Let's gooooo...Drink some Beers!

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a WVU alumna....and damn proud of it. Most people who know me also know that I love to watch WVU football. I'm not really a "sports fan" so to speak- in fact, my sports fandom is basically college football, the occasional Steelers or Ravens game, participating in a March Madnees pool, and going to a baseball game or 2 in the summer. C'est tout.
But there is something about Mountaineer football that is contagious. Going to my first game as a freshman, I really didn't know what to expect. As a member of the marching band in high school, I went to all of the Friday night games and cheered for my team from the stands. The band parents sold the concessions under the bleechers, and all of my friends gathered to cruise boys from the opposing team's school. I liked the social aspect, but I had no idea what a quarterback did or why there was a defense. But once I got to college, that all changed.
During football season, Saturdays were spent being drunk, cheering for the Mounties, sobering up, then going out and getting wasted again- didn't matter if we won or lost. The energy of the fans in the stadium and in the parking lots was incredible. This is LIFE for some people. They spend tons of money on renting parking spaces right in front of the 65,000 person stadium- compelte with R.V., grills, kegs of beer, and enough food to feed the linebackers. We usually opted for the "Kegs and Eggs" parties for the noon games- my friend Brad had a gormet omlette bar set up, along with a keg of Rolling Rock or Pabst, and by 11 AM, I was ready to call it a day. We'd stumble over to the stadium and make our way up to the horrible student section. The band (WVU PRIDE- 370-piece band!) would come on the field, play the National Anthem, Alma Mater, and Country Roads, and the crowd really got going. No one thinks the band is a bunch of nerds at WVU. The band is practically worshipped.
After the show, the game starts. No one actually sits until halftime; that's a little annoying. There is a lot of coaching from the stands, as fumbles, touchdowns, and flags on the plays rack up. By half-time, everyone is about as wasted as they're gonna get. Finally, people sit down for the remainder of the game, but unless something really exciting was happening, I usually left around the 4th quarter. Time to go home and sleep it off before the night's festivities!
I took this little trip down memory lane because I visited Morgantown, WV this past weekend. See all the new students, nervous and excited about the upcoming year made me a little sad. I also got a little sad when I realized several of my old haunts are now burned down and/or replaced by parking lots and sub shops. But I still remember how everything looked when I was 18 and green- I'll never forget those days.