Headed for the mountains
Morgantown braces for West Virginia-Ohio State
Posted: Sunday August 30, 1998 03:21 PM
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Mountaineer RB Amos Zereoue and a No. 11 ranking has West Virginia fans excited about the season opener against No. 1 Ohio State AP |
MORGANTOWN, West Virginia (AP) -- The hometown newspaper is calling it "The Game of the Decade." And everyone wants in -- into the game, into the tailgates and into a hotel anywhere within an hour's drive.
They're all hoping for a chance to see No. 1 Ohio State play at No. 11 West Virginia in their season opener next Saturday.
The last time the Mountaineers faced a top-ranked team in Morgantown was in 1986, when Vinny Testaverde-led Miami beat the Mountaineers 58-14.
At the Hampton Inn, the hotel closest to Mountaineer Field, all rooms have been booked for more than a year.
"Everybody in the Morgantown area has been full quite a long time now. As far as I know, everything through St. Clairsville, Ohio, is booked up," said manager Jennifer Cline.
People who waited until the last minute to make reservations are out of luck, she said. "They're not going to have rooms."
The WVU Visitors Center has been inundated with phone calls, too. They are mostly from alumni, from New Jersey to Florida and points in between.
"People have called begging for rooms. Everything is packed and jammed," employee Esther Heft said. "One man was so desperate he said, `Please, just a bedroom and a place to take a shower."'
Heft directed him to the Bartlett House, a local homeless shelter.
"People are desperate," Heft said. "I don't think it's ever been this bad."
But Sharon Semans, executive director of the Bartlett House, said football fans shouldn't expect any help from her. She laughed when told that she might be getting visitors who could actually afford to pay.
"Well, they can direct them here, but if they are not homeless they cannot stay here," she said. The shelter is capable of housing 35 homeless people a night and averages 20 to 25 per night.
"I would hate to think we were putting people up and someone who was actually homeless would come in and need a spot."
The WVU Alumni Association is making sure enthusiasm for the game remains high by holding rallies in three cities this week. Free receptions are planned for Tuesday at the Holiday Inn in Parkersburg, Wednesday at the Embassy Suites in Charleston and Thursday at the McLure House in Wheeling.
And Rocco Muriale will be there to ensure the game-day parties come off smoothly.
The owner of Muriale's Restaurant and catering service said he can't take on any more clients. He's already handling 2,000 parties Saturday, including the Ohio State alumni tent, which is expected to attract at least 800 visitors.
"Overall, there's a lot of hype and buildup about the game," he said.
"I don't feel the economy, though, will feel as big of a boost as it did when Marshall was here last year," he said. "For that game, people came up from other areas of the state and spent two or three days here."
The big game also has fans scrambling for tickets, including fake ones. University officials say they have received complaints from fans who say they were offered tickets to a fictitious 400 section at Mountaineer Field.
Chris Warner has season tickets on the 45-yard line but ran a classified ad to find two extras for his brother.
Warner, a Morgantown businessman, said some ticket-sellers are demanding $250 for an end zone seat and $450 for something between the 20-yard lines. A handful were asking only $125, he said.
The regular selling price is $25. Scalping is legal in West Virginia.
"I don't know what it is about this game," Warner said. "I guess it's being No. 1 in the nation.
"In the past, there's always been a sense you could get a ticket somewhere," he said. "This is the first game, after 20 years of being in Morgantown, that you can't get a ticket."
By the end of the week, the spray-painted sheets that ordinarily dangle from student houses on game days will begin to appear.
Kroger grocery stores and McDonald's restaurants, meanwhile, are doing their part to make sure everyone is properly outfitted, selling T-shirts and caps commemorating "Kickoff '98."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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