Pregame/Tailgate:
- Tailgating essentials (beer, brats, grill, canopy)? Check.
- 3.5 hour drive from the east coast of Massachusetts, thru stop and go traffic on the Mass Pike? Check.
- $12 to park in a muddy field (someone should tell UConn this is D-I football) one mile past Rentschler Field in East Hartford? Check.
Are you ready for some football?? We sure were.
The good news is we parked next to some really nice WVU fans that drove up 5 hours from the Philadelphia area to see the game. The bad news was the weather. It was a brisk 42 degrees with a steady 20mph wind... and that was before the wind gusts up to 50mph. There was even a guy flying a kite, for crying out loud! Casualties from the wind included several hats, some camping chairs, and at least one Port-A-Jon. Good thing we weren't parked too close. We were there 4 hours early to get our tailgate on and just as we got our coolers out and the canopy set up, the rain started to pour. Actually, the word "pour" would indicate the rain was falling in a vertical motion. This rain was as slanted as Beano Cook picking the winner of any Notre Dame matchup. Anyway, it took 6 of us to take down the canopy (much thanks to the Philly WVU fans for helping) and we retreated to the warm confines of the car to wait it out. After the rain stopped we were left with the wind and it was time to grill. The guys next to us had brought a grill too, but they ended up tossing it across the field (aka parking lot) because the guy who brought it didn't check to see if it worked... and it didn't. One guy summed it up perfectly when he said, “It feels like a concentration camp out here. Everyone’s wet, cold, and hungry”. So because we are all family in West Virginia (I mean that in the brotherhood sort of way and not the Deliverance sort of way!) we shared our grill and everyone got to eat hot food.
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| Not vertical |
Have you ever tailgated next to a group who's every action made you laugh out loud? That pretty much describes the Uconn fans tailgating on the other side of us. They had a cult-like affinity for the Silver Bullet and Portugese bread and kept referring to their starting quarterback as "that Polish guy, Bonlislowski". They tried to trash talk, but that didn't go so well. One guy said to us "we are going to shut down your passing game, so you are going to have to run the ball against us... Ohh wait, maybe it’s the other way around". After they realized that the best part of their night was going to be the pregame tailgating, they would turn to us every few minutes and chant "WHAT ABOUT B-BALL?" Ahh, touché UConn... touché. As it got closer to game time, we started to get dressed for the game... Gweedoe put on his yellow hair and beard (hoping to get on ESPN) and the Naked Hillbilly came out for a visit.
We then walked the mile to the stadium, down Runway A and arrived into section 134 in Rentschler Field. It was great to be surrounded by so many WVU fans. There was an incredible turnout and the noise was definitely heard!
The Game
(for a complete recap read any number of other sources, most of which can be found here on WVGameDay in the Links section and please come out from under that rock):
Well, as always our biggest concern for the game was WVU going to beat themselves. The first series started off a little rough. And then we got a field goal and gave up a field goal, but after that... Things started to take off. The fans from Boone County showed up mid way through the quarter, (I think that they were somehow related to Jesco White "the dancing outlaw") and the team started to play.
White ran for a long TD and finished the game with 102 yards. We all thought that Slaton had a slow night other than his 56 yd TD run, but even with his slow night he still ran for 128 yards, but we were happy to see Coach Rod pass more. A great TD catch by Bolden!
Our man Pat McAfee nailed a 48 yard field goal in the 3rd quarter.
And we were all happy to see "Super Steve" put on a show for us in the 4th with his 56 yd TD run.
Post Game:
When it was all over with, only the WVU fan section and the UConn band diagonally across the stadium from us remained. After the post-game prayer at mid field, the entire Mountaineer team came over to the fan section to slap hands with some of the fans. Very cool. You could tell the team was appreciative of our cheering and attendance.
Not much to say about our way out of the stadium, other than our long (what felt like 6 mile) walk back to the car. We had left our grill out to cool off before we went into the game and upon our return to the car discovered it had been stolen (they even took the meat that was still on it). Here's hoping the mysterious grill thief received a DUI on the way home or, at the very least, suffered a breakdown on the side of the road and got eaten by a big underground worm a la Tremors style.
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| Thieves of grills, beware... |
Only 2 hours back to Mass... but first we have to get out of this mud-pit UConn calls a parking lot.
Thanks go out to the Naked Hillbilly for getting dressed and keeping Gweedoe awake for the drive back home. Also thanks to Twizzlers… The Hillbilly and Gweedoe ate a whole family pack to help them stay awake on the ride home… Actually The Hillbilly used them to hit Gweedoe and make him stay awake! The next day we found out what a Beer, Brats, Burgers, & Twizzlers (with a WVU win) hangover would feel like… NOT GOOD!
It was a great time! Let's go Mountaineers.
-- gweedoe and sulli
