WVU vs KANSAS: Stripe the Coliseum

Hope and dedication for the Mountaineers basketball team was in full force during the Monday night game against top seed Kansas. The first fans arrived at

the Coliseum around noon, while more began to trickle in a few hours later. The mass amount of fans came around 7 p.m. only to find a line that wrapped around the arena. The game was set to tip off at 9 p.m. yet as many fans knew, this game was important, and if they wanted court side seats they needed to get there early. Most of the Mountaineer faithful were dressed in gold, with a few coonskins and overalls scattered throughout the crowd. The fans knew as well as the players and coaches how important this game was, and how important it was for them to be the sixth man.

 

The game’s theme was stripe the Coliseum, which was modeled after the stripe the stadium game against Baylor, which was a huge success. The idea of striping is every section is either blue or gold, which provides for a great visual. Once again the Mountaineer fans showed their support and followed the guidelines. Yet a slow start led to a quiet crowd. Although fans feared the worst after being down by more than 15 points, a spark by the men’s basketball team led the fans to come alive. When coming within a few baskets of the Jayhawks, Aaric Murray had a breakaway dunk that made the student section erupt. The fans became alive and the chants were louder than ever. Even WVU President Clements joined in on the action by standing front row, center court with the Mountaineer Maniac executive director Chris Northup. The crowd stayed alive, fighting for the win along with the team for the last final minutes. The team ended up falling to the Jayhawks, 61-56. Although the Mountaineers were defeated, the spirit of the students wasn’t. They stayed till the end, and continued to cheer until the final buzzer. The fan base that night was one of a kind. It had painted bodies, foam fingers, a giant heads of celebrities including Oprah and President Obama. The Mountaineer Maniacs, a student organization for Mountaineer fans, went all out to make the Coliseum a true home field advantage. They provided free t-shirts for students, as well as the giant heads. They also handed out newspapers and signs that read “Beat Texas”. The effort by the Maniacs, as well as the other student fans is what makes WVU sports something that cannot be rivaled- the game against Kansas proved this.