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NEWS BRIEFS
Dreary weather adds to tough day for fans
Marshall fans react as they look for a penalty against UCF during the C-USA football game on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012, at Joan C. Edwards Stadium in Huntington.
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HUNTINGTON — Saturday's chilly temperatures and steady rain was nothing compared to some of the weather Joel Cost and his friends have endured to cheer on the Marshall University Thundering Herd.
He recalled the 1997 MAC Championship game against Toledo in which it snowed the entire game. And, there is some recent history between Marshall and the University of Central Florida in which weather has played a part.
Last year down in Orlando, the two teams and a sparse crowd suffered through torrential downpours. And, two years ago here in Huntington, a thunderstorm delayed the game for more than an hour. Both were won by UCF, something that continued Saturday night with a 54-17 loss for the Herd.
"We figured it would rain after the monsoon last year and the storm two years ago," said Cost, who was undeterred by the weather. "We love Herd football."
He and a few others in his party also added a little Halloween theme to their tailgate, complete with fake cobwebs and black spiders with, Cost pointed out, kelly green-striped legs.
It also was the first tailgate and Herd football game for Nicole Good, who graduated from Marshall. She said she didn't have an interest in going when she was a student, but is in town visiting her sister. She also obliged the Halloween theme and dressed up as "Babe-raham Lincoln."
Down the street from their 3rd Avenue spot was a student tailgate sponsored by the Marshall Maniacs and the Student Government Association.
Nick Arkyns, the president of the Marshall Maniacs, said it was a way to give back to the student body and encourage them to participate in campus organizations such as theirs. Rain dampened the turnout a bit, but Arkyns said a good number of students still showed up and were able to enjoy food from Fat Patty's.
