Watching College Football Daily and they're ending their show with a bracket of the best fan atmospheres in college football. I was excited and prepared to hear about my favorite place to be on fall Saturdays.
I went to multiple Clemson games as a student there and none of them even came close to the atmosphere at Lane for noon games. Is leaving Lane off of this bracket a side effect of having down years on the field?
They did rank Kyle Fuller as the best cornerback draft prospect in run support.
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Was this supposed to be for best atmosphere in general or just spring games?
In general
They really have an infatuation with running down a hill. I really just have never gotten what makes the Clemson entrance so great. I find it to be incredibly boring, especially compared to others.
I've been saying this for years! The most exciting however many seconds in football, my ass.
I like it because it's a unique tradition, but anyone who puts that above sandman is just dumb and has never actually been in lane
My freshman year at Clemson everybody told me how great football games there were and how fantastic the entrance was and I believed them. I was pumped all the way until the cannon went off and the players ran down the hill. It was extremely anticlimactic. When I transferred to Tech I was told the same thing and I didn't believe anyone who told me. And then I went to my first game and I was blown away. The intensity of the entrance and the student section was just on another level. Any time Clemson is put above us on gameday atmosphere I get pissed because they're not. Ever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbvtdXHXaLU
I swear I read that the comment "Most exciting..." was sarcastic. I really don't see it. Everyone huddles around a rock for a couple minutes then runs down a hill... There's really no buildup since the whole team is standing in the stadium poking at the rock for a minute or so before they go down the hill. The band just seems to play the same thing over and over again while we wait too.
Don't forget that they hop on the busses and drive around the stadium too. Talk about intimidating the opponent...
/sarcastica
They only picked 8? There are too many great college football atmospheres to only pick 8. You need at least a 16 team bracket.
Sure, devalue the regular season atmospheres even more
I'm a fan of a smaller college football playoff, but this still made me chuckle.
It's a reference to the recent very long and multiple threads we had going here about the ACC alignment change and the endless debate on brackets.
The Clemson one is pretty cool. One of the drug reps that comes by our office made me watch the Youtube vid of them doing it for the FSU game and it was pretty slick. I thought it was funny that they actually bus the kids over to that side of the stadium to do it, though.
face it folks, lane aint what it used to be.
Weaver neutered the fan experience with the over-implementation of Hokies Respect.
Whit could go a long way into helping reinstate what made Lane Stadium great by relaxing on the limitations a bit and letting the students have some fun again. And for the love of god, stop it with the pre-game statement and the silly cartoons. We don't need to be told how to be fans.
This is a ridiculous claim. We are all dumber for having read it.
We aren't on the list for two reasons
1) ESPN knows we don't drive viewer revenue like most of those schools on there. Anyone who read the former Oregon player's column a few months back knows that the Duck fans give up on their team as fast as anybody. Michigan is the quietest 100k fans on the planet. But most of those schools have rabid fan bases and/or spend ridiculous amounts of money.
2) We throw paper airplanes and leave at halftime of our Saturday noon games against ECU. Tell me again how ridiculous that's going to get.
HOAT is stating where ESPNs head is & that with so many noon games the past 2 yrs, the intensity has ebbed. This is all truth. ESPN is bogus AND we need the game atmosphere to re-intensify. I think that will happen this coming fall. It all starts on the field...
You mad bro?
I completely agree with you and I have said that for awhile. The Hokie Respect ad needs to go.
I don't know why this was downvoted really. It's true. It's been 6 seasons since I was a freshman and it has really dropped off the past couple. Part of that is related to the product on the field, but a lot of it comes from other issues. I think the loudest I heard the (majority of) the north endzone last year was when they were announcing potential homecoming queens last year.
Obviously this applies to nobody that would frequent a site like this, I know what kind of fans all of us are and we need more.
It was downvoted because some can't bear the thought of anything negative being stated about Hokie football. The reasons we weren't included in the poll are multiple. First one - not much thought was given to the poll, it was done to generate easy clicks. That's why Michigan & Notre Dame were included. You could argue that the experience of Touchdown Jesus, etc. and The Big House are memorable experiences and you would be correct, though. There are EZ Button reasons for each of the names listed. Oklahoma, I do kind of wonder about, but it's just another bracket/poll, so no big deal. Which brings me to why we weren't included. Why? Because they didn't say 'Most exciting entrance by the team onto the field' nor did they say 'Most amped up crowd on a Thursday night several years ago'. Truthfully, VT has fallen from the front of the casual fan's mind in football, and not just because of the last two seasons. Please, no 'ten win seasons' rebuttals, they mean zip to non-Hokies. As for some other reasons? Yes, Weaver's wet blanket of 'Hokie Respect' doesn't help. Neither does the multiple reseatings. Neither does the passage of time where our team wins most of our games, but not the ones against elite teams, making our fans jaded. Even our domination over UVa has turned that rivalry into a less emotional game. Strange but true. Lastly, when you consider that so many of our homes games are against Austin Peay/Directional State U-type teams, the atmosphere really is NOT that electric far more often than the times it IS electric. Bottom line? It's an ESPN blurb, so no big deal. Worthy of discussion, not worthy of emotion.
Some young thundercats on this board. I like it. 2002 and 2003 were some good years in Lane. Back me up, Joe.
I agree with the sentiment on here that Lane has lost it's touch, looking big picture. It's as if Curt Newsome has coached Lane the last few years. As the product improves, so will the atmosphere.
I'll back you up. I was there '00-'04. Place was nuts.
As will I - I wasn't a student until 2003, but went to most home games ever since 1992 with the family. 1999-2004 was probably the golden years of the crowd and the hype.
2003 was my freshman year, as well. Lane never quite rocked like it did the first few years of my undergrad. I've seen the intensity get pretty wild at times (Miami 2011 comes to mind), but the noise during about 2003-2005 or so was unrelenting.
2000 - 2003. Agreed, Lane was a cathartic experience every game during that span.
TRUTH.
Lane Stadium - Thursday night - Blacksburg, Virginia. This was purposefully left off the list so as to make the conversation more interesting for all of the other college fans out there. I totally understand. It is not right to demoralize all of your readers by forcing them to compare their venues to this:
Be right back, gotta go change my pants
Meh, listening to espn's opinions on things like this is about the equivalent of me trying to hold a conversation with French about x's and o's acting like I know what I'm talking about
Easily the best, most exciting two entrances, ever:
That's great.
can we replace that with bud foster breathing fire?
Ask and you shall receive
HAHAHAHAHAH!!!!
Incredible
Bwahahahaha...classic! LMFAO!! +1
Anyone notice how he lost his little sword too?
Needs more Wahoo Limo
The answer for Lane is very simple - the later the game, the louder the crowd.
That is a direct correlation to how long tailgating lasts - short tailgate times equal mediocre crowds, long tailgate periods equal loud and excited crowds.
And to those continuing to complain about Weaver, let's stop blaming Weaver for whatever comes to mind. The football product on the field the last two years has not helped Lane's game atmosphere. Winning and exciting football drives crowd enthusiasm no matter what kind of rules are implemented.
I agree with your points, and no Thursday night games hurt, and playing a lot of early games hurt also- which is also a direct result of the lack of success the past couple years
Can anyone see this video? It's not a youtube, and the embed text from the site isn't working on my browser.
I can't see it
No Weaver does bear a brunt of responsibility for it too. Yes, I agree it's primarily the product on the field, so I'll upleg you for that. But weaver has been neutering the fanbase (which was a dipshit douche move on his part).
weaver never shushed me walking up the ramp while i was trying to get a let's go chant going. weaver never made fun of me or shot me nasty looks while trying to get loud on key plays. weaver never sat all around me and talked endless shit on everything virginia tech for the entire game while wearing hokie gear. weaver never showed up late and left early. folks can blame the stupid goddamn jerk alert video all they want but the fanbase has turned into a bunch of negative whiny children because waa waa they never won an mnc, waa waa they dont win enough for me. weaver never poo pooed the incredible success that beamer has brought us because he aint nick fuckin saban. to put all the blame on the old athletic director while ignoring the complete lack of perspective, maturity, and bandwagon mentality of a lot of fans is sort of a dipshit move too.
and i dont mean that as a personal attack on you hokieknight, i just think the collective attitude of the fans has eroded to a regrettable place. we used to raise holy hell walking into and during games, now people stick their fingers in their ears and look at you like your an asshole when your trying to get into the game.
Personally, I think its a product of both. Yes, the fans are much softer than they were back in 2003, but at the same time, I do believe that the Hokies Respect campaign, and all the videos, and the pre-game statement, and the killing of stick it in, and the goodbye song... all of that combined helped get us there. When you neuter the little things, it starts to take the bite out of the whole, and do it often enough, and it will have a big impact on gameday. And I don't think the constant reseating campaigns are helping at all.
This is not an either/or scenario. There has definitely been a push from the athletic department to make Lane a more 'family friendly' environment, which has made an impact. The constant nooners and the complete disregard for night games because these families don't want to drive back to NoVa or Richmond at 11pm have made an impact. At the same time, the fanbase got fed up with years of disappointing play, losing every big game we've been a part of, seeing all our huge out of conference games taken to FedEx Field while we get a home slate of cupcakes, and then having a team that crumbles when the big boys of FSU and Clemson come to Blacksburg with a coaching staff that was content with an absolutely putrid offense that was only getting worse by the year... Yeah, it all had its impact, and it all culminated at once to the point where we do have a soft fanbase, and Lane truly is a shell of its former self.
I hope Whit has a plan to reinvigorate Lane. It really needs to start with more weekend night games, and cutting the cartoon videos and pregame speech.
Thx, and this is what I was getting to at length.
Seriously, you got downvoted for that?
Someone is on a downvote spree in this thread. Just threw an upvote to each one that I could to balance out.
Don't downvote opinions, people. Downvote people who are being jackasses.
I find it ironic that in this very discussion we have people stating that the fanbase is soft and whiny, yet people lose their minds here over a downvote.
It doesn't bother me what anyone's opinion on Lane's atmosphere is, but it's not hard to come up with a more eloquent way of stating an opinion rather than that was a "dipshit douche move on [Weaver's] part."
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I love Lane. I love Virginia Tech. I love my Hokies.
I'm not surprised, nor am I taken aback, that our beloved Hokies didn't make this short, short list. Lane was an entirely different environment when I was a freshman (2006), than it is now (I've been to almost every home game since I graduated). The crowd just doesn't have the energy of old. I'm hoping that changes soon. I think WB will try to bring some of the excitement back into Lane. There are countless reasons for the drop off, but I don't think it's fair to blame Weaver. It's entirely possible that some of his decisions had an effect on the raucous-ness of Lane but with so many variables we can't say for sure.
Everyone who frequents this site is a die-hard Hokie fan who expects the best from our fan-base and nothing less. The fact of the matter is that the culture has shifted. Let's hope that it can shift back. We can do all we can but we need to try instilling that culture into the younger generation of Hokies. We won't be able to make Lane what it once was just by ourselves. I've noticed that some of our hardest-core fans who post here don't make it to many games. It's important that the fans who DO go to the games are prepared to get LOUD!!
Obviously, the biggest boost we could possibly get is an exciting and productive team on the field. People will show up and cheer for a team that will win in an exciting fashion. I would be lying if I said that I've been confident that our Hokies would win every time they stepped on the field. I still scream and yell my butt off regardless of how good the team is or how well they're playing, but I can definitely understand how some not-so-die-hard fans would have trouble getting excited for a team that they don't believe can win a given game.
I don't think we should be upset that Lane isn't on this list. It's disappointing for sure! But there are so many more important things that we should be hoping to be good at. I don't see Alabama fans getting upset that they aren't listed here. Let's go watch Scot and Bud kick some a** and take Tech to new heights!
Go Hokies!
Agreed. 'Leg.
FTFY:
Meh, who cares what ESPN thinks? Go ask our opponents and see what they say.
I'm claiming BS. SEC bias strikes again. Tennessee? Since ESPN hates us, at least put Nebraska in. Their fans are classy...
Nothing personal but
God I hate Jay Cutler and the bears...
Me too but you gotta admit that gif is pretty good haha
I'm trying to figure out how the helmet ended up back in his hand.
I think he caught it with his left hand behind his back, pretty impressive actually
ehh..I think it's his right hand
I dont know if im the only one that noticed but thats a nice flatscreen tv you got there
*Flat Panel
But I'm more impressed by the people who when they film or take pictures of their TVs have the old CRT. That's dedication right there.
I'll let my parents know you think that. I actually don't like it. DVDs/Netflix on the PS3 are too HD they look like soap operas. But it's spectacular for sports.
Depending on how old it is you can disable the soap opera effect. A lot of the high refresh rate TVs have that problem. Look through the menu's and see if there's a setting with "motion" in the title and disable it. It's a feature that tries to reduce motion blur and it's great for sports and other fast paced action but not for normal TV.
Thanks I'll definitely try that out. It bothers me so much every time I come back from school.
I'm a student at Tech and I've been going to games since I was two years old.
The reason why it is less of an "electric" atmosphere is simple.
All I hear in the North Endzone is about how "horrible" our offense is. Losing to Duke and MD at home makes fans whiny and annoyed=less excited.
It is a bandwagon mentality that they regrettably have, but a 7-win and 8-win season, for our fanbase, does not garner as much excitement as having a 10-11 win season with a chance at an ACC or NC appearance. In the early-mid 2000's we also had Xavier Adibi, Vince Hall, and players on the offensive side of the ball including Eddie Royal, Josh Morgan, Bryan Randall.
Lane's Atmosphere = (# of Wins) + (Having a watchable offense) - (Annoying losses to Duke, MD, etc.)