Kentucky writer Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr’s new book Tore All To Pieces weaves poetry and short stories into a narrative about people and place. Inside Appalachia’s Bill Lynch recently spoke with Carver and brings us this conversation.
Home » Stories » September 6, 1980: Singer John Denver Helps Dedicate New Mountaineer Field
Published
September 6, 1980: Singer John Denver Helps Dedicate New Mountaineer Field
Listen
Share this Article
On September 6, 1980, singer John Denver and some 50,000 West Virginia University fans belted out a rousing rendition of “Country Roads” to dedicate new Mountaineer Field in Morgantown.
The big day also marked the first game for new football coach Don Nehlen. WVU’s 41-27 victory over Cincinnati would be the first of 149 wins at WVU for Nehlen, who was on his way to becoming the most successful coach in school history and a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
New Mountaineer Field replaced the old one, built in 1924, on the downtown campus. The new stadium initially seated 50,000, but expansions increased it to 63,500. The stadium’s largest crowd—some 70,000 fans—showed up in 1993 to watch WVU beat Miami of Florida to win its first Big East Conference title, in the midst of an undefeated regular season.
In the ‘90s, luxury skyboxes were added, and the Caperton Indoor Facility was completed, allowing teams to practice regardless of weather. In 2003, the stadium was renamed in honor of benefactor Mylan Puskar, while the playing field is still known as Mountaineer Field.
Watch the performance
Add WVPB as a preferred source on Google to see more from our team
On this week's premiere broadcast of Mountain Stage, host Kathy Mattea welcomes The Steel Wheels, Sam Weber, Peter Holsapple, Lily Talmers, and Rylee Bapst Band to the Memorial Auditorium in Athens, OH.
Miranda Lacy and Harold Rogers became fast friends during their undergraduate years. They both shared their dreams with one another: Rogers wanted to use his education to become a psychotherapist, Lacy a social worker. So, they were delighted to be reunited for graduate school – at an online Master's in Social Work program at West Virginia University. Little did they know, their journey there would be much harder.
On this episode of The Legislature Today, the state budget was the focal point this week. Thursday night, the House of Delegates concurred with final tweaks made by the Senate earlier that morning to increase Hope Scholarship funding, covering five quarters of payments into the 2027-2028 school year, trim road paving, and for the first time, fund the Flood Resiliency Fund.