And in dire need of digital leadership!

The full theatrical release of the movie We Are Marshall comes out tonight….

The critics will be harsh I am sure, I predict real people, the salt of the earth, will resonate with it- of course it will with me-I was born in Huntington the year it happened and not a day passed on campus that I didn’t see the memorial fountain. I was born in and raised near Huntington, in rural Appalachia. I am a hillbilly.

Everyone who knows me- also knows that I am a regional nationalist. Strong in my beliefs of the Mountain State and a culture that is not stupid- simply misunderstood and stereotyped by the media…I’ve spent time with our senators lately, our governor (thanks Joe M. for listening and offering your aids), the mayor of Huntington and our state’s CTO- the CTO gets it! As the movie says “Anything is Possible” and I truly, with all my heart believe that. I believe that no dream can be crushed, that no individual cannot rise up beyond hardship, that no one can be held down, and that there is no obstacle that cannot be beaten.

For the most part, take what you like or don’t…as a whole West Virginian culture

- Doesn’t value money as the most important thing- it ranks low on the list.

- Honor, name and one’s word is trading currency with value.

- Land ownership is more important than money and a sign of success.

- Is not very striated- you can see a trailer next to a large 500k home.

- Full of friendly people that are loyal to family, home, state and country.

- Is full of beatiful land, lush mountains, streams, and rugged beauty.

- Has more colorful dialects and phrases than anywhere else in the United States. It is actually called Appalachian English for a reason. The honey-smooth sound that the world likes to paint as ignorant is because of its unique heritage. Speakers of Appalachian English have little or no trouble understanding standard English, but some native speakers of other dialects can find it somewhat difficult, and foreigners can have significant trouble with it.

It isn’t perfect, but there are so many opportunities, it just needs digital leadership- not the job of a politician- a change agent is needed. I know it can be done and how it can be done.

Here is a review on with it- i truly forgot where I plucked it.

We Are Marshall opens on the fatal day, showing the Marshall team losing their game, boarding the plane then never arriving home. In the wake of the accident, the initial impulse is to suspend the program. However, a rally organized by one of the surviving players, Nate Ruffin (Anthony Mackie), who did not make the trip due to an injury, prompts University President Donald Dedmon (David Strathairn) to change his mind. Several prominent citizens, including Paul Griffen (Ian McShane), whose son died on the plane, oppose Dedmon’s change of heart. After feelers to numerous “name” coaches are rejected, Dedmon is forced to settle for Jack Lengyel (Matthew McConaughey). Lengyel lures back Red Dawson (Matthew Fox), the only living member of the previous staff (he elected to drive rather than fly). Red, however, is haunted by survivor guilt. Using players from the junior varsity squad, incoming freshmen, and players from other sports, Lengyel builds a team for the 1971 season, but a single question hangs over the endeavor: Is fielding a team with little chance to win honoring the dead or mocking them?

Manipulation and melodrama go hand-in-hand with the sports genre, and they are present here, although not in such overwhelming quantities that they make the viewer feel awash in a flood of sentimentality. There are three emotional high points: the rally that encourages Dedmon to re-consider suspending the team, the moment when Dedmon’s petition to the NCAA is approved, and the concluding football-related sequence. As one would expect from a movie whose roots lie in a tragedy, there are valleys as well. McG keeps the tone well modulated so the movie never threatens to become bogged down in depression.

It is acknowledged up front that the new Marshall team will have difficulty competing. In fact, they would win only two games that inaugural season and wouldn’t do much better in subsequent years. The question asked by everyone is simple: What honors the dead more - allowing a sub-par team to play or keeping the football stadium as quiet as a tomb for several years? Different characters have different answers, and it’s the inclusion of this element that makes We Are Marshall a little different from the standard-order clichéd sports drama.

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