As a native West Virginian and graduate cum laude of West Virginia University, to say I bleed Old Gold and Blue would be an understatement.

Raised in the Nehlen era, educated through the Rodriguez years, and watching in agony during the Bill Stewart age, I now pledge my allegiance to new head coach Dana Holgorsen. Will he live up to expectations and the credo of his resume? Time will tell.

We've played undefeated seasons, we've played losing seasons. We've fought for and lost the national championship on the old forgotten stage. And we've been so close to the prestigious BCS title we could taste it, only to have it all washed away by our biggest rival.

No, being a Mountaineer fan isn't easy, but then again nothing in West Virgina is. Yet we manage to rise up, impress ourselves, and silence others again and again. We do it on the football field, we do it in the coalfields, and we do it every single day.

That's Mountaineer pride.