So ESPN College Game Day is headed to West Virginia for the first time this weekend, to showcase the WVU-LSU matchup. Fun, right?
Well, it seems the prospect of national tv coverage is causing some hand-wringing over at WVU.
WVU fans are famous for celebrating athletic victories by setting fire to upholstered furniture- their fan sites include “couchfiresports.com” and “wemustignitethiscouch.com”.
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Image: pittsburghblackandgold.blogspot.com
Well, with ESPN coming to town, it seems WVU is trying to clean up its image: the Morgantown fire chief issued over 700 warnings threatening to issue citations to people who leave tempting, burnable couches out in their yards “We’ve got ESPN game day coming,” he said. “The eyes of the nation are going to be on us.”
Because burning couches is fine, you guys, but only in the privacy of your own state. Other states might be watching this week. Be cool.
Now, the WVU booster club is turning its attention to a bunch of popular tshirts that say “West Fuckin Virginia.”
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Image: Deadspin.com
Concerned that the tshirts might be “offensive,” the Mountaineer Maniacs are offering a “Tshirt amnesty” program to try to keep the shirts off tv. Anyone who turns in a “West Fuckin Virginia” tshirt will receive a voucher for $20 towards an officially licensed (and thus totally boring) tshirt.
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Image: thecampussocialite.com
“This is a great opportunity for students to make the right decision and gain something in return for having great sportsmanship,” said Maniacs Director Steve Staffileno. “The Mountaineer Maniacs always promote positive sportsmanship from all WVU students and fans.”
So, to summarize: WVU fans are enthusiastic, rowdy, and like to set couches on fire and swear. ESPN decides to bring Game Day to West Virginia because there’s a big game and great fans. It suddenly occurs to officials that “um, we should probably hide our pyromaniac tendencies and foul mouths, lest the rest of the country think that we are a bunch of backwoods hicks.”
To which I say: relax, officials. Everyone already thinks that anyway.
