MORGANTOWN - Earlier this week, I wrote that it's a good time for WVU to again become relevant in the world of college athletics.
I pointed to the ongoing success of the football team, as well as the men's hoops team (which opens its regular season Friday night) and other sports.
I also, though, said athletic director Shane Lyons has his hands full trying to make sure the Mountaineers remain relevant.
Well, on Thursday, we in the media saw, close up, another step taken by West Virginia University officials to do just that. We were given a tour (thankfully, not a three-hour tour) of the ongoing Coliseum renovations.
In short, the place is a mess right now. There was an army of construction workers inside and around the arena on Thursday that would rival ants on a dropped peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Yet with a purpose. The Coliseum is now 46 years old and needed a face scrub.
Now, will the refurbishing be a bit of an inconvenience for Mountaineer fans now? Yep. What fans will see Friday is but "Phase 1" of the $23 million project.
However, April Messerly, associate AD for facilities and operations, guided a tour to show off the work already done. And, honestly, it's impressive.
You know what I most learned though?
Beer rules.
About a quarter of the way through the tour, Messerly said WVU is adding "far more restrooms."
In fact, 107 women's toilets are being added. On the men's side the "troughs" that WVU coach Bob Huggins always complained about are gone. In their place are 26 additional urinals and seven additional toilets for men. Three family restrooms were added. (All are disabled capable.)
In fact, Messerly joked that her old office "is now a restroom."
And then, finally, we found out why all the attention was being paid to restrooms: beer.
"We'll be serving beer beginning Friday," she said. "Sales will go on until the end of each halftime."
As I said, beer rules. Michael Fragale, associate AD for communications, said WVU's vendors have been licensed to sell beer in the Coliseum for about six years, but there weren't enough restrooms to handle the result. (Hopefully, I handled that gracefully enough.)
Enough of that though. We also found out the Coliseum now has a "super vomitory." (Which has nothing to do with consuming too much of the aforementioned beer.)
In case you didn't know, a "vomitory" is defined as "an entrance piercing the banks of seats of a theater, amphitheater, or stadium." In the case of the Coliseum, it's inside the Gold gate, which is now the main entrance.
When you enter, you get a good view of the inside, including the scoreboard. There will also be a box office there - which will be the only place to purchase tickets the day or night of the game. If you have a meeting or appointment with WVU's administration, that's the gate you enter as well. (There are no more classes held in the Coliseum.)
What folks attending games will most notice, however, is the increased room in the concourse, leading to a better traffic flow. In the prior setup there was almost no way to avoid bumping into someone on your way to the seats. That's all changed for the better.
OK, so what else? Well, you'll notice 43 HD-quality TVs hanging as you walk through the concourse. You'll notice 12 LED Daktronics boards inside the arena over - here's that word again - the vomitories.
You'll notice the old Red gate is now the "Country Roads" gate and the old Green gate is now the "Mountaineer" gate, as voted on by fans. There's a new first aid room, which was very much needed.
The screwy way WVU had the sections numbered has changed. And, if you've been to the place, you might remember the plaques honored the school's Hall of Fame members. Those are gone to help mark section numbers.
Oh, and if you go to a game hungry, never fear. WVU is making super sure you don't leave that way. The folks in charge are increasing concession points of sale from 21 to 40 permanent stands. There will be grab-and-go areas like you see in airports to, in December anyway, a Mountaineer Café where one can sit down and eat.
It's a big project. It's an impressive project. The walls aren't all colored that plain white anymore. There's splash.
There's purpose.
And, yes, there's beer.
Contact Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827 or mitchvingle@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @MitchVingle.