Before "The U" There was WVU
ESPN ran the sequel to the "U" last Saturday. In retrospect, as a graduate of the school, a season ticket holder in seasons past and a guy who once waited in line while Coach Butch Davis was getting money out of an ATM at the Bank of America early on a Sunday Morning, the University of Miami has had an interesting football program.
I transferred to the University of Miami in 1971. At the time they were about the only major college team to play on Friday nights. The evening games were cooler but it didn't matter, the team wasn't very good and there wasn't much a crowd at the games. I remember Fran Curci, Pete Elliot, and Carl Selmer.
Graduating in 1973, I didn't think too much about college football until I went to graduate school at WVU in Morgantown, WV. The Mountaineers weren't the greatest but the games were an absolute wonder in comparison to football at ISU or the UM. I could see down into the football stadium from my room on Lorentz Avenue. A student id got you into the stadium, but it was so crowded as to be at least a safety hazard if not out right dangerous. The coach was Bobby Bowden, it was his last year at WVU, he couldn't beat Joe Paterno.
Before each game the Marching Band played "Appalachian Spring" and then marched into the outline of the State of West Virginia and played "Country Roads" by John Denver. Even if the game was lousy the pregame show was worth the price of admission, It didn't change, it couldn't change, in my mind and almost everybody else, it didn't have to change because it was perfect.
I transferred to the University of Miami in 1971. At the time they were about the only major college team to play on Friday nights. The evening games were cooler but it didn't matter, the team wasn't very good and there wasn't much a crowd at the games. I remember Fran Curci, Pete Elliot, and Carl Selmer.
Graduating in 1973, I didn't think too much about college football until I went to graduate school at WVU in Morgantown, WV. The Mountaineers weren't the greatest but the games were an absolute wonder in comparison to football at ISU or the UM. I could see down into the football stadium from my room on Lorentz Avenue. A student id got you into the stadium, but it was so crowded as to be at least a safety hazard if not out right dangerous. The coach was Bobby Bowden, it was his last year at WVU, he couldn't beat Joe Paterno.
Before each game the Marching Band played "Appalachian Spring" and then marched into the outline of the State of West Virginia and played "Country Roads" by John Denver. Even if the game was lousy the pregame show was worth the price of admission, It didn't change, it couldn't change, in my mind and almost everybody else, it didn't have to change because it was perfect.
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