I don't even know where to begin describing what I saw yesterday at the game. Getting in to the stadium was a cluster (East Side), ECU levels of fan behavior, and yet an entertaining experience.
Now I'm not sure if it was a digital ticket problem, poor planning, or just a late arriving crowd but the gates were opened with zero tickets being scanned! Students were literally jumping over 12 foot fences, barriers, and anyone getting in their way. With 15 minutes before kickoff the event staff must have said f**k it because it was a mad dash of people flooding in!
While that was unpleasant and definitely an issue that needs to be addressed, I was embarrassed by fan behavior. F**k UNC chants, beer bottles being thrown, and a general lack of respect was beyond the pale. I have never, never, seen as much police intervention in the stands. Shame on the those that made a trip to ECU or WVU look like a walk in the park.
Despite all of that, it was great seeing us get the W in person.
I imagine Whit's inbox was full this morning!
Comments
Proud of the grit in the stands. College Football isn't meant to be a polite cocktail party. Beer bottles is a bit much but if you can't take hearing a few swear words, stay home.
I'm not seeing how acting like an ass improves the experience for anyone.
Team spirit, cool. Out-of-control behavior, not so much. Slurring curse words about the other team isn't all that impressive. Drunk and stupid is no way to go through life.
Part of my opinion comes from visiting other universities on game day. I'm a LOT more impressed with those who are polite to opposing fans.
Meh. Rivalries are different. You think Georgia/ Florida or Alabama/ Auburn or Osu/ Michigan are tea parties?
I think you can have everything you need out of a rivalry without being a jerk to other individual visiting fans.
Cool. You'll enjoy hosting Wake, BC, and Duke. The ACC has something for everyone
Thanks, but I enjoy VT football.
The people who act like jerks aren't proving what they think they're proving.
I agree but I think in order to have the relentless passionate atmosphere we had Friday, there will be isolated behaviors that are across the line. A necessary evil to some degree.
Perhaps. But we should set a good example when we can.
I'm partially with you. The problem is where that line is. I think the F UNC chant could be an isolated behavior that I'm not okay with, but I'm not going to get too bent out of shape over if that is the bad fan behavior we are worried about. Throwing stuff and mob rule at the gate is way too far over the line.
I think it will be an isolated occurrence when we look back on this season. But, I also don't think we end up with the most talked about fan atmosphere opening night if we would have had every single safeguard in place. I will take bad with good this time with the expectation that we are not going to allow our fanbase to start burning couches like the cousins.
Mob rule at the gate happens before most big games. I was probably at half a dozen games as a student (11-15, mostly down years!) where the log jam was so bad that eventually the ticket scanners gave up and I got to my seat without anyone ever scanning my ticket or searching me for contraband. Just a big big push of people
Wsn't there and not making excuses for the bad behavior you witnessed/experience, but in every single football game (pros or college), there is going to be bad apples, including away fans.
Hopefully this isn't a trend that continues or gets worse, but I will give the benefit of the doubt to fan excited to go to a packed Lane and see a football game in almost 2 years against a top 10 team on primetime tv.
The entire student section chanting f**k UNC is hardly a few swear words. But thanks for commenting.
I tend to agree with this. Throwing things? Not okay. Harassing/being dicks to opposing fans? Not okay. Fuck Miami/UNC/UVA chants that aren't directed at any particular individual? I'm fine with it.
> Beer bottles is a bit much
This is a laughable understatement. Beer bottles to the dome can straight up ruin someone. That behavior should not be ignored or brushed away.
I feel like we can simultaneously agree that swearing at opposing fans is trashy and should be discouraged while also conceding that it's probably still going to happen anyways within pretty much every fan base and we shouldn't lose our minds over it.
The game day experience was dreadful for the first half in our section. At least 15 students who did not have tickets piled in, stacked 2 deep and standing on seats in front of people who actually had the tickets for that section. When confronted security came over and talked to them but they refused to show tickets. No one was removed. I'm not sure if security threatened to come back or what, but slowly the students trickled out of the section until about halftime, at which point all of them were gone.
This is a relatively expensive section of the stadium and it really makes me wonder if it's worth continuing to donate and purchase tickets if that's going to be the game day experience.
Also, trust me when I say I'm not a prude about game day behavior. I don't mind standing (hell, I encourage it) all game and I don't mind being around students generally. But when there are 2x the number of people in your section stacked 2 deep and you cannot even see the game for the entire first quarter, it crosses a line.
Thus the reason I moved out of sec 5. I originally moved to 3 in 2017 to get a more "me" kind of environment. That was awful, certainly early in the season with students moving into seats they didn't have. Maybe once or twice my own, but once I showed my tickets they moved on. Moved to 5 in 2018 and still ran into to (let's say) 20 seats per row vs. 30 people in them. Moved to 205 last season during seat selection and last night was cordial as could be far as seats were concerned, but still...assholes wherever you go. The alcohol sales in Lane won't help the cause (don't get me wrong, I bought a few inside), but assholes are going to be assholes regardless. Had to try and calm down a few Hokies during the game going after an asshole UNC fan. He and his lady friend were annoying, sure, but not worth a night in jail over. Had that guy thrown a punch, I can't say I would've blamed him a couple times.
Tldr; folks are gonna be assholes. I know I've used "assholes" a lot here, but it's just facts. At the end of the day, we're passionate, but not on the field. Let...it...gooooo. No need to fight.
Sounds like an Eagles game!
We had ADA seating due to my father's knee injury preventing him from climbing many stairs and the same thing happened in our section. Multiple students standing on seats so that no one could sit (which was fine, I was too nervous to sit anyways really) but I did think it crossed a line carrying over into the ADA section where many people can't stand. Got beer spilled on me and the F*** UNC chants nearly caused another fight behind me amongst older Hokie fans and students that had taken over that section (literally, a wife had to BEG her Hokie husband to not go after students for chanting that while a UNC player was hurt). I had a great, fun time despite this, but I do think security needs to keep the ADA area in better order next time.
What section? We intentionally get tickets in East section 3 to be next to the students for that environment and there are a ton of old curmudgeons that cry about it around us
Section 9 row xx
We are in 9 pp and also had to boot students. One girl tried to get mouthy with my husband so he was like fine ill get security. Before he got back the smarter members of her group prevailed and they all left. This was all about 5 minutes into the 1st quarter.
We tried to go in with 40 minutes prior to kickoff but the crowds were so bad trying to get in that we went back to the truck for another beer. Part of the problem was the gates at the south end zone were closed.
I wonder if this had anything to do with the new digital tickets. I heard that was a disaster at the gates.
We had to kick some students out of our seats in 11L and then had to help others around us do the same thing. I didn't see beer bottles getting flung but I did see people chucking empty water bottles.
My wife pointed out at one point that today's game was the first time that TWO years worth of students were seeing a game. Definitely not an excuse, but a reason nonetheless.
I'll give it another game or two before sending any complaints.
Oh, and I had ZERO cell service or wifi the entire game and had issues after the game while walking through campus. Continues to boggle my mind how little infrastructure changes have been done.
My neighbor's son works for Rhino, the company that manages the events for a number of schools, including VT. He has said before how good VT fans are compared to other colleges they manage, but also expressed concerns before the game. All the events they manage are getting a lot more rowdy as the younger crowds celebrate finally being able to get out and do stuff. Love the energy, but hopefully we got a lot of frustration and kinks out with a big rivalry game to start, and MTSU will be a chance to bring thins back to controlled chaos, and not just chaos.
This is my thought. This behavior probably happened at every stadium. After not being able to go to games and having ZoomU, I'm sure the students had a lot of pent up excitement and emotions. It doesn't excuse throwing beer bottles or harrassing people by any stretch, but you're fooling yourself if you didn't think students would be rowdy the first game or two of the season.
I also think that part of the difficulty was that last years class did not learn from the previous year's class how to do things.
We lost that year of continuity.
None of this on the West side... but the event staff was dreadfully underprepared and understaffed. Took an insane amount of time to get in, and we were ridiculously early.
Hate to hear of the poor behavior, but from my vantage point in section 2, our students were the most engaged I've seen in 15 years. Was very proud to see them muscle their way onto the field after the top 10 win - they absolutely deserved it.
Muscling their way into the field is one thing. Stealing and trashing MV's equipment, shoving them and then threatening some because they wanted to work their way into the band was not cool. There's a line between being excited and being complete assholes and unfortunately that line was crossed by a lot of students last night.
I wasn't there, but I heard the wi-fi and cell service was terrible. I wonder how much that had to do with the students being so engaged. probably that and the continuous flow of alcohol
The cell service in Lane on game day hasn't been good since cell service existed.
It was actually better under the stands than it was out in it. At the bottom of the section 15 tunnel, I could receive and send messages.
I'm sure it got rowdy but I can't wag my finger at the fans that were there. They showed up in a massive way and were a huge factor in getting this W. If we gotta be assholes in the stands to get pumped up, so be it. Winning is more fun than being classy losers.
So my experience was much different than yours. The worst behavior I saw come out of last night's game was the older UNC guy who ASSAULTED AND STARTED THROWING PUNCHES AT VT STUDENTS. That guy got detained and left in handcuffs.
Also, fuck UNC.
Let's see how you react if your 8 year old kid is hit with a bottle!
Um, what? I didn't say anything about kids or bottles. Are you sure that comment was for me and not someone else in this thread?
Is this really what happened? I saw the video of the UNC guy attacking VT students but I didn't know what provoked him
Do you know that's what happened for a fact?
Yes. I know people in that section. He had been targeted by students all game. Tried to get police involved, they didn't do anything, so he took matters into his own hands.
Damn. Not cool. Hope his kid was able to get out safely after he was arrested.
Link here
Need the context on this one. Also it's a UVA cuck posting it so they have an agenda.
.
Honestly dude if anyone hit my child with a bottle and was being a dick about it and security and the cops aren't helping I'd feel pretty justified punching his ass.
I don't know if that's actually what happened or not, but if it was, I see where he was coming from
Yeah leave your kid alone in the crowd and leave the stadium in handcuffs after losing a fight to a whole student section. That would be elite parenting...
Oh yeah?!?!
You wanna fuckin go man?!?!?
Ummmmmm....
Just a poor attempt at a joke
I got it... Thought it was funny
.
Ah, gotta love some good ol' victim blaming
Lol but what about
C'mon, that was UVa.
I do sort of miss booing the 5 year old UVA and Miami fans that would appear on the Jumbotron
There's absolutely no room for throwing stuff or being a total ass to someone on a personal level. But that being said, the environment should be for college kids. The students showed up in a big way and Lane was electric and had an edge last night. I still get rubbed the wrong way thinking of my college days in the Hokie Respect era and tons of older adults sitting all game not even cheering or being loud and having nothing better to do but text the Hokies Respect number and get security on college kids for standing or being too loud. That has no place at a college football game either.
Leg. This is a very good and realistic take on a somewhat polarizing topic.
Should it? I mean, yeah, the student section is for students. But if that atmosphere is considered acceptable throughout the stadium you're going to start losing people, particularly people who pay a lot of money for their seats (reference: this thread).
The environment should be for everyone: students, alumni, families, and opposing fans who aren't assholes.
It's a college football game on a college campus with college students and players. I'm not saying throwing stuff or being over the top inconsiderate is acceptable at all. But people showing up to a big college football game and being shocked/outraged at college kids being drunk and cussing is just ridiculous. If you don't feel comfortable being around that or taking your kids, get tickets in a different section or watch from home.
Totally fine getting tickets in a different section; like I said, no problem with college kids acting like college kids in their areas of the stadium. But if that behavior becomes stadium-wide, it's going to be an issue.
And I'm sure it will be dealt with if it becomes a problem. It's the first game after a year missed due to Covid. Students have some pent up frustration from limited social life for a while. There are always anecdotes from time to time of the students just being out of control and painting Lane like a madhouse. I'm sure a direct bad experience paints the overall perception of the environment. I just have a major rub with the people who come to Lane and sit on their butts all game and find nothing to do but complain about those darn kids. Literally makes my blood boil.
100%.
This is a bad look, we should greet our opponents with respect. I enjoy going our opponents stadiums, and like to be treated the same. Good natured trash talk if fine, but every opponent should be treated with respect. Nasty behavior at the NFL games has kept me away from attending lately. Not a good look for our school
I arrived right before Enter Sandman and the Police were already escorting Tech fans out of the stadium. I was a little surprised by that.
There was a rowdy UNC fan in my section (He was not a fan of the Waller interception), but most Tech fans just ignored him.
Other than that, it was overall an enjoyable game.
This post reeks of whining entitlement. Buddy, you're around a bunch of 18-22 years olds who lost last year of college football in Lane. Nut up. Enjoy the game. If not, watch it on TV.
Yes and no. I, as much as everyone else, want as hostile and loud as an environment as possible. However, no need to alienate opposing fans. They're there to do the same thing as we are, be fans. Ultimately, be the bigger man/lady...don't be a dick for the sake of being a dick. We've earned the title of being one of the toughest and loudest places to play in the nation all the while being one of the most friendliest fan bases as well (somehow...I've seen the best and worst we have to offer). Let's keep it that way.
Entitled? lol. ok, boss. Just pointing out that some things go beyond being a raucous environment. I love Lane loud and wild when directed at the on-field play. If someone is an asshat to me, I can promise they will get it right back.
We were in Section 33 on the East side and an older UNC fan who was sloshed even before the game started got even more drunk with the fireball shots he had with him. Then when we scored the TD, he flung it and it hit a kid on the head. Someone called the police and they came and just gave him a warning. I saw so many shot bottles from both Hokies & UNC fans. This dude was the only problem. There was no screening at all. It was a cluster. The win was great!
I saw so many shot bottles from both Hokies & UNC fans.
Should have ten minimum per fan.
East side Section 11 had an ongoing kerfuffle between 2 students and 3 older Hokie guys. Student threw water bottle. Older guys said knock it off. Younger guys denied doing it. Everyone saw it! So lots of trash talking between them. Security finally came over and talked to the kids. Same kids started vaping. Other folks asked them to stop. Kids mouthed off to them. Security came back over and told them to stop. Later the kids threw a water bottle again. Cops were called over kids denied it. Again everyone saw it! Sheriff took them out.
Students there?? Geeze. And you're a TKP legend with your selection dates. Wow.
Yeah it was kind of weird there were 2 rows. I understand there was general admission and kids were sitting in seats of ticket holders who didn't show.
VT a has the best fans because we are smart. We know when to make noise and when it effects the game. What we say doesn't matter as much (meaning the profanities and insults do no good). We could tell "Spurtle" or "we love Mack Brown" on crucial third downs and it would still be a deafening roar on the field. I think it's fun to laugh with the other fans and cheer silly compliments when cheering against them (in 2019, I kept screaming "Sam has a beautiful beard" in a loud roar). UNC fans were laughing and having fun with us. We should be passionate but welcoming. Just like we would expect when we go to anyone else's stadium.
Wasn't there so can't comment on anything specifically. I will say:
1) Don't boo or curse at injured players
2) Don't cross the line with cursing (i.e. don't direct at people in the stands) keep it general. UVA students chant "fuck tech" in their fight song - and with 2019 as an exception, it's usually cute
3) Don't throw shit (paper airplanes are acceptable if you actually know how to make a decent one - but even this is annoying sometimes)
4) Don't be an inconsiderate asshole - unless you're deep in NEZ, there are kids and older folks around
5) Don't pack into seats to be with your friends (especially if you aren't really going to watch the game - see #4)
Let's be honest - this year is going to be rough for pretty much everyone, everywhere. We didn't even really lockdown like other places, but there is definitely some pent-up aggression from the last year and a half. It's like every week we see a video of a nasty fight breaking out at a baseball game or preseason NFL. Don't be that guy or girl.
Not condoning any of this behavior, but it basically continues the trend of every sport that's allowed fans back in. After a year of lockdown, people apparently have completely forgotten how to act in public.
Agreed. There was lots of very very bad behavior in the nba playoffs. Some really bad fights in nfl preseason games in the crowd. Everyone is losing it in their first games back...
As someone who was in the student section, I think it was only a little worse than pre-covid. Some douchebags for sure and people chucking open (and full) Dasani bottles...
A lot of these freshmen/sophomores don't know how to act at games in general. Making noises like yelling "f unc" when we're on offense. Like c'mon guys, be quiet when we're calling plays.
I'm off on a tangent now, but I think you pretty much nailed it. People are wild in their first games back. It wasn't a great look out there, but it wasn't a total embarrassment either. Vast majority of people were fine
I can't tell if this board feels totally old and get off my lawn ish but yep it totally does. Not condoning behavior but students gon student.
What we tolerate in our community is a reflection of us.
So while we want students to be students, and we want a loud stadium, most of the comments in here are pretty good ideas.
I shared a table at sharkeys with some UNC people who were great, I got into a shoving match in the concourse with some punk ass unc kid. Respect gets respect. Hostility gets it back
☝🏽
Can't emphasize this enough. I've gotten into fights with the cousins, and I've had good natured, nice game experiences with the cousins.
You get what you give.
The cousins also lost to Maryland, yesterday.
In what, football? You gotta be kidding me!
Crab cakes and football baby
*only during crab season
What? Now we're talking about Radford?
Loved the energy Friday but always want to be welcoming to opposing fans. Had some people in my section doing taunts with a bunch of UNC fans nearby. It just didn't sit right - there was no reason to do it with the game going so well.
Given that this was the first game back in Lane against a hyped UNC, I would rather be hearing these types of complaints about students than all of us complaining about how the student section was thin and empty by 3rd quarter.
Glad the students came in force and were loud and passionate. That is how night games in Lane should be. If you don't want to be near it, then you gotta buy tickets a good section or two away from students.
I think this game will be an outlier in student behavior for many reasons. I can't imagine the same type of behavior for a day game against Middle Tenn or Richmond or really many of our other ACC foes.
The beer bottle throwing is really not okay. I think VT should take a play out of the metal music festival scene. They only sell beer in plastic bottles and remove the caps when they hand them to you. This way you can really only be hit with an empty plastic bottle if someone throws one
VT should just sell draft beer in plastic cups. Also avoids the problem of them selling out too fast and having to stock with warm beer cans/bottles as I heard from Friday.
Right. I was completely taken aback when I heard they were in individual bottles. I suspect they thought it would be easier to dispense.
A properly setup draft system with 2 keg couplers per line and manual cutoff valves is the best way to inexpensively keep high volume flow. I suspect they don't have infrastructure in place for storing and moving kegs during the game.
Exactly. Greater profit margin for VT, quick and easy fill for the concessions workers, no warm beer, and no aluminum bottles/cans to throw. Plus we can see the students construct really long beer snakes with the cups.
You are exactly right, draft beer is the most cost effective way to dispense high volumes of beer. I always grab a keg to throw in the kegerator when we are having a big event or game watching party. Plus I don't have to worry about excessive bottles and cans everywhere the next day.
1/2 bbl kegs are the most cost effective way to buy beer, measured by the ounce of liquid. Makes the margin the largest. Here's numbers.
1/2bbl = 15.5 gallons. After waste, dispensed like it would be in those conditions, that's about 13.25 gallons to the customer.
That's 141x 12 oz drafts. at $8 each that's a gross of $1,128 /1/2 bbl keg. Remember, that includes spilling 2.25 gallons/keg.
Least cost effective way to buy beer is in the bottle. It is also the most difficult to chill and store. It is also the most expensive per ounce liquid due to the high cost and least ability to reuse the container. It produces the most refuse when consumed and in dispensing to the customer. bottle, cap, 6pack carrier, cardboard case.
141 servings in bottle is 5.875 cases.
A stubby beer bottle, like used for the fighting Hokies beer, is 6.2" high.
With surrounding packaging lets call it 6.5"
A stack of 5 cases is 32.5" minimum. A 1/2 and 1/4 bbl keg is 23 3/8" high.
A keg of beer is easier to keep cold due to mass and surface area exposure to outside temperatures.
I didnt see any 'glass' bottles anywhere. Beers that i saw were all 16oz Tall cans (hokie lager etc.) or the metal bottles for bud light. I'm not sure how that changes the math but tap beer would definitely still be better margins.
Hmmm, what could possibly go wrong with young emotional drunks in a stadium with open cups of beer?
Nothing that could not be done without a John Blutarsky pimple pop impression.
Also, small plastic cup is less missile than a can or bottle. Plastic, glass or aluminum type.
You rang?
I have a friend that has 6 season tickets in section 27.
Her son attends VT as a student. She is not a wilting flower or get off my lawn type.
After the UNC game she is looking to sell the season tickets. The experience was so poor and so out of control. She tells me that there were close to 2 complete rows of people in each row near her. It was rough and she did not feel safe enough in her person to enjoy the game.
It won't be like that for Middle Tennessee or Richmond, so maybe she can enjoy those. I'm really hoping we can get Lane rocking like that in more games. Our team feeds of it and we need any advantage we can get in ACC play.
I think changing student tickets to all general admission helped keep the north end zone packed the whole game because it was students that wanted to be there for the game since you had to get there an hour early. I also think this is what caused a lot of issues in the other parts of the stadium at seats near the students in the east stands. Since there were no actual seats given to students they crammed in as many people as possible near friends.
Also I think they didn't have enough staff for the game probably related to COVID. I didn't see many ushers at the tunnels to each seats until after the first quarter. I assume because the understaffed ticket entrances were also the ushers.
Yeah, I've got to think keeping control of student general admission is a lot easier when that's all there is in the North End Zone, vs when it's just a portion of the East Stands.
I thought general admission was just NEZ, not the student portion of East too. If so, then it makes sense why I was fighting students for my seats at the beginning of the game.
Yep it's all student sections. Only the north end zone has gates to limit attendance and actually control where people go. If the staffing agency can get more people to work the next games I think it can be better to control where student sits. But if the entrance staff are also the primary seat ushers like it was this game, i can't see it getting much better. Ushers need to be better early on to control the students and prevent them from taking over season ticket seats.
Was gonna make my own post but since this title is about Lane experiences, I'll piggy off of this thread
Since everything is now paperless, they didnt have vendors going up into the stands with drinks. Which sucked because now if you just want a Coke or water you have to go to the concessions. Which sucked even more because the lines were mega long. I lost 8 mins of game time (10 mins left in the second quarter to 2 mins left in the second quarter) waiting in line for food/drinks because now anyone who wants a drink HAS to go downstairs. My dad always loved getting a coke from one of the stands vendors during the second quarter, but that appears to be gone
I'll also be emailing Whit about this unintended consequence of going paperless. It could be because they didnt have enough workers, but I wont know until I say something.
Additionally, men's bathrooms now have individual urinals instead of the long urinal bar or whatever you wanna call it. Technically decreases the number of individuals that can go to the restroom at once.
I know it sounds ridiculous, but loss of the trough urinals destroys one of the iconic features of Lane. First, strobe light Turkey eye. Second, "Home of the Fighting Gobblers". And now the troughs? All gone? I thought college football was all about traditions. And if you're don't understand this comment, shame. I guess they stop popping corn in Cassell.
Men's bathroom near section 15 still has troughs.
see you there
I have never been to a game where the fanbase (predominantly students) acted so trashy. That shit was unacceptable.
I expect that shit in Morgantown, not here. I saw a woman with two kids try to console her kid after some fucking dipshit threw a half full beer I to the stands and hit the kid in the back of the head.
I was mortified.
Whit needs to get this shit in order
Some things need to improve but hard to take the entire experience of one game and assume it's gonna be the norm moving forward. People will adjust re: concession lines, digital ticketing, etc. And students will adjust because next week's game isn't as anticipated as this week's was. Around half the student body hasn't been even had the chance to attend a home football game as a student before
Not ever having attended a game before excuses what... did they forgot how to act like a normal human being?
When the fans with decades of history of expectations for fan experience at Lane compares that to decades of history of expectations for fan experience at Morgantown, maybe it makes sense to realize that half the student doesn't have that history of expectations.
It's not an excuse because it's not excusing anything. There has literally never been the unique situation of the UNC game before and there probably won't ever be again.
My kids were taught not to throw things that could hit people before they entered school. Why is that's one thing that has to be learned by college students? The cursing, sitting in others seats sure. Throwing bottles of water and beer why should that have to be "learned" behavior by young adults?
I have worked directly with large groups of the public for lots of years and I can definitely say (and without trying to start a cultural debate as well) that people in crowds today are worse than they were 10 years ago. I can offer no explanation as to why other than that temper tantrums do not seem to get frowned upon by society as much as they used to.
I can. It's called "Entitlement".
Idk what you think I'm arguing but it's not this lol.
As a DC resident it's always been way easier to go to away games with the lack of hotels in Blacksburg area and it seems like a lot of you guys don't get out for away games. If you think a few excited drunk students are bad, try going to an away game filled with a bunch of Drunk non-alumni/casual fans who have more of a gang mentality with opposing fans wearing different colors. Give the kids a break, Hokies won and we all remember being that age.
Took my family to their first VT game and it was great. College kids in front of us were turning around and fist bumping with my kids, talking with them, and sharing pompoms. We were in SEZ so fewer college students, but those that were there helped make it an awesome experience for my kids.
Those aren't general admission student tickets. Those are time for other sport athletes. They get being respectful during the game and being a good fan. Glad you had a great experience, and the SEZ is a great place to enjoy a VT game.
When did VT stop using some of the upper SEZ for lottery tickets?
I assumed he was talking about the lower stands to the side of the cadets....not in the upper part.
Two years ago, I got tickets from a athletic dept. employee and sat with the women's basketball team and the families of football coaches in West stand, I think section 6.
There has never been a college football game in the modern history of the game where someone didn't walk away thinking that somebody acted like a jerk.
Friday was some of the most unusual circumstances college students have ever been in.
FSU had minimum 3 different times of the college students flicking people off and screaming bad words caught on tv. ITS WHAT THEY DO.
Please don't bring back "Hokies Respect".
A lot of complaints here. I hope that some emails are being sent to VT about some of the concerns on entry into the stadium, long concession lines, and the behavior in the stands. I think there will always be bad apples and I think folks here have covered some things well (i.e. first game in two years, etc.). Stuff should never be thrown by fans (including those damn paper airplanes). Staff also need to enforce the actual tickets and not let fans sit wherever they want. That's an issue.
I also think that some fans need to relax some. I remember some fans saying that we shouldn't boo the opponent when they run on to the field. Screw that.
I always thought that was the stupidest thing to do, mainly because (other than this weekend), the opposing team is always running onto the field at the same time we do. Why would you want to boo the opposing team when our team is running onto the field? Just....no.
But hey, the stands looked full, amiright?
Is this going to stop stick it in from coming back? Cause we need stick it in to come back
We got some soft people it sounds like. This is football not badminton. I'm not excusing anyone throwing anything at ANYONE or starting fights, but some curse words here and there or people crowding into seats? C'mon now at least we have people that want to be at the game. The staffs for concessions and security are widely understaffed so if you didn't like the result from game 1 you might wanna watch on TV more this year because it will continue to be this way for bigger games. We need a winning environment if it takes a few assholes I'll take that because we're a walk in the park compared to going on the road to other stadiums. If you think we're bad try visiting for Bama vs Auburn or Georgia vs Florida
A loud shit talking crowd is fine.
Throwing beer bottle and 12 year olds getting hit in the back of the head is fucking deplorable.
Lane should be an intimidating environment, not a place where the mother of two behind me had to take her two children home mid game because a bunch of trash ass students are treating them like targets for whatever projectile they can get in there hands.
Have some standards.
In my opinion, this isn't a big deal.
The title of the thread says it all: "An Unusual Lane Experience"
People all over have had high tensions for 2 years due to COVID and now you finally allow them to all finally come together after a full day of boozing and expect no incidents? Especially at what some consider a rivalry game?
It's not like this is going to be a new norm in Blacksburg and our fanbase isn't suddenly going to become the Philadelphia Eagles of college football.
We got it out of our system, we'll be chill vs the likes of Middle Tennessee and Richmond and hopefully keep it cordial vs Notre Dame.
** Side note ** How has no one talked about the 2 instances where pyrotechnics landed in the UNC visiting section and exploded?
Some fireworks hit the student section towards the top of East as well.
Wait really? Shot from fans or problems with Lane Stadium fireworks?
Problems with the Tech display.
Was worried for a second that security missed fireworks being brought in and that fan behavior had reached European soccer level there for a second.
I vote we focus fixing the renegade exploding mortars before having shit fits over drunken college behavior. I am not excusing the individuals that are stupid. They need to be dealt with. Preferably folks in their groups would self moderate.
Didn't realize I'd miss something from 2020, but I do miss not having long and exhausting threads about what is and isn't acceptable behavior in the stands.
In my little section at the line of 13/33. Students were 2-3 deep in my row. They were in the folks in the seats a row below me, an student told the guy to go find a seat somewhere else as "Lane is General admission, and I am not moving my girlfriend". The guy got an usher, the guy told the usher to F-Off at first, then he said to move or you will be kicked out.. they just moved down a little. Telling older man (60s) that have those seats to "go sit elsewhere" is not acceptable at all. When this section is all donor.
The same group started to taunt the UNC folks, says F- UNC to their faces pointing to them, then tried to pull off the guy's UNC jersey. Eventually, he just left, he couldn't take the crap at around half.
Half of them were just sitting playing a game on their phone, or walking up and down the aisle like it was a high school game.
One guy arrived and chucked his beer down a few rows after he was almost done.. though one of the State Police Officers grabbed him and I figure tossed him out (top of 3rd)
People being allowed to carry 6-8 beers at once appears to be an ABC violation.
There's no reason to try and explain any of this...we should just stay home since we can't handle it. /s
Probably didn't phrase my initial post the best way. Your experience, frustrations, and concerns are valid. I meant a thread like this happens every year. There is bickering and disagreement every year, and it's just tiring. I'll stop opening the thread.
I never had a bad experience in Lane in the section I have been in for about 7-8 years now. It wasn't the beer sales. This was students thinking Lane was 100% GA.
"Lane is general admission". LMAO. Nope, idiot it's not general admission under any circimstances. Tell that to the donors that pay a hefty premium for certain locations in the stadium. General admission? Hilarious
I heard that there was a problem at one of the gates where students were allowed general admission. Is it possible we were over capacity in certain sections? If so, I am sort of impressed by the demand but also wouldn't expect it to be a recurring problem.
Yeah it took me 15 minutes to walk up the section 7 ramp, then had to clear about 10-12 students out of our 6 seats. We left the tailgate 45 minutes before the game and almost missed sandman.
All student seating is now General admission. Below is the quote from this webpage, https://hokiesports.com/news/2021/8/16/virginia-tech-football-experiences-new-and-old-await-as-fans-return-to-lane-stadium-this-fall.aspx .
I should have clarified, I think the problem was the free flow number of students allowed in for general admission. If more students were allowed in than seats, there would obviously be a problem.
"People being allowed to carry 6-8 beers at once appears to be an ABC violation."
It might be in some states or smaller jurisdictions but VA does not have limitations on the number of open containers you have.
The one thing it might point at is the obvious inability to identify the age of all the individuals the beverage is intended for. Usually you can get many, many beverages as long as proper ID is available for intended devotees of the beverage.
I have a question for some of you home watchers since reading this comments makes me realize how much I would hate the in person experience nowadays. I did something while watching the game that I had never done before and I'll be honest it was very enjoyable. I took an edible about an hour before the game. Didn't drink any alcohol. Just road a nice high with someone friends while watching. Since football is pretty hype, I never felt so high that I couldn't pay attention. It definitely enhanced my experience more than I expected. Anyone done the same? How was your experience?
Would hit my pen at the top of South and didn't drink a single beer all game. I also had a very enjoyable experience.
Every time I can, one gummy and nurse one drink or beer per half. No hangover and great time
Yup
Username checks out.
I was dealing with an infection and couldn't drink. I was bummed b/c I had just bought the new Fighting Hokies lager, too.
First time having an edible before a game. I actually remembered most of the game. Got a bit into the line play (thanks French). Very focused on the game itself. Managed the highs and lows of the game a lot better versus drinking. It was an overall great experience. Kids said I wasn't as loud drinking, and I was able to get the toddler to bed without any problems. Overall, win win.
Whit, if you're reading this, 6pm kickoffs are great for families watching at home.
I will also add, I put my phone away during the game. No thread reading, no texts, messenger dings, twitter, etc, Mind blowing how that changes the way you watch a game.
Pure hypocrisy in my saying this, but def not a fan of drunken debauchery in the VT fan base. Get drunk but act at least halfway respectful. We don't want to end up with a fan base reputation like WVU.
But , from afar, the Lane scene was epic. Watched from Auburn and the Sat AU tailgate comments were very complimentary of the Lane crowd. "Those people at VT are f-ing nuts"; "That damn stadium is loud as shit"; "How do only 66,000 make so much damn noise". And a spirited debate whether Lane was louder than the last Iron Bowl that AU won. Made me and my VT loyal, AU student/son real proud.
The VT fan base is something really special with the passion, knowledge and genuine love of the team. I hope it doesn't slide the route of the WVU trailer park trash fan base.
I think the part that is most surprising to me is that our vendors were dumb enough to sell beer by the can or by the bottle in the stadium. Like, what did you think was going to happen, especially in the student sections?
That said, it was a Top 10 opponent who happens to be a hated regional rival in Lane's first publicly attended game in 20 months. And the first game we decided to make the Student Section General Admission. All the ingredients were there for that evening to be an utter shitshow, and it sounds like it delivered.
That said, if this kind of crap keeps up, I would not be shocked to see us look to expand the NEZ bleachers to get all students in there, and then just wall them off from the general public during gamedays, much like how it is done at Ohio State.
I'm pretty sure the ground underneath NEZ is unusable for a fully expanded set of stands there, or at least that's what I've been told by engineers smarter than I am.
I have heard this. While it may make things more expensive, I do not believe it is unusable. Regardless, I would not be supportive of any kind of stadium expansion with the current difficulty selling out stadiums.
I would support a 2-pronged approach
1 - expand the NEZ to make it one large General Admission section for students, and to put all students there.
2 - Renovate the East and West stands to include modern seating and some fan amenities/lounges with views to the field. Make it so that the overall seating capacity nets out with both ventures, if not lessen a bit.
I wouldn't be mad at that but I think there are better places to spend the money first.
Probably, but at the same time corralling all the students into one section and physically away from everyone else would probably resolve a lot of the angst people have had toward their gameday behavior for the better part of.... well, eternity
Of course people should never throw things. Never. But to come to a college football game and expect to not hear cuss words boggles my mind. Seriously. Why is a college football game any different from real life? Go to a garage, go to a corporate lunch room, go to a music venue, go to literally amywhere adults are in America and you will hear cussing and the F bomb. Everywhere. So why are we surprised drunk college students and fans that tailgate all day say F sam howell? Boggles my mind. Go play 18 holes of golf literally anywhere. Lol. Adults curse. If you really want to see the these peoples minds blown, have them stand on the VT sideline for a game. If they think the fans cuss...lol. Listen to the coaches and players you are there cheering on. I will never get it. Never. "Hey, I don't care if I go to best buy or costco and hear a thousand F bombs, etc. but at a football game, we need to show class". Laughable. Like I said- nobody should ever throw things or fight, etc. But the curse police need to stay home.
When Costco and locker rooms becomes the yardstick by which we're self-measuring, I think we can afford to step up our game a little.
I like rowdy football games AND a rowdy crowd. But when it stops becoming fun for people (including the other team's fans) to go to the games, we've overshot it.
We can make allowances for covid, first game, night game, etc., but we can also take time the following week to reflect on what our standards are going to be.
Don't get me wrong, I like it loud. I loved seeing the stadium jumping. I want the other team to be confused about what play is being called on third down in the 4th quarter. But harassing visiting fans and alumni who paid for their seats isn't what we want.
Im all for not being WVU, etc. But when you hear someone cuss somewhere besides Lane, do you say something to them?
I couldn't care less if someone cusses, unless it's part of a more general annoying presence.
The problem is more if people in the general area (or specifically) are starting to feel threatened or unwelcome. It's no fan's right to bully others, particularly as a group. And that kind of behavior isn't a good representation of the university.
Edit: Or, as in Fireman's comment, if it's around kids, but even that is the same general principle.
I agree 100%
If it's constant and in front of my kids,yea. Time and place. Saying fuck that was a bad play or shit that was great are expected. But what people have said here and other places is it was constant and directed at people directly. "Hey you random UNC fan fuck you" or "fuck you we are not moving out of your seats."
I agree with you, I will say something if someone is dropping f bombs in front of kids on purpose too. I also agree that at a game, you need to expect people to say Fuck, we needed that 1st down, etc.
I saw students tell others "F You, I am not moving from this section" Friday. Telling the Rhino Usher no way the guy had tix for those seats as this was GA. - It's like - HTF could you not tell? It has the fixed seat cushions?
I say the F Bomb more than I should, and may drop it it when we fumble, get intercepted, or miss a catch we should have had.. but I never direct it to a specific fan or point to a visiting fan and say "F (School name)" or "F you" , or pull on their jersey.. This isn't a mosh pit.
Personally, I can handle and don't mind the vulgar language, or any of of the other bad behavior that has been mentioned but I draw the line at throwing things. In 2004 I had to protect some UVA kids in the North End Zone from getting hit with airplane bottles. They were douches for even being there and I told them they needed to go to the upper end of the south end zone because I could only do so much.
But I will say that I am really proud and excited to see that the student body is coming to games and staying the whole time and being loud. Ever since this program started the downward trend in 2011, the student attendance has been embarrassing. They became everything we made fun of UVA for. They left at halftime, or earlier. They threw paper airplanes and were less intelligent about when to cheer and when to be quiet. Everything that we prided ourselves on as a student section and as a stadium of fans in those glory years from 1999-2010 was gone.
I really hope that the Terrordome is back.
1 - I loved the energy and excitement the students had. I don't mind students 2-3 deep in a row. as long as it is in the student rows and argue/push back when they won't from from a ticket holder's actual seat. I don't mind them chanting in the crowd, sneaking in airplane bottles or even a full mason jar of shine, but targeting individually a visiting fan, throwing things at them, trying to rip their shirt/jersey and trying to get them to move so more of their friends can come over.
The thing that seems to be flying under the radar but a big issue for me is students trying to sneak into other sections seats and security letting them get away with it. Specifically in the high dollar sections like 9, 11, and 13 where Hokie Club members drop $10k plus a year just to have the right to buy 40-50 yard line seats.
I have no idea what the actual cause was, but there are two freshman classes worth of students that have no idea how game day works. Some of this will likely work itself out. For whatever reason, many students seem to have thought they had pick of seats.
Misunderstandings happen, people end up in the wrong section/row all the time in lane thanks to the odd/even split. That's why you have security/ushers there to help get them in their correct seats. What isn't kosher is when you are alerted of your mistake you choose to ignore it and security doesn't intervene.
I agree completely. But, I have heard more than one account that students have responded that students have general admission. I am just wondering where this misinformation originated and I am assuming it is relatively easy to address going forward.
They do in the student sections. Idk if the student sections are the same as when i was in school but with no physical barriers that was not a great policy idea. NEZ should be GA and unless they can figure out how to block the rest of the student section off so that it's one entrance the rest should be ticketed seats.
I can entertain the idea of general admission for student sections and not knowing where the section in east stands begins and ends, but find it asinine that a student would think they have carte blanche to pick a seat anywhere in the entire stadium.
Honestly, I think there's a simple fix that's relatively cheap. Use paint to identify the student general admission sections in East. North it's not necessary since it's the entire stand. Any student with a General Admission ticket can be easily pointed back to where they need to go and it's harder to say "it's GA everywhere cuz I'm a student".
This is the first step for sure but still won't matter because there isn't anyway to accurately control the capacity in any of these sections.
That is very true. However if it keeps the people that are dropping donation dollars happier and paying the larger costs for the seats they're in, it's at least a start while they can figure out a better overall system to deal with crowding issues.
Agree on all points. For sure is a good temp fix and gets rid of any ignorance excuses (willful or otherwise)
Students at the 13/33 line thoughts Lane was 100% GA. Students should know you can't sneak into a stadium without tickets and stand/sit where you want.
I know some people don't like them but this kind of shit is why I get the seat back when I buy season tickets. Next year will be back to getting season tickets and even more reason to get them. To hold my paid for seats for me and my family.
I ordered seat backs. When I got there, they weren't. Would have missed entire first quarter trying to resolve issue. Supposedly after spending some time on the phone Monday my seat backs will be there for the remainder of the season and 1/7th of the cost will be credited to my account. Will say that this is the first time this has ever happened.
I had that happen to me once. One year I had tickets at the line of 33/31. One seat was in 33, one in 31. I had only one chair back.. They fixed it by next game and got a credit.
Rumor has it that enough students were let in that the attendance at the game might have been more like 70k rather than 67k.
I was thinking that maybe the ticket s awning issue that simply led to an open gate policy possibly led to anyone and everyone coming thru the gate...including many that didn't even have tickets. This is how you get 2 or 3 deep in each row without gaps in other areas.
Some higher of 13 are only $350 - But donating $700 for those seats, with the cost of tickets is a lot to some of us to have students telling us to find a new seat location. 33, 31, 29 are $100-$200 donation.. lower, but still.
In my opinion, it doesn't matter how much you donated. $100 or $5000. You still forked over the cash for the rights to that particular seat. We had students in some of our seats and we essentially have 6 seats together between us and some other friends. We only used 3 of those tickets on Friday, and we didn't have a problem with anyone trying to take the seats we did use, but the group next to us had to have some students kicked out of their seats at one point. I don't mind students trying to fill in the gaps, as long as they are willing to move when a season ticket holder says "Hey, you're in my seat." Because let's face it, a non-student season ticket requires a much more substantial cash payout than a student ticket.
If you don't have that ticket, get out of the seat. Pretty simple concept. Show me your ticket for this seat. That's what I have always done in Lane- I immediately get an usher and get those people out of the seats. This isn't the floor of a rock concert or the lawn at Merriweather. I pay damn good money for my seats, not for some drunk frat dude to stand in my way to be with his "boys". Fuck that. Buy a proper ticket or go where the fuck your actual ticket says to go.
Someone plaid this man. He deserves it right here.
I want to make sure I'm understanding this correctly. If you see someone who is not in their assigned seats, even if it's not one of YOUR seats and doesn't impact you in any way, you tell an usher and get them removed?
Stop picking fights with DC. He meant if they were in his seats.
It didn't sound like that's what he meant. If it was, then yeah that's what ushers are absolutely for. You better believe I would do the same thing and get someone removed from my seat I paid for. But it didn't sound like that's what he was taking about, hence why I asked.
The folks near me did that.. Guy with the tickets to the seat showed the student, the student showed his GA ticket and said this lets me sit anywhere I want. I am happy the school did clarify it.
I would be willing to bet 90% of freshmen would be completely oblivious of how much a season ticket costs the holder. That doesn't excuse the behavior at all, but does provide some context to why in their mind the ticket holder is over reacting. Ushers should definitely be helping with these problems but there are good and bad ushers too. My guess is that VT will make some public address announcements to students combined with less demand for future games and the issue wont be a recurring problem.
Do these students go to a play, music, concert, opera, and tell people "fuck off, Im standing here with my friends"? I doubt it.
It's herd mentality, and steps should be made (and are being made) to correct it.
Somehow clearly marking the student/general admission area doesn't seem difficult and should help quite a bit. Painting the bleachers or floors a different color, for example.
Whit appears to be on the case, and they are taking steps to correct this.
Vanilla statement put out but it sounds like they're listening
Better than nothing tbh. They probably heard all of the complaints posted here but wanted to address them asap even if it wasn't as detailed as some may have wanted because there was probably too many to discuss in one press announcement.
Glad they heard the feedback and in the process of addressing them quickly.
The fights in the stands going viral probably added to it.
It's going to be interesting to see how the various issues are addressed, particularly the students trying to sit wherever they want. Hopefully employing more ushers to control things will help and concessions adjusts its serving procedures to using cups and draft beer instead of cans and bottles.
Ushers need to, you know, ush when asked.
How are people still struggling with mobile tickets to events? If you have a smart phone and have questions why didn't you call ticketing for help or ask prior to being at the gate?
Maybe because the service around the stadium sucks and some people are procrastinators and didn't download their ticket before the game? My group prepped our tickets in anticipation of there being some hiccups at the gate, but I can 100% see someone struggling get to their ticket if they didn't take steps beforehand.
Everyone in our group downloaded the tickets prior to reaching the stadium. 5 of the 6 were scanned without too much difficulty. The 6th person though was passed from every hand scanner at the gate and the mounted one too. After the 3rd try on the mounted scanner it finally went through.
My ticket was hand scanned a couple of times before it registered. The glare of the sun seemed to be a problem.
Screen protectors and various displays cause issues. Had an old phone that simply wouldn't allow scanning on it. It sucked.
This. I've had eTickets on my galaxy not work because the QR/bar code wraps the curved screen edge.
This whole virtual ticket thing is a lot like the internet. I just don't ever really see it catching on. From an OG who stresses over it but never had a prob with my virtual tix.
especially since they have been electronically scanning paper tickets for years.
I guess they should just learn to deal with it?! /s
https://hokiesports.com/news/2021/9/7/message-to-hokie-nation-virginia-t...
Drink, someone beat you to the link
I have never attended a concert, game, etc in a stadium environment with GA seating when the crowd was at or near capacity and didn't turn into a cluster fuck.
here in NoVA, I've been to plenty of concerts at Jiffy Lube Live and the GA/grassy areas are never at capacity and/or a mad rush to get closer. Great view all around. Especialy nice if the weather is good.
I had a red mark from the security gate being pushed against my stomach for 90+ mins at a Smashing Pumpkins concert when it was GA way back then.
Metalica, GnR, and countless others I went to that was GA - it was always a mad rush to cram into the smallest space possible.
My apologies if this was posted somewhere else, but Hokiesports has released some updated information today on changes to gameday procedures. Most notably, they are trying to address student seating, concessions and clarifying electronic ticket procedures.
Linky
Aside from one idiot student flipping off the hokievision camera, I didn't personally witness anyone acting like a total jerk.
But, this morning I did recall some hilarious drunk dancing from a guy at the bottom of my section. We need more of that. Less bottle throwing.