November to Remember
October 31, 2007 09:38 AM | General
October 31, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The Mountaineer football players are in shape. The Mountaineer basketball players are in shape. The big question is whether you – Mountaineer fans - are in the proper physical condition to follow the two teams in the coming month as their seasons overlap. This is not for the faint of heart, but if you accept the challenge you will immediately be inducted into the Mountaineer Fans Hall of Fame.
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| West Virginia fans have a lot of important events to cover in the month of November.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
Next Thursday we have a little football game here in Morgantown. The University of Louisville Cardinals will be our guest. Two days later, Bob Huggins will pull the curtain back on his very first WVU squad as they entertain Mountain State University. A great young coach in Bob Bolen leads this perennial NAIA national championship contender. Legendary Beckley Woodrow Wilson coach Dave Barksdale serves as an assistant.
OK doing fine. Two games in three days, both in Morgantown, you can handle that, right?
Now let’s jump into the following week. On Friday night, Nov. 16 at the Coliseum, West Virginia opens its regular season schedule against Arkansas-Monticello. From the Boll Weevils’ website comes this nugget:
With junior forwards Billy McDaniel and Brandon Mayweather returning, along with sophomore sharpshooter Nate Newell, fourth-year head coach Mike Newell easily has his most experienced and talented squad since coming to Monticello three years ago.
“I don’t like to make predictions,” Newell said, “but this group could win between 17 to 22 games. With our schedule and with our players grasping the system, we’ll be exciting to watch.”
Several hours after breaking bread with the Boll Weevils the Mountaineer football team plays a game at Cincinnati. I would suggest strong coffee and a copious supply of pepperoni rolls as you make the drive from Morgantown to Cincinnati.
The day after the football game, we’ll see you back at the Coliseum as the Aggies of Prairie View A&M make an appearance. In case you didn’t know, Prairie View A&M was founded 1876 and is the second oldest institution of higher education in Texas.
Three Mountaineer games in three days - life is good, huh?
Grab a little rest in the brief respite that follows because the following weekend provides the ultimate test.
On Friday night, Nov. 23, the Mountaineer basketball team plays Tennessee at the Legends Classic in the beautiful new Prudential Center in Newark. The Volunteers are rated 7th in the preseason USA Today poll. Coach Bruce Pearl is predicting his team will pour in points with great regularity.
This from Pearl on Tennessee’s web site:
“I have been a head coach for 15 years and for 14 of those years we’ve led the league in scoring. The one year we didn’t lead the league, we finished second. We are going to score a lot of points. We are going to get up and down. There is a real commitment to up tempo transition basketball. We are going to press. We are going to extend defensively. I would like to think that our kids play as hard as anyone in the country. That is something we are proud of.”
The Mountaineers and Volunteers tip off at 9 p.m. It will be close to midnight by the time we clear the air on MSN, but there’s no time to rest. You and I need to get back to Morgantown pronto because the WVU football team is scheduled to kick off against Connecticut in 12 hours. Thanks to Orville and Wilbur Wright, we should be touching down in the University City by 2 a.m.
Now this is where things get a little bit tight. Depending on the outcome of Friday’s basketball game, the Mountaineer hoopsters will play at either 4 p.m. or 7 p.m. the next day at the Prudential Center. If WVU beats Tennessee it will play at 7 p.m. However, if the Mountaineers fall to Tennessee they’ll play at 4 p.m. and in the words of the late Ricky Ricardo, “Luuucy, we’ve got problems.”
It’s one thing to be a super fan - it’s another to be in two places at the same time.
So it all comes down to whether the Mountaineers can beat the Volunteers and play in Saturday’s nightcap. The football game should be done by 3:30 p.m. We catch a bird to Jersey and we’re good to go a full hour before tip off.
Now that’s what we call a Mountaineer weekend.
I’m going to try and get it done and would love to hear from anyone else who plans on doing the same. All totaled that is eight games in 16 days, which doesn’t sound too bad. However, it really breaks down to stretches of two games in three days, three games in three days, and three games in two days.
Ah, it’s great to be a Mountaineer wherever you may be.
Enjoy the ride on what should be a November to remember for the WVU football and basketball teams.
