From time to time, we at WBGV bitch and moan about the current state of WVU's fan-base. Not because we don't have a great one, because we do. We just expect perfection from our fans, and attaining perfection is a little easier said than done. It is nice, then, to be reminded just how fucking awesome Mountaineer fans really are. Enter Shawn Courchesne, UConn beat reporter for the Hartford Courant. Mr. Courchesne got to experience Mountaineer Field in all its glory Saturday, and let's just say he came away impressed:
It was there standing on the field that I experienced something amazing. I knew things were different in Morgantown before the game when the place was 95 percent full 15 minutes before kickoff. I knew this was truly the experience of big time college football.
But the post game just solidified that fact even more.
No matter how hokey one might think John Denver’s "Country Roads" might be, it was just absolutely amazing to stand on that field and listen to a stadium that size recite the song in unison. There we were, the game over, and there had to still be 50,000 people who weren’t going anywhere.
On Nov. 17 there wasn’t even reason for UConn players to take a victory lap at Rentschler Field after beating Syracuse to finish off a perfect 7-0 home record this season. There was virtually nobody left in Rentschler by the time the game was over.
And yet here there were more then 50,000 fans who stuck around not only until the end, but long after the end of a game that was basically over midway through the third quarter Saturday in Morgantown.
This was what big time college football is about.
I think the last time that I felt those kind of chills after a sporting event was as I stood in the Hartford Civic Center after the final Hartford Whalers game.
Simply, it was a stunning experience like no other I’ve seen in two years covering the UConn football team.
If that doesn't send chills down your spine, I don't know what will. So, in closing, we will remember to take stock of just how great West Virginia fans are just a little more often. Because, as you can see, we're pretty awesome.