Oh My! Big East Champs!
December 01, 2003 11:12 AM | General
Monday, December 1, 2003
Wayne Stefanovich, a WVU alumnus, is providing this guest commentary for MSNsportsNET.com from his experience at West Virginia’s football game against Temple on Saturday, Nov. 29. Wayne made a succesful bid to become a “Fantasy Reporter” for a day through Ebay Auctions. This is his report:
 |
||
| Coach Rod spends a minute with Wayne after West Virginia's 45-28 victory over Temple to secure a share of the Big East title (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
I left my office at the bank in Lexington, Ky., at 5:40 pm on Friday evening to make the five-hour trek to Morgantown to see the Mountaineers do battle with the Temple Owls. During the game I will occupy a seat in the press box to live out the part as “Fantasy Reporter” covering the WVU-Temple game for MSNsportsNET.com.
I have been a season ticket holder for many years sitting in Section 130 with my friends from the Eastern Panhandle, and missed their fellowship on what turned out to be a very cold day.
I arrived in Morgantown at 9 am after spending the night in Cross Lanes and passed some of my favorite West Virginia towns en route to Morgantown: Big Chimney, Big Otter, Gassaway, Nitro and Jane Lew just to name a few. How many times did Jack Fleming mention these towns and let everyone know that the “Mountaineers were on the air?”
I had a pre-game meal at 11 am at the Puskar Center with my friends John Budinscak, John Marshall and Frank Secreto, who have generously endowed a scholarship for one WVU student-athlete. I have grown to love these men and their passion for WVU football.
It is 11:55 am and I make my way up to the press box to secure my seat location and sit next to Ms. Hamilton, the Gator Bowl representative, and Lainie Guiddy, a graduate assistant in the WVU Sports Communications Office.
I met John Antonik of MSNsportsNET.com and he advised me of the one rule I am to follow: no cheering in the press box. I am usually hoarse by the end of the first quarter and now I’m asked not to cheer.
Heck, I drive five hours from Lexington and attend all the home games and my fair share of away games and I’m not supposed to cheer? Yep, well life in the press box is one of pomp and circumstance.
It’s senior day and 19 men who laid it on the line week-in and week-out will play their last home game at WVU. We sometimes don’t understand the commitment these young men make to WVU and my thanks are in order for their dedication to our University.
The Mountaineers take a half-time lead into the locker room and I still have not been able to cheer for my team because I do not want to get escorted from the press box for violation of NCAA press box rules. I have been treated very well by John and his staff and realize why God made me a banker instead of a sports reporter (As you read this, my vocabulary and sentence structure have since been edited).
Temple is a resilient team and certainly shows no give-up on this day. That doggone (Walter) Washington is a player and he kept Temple in the game throughout. Then with five minutes left, Matt Wells, Assistant Sports Marketing Director, escorts me down to the field where I can watch the Mountaineers for the remaining time there. Lainie says that I can now cheer all I want. Well Bob Hertzel, eat your heart out because this “Fantasy Reporter” will cheer for the Mountaineers.
Kay-Jay Harris runs over five people and secures West Virginia’s hard-fought victory and a share of the Big East title. The game clock reads zeros and West Virginia is now 8-4 and heading South to Jacksonville, Fla., for the Gator Bowl.
Oh My! Big East champions in 2003!
Lanie takes me to my first press conference where I watch Ms. Hamilton announce that West Virginia has “unofficially” been invited to play Maryland in the Gator Bowl. After comments from WVU President David C. Hardesty, Jr. and Athletic Director Ed Pastilong, Coach Rod makes his way up to the microphone.
He takes his first question as usual from long-time reporter Mickey Furfari and then fielded questions from the rest of the media. I went to school with Coach and have maintained a friendship ever since and am very proud to see him doing so well. We see each other after the press conference and he is surprised to see me. He tells me “you dress like a banker” and I explain that I didn’t want to embarrass myself while in the press box. I shake hands with Ed Pastilong and thank him for the opportunity he presented me.
Well, all good things must come to an end -- so the saying goes. My day as a “Fantasy Reporter” is finished. This was an awesome experience and somewhat surreal. I remember telling Coach back in April that there are three things that I love: God, family and WVU football.
Thanks, WVU, for the memories.
Oh my! Big East champions in 2003!
Wayne Stefanovich is currently Vice-President at Community Trust Bank in Lexington, Ky., where he specializes in commercial real estate and commercial lending. He has been married for five years and has two step children.
