On New Year?s Eve we spent the whole day exploring the hotel and talking to some of the other media professionals that are in Arizona for the Fiesta Bowl. We met some of the West Virginia media personnel, along with the Oklahoma student television station. I talked to them about what they thought of the match-up between the Sooners and the Mountaineers and it was pretty interesting. They are a little worried about our offense and our ability to run the ball (which they should be!) and are a little bummed that so many of their players had to go home before the big game. Their defensive back, Marcus DeGranger had to go home because he stole a t-shirt. Who comes to a bowl game with a once in a lifetime chance to play in a great football game, and steals a t-shirt? As a member of the football team, they are allowed to get up to $500 worth of merchandise, according to NCAA regulations, yet he still stole a t-shirt. The Oklahoma boys were a little embarrassed, but still thought that they will beat us on January 2nd. I told them that their defense didn?t stand a chance against our offense, and that with interim head coach Bill Stewart in charge, we were going to run the ball like crazy and have a hugely high scoring game.

Last night was the Insight Fiesta Bowl Block Party, which was held in the Miller Avenue District and Tempe Beach Park, near Arizona State University. It?s a big block party thrown in celebration of New Years Eve. When we got there, I didn?t realize how big the actual event would be. When they said Block Party, they literally meant five blocks of nothing but food vendors selling delicious food that you could smell miles away, bars with lines out the door and both Insight Bowl and Fiesta Bowl fans everywhere. There were tons of local bands playing, some of them were even cover bands for AC/DC and Tom Petty. At almost every center of every block, there was a band playing. People were walking all over the streets, wearing the colors of the team they supported, and were decked out in 2008 party gear.

At the center of the block party, there was a huge carnival, with a Ferris wheel and tons of rides for the partygoers to catch a few thrills on.

There was also a rock-climbing wall that was in the middle of the street, with people walking past participants who were suspended in the air trying to climb to the top. The energy at the block party was incredible, with people celebrating the Oklahoma State win in the Insight Bowl over Indiana, and Fiesta Bowl fans walking down the street cheering for their team. We kept hearing the faithful ?Let?s Go? Mountaineers!? cheer as we walked down the streets, with fans joining in when they saw each other. The bowl culture has really swept people out here, and they are embracing it with all they?ve got.

I was lucky enough to talk to a few of the Mountaineer fans as they were walking around the block party. Most of the fans at the party didn?t have a lot of plans other than prepare and pre-game for the actual event; expect some ?good old-fashioned tailgating.? The one thing that I consistently heard from all of the Mountaineer faithful that I spoke to was their disappointment in the University not having a fan center this year. The fan center is a place where WVU fans from all over the country come together and meet other fans, catch up with friends they might not have seen since their days at WVU and to celebrate with the rest of the Mountaineer loyal who attended the game. The University canceled their fan tent because of the small amount of Mountaineers who were actually able to travel to the game, but all of the fans that I have spoken to seem disappointed that there was no central place for them to gather. Nonetheless, they were excited to be there and the have the Mountaineer experience with the friends and family that they traveled with.

With the University only selling 8,500 tickets to the game, there were not as many Mountaineer fans as I would have liked, but the ones that came were true fans, who were so excited for the game, and for the opportunity to play in the Fiesta Bowl that it made up for the less than exciting number of people who were there. Michael Smith, a Mountaineer fan who traveled down here with four other faithful ?Eers fans, said that he was ?disappointed with there being no fan center, because it?s a time for people to get together to talk with other fans,? but he wasn?t going to let the lack of a fan center stop him from having a good time. Smith and his friends are season ticket holders who traveled down here to support the ?Eers. So far, the trip has been worth it for them, even if some of them lost $600 when they anticipated that we would be traveling to New Orleans for the National Championship game, instead of the Fiesta Bowl. Even with the disappointing loss to Pittsburgh that prevented us from going to the National Championship game, Smith and his friends were not disappointed to be in Arizona.

Most importantly, they were not disappointed or worried about the team, even in sight of the loss of former head coach Rich Rodriguez. ?We are here to support the team, not the coach,? Smith said, ?We want to see the kids do well.?

For me, that was the most important thing to hear from a faithful fan. It seemed to these Mountaineer fans that it wasn?t the coach who won the game, but the players, and our new coach, whoever he may be, will surely lead us to football glory because of the players that he will be working with.

Right before midnight, the Barenaked Ladies were still performing, and were giving a ten minute countdown to new years. They were pumping up the crowd, and it will probably be the only time that Sooner and Mountaineer fans alike will be cheering for the same end, a happy New Year and good start to 2008. When the ten second countdown began, everyone was yelling and counting down. At midnight, cheers erupted and everyone was shouting ?Happy New Year!? Right over our heads at the pavilion, fireworks were sent up and the whole crowd cheered and started talking about the New Year being brought in right. It was a crazy night, full of tons of college football fans, and a great way to ring in 2008 with style.

All photography by Kendal Montgomery