The 6th Annual Friends of Coal Bowl is now in the books and, despite the weather-shortened game, the weekend was a success with broad participation by Association members and numerous guests from the Legislature, state government and both Universities. The pre-game activities and the game, itself, were record setting with many “first to ever occur” events. It was exciting and memorable.
The lightning-shortened game was the longest and shortest to ever be played in the history of either WVU or Marshall. From kickoff to the point when it was finally cancelled, by agreement of both schools, the game lasted 6 hours and 50 minutes, yet there was nearly a quarter (14:35) of regulation playing time remaining. Thus, the longest and the shortest! WVU was ahead 34-13 at the declared end and thereby was declared the winner of the traditional Governor’s Trophy.
Regardless of the score, the game was, without doubt, a success for both West Virginia University and Marshall University. It was also a huge success for the Friends of Coal and the West Virginia coal industry.
There were many other firsts in this year’s Friends of Coal Bowl.
- It was the first time that three Friends of Coal video vignettes were played on the large scoreboard at Mountaineer Field. These vignettes will be played at each home football and basketball game at both WVU and Marshall.
- It was the first game as a head coach for new Mountaineer Football Coach Dana Holgerson.
- It was the first time Marshall Coach Doc Holliday had been in Mountaineer Field as a visitor. Holliday had spent many years as an assistant coach at WVU after having played his college days in Morgantown.
- It was the first time beer had been sold in Mountaineer Field.
- It was the first time WVU had ever played a game on a Sunday in Mountaineer Field.
- It was the first time for the Mountaineer Mantrip, which is the team-walk through the fans and parking lot.
- It was the first time a symbolic block of West Virginia coal was used as the “good luck” charm for the Mountaineer Football team. The 350-pound block of coal from the UBB Mine will serve as a permanent memorial as well as symbol of pride for the West Virginia’s leading industry. It will be touched by each team member at every home game.
As always, the Friends of Coal Bowl had a major, positive impact on the economy of the host city, Morgantown. The game was a complete sellout, with some 65,000 fans crowding into Milan Puskar Stadium. Hotel rooms throughout the city and surrounding areas were sold out weeks in advance of the game with restaurants filled to capacity for most of the weekend. All of this lending more evidence to the intense statewide interest in this game between the two Universities.
The game was the Sunday night prime time telecast on ESPN. It was, in fact, the “only game in town” with viewers all across the country. According to the Nielsen Ratings, the game drew a ratings share of 1.4 or 1.6 million households. When you presume each household has 3-4 people watching, it is an impressive viewing audience of 4-6 million people who saw and heard repeated references to the Friends of Coal.
As always in the previous five years, this year there were promotions on radio and TV advertisements by the two universities during the month of August, leading up to the game.
Additionally, there was statewide radio coverage of the game, with hours of pregame programs, by WV Radio’s MetroNews, WVU’s Mountaineer Sports Network (MSN) and Marshall’s ISP Network. These included our new ads, interviews with Friends of Coal spokesmen Coaches Don Nehlen and Bob Pruett as well as members and staff of the Association.
In addition to the television and radio coverage, the game was mentioned in more than 700 online news stories over the days and weeks prior to and immediately after the game – each mentioned the term “Friends of Coal Bowl” directly.
The Friends of Coal Bowl logo and name were featured on each game ticket, every program and prominently displayed on 4 large banners on the perimeter of Mountaineer Field.
The game got started this year with the traditional coin-toss performed by our Chairman, Gary White and former Chairman Andrew Jordon, who were joined by Friends of Coal spokesmen, former Mountaineer Football Coach Don Nehlen and former Marshall Thundering Herd Coach Bob Pruett and Special Olympians, Jeff Dunn from Morgantown and Preston Brewster from Huntington. With the Mountaineer Marching Band on the field, the teams entering the field and the stadium filled to absolute capacity, the coin toss places the Association and the Friends of Coal at the centerpiece of the day’s excitement.
The entire weekend began with several members of the Association, the Friends of Coal and the WV Coal Foundation being included in the First Annual Bob Huggins Fish Fry which was coordinated by the group, Remember the Miners. The well-attended event raised money for cancer research at WVU and scholarships for children who wrote winning essays about the coal industry. The Friends of Coal were invited to participate in the program by explaining the significance of the weekend’s game and how important the industry is to both Universities and the entire State.
On Saturday, the Membership Meeting convened to learn about the current and anticipated markets for West Virginia’s metallurgical coal from Jim Truman of Wood McKenzie. The members were also briefed on projects, research activities and other mean of support occurring at each University by WVU President Jim Clements and Marshall University President Stephen Kopp. Marshall Athletic Director Mike Hamrick and WVU Assistant Athletic Director Mike Parsons were also on hand to address questions about conference realignment, scheduling and the status of athletics at both institutions.
Immediately following the meeting, the annual pre-game Friends Of Coal Reception was held on Saturday evening at the Waterfront with a large number of guests from many walks in life from across the State as well as from both Universities. John Eric Booth from Wayne County provided entertainment, with food and drink a plenty. The traditional coin (replica of the coin used in the game toss) was given to each guest.
The pre-game Tailgate Tent had a record crowd of over 600 visitors who were entertained by the WVU band, WVU cheerleaders and of course, The Mountaineer. Thanks to all the Association members and the great supporting staffs from the Waterfront Place Hotel and both WVU and Marshall who helped make it a great “Friends of Coal” weekend and game day, despite the thunder, lightning and rain.