this was excellent. I don't know what else to say

That entry belongs on WVU's official site. Excellent one Jude.

wvu is wv's pro sports team. cincinnati is closer to me than the northern pro markets, but wvu is where the heart is.

Great article, and true in every aspect. Possibly the best I've seen.

Jude, that was freaking great. It was like I was reading my own thoughts. (without the spell'n errors and poor grammar) My friends and acquaintances here in Ohio can't understand why we stand so proud behind our state and University. I moved to Ohio when I was 12 and am now 32 which means I have been an on again off again resident of Ohio for 20 yrs now and still WV is my home. I have several family members living here in Ohio and when any of them say their going home you know they mean the old home place in the hills. One of my cousins never lived in WV but he calls WV home. That's the connection that I feel is unique to West Virginia and it's people which is reflected in a fanatic love for the Mountaineers.

I myself loved and for the most part still love the Redskins as well. When Joe T. broke his leg I cried, when Riggins said good bye I cried when the Giants beat the skins in the 87 NFC championship I kicked the TV and was grounded. My first fight in school was in the 3rd grade when some jackass Cowboys fan rubbed mud on my Riggins replica jersey. But with free agency and the fact that I don't idolize the players anymore my love has faded. Oh I will shell out the cash for The NFL Season Ticket again this year but my love for the Mountaineers cannot be compared to any other.

When my kid was born I cried, when the clocked ticked down to 0 in Tempe I cried, when Brian King picked off that pass in Blacksburg I received a call from my frantic mom yelling "we did it we did it", when Phil Brady picked up that first down I cried. My son was 8 months old at the time of the Sugar Bowl and I woke him up so he could see the greatest sports moment ever seen by his dads eyes. And well he cried by I believe he was just pissed because his dad woke him up.

Again great job Jude.

Well, if I say great job, your head might explode...not bad, hahaha.

I think that the excitement and success of the two major sport programs also offers an escape. WV can be a hum-drum place and isn't always the easiest to make it in. Remember the "Black Hats" that Nehlen had? He would award special teams excellence and extremely hard work with a black WVU hat and anoint the player a member. It was to honor the coal miners of WV, the proud hard working common man--the same one who requests off every Saturday during the fall to live and die with the gold and blue. A chance to get away from the troubles of everyday life and live vicariously through these kids which CHOSE to represent WV.

Nebraska was a great choice for comparison. My uncle now lives in Nebraska and is a huge Husker fan. Each time he comes in, he brings something Nebraska for us. However, on Saturdays...he adorns his Flying WV attire.

"You can take the man away from West Virginia, but you can't take the West Virginia away from the man."

Very good article. And its amazing to me that there are SOO many people who dont realize that WV is a state, well, i say to that, thank god they dont, because thats what makes us great, we dont count any of those brand of morons among our population.

Party machine's comments are just as good. When Brady made that first down, I also cried. When the Mountaineers finally beat Wake Forest in triple OT in one of the most fabulous games in history, I also cried. People don't understand the emotion. I think a lot of it comes from the disrespect that the state and our school gets. And when we win the NC this year, I'm sure I will cry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hear her voice in the mornin hour she calls me...
radio reminds me of my home, far away...
Driving down the road I get a feelin' that I should have been home yesterday...
yesterday...

Awesome, fantastic, incredible, you get it lol.

I'm glad you wrote this. I was on the way to the beach and I was tlkaing to my friend about WVU and I kept saying we and us. Finally she was like "Why do you keep saying we? You don't go there play for them or anything. You're stupid." I tried to explain it to her...she just didnt get it. Mind you this is a chic that knows nothing about WVU and could care less about them. But anyways, I'm glad you wrote this, she's def getting this in an email.

This is indeed an awesome article if for nothing else I can relate to it. The closest thing I have to a home pro baseball team is the Cincinatti Reds..out in Ohio. No matter how hard the WV Power tries (and rips off WVU in the process) they will never be my team..only a team that I go to watch.

Even when I was going to WV State College, I never really found myself rooting too much for their programs save the baseball team. My heart was always with WVU athletics. Ask me to name a football player there when I was there..I couldn't name one. Ask me to name a WVU football player and I could name plenty.

Perhaps the greatest thing about being a Mountaineers fan is how they've proven the sports "experts" wrong so many times. Last years basketball season, the Sugar Bowl Season, the Elite 8 basketball season. How many times have they predicted gloom and doom and we've rose above their expectations and crushed their predictions while stomping on their beloved teams in the process.

And although I've never lived in Morgantown, I always get a wonderful feeling while I'm there. It feels like home. It's a very special place indeed that has more magic to it than Charleston or Huntington.

it really sucks, because the best team in the state is 4-5 hours away, hence i've never been. i really wish morgantown was closer.

This was a truly great article. WVU is more than just a university to us. It's more than the football team or the Mountaineer. It's more than The Pride. It's truly an extension of ourselves as we live and die with them. When they hurt we hurt and when they celebrate, well, we burn couches. More importantly it doesn't matter where you go in life. You'll always be welcome back home and never will a team replace the Mountaineers.

Quite simply the best article I have ever read. As someone else posted, I made my wife read it and said that is exactly how I feel in words, the next day she was on board for wvu season tickets. She understands... it matters!

This is a moving piece, thanks Jude. You just made me homesick again. God bless West Virginia. We live where the good lord sleeps.

Jude..You have a gift. Those of us who grew up knowing what a "red dog" road was....Those of us who have heard all the lame "hillbilly" jokes...We thank you for putting into words exactly why for us there is only one state..one team.

This article was great before and the added part makes it even more so.

It's easy to see if you're here and one of us. West Virginians, for the most part, are a family... a tribe, of sorts. We tend to take care of each other and look out for one another. That's unique.
And we adopt. No matter origins, "race", ethnicity, religion, etc.
Knowing my own family history and roots here brings me to another point of why we love our Mountaineers. We are Mountaineers! We've fought, bled, & sweated here. And the West Virginia University Mountaineers bare our name, directly. No other institution does so, so succinctly. (Which is why I'll never understand Marshall fans' hate. It's a self-hatered.)
It isn't just about sports, either. They represent & express our character. That's why we feel what they feel, the ups & downs.
It's in us to perservere despite the challenges.
Hardship is a part of life, but we overcome because of our best parts.
And, we are a sort-of parra-nation. We are Americans. But, we are a people, within a people.
Most, if not all, other states have lost their since of community.
We must never. Or we ARE lost.

Amen.

Jude - I hope to many people, from out of the state, don't read this because they will want to come. It is amazing how we have a slice of Heaven and our neighbors don't even know it. Shhhhhhh, let's keep it our secret.
NICE post!

Nice work couldn't have said it better.

THAT WAS GREAT!!! GLAD I READ AND I AM GLAD (I GET IT.)

LETS GO MOUNTAINEERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Wow, just a great article Jude. It's so true, I feel this way exactly. And I am right there with the others with the moments that made them cry. I am about to be a Senior in High School this year, and ever since I started watching sports in about the 5th grade I have loved WVU more than anything. I really only have had one dream my whole life and that was to go to WVU for college, I am still working on that and if everything goes according to plan I will be there next fall. I still remember when my dad took me to my first game back in 2004 against Cincinatti, I remember saying that Mountaineer Field was the greatest place I had ever been to. And now a days Morgantown just feels like home. I remember after the 07 pitt game I was in the 9th grade and after I went into my bedroom and cried for at least a good hour, cried until I fell asleep. Then I remember watching the Fiesta Bowl and the Schmitt interview and tears coming to my eyes. And I remember being at the Meineke Car Care Bowl and as Pat White took the snap for the final kneel down, me and my Dad both looked at each other and started to cry because we knew that was the last snap we'd ever see him take for West Virginia. I truly believe there is no place better than West Virginia, to me it really is ALMOST HEAVEN!

I cried a single tear after reading this. This is TRUE WEST VIRGINIA. I'm not a WV native, but I was 7 years old when I fell absolutely in love with the Mountaineers (sitting just below the press box in 1995 for 2 home games-my best friend's father wrestled at WVU in the 60's). Being a Florida native (hang me, please) most people ask why I don't like the Gators, 'Noles, or Canes.... And I always answer the same thing- There is not one school in this entire nation that supports and has passion for its flagship university like West Virginia. Even in a bad season, the parking lots outside of Mountaineer Field give me the goosebumps. I don't get excited about attending games at Florida State, where 2 of my sisters go to school, like I do when I go to Morgantown. Mountaineer athletics are the heartbeat of West Virginia, and anyone who's been to any game in Morgantown, or even in the state on gameday, knows that.
Watching the 07 sPitt game made me cry for days. The Fiesta Bowl (especially big Owen's postgame interview) was heart-wrenching. The Final Four run-even better. Even a non-WV native knew and felt how much Mountaineer athletics meant to the state (Pat White). There is not one school in the nation that represents their state like West Virginia University does. NOT ONE.
I love the DAMN GREAT state of West Virginia. Let's Go Mountaineers!

One of the best articles I've EVER read about the Mountaineers. You captured my thoughts perfectly. Excellent job! It brings tears to my eyes and chill bumps on my arms.

Bring on the 2010/2011 Mountaineer Football season!