West Virginia Wins NIT, But Can't Spell Own Name

Thursday night, West Virginia won the N.I.T. After their victory, the team received their championship tee shirts. West Virginia was misspelled on the tees.

This is almost too good. The state of West Virginia is one of the poorest states in the nation and continually ranks near the bottom in its quality of public education. Most people think of West Virginians as a bunch of inbred, toothless hillbillies.

So when the state's flagship university wins a second-tier championship and has its name misspelled (West Virgina) on the championship commemorative tees...it's pretty damn funny.

I can already envision some of the lame punchlines people might use:

• Maybe West Virginia couldn't afford that last "i."
• Senator Robert Byrd, D-WV, has been bringing all the pork-barrel spending to West Virginia for fifty years, and he couldn't pop for an extra vowel?
• Glad to see that the moonshine business is still thriving in West Virginia.
  
• West Virgina? Shouldn't it be "West Virgin-ie," like the locals pronounce it?
• etc...

West Virginia deserves better. They've got a solid basketball tradition. They have passionate fans. They play in the conference, the Big East, that receives the most media attention.

This is embarrassing for the University West Virginia, the state of West Virginia, the NIT and the NCAA.