PurpAnd

Last weekend I traveled to West Virginia and Pennsylvania. It was a short trip, but one that I had wanted to take for a long time. Within 42 hours I saw: one of my dad’s childhood homes, drank beer from a fishbowl, dominated in some BuzzTime trivia, played Beatles RockBand, went to a WVU football game, ate a sandwich at Primanti Bros., went out in downtown Pittsburgh, and had a riverfront brunch with my cousins and aunt and uncle.

One of the highlights of the trip was the WVU (West Virginia University) football game. I had been to college games before at my alma mater UC Davis, but they are nothing like what I experienced last Saturday. First of all, the game was at noon. So my cousin says, ‘we gotta get up early to tailgate.’ I asked, ‘what’s early?’ and she smiled, “9 am.” And compared to her friends’ plans that was a late start! By the time we arrived near the stadium all the best tailgate spots were taken so we settled for a small parking lot up the hill. It ended up being perfect, we had our own little powwow with a few brews, a pepperoni roll, and chips and dip. We then walked to the stadium through the sea of blue and gold and into Lot B - tailgate Mecca. We bumped into a few friends, then rushed through the gates to go get some WVU merchandise. I was given a WVU sweatshirt and t-shirt, but I needed a hat to complete the look. A few minutes later I was decked out and we made it to our seats near the end zone. Here is my cousin and I at the field.

The crowd was nuts. Hyped and energized for the game, the patrons sang along to Simple Gifts and Country Roads. And then something happened that simply touched me. See, WVU was playing U Conn, who a week earlier had lost one of their teammates in a horrible stabbing incident after a school party. When the U Conn players took the field, they carried out their fallen teammates jersey. The entire stadium stood and applauded. Players from each team walked to the middle of the field, shook hands, and then everyone paused for a moment of silence. Here are the teams shaking hands.

This was one of the single greatest exhibitions of sportsmanship I have ever seen.

After the game, the WVU coach took his team over to the student section of the stands to show his appreciation. Leaving the stadium I felt incredibly proud to have been there that day. I was treated like I belonged and I was impressed by the humanity of a fan base that can sometimes get a tad crass (”Eat shit Pitt!). side note: the University of Pittsburgh is WVU’s main rival. More on that in a second.

Hanging around Morgantown the night before the game, I witnessed what it’s like on game weekends. We stopped by a local bar to grab a drink - beer out of a fishbowl (the place is called Mario’s Fishbowl). While in the bar people would randomly chant “Eat shit Pitt! Eat shit Pitt!” So funny because WVU wasn’t even playing Pittsburgh. It’s just what they yell… a lot. My cousin says that sometimes you can hear the fans chant that over the television. The other funny thing about the Fishbowl was that everyone who came through the door was greeted to applause and a lot of hootin’ and hollerin’. It cracked me up to see these people realize they were the ones getting welcomed so warmly. Most were embarrassed, but some played into it and started cheering right back, which invariably evolved into more eat shit Pitt chants.

Anyway, after the football game on Saturday we headed up to Pittsburgh. We stayed downtown and went out to a few local spots that my cousins were fond of, but we really spent most of the night watching football highlights while drinking whiskey at the hotel lobby bar. Sunday morning was gorgeous and we had brunch at a restaurant in a former train station along the river. And that was it.

Here are some more photos from the trip.

Some early fall colors.

Point Park - Pittsburgh - view from the hotel room

Pittsburgh - view from up above the river, or should I say rivers

For another run-down of the weekend, check out my cousin’s blog at The Little Cat.