WAR-MATT 2 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 WVU WVU fans have a lot to learn. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I went to Auburn this past Saturday. I was there to see some football be played between the hedges and for West Virginia to come home with a win. The game aside, I saw some things on Saturday. Some things that make me question the way we are as WVU fans. First of all, the Auburn fans know how to treat visitors. We were inundated with comments like, "great to see you and all of your fans here. you really travel well." "Good luck tonight, we really hope to see a good game." and "Boy, we really love Pat White down here. His family is fantastic and his dad is a real nice guy. He's a fire marshall, ya know!" However, we were also told stories of how badly the Auburn fans were treated when they went to Morgantown last year. About how a 7-year old kid told a grown man to go eff himself. About how they were spit on and screamed at and treated worse than inmates. After hearing this from no less than 10 people, I started to feel a little sad. I'm sad because I grew up in West Virginia. Someday, I hope to die in West Virginia. I hope that people are just as proud as me to be from West Virginia. However, I learned that as a collective, our fan-base is garbage when it comes to the treatment of opposing fans. Sure, yell at the other team. Give them an earful. But when families of people made a long trip to Morgantown to see their team play, bringing along young kids and maybe even grandparents, chill out a little. They are there to enjoy themselves and watch football. Our fans are very passionate, but it's time to not let that passion carry over into screaming curse words, hurling insults, or threatening with violence. We aren't soccer hooligans. We're football fans. We're there to watch football. And, those opposing fans, who aren't local, don't have a choice but to book a hotel room (usually for two nights). They contribute to the local economy. They're actually helping Morgantown become greater and greater. After the game, when we were walking out, 3 or 4 people said, "man, your quarterback is a BEAST. we got lucky a few times. If we hadn't, it would have been ugly the other way." Nobody said a sour word to any of us. It sure would be nice to have our fans reciprocate those gestures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin5 20 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I'm seeing comments like this all around the intertubes. Great to see our fans did it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AURaptor 1,137 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 Just takes a few individuals, good or bad, to make an impression. I'm sure some wise remarks were said, here or there, that some WVU fan took back and painted all Auburn fans as less than gracious. However, the vast majority of postings would lean toward that not being the case. At least, not so often. WDE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jptiger 485 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 That is awesome. Makes me very proud. WAR EAGLE!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aumd03 2 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I was one of the one's there telling WVU fans how poorly we were treated. I'll never go back to Morgantown and it wouldn't hurt my feelings if the ground opened up and swallowed the whole coal dust stained town. My parents were spit on, we were surrounded and called a**holes in chants by not just by one or two people, but entire crowds. We were taunted and gestured at by grown and old men. It was just all over the top. I would be embarassed to but on WVU colors if my fellow alumni and fans acted in that way. Usually the iron bowl is the game I care most about. This year it was WVU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldNewby 27 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I was not at the game last year or this year. But it was sweet to watch their fans' celebrations turn to dejected silence in the 4th quarter this year. SWEET. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtftiger 40 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I thought that they were excellent guests. With a long trip, the late scheduled kick, the delay, and the up and down nature of the game, I expected to see some nastiness. I didn't see any. Even after the game, the fans I saw were very disappointed but not bitter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksmmspt 1 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 We had several go by our large tailgate and we welcomed them and offered them some food and drinks. Got a funny look now and again and another group of WVU fans said they didn't trust us. Ha! The ones that stopped in got some good food and drinks and plenty of welcome to Auburn! The only bunch that ruined the weekend were the rude WVU fans that decided to crank up their audio players back at the RV park at 1am waking up my whole family. The wife gave them a piece of her mind as did others and they finally shut it down just before I called in the sheriff. Kinda stunk-up the weekend a bit...but the W made up for it! WDE!! with class!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUloggerhead 2,519 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 WVU WVU fans have a lot to learn. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I went to Auburn this past Saturday. I was there to see some football be played between the hedges and for West Virginia to come home with a win. The game aside, I saw some things on Saturday. Some things that make me question the way we are as WVU fans. First of all, the Auburn fans know how to treat visitors. We were inundated with comments like, "great to see you and all of your fans here. you really travel well." "Good luck tonight, we really hope to see a good game." and "Boy, we really love Pat White down here. His family is fantastic and his dad is a real nice guy. He's a fire marshall, ya know!" However, we were also told stories of how badly the Auburn fans were treated when they went to Morgantown last year. About how a 7-year old kid told a grown man to go eff himself. About how they were spit on and screamed at and treated worse than inmates. After hearing this from no less than 10 people, I started to feel a little sad. I'm sad because I grew up in West Virginia. Someday, I hope to die in West Virginia. I hope that people are just as proud as me to be from West Virginia. However, I learned that as a collective, our fan-base is garbage when it comes to the treatment of opposing fans. Sure, yell at the other team. Give them an earful. But when families of people made a long trip to Morgantown to see their team play, bringing along young kids and maybe even grandparents, chill out a little. They are there to enjoy themselves and watch football. Our fans are very passionate, but it's time to not let that passion carry over into screaming curse words, hurling insults, or threatening with violence. We aren't soccer hooligans. We're football fans. We're there to watch football. And, those opposing fans, who aren't local, don't have a choice but to book a hotel room (usually for two nights). They contribute to the local economy. They're actually helping Morgantown become greater and greater. After the game, when we were walking out, 3 or 4 people said, "man, your quarterback is a BEAST. we got lucky a few times. If we hadn't, it would have been ugly the other way." Nobody said a sour word to any of us. It sure would be nice to have our fans reciprocate those gestures. Interesting. I read all the comments on that thread. It would appear that many of the WVU faithful are confronting cold, hard reality for the first time. Although, I half expected most of them to justify it away like the one poster did: "how did the AU guy know the kid was 7? this proves the story is a fabrication ..." Sadly, it will probably take a well publicized altercation where some visiting fan suffers physical injury and ends up suing WVU before anything changes for the better. Meanwhile, the AU nation can justifiably take pride in showing visiting fans how to act and making converts out of 'em -- one new visiting team at a time. WDE to all of you down there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auburncheese 0 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I am an auburn student and have been reading multiple west virginia websites. From what I have read is that most of the mountaineers fans had a great time and enjoyed our hospitality. However I have a buddy who had a bad experience from their fans. He was walking around on gameday with a football when their fans came up trying to knock the ball out of his hands. If this was all in fun it would be ok but they took it to the next step. He turns around and tells them I still got it,, then they approach him and say well you want to fight.. Being an auburn grad and good guy he laughs and walks away. This story makes me appreciate our great fans and hope we can just show other fans how to act. War eagle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCWarEagle 0 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I was in Morgantown last year and can confirm the poor treatment received by Auburn fans. It wasn't an isolated incident of one or two jerks, it was a sizable portion of the crowd. After the game we stopped to get some food and had a few Mountaineers try to be nice, but for the most part their fans were rude and mean, before during and after the game. They constantly jeered and cursed at us. I was with a friend and his Dad and we all commented we were glad that my friend's young son had not made the trip. I'm glad the Auburn fans in Auburn showed them how guests should be treated. I have looked at a few WV message boards and seen several people commenting on the difference between being a visitor in WV and in Auburn. Maybe they can try to change the culture. As it is, I would not like to attend another game there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TitanTiger 21,242 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 The biggest obstacle to changing the fan culture there is that the hillbillies in their fanbase that most need to hear this and change their behavior don't get the internet, so they aren't reading this discussion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aumd03 2 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I personally think their behavior is a sign of possum poisoning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigermike 3,731 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 LSU fans are thinking "Thank the Lord for those a**hole WV fans!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
autigeremt 7,208 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I'm just glad we kicked em' back to Mortgantown with a big fat L! We were driving in towards the hayfields at the interesection of Lem Morrison and Donahue (from downtown on college and behind to old fisheries annex) and they were lined up on both sides of the street calling out all kinds of crap at us driving through. They had a different tone going back that way LOL. I am proud of this write up. We are the best fans in the Nation! Bar None. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUloggerhead 2,519 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I personally think their behavior is a sign of possum poisoning. Either that or snake bit poisoning: the camera showed the WVU fans doing some kind of Snake-Handling-Voodoo-Wave during the game. Couldn't figure out what that was all about. I don't normally deal in sterotypes (unless they're justified) but it did look kinda hillbilly-ish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCTiger 0 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 Thanks War-Matt. They were nasty up in Morgantown last year. When we were leaving town, some WV guy asked us how we were treated, and we told how nasty everyone had been. Then he asked how WV fans would be treated in Auburn next year. We said as long as you dont wear Bama gear, you'll be treated like guests. Really glad that is the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoJtrueAUman 4 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 We had a few WVU guys at our tailgate that just stopped off they were nice guys but totally admitted to being azzholes up there. They basically said you come to our town you get treated like dirt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AU alum 2 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I personally think their behavior is a sign of possum poisoning. Either that or snake bit poisoning: the camera showed the WVU fans doing some kind of Snake-Handling-Voodoo-Wave during the game. Couldn't figure out what that was all about. I don't normally deal in sterotypes (unless they're justified) but it did look kinda hillbilly-ish. I wondered what that finger-wiggling thing meant, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB33 1 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I personally think their behavior is a sign of possum poisoning. Either that or snake bit poisoning: the camera showed the WVU fans doing some kind of Snake-Handling-Voodoo-Wave during the game. Couldn't figure out what that was all about. I don't normally deal in sterotypes (unless they're justified) but it did look kinda hillbilly-ish. I think you mean that "first down" cheer they do. Basically, whenever WV makes a first down, they wave their arms, make a noise like a pack of gorillas ("oo-oo-oo!"), then yell "First Down!" Heard it over and over again up there last year, as you might expect. Seemed like it was the only cheer they had . . . not that 'Bodda Getta' is high art, or anything, but it was kind of sad. Not unlike the whole 'game day' experience in Morgantown. Worst road town / stadium I've been to, by far. And my group really didn't have a problem (up there) with the fans. The big problem (there) was that the student section was right next to - and actually above, since the students are (mostly) in the upper deck (it was weird!) - the visitors / Auburn section. Recipe for disaster. We sat across the way, where we could see a lot of the shenanigans unfolding. There were about 8 Auburn fans on the entire side of the stadium where we sat, but, while the WV fans weren't friendly at all, they didn't really gave us any trouble, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bird36 5 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I wondered what that finger-wiggling thing meant, too. Everybody loves Jazz Hands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldNewby 27 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I thought the "finger-wiggling" was their way of telling us we could STFU, our noise didn't make any difference, they could still run their offense even if we had a 747 cranked up when they had the ball. But, they had no sign, no comeback to the 41-30 score. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATLTiger 0 Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 I was in Morgantown last year and wasn't treated very well either. As for the "finger-wiggling" this is something they do whenever they get a first down. Its kinda dumb but the whole stadium does it and it looks ok... I guess. WDE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin5 20 Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Yeah, I was there last year. They wave the fingers when its clear its a first down. Then when its called officially by the announcer, they clap 3 times and then point for a first...I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATLTiger 0 Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Found this on their web site. They also have a video A trademark tradition by WVU students, the first down cheer is heard during home football games prior to the announcement of a first down. Mountaineer fans raise their hands and cheer in unison until the first down call is made. Following the call, the fans lift their arms up-and down three times, clap and then signal to the end zone chanting "first down." http://alumni.wvu.edu/traditions/first_down/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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