Remembering why I love the Herd

With the semester coming to an end, so does another calendar year for Marshall sports. I've had the privilege of covering the Thundering Herd over that time, and I feel compelled to share my love of the Herd in my last column as sports editor for The Parthenon.

My love affair with Marshall began before I could read. I have faint memories of going to football games at Fairfield Stadium with my family as a child, but those are fuzzy at best. My mom keeps a photo of me and Marco in the stands at Fairfield Stadium hanging in her house that was taken sometime in the late 1980's that makes me hate the new Marco more every time I see him.

The first game I have vivid memories of attending was the opening game of the 1991 season. Marshall was unveiling its new stadium (we know it as Joan C. Edwards Stadium) against New Hampshire and we were lucky enough to get tickets. The Herd won and I was hooked.

I was spoiled on good football watching Marshall play in the 1990's. I remember watching goalposts get torn to the ground after all the national and Mid-American Conference championships. I got to watch Randy Moss run wild in striped socks on every team that came to Huntington. I'll never forget when Moss launched a football at the giant, inflated Ronald McDonald after scoring a touchdown in the 1996 national championship game against Montana.

It has been a dream come true to given access to the team I grew up following. It has been hard watching the football program continue to struggle and maintain some sense of journalistic integrity, but just because football is in the garbage can doesn't mean there hasn't been plenty of good memories for the Thundering Herd in 2008.

It has been a pleasure to watch the Marshall baseball team succeed in spite of having the adversity of not playing any games in Huntington. It's a shame the team has to go to Charleston to play its games, but it has been a nice treat for me since my mom lives down the street from Appalachian Power Park. As nice as the App is, the school really needs to get those guys a stadium in town.

My favorite experience has been covering the men's basketball team. The job head coach Donnie Jones and his staff have done following 20 years of program hell has been nothing short of spectacular. You hear a lot about running a program the right way when it comes to excuses for why the football team is losing, but Jones has found a way to run a program the right way and win ball games. Mark Snyder should takes notes on the way Jones handles business.

I traveled to Memphis, Tenn., to cover the Herd in the Conference USA basketball tournament, and although Marshall was bounced in the first round by Tulane in one of the worst displays of hoops I've seen two teams put on, it still was awesome to walk in to the FedEx Forum and realize my job required me to watch Marshall play basketball in an NBA arena.

So it is with a heavy heart I have to back away from The Parthenon to focus on my goal of graduating. I will still cover things for the paper, but I won't be as involved as in the past. It has been my pleasure to bring you the news about Marshall sports.

Go Herd!

Tom Bragg can be contacted at bragg41@marshall.edu.