State Hired Miners to Officiate Coal Bowl

Temp Refs Had Little Time to Learn Rules

By Charles Parachute
Sports Editor

WVU Head Coach Bill Stewart yells at a coal miner whom he believed to be a referee.

MORGANTOWN, W.VA. - Organizers of the Friends of Coal Bowl - the annual football matchup between West Virginia University and Marshall University - might have taken the coal theme too far.

An anonymous source in West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin’s office has confirmed the state allowed coal miners to officiate the Oct. 17 game. That could explain some of the almost unbelievably bad calls. The referees assigned incorrect penalty yards and at one point awarded possession to the wrong team. An overriding sense of confusion amongst the refs was palpable.

“The Friends of Coal group comes up with ideas every year, and this year, they wanted to include coal miners,” the source said. “The state agreed to have miners officiate the game. The actual refs, meanwhile, were - apparently against their will - given a tour of a Mingo County coal mine.”

The source said school officials at both Marshall and WVU were unaware the referees were coal miners.

“Obviously, that’s why they weren’t aware of some of the rules and seemed confused at times,” the source said. “You really have to know your stuff to be a football referee. It would be like asking an insurance salesman to perform surgery. The insurance guy would probably screw up.”

The Friends of Coal Bowl - one of the only sporting events in the world named after a political interest group - started four years ago when the state of West Virginia brokered a deal to have the two state schools play for seven straight years. The winner of two of the first three matchups would be home team for the fourth game, which is why this year’s was in Morgantown. WVU ended up winning 24 to 7.

“It’s a really weird situation,” the source said. “It’s something of a gimmick. It doesn’t simply switch sites every year like a normal football series. For some reason, it’s called a ‘bowl.’ And a lobbying group has its name attached to it. It’s no wonder something crazy like having coal miners officiate would happen.”