Wayne Armstrong, and his wife of 50-years Sue Ann, tried to make things as normal as possible.
In some ways it was just like any other college football Saturday during the course of their marriage. The pair traveled out to their motor home, had a cold beverage and a meal and got settled in to watch their beloved Mountaineers open the season against Eastern Kentucky.
But something about this wasn’t normal.
That’s because for the first time since 1966, when Wayne was a freshman at West Virginia, he wasn’t in the stands watching the game.
It isn’t anybody’s fault that the COVID-19 pandemic forced West Virginia to allow no spectators for the season opener and again for the Oct. 3 matchup against Baylor but it doesn’t make it any easier.
The pair had been going to games together since 1969 against Pittsburgh and it was that same season against Richmond in what he describes as blistering cold weather where he jokes that he had found the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
“She stayed that whole game with me so I knew I had a keeper,” he said with a laugh.
The two have attended every single game – although sometimes Wayne didn’t arrive until the second quarter when taking their son to his ballgames – since. There have been a lot of memories with the two buying that motor home and making it a staple of their routine.
It’s a feat that Armstrong describes with pride and a little bit of luck citing that Sue Ann had to be on board, he had a job that allowed Saturday’s to be free and then needed the right group of people to share those experiences with. That group of people came to rely on them for the game day routine.
That reliance came in large part because the two hosted themed tailgates at their familiar location. The themes ranged from all-American, Mexican Fiesta, October Fest, Italian and Hot Butter Rum. The latter was one that made him very popular at some of those cold weather contests.
Some of the people involved have changed overtime whether by passing on or deciding not to continue going to games but their tailgates are still very well received amongst their friends.
“That kept the streak going,” he said.
----
Weirton resident Vice Gurrera is a lifelong West Virginia fan that started his academic career at Pittsburgh on a scholarship. But after a year there, Gurrera realized that his heart was always in Morgantown and arrived in the fall of 1982. His first game was the Maryland game that year and he hadn’t missed a home game and a total of only 15 away games since that point.
He attended games through his undergrad and law school, then bought season tickets as soon as he graduated and has continued that tradition every year since.
“It’s just part of my routine,” he said. “The only thing that’s changed is where I’ve sat.”
Gurrera’s game-day rituals of course involve a tailgate, but he is typically in his seats two-hours before the game ready for kickoff in the Touchdown Terrace. That of course wasn’t possible for the opener due to the restrictions so he improvised with his time.
The day of the Eastern Kentucky game Gurrera rose out of bed early in the morning with excitement so he decided to go to his office to get some work done prior to kickoff.
“It was the longest three and a half hours of my life,” he said.
It hadn’t really truly hit him that he wouldn’t in the stands until right before kickoff when he settled in with his girlfriend to watch the home game on television. At first he thought that it would be like one of those away games that he missed, but not hearing and seeing those familiar pageantries was too much.
“When they showed the stadium I said ‘what the hell is going on here? It really truly was wild. It was crazy and it was so weird because I’m used to getting text messages before the game asking me what channel it was on or what’s going on, how the atmosphere is or I’m taking pictures in the Blue Lot,” he said. “But this was completely different the game felt weird.”
----
Scott Guinn would take it even a step further. After attending every home game since 1999 and every single game since 2003, the fact that he couldn’t be in the stands for Eastern Kentucky simply “sucked.”
Guinn couldn’t help but feel that his own personal streak had been snapped by the decision although he realizes that it was out of his control. He couldn’t help but be upset Saturday on game day knowing that he wasn’t going to be in the stands and while he couldn’t tailgate in his familiar Blue Lot location, he did make the trip to Mountaineer Field just to walk around and take in the scenes prior to kickoff.
“I walked a couple laps around the stadium and listened to the sounds of the outside. I waited until the game kicked off and headed back to my car and then watched it on television,” Guinn said. “It was just something that I’m not used to. It was weird watching the game on T.V. I was just very stoic.”
It’s a streak that is very important to Guinn but one that grew overtime. He didn’t set out to attend every game at first, but as time passed it became more and more routine. It became about more than just the football games, but instead the traditions and everything else that accompanies it.
It’s also something he has never taken for granted.
“I know I’ve been lucky,” he said. “But it just sucks.”
----
With so many games under his belt, Armstrong of course have some that stand out above the rest. That Pittsburgh game in 1969, his first with Sue Ann, ranks at the top of his list for personal reasons but there of course are others that immediately come to mind.
His most exciting? The 1984 Boston College game where the Mountaineers toppled Doug Flutie and the Eagles in dramatic fashion. The check list also has classics such as the 1984 Penn State game, the 1988 Penn State game, the 2005 Louisville game, the 1993 Miami game and of course the 1975 Pittsburgh game with Bill McKenzie’s game-winning field goal.
Gurrera’s most memorable game during his streak had nothing to do with what happened on the field. West Virginia beat Mississippi State 38-13 in 2007 on the field but in the stands it marked the first time that his mother attended a game with him. An Italian immigrant, his mother had grown fond of the Mountaineers by watching on television but the game-day experience was new to her.
Known for never leaving a game early, Gurrera recognized late in the game that the outcome had been well decided so he gave his mother the rare opportunity to leave before it was over.
“Right in front of everybody she said we don’t leave until that clock says zero and we sing that Country Roads song,” he fondly recalls.
The 1993 Miami game is one that he will never forget on the field for the obvious ramifications and the atmosphere inside the stadium on that cold November day where the Mountaineers would win 17-14.
“It was freezing cold but as soon as you got to the game you didn’t feel it at all. It just felt like an amazing atmosphere and everybody was just excited to be there,” he said.
For Guinn, the 2003 Virginia Tech game, where the Mountaineers knocked off the No. 3 Hokies reigns supreme on his list of experiences during his personal streak. The atmosphere, despite the stadium not even being full was fully charged and from start to finish the fans were involved.
“That was so much fun,” he said.
----
None of these people were in the stands against Eastern Kentucky and the same will be true for the Baylor game. Guinn can’t help but feel his streak was snapped, albeit out of his control, while Gurrera takes a different approach that he had the tickets in hand but just wasn’t allowed in the stadium.
Armstrong is somewhere in the middle as he realizes that while he wasn’t in the stands, he still hasn’t missed a home game that he could attend in 54 years. This weekend will again be very different for all three of these fans yet again.
Each will have their own routine to try to fill the void but anxiously await when they will be able to get back in the stands against Kansas and continue the traditions that they hold so dear.
“It is a point of pride. I was proud of the streak that I had going,” Armstrong said. “It always amazed people. For the Eastern Kentucky game, we were kind of lost. It just didn’t seem the same.”
----------
• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot.
• SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting.
• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel
• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan
•Like us on Facebook
