wvnews
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — As autumn arrives, football season grips the Mountain State, where a fervent sports culture thrives. College football in particular draws students, locals, and alumni to stadiums before kickoff, where tailgating serves as a cherished pregame ritual.
Crystal Cook, a West Virginia University graduate, has been a Mountaineer fan her entire life. Born and raised in southern West Virginia, she moved to Morgantown for her studies, earning both bachelor's and master's degrees. While she supports many WVU athletic programs, football holds a special place in her heart.
"Football season is my favorite season," Cook said. "I have a lot of fun at football games, and my friends and I have been tailgating together for probably 15 years."
Cook and her friends set up their tailgate in front of the WVU Medicine Eye Institute. Positioned near the entrance, they welcome and feed incoming students. "We get to speak to everybody, and we'll get 'Let's go' chants going, or 'Beat Pitt,' whatever the case may be," she said. "And we're all older, so we're in our 40s and 50s, so we worry about the food more than we worry about almost anything. So after we eat, we always invite the students that are just walking along on the sidewalk to come and eat."
The dishes they prepare vary depending on the game time. Cook tries to avoid repeating meals, but mac and cheese is a staple for passing students. "We always make sure we have some mac and cheese on hand, because what kid doesn't love mac and cheese?" she said.
Cook's tailgating crew makes the most of their gathering, chatting, playing games, and soaking in the atmosphere, including performances by the university's marching band. "We always follow the Pride around the parking lot and listen to them play," she said.
Cook attributes the strong Mountaineer fan base to the university's successful programs and Appalachian pride. "We are getting some national recognition in other sports as well, and it's just very meaningful to people who live here, and the Appalachian culture is just a prideful one, so we're just very proud of WVU," she said.
As a lifelong fan and alumnus who has tailgated through every stage of life, Cook believes the activity itself hasn't changed; rather, the experience is shaped by the individual. "I feel like tailgating is all the same, and it depends on what stage of life that you're in — Whatever stage of life you're in is welcome on the Blue Lot," she said.
Cook recalls past and present experiences outside Milan Puskar Stadium, defined by the people she meets and the connections made. "I remember us just running around and doing a little cornhole and whatever, and then basketball players would come by and stop at our tailgate," she said. "The Mountaineer will stop by, and it's just the culture. It's just everything that's going on, and you never know what's going to happen week to week — but we're there. We're ready for it. We're pumped for the Mountaineers."
Ted Diaz, a Marshall University alumnus, began tailgating after moving back to the area as a way to reconnect with his community. Diaz received his education through the university after serving 20 years in the U.S. Navy. He worked in state and federal government after graduating. He and his wife were both born and raised in Huntington.
Diaz said his parents were supporters of the university's sports, and he recalled attending the funerals of those killed in the 1970 plane crash. "I knew I would always be part of the Thundering Herd," he said.
Diaz moved back to the state with his wife in 2021. He said buying season tickets for Marshall University football was at the top of his to-do list. "Back in '21, I had the opportunity to come home and work for the state, and that was probably the third thing we did as far as the move," he said. "One, sell the house. Two, get a mover. Three, call the Big Green office for season tickets."
Now in retirement, he continues to spend time with friends and family at the West Lot cheering on the Herd. Diaz fondly recalled his first time setting up his own tailgate after being rained out during his first attempt. "It just seemed like everyone wanted to come by," he said. "We had music, we had pepperoni rolls, we had cornhole, and everyone had a great time."
Diaz's tailgate setup includes an array of themed refreshments. They try not to repeat themes or dishes throughout the season, but will consistently have pepperoni rolls on deck for guests. "My wife, particularly, is kind of famous for her pepperoni rolls," he said. "I mean, they are legendary in the crowd that we run around with. I used to take them into the office. I used to give them away at Christmas, they would always ask for Julia's pepperoni rolls."
Along with the good food, Diaz's tailgate also offers music for each generation and a homemade cornhole game setup. Cornhole is Diaz's favorite tailgate and backyard barbecue game, and he said it reminds him of home. He decided to build his own Marshall University cornhole board for guests. "Everyone loves it," he said. "It's big, heavy and sturdy."
Diaz didn't tailgate while in school, but he has been drawn into the atmosphere of home games because of the connections he is able to rebuild after working in the D.C. area for about 20 years. "I wanted to feel reconnected to home, and I see friends that I grew up with, they're also in the West Lot," he said. "I have veterans that recognize me. I used to be the cabinet secretary for Veterans Affairs for West Virginia, for the Department of Veterans Association, and veterans that recognize me will come up and just start talking. It makes me feel more connected."
Ty McClung, a recent graduate of WVU, grew up attending Mountaineer home games before joining the university's student section, the Mountaineer Maniacs. A Boone County native, McClung would attend one to two home games a year with his family as a child. "I can remember getting up at 5 a.m. on a Saturday game day and driving up 79 to get to the Blue Lot, tailgating with friends and family since I was like three or four," he said.
As a child, McClung said it was popular for kids to ride down Law School Hill on pieces of cardboard like a sled and visit the inflatable setup inside the indoor practice facility. "They had an extra copy of one of the giant inflatable helmets that the team would run out of," he said. "It was cool to run through the inflatable helmet in there, and it's a good way for kids to kill some energy and run around."
As a student, McClung served on the board for the Mountaineer Maniacs for five years, where he generated content for the organization, building momentum in the student section. He said he remembered watching them bring energy to the games when watching in person at football games or on TV during basketball games. "We were the heart of gameday, basically," he said. "We really were trying to make sure that students went out to games and enjoyed themselves there."
The board for the Mountaineer Maniacs had their own tailgate for each home game in the Blue Lot, which built momentum going into the stadium. "Home-field advantage is a real thing," McClung said. "It seems like even if we have a down year, there's a couple games that are crazy. We have such a crazy environment — the fan base can really make a difference."
McClung now lives in Missouri and watches each game via TV broadcast with his wife. They plan to make a trip back to Morgantown for the Coal Rush game. "We are going to come in and tailgate with my wife's family and see my family as well," he said. "And then we're going to the Maniacs tailgate and see some friends from college that we hadn't got to see for a few months."
Richard Rosner, originally from Pennsylvania and a Penn State alumnus, moved to Morgantown about five years ago and was quickly drawn to the Mountaineer fan culture. "As soon as I moved here, I was engulfed with the WVU Country Roads theme," he said. "So how can you not love West Virginia?"
Each gameday, Rosner and his friends meet at his home to begin the festivities. "We have a little ritual .. We [eat] one pepperoni roll each for good luck, and then we head over to the stadium," he said. "We have a major tailgate there."
Rosner hosts what he and his friends call the shine circle an hour before kickoff. They gather as many people as they can and form a circle in the Blue Lot where they take a shot of moonshine and do a cheer. "People laugh about it, but we probably get about 45, 60 people .. I think last year we almost at over 150 people there for that," Rosner said.
Rosner adds to the day's excitement by creating social media content during the tailgates as well and interacts with all types of fans and students. "It's another way of bringing everybody together," he said.
Games during the holidays are the ones Rosner looks forward to the most because of the general spirit and excitement the community has. "If you go to the Blue Lot, there's certain tailgates that will shoot snow off and [play] Christmas songs starting like right around Thanksgiving," he said.
A lifelong football fan, Rosner has his superstitions. He'll wear a gold or blue hat or durag into the game for good luck. "I didn't wear one maybe three years ago, West Virginia got crushed," he said. "And I was like, I'm done with that."
Tailgating brings entertainment and community to sports fans, Rosner said. There's camaraderie even between fans of opposing teams. "It brings everybody together for that three hours every week during the fall, which is incredible, especially for the whole state of West Virginia," he said.
Originally reported by wvnews.