When did the West Virginia University tradition of burning couches begin?

Question

I was totally oblivious of the WVU tradition of burning couches after big wins until I starting attending Big East football games with University of Louisville's addition to the conference. I'm just curious if anyone knows when the tradition began?

Answer 1

I can't give a definite date. I can give you a little history about it, however, and my personal theory.

The current Mountaineer Stadium, built in the early 1980s, is located off campus, out by Ruby Memorial Hospital. It's accessible from campus only using the WVU PRT (Personal Rapid Transit) monorail system. This wasn't always the case, however.

The previous Mountaineer Stadium was located downtown, on campus, in the small "valley" where the current Business and Economics and Biology (I think that's the new one?) buildings now stand. The old stadium was highly accessible to students, as many of them lived in the neighborhood next door, called "Sunnyside". Sunnyside was very popular with students for its proximity to campus, its many bars, and its very cheap (and in many cases, substandard) houses for rent. As soon as a WVU football game was over, it was easy to get to the bars and stumble home, because everything was pretty much in the same place.

My theory is that couch burning started in Sunnyside in the 70s and 80s. I imagine that some students had a couch that got so nasty from puke and alcohol and whatever other unmentionables that they put it out on the front porch, and then one night after a major football win (for instance, the 17-14 win over Penn State in 1984, the first win over Paterno since 1955), the drunk students stumbled home and said, hey, we need a bonfire, and that couch is junk anyway...and they dragged it out into the middle of the street and lit it, thus starting the tradition.

In late 1980s and early 1990s, however, city ordinances forced all the bars in Sunnyside to close; now people have to walk most of a mile downtown to drink, and walking to the stadium from there would be a good 2 miles at least. Sunnyside is still a good area for (now overpriced but still substandard) student housing, and most of the couch burning still happens there.

Answer 2

I was a freshman at WVU during the Fall of 1975. WVU had won a football game against Pitt. Many students were hanging out in Sunnyside after the game. The legal drinking age in West Virginia was 18. Someone caught something on fire in the middle of the street. People started dancing around the small bonfire. There was a couch on a porch up a hill. The couch was rolled down the hill into the middle of the bonfire. The now huge blaze attracted more students. Police allowed the bonfire and directed traffic around the area until electrical wires started to melt. When it was time to go home, everyone went home.

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
When did the West Virginia University tradition of burning couches begin?
I was totally oblivious of the WVU tradition of burning couches after big wins until I starting attending Big East football games with University of Louisville's addition to the conference. I'm just curious if anyone knows when the tradition began?

Answer 4

Couch Burning Wvu

Answer 5

If you live in West Virginia, there are three things to do for entertainment : fight, screw, and set things on fire.

Answer 6

when smokin da rock bekame poppuler cuz lotsa couches got on fire.