Number 5: Sums it up nicely

[Marine03]

I mean has anyone ever listened to John Denvers song? Only the geographically challenged would adopt it as their "school song."

Outkick The CoverageCollege Football Blog
The Ten Dumbest Fan Bases in America: #5 the West Virginia Mountaineers

Paul Abell / USA TODAY Sports
By Clay TravisAug 13, 2015 at 10:19a ET
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Two years ago Outkick the Coverage named West Virginia the eighth dumbest fan base in America, and the state -- at least the parts with Internet-- came undone. It led to an epic hate mailbag filled with the most grammatically challenged emails you've ever seen. A year later this cycle repeated itself when local news in West Virgnia, not realizing the story was a year old, led their newscast with Outkick's dumbest fan base ranking, leading to another cycle of Mountaineer abuse.
Everyone who wasn't a West Virginia fan was united in a core belief -- I'd vastly underrated the Mountaineer fanbase's stupidity. How had I only ranked them eighth? Many people wrote in with truly damning insults that cut right to the core of West Virginia. No, it wasn't that they were statistically the dumbest state in the union, or the fact that they are the only state to lose population since 1940 -- do you know how hard it is to lose population while the rest of the country has nearly tripled its overall population? -- it was this: the state's John Denver national anthem, "Take Me Home, Country Roads," is actually written about western Virginia, not actually West Virginia.Quoth an emailer who requested anonymity because he currently lives in the state: "Not only is John Denver's 'Country Roads' the University song, it is the unofficial state song of West Virginia. The comical part -- it was written about west (western) Virginia. Ask someone in Morgantown to point you to the Blue Ridge Mountains or Shenandoah River. Nothing like some West Virginians collectively singing a song about a different state. Specifically an area relating to Virginia Tech, one of their rivals."
Too. Perfect.
This was mind blowing.
But the craziest thing of all is this -- ask anyone the most recognizable part of West Virginia athletics and they all agree -- it's couch burning.
This happens when you don't ever win anything; you're known for destroying things instead. Do you know how many men's national championships the school has won in its history? One, the 1938 boxing title.
To be fair, West Virginia has won 17 national titles in coed rifle shooting. Honestly, I'm not making this up. Their rifle team is even a part of something called the Great America Rifle Conference, which, I'm sure, features a ton of Democrats. The school does boast, however, that its football team has the most wins ever without winning a national championship. Which sums up West Virginia perfectly. Win some, lose the games that matter.
At least things are going well with the coal industry. With all the hoopla surrounding Outkick's dumbest fan base rankings, I decided it was time I head to West Virginia for a game. And by "head to West Virginia for a game" I meant "burn a couch."





Turns out there were only four stores that sold couches in Morgantown and buying a couch was more difficult than I anticipated.





After that I went out to talk to the fans. Here's a quick hitter of fans discussing whether they are actually that dumb and how safe Clay Travis would ever be if he showed his face in Morgantown.





It's totally clear I underrated them.





Here are the rest of Outkick's ten dumbest fan bases:





10. The University of Tennessee





9. Outkick the Coverage/Clay Travis fans





8. The University of Arkansas





7. The University of Texas





6. Notre Dame




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[WhiteTailEER]

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2409

"The Country Roads in this song are in West Virginia, but Denver had never even been to West Virginia. Bill and Taffy Danoff started writing the song while driving to Maryland - they'd never been to West Virginia either! Danoff got his inspiration from postcards sent to him by a friend who DID live there, and from listening to the powerful AM station WWVA out of Wheeling, West Virginia, which he picked up in Massachusetts when he was growing up.

Danoff told NPR in 2011: "I just thought the idea that I was hearing something so exotic to me from someplace as far away. West Virginia might as well have been in Europe, for all I knew."

"

"The Shenandoah River is in West Virginia, running right through Harper's Ferry into the Potomac. The Blue Ridge Mountain Ranges run in a strip from northeast West Virginia to its southwest across the eastern part of the state. Clopper Road originates in Gaithersburg, Maryland. It was a single lane road, but is now a busy four-lane road that heads to Germantown, Maryland. No country road anymore... not even close! It is attainable by exiting off of I-270 at Exit 10."


It's always handy to have this ready, because it never fails that a Marshall fan will try to say that Country Roads isn't actually about WV. As if Thunderstruck is about Marshall.

 

[Marine03]

Only 20 of the 150 miles the Shenendoah runs is in WV. The Blue Ridge Mountains are traditionally defined as the easternmost flank of the Appalachian Mountain chain, running roughly north-south from Pennsylvania to Georgia. They pass through only a sliver of West Virginia. Based on the geographical references in the lyrics, many have argued that John Denver shortened “western Virginia” to “west Virginia” (lowercase ‘w’) because the extra syllable would have disrupted the cadence of the refrain.

Besides that, the number 5 dumbest fan base continues to never disappoint.

 

[WhiteTailEER]

Only 20 of the 150 miles the Shenendoah runs is in WV. The Blue Ridge Mountains are traditionally defined as the easternmost flank of the Appalachian Mountain chain, running roughly north-south from Pennsylvania to Georgia. They pass through only a sliver of West Virginia. Based on the geographical references in the lyrics, many have argued that John Denver shortened “western Virginia” to “west Virginia” (lowercase ‘w’) because the extra syllable would have disrupted the cadence of the refrain.

Besides that, the number 5 dumbest fan base continues to never disappoint.

What I posted came directly from interviews with the people that wrote the song ... I'll go with what they say and they say it is about West Virginia.

Also ... throw in "miner's lady, stranger to blue water" ... VA isn't exactly known for coal mining, and it also boarders the ocean while WV does not.

 

[Marine03]

What I posted came straight from blue ridge outdoors.com. As for coal in Virginia yes it's always produced coal until recently (Southwest Virginia)

Southwest Virginia coal production continues decline
Industry officials say the region’s coal production peaked in 1997.





Correction
Virginia produced 15.3 million tons of coal in 2014 and 30.2 million tons in 2004. The numbers were incorrect in an earlier version of this story.

9

By Allie Robinson Gibson Bristol Herald Courier| Posted 10 months ago

Coal has seen its share of booms and busts throughout the past century, but some say the current downturn in the industry is the worst they can remember.


“The only one I can remember like the one now was in the mid-50s,” said Harry Childress, who has worked in the mines his whole life and now is president of the Virginia Coal and Energy Alliance. “I remember my dad being out of work and looking for odd jobs and trying to provide for us. But it came back.

“Now, I don’t know.”

Here’s what he means by a bust: Southwest Virginia produces about half the coal it did 10 years ago.

The tonnage of coal produced has dropped by about 2 million tons per year since 2011, and appears to be on track to do so again this year.

And Alpha Natural Resources, one of the largest coal producers and leading producer of metallurgical coal, has lost about 5,000 employees since 2011, as it slimmed down after acquiring Massey Energy.

The numbers

In 2014, Virginia produced 15.3 million tons of coal, according to the state Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, which keeps track of mines in the state and the tons produced, people employed and hours on the job.

In 2004, with 4,558 employees reported to the DMME, 30.2 million tons of coal were produced. Last year, there were 3,632 employees, and about half as much coal produced.

The number of mines operating in the state has steadily declined in the last decade — in 2004, there were 294 mines, and in 2014, just 216.

 

[WhiteTailEER]

What I posted came straight from blue ridge outdoors.com. As for coal in Virginia yes it's always produced coal until recently (Southwest Virginia)

Southwest Virginia coal production continues decline
Industry officials say the region’s coal production peaked in 1997.





Correction
Virginia produced 15.3 million tons of coal in 2014 and 30.2 million tons in 2004. The numbers were incorrect in an earlier version of this story.

9

By Allie Robinson Gibson Bristol Herald Courier| Posted 10 months ago

Coal has seen its share of booms and busts throughout the past century, but some say the current downturn in the industry is the worst they can remember.


“The only one I can remember like the one now was in the mid-50s,” said Harry Childress, who has worked in the mines his whole life and now is president of the Virginia Coal and Energy Alliance. “I remember my dad being out of work and looking for odd jobs and trying to provide for us. But it came back.

“Now, I don’t know.”

Here’s what he means by a bust: Southwest Virginia produces about half the coal it did 10 years ago.

The tonnage of coal produced has dropped by about 2 million tons per year since 2011, and appears to be on track to do so again this year.

And Alpha Natural Resources, one of the largest coal producers and leading producer of metallurgical coal, has lost about 5,000 employees since 2011, as it slimmed down after acquiring Massey Energy.

The numbers

In 2014, Virginia produced 15.3 million tons of coal, according to the state Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, which keeps track of mines in the state and the tons produced, people employed and hours on the job.

In 2004, with 4,558 employees reported to the DMME, 30.2 million tons of coal were produced. Last year, there were 3,632 employees, and about half as much coal produced.

The number of mines operating in the state has steadily declined in the last decade — in 2004, there were 294 mines, and in 2014, just 216.

I never said they didn't produce coal ... but thanks for wasting your time trying to disprove a point that wasn't being made.

When somebody says "coal miner", people don't think of VA, they think of WV

 

[WhiteTailEER]

What I posted came straight from blue ridge outdoors.com

And again ... what I posted came from interviews with the people that wrote the song.

Now, who would be the authoritative source regarding the subject of the song? The actual songwriters, or blueridgeoutdoors.com?

 

[Marine03]

The MD 117 Clopper Road was the inspiration behind it.
So country roads was inspired by a road in Maryland, a sliver of mountains and 20 of 150 miles of the Shendoah River. I think Clay should rank you higher

 

[WhiteTailEER]

The MD 117 Clopper Road was the inspiration behind it.
So country roads was inspired by a road in Maryland, a sliver of mountains and 20 of 150 miles of the Shendoah River. I think Clay should rank you higher

The songwriters stated that it was about WV ...

This looks like another ranking that Marshall should be ahead of WV in ... back to back to back

 

[MichiganHerd]

The MD 117 Clopper Road was the inspiration behind it.
So country roads was inspired by a road in Maryland, a sliver of mountains and 20 of 150 miles of the Shendoah River. I think Clay should rank you higher

Not to mention, the ear fans believe that the song belongs to WVU.

You're correct in regard to the ranking. How they're not a prohibitive #1 is beyond me.

 

[Marine03]

The songwriters stated that it was about WV ...

This looks like another ranking that Marshall should be ahead of WV in ... back to back to back

Well, considering I live in NY and when I tell people I'm from WV they instinctively say "I have family in Richmond" or "how close to Roanoke" I'd say the song writers probably were as geographically challenged as they are. I still do not believe that song is based on WV. The inspiration came from a road in Maryland, a sliver of mountains that 99.99999 % cover Virginia and a river in which less than 20 of 150 miles covers and an artist that he used to talk to about WV. But hey, you folks adopted it and you wonder why people like Clay Travis rank you where you are.

 

[WhiteTailEER]

Well, considering I live in NY and when I tell people I'm from WV they instinctively say "I have family in Richmond" or "how close to Roanoke" I'd say the song writers probably were as geographically challenged as they are. I still do not believe that song is based on WV. The inspiration came from a road in Maryland, a sliver of mountains that 99.99999 % cover Virginia and a river in which less than 20 of 150 miles covers and an artist that he used to talk to about WV. But hey, you folks adopted it and you wonder why people like Clay Travis rank you where you are.

Give Clay Travis my phone number and have him call me every now and then to check and see if I give a shit what he thinks yet.

The songwriters said themselves it's from WV, and they weren't geographically challenged as they referenced post cards from a friend that lived there and listening to an AM station out of Wheeling.

In today's day of technology and information, ignorance of the facts has to be a deliberate act ... can't understand why anybody would choose willful ignorance.

Unless of course the facts blow their argument out of the water ....... hmmmmmm.

 

[Marine03]

Give Clay Travis my phone number and have him call me every now and then to check and see if I give a shit what he thinks yet.

The songwriters said themselves it's from WV, and they weren't geographically challenged as they referenced post cards from a friend that lived there and listening to an AM station out of Wheeling.

In today's day of technology and information, ignorance of the facts has to be a deliberate act ... can't understand why anybody would choose willful ignorance.

Unless of course the facts blow their argument out of the water ....... hmmmmmm.

Fact- Blue ridge mountains are primarily in VA
Fact- 130 of 150 miles of the river is in VA
Fact- the MD 117 was the road the song was written on and it's in Maryland

So yes the facts do blow the argument out of the water.

 

[WhiteTailEER]

Fact- Blue ridge mountains are primarily in VA
Fact- 130 of 150 miles of the river is in VA
Fact- the MD 117 was the road the song was written on and it's in Maryland

So yes the facts do blow the argument out of the water.

Fact ... the people that wrote the song said that it is about WV.

Fact ... The Blue Ridge Mountains are indeed in WV
Fact ... The Shenandoah River is indeed in WV
Fact ... WV does have thousands of the kinds of roads mentioned in the song
Fact ... Coal mining is associated with WV
Fact ... WV doesn't have "blue water", but VA does

Fact ... the people that wrote the song said that it is about WV.
Fact ... this last fact makes all of those other facts meaningless.

Fact ... Marine doesn't care for facts all that much.

 

[countryroads89]

I feel really sorry for you guys. Talking about the song Country Roads? You've got no smack.[pfftt]

 

[Marine03]

"He had never been to WV before co-writing the song and considered using Massachusetts rather than West Virginia due to the 4 syllable state name fits the songs meter."
Lmao, would the 5th dumbest fan base still have adopted it if he used Massachusetts since so much of that song is about WV?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_Me_Home,_Country_Roads

 

[Marine03]

Virginia with its 3 syllables did not fit the songs meter. Sing it and you'll see why the song says West Virginia but really has nothing else to do with the song geographically which is a pretty much known fact. Even Clay Travis knows this.

 

[WhiteTailEER]

"He had never been to WV before co-writing the song and considered using Massachusetts rather than West Virginia due to the 4 syllable state name fits the songs meter."
Lmao, would the 5th dumbest fan base still have adopted it if he used Massachusetts since so much of that song is about WV?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_Me_Home,_Country_Roads

Wikipedia?? LOL
The problem with that entry is that the song was already nearly complete before John Denver ever got involved.

"The Danoffs were hoping to get Johnny Cash to record this song when they wrote it. They almost didn't play it for Denver because they didn't think it fit his style."

They had it written, played it for John Denver one night, they finished writing it and played it on stage the next night.


It's gotta suck constantly bumping up against facts that destroy your point

 

[WhiteTailEER]

Even Clay Travis knows this.

I don't know who Clay Travis is ... but your assertion that he knows more about the song than the people that wrote it is ludicrous.

 

[Marine03]

Clay Travis is the man who calls you the 5th dumbest fan base in America

Give Clay Travis my phone number and have him call me every now and then to check and see if I give a shit what he thinks yet.

The songwriters said themselves it's from WV, and they weren't geographically challenged as they referenced post cards from a friend that lived there and listening to an AM station out of Wheeling.

In today's day of technology and information, ignorance of the facts has to be a deliberate act ... can't understand why anybody would choose willful ignorance.

Unless of course the facts blow their argument out of the water ....... hmmmmmm.

 

[Mountain Mammal]

Only 20 of the 150 miles the Shenendoah runs is in WV. The Blue Ridge Mountains are traditionally defined as the easternmost flank of the Appalachian Mountain chain, running roughly north-south from Pennsylvania to Georgia. They pass through only a sliver of West Virginia. Based on the geographical references in the lyrics, many have argued that John Denver shortened “western Virginia” to “west Virginia” (lowercase ‘w’) because the extra syllable would have disrupted the cadence of the refrain.

Besides that, the number 5 dumbest fan base continues to never disappoint.

According to Danoff (you know, the guy who actually wrote the song) it originally had different words, but was about West Virginia. Denver convinced him to change some of the words as he felt the tune would make it a hit song. Then again, he only wrote the song, we should probably defer to people who claim the writers of the tune meant something else, we certainly can't trust the writers to tell us what they meant.

Some quotes from Danoff"

The song began on Clopper Road in Gaithersburg, Md., summer 1970, on the way to a reunion of my mom’s family. Bill started singing “country roads, country roads, country roads.” We had a fan that lived in a commune in West Virginia. As songwriters, we were hard pressed to come up with a phrase that rhymed with “Maryland” and so poetic license took its natural course...

After visiting the ER, they showed up about 2 a.m. No one could sleep. John liked our songwriting and wanted to hear more. I suggested to Bill we show him “Country Roads.” He said we should finish it right then. I was the one writing the lyrics down. I lobbied heavily to include the word rhododendron, West Virginia’s state flower, but was rejected by the boys who said it was too “flowery.”

Bill or I perform it sometimes just for fun and the story behind it. Understand that it was the peak of the hippie era. We thought it was so cool and edgy at the time. John declared it would never get on the radio. We caved and rewrote the verse.

 

[WhiteTailEER]

Clay Travis is the man who calls you the 5th dumbest fan base in America

It's funny that he bases that statement on something that is patently false.

I would say that puts him high in the running for dumbest journalist (or blogger or whatever the hell he is) on the planet.

 

[MichiganHerd]

Travis also penned this gem:

http://www.foxsports.com/college-fo...-the-dumbest-sweet-16-game-of-all-time-032515

 

[Marine03]

That chili was too hot for you huh Tail?

 

[WhiteTailEER]

According to Danoff (you know, the guy who actually wrote the song) it originally had different words, but was about West Virginia. Denver convinced him to change some of the words as he felt the tune would make it a hit song. Then again, he only wrote the song, we should probably defer to people who claim the writers of the tune meant something else, we certainly can't trust the writers to tell us what they meant.

Some quotes from Danoff"

The song began on Clopper Road in Gaithersburg, Md., summer 1970, on the way to a reunion of my mom’s family. Bill started singing “country roads, country roads, country roads.” We had a fan that lived in a commune in West Virginia. As songwriters, we were hard pressed to come up with a phrase that rhymed with “Maryland” and so poetic license took its natural course...

After visiting the ER, they showed up about 2 a.m. No one could sleep. John liked our songwriting and wanted to hear more. I suggested to Bill we show him “Country Roads.” He said we should finish it right then. I was the one writing the lyrics down. I lobbied heavily to include the word rhododendron, West Virginia’s state flower, but was rejected by the boys who said it was too “flowery.”

Bill or I perform it sometimes just for fun and the story behind it. Understand that it was the peak of the hippie era. We thought it was so cool and edgy at the time. John declared it would never get on the radio. We caved and rewrote the verse.

Yeah, what the hell do they know about it anyway?

 

[WhiteTailEER]

That chili was too hot for you huh Tail?

Not at all ... It's fun countering everything with the actual facts and watching your attempts at spinning and avoiding the facts.

It's entertaining.

 

[Marine03]

Not at all ... It's fun countering everything with the actual facts and watching your attempts at spinning and avoiding the facts.

It's entertaining.

You obviously missed the video

 

[countryroads89]

I don't know who Clay Travis is ... but your assertion that he knows more about the song than the people that wrote it is ludicrous.

This is Clay Travis; he has a long history of being stupid.

http://www.landgrantholyland.com/2015/1/13/7536301/clay-travis-s-e-c-s-e-c-s-e-c-s-e-c

 

[Marine03]

This is Clay Travis; he has a long history of exposing our stupid.

http://www.landgrantholyland.com/2015/1/13/7536301/clay-travis-s-e-c-s-e-c-s-e-c-s-e-c

FIFY

 

[Marshall Jeff]

Here's a fact... Marshall football is greater than West Virginia football the last three years running.

 

[countryroads89]

Here's a fact... Marshall football is greater than West Virginia football the last three years running.

Ohio U disagrees, especially two out of the last three.

 

[WhiteTailEER]

You obviously missed the video

Just watched it ... don't know what it has to do with me or WVU, it's from a TV station from the Beckly/Bluefield area. The person in the video has nothing that would indicate an allegiance to any school at all.

As for Clay Travis ... I looked him up. A hack that couldn't cut it as a lawyer ... I mean really, have you ever met or talked to a lawyer? Clearly some are very bright but there are a lot that are making good money that can't tie their own shoes. And Clay Travis couldn't compete with them?

 

[WhiteTailEER]

Here's a fact... Marshall football is greater than West Virginia football the last three years running.

Ah yes ... you are always better on the years we don't play. We're just lucky we caught you on the only twelve years in our collective histories in which we could eek out a victory.

 

[Marine03]

Just watched it ... don't know what it has to do with me or WVU, it's from a TV station from the Beckly/Bluefield area. The person in the video has nothing that would indicate an allegiance to any school at all.

As for Clay Travis ... I looked him up. A hack that couldn't cut it as a lawyer ... I mean really, have you ever met or talked to a lawyer? Clearly some are very bright but there are a lot that are making good money that can't tie their own shoes. And Clay Travis couldn't compete with them?

I have and they all were WVU law grads and I agree with your assessment of them.

 

[WhiteTailEER]

I have and they all were WVU law grads and I agree with your assessment of them.

That would explain Mr. Travis's bitterness towards WVU and WV in general.