Enjoy!

Rachel, bless her heart, is married to Billy. She is a true WVU fan, tailgater, and well respected alumnus. She recently was one of the founders of the Central NJ chapter of the WVU Alumni Association.

Editor's note: Billy is worried I'll yell at him for not "keeping it clean". Actually, my wife is the one that'll kick his butt!

Well for me it would be gamezzzzz... for my wife it is probably GAME. Apparently she was too busy doing whatever college girls do as opposed to what college boys do. As a former college student, with the correct equipment, my college life was consumed with drinking beer, chugging beer, throwing beer, watching Mountaineer sports, playing lacrosse and anything that involved naked women. Anyway, enough of my adolescent perversions…

As a WVU student, I went to 90% of all football and basketball games and watched a lot of baseball, women’s soccer and wrestling matches. All were fun and each had its own memories, but in my opinion nothing was better than a good Mountaineer basketball game in the Coliseum (minus the asbestos). Cool fall days and tailgating all morning and afternoon for a football game is great and an experience in itself, but a basketball game offered something different. First off, nothing beats climate control, premium seating and verbal access to the opposing team. The student section is so close to the court the opposing team can hear EVERY word you yell (trust me... every word).

In addition, they let you bring bags into the game and they rarely searched them (for booze) like at the football games. But then again, who is going to search me for a zip lock bag filled with rum wrapped around my hot sweaty crotch (come to think of it, how many of you reading this... and there are many of you... drank rum out of that said zip lock bag?).

Now I don’t want to come off as a drunk or a delinquent and I don’t condone this behavior, but until February 4, 2006 (Cinci vs WVU) I was never sober in the Coliseum. And really that was only because my mother in-law went to the game with us. So in honor of the basketball team's success, I am listing out my top basketball games attended.

#1 - Georgetown @ WVU (1995) – This was the first Big East game for WVU and my first game as a student. Georgetown rolled into town with Allen Iverson and the rest of the convict crew. After chanting “Convict” and holding up very creative signs (did you know it is against Big East rules and policies to have signs?)... at least that is what the Big East suits told us before they offered us an alternative of... it's either you and the signs leaving or just the signs... we chose to give up the signs... besides what they didn’t know was that my mouth is much more creative than pre-printed signs. Some of the things that come out of mouth I actually can’t even spell... anyway.

The game was a battle on the court and a verbal battle with fans and players. One of the most memorable parts of the game was at the half, when I was double-dog-dared to dance on the court to the YMCA. As I danced and made a fool of myself, I capped it all off by tearing my shirt off and flexing my guns at Mr. Iverson. Let’s just say he was impressed (pointing and laughing).

In addition, we were having a little back and forth with the Georgetown fans sitting in front of us (Rant: "If you love Gtwn so much why don’t you go to school there? This moron was a Gtwn fan and went to WVU and rooted against WVU. Now if Gtwn plays Pitt and you root for Gtwn... great. But against your own school? I hate people like that... anyway).

As the banter got more aggressive, a guy we were sitting next to was frustrated with the verbal back and forth, and spiked an empty two liter bottle off of one guy's head. Now an empty two liter isn’t going to hurt anyone, but it definitely made a point... it was hilarious.

If I recall correctly, we were treated to a police escort out of the Coliseum via the court (for our protection... the WV State Police caught wind of a gathering of "Gtwn fans" waiting to stomp on some people after the game).

Why an empty two liter? Well the guy was the non-violent type and since all of the soda was currently mixed with our friend Captain Morgan, it was all he had. Besides... it’s not like he carried around a big rubber [editor's cleansing... replacing word with "marital aid"]... ask some of the more senior core group members about that guy who did use one of those to bash somebody.

In fact, if I remember correctly, we had at least 2 empty two liters and lots of rum (“the rum was flowing like wine”). That was a lot of rum... back in the day we liked our drinks stiff and our women loo... those stories are for another time (Dear Penthouse, I thought it would never happen to me, but...).

Let me digress... this was a tight game that went back and forth both on the court and with the Georgetown fans... the game went into two OTs... unfortunately we lost, but... we had fun.

#2- Florida A&M @ WVU (1995) – Need I say more than... Scientific Mapp? This is actually a person's name and he was abused like a red headed step child by every student in the Coliseum... it was great. In addition, when the Mountaineer shot off his musket at the half, the little guy jumped a mile in the air. By the way, I was a bit tipsy. I believe we won this game

#3- UConn @ WVU (1998) – Nothing like a mad rush into a game. Me and Bino skipped class, bought some Kroger 4X4s and waited in line in front of the locked Coliseum doors. After hours of waiting, they started slowly letting students in one by one through one door... enough was enough and Bino took it upon himself to squeeze his little fingers into the emergency exit doors (the doors with no handles on the outside of the Coliseum) and pried it open… it was like a tsunami of college students rushing into the building. Security and event staff were useless... needless to say we had darn nice seats for the #1 team in the nation, and if memory serves me correct... I believe we won and I was a bit tipsy.

#4- WVU v Providence (2005 Big East Tourney) – The wife and I played a little hooky from work and headed over the Garden to watch the boys beat up on the Friars. Great game, great atmosphere and yes, I was drinking beer.

Just because...

Football – Syracuse @ WVU (1992) - Best game for me... just read the Day I Chose WVU column... by the way, I wasn’t drunk... just extremely hung over.

Baseball –Notre Dame @ WVU (1997) - Best game for me... read my Favorite WVU Athletes column... guess what... I was stone cold sober.

Post Grad: Louisville @ WVU (2005) – Need I say more? I was there and didn’t leave the stadium. I also ate and drank starting at 7am... sober by the end.

It seemed that everything fell in place that day including a lot of snow!