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Posted on 02.06.12 by Danny Glover @ 3:06 pm
My wife desperately wants to raise her own chickens. We live in a city. This story explains why my wife, thankfully, will never get her way:
Chickens belong in one of two places — in the country or on a platter. Filed under: Culture and Family and Rednecks and West Virginia Comments: None |
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Posted on 02.02.12 by Danny Glover @ 1:52 pm
That might not sound so bad during this winter of balmy weather, especially to skiers. But spring-loving rednecks who want revenge against the prophetic Phil and his Phamily of rodents should go here, where you’ll find a recipe for roasting your neighborhood groundhog, literally. Why would you want to eat a groundhog? Every redneck knows the answer: Filed under: Culture and Food and Hunting & Guns and Rednecks and West Virginia and Wildlife Comments: 1 Comment |
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Posted on 01.16.12 by Danny Glover @ 2:19 pm
I’ve had my work published in some of America’s top publications, including The New York Times, but there’s something special about seeing my byline for the first time in the local newspaper I delivered as a child — and in defense of my fellow West Virginians and Mountaineers. After writing a blog post about Jay Leno’s West Virginia jokes, I asked the executive editor of The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register if he would be interested in publishing a column on the issue. He agreed. It ran in print yesterday and went online today. Here are excerpts from the column (with one background link added by me):
Read the whole column at the newspaper’s website. Filed under: Hatin' On Rednecks and Media and People and Rednecks and Sports and West Virginia Comments: None |
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Posted on 01.12.12 by Danny Glover @ 12:51 am
The Orange Bowl is juicing the controversy over last week’s sacking of mascot “Obie” for all the cheesy, pun-filled comedy its worth. During the game, West Virginia safety Darwin Cook tackled Obie after a fumble recovery and 99-yard touchdown return. Obie made as many highlight reels as Cook, especially after Cook admitted that he knocked the mascot down on purpose to send a message. “When I saw him, I felt like he was doubting us, too, so I smashed him,” Cook told the Dominion Post in Morgantown, W.Va. “Oh yeah, that was on purpose because he was doubting us. I had to tackle Obie.” Only later, in an on-field interview, did Cook learn that Obie was a girl. Today the Orange Bowl published tweets that featured a photo and video of Obie supposedly being released from the hospital after a week of recovery. Obie is none too happy with Cook and apparently plotting revenge. “We have one angry orange. This could become a very juicy situation,” a reporter said in a mock Orange Bowl report. Filed under: Just For Laughs and People and Sports and Video and West Virginia Comments: None |
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Posted on 01.10.12 by Danny Glover @ 10:35 pm
The announcement won’t be official until tomorrow, but thanks to some sharp online investigation, West Virginia Illustrated broke the news tonight that Jeff Casteel is leaving his job as defensive coordinator at West Virginia University to take the same job at the University of Arizona. The publication confirmed the news by poking around the website of Arizona’s sports information department, finding internal pages with biographies not only of Casteel but also of three WVU assistant defensive coaches. “Perhaps the best part of each page is that the first sentence for Casteel states that he was hired on Jan. 11,” which is the day Arizona will announce its final defensive hiring decisions. Here’s a screen shot of Casteel’s bio page:
Casteel, who played football for the Wildcats in our hometown of Paden City, W.Va., will be a Wildcat once again in Arizona, where former WVU coach Rich Rodriguez was recently named head coach. Just days ago, after WVU’s record-setting Orange Bowl victory over Clemson, Casteel gave a noncommittal answer to a direct question about his future: “I hope I’m going to be back” at WVU in 2012. That was an unlikely outcome when he gave the answer and now looks as deceptive as it seemed at the time. I can understand him not wanting to talk to the press about job prospects, but there’s an honest, oft-used dodge to such questions: “No comment.” I wish he had taken that approach. I respect Casteel because he stuck with WVU after Rich (Gotta Get Richer) Rodriguez abandoned the Mountaineers in such underhanded fashion four years ago, and I want to wish our hometown boy well in his new job at Arizona. He certainly managed his departure far better than Rodriguez. But at the end of the day, Casteel has chosen to reunite with a man who has no class. I “hope” the Arizona Wildcats continue their losing ways in the Rodriguez-Casteel era. UPDATE, Jan. 11: It’s official – Rodriguez just stole Casteel and two more coaches away from WVU because all of those he took with him to Michigan for three losing years weren’t enough. The other coaches are David Lockwood (defensive backs coach) and Bill Kirelawich (defensive line coach). Now it’s time for WVU to build a new and better defensive coaching staff. Filed under: News & Politics and Sports and West Virginia Comments: None |
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Posted on 01.06.12 by Danny Glover @ 9:17 pm
I remember going to a Jay Leno performance in Morgantown, W.Va., back in 1990. I enjoyed the show immensely, and so did thousands of other fans. Somehow I doubt Leno would be welcomed back with open arms to the home of West Virginia University now after his joke last night at the expense of WVU and West Virginians. About six minutes into his monologue, Leno took this potshot at me and my peeps:
The ignorant and stereotypical wisecrack drove many West Virginians to Leno’s Facebook page and to Twitter, where they have been voicing complaints about his attack on the people of the great Mountain State. Here’s a sampling of the responses: (more…) Filed under: Entertainment and Hatin' On Rednecks and Just For Laughs and Sports and Video and West Virginia Comments: 7 Comments |
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Posted on 01.05.12 by Danny Glover @ 8:22 pm
One of the most memorable plays from last night’s Orange Bowl — the 99-yard touchdown by West Virginia University safety Darwin Cook after a fumble recovery — ended with one of the most humorous moments in college football history: Cook sacked “Obie,” the Orange Bowl’s mascot. “I didn’t know you were a girl,” Cook told the mascot when he hugged her on the field after the game. “I apologize.” Filed under: Just For Laughs and People and Sports and Video and West Virginia Comments: 1 Comment |
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Posted on 01.05.12 by Danny Glover @ 8:45 am
I’ve never been prouder to be a Mountaineer than I was last night when my alma mater, West Virginia University, set record after record in a crushing defeat of Clemson in the Orange Bowl. The final score was 70-33 — the most points scored by one team in any bowl game in history — but I’m fairly certain WVU could have scored more points if they wanted. We slowed the offensive pace dramatically after two straight scores after the half gave us a 63-20 lead barely into the third quarter. The Mountaineers sent their perpetual critics in the sports world a clear message. If you didn’t see the game, here are the WVU highlights in a reel that takes nearly four minutes to show almost nothing except our touchdowns: Filed under: Sports and Video and West Virginia Comments: None |
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Posted on 12.10.11 by Danny Glover @ 2:57 pm
I didn’t know until moments ago, when a colleague forwarded a video, that the West Virginia University band, known to all Mountaineers as “The Pride of West Virginia,” is a viral hit on YouTube. The video, viewed more than 1.1 million times so far is from the band’s performance at a game played this year just before Sept. 11 memorials. The show, a tribute to the U.S. armed forces, features a medley of songs from all U.S. military branches and amazing choreography that matches each song. At one point, band members form into airplane to recognize the U.S. Air Force, and as they march forward, smoke billows from the area where engines would be on the plane. I have family connections to the band. My brother marched with “The Pride” as a trombone player during college and still returns regularly to march as part of the alumni band on homecoming weekends in the fall. Even better, we’re related to WVU band director Jay Drury. His grandmother (my grandmother’s oldest sister) was my favorite great aunt during my childhood. I looked forward to visits with Aunt Kate during her weeks-long stays at my grandmother’s house. If you appreciate WVU’s tribute to the military, donate a few bucks toward the band’s travel fund to reward the directors and performers who created the show. UPDATE, Dec. 10: Fans of WVU and of the band’s tribute to the military are trying to get the National Football League to invite the band to perform the show again at the Super Bowl. Join the Facebook group if you like the idea. Correction: An earlier version of this article said the show was performed before Memorial Day. Filed under: Family and Human Interest and Music and Video and West Virginia Comments: None |
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Posted on 11.25.11 by Danny Glover @ 7:12 pm
You might be a redneck … if you insulate your shed with beer boxes. That’s what we discovered today when visiting my grandfather’s West Virginia farm, which has been abandoned for about two years since my uncle’s death.  
For the record, a previous tenant from long ago added the insulation. We visited the same shed years ago while that tenant lived there, and the shed also was full of deer hides and beer cans. I was glad when my uncle returned home and we finally quit renting the property to that bum. What I don’t know is if the tenant also is responsible for the bullet holes that riddle the door and walls of the same shed. I didn’t notice those bullet holes until today, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the guy who rented the place entertained himself by sitting on the front porch and shooting the shed across Indian Creek Road from the house. Filed under: Family and Hunting & Guns and Just For Laughs and Redneck Humor and Rednecks and West Virginia Comments: None |
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Posted on 10.31.11 by Danny Glover @ 10:27 pm
Sometimes we West Virginia University fans have a twisted sense of humor. Our “Backyard Brawl” rivalry with the Pitt Panthers brings out the best of the worst within us.  The Mountaineers win the “Front-Porch Pumpkin Brawl”! Filed under: Just For Laughs and Photography and Redneck Humor and Sports and West Virginia Comments: None |
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Posted on 10.30.11 by Danny Glover @ 9:08 pm
Andrew Luck definitely has enlightened redneck potential. He’s a football star at an elite school (Stanford University), a candidate for the coveted Heisman Trophy and the son of West Virginia University athletic director Oliver Luck (once a Rhodes Scholar candidate from WVU). But Andrew Luck also is not afraid to blow projectile snot out his nose on national television: I saw this happen live last night, but it was late. I thought maybe Luck had spit and the camera angle made it look like snot. Instant replay, however, confirmed that I saw what I thought I saw. Someone get the man a hanky! Filed under: Just For Laughs and People and Redneck Humor and Sports and Video and West Virginia Comments: None |
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Posted on 10.20.11 by Danny Glover @ 9:21 pm
Embarrassing as it is to admit, this snapshot is from my home town — Paden City, W.Va.
Talk about a high-voltage splint! The friend who posted this photo to Facebook said the power line has been in this state of dangerous disrepair for a month now. I love my heritage. West Virginia is a beautiful state full of generous, kind and humble people. But when I see images like this, it’s hard to refute the hillbilly stereotype of the great Mountain State. Of course, that’s also part of our charm. Filed under: Just For Laughs and Redneck Humor and West Virginia Comments: None |
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Posted on 10.17.11 by Danny Glover @ 5:55 pm
Politicians who say “I’m going for the hick vote” significantly lower their chances of getting it. Liberal Democrat Elizabeth Warren, who fancies herself an “elite hick,” made that mistake last week on the LeftAhead podcast, Politico reports. Here’s what she told her interviewer, who also touted his redneck roots in Oklahoma and West Virginia:
Warren undoubtedly is an elite and may well be an elite hick. But that’s a fer piece (as we hicks say) from “enlightened redneck.” True hicks and rednecks don’t have to tell people that’s what they are. They live it. I have yet to see it in Warren. Filed under: News & Politics and People and Rednecks and West Virginia Comments: None |
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Posted on 09.24.11 by Danny Glover @ 11:28 am
I discovered an awesome blog and website called Snoburbia in the latest issue of SOJ Insider, the magazine of the journalism school at West Virginia University.
Snoburbia is the kind of blog enlightened rednecks can appreciate. I love this insight into the blog from the SOJ Insider story:
I love Nutella, too, and I’m not ashamed to “check in” at fast-food places via location-based services like Foursquare or to eat at chain restaurants like Applebee’s — two decisions which have surprised some D.C. friends. One day I may even order a Redneck Snack Basket. Sullivan has turned Snoburbia into the kind of brand I’d love to have for enlightened rednecks. She sells t-shirts and an array of other products that illustrate the absurdity and condescension of suburbia. The image above of a U.S. map as coastal snobs see it is my favorite. Filed under: Blogging and Food and Rednecks and West Virginia Comments: None |
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