This was covered in a few comments, but no feed was dedicated solely to this topic.
For those at the game, and probably for those who noticed on TV, the Game Day, and Game Experience were unlike anything before. It was obvious that Whit and his team have been working hard on fan engagement - as we've noticed from the pre-game marketing and new ideas.
A couple things that I noticed from during the game:
1) Students, for the most part, stayed for the entire game - and had a blast. NEZ was packed!
2) The fan cam was constantly on the crowd over tv timeouts.
3) The band played a similar catchy tune when the ball was inside the 20 and we were on offense (not stick it in, but something catchy)
Just curious for those who were there - what were your thoughts about the game experience? Did you like the music played (too much or too little?) Did anyone make it over to the Hokie Village? Thoughts, likes, dislikes, and opinions.
Comments
I was in a drunken state of ecstacy all day, so I was a happy camper
well said sir
I did not make it to Hokie Village but my wife and daughters headed over and arrived close to about 1:15 or so.
They reported having fun but hope there is more next time. There wasn't enough to hold their interest until the player parade down the road.
Some ideas:
Face painting- just paint VT on people, nothing fancy.
Couldn't hear Skipper - she needs a larger powder charge.
More fan shops and some more food vendors in Hokie Village.
The girls bball team was a good idea. Trying to get my girls motivated to play a sport, seeing older girls/women players is at least a temporary motivation.
It was a step on the right direction.
Willing to bet the ladies soccer team would have been there too had they not been beating the tar out of some opponents on their road trip. Regardless might be a good idea to shoot someone in the athletic department an email just saying that hey you did a good job buuuuuuuuut you might want to include a few more simple activities. It seems like whit loves his feedback
Couldn't hear Skipper!? Are you talking about when they fired it at the Hokie Village? Cuz I heard that damn thing all the way over on Green Street.
Maybe it was just the direction it was pointing or something. We could not hear it at all despite 6 of us shutting up and listening for it. We were going to cheer when we heard it.
We were near the duck pond.
Lol, I meant to directly reply, but I was on my phone. I heard it pretty loud and clear on Green Street, scared the crap out of me haha. But the Duck Pond is pretty far away...
Skipper was pointed pretty much exactly away from the Duck Pond, towards Lot 1/Chicken Hill.
Yeah, we were at the front commuter lot and heard nothing. I kept checking the clock and listening best I could. Not even a whimper.
My wife & I have had season tickets for two years now, & have been to every home game. We always enjoy going to the games, but we both said this one was surprisingly fun for a 1-AA opponent. It had a few things going for it.
1) First game of the season. The closed scrimmages & lack of any real info out there added to the excitement.
2) It wasn't a nooner.
3) The crowd, including the young kids, stuck around (while I'm at it, hey young kids, there's a rhythm to "STICK IT IN!" You don't just go right at it)
4) I like the music.
5) Finally, and I think this is the biggest reason, & I'm going to steal a bit from the boys at another website out there, the product on the field, specifically the offense, was actually fun to watch.
Number 3. I heard the North attempting to do it, just jumping right in as you say, and I just had to shake my head. It made me miss the original cheer so much!
Those guys were right behind me and booing the Hokies after almost every play. I've never been so ashamed of a fellow fan in my life, and that remains the closest I've ever come to throwing someone over the edge of the stadium.
I've been attending games in Lane Stadium for over 20 years and Saturday had a different feeling to it...and it was awesome. It was my nephew's second game and he had a blast. There were a couple of times I thought the music wasn't necessary, but overall it was on time and kept the party atmosphere going!
NO Hokie Respect message before the game...thank you!
On a side note - I noticed a couple of fans attending the game wearing University of Texas hats...I'll make a big assumption that they were there to see Brewer play.
Speaking of Brewer, who was the last non-Virginian to start at QB?
Noel is a West Virginian and Clark is a District of Colombian.
It looks like I forgot a few forgettable players.
Great question. Sean Glennon wasn't born in VA but moved there and played HS there. Druckenmiller was from PA. Unless I am overlooking someone, he was the guy.
Grant Noel? He's from WV
Noel was my first thought..thanks...now I can sleep!
there was a different intensity in lane for a lower tier opponent (no knock on w&m) people were real into the game. it was great. whit I'd doing an amazing job. I felt like they tried to get more fan involvement. I can't wait to see the intensity at the bigger games.
and thank you to the students who stayed and didn't throw paper airplanes. seeing the nez full and stay full was great. I hope that's a sign more and more students are getting into the games.
It felt like there was a focus to get the students involved - ie. danceoff, etc. But seeing the students dance, jump, scream, made the energy level of all of the other fans elevated. It's been a while since we've got up for a game against a Bill and Mary caliber school (again - not knocking them)
I agree with everybody above, there was a lot of energy in the stadium. Egbert is right, Skipper sounded muffled or something from where we were sitting, except one shot that was real loud and made a lot of folks jump (or duck). I will say though, and this is just a personal thing but my wife agreed, there were times where the techno music was getting to be a bit much. I was up in sec 35 and it was blaring in my ears. I imagine it was deafening in the NEZ or that end of Lane in general. Other than that I thought whoever put it all together did a great job. I thought the bit with Stanford and Moorehead guessing songs based on the beats was pretty funny. We didnt make it to the fanfest thing but once my little girl is old enough to start going, something like that would be perfect to keep her occupied while exposing her to all things Hokie. All in all a great day.
I thought the music volume was a bit obnoxious at times. They also kept playing music during plays (on kickoffs, the music has to stop when the ball is kicked, not caught). This was my first game in Lane since 2012, and I thought it was a great experience.
That was my biggest complaint too - they played over some of the traditional crowd cheers like Let's Go...Hokies and the drum cadence for kick-offs. Also, they cut Enter Sandman too soon and I didn't think amping up the bands worked so well (but maybe that was because I was close enough to hear both the live sound and the slightly delayed sound coming out of the scoreboard - I can't imagine how confusing that was for the band!). And was Skipper firing during the game? I heard it before but not during. All in all, very minor complaints. I thought the crowd was great (especially NEZ) and I had a great time!
P.S. I'm wondering if part of the problem with Hokie Village was that it was so hot and there was no shade? That's why we didn't go in anyway.
P.P.S. So happy the students didn't do the O's thing during the National Anthem!!
These were all my major complaints as well. If the music over the speakers was not played when the band was playing and during fan cheers, and was turned down just a bit, it would be fantastic. The music they did play, although more modern, I felt helped keep the students more engaged, and they looked like they were having a blast; more to the point, they stayed for the majority of the game. I was very happy to see NEZ almost filled the entire game. Overall, great game day experience; with a few slight modifications, it would be near perfect.
As for Skipper, I NEVER heard it in the game. In fact, I was curious as to why they fired it off so early in the national anthem. Usually its fired at the very end, but I distinctly remembering it being fired off just a bar or two into the song. Was it possibly a miss fire? If so, that might explain why we never heard it.
Apparently, Skipper is in a new location this season (guessing because of the construction). It's further away, and the Jumbotron is loud enough to block most of the sound. Don't know why they fired it so early during the National Anthem, but that scared a lot of people. I have to agree with the lack of shouting "O." That always makes me cringe.
Did anyone else run in to the mob seen between East Stands and the North End Zone?
I did, I am amazed that someone wasn't seriously injured. I missed kickoff and I was in the stadium 30 minutes prior. My hubby said cop threatened to arrest him because he thought he was pushing and then grabbed the guy who was pushing and arrested him. A young coed was knocked off her feet and I and two students grabbed her and pulled her up, I swear she was getting trampled. Most terrifying thing, I wonder if failure to check tickets going into nez was a contributing factor. Been going to games for over ten years and never experienced anything like it. I literally was being squeezed to death and found it hard to breathe.
I'll just leave this here
This is awesome.
I can understand Skipper being much quieter now, they had to move it to behind the SEZ because of the construction of the indoor facility.
I think it might be cool if when they were going to fire it they cut to a shoot of it and it was picked up over the speakers, no missing it that way.
Also definitly can back down the speaker volume a notch or two but I think we had the same issue last year early on too.
The band's being mic'd is a damn good idea. Though honestly I don't think the MV's really need it, plus with how everything is positioned you got that weird feedback loop/muffled sound. The HT's though i was honestly surprised with how well they sounded with through the speakers (at least to me in the east stands) It finally allows everyone to hear instead of at most 1/3 of the stadium.
Finally I loved the "name that tune video" I want Torrian and Kendall for ECU!
I generally liked the new ideas, but from a critical standpoint, I didn't like the MVs being amplified. There was too much delay and it echoed making them painful to listen to.
I liked the music, but they need to turn the volume down a touch and play a couple less songs.
The replay was a mess at times. I wanted to see kyshoen's hit on the sideline and they jacked the screen up
The new D-B-U graphic they put up on Hokie vision after big plays from the secondary was a nice touch. While I liked the bands being miked in the game, I wish they could amp up the HT's for the national anthem. Up in east stands (first alumnus game for me), it was almost impossible to hear, from what I remember.
I kinda liked all the music. I think it helps keep the crowd involved......and in my section, we needed all the hype we could get. It wasn't too loud around me. Apparently I was right smack dab in the middle of the older section. You know the kinder, gentler section. At least it appeared that way. Although Im no spring chicken myself, I like a loud and rowdy crowd!!
All in all though, I think it was one of the more memorable and entertaining opening games. I think there was certainly more buzz in the stadium. Im also thankful I didn't have to set through all those dang advertisements & hear about Hokie Respect also.
Loved the bands being mic'd could legitimately hear them every time they played. Only complaint I would have is music over the kickoff drum cadence which I noticed they started fixing towards third quarter. They began to fade music off as cadence picked up which I personally thought was awesome. Overall really impressed for the first game there is a lot of coordination that takes place to make it happen.
I'm happy everyone seems to be excited about the game atmosphere again. But let's be honest, that ECU nooner may show us a bit more. Especially depending on the OSU result...
When do you think would be the most opportune time to bring back Stick it In?
Thursday night v. Miami, first time driving deep?
Or save it for a come-from-behind drive?
If you listen very closely, whenever we were in the Red Zone, the band played a song very similar to Stick It In. It sounded like a double time version without a pause to yell Stick It In. In fact, it was the exact same number of measures as Stick It In as well. I was more than rocking out to it, and you could totally make it work as a revamped version of it.
However, I'd LOVE to get the original one back, but I just am not sure it will happen this year, unfortunately.
I'm glad others (and you Miner) heard this as well... I texted a friend during the game and he thought the same thing about the song they were playing - very much like the beat to Stick It In, just no pause.
Hey look! A fellow Mining Engineer!
I'm very jealous of your avatar, which I'm assuming is a real life shot glass.
It is, we got them from a random Burkhart meeting
I thought the advertisements on the big board were done a lot better this year. They weren't in the way of replays or live play so it was easier to see.
Playing the music over the kickoff drum cadence and not really being able to hear skipper were about the only downsides I can think of.
Am I really the only one who liked the loud music? Everyone else seems to be complaining, I absolutely loved it. Maybe it's because I'm a student. Football is about being loud; the louder, the better as far as I'm concerned. It made it much easier to stay "pumped" throughout the whole game.
For some reason, I didn't hear them fire skipper when we scored a few times. People sitting next to me said the same thing. Did they fire it or am I going crazy?
changed location due to construction, now the SEZ muffles it, saw the smoke cloud though so certainly was being used.
We didn't attend the Hokie Village, but I like the concept for those with kids. The music was indeed loud, but then you have to remember the target audience for it likes it louder. Skipper firing early during the national anthem was just an operator error. The free programs were great, especially for the first game. The entertainment on the scoreboard was done well, too. Something no one has commented on, and that only dawned on me yesterday - there was ZERO 'Hokie Respect' stuff done. At least that I saw. No reading of the creed before the game, no cartoon commercials, none. And it was refreshing. Amazingly, adults will overwhelmingly act like adults when they're treated like adults. I thought the Moorehead/Stanford thing went on a little long, but again - I'm not the target demographic for that, so there's no problem there. We heard them firing Skipper prior to the game, as we're in Lot 2. I did notice at least once the scoreboard had a visual reminder 'Key Play', which I don't remember from the past. All in all, a great game day experience! Plus... we won!
Keep in mind, they are constantly looking for feedback. None of the changes that were made are necessarily permanent from one game to the next, and tweaks will be made from one game to the next.
I can't remember the website they have, but there is a place for feedback and they do their best to read all of it.