Many people in West Virginia are really disconnected from reality.

The former head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineer football team, Rich Rodriguez, received death threats because he wanted to coach at Michigan. His children received death threats as well. Of course Rich left, who would want to coach in a state where your children receive death threats like that?

There's not much to do in a state like West Virginia so they take their football very seriously. You have to feel sorry for them because they are so insulated. Only 17% of adults in that state have a college degree. That's the second lowest number in the country. Many people in West Virginia aren't the sharpest tools in the shed.

They are pretty xenophobic and angry at the world. I can't blame them. Their hatred is simply the product of their environment.

Just having a college degree in no way makes one smart. Look at our current president.

who are disconnected from reality living in California.

I haven't lived in California for 29 years!

Could they be described as..."bitter?"

maybe I was paranoid...but then again, maybe not.

A high school basketball player from Oregon went to UCLA, and got death threats.

Do we really need to keep insulting West Virginians? Geesh, what if you were from WV and happened to wander onto this website?

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/basketball/womens/columns/story?columnist=hansen_chris&id=3309132

This post says far more about your character then of WV's.

That's what they say about us, ya know - flakes. Jeeze.

I can't believe the crap that gets posted here

You just can't lump everyone in one state into one unflattering category. Others try to do that to Texas, as well. That's like saying only rich jews live in NYC, or only ...blahb,blah,blah..

I think it was more the fact that he went to Michigan; if you know anything about college football, that was like a knife in the back of WVU fans. They became really angry he left them.

But to make a point - many areas of rural PA are the same way (where I grew up). The people never go anywhere and are insulated from the outside world; it's a homogenized existence. Makes it difficult for them to accept anthing different from what they know.

You will find people like this everywhere though.

were a war priority. So, they didn't get yanked out of their state, didn't see the world, and didn't get the GI bill as much. Same for parts of Ohio, KY and Tenn. - all through the Appalachians.

In early 2007, Alabama came calling. If he had taken the 'Bama job, people would have been upset but it would have been fine. Alabama is a big name. He was the hottest coach in the country. It happens. Sucks but it happens.

But native-born Rich decided to stay. And got a huge contract. And made a long-term commitment. And told us that this is where his heart was. And basically sold the biggest line of bullshit you could sell.

Then during the season, he gets the team one game away from a national title shot. And only has to go through an overmatched rival at home to do it. And what happens?

Mid-week (during the most important week in WVU football hisory), he flies away to interview with Michigan.

Then he blows the game.

Then he takes the job and quits before a bowl game, leaving everyone high and dry.

Then he starts stealing recruits - using WVU resources to take WVU recruits to Michigan. Then he starts stealing WVU's recruiting info.

Then he lies and insults us some more.

Then he tries to get out of paying his buyout.

Don't knock college football passion. As the quote in the South goes, "Some people say college football is a matter of life and death; I can assure them it's much more important than that."

(Shameless plug)



Edited to add: Les Miles ain't goin' nowhere!

this guy was the coach of a powerhouse program, and while he was coaching i would get maybe 1-2 threatening calls each year from very, very angry fans.

lots of people care deeply about sports, and craft their cultural and regional identity around the favorite local sports team. i don't think that situation is unique to WV.

And what might be your reality is far different than the daily reality of somebody living in WV. That's what is so cool about our country. Look at how goddamned diverse we are. I come from a place like WV. Poor, uneducated, and sophisticated for sure, but good people just like anybody else.

While I wouldn't want to live there (and not many seem to want to live in WV just check otu the number of people moving to the state each year) but its not full of idiots. You'd be so surprised by the intelligence of people across this country.

Believe me when I tell you that there are a lot of dim bulbs in this country.

:D

good point

but still, lots of smarts scattered around too

Like Michigan did last season, you think he won't get death threats there? If anything, it'll be worse at Michigan.

...that was actually his nephew...and it was another kid at his junior high who "threatened" him. Stop the bullshit lying. There is plenty to do in WV.

Your fans are serious...however they don't know what serious is till you show up at an Eagles Game.

The following have already been mentioned. What are we missing?

1. Mining coal.
2. Playing football.
3. Watching other people play football.

There actually IS a ton of things to do in Morgantown. I can do outdoorsy things within a few hours drive such as whitewater rafting, hiking in peace and quiet, base jumping off of the New River Gorge Bridge, skiing in the winter, and countless other things. I can go to local performing arts shows you can't see anywhere else. You can try to deny the innate beauty of bluegrass music, but, yeah, you'd be wrong. The Creative Arts folks at WVU put on shows all the damn time. There is a pretty good theater troupe downtown that puts on good shows. Morgantown has one of the best bar scenes I've ever experienced. Also, there are the things that DON'T happen. I.E., No Crime. Plus we have pepperoni rolls. Most people don't even know what they are, sadly. Most delicious thing ever. And even if I ever do get bored, Pittsburgh is an hour away, anyway. I can go beat the crap out of the idiot Yinzers at trivia over at Dave and Buster's. Over a 3 month period or so, I won enough tickets to win a $500 PS3 in about $400 worth of trivia games thanks to the stupidity of the people in Pittsburgh.

Hell, I love it here.

The New River Gorge is home to the Endless Wall, which is considered the second-most prestigious climbing spot on the East Coast. (I can't remember who holds the No. 1 spot; I think maybe it's in upstate NY.)

and an Eagles fan....I can't make a comment on death threats or obnoxious sports behavior.

Trust me we make the people of West Virginia look like saints when it comes to obnoxious behavior.

I cannot see the point of your OP. Are you rallying DU for pity?

I'm from West Virginia ... born in Huntington and live in the Charleston area now. The jokes were funny at first, but I'm starting to get VERY tired of all this crap -- especially when DU members refer to "them" as though every single person in West Virginia is the exact same demographic and votes the same way. Not true at all. There is some diversity here, albeit in a lower percentage than other states.

Broad brush sweeps are mostly done by trolls and disruptors, but unfortunately the group smears are also being perpetrated by longer term DU'ers. Sorry you are being castigated by the ugly commentary.

On a complete aside... took a quick browse through your homepage and noticed "Travels With Charley". This was my personal bible from 10 years of age through my mid-teens. I applaud your selection! :bounce:

:puke:

You have no idea of the sleazy way in which he left.

Why did Filthy Rich not file a police report when the lives of his children (Rhett and Raquel) were allegedly threatened. Why were his children attending school in WV until well in the second semester? Why did RR attend some of his son's youth league basketball games in Morgantown if Rhett's life was in danger? Why have you taken a petty middle school squabble involving Rich's nephew and twisted it into death threats for Rich's children? Could it be that your unnatural obsession with West Virginia is born from a dislike of Mountaineer football? That is pretty hilarious if true.

threatened. Which is a sad disgrace, but that's life. Actually according to my brother, a big MI fan, Rodriguez left WVU in because there had been a number of promises made to him about WVU getting top-rate facilities that would match his coaching and hopefully lead to a first-rate football program. The WVU administration said sure, but by the time MI offered him the job it was clear that they were not keeping their end of the bargain. So he left.

Rodriguez and the AD Pastilong didn't like each other. WVU actually held up every little thing they offered Rodriguez. So what Rodriguez did was call around to a few programs (T A&M, UMich) to get an offer so he could have heavy leverage against the WVU AD to get more money, facilities, etc. The AD wouldn't budge and told him his contract was his contract. After this, Rodriguez put himself in a corner after burning some bridges and basically had to go to UMich. Now they quite literally hate each other. It's been an entertaining soap opera.

he was required to give 30 days notice of any contractual breach on WVU's part with regards to promised improvements. WVU would then be given 30 days to address these issues. Funny thing, no notice was given on RR's part before he left. Why, the promised improvements were on track. If WVU was not keeping it's end of the bargain then Dick Rod has nothing to worry about with regards to his four million dollar buy out. Personally, I've already got the money spent.

Because they are not tools. Only a very dull bigot would make such a statement.

We even have idiots in Europe. Surprise, surprise. There are xenophobes everywhere, not just in WV.

:hi: