The Mantrip Mess

The Mountaineer Mantrip - WVU's version of a pregame team walk through a crowd of fans - was a shambles for all concerned. It was disorganized and failed utterly to live up to a fraction of the hype that preceded it.

The first sign of trouble was one of the blue-shirted CSC event staff. You know the type from the Coliseum: self-important to a fault. Had one of those Mission Control full-ear headsets on which presumably put him in contact with someone, somewhere but - as usual - prevented him from hearing anything or anyone in his presence. So much for communication and coordination.

State troopers arrived late and, disciplined fellows that they are, asked for orders from their superiors. Except there were neither superiors nor orders. The troopers fell back into usual parade-route routine, vaguely waving at the crowd and telling them to - wait for it - 'Get back.' Real helpful stuff, this.

Nobody - including CSC Headset Man - knew where the team buses were or when they would arrive. The cheerleaders and band had arrived at the trailhead many long minutes before and cheek cramps were imminent as the female cheerleaders' forced smiles for the cameras became grimaces.

Finally the buses arrived. The driver of the lead bus attempted the impossible: a simultaneous left and right turn. And so as he frantically cranked the wheel from side to side his 60 ft vehicle headed straight at the assembled crowd causing a bit of a panic. He fought valiantly and brought it to a stop in the middle of the intersection. Whew.

Who would lead the team out? Coach? Captains? Prominent players? Again, planning was rather thin on the ground as a random assortment of anyone BUT players and coaches (trainers, managers) wandered aimlessly off the buses. The band blurted out the least enthusiastic rendition of the fight song in the history of the university. Eventually the players emerged, wearing random outfits and every athlete's standard accessory of headphones - which means they neither spoke to nor heard the crowd. So much for unity with the fan base.

Coach Holgorsen strode through the crowd, exhibiting all the warmth of a harried business traveler attempting to make his late-night connection in the busy Delta terminal at Hartsfield Airport. He neither spoke nor smiled. This was not a game face, rather it was clear annoyance at having to interrupt his usual gameday routine with a half-baked marketing stunt imposed upon him and his team by Athletic Director PT Barnum.

The Mantrip is emblematic of the sort of wrongheaded thinking that an inferiority complex produces i.e. They Do It Therefore We Should Do It Too. Sorry but that isn't how identity or tradition is built.

But if the Mantrip is to be made a permanent fixture then someone needs to move beyond They Do It and seek out the schools at which They Do It Right e.g. SEC schools like Auburn with its Tiger Walk.

For example: http://tnjn.com/content/storyimage/2008/10/04/100_1960.box.jpg
Crowd barriers! What an amazing concept! No cops, no CSC martinets needed.

Those who view it as a success are using some high-powered rose-colored glasses. As is too often the case, the enthusiasm and cooperative nature of West Virginia fans overcame the lack of planning and coordination to save everyone some blushes.

The Mantrip is not an organic, spontaneous thing. It is derivative. It is yet another attempt to trade on honest, heartfelt fan loyalty and spirit for crass marketing purposes. Logistically it is a nightmare since WVU's campus layout does not provide a natural and/or picturesque route. The team is not walking FROM somewhere else on campus - they are being dropped off on a street corner like urban summer day campers only to hoof it up a nondescript asphalt path past scenic Port-O-Lets and dirt piles pushed up by bulldozers and left for no apparent reason.

For these reasons and others, the Mantrip will be discontinued and perhaps soon. Good riddance. If the fans truly want the best results from their team, they should let the coaches and players concentrate on their duties full time.