WVU Fan Organizes Fundraiser to Fly 'Fire Neal Brown' Banner During Kansas State Game

It's safe to say the West Virginia fanbase is furious with the head football coach.

West Virginia University head coach Neal Brown. / Christopher Hall

West Virginia fans are growing increasingly frustrated with head football coach Neal Brown, especially following last week's loss to Iowa State and then his comments earlier in the week that made national news.

Brown was asked to give a message to fans to encourage them to come back out for tonight's game against Kansas State and he responded with, “I get that they want to win. But what I would say is, did they have a good time? Did they enjoy it? It was a pretty good atmosphere. I’m assuming they had a pretty good time tailgating, so if they’re in the deal for enjoyment then I would come back. I looked at the weather and it’s going to be nice again."

Obviously this did not sit well with the fans and a few days ago, Mountaineer fan Curt Hurley organized a fundraiser to pile up enough money to hire a pilot to fly a banner that reads "Are you having fun? Fire Neal Brown" for three hours before and during tonight's game.

This is not a joke.

If you visit the fundraising link, you'll see that $5,208 has been raised as of Saturday morning. There are a few donations amounting to $100 or more, including an anonymous donor who chipped in a whopping $842.

Despite the money being raised and a pilot, two actually, being booked, the plan may not go through. Hurley has provided several updates on the page which you can view below.

Update No. 1 from organizer

"Update: The original plane/pilot/banner company booked before we finished the fundraising. Currently in the works finding another company to provide the service for the K-State game. If that's not possible, the current plan is for the Baylor home game. In the meantime, any additional funding will go towards securing billboards. The original funding amount was based on a quote for the K-State game. I will be posting the receipts as I will not be taking a single dime of this money for myself. If you look at the donations, I've also donated, and I'm also the one covering the expense of the processing fees from the CC companies."

Update No. 2 from organizer

"New total is $4,685 all in for the flight for the K-State game. We have until midnight to get this funded. Give what you can! Thanks again. Receipts will be posted! All proceeds are 100% going to funding this airplane banner!"

Update No. 3 from organizer

"Sadly the 2nd plane that I booked also backed out. I'm working with some other donors to try and find a replacement. However, my fear is it's going to be too late for the Kansas State. If that does happen, I assure you I have not touched the money, it's all still sitting there. Waiting to be used for an upcoming game. The banner will fly. I will not take a cent of this money for myself. This whole mission was simply to send a message. Even without it flying yet, I believe that message has been sent. I give my assurances I am working diligently to get the banner and plan up in the air. It'll happen soon. Any additional money raised will go towards the next steps, another banner flight, signs, billboards, etc. Let's Go Mountaineers!"

My two cents:

I'm all for fans voicing their opinion. And trust me, they have every right to be upset with Neal Brown and the current direction of this season. But in all seriousness, this is classless. There are ways to voice your frustration and shout for change other than flying a banner over the stadium during a game.

Not to mention, if West Virginia wins, they move to 3-1 in the Big 12 and are firmly in play for the Big 12 title halfway through the league schedule. Then the whole idea just looks even more ridiculous. If you want to give away money, why not donate the money to Country Roads Trust or the MAC? Why waste it on something pointless? Show up and support the team.

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