My letter to Rick Reilly

Mr. Reilly -

Before I begin, let me start off by saying that although I wholeheartedly disagree with your opinion of West Virginia and our basketball coach, I will respect your right to say it with all the fight that I have in me. That being said, I would like to offer a response on behalf of West Virginians all over the world to your recent negative article about the state of West Virginia and the beloved Mountaineers who represent that great state.

After reading your sarcastic, disdainful and to be brutally honest, ignorant words, I would like to give you a brief history lesson of the place that I am so proud to call home. I believe it’s probably a safe assumption judging by the tone of your article that you don’t know much about the history of our state or of the group of people that you are insulting.

Coal, in West Virginia, is king. The miners who risk their lives on a daily basis to bring that coal to the surface don't do it because they are "gritty", uninterested, or dirty. And they certainly don't do it because they "don't care" about their appearance or what people think about them. They do it because it keeps our state's economy going and it puts food on the tables of their families. Some of these men dig in the very mines that their fathers and their grandfathers did, going about their business without knowing that prejudice like yours exists. Would you believe, Mr. Reilly, that it wasn't even us dirty West Virginians' idea to begin mining in the hills of our state? Actually, speculators from out of town discovered that coal deposits ran rampant in our mountains and they tried for years, beginning in the 1840s to figure out a way to begin mining that coal because they knew it would make them rich, West Virginians be damned.

Ironically enough though, the very mountains that contained the coal were the obstacles keeping these money hungry speculators away from their prize. Because the state is so mountainous there was no railroad in and out in the mid 1800s, and without a lot civilized communities, there was no bank to finance such a project. Actually, after the Civil War, West Virginians lived relatively peacefully and happily until companies in Europe and New York saw the potential for the money they could make by mining the coal from the West Virginia hills and decided to go ahead and make an investment. So in came the railroads, ripping through the beautiful mountains of our majestic state at the cost of many lives. The coal industry in our state has taken thousands of lives since the 1880s and thousands more have been sickened with diseases like black lung. Just think, if it weren't for the sacrifices of such men, you may not have had the electricity to write such a well-informed article.

The big companies that owned these mines hired immigrants who they thought were disposable, immigrants who started families who remain in West Virginia, working hard and earning their keep. These families have become the backbone of our state and will most likely remain there for years to come. Sometimes, these miners would work from morning to night without a break on their hands and knees in cramped, dark spaces miles underground. With just a pick or a small shovel, these miners could dig up to ten tons of coal per day. Ten tons of coal in one day. Imagine putting your laptop down and working that hard at something. It's a good thing us West Virginians don't like places with a lot of light, huh Mr. Reilly?

Not only did miners work in these conditions, but entire mining towns were owned by the mining companies. Instead of making money, these hard working men would be paid something called "scrip" which was only good at company stores. If a miner didn't do everything according to the mining company's plan, then too bad for that miner and his family. Soon, because of the deplorable conditions of the mines and the way they were being treated, the miners began to stand up to th evils they were facing. These hard-working West Virginia miners began trying to organize a union so that they could be ensured some fairness and some safety. The mining companies, owned by the above-mentioned speculators were afraid that this would cause them to lose money and even access to the coal in the mountains, so they responded with a type of brutality that can't be imagined.

In the early 1900s, when miners pushed toward organizing a union for these rights, the coal companies began to fight back and soon a period of time in West Virginia known as the mine wars began. You're a journalist so you can research the mine wars on your own, but the violence toward these men in our state who simply wanted a better life for themselves and their families became so bad that martial law was declared. Since you clearly are not above the stereotypes, you should realize that this is the period of time when a lot of them started. Surely because of all of the violence, we were just an uneducated, barbaric lot. You should know though, that the violence was not caused on the part of the hard working miners, but because of a security force hired by the coal companies that began killing unsuspecting men. It got so bad that in 1921, President Harding sent troops into West Virginia to control the situation. Obviously, conditions have improved outside of the mines immensely as time has passed, but there isn't much to be done to improve conditions underground, where miners still spend hours a day risking their lives to provide our great country with the natural resources necessary to keep on functioning.

It is painfully obvious that you are ill-informed when it comes to the past experiences of the very miners who you insinuate are lazy. Then again, maybe you're right. They must be lazy. I mean, do you realize they pipe the play-by-play into the mines now so that they will actually show up for work? It's just a basketball game. A basketball game coached by such a bad guy with players who probably haven't even gone to class this semester anyway. What's the big deal, right?

I don't read many of your columns. To be honest, this might be the first one. Forgive me for that, but I'm just not that impressed. I can only hope that since you are paid to do this for a living, you are a little more well-informed about sports than you are about the character of the men and women. If you know about basketball, hopefully you know that the fast break was created by Davis and Elkins College Coach Cam Henderson or that Neal Baisi took it one step further at West Virginia Tech. Or that Danny Heater scored 135 points in one game for little known Heaters High School. Or that Georgeanne Wells was the first woman to dunk a basketball in a college game at the National Guard Armory in Elkins. Or about the great West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference that ruled college basketball in the middle of the 20th century. You probably also know about other great coaches like Clair Bee, Fred Schaus, George King nad Press Maravich (Pete's dad) who coached in the state. And surely you know the long list of basketball players who have come from there: Rod Hundley, Jerry West, Rod Thorn, Hal Greer, Mike D'Antoni and Bimbo Coles just to name a few.

These names and events are all important to us for many reasons. It's no secret that we get very little respect as a state. Admittedly, some truth lies in a lot of the stereotypes. We are poor and therefore do not have many opportunities economically. Coal is our saving grace. Other than its natural beauty, the simple, refreshing way of life,and the wonderfully rich Appalachian culture full of wonderful people, West Virginia doesn't provide much of a path to success for it's residents. For many people growing up there, athletics provides an escape from the sometimes crippling poverty and circumstances that are responsible for the disrespect we receive and the jokes that are made about us.

Without a professional sports team, we tend to follow small town athletes instead. From the time they loft their first jump shot until they walk into the locker room after their final play, they remain in the spotlight. The one thing that each one of these school boy athletes have in common, is that they typically dream of one day running out of the tunnel at the Coliseum as a West Virginia Mountaineer. Most times, their careers end at small in-state colleges and they become successful in other endeavors. Chances are though, that because of the nature of our state and our peoples' appreciation of hard work, years after their careers have ended, they'll still be recognized when they walk down the street and reminded of their glory days. Every once in a while though, somebody makes it just a little further and it gives the rest of us hope.

This year, somebody has made it just a little bit further. Somebody has given the rest of us hope. West Virginia University has made it to their first Final Four since 1959, when the school boy running out of that tunnel was none other than Jerry West, the NBA logo. The view of West Virginia is not new, and it clearly hasn't changed. Long before he was given the nickname "Mr. Clutch", his nickname was "Zeke from Cabin Creek." No matter if he was from a small town called Cheylan that acted as very important hub in industrial southern West Virginia. Back then, West Virginia University boasted the number one basketball program in the country, and much like now the entire state was stricken with basketball fever. Also much like now, the Mountaineers were giving a downtrodden state that most people looked down upon some hope. That team lost in the 1959 National Championship game to a California team coached by Pete Newell, who would go on to Coach Jerry West in the 1960 Olympic games.

History has a funny way of repeating itself. This Saturday, after fifty one long years, the people of our great state have a chance to be a part of something once again bigger than the stereotypes. A chance to prove to the rest of the country that yes, we can be the best at something. A chance provided to us by none other than the ulcerous porcupine himself, Coach Bob Huggins. We still don’t get a lot of respect, as evidenced by articles like yours. All one has to do is listen to a nationally televised broadcast to realize that even the announcers are cheering against us. When WVU's starting five takes that floor on Saturday night, millions of proud West Virginians from the deepest coal mines in the state to military bases on the other side of the world will be right there with them. Collectively, we will be bigger than any of the negativity that has shone through in your writing. If we prevail, it will mean more to our state than you will ever know. That in itself is something for us to be proud of, because judging from your cynicism; I would imagine that you've never been lucky enough to feel that way.

You can talk about the mistakes Coach Huggins has made. Like everybody else, he's human and he has made a poor decision or two. He'll be the first to admit that his DUI in 2004 wasn't the smartest decision he could've made. You can talk about the "zero point zero" grade point average of one of his players until it is revealed that the player was an NBA prospect who wouldn't have been given a chance at all without Coach Huggins and who, you guessed it, ended up playing in the NBA. You can talk about his sledgehammer style and the fact that you can't find one "shining moment" or the fact that he demands that his players give so much of themselves that they leave practice with an occasional bump or bruise. What you can't talk about though, because it’s immeasurable, is what Coach Huggins has done for countless players, our state and our people.

There is a lot of talk about Coach Huggins not being "huggable", but I would challenge you to find one former player, or even an average citizen in our state, who would agree with your assessment. After he was dismissed from Cincinnati, much to the chagrin of all around him, his team invited him to back to sit courtside at their last home game to show their appreciation. After he took the West Virginia job, and the Mountaineers played at Cincinnati, the people honored him with a pre-game tribute. He's done so much for so many people, but he gets such a bad rap because he, like many other people in our great state, keeps his mouth shut and goes to work day after day. Did you ever stop to think that if he's done such a good thing for a kid like Joe Mazzulla, that maybe he's done something similar for numerous other players and even coaches? When he left Kansas State to come home to West Virginia, he did so knowing that Frank Martin, a deserving candidate who had been loyal to him for years, was going to get the coaching job. In your article, you called Coach Martin a "crazy-eyed, death-staring Huggins wannabe", but nowhere in your article did I see you acknowledge Kansas State's spectacular run in the tournament.

Coach Huggins left Kansas State to pursue his dream job and because he believed in us. He's just another West Virginia school boy who dreamed of running out of that tunnel and worked hard enough to do it. As an athlete, he was an Academic All-American at the University who graduated near the top of his class. When he took the job at West Virginia, he did so with the intention of winning a national championship. Now, he has the Mountaineers in a position to do just that.

Say he's emotionless if you must. Ignore the tears in his eyes upon hearing Country Roads in Madison Square Garden after winning the Big East Championship. Ignore the fact that he has gone on countless tours throughout the state because he knows just how big Mountaineer basketball is to us. Ignore the fact that he plans on doing it again, but this time with a championship trophy in tow, just to give everybody in the state a chance to be a part of something that doesn't happen to our state very often.

On Saturday night, millions of current and former Mountaineers will be glued to their televisions and radios, living or dying with every possession. Regardless of the result, we will have Coach Huggins to thank for that. Because for one shining moment, which believe doesn't exist in the steep plateaus of our state, for all of us who believed, we will have been at the top of the world. Just knowing that his belief in our state and the values of hard work he instills have paid dividends for a group that nobody has given a chance is enough. And in the words of another proud West Virginian, it will be a great day to be a Mountaineer. Should we hoist that trophy on Monday in Indianapolis, hopefully Coach Huggins will be one step closer to a Hall of Fame that you will never, ever see.
 
Once a Mountaineer, always a Mountaineer.