Fellow EMAWs,
I had the displeasure of attending our last game at Miller Puskar Stadium in 2016 with my wife and 2 young boys(age 6 and 9 at the time) and wanted to pass along some tips to anyone brave enough to make the trip this time.
Lodging – Can’t help you out here as we drove our Freedom Traveler RV up from our home base in Bird City. Trip was long but the mountains that still had their tops were gorgeous!
Tailgating – We parked at the RV lot by the stadium on Friday night and were advised by multiple WV fans to avoid tailgating outside of the stadium due to the rowdiness of the students/locals. Apparently they have had 2 stabbings the week before and 1 person died in the parking lot before the Marshall game the previous year. With 2 small future EMAW's in tow we decided to take their advice. Some WV fans did recommend we visit the Buffalo Wild Wings down the street instead of tailgating, we had never been before and I would have to say the food was subpar. My youngest Timothy got the cheeseburger and it came out cold. How do you mess up a cheeseburger?
Stadium – Miller Puskar Stadium reminds me a lot of Jack Trice except more concrete, the contractor must of got a heck of a deal on concrete as every possible surface was coated in it. After we found our seats I took the kids to the restroom and was stunned to see that none of the bathroom stalls have doors (Apparently they have had issues with people shooting up smack and overdosing during games). Of course Timmy had to go #2 so I was forced to stand where the door was supposed to be to block the view. The sight lines were alright but the whole stadium just gave me the eeeby jeebys, its like the blueprints were left over from an Warsaw Pact country. Everything was cold/gray/depressing.
I will never be making the trip again but if you are heading that way this weekend make sure to stay safe!
This sure reads like a tired troll job. However, in the event it's not and while I have my doubts as to whether this will fall on deaf ears, I'll try.
Lodging
Hotels in Morgantown are limited and therefor expensive. If you'll send us some of your flat land we'll build more.
Tailgating
First, I doubt there are any "students" tailgating in the parking lot outside the stadium. That lot (Blue Lot) is massive, and the largest and most coveted lot. It is ridiculously expensive ($800) for season parking, requires season tickets and an insane donation to the Mountaineer Athletic Club before you can buy either of those. Plus, there is a long waiting list. It's well beyond the means of the average student.
Additionally, there are thousands upon thousands of people in the Blue Lot. If you're desperate to get caught I guess that would be the place to stab someone...maybe a police station.
As for the two stabbings, surely there were witnesses with that many people there. However, Google searches for articles on "stabbings at WVU" and "stabbings in Morgantown" during the period Sept 15, 2016 - Oct 15, 2016 yield only these two articles.
An article published Sept 30, 2016 detailed the stabbing of Jamie Noble a WWE Cruiserweight who was stabbed at his home in Mercer County 3 1/2 hours from Morgantown.
https://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2016/9/30/13124094/jamie-noble-wwe-hospitalized-stabbed-twice-west-virginia-mobile-home-park-driving-disputeOn Oct 7, 2016 Shannon Jones was stabbed in a house in Hurricane WV, 3 hours from Morgantown.
https://wchstv.com/news/local/victim-identified-in-hurricane-stabbing-deathAs for the Marshall student who was supposedly murdered, can you provide a link? I can't find any news reports based on the searches I did.
Stadium
Jack Trice and Milan Puskar were both designed by the same architectural firm. IIRC correctly, we visited ISU and went with the same firm.
No one liked our bathrooms, not even us. After enough bitching and nice paydays from the Big 12 we had a $45M upgrade to the concourses, restrooms, concessions, sound system, etc. 1 year after your visit.
We too think the stadium was pretty bare. We've added banners and signage in the concourses celebrating past stars and accomplishments. It's still not what we want but anyone being honest knows we won't be getting a new stadium anytime soon. Truth hurts.
As for, "Apparently they have had issues with people shooting up smack and overdosing during games", can you provide a link? Anything that has reached an "issue" level should be documented.
As for your eeeby jeebys, perhaps you need to toughen up. I can provide dozens of statements from LSU, Baylor, ISU and other visiting fans who somehow escaped the eeeby jeebys and had a great time. Some times people find what they're looking for regardless of whether it actually happened.
I can't wait for this weekend.
