As we reported this week, The Mountaineer Tailgate will debut September 5 at 10 a.m., two hours before West Virginia kicks off against Coastal Carolina.
We’ll be live for two hours before every WVU football game this season across the John Fredericks Media Network, including The Torch affiliates in Morgantown, Fairmont and Clarksburg. The show will also be available on JFMN.tv. Read more: Before kickoff: The vision behind ‘The Mountaineer Tailgate’
It’s hard to imagine a show that fits me much better than this one.
When I was first asked about my vision for the show, the answer was pretty simple – Let’s have some fun!
Tradition like no other
I was an undergraduate at West Virginia University from 1997 to 2001. Back then, tailgating wasn’t just something you did before a football game. It was part of the game.
And when I first arrived in Morgantown, we still had the legendary student tailgate spot known simply as ‘The Pit.’
For those who experienced the original version of The Pit, I’m not sure words can completely do it justice. Think “Animal House” meets a football tailgate, throw in some mud wrestling and then remove whatever remaining adult supervision you were imagining.
That gets you somewhere in the neighborhood.
I loved the place so much that when its future was threatened, I even joined a group called the Student Rights Association that tried to save The Pit. Student activism at its finest!
So, yes, I guess my commitment to WVU tailgating technically goes back nearly 30 years.
Don’t worry. The Mountaineer Tailgate isn’t going to get quite that crazy.
But the spirit behind it? That’s exactly what I want.
Built for fans
The goal is for this show to feel less like we’re sitting behind a desk telling you about a football game and more like we’ve pulled up a chair next to your tailgate.
There will be plenty of football talk. We’ll break down the matchups, hit the biggest storylines and discuss what the Mountaineers need to do to win that day.
Writers from WV Sports Nation will join the conversation, along with guests from around the WVU football world. We’ll also bring in opposing beat writers to give us a look at the team standing on the other sideline.
Most importantly, we want you to be involved.
WVU fans are passionate. They know the history, roster — and, trust me, they have plenty to say.
That passion should be part of the show.
Our goal is to create a show driven by the fans, for the fans.
That Saturday morning feeling
When I think back to my time at WVU, some of my favorite memories aren’t necessarily specific plays or final scores. They’re everything that happened before kickoff.
For an early game, that sometimes meant a friend waking us up at 8 a.m. and piling into his convertible pickup truck with a keg in tow, headed toward Mountaineer Field.
The details may have changed over the years, but that feeling hasn’t. There is just something different about a football Saturday in Morgantown.
Nearly 30 years later, that’s the feeling I want our show to capture.
Pull up a chair. The Mountaineer Tailgate starts September 5.
