Let’s Go Mountaineers!

And, of course, the shirts are available here.

Amazing! Great job, Mountaineers!

Let’s Go Mountaineers!!!! Keep on dancin’…

In the meantime, here’s a (future) highlight video from EA’s NCAA Football 2010:

West Virginia held on by the skin of their teeth to win 13-7 over South Florida.

So that means that WVU ends the season at 8-4.  Not what we were wishing for when the year started.  A couple of close losses in there that could’ve gone either way, and you have to win those.  But it was nice to end the regular season with a win.

I wish Pat White much success at the next level.  I’m not sure if I would support the discussion that I heard on ESPN tonight about “retiring” Pat’s #5.  Of course, only time will really tell whether that honor is truly deserved.  He would have to attain success in the NFL, I think, so it’s too early to comment on that.

Speaking of White, look outside.  Well, if you live around here anyway.  It’s white.  ‘Cause of snow.  Not a lot of it out there… just enough to mess up the roads.  I hope everyone is careful leaving the stadium tonight.

Good night and keep warm.

But beyond that, the ‘eers couldn’t get the ball in the end zone for nothing.

As I started to say, I guess the good news is… maybe it will be a little bit easier to get some tickets in a few weeks.  Right now, it’s almost impossible for a family of four to afford to go to a Mountaineer football game.  I haven’t been to a home game since Don Nehlen’s last game.  I would like to take Ryan to one, but it’s just too darn much.

But now, after this loss, maybe things will change.

Well, I never would have believed it.  If you had told me on the night of December 1, 2007 that "everything would be okay" I would have told you that you were nuts.  That Pitt game had me very down.  So much that I kind of backed off a bit.  I felt I was getting too emotionally involved in these games.  The loss left such a bad taste in my mouth that I couldn’t even bring myself to watch Steelers games because of "those Pittsburgh people."

But I’m learning a few things.  I’m learning how you hold your head up and remain confident (not cocky) in the face of adversity.  I’m learning how to remain composed and bond without definitive leadership.  Everybody out on the field tonight played their part, and they knew that they had to be accountable.  If not to a permanent head coach, at least to the replacement, and, more importantly, to their fellow team members.

There was no "good feeling" coming into this game.  There were no expectations like there were that night in December.  "Who is Bill Stewart? I just hope he can keep the kids in the game."  But that is exactly how you want to enter a big game.  I’m certain that really helped take the pressure off and helped keep things light this week.  No big pressure, just go out and have fun.

That was very enjoyable to watch tonight.  I’m so glad they pulled it off.  You know, I heard someone say that there was one more coach that WVU was interested in hiring, but he still had to coach a bowl game… Well, he’s done now.  And he’s handed you a Fiesta Bowl victory.

Now maybe I’ll actually be able to watch the Steelers play in peace this weekend.

Twelve times this season a top 5 team lost to an unranked team (well, 13 now). And right from the outset, with WVU missing the easy field goals… You just had the sense early on that this was going to be a long night.

Basically, the offensive line could not handle Pitt’s defensive line. That’s what it really boils down to. You can say that “with White, WVU would have won” but I don’t believe that’s true. Even so, you’re a team. You win together, you lose together. One player does not a team make.

There will be a lot of discussion after this one is over, and plenty of disappointment all the way around. But in the end, the team just didn’t get it done tonight.

So we can stop talking national championship, once again, and focus on winning the bowl game.

Thanks for an exciting 2007 season, and the opportunity, at least, to vie for a national title.

Saturday was a very busy day this past weekend.

Ryan had to be in town at 11:00am to line up for the big Shinnston “Frontier Days” parade. His flag football team rode along in the back of pickup trucks and tossed out candy.

After the parade we decided to stick around in town and visit the carnival and ride some rides. I rode the Hurricane one time with Allison, and that was plenty. Ryan rode a few of the kiddie rides.

Then, it was off to Stydahar Field for Ryan’s first home flag football game this season. The team looked pretty good this weekend, much more organized than last week at Tygarts Valley.

Finally, in the evening we had a get-together at our house to enjoy a home-cooked meal made by Tina. The food was excellent and the company was wonderful. We all shared a few laughs and played some games.

My aunt Diana and uncle Derek are currently visiting us from England. They’ve been visiting friends and family and taking in some of the sights while they’re here.

Also, the Mountaineers beat the ECU Pirates Saturday 48-7. So they remain undefeated. They play again this Friday against South Florida, their first Big East opponent of the season.

West Virginia won the NIT Championship on Thursday by beating Clemson, 78-73.  I was disappointed that they didn’t make the NCAA tournament, but this helps.

Of course, the big story is not the victory, but the misspelling of “Virginia” on the T-shirts. I didn’t even notice it immediately after the game. A co-worker pointed it out to me Friday morning. He approached me laughing with a newspaper in his hand. He showed me the picture that accompanied the newspaper article, and we had a good laugh.

The funniest thing about it so far is listening to the comments others have made about the typo.  Everything from vulgar comments to general comments regarding the education of West Virginia residents.  Something along the lines of, “Ah, they won’t notice it anyway!” That’s frustrating…

In my opinion, someone just made a mistake. I believe it was unintentional because of the potential damage to the manufacturer. How many people want to buy T-shirts from some company that can’t correctly spell the name of one of the fifty states?

But, on the plus side, it did give WVU a little bit of extra publicity. Even more than simply winning the tournament itself. As they say, “Any publicity is good publicity.” Especially when it’s not your fault.

Congrats WVU!