Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
WVU vs Miami - - 1993 Style
WVU banged and scraped their way to a 9-0 record in 1993. Included in that stretch was a 14-13 victory over Virginia Tech and a 36-34 win over Louisville that had me and the rest of Mountaineer Nation thanking their lucky stars. The tenth game of the season brought "The U" to Mountaineer Field.
The date was November 20, 1993... Miami rolled into Morgantown ranked 4th in the country with their only loss being to Florida State (the number one team in the country and eventual national champions). WVU was ranked 9th and felt slightly disrespected. West Virginia was ready to prove to the nation that they too could play with the big boys.
I remember walking to the stadium that day with my parents. It was cool, but it wasn't cold... probably 35 degrees or so at game time. We parked in the church parking lot that's currently beside Taco Bell on Pattesson Drive. It was a decent hike to the stadium, but I didn't mind a bit. The buzz in the crisp, clean air encouraged me to enjoy every waking moment of this day. The migration was memorable.
In front of 70,222 (still a Mountaineer Field record for attendance) WVU battled to a 3-0 halftime lead. I remember watching the Miami players act like they'd never been cold before. They had benches on their sideline called "Hot Seats" that had heaters inside of them. GIVE ME A BREAK! My parents must have been from the same mold as the Miami players, however. They left at halftime because they were cold and tired of dealing with the crowd. The biggest game in Mountaineer history and they left at halftime. Me and the other 70, 219 fans that didn't leave were in for a treat!
Miami received the second half kickoff and marched down the field and scored a touchdown to take a 7-3 lead. Apparently the halftime adjustments paid off. WVU had a few tricks up their sleeves as well. Late in the third quarter a 3 yard pass to WVU fullback Rodney Woodard from Jake "the Snake" Kelchner gave the Mountaineers a 10-7 lead. Miami answered back quickly with an unbelievable play. Quarterback Ryan Collins rolled right, dodged a sack, rolled left and threw a fifty yard strike to receiver AC Tellison. Tellison was pushed out of bounds at the 4 yard-line. My jaw fell to the floor. Three plays later Miami scored to take a 14-10 lead early in the 4th quarter.
WVU took the Miami kickoff and quickly punted the ball back to the Hurricanes. Luckily the Mountaineer defense stood tall and forced Miami to punt. WVU receiver Mike Baker returned the Miami punt 20 yards to near midfield. Three plays or so later WVU was on the Miami 19 yard line. This set the scene for perhaps the biggest play in Mountaineer history.
With six minutes and 13 seconds left in the 4th quarter, Jake Kelchner handed the ball to Mountaineer running back Robert Walker and he waltzed untouched into the endzone. It was pandemonium! I celebrated with people I'd never met before. It was crazy! Over 70,000 people erupted into a frenzy. WVU had taken a 17-14 lead.
Miami had one more possession, but the Mountaineer defense stifled them. The hurricanes gave the ball back to WVU and the Mountaineers ran the clock out and held on for the 17-14 win. WVU students charged the field. I was amazed as they tore down the goalposts and thought to myself, "Stay and watch this. Don't leave yet. This doesn't happen often." I didn't think this WVU Football season could get any better.
Little did I know...
The date was November 20, 1993... Miami rolled into Morgantown ranked 4th in the country with their only loss being to Florida State (the number one team in the country and eventual national champions). WVU was ranked 9th and felt slightly disrespected. West Virginia was ready to prove to the nation that they too could play with the big boys.
I remember walking to the stadium that day with my parents. It was cool, but it wasn't cold... probably 35 degrees or so at game time. We parked in the church parking lot that's currently beside Taco Bell on Pattesson Drive. It was a decent hike to the stadium, but I didn't mind a bit. The buzz in the crisp, clean air encouraged me to enjoy every waking moment of this day. The migration was memorable.
In front of 70,222 (still a Mountaineer Field record for attendance) WVU battled to a 3-0 halftime lead. I remember watching the Miami players act like they'd never been cold before. They had benches on their sideline called "Hot Seats" that had heaters inside of them. GIVE ME A BREAK! My parents must have been from the same mold as the Miami players, however. They left at halftime because they were cold and tired of dealing with the crowd. The biggest game in Mountaineer history and they left at halftime. Me and the other 70, 219 fans that didn't leave were in for a treat!
Miami received the second half kickoff and marched down the field and scored a touchdown to take a 7-3 lead. Apparently the halftime adjustments paid off. WVU had a few tricks up their sleeves as well. Late in the third quarter a 3 yard pass to WVU fullback Rodney Woodard from Jake "the Snake" Kelchner gave the Mountaineers a 10-7 lead. Miami answered back quickly with an unbelievable play. Quarterback Ryan Collins rolled right, dodged a sack, rolled left and threw a fifty yard strike to receiver AC Tellison. Tellison was pushed out of bounds at the 4 yard-line. My jaw fell to the floor. Three plays later Miami scored to take a 14-10 lead early in the 4th quarter.
WVU took the Miami kickoff and quickly punted the ball back to the Hurricanes. Luckily the Mountaineer defense stood tall and forced Miami to punt. WVU receiver Mike Baker returned the Miami punt 20 yards to near midfield. Three plays or so later WVU was on the Miami 19 yard line. This set the scene for perhaps the biggest play in Mountaineer history.
With six minutes and 13 seconds left in the 4th quarter, Jake Kelchner handed the ball to Mountaineer running back Robert Walker and he waltzed untouched into the endzone. It was pandemonium! I celebrated with people I'd never met before. It was crazy! Over 70,000 people erupted into a frenzy. WVU had taken a 17-14 lead.
Miami had one more possession, but the Mountaineer defense stifled them. The hurricanes gave the ball back to WVU and the Mountaineers ran the clock out and held on for the 17-14 win. WVU students charged the field. I was amazed as they tore down the goalposts and thought to myself, "Stay and watch this. Don't leave yet. This doesn't happen often." I didn't think this WVU Football season could get any better.
Little did I know...
Saturday, August 8, 2009
A WVU Football Memory
So I'm sitting here on a Saturday night pining for the start of football season. Tomorrow brings us the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio that marks the start of the NFL's preseason. Six months of professional and college football are just around the corner! I thought it would never get here.
Because the NFL preseason just isn't enough, over the next month or so I'm going to bring you some of the most memorable football moments I've experienced during the last 25 years or so. As the start of football season gets closer and closer, time moves slower and slower. Perhaps this will speed things up. If it doesn't work for you, maybe it will work for me. :)
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It was October of 1994 and WVU was following up their 1993 undefeated regular season with a dismal 2-4 start. The seventh game of the season was at Pitt and nobody knew what to expect. Pitt was having a difficult season as well. However, when these two teams get together, throw out the record books. It gets crazy.
WVU raced to a huge lead. It was something like 32-10. It was an absolute blast. I remember being giddy and celebrating over and over with each WVU touchdown scored. Nothing could go wrong. And then something happened. WVU collapsed in the 4th quarter. Pitt came back to take the lead 41-40 with about 35 seconds left. I was devastated. How could they have let that huge lead slip away?!?!?
WVU received the Pitt kickoff and returned the ball to their own 30 yard line. WVU's quarterback Chad Johnston ran for a ten yard game on the first play of the drive. And then this happened:
Chad Johnston connected with Zach Abraham for the game winning 60 yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds left. I lost it. I happened to be watching this game at my grandmother's house with my aunt and my two-year-old cousin. I erupted with a scream and nearly scared my little cousin out of her wits. I remember running outside to tell my grandfather, who was mowing his lawn, what had happened. It was the first time I'd acted like a completely nutty sports fan.
WVU won the game 47-41. They won four of the next five games and finished with a 7-5 regular season record. They received a bid to the Carquest Bowl where they lost to the University of South Carolina. I remember Don Nehlen (former WVU Head Football Coach for those of you unfamiliar) pointing to this play as the moment that turned the season around.
In the overall scheme of things this play really didn't mean much. It was during a forgettable season with losses to Rutgers, Maryland and Virginia Tech, but this moment is one of my all-time favorites. It taught me a little bit about being a WVU fan... there's no safe lead and it's not over until there's zeros on the clock.
BEAT PITT!
Because the NFL preseason just isn't enough, over the next month or so I'm going to bring you some of the most memorable football moments I've experienced during the last 25 years or so. As the start of football season gets closer and closer, time moves slower and slower. Perhaps this will speed things up. If it doesn't work for you, maybe it will work for me. :)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was October of 1994 and WVU was following up their 1993 undefeated regular season with a dismal 2-4 start. The seventh game of the season was at Pitt and nobody knew what to expect. Pitt was having a difficult season as well. However, when these two teams get together, throw out the record books. It gets crazy.
WVU raced to a huge lead. It was something like 32-10. It was an absolute blast. I remember being giddy and celebrating over and over with each WVU touchdown scored. Nothing could go wrong. And then something happened. WVU collapsed in the 4th quarter. Pitt came back to take the lead 41-40 with about 35 seconds left. I was devastated. How could they have let that huge lead slip away?!?!?
WVU received the Pitt kickoff and returned the ball to their own 30 yard line. WVU's quarterback Chad Johnston ran for a ten yard game on the first play of the drive. And then this happened:
Chad Johnston connected with Zach Abraham for the game winning 60 yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds left. I lost it. I happened to be watching this game at my grandmother's house with my aunt and my two-year-old cousin. I erupted with a scream and nearly scared my little cousin out of her wits. I remember running outside to tell my grandfather, who was mowing his lawn, what had happened. It was the first time I'd acted like a completely nutty sports fan.
WVU won the game 47-41. They won four of the next five games and finished with a 7-5 regular season record. They received a bid to the Carquest Bowl where they lost to the University of South Carolina. I remember Don Nehlen (former WVU Head Football Coach for those of you unfamiliar) pointing to this play as the moment that turned the season around.
In the overall scheme of things this play really didn't mean much. It was during a forgettable season with losses to Rutgers, Maryland and Virginia Tech, but this moment is one of my all-time favorites. It taught me a little bit about being a WVU fan... there's no safe lead and it's not over until there's zeros on the clock.
BEAT PITT!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Man Vs. Food
Adam Richman is a food enthusiast to say the least. This one-time actor and Yale graduate has a TV show on the Travel Channel called "Man Vs. Food". Richman takes a camera crew with him across the country and samples cuisines from different regions. When I say "samples cuisines," I use the term lightly.
This weekend I watched him eat an insane stack of pumpkin pancakes from Portland, Oregon, a crazy huge cold-cut sandwich from Columbus, Ohio and a 72 ounce steak in Amarillo, Texas. It's not always about quantity with Adam, though. He's also into spicy hot foods. I've seen him eat habenero fritters (batter mixed with habenero peppers and then deep fried) like they were ice cream. And yeah, he got his picture on the Wall of Flame for tackling that feat.
So if you get the chance, check the fellow out. A new episode comes on every Wednesday night at 10. Repeats are on all the time. It's worth a half an hour of your time.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
WV Power Game
Here's my wife posing with the Power's mascot. We were running from the giant rain cloud in the background and stopped for a second to pose with minor league baseball's version of Humpty Dumpty.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Best Wedding Entrance Ever
I saw this on the Today Show this morning. Apparently it's pretty popular. So If you've already seen it, I apologize. If not, enjoy!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
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