WV MOUNTAINEER PRIDE!

Welcome to our West Virginia Mountaineer Pride site. I hope our collection of “Pride-filled” moments, memories, and poetry entertains you. I wish to thank all fellow Mountaineer “fan-atics” who contributed their memories.

"I suppose that if the more than one million mountains in West Virginia were leveled flat, the state would reach all the way to Texas. In any event, its boundaries extend farther north than Pittsburgh, farther south than Richmond -- the capital of the Old Confederacy -- as far east as Buffalo, New York, and as far west as Columbus, Ohio. It is the most southern of the northern and the most northern of the southern; the most eastern of the western and the most western of the eastern. It is where the East says good morning to the West, and where Yankee Doodle and Dixie kiss each other good night! It is the state that is 'wild and wonderful' and 'almost heaven,' with its beautiful hills and its law-abiding, God-fearing, and patriotic people." Robert C. Byrd (D-WV), United States Senate, April, 1983.

Mountaineer Pride #1

I took my son to Urbana to see the WV/Illinois game. Lighting Buggs lived up to his nickname by speeding downfield to catch the winning pass and win the game in the final seconds. Illinois was stunned but all Mountaineers were elated. It's great to know he is still involved. He is a true Mountaineer hero. (Submitted by: Jack Elbon)


Mountaineer Pride #2

Whenever I go out of state I always bring a t-shirt or polo shirt that has West Virginia on it to wear. I am proud to be a West Virginian and a WVU grad. I love to show off my WVU Alumni license plate and if I see a Marshall license plate on a car I try to get in front of it if I can. I enjoy going to Mountaineer Field and seeing "The Pride of West Virginia" perform.I was excited to see our basketball teams do well last year in the NCAA and NIT tournaments and I support all WVU teams. I enjoy talking about West Virginia and I'm glad I was born a West Virginian.
Michael Bragg
WVU Class of 1989

Mountaineer Pride #3

WEST VIRGINIA'S REPLY
by Roy L. Spinks
(Click here to visit The Hillbilly Poet website)


All those people who like to joke
About West Virginia; and the ones who poke
Some nasty fun at Mountaineerland:
Some I can handle: some I can't stand!
They make us West Virginians the goats:
The object of puns and anecdotes....
Some call us barefoot country clowns;
Living in shacks with pigs and hounds.
Some seem to delight in putting us down!
Crude portrayals of Mountaineers abound:
We've been called hillbillies from the sticks:
Stupid, ignorant illiterate hicks!
Living off the D.P.A.;
Staying drunk throughout the day!
Making moonshine after dark:
Dumb, but happy as a lark!
We've suffered indignity and scorn
Heaped on the state where we were born;
But - what really gets me in a huff
Is when they start that incest stuff!
Some may say that it's all in fun,
I say it's rude, and overdone!
If they'd check their closet's grimy bones
Maybe they'd leave our state alone.
Our state is hilly, I'll confess....
Some things about it are a mess;
But I'm sure you'll find in every state
Many conditions not first-rate....
Homeless people, crime and squalor
Isn't just found up our hills and hollows
Greed and corruption on every hand
Isn't just here in Mountaineerland.......
Our Mountain State is a sight to see!
Second to none in scenery:
Fertile valleys, green and fair;
Clean, refreshing mountain air:
Picturesque forests with timber tall;
Mountain streams and waterfall!
In wild, wonderful West Virginia
You're sure to find something that'll win ya'!
Look a little closer, and you will find
West Virginians of the genteel kind:
Friendly folks everywhere you go:
It's not that way in some states I know....
To those who'd cast at us a stone:
Think of the state you call your own....
There's a lot of love for it within ya'......
That's how we feel about West Virginia!



Mountaineer Pride #4
When I was away from my beloved WV and living in Austin, TX, I had to work one Christmas eve. We were not busy at the data processing center where I worked and were listening to the radio and the dj asked for requests from anyone who could not be home for Christmas. I called and requested 'Country Roads' of course. When it started playing I started to cry. My co-workers just could not understand how the love for a State could make you cry. I just smiled and said, "If you were from West Virginia you would understand." (Submitted by: Jim Ransbottom)



Mountaineer Pride #5
What follows are a few poems by the Morgantown poet, Joseph Gatski. He is a true talent and a person who captures the spirit of West Virginia. (These poems were submitted by Jim Shaffer, Blue Tic Council.)

CAN'T EXPLAIN
by Joseph Gatski (1998)

It's that old time feeling
I can't quite explain--
walking along the river
in magnolia scented rain.
Down by the millrace,
I try and try again.
Tis gone...Tis gone--
that which nourished younger dreams.
So elusive. So far away.
But what of tomorrow?
Tomorrow never arrives on time.

As a sigh
for a long lost lover,
should I awake in a field of clover,
I know I could sing
a song that might explain
wild winds blowing,
wild rivers foaming,
and the long lonesome whistle from a midnight train.
A childish muse glides on golden wings.

The Lord of the Hills
sleeps in deep furrows.
The drowsy valley awakes.
White church steeple
partially hidden in mist,
ringing bells for the faithful.
But the shepherd is so far away,
with bruised heels in deep thickets
and calves full of nettles.
They pray and wait in vain
for something they can't explain.

Children play.
Hound dogs bay
a long forgotten tune.
A melancholy sadness
slips into my room.
Fingers press tighter against the window.


ODE TO BACKWATERS
by Joseph Gatski (1998)

Descending the depths
of the canyon's black water,
step down amber cascades.
Over mossy rocks,
go stumbling,
nearing waterfalls tumbling.

Here, on a cold clear autumn morn,
by rushing torrents,
clefts are shorn.
Love lost.
So lonesome
and forlorn.
Go wading into the froth
and foam.


CURVE OF BLUE
by Joseph Gatski (1998)

I'd surely walk
umteen hundred millionty
forty and seventy eleventy miles
for a friendly wave
and a smile
I don't know about you
I'm just here for that
long misty view
searching afar
for that soft
curve of blue


ECHOES
by Joseph Gatski (1999)

Pete the puppy is barking at himself again
up then down locating roads
hills are stacked
between, eat stars
and shit out comets
Down at Green Bank
send radio waves
and wait for an answer
the sign at the diner says
wanna see
flying saucers
pinch your waitress
by the way
Love I still
miss you



Mountaineer Pride #6
Hello, I’m a recent WVU graduate in Mechanical Engineering. It’s great to see someone taking pride in WVU! I have a funny story that occurred just a couple of weeks ago. I work at a plastics plant in Marietta, Ohio. (Marietta is right on the Ohio River, so the employees here are split about 50/50 between West Virginia and Ohio. You can imagine the hype prior to the WVU/Ohio State game!) While I was walking to the production area with my boss (who is a Ohio State fan and lives in Ohio) he reached into his pocket and told me he had brought something for me. I held out my hand (expecting the worst) and was surprised when he handed me a Buckeye! I laughed and asked my boss why he gave me a “worthless nut.” Later that day I was in my office when I announced that I had found a use for the "worthless nut." Paperweights -- the Buckeye doesn’t do a very good job at holding down papers -- but at least it does have a use! I took the “worthless nut” home with me and altered it slightly before returning to work the next day. While we were sitting in the morning meeting my boss was bragging how he had ‘got me!’ Everyone thought that it was funny. Then I spoke up to say that I had something for my boss. I handed the Buckeye back -- only this time the Buckeye was painted WVU BLUE & GOLD! LET'S GO MOUNTAINEERS! (Submitted by: Steve Gorrell , Proud WVU Grad)



Mountaineer Pride #7
One of my favorite memories of my father was him going absolutely insane while we were listening to a SC Tournament game against GW. WVU had a big lead and "Hot Rod" Hundley was doing his dribbling act while being guarded by a kid named Bucky McDonald. McDonald had committed the unpardonable sin (in my father's eyes) by leaving WV to go to an out-of-state school. According to the unbiased reporting of Jack Fleming, McDonald got so frustrated that he hauled off and punched Hundley.

I grew up with Bucky as one of the original boogeymen images of an athlete......and all of a sudden one day in Martinsburg, about 15 years later, I was introduced to this big teddybear of a guy with a huge grin and an even bigger laugh. Son of a gun if it wasn't Bucky McDonald in the flesh! (And he claimed he never touched Hundley in that game.) There I was trying to decide whether to believe Jack Fleming or this guy who had hold of my hand and was about 100 pounds heavier than me! (Submitted by: Jim Ashley, MEG, Dunn Loring, VA)




THE WVU SNAKES?!
(Strange - But True)

The nickname "Snakes" or "Snakers" was actually given to WVU athletic teams by the Pitt Panthers before the turn of the century. It was rumored the West Virginia hills were filled with black snakes and, therefore, Pitt refused to play in Morgantown for many, many years.

"Mountain Men" or "Mountaineers" was first used by Mountain Honorary, the ranking honorary at WVU. "Mountaineers" was gradually accepted as the nickname of WVU athletic teams between 1910-1917 and first used by the WVU baseball team.

(This was documented by Paul B. Martin, longtime editor of the Martinsburg Journal, noted WVU historian, and past president of the WVU Alumni Assocation. - from the MEG Digest, Monday, January 18, 1999.)




WEST VIRGINIA HILLS
(Lyrics by Mrs. Ellen King - Music by H. E. Engle)

Oh, the West Virginia hills! How majestic and how grand,
With their summits bathed in glory, Like our Prince Immanuel's Land!
Is it any wonder then, That my heart with rapture thrills,
As I stand once more with loved ones On those West Virginia hills?

CHORUS:
Oh, the hills, beautiful hills,
How I love those West Virginia hills!
If o'er sea o'er land I roam, Still I'll think of happy home,
And my friends among the West Virginia hills.

Oh, the West Virginia hills! Where my childhood hours were passed,
Where I often wandered lonely, And the future tried to cast;
Many are our visions bright, Which the future ne'er fulfills;
But how sunny were my daydreams On those West Virginia hills!

CHORUS

Oh, the West Virginia hills! How unchang'd they seem to stand,
With their summits pointed skyward To the Great Almighty's Land!
Many changes I can see, Which my heart with sadness fills;
But no changes can be noticed In those West Virginia hills.

CHORUS

Oh, the West Virginia hills! I must bid you now adieu.
In my home beyond the mountains I shall ever dream of you;
In the evening time of life, If my Father only wills,
I shall still behold the vision Of those West Virginia hills.

CHORUS


*Music - The WV Hills Midi*

If you would like to see your Mountaineer Pride moments featured here, please email me. I will try to add any contributions to the Mountaineer Pride site within a day of receiving them!

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The opinions voiced here are purely the rantings of the author and not those attested to by anyone associated with West Virginia University!