Like any college sports fan, I wear my Alma Mater's T-shirts, sweatshirts and caps displaying my team logo. I happen to be an Alumnus of West Virginia University living in Atlanta. We have an awesome club known as the Peach State WVU Alumni and we get together often to watch sporting events and share stories about our experiences in Morgantown. We raise money for the scholarship funds, and support our school like any other person that ever matriculated at (insert school here). To make a long story short, I am a fan. I have yet to see anybody here in our Alumni club in Atlanta without shoes.
This whole Rich Rodriguez vs. WVU has brought our school into the national spotlight. In fact, there is a poll at Rivals.com asking people to vote on who is more credible. Thankfully, WVU is way ahead in the polls and Rich Rod is now trying to smear the entire athletic department via his agent Mike Brown. Brown is using the Pittsburg Post-Gazette as his favorite watering hole and ESPN has a direct pipeline to the PPG.
This is like Alabama fans getting their news from the Auburn school newspaper. This is like Michigan readers getting their news from Columbus, Ohio. Do U of Florida fans get their scoop from the Tallahassee papers? I think not, but ESPN has fueled the debate via Pittsburg to unusually Yellow tactics and the media is a powerful weapon of mass destruction.
If you read the ESPN articles, the blogs, and the press in general, anybody from West Virginia is backwards, toothless, incestuous and obese. Granted there are people in WV that fit that bill, but so are many people from every state in the Union. Well, guess what! Not everybody, not even the majority of us should be labeled with such misinformation. I am from West Virginia and I have 28 teeth and 28 pairs of shoes. I have never slept with my sister, not even in a platonic way and I have never met anybody that has a satellite dish in their front yard. However, I do know some people that know some people that have a dish in their yard.
Back in my downloading days, I came across several "banned" cartoons. These caught attention when cable shows such as the Cartoon Network became popular. In an attempt to be "PC", they would not allow certain cartoons to be shown on their network. What were these "so called" cartoons and why were they banned?
Most of them were from Warner Brothers, you know, Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck. Most of them were anti-war cartoons from the WWII days. Bugs Bunny called the Japanese all sorts of names. Daffy Duck dressed up as a Nazi Officer and so on. Popeye beat the shit out of Japs and Bugs put grenades inside of Good Humor ice cream bars and gave them to the Nips and monkey-faced soldiers. This is what our cartooners did before we became politically correct. They also got tossed once we became a victim to the liberal left and the ACLU.
Most notable (at least to me) were the banned cartoons that depicted hillbillies or black people of origin from Africa. These cartoons were funny, but I can almost understand why they were banned. There was one episode from Warner Brothers with Yosemite Sam riding down the Ole Mississip' on a sternwheeler (gambling) showing negroes working in the cotton field. Sam was a rootin', tootin' double holster gun totin' white guy that wanted things his way. Since Sam was only about three feet tall, Bugs Bunny alway found a way to set his "biscuits" on fire and it was funny. The cartoon was banned due to the negro spirituals that were sang in the background. Mind you though, this was not staged in West Virginia. The background was in Mississipi en route to New Orleans. Many Americans don't seem to realize that West Virginia became a state in 1863 during the Civil War. If anybody that skipped history class doesn't know that, then shame on them for their ignorance. It was actually a state called Virginia that housed the Capitol of the Confederate States. West Virginia sided with the Union, therefore, calling us a Southern state or a "slave" state is just retarded(I don't mean to offend, but it is way to get a point across) to say the least. Especially about the fact that Western Virginia is actually still in Virginia and West Virginia is a different state.
One of my favorite "banned" cartoons depicts two brothers in bib overalls and long beards. I'm assuming that Warner Brothers was trying to capitalize on the Hatfields vs. McCoys. Now this was a real story between Kentucky and West Virginia families. However, the cartoon was staged in the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas. These hillbillies were so dumb, they did not realize that Bugs Bunny had unplugged the juke box at the local saloon and did his own cadence of the latest square dance. He had those dumbass brothers pulling on each other's beards and beating the shit out of each other before the do-ci-do(s) were finished. It was fucking hilarious. I guess the Cartoon Network did not want to offend the good people of Appalachia that fought so hard to put down such a negative stereotype.
Then came the Beverly Hillbillies. I never saw Jethro trying to get in Ellie Mae's pants. Although Jed and Granny never stated where they were actually from, it was Aunt Pearl that made it clear that they were from Tennessee and not West Virginia. People that don't know better should be told that Appalachia is not restricted to the Mountain State alone. Except for the Rocky Mountains, this is quite a stretch of highly elevated land stretching far from the Ozarks, Smokeys and into the Adirondacks in New York and beyond. Although West Virginia is known as the Mountian State, the Appalachian Mountains cover about one third of the East.
Perhaps people in Michigan with their 7.5% unemployment, or the people in Ohio with their FarmAid, or people in California with their earthquakes and wildfires feel the need to put us down to in order to "better" themselves at our expense. People in Oklahoma or Georgia tend to dwell on the hillbilly thing, mainly after a resounding whooping. This is their only defense when talking about football games. However, that is the biggest problem. Instead of saying, "Holy shit, this team is good and they beat the ever loving shit out of us", they make references to Appalachia instead.
After that, there was the famous movie Deliverance. Most people that saw this movie can recall the Ned Beatty butt-fucking rape scene and relate toothless hillbillies to Appalachia, hence West Virginians. However, this movie was filmed on the Chattahoochee River. I live two miles from this river and I live in Georgia. The downes syndrome boy playing the banjo and the mountain man that was a homo was from Georgia, not West Virginia, so get over it and get your facts straight.
How about Mayberry? Andy and Opie did not live in West Virginia. They lived in North Carolina. The closest town to Mayberry is Mount Pilot (not a real town, but close to Pilot Mountain) . In real life, thats a long way away from West Virginia. (By the way, I always thought that Andy should have married the lady druggist instead of Helen Crump, the school teacher. I would have taught Miss Ellie how to "wink" like she had too much 'pepper' if she went to the ice cream social with me! But Andy made his choice and the show went color and changed it's name to RFD before it was totally cancelled. ...but I digress). My Mom had to explain to me what RFD meant. For those of you that don't have a Mom like mine, she explained that it means rural free delivery. My Mom is from North Carolina but spoke perfect West Virginian for several decades.
To wrap things up, I have had several people see me wearing a WVU ball cap and they ask me why I am wearing it. I tell them that I am an alumnus of the school and I am proud of my highly ranked Mountaineers. Some of them look bewildered and say things like, "Wow, I didn't know you were from West Virginia, in fact, I would have never guessed that you went to WVU". My automatic response is "Why Not?"
They say that I have lots of teeth and really nice shoes. I'm tall and skinny and blonde. I speak "so well" and know a thing or two about world issues. Those statements always remind me of Chris Rock joking about Colin Powell (he speaks so well, a jab at educated blacks such as Powell or Condie Rice). Yes, I am from West Virginia and I am no dumber and maybe smarter than you are. I don't have a satellite dish in my front yard and I can spell without the use of the idiot spellchecker. If you actually see a typo here, it is because the spellchecker is only for people that never met a Helen Crump or a parent that made you pay attention in school.
Steel workers are no better than coal miners, and miners are no better than auto workers. We are all cut from the same cloth. I'm sorry that some people think that hills in your front yard make you stupid, but they don't. It just makes it harder to cut the grass with a conventional lawn mower and thats all. I'm sure that Jesco would beg to differ, but I never sniffed kerosene when I was a boy and Prunytown was only for the white trash people that lived down near the river, and there is a correctional facility in every state of the Union too.
Not all West Virginians fit the stereotype we see so much nowadays. Some do, but most don't. I have found that most people on the internet (from wherever, especially Michigan nowadays) actually do need a spellchecker. I wish there was such a thing as a grammar or syntax checker as well, but there isn't. Forgive me if I made a mistake in spite of my rant, but remember, I am from West Virginia afterall. If that actually "suprises" you, then you can kiss my ass.
Anyways, Auburn pays us a visit soon. I can't wait to hear what ESPN has to say about that. I tend to remember what Fox and ESPN said about the powerful Oklahoma Sooners. They said the same thing about the Georgia Bulldogs two years ago. We, as Mountaineers, know that we deserve respect in spite of the press or stereotypes. I have no idea why America makes fun of West Virginia when you have people from Alafuckingbama shouting things like Weagle Weagle, War Damn Eagle......Kick em in the butt...... I say try looking in the mirror.....
I have no problem with my mirror. I am from West Virginia and I will never regret matriculating at WVU. If you know the secret handshake, I'll share some of my moonshine with you, because thats how we roll. Oh, and by the way, Jesco says Hello!
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Southpawie,
ReplyDeleteTrash-talkin' stereotyping goes back a long way, at least as far back as the Bible.In the first chapter of the Gospel of John, Philip tells his friend Nathaniel that he has met the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. Nathaniel, whose college had lost 10 straight games to the Nazzes, said "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" (John 1:45-46)
West Virginia comes out pretty good here in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill Triangle for a number of reasons: a)there's a lot of us down here; b) the nasty stereotypes go to the true Yankees who moved down here to the Research Triangle (hence the bumperstickers ("We don't care how you did it up north"); c)there's enough trash-talkin' amongst the Triangle ACC schools to care about anybody else. (NC State farmers who go to Moo U, Carolina's stuck-up pricks, Duke's South Jersey nerds who couldn't get into Princeton,Yale or Harvard.) Okay, that last one is true. d) By and large, WVU athletics has received much kudos here because of exciting players like Slaton, White, Pittsnogle(sp.?)etc.
Aint Pearl may have been from Tennessee, but the Clampetts were from Arkansas. And Jethro and Elly Mae were cousins,not siblings, so it was probably legal in some states for some hanky-panky.
You're too young to remember "The Real McKoys" with Richard Crenna and Walter Brennan, but it was a pre-cursor to the Bev Hillbillies, and the lyrics to the opening song included the words "They came from West Virginny to stay/ in sunny Californ-i-ay".
"Mayberry RFD" had a pretty girl named Arlene Galonka who played Ken Berry's girlfriend. I had a big crush on her, and thought I had a chance because surely she'd trade a normal name like Pearce for "Galonka" anyday.
Reading your blog and watching Kansas State beat Kansas tonight, I propose this semester course's finals question to you: Compare and contrast WVU getting Bob Hudgins to leave and break his contract after one year with KSU and piss off KSU fans and players with RichRod doing the same this year. I mean just the concept, don't compare the shredding and getting your flunkie to deliver the letter and fighting the payoff. No need to doublespace your answer.
I agree with many of your comments, and they are very well written. However, I will adress some of them with slight disagreement.
ReplyDeleteYes, I do not know anything about Richard Crenna or Walter Brennan. I'm not sure about the Arkansas connection, but I am willing to listen. I also have a hard time believing that Jethro was never interested in anything more than food or being a double not spy or a Greek tycoon instead of dropping his napkin at the dinner table (like Neil Simon in his autobiographical movie looking up his cousin's skirt) except for the fact that he was a true idiot.
Yes, I agree that the Triangle has the most rabid animosity with Duke, Carolina and State being so close together. However, the jabs of Moo U vs. the wine and cheese crowd is not nearly as personal as claiming incest as a lifestyle. It seems that NCAA football fans are much more harsh at Big East or other conference schools instead of basketball. Everybody knows that ACC basketball is 'king' with Duke and Carolina going at it every year. Nobody seems to care about Duke or Carolina football, even with Butch Davis, so you cannot compare apples to oranges.
My rant was heavily laiden on the football side and the comments mentioned by Michigan supporters, Mike Brown, Calvin Magee, Rich Rodriguez and the perception that their comments affect the already nasty stereotype of West Virginia in general.
When Nick Saban signed a contrat at Alabama after Rich Rod turned them down, he made sure that he had no buyout clause. He would not have quit his job in Miami if Tuscaloosa declined, so they hired him. It is a known fact that his agent contacted WVU, perhaps not for his services, but maybe for some of his other clients. So, I hope that Alabama fans are happy with the fact that Saban is ready to leave (even at half his salary)if the opportunity is right. I would not be happy as an Alabama fan, knowing that my coach was a whore for the next highest bidder. Nevermind that he compared a loss to UL Monroe to Pearl Harbor or 9/11. Those statements in itself made the OK State coach get a hall pass for his tirade early in the season.
Here is the last thing I will say about football though. Rich Rod signed a contract saying that he will pay $4mil if he leaves. He left, so he owes the money. His contract was structured extremely different than that of Huggins from K State.
Moving to basketball, Huggins did the exact same thing that Roy Williams did several years ago.
Roy was offered the job, Carolina wanted him badly, but he said he was staying at Kansas. So Carolina hired Matt instead. Matt ran the team and the dynasty into the ground and three years later they came knocking on Roy's door again. This time, he could not pass it up. He knew that this was the time to go back to Carolina and damn if if he didn't win a National Title soon after.
Bob Huggins did a similiar thing except for the National Title thing. He was asked to come back to Morgantown and he said no (similiar to the R. Wiliams thing at Kansas). Carolina hired Doughtery and WVU hired Beeline (sp). However, when Bob Huggins signed with Kansas State, he had a clause in his contract that allowed him to return to WVU without any buyout. They knew that going in, but nobody expected it to happen in just one year.In bold type, he had a signed contract with Kansas State that if WVU wanted him, he would go to WVU without any buyout clause;
Beeline going straight to Michigam to lead them to a 5-15 season was quite a shock for everybody. So, Huggins draft number came up and he took it this time. The chips have fallen. He is our coach. Rich Rod is the coach at UM, but he still owes us $4 million. Huggie honored his contract and he owes nothing to KSU. They knew he was leaving as soon as the job opened up. If they didn't, they could have put a buyout clause in his contract, but they didn't. Its just that nobody expected him to be available so soon, similiar to Roy Williams.
In all honesty, anything good for WVU in basketball is good in general. The Big East is much better than the Atlantic 10 of days gone by. When I attended WVU, we were in the Atlantic 10 and we sucked. Not only did our conference suck, our team sucked too. To see our team reach the elite eight and almost the final four two out of the last three years is incredible. Perhaps we can be a two sport team someday. I agreed with Huggins that G town won on a goaltend, but Cincy beat us like a drum tonight. We are not that good this year, but surely we will make the NCAA's.
I am not aware of Arlene Galonka, but I am sure that she is no comparison to my girlfriend Valerie Bertinelli.
No need to double space your answer? I don't know what that means.
1. Double spacing your answer refers to a college course where you had to turn in argument papers pre-Microsoft Word on a manual typewriter and the prof would say the paper must be double spaced.
ReplyDelete2. "However, the jabs of Moo U vs. the wine and cheese crowd is not nearly as personal as claiming incest as a lifestyle." Agreed, and the point of my post was not to say it was more personal, but to say Trianglers are too caught up in their own stereotyped trash-talking with each other to enter into any jabs at West Virginia. As I say, WV and WVU gets good press/mojo down here. Look for instance at this post from State Fan Nation, an NC State blog, yesterday on why Boston College was a poor choice for the ACC and who should have been there instead:
"Anyway, my complaint about BC being in the ACC is that they don’t bring a large fanbase that travels, and they don’t command that large of a TV rating either in their home market or nationally. In other words, they don’t really add a lot to the conference from a financial standpoint. Their football reputation is one of “oh, no anyone but them” in the eyes of bowl scouts. That’s why they get slim pickings come selection time.
The ACC really would have done better with a West Virginia or another school that could bring the fans to the games and put them in front of the TVs."
3. True, UNC football (and even ACC football) is nowhere near basketball in interest and passion,but Carolina averaged about 45,000 home attendance this year, so I wouldn't say nobody cares about Carolina football. That's nowhere near the SEC or even the top schools in the ACC, but better than a lot of Big East schools after WVU and Pitt (and Syracuse when they're good). And there are at last count 14 people who care about Duke football.
4. Don't take my asking you to compare Huggins to WVU with RichRod to UM that I'm saying it's the same thing. I'm totally with you on the $4 million. I wasn't aware that Huggy had a clause about jumping to WV in his contract. A guy at work asked me that question and I figured you'd know more details than I, and I was correct.
5. I love Roy Williams to death, but the reason he stayed at KU is because he had a team that he thought would win a national championship with with Neil Collison, Kirk Heinrich and Wayne Whatsisname and they came a couple of baskets away in the Title game from doing so. They were graduating, Carolina had three lottery picks waiting for him, and that's why he came. If he had the same guys at KU then, he'da never come.
6. Agreed on Valerie Bertinelli, but you have to understand that she was jailbait for me when she first showed up on "One Day at a Time" so I moved on to Cybill Shepherd...
Now look what you've done. You mention Jethro Bodine in your rant and he hits the news for the first time in the bluest moon. The 70-year old Max Baer Junior's 30-year old girlfriend committed suicide over "relationship problems". Wait, Jethro is 70? Older than Mister Drysdale? Older than MISSUS DRYSDALE? There's no hope for me if Jethro is 70!
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