West Virginia Fans Are A Passionate, or Crazy, Bunch

Filed in archive College Football on January 9, 2008

It is hard to believe that any fan base could take the title of "biggest nutjobs" "most passionate" away from the denizens of the SEC, but West Virginia fans are doing their best to lay their claim since Rich Rodriguez decided to bolt to Michigan.

It's one thing to call in to a sports talk radio show or write a letter to the newspaper stating your frustration over a coach leaving your town to go somewhere else, but maybe threatening children crosses the line, eh?

Not only has Rodriguez's home been vandalized, but according to his mother, the coach's kids are being targeted:

"Arleen Rodriguez said her teen grandson received a death threat and found other harassing notes taped to his locker at East Fairmont High School. Arleen said her 12-year-old granddaughter had to be escorted to classes."

The AP article also mentioned that Facebook groups have popped up "devoted to wishing ill for Rodriguez and his family," and recalls that the WVU kicker who missed a field goal against Pitt had his car vandalized.

Weeks later, they still haven't gotten over it. There was an article written today in West Virginia by a writer who says this: "I'm trying to move beyond the Rich Rodriguez story. I swear it.
But it haunts me still. It creeps up on me at unsuspecting times and draws me back until I find myself again reviewing/arguing/debating the abrupt and painful departure of Rodriguez as the Mountaineer football coach."

The article goes on to describe a joke about Rodriguez on some WVU message boards, and the punchline is that Rodriguez thinks he's God.

Shouldn't Mountaineers fans be thankful that Rodriguez transformed them from an inconsistent, slightly above average program to a legit title contender?

In the decade previous to Rodriguez, here are the team's bowl appearances (since 1990): None, None, None, Sugar Bowl, Carquest Bowl, None, Gator Bowl, Carquest Bowl, Insight.com Bowl, None, Music City Bowl.

That's two Jan. 1 bowl games, and five years of no bowl game at all. Not bad, but not great.

Now, under Rodriguez, here are the bowl games (since 2001): None, Continental Tire, Gator, Gator, Sugar, Gator, Fiesta.

After two years to get his system implemented, it was nothing but Jan. 1 bowls, and a team that can legitimately be called a national power.

But, hey, he left, right? Might as well take it out on the people who are really responsible - his children.

(Photo: Flickr)