettors refused to publish a line. Nehlen stayed on at WVU for 20 mostly winning seasons that included two undefeated regular campaigns.
Still, the lack of population and number of solid Division 1-A football players has hurt the program down through the years. While the team has had its successes, it has fallen short of becoming the every year top team. That will probably be the case for the rest of my lifetime. The Mountaineers are now coached by Rich Rodriguez, a former player at WVU. Although his teams have compiled 25 wins since 2002 and shared the Big East championship for two consecutive years, three nasty bowl defeats have left many wondering if WVU can ever be consistently a top team. We'll discuss this in depth as we go on.
Basketball has a rich heritage at WVU. In the late fifties and throughout the middle sixties, West Virginia was a powerhouse. Home of Hot Rod Hundley, Jerry West, Rod Thorn, Ron Williams, and Wil Robinson, West Virginia was a respected program under coaches Fred Schaus (later coach of the Minneapolis and Los Angeles Lakers), George King, and Bucky Waters.
Gale Catlett, former player with West and Thorn, came on the scene in the late 1970's after a very successful coaching run at the University of Cincinnati. By 1981, Catlett had the team in the 20 win club and continued on for many successful seasons that saw the Mountaineers play in either the NCAA or NIT tournaments. When WVU was admitted to the Big East for the 1995-96 season things changed. Catlett, who had been very successful in the Atlantic Ten Conference found the Big East very difficult. Since that time and until his retirement in 2002, the Mountaineers struggled. With the excpetion of the 1998 Sweet-Sexteen team, the Mountaineers were only average. the team self destructed in 2002, causing Catlett to retire early. After a very difficult search for a coach, John Beilein was hired. Beilein has had little success in the Big East although his 17-14 team of 2004 ended up in the NIT and won two games.
We will explore these two programs in the coming days. It won't be pretty.
posted by Ronnie Flamingo at 12:47 PM
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