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This article originally published in The Sunday Gazette-Mail

September 8, 2006

Denise Giardina

Who are the 'Friends of Coal'?

NOW THAT The Game is over, let’s talk about The Name.

First, let me establish my credentials as a football fan. One of my earliest memories is of attending high school football games in McDowell County. I keep my cable TV mainly because I want to watch football.

And I am a rabid supporter of both WVU and Marshall. I have tapes of Marshall’s national championships, of the first Marshall-WVU game, and of West Virginia’s win in the Sugar Bowl. I root for both teams, though when they play one another, I must admit to bleeding a bit green.

I watched several games on the first day of the season, but I couldn’t bear to watch the “Friends of Coal” bowl. That’s because I believe the “Friends of Coal” are the Enemies of West Virginia. A more appropriate name would be Fiends of Coal.

Who are the “Friends of Coal”? Not coal miners. Just the opposite. This organization is simply coal companies, with a slick new name.

And what is the record of the “Friends of Coal”? Over the past 120 years, they have accomplished the following:

  • Stolen much of the state’s land and put it off limits to ownership by residents.
  • Kept coalfield residents in appalling living conditions and deprived them of civil liberties.
  • Destroyed jobs and ensured that the state’s economy will remain at the bottom of national charts.
  • Killed over 100,000 of the state’s miners, and maimed countless others.
  • Most recently, killed the miners at Sago (ironically while the WVU football team was playing the Sugar Bowl at the same time).
  • Infected countless miners with black lung, even while denying them compensatory benefits.
  • Fought tooth and nail, all along the way, against improved safety conditions.
  • Destroyed a major portion of West Virginia’s mountains, the state’s most valuable asset.
  • Corrupted the state’s political process.

    Given all this, the most appropriate venue for a game hosted by the “Friends of Coal” is not Morgantown or Huntington, but Hell.

    Why did the representatives of our major state universities allow this game to be taken over by an industry that has been so divisive to our state? Can you imagine naming the game “The Democrats Bowl” or “The Republicans Bowl”? Of course not, for that would mean that a major portion of the state’s population would be left out either way.

    Or would we allow organizations to buy naming rights and present us with the “Pro-Choice Bowl” or the “Right-To-Life Bowl”? Of course not, for either way people would be offended or excluded.

    Why then were coal companies allowed to buy naming rights (for a pittance, by the way) and capture an event that should belong to all the people of this state?

    Next year’s game will be played in Huntington. I beg Dr. Stephen Kopp, the president of Marshall, to intervene and return this game back to all the people of West Virginia. I’d like to watch next year.

    Giardina is the granddaughter and niece of coal miners and the author of “Storming Heaven” and “The Unquiet Earth.”

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