This idea just sort of hit me last night as I was deciding what to write about. What are my best memories over the years I have been going to Hokie games. I narrowed it down even more, picking one memory per year for each of the last 20 years. I was onto something and coincidentally it’s a nice round number, so, let's go...
A little background information before I begin. I went to my first Hokie football game as a skinny, goofy 17 year old high school senior. This was before the bowl streak, back when 6-5 was the norm for a season. I was there for the 1992 season when Tech finished 2-8-1 and many wanted Beamer fired (oops!) Hell, back then you couldn't find a hot Virginia Tech Starter jacket or hat in the stores and Nike didn't even make Hokie apparel. VT clothing for the most part was butt ugly. Anyway, the best experiences involving VT football and basketball my freshman and sophomore years usually came from camping outside of Cassell Coliseum for a few nights with friends to get student tickets to the big games. Looking back, I made some great memories. They were good times.
For most years, there is one dominant memory stuck in my head. It made picking pretty easy, but obviously a lot of notable moments were left out. Some memories will be a single play, or an entire game, while others will be an entire day, and unfortunately some will be memories I wish to forget. Just remember, this is my list and what I chose were not always the best moment for the team that year. I decided to break this column into two parts, so here is 1990-1999, I hope you enjoy and please share some of your own. With a nod to Seinfeld, each of the twenty gets it's own title.
The Easy Choice - November 24, 1990 (Live)
VT 38
UVA 13
My first true Virginia Tech experience, came when I was a high school senior. I had been to Blacksburg a couple times growing up, since I have family from the area (story for another time), but not as a prospective student. At the time I had applications (later acceptances) at Virginia Tech, William & Mary and UVA. A family friend took his son, his best friend and myself to the game. I was genuinely excited and thought I was ready. Holy crap, I was not. Blacksburg was in pandemonium. This was the big time. The entire campus wanted nothing more than to make UVA more miserable after the #1 Hoos were upset by GT at the beginning of the month. This was big time football in a small town that wasn't on the national football radar yet. It was a life changing day, that I will never forget. I had found home.