8:30am. Mrs. Film Geek and I slept in this morning. We arrived in Morgantown a little late, so the extra sleep was refreshing.
When I awoke caffeine was whispering in my ear, Dear Diary. Loud.
So I walked down to the area where the hotel serves it's Continental Breakfast. (It's funny how that phrase always reminds me of The Continental, the running character Christopher Walken plays on SNL.) Geez...I'm so old, Dear Diary. And sorta lame.Anyway, there were more Green hats and shirts in the breakfast area this morning than Blue and Gold. So, I stuck around a few minutes and talked to a few Herd fans.
We are all scared. So very, very scared...
10:00am. After a shower and shave I'm ready to hit the road for the tailgate. As we drive, Mrs. Film Geek realizes that WVU's color scheme isn't really Blue and Gold. It's Blue and Yellow, she says.
And she won't stop saying it:
Her: "Notre Dame is gold. This ring is gold. That color is yellow."
Me: "Yeah, well they call it gold. So don't be smarting off the Mountaineer Faithful about their color scheme. That isn't a good idea..."
Her: [perplexed] "But, it's yellow. They're wrong to call it gold."
Me: [eyeroll] "Let it go."
12:00 noon. We arrive at a Marshall tailgate party, Dear Diary, and I've never been happier to see a gaggle of total and complete strangers. Because these strangers wear green, and smiles on their faces. And they offer us hot dogs, and beer (for the low, low all-you-can-consume price of $10). So far, so good Dear Diary. So far, so good.
1:15 pm. I've lost Mrs. Film Geek somewhere in the crowd.
So, I politely excuse myself from the conversation I'm having with my new friend Carl in order to search for her. It takes a few minutes, Dear Diary, and then I hear in the periphery:"I mean...Notre Dame wears gold. Everyone knows that! This color is yellow."
...I found her.
2:45pm. We make our way into the stadium by shuttle, Dear Diary, and were so excited to run into an old friend, by accident, on the bus.
She and her kid will be sitting near us, as it turns out. Thank God! Lots of Marshall fans comment that they are getting strange looks from folks wearing those other colors. Looks of amusement. Maybe. Or evil anticipation. Someone suggests it is going to be a long afternoon.Our friend and her 12-year old son settle in near us. Within minutes, some ass wearing a Sugar Bowl Champion T-shirt taps the kid on the shoulder, and says: "Marshall swallows." Yep, that's a classy way to interact with a kid.
Have another beer, buddy.
5:00pm. Dear Diary...This looks pretty bad for The Herd. WVU is just too fast, too good. That Slayton kid is phenomenal, and Pat White is going to be. This team is special. And Marshall's isn't. Yet. It might be later, but not now. Not today.
5:45pm. The Herd Faithful have abandoned the team. Why, Dear Diary, are fans so fickle?
8:00pm. Well, Dear Diary, my team lost. It was whipped soundly by a better, more dominant team. Too bad, but the event was fun. It is only one game, and the season is long. The Herd will be OK...There's always next year!
8 comments:
You forgot the most important point to your diary entries:
42-10
I actually expected it to be closer than that but it did sound like the Herd wasn't all that together from the MSN commentary (that was the only way I could get the game...through my computer).
Beacuse you weren't one of the racous ones talking smack about my team I'll be nice and leave it all at that. I'm glad you had a good trip and it sounds like you avoided violence. That's always good!
You should check out HerdNation and read stories about the wvu redneck fans. I'd be embarrassed if MU fans acted that way!
Jedi: I was so amazed at WVU's speed. It was the difference maker, really. We were without three starters, but I don't think that made a huge difference. You can't defend speed that well.
What did that play look like where WVU got out on the offensive line and started before Marshall even was ready to defend? That sounded bizarre on the radio. I'm not making fun, it just sounded like a very odd play. Was it some sort of "no huddle" quick play?
Glad you had a good time. I've always thought that there was nothing like seeing a game at Mountaineer Field (or whatever they call it now). I'll never forget the game when we became the first team in the BigEast to beat Miami U. It was snowing at 5am when we were doing our early game day practice (earlier than usual cause I think it was a noon kick off). We were cheering because those Miami guys were going to get WV weather even though they had these fancy heated benches they brought with them. I screamed so much I was hoarse for weeks. Miami didn't cross the 50 yard line the entire first half in front of the largest crowd every recorded at that stadium. It was madness and was such a sweet victory. My most vivid memory from my WVU football days. Well, behind my memory of my first home field pre-game run-on with the band. It was a good crowd and I was so jazzed I don't think that I even managed to play a note till near the end of the pre-game!
Whoops...sorry about going on like that. God I miss those days! Oh, how was the band. You'd better have watched! :-)
Jedi: It looked like a no huddle to me, and came out of nowhere! The band was terrific, as always.
Cool. Oh, just to clarify...I meant the U. of Miami in Florida lest anybody get confused and think I meant the MAC school Miami of Ohio. I wouldn't be as jazzed about that one!
Speaking of fans wearing team colors...Miami was one of those schools where you would see their stuff around campus because they were so freakin' good. It was one of the few times I can remember that people could get by with wearing opposing team colors without getting the level of harassment that would sometimes be seen when playing other teams(particularly Pitt, VTech, Penn State and then Syracuse for a while after we had a bench clearing fight on the field that led to some fallout for the next several years).
Glad you had a good time!
And Ms. Film Geek's friend. I haven't seen her in ages!
Marshall fans DO act that way, Kelly. It's just to WVU fans like me. And not all WVU fans act that way. I know that I and my family don't. There are jerks with all kinds of fans. Don't judge the lot by the few jerks. I would have been horrified if I had heard a WVU fan say that to a kid, and I would have called him on it. But I've gotten pretty rude behavior from Marshall fans too.
And the color is Old Gold. A different shade from Notre Dame gold. It's not yellow. Yellow is lighter.
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