Mr. Whit Babcock and Staff:
Please, I beg of you: make it stop. The "it" I'm referring to here is the over-amped pumped-in music, usually of the EDM variety, that finds its way into the soundboard and through the giant speakers of that new videoboard we have.
I know that you, Mr. Babcock, came from a Big East/CUSA school. And you're not off the hook either, President Sands, having come from a B1G school. Virginia Tech is in none of these conferences; let's stop acting like it. In fact, let's stop acting like we're anything other than who we truly are.
Most of us came to this school because we knew exactly what we were getting -- a hard-nosed, blue-collar football team who didn't go for gimmicky tricks like other schools (Oregon's uniforms, B1G's almost-required use of "Seven Nation Army," UVA's loss record). We have our relatively simple but great game-day traditions: the Lunchpail, Skipper, "Enter Sandman," The Key Play, countless others. Some traditions are so great that they need to remain not just untouched, but encouraged; certainly no more were required to be added.
Somebody in the booth doesn't see it that way and, hearing the call to appeal to the lowest common denominator here, the current Millennial students, now we all have to suffer through the overbearing tunes of "Sandstorm" and bands like fun.. I understand the need to have the students engaged while inside Lane, but keeping 20,000 happy at the expense of our great bands, traditions, and the 47,000 majority is the incorrect tack to take. Those 20,000 should instead be learning the traditions that came before them -- before us -- to keep them alive for each subsequent class.
The continued use of EDM and bands like AC/DC (really? "Thunderstruck"? just show "Varsity Blues" clips already) or Guns N' Roses isn't what we the fans want. This is a college game played by college teams...college teams that field and travel with marching bands. We're not the NFL. We don't want to be the NFL (seriously, have you seen the NFL these days?). If I wanted to hear shitty piped-in music, I'd go to an NFL game. As it is, I pay my money to you in part to make sure the Marching Virginians and Highty Tighties continue to have their respective places in Lane Stadium. Because I pay that money to make sure they're there, I want to HEAR THEM.
I remember my first home game in 1998, Mr. Babcock. I remember the defense taking the field to the MVs' arrangement of "The Imperial March" from "The Empire Strikes Back." It was (and, when played, still is) chilling. I remember when we really used to outdo ourselves and play "O Fortuna" from "Carmina Burana." Nobody could name the song, but damned if it wasn't ominous.
Saturday, and during the William & Mary game for that matter, the MVs and HTs were effectively silenced from performing in their traditional manner. During breaks in play, where previously some new arrangement would be played by one of the bands, pumped-in dance music was blasting at deafening levels. You're doing it so much that the band barely can be heard starting the rhythmic stomp buildup to precede our kickoffs. THIS MUSIC IS EVEN BLARING WHILE WE'RE ON OFFENSE, when Lane should be so quiet that you could hear a squirrel fart in Stadium Woods.
Look, I get it. The giant videoboard is in its second year and you're in your first, Mr. Babcock. You probably want to use and abuse the hell out of it to make sure we get our money's worth. I understand the need to sell advertising coupled with dance cams to help pay for the board and manage the numerous other costs of hosting a football game every weekend in September (we'll address poor home-game scheduling in another letter). I'm economical; that's all well and good. However, you're going about this pumped-in music the wrong way: less really is more.
Your predecessor took away one of our other favorite band traditions, "Stick It In." [The current students try an unaccompanied "Stick It In" chant and it...well, it's not good.] Please, start to reverse course on this EDM situation before you take away the band's powerful presence altogether. Virginia Tech home games are not designed to be raves with football played between song breaks.
Inventing the future doesn't mean abandoning the past.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeffrey T. Ferguson
Class of 2007
P.S.: Why aren't we arresting and prosecuting these students who are making and flying paper airplanes in Lane? I was about ready to ask a Montgomery County Sheriff to take these individuals into custody, forcefully if necessary. Here's a great rule to enforce: any paper airplane found by Stadium staff comes with the loss of season-ticket-holding privileges for the balance of the current year and the following year (or as a first-year Hokie Club member, should said student be a senior). Counterproductive, as you're having trouble getting asses in the student seats? Maybe. But I'm all ears for a better solution to end LaneStadiumPaperAirplaneGate. The sooner the better.
[edit: correcting formatting not carried over in copy-and-paste]
Comments
I thought they were going to mic up the bands to allow them to be a bigger part of the gameday experience? I agree with most of what you say, the sound of the snares and horns is what makes it feel more personal, you have to come to the stadium to get that treatment. On the other hand, I would much rather have AC/DC than another friggin Stop-In commercial, which I believe was a goal of Whit's. I have not been to a game in Lane this year, so I don't know how bad this is. If they want to have a piped in dance party, do it during warmups and before the game. Let the team pick the tunes and the students will have to show up early to participate. Let the MVs and HTs provide the soundtrack to the game (they should play more modern stuff anyway) and save the Top40 for filling and clearing out the stadium.
Both bands are miked, but soundboard guy chooses what goes through the video board, and soundboard guy loves him some shitty techno music. Speaking of the bands being miked, it helps the HTs, they need it to be heard, but it actually hurts the MVs sound. A 330 person band doesn't necessitate microphones, and with the board being right behind the band, there is some godawful sound phasing. Surprised Dave hasn't talked to somebody about it already.
Evened out the downvote, some people are downvote happy.
Let's all be honest. The real reason for the downvoting is that we are all just a little sad that the true vision for the sound-board didn't come to fruition: A giant mechanical Bud Foster head on the scoreboard that shoots fire.
Some of you remember this:
It was the techno loving soundboard guy...
Dave has not, and will not bring it up to anyone because it is not his place in the new system. He is letting Babcock and the sound people work things out, and just making sure to add new tunes and have us playing our best whenever we do get the chance.
The way this will get changed is not from within, it's from the alumni and fans writing in like in this open letter. If you don't like it, tell someone!! In the mean time, we in the MVs will keep doing our best to SHOW everyone that we deserve the play time over them.
As director of the MVs, especially with his tenure, if Dave were to mention to someone, "hey, us being miked kinda hurts our sound, maybe we should look into that," it would carry some weight. IARS, hi Kyle!
+10000 turkey legs- please send to Whit, and everyone else please do the same. It was LAME
When I heard Crazy Train I about threw up.
Wait...they played Crazy Train? I haven't been to a game yet so I don't know just how bad it is, but I don't like the idea of piping in a song that is in the MVs or the HTs playbook. There's a time to pipe in music and there's a time to let the bands and the fans amp up the intensity. Hopefully there's a learning curve because this is just the second game. Hopefully we will see improvement as the season goes on. I'm sure there are many people upset with some of the changes, but we are fortunate that Whit is willing to listen to suggestions so I have faith he will find a happy balance for everyone.
They played a bad, remixed crap version of Crazy Train, so kinda.
It was awful.
They also did that one shitty Fall Out Boy song that Polly arranged for the MVs...right after the MVs played it. Same thing happened to us at spring game with Seven Nation Army.
Students make the Lane atmosphere. Its sad but its true. If the students aren't involved and engaged in the game, the overall atmosphere of Lane takes a major, major hit. The same kind of hit we have witnessed firsthand over the last 5 years or so. Whit understands this and is correcting this by doing things to get them engaged again. So far, from what people have been saying after both W&M and ECU, it has worked, and the atmosphere of Lane has gotten better in that same regard.
As for calling the students the Lowest Common Denominator of the fanbase... well that's completely uncalled for. Just because you don't like the music doesn't mean that those who do are beneath you.
And as for this...
umm, yep.
After the W&M game I had my "get off my lawn" moment. It seemed like every single second of dead air was filled with EDM or the mess of the mic'ed up band not being in sync with the sound that was coming out of the scoreboard. I made the comment that it sounded like someone who had never been to a game in Lane Stadium got a hold of the video board and just started pushing buttons when they felt like the stadium should be loud. There were times in the W&M game where the crowd traditionally gets loud (we're smart fans, we know what we're doing), but it was completely drowned out by the scoreboard.
That being said, I think they found the right balance during the ECU game. There was more artificial noise than I'm used to at Lane, but it wasn't overbearing like the W&M game...and most importantly, it seems to have kept the students in the stadium. I've been to a lot of loud games at Virginia Tech (Miami 2003 tops my list), but on ECU's 3rd down possession in the 4th quarter after Tech had just scored a touchdown to bring it within 7, the stadium was raucous. The students were still in the stadium, and the fans went nuts with only a "Key Play" reminder from the scoreboard. I had not heard the stadium that loud in quite a few seasons. In fact, in most of the previous few seasons the student sections would have been empty because "the game was over" in the first half, but that wasn't the case on Saturday. It seems to me that the changes to the game day experience are keeping students in the seats, and that is what is going to ensure that Lane Stadium is one of the hardest stadiums in which to play in all of college football.
I understand what you are saying but as a student I see the dividends. As Alum mentioned North has been rocking the first two home games. I'm a junior and honestly Saturday may be the loudest I've heard the student section in 3 years. Students get pumped from the music - its what we listen to anyways. I get what you're saying but haven't we also complained in the past that one of Weaver's problems was catering to the older donors and ignoring the students?? Whit is engaging the students like Weaver never did
That is a fine line to tread. The students create a great atmosphere and home field advantage, but the older alumni sit all game... ON THIER FAT WALLETS. As long as you keep the West stands happy enough to drop a check on their way out of the stadium while keeping the place lively, then you have done your job as AD.
While this is true I will say that the upper-middle section of the West stands was almost completely empty for the game on Saturday.
Again, not saying that they aren't unbelievably important, but they're not coming to the games (at least not ECU).
That could be but so too was most of the upper east side and the upper south side is always half full.
Yea there are some obvious holes in the crowd (no need to photoshop in fans yet). I was just pointing out that the West was missing quite a few fans on Saturday.
A lot of the comments on this post were from people not at the game so I just wanted to bring this up.
Upper south is always half full because no one wants to sit there and, at least for students, try to cram into East and North.
That is how Jim Weaver operated and half of us were practically chasing him out the door a few months ago.
Remind me again who is going to have the "FAT WALLETS" in the years to come? Oh yea, not the students having fun in the student section...
But then when those students come back they get to complain about the robot rap in the future and the AD will play oldies like "Blurred lines" and twerking videos on the 3D holograph screen and the bitcoins will flow.
I completely agree. As a student, Saturday was the loudest I've ever heard Lane. I got tons of comments about how much other students liked adding sandstorm, seven nation army, and jump around to the kickoffs. Personally, I like it too. It might take away from the tomahawk chop thing, but it gets the stadium pumped up and gives the players more energy to take out on the opponent. Tradition is great (especially here), but sometimes a little change can be good.
I'm one of the mythical sixth year seniors in Blacksburg (transferring into architecture after freshman year), and I can tell you that Lane right now is nothing like it was my freshman and sophomore years (2009 and 2010 seasons), and maybe even my junior year (2011). The energy in the stadium seemed much higher and it was definitely a lot louder then that it is now.
I think a lot of this is the result of the overall drop-off in football attendance nationwide. In my first 2-3 years here, you rarely saw an empty seat in the upper deck of the south end zone then and almost nobody left early. However, I think that trying to appeal to students with all this crappy music is the wrong way to go about it. We're a blue collar school and a blue collar football team. The only music we should play is Enter Sandman, and after that leave it up to the marching bands. If they really want to appeal to students, they should bring back Stick It In.
Really, I think the whole thing is kind of silly. Football games are designed to be entertainment. Not everyone is entertained in the same way. If a person paid for a ticket to a game just to hang out with friends, start the wave, dance to silly music over the PA and throw a paper airplane, they can do that. They should be able to do that. Its the point of entertainment. I would rather have people having fun AT THE GAME, than sitting at home. If they aren't the "perfect football fan" so what? It doesn't make the team worse, it shouldn't annoy you and the more people in the stadium the better.
Are you a bumblebee in disguise? I was really hoping you were going to run with the GiT nerdgasm shtick the whole way.
Dude - seriously? There's really no need for that.
That is not a real accusation. I just noticed the similarity and thought he was gonna roll with it.
Its ok. I didn't even think about that when I was writing it. No offense taken. ;)
I will up vote anyone who uses "-gasm" as a suffix. Sorry.
Thanks for bringing up another huge problem: THE GODDAMNED MEXICAN WAVE. Worsham Field ain't a soccer pitch, and the team ain't wearing black, red, and/or green.
I don't care about the wave, and will happily play with it during timeouts, but stop with that action when the game is on.
Reminder for anyone who has ever stepped foot into an athletic stadium: THE WAVE IS USED IN LULLS IN ACTION DURING BORING GAMES AS A WAY FOR THE CROWD TO ENTERTAIN ITSELF.
The wave has NO place at a close football game.
I was pleasantly surprised that it died right as the offense came back out on the field. So at least there's that.
I'm confused. Is this supposed to be sarcastic? Arresting people for throwing paper?
I've had about enough of this "if people don't get amped up by traditional things we should force them to!" crap. That's how businesses die -- refusing to change with the times. I like traditions. I also like it when students are excited. By all means have your opinion but let the AD and his staff find a proper balance between old and new. If you don't like it -- vote with your wallet.
Respectfully submitted,
Ryan G. Edwards
Class of 2011
OK sure, new yes, but innovate with the new. Crazy Train and Fall Out Boy ain't innovation.
To be fair -- I haven't made it to a game yet this year so I haven't witnessed which songs they're using personally.
Gotta do something to get the sorority girls involved though, right? #belieber
Thats not what this OP said. He is jsut complaining about everything. He's literally complaining about "EDM" (what would qualify as the new), then also complaining about AC/DC. But then Enter Sandman is OK. He's all over the place.
The "new" would be anything out of the norm, including EDM and AC/DC alike. "Enter Sandman" is decidedly within the "old"/norm as we've been using it to great effect for 15 years now.
Which means that at one point, Sandman was new, and I'm sure someone hated it then.
There will always be people who don't like a certain type of music. I'm sure there are those on here who wouldn't mind country music piped through at every break, but I personally can't stand that genre. But I'm not going to complain that country music is completely eroding the gameday experience or call anyone who likes the genre the "lowest common denominator".
My biggest issue with this whole thread was the complete lack of respect the OP had for anyone that didn't agree with his/her viewpoint.
And there was a whole lot of respect from everyone else for any other viewpoint mentioned in this thread too...
/sarcastica
I don't care if you sit in the West Stands with your 4 7 year old daughters, if Sandstorm and Jump Around don't at least make you feel somewhat hyped up, you're having a bad day. Which you may have. At which point, I'm sorry you had a bad day and hope your life this week goes well.
At the same time, if Tech Triumph and VPI Victory March don't make you feel somewhat hyped up, you're also having a bad day.
many people probably thought Enter Sandman sucked back in 2000
You are talking about the guy that arm wrestled for "Thunder Struck" right?
That was a no lose scenario. Either way, we'd have a killer entrance. Enter Sandman is great, Thunderstruck would have been great, too. What kicks it over is the imaging on the scoreboard. The music has you excited, but the images on the scoreboard are what give you goosebumps.
I agree.
There were 3 talented bands in the stadium Saturday, and I was hearing crappy electronic music blaring through the speakers. I looked to see if it seemed like any fans were enjoying it, and.... unless the camera was pointed at them, everyone was sitting/standing motionless and bored.
Fans are louder when you win games, I don't buy that the electronic dubstep Crazy Train is making our students louder. EVEN BETTER... there was one point where the student section started a legitimate chant (USA-USA-USA) after a video showing veterans from VT, and it was drowned out by dubstep. That really disappointed me.
I sent an email to Whit, not sure if he'll read it or not... but I don't think it's a step in the right direction to remove marching bands from the gameday experience as much as they have been.
I sit in the upper South end zone ("Heaven") and many around me were dancing and really enjoying the game experience (trying to keep from throwing in the towel too soon.) Marshawn Williams' family sat next to us and seemed to enjoy all the dancing kids and adults. How cool for them to see that level of support for their son, and not because any dance cam dared climb the seven flights to record it! In my book it beats straining to hear the MVs play the same stuff they've played for 30 years. I love to stand and clap to Tech Triumph and yell "Hokie Hokie Hokie High" but after about the 10th time it kinda gets old.
"I was about ready to ask a Montgomery County Sheriff to take these individuals into custody, forcefully if necessary."
If the urge strikes to actually do this, could you post your whereabouts first, I would love to come watch the reaction you get
Preach! I noticed that the dance music drowns out the band too. Awful.
That too. I counted at least 3 times that the MVs started to play only to be run over by the PA. I can't speak for the HTs or the ECU band because I'm too close to the speakers to even know if they're attempting to play when that happens.
Oh, get over yourself. The new students like it and enjoy it. You guys want the students to be engaged in the game and going nuts and now that they are you're mad because they're doing it differently than you did. Just like all the posts about people looking at their phones during game time this sounds like a grumpy old man yelling at kids to get off his lawn.
It can't really be that pervasive during the actual play time because I rarely heard anything after commercial breaks and when they were actually playing. Yes there were a couple overlaps, but not many.
upvote because this is just an OPINION PEOPLE!
#awareness
SIGNED. Totally agree with OP. Can we get an official petition going for this cause?
FAR TOO MANY students are arrested every game for little to no good reason, i totally disagree with that statement, joke or not.
In a crowd of 66,000 fans, I disagree that students are arrested for "little to no good reason." The officers know that with that many people, you take care of the big issues and let the little ones go. Do you have a specific example of first hand knowledge regarding someone being arrested for no reason? I'm genuinely curious because I personally have never seen it.
He might be getting being arrested and getting thrown in the drunk tank confused. I've only known of two people actually getting arrested but they were fighting. However, I've known quite a few that were taken to the tank to sober up and get let go afterwards.
That's what I'm thinking. If you're making a drunk fool of yourself and they take you away to sober up before you do something really stupid, that's not getting arrested. That's proactively preventing a worse situation.
Getting "Thrown in the Drunk tank" is getting arrested. They take these kids to jail, book them, transport them to Christiansburg and assign them to cells. They are not released until the next day. I've seen several kids arrested for tripping and falling in the stands and heard first hand police bragging about how many drunk kids they arrest every game.
As stated before, getting thrown in the drunk tank is not always getting arrested and charged. If you are charged with DIP, it's not the same as spending a night in the drunk tank. And if you trip and fall and then make an ass of yourself to an officer, refuse to identify yourself, or cause any other issue, that's not getting taken away for nothing.
Most of the people I know that have ever experienced the drunk tank come away with at least a public intox charge. Most LEOs aren't going through the trouble to haul you to jail and book you just to sober up.
Alright, now everybody needs to take two steps back from their keyboard and relax a minute here. The way I read it, Jeffrey is not trying to say that they need to get rid of all piped in music. He's trying to say that currently there is an imbalance. As I said earlier, I haven't been to a game, but from the sounds of it, there has been a lot of piped in music, a lot more than we are used to seeing in Lane Stadium. Is that what is getting the crowd amped up or is it the fact that the week before, we beat Ohio State and so people believed we could beat anyone for even a second? I want the students involved as much as anyone, but more than anything, I want ALL OF LANE STADIUM invested in the game. I want those older donors to come to the games, get up and yell because dammit, they feel it in their bones that they need to be savage on that goal line stand. I want every student that goes to the games to be without a voice on Monday morning only to fully recover by Thursday in time to lose it again the next Saturday. It's all about finding balance. At the right time, EDM can get everyone amped up because of the rhythmic nature of the music. A driving beat that builds, which nearly every EDM song has at some point, naturally gets your adrenaline going. Not every song is going to do that, but situationally, things can be used to get everyone more excited. The other point I think Jeffrey is trying to make is that we are losing the feel of a college football atmosphere with less and less band music. I realize that the music the band plays isn't trendy, but some of them have been staples of Lane Stadium for over 10 years. College football and marching bands traditionally go hand in hand.
Also, with regards to the paper airplanes...since they started back while I was in school, I've always been an advocate of punishing those responsible in some manner. In my opinion, if you throw your ticket onto the field, they should take it, look at the student name/number on it, and bring them in front of the Student Conduct board and discuss it. You get 1 chance. 2nd violation results in suspension of student ticket privileges for the year including basketball. Sure, those students can get someone else's ticket, but the name of the person on the ticket is responsible IMO.
There is no accurate way to trace who threw the air plane because students exchange tickets so frequently
If you get in trouble once for someone else throwing your ticket, you'll think twice about giving that person a ticket again. That being said, we need a different ticket exchange system in place for students, but that's a whole different issue.
Also, thanks for the downvote bro
I agree. There does need to be a balance. I think in the past there was too much traditional band and not enough pumped in music (not that there's anything wrong with that but sometimes it was hard to hear the band and it just sounded like there was going on during timeouts.) This year I think they've shifted too far to the pumped in music (and the music choice makes me want to jump off the top of south end zone). They just need to find the right balance.
With all of that being said, the type of music being played should not be a reason for anyone to stop coming to games or stop donating to the program. You come to the games to watch a football game and yell until you've lost your voice supporting the Hokies. The better the team performs, the more you will enjoy it. PERIOD.
Also, I didn't know the paper airplane thing was still a...thing. That was so 2011 (I think). It was never a tradition and whoever started it (or started the FB page to try to make it a tradition) needs to be permanently sent to Charlottesville.
As a senior in the east stands, these first two home games have been the most engaged I have seen the student base in the past four years. I agree that there needs to be a good balance between tradition and more popular/new trends, but to bash Whit for this more modern shift in the gameday experience two games in is just an overreaction.
Whoa, I didn't bash Whit. I didn't push him down, take his lunch money, or question his relationship with his mother. I love Whit and most of the things he's doing for the entire department. I'm simply observing the atmosphere and curious about the direction we're heading with regard to pumped-in music and how it's affecting other gameday happenings.
let's be honest here, guy....you couldn't push Whit down.
Let's be real honest here, guy...why would I want to? What would that solve?
I was making fun of your tough guy comment that you deleted...."I didn't push Whit down, I didn't take his lunch money"...
To me, one of the sounds of college football is the drumline cadences. I have not heard any of that kind of stuff this year.
I did note, with a grin on my face, the NEZ doing "Stick it in" when we were in our 2 yard line series.
Wish I could upvote this more. Drumlines and the bands are part of the college football atmosphere. Anything that takes from that is sacrilege in my book.
Before someone comments with the "it wasn't to the right rhythm" argument here, I just want to point out that most of the students at the game, including myself, weren't around before Weaver decided Stick It In needed to go the way of the dodo. Yes, it's not the same. Yes, it would be cool if it was. But, we're trying. We're engaged in the game, we're cheering on our Hokies. Isn't that what you wanted? :)
Nah, no complaints from me. It's not an easy thing to get that all organized without the cadence from the drumline.
I tried getting it started with the right rhythm but no one really joined in as they were probably confused about what it was.
that's just awesome you guys are doing it! keep it up
And for this, we thank you! I know that as a longtime patron of Lane, it's good to see the current students attempting to bring back something we thought was gone!
awesome that you guys are doing it. I said it before on here and I'll say it again, it's best if you start with the "Stick it in, stick it in, stick it in" instead of starting with the Ohs. That way everybody knows where you're at and can come in with the Ohs at the right time.
I chimed in after W&M. It's not all my old traditions and it's not my brand of music being piped in. Things change. Students change. Fans change. Teams change. Stick it in isn't coming back. Michael Vick isn't playing for us anymore. This is the most engaged I've seen the student section in years. Saturday is the lowdest I've heard that stadium in quite some time. Not a fan of the wave. I didn't participate. I'm not a fan of the hokie pokie. I've never participated in it. Not a fan of the paper airplanes. I don't throw them. I stand the entire game. I start yelling my ass off as soon as the opposing defense huddles. I mix my airplane bottles of bourbon with lemonade. I didn't wear white on Saturday. We are all there for the same common purpose; to cheer on a team that we love. The rest is just details.
I mostly agree. However when it comes to the "effect games" (Maroon/Orange effect/ White out...BLACKOUT ON BLACK FRIDAY) I think everyone should participate. When one of those games is on national TV and people from all over the country watch and see that our fans made a pathetic attempt to all wear the same color, it reflects poorly on the fan base (I think the samething when I see that other stadiums couldn't pull it off). And when a team's fans can pull it off, it looks pretty awesome.
Absolutely fair remark. Just trying to make the point that we all participate in the game atmosphere in our own way. I actually normally participate in the "effects" games just didn't have a white VT shirt (only damn color I don't have & wore grey, so it was close). The nooner kickoff ruined any chance of me getting one before the game.
I've given up on trying to get a White Out shirt. The last few times I've been to those games, all of the sizes except XXXXL are sold out by the time I get to town on Friday.
And usually the shipping charges that come in the catalog are too high to justify for a couple of "effect" t-shirts.
I hate the hokie pokie before the 4th quarter too. It's the 4th quarter, we need to be getting pumped and going crazy, not doing the bitch-ass hokie pokie.
Seriously? It's just the equivalent of the 7th inning stretch. It's a way to promote the family environment and something everybody at any age can do. And it's a unique tradition to our school. So if you would like to hear EDM or whatever else you need to pump you up, bring an iPod and some headphones to use during that break in the action.
Agreed. It's tradition. If you don't like it, sit down and shutup.
... OR I can come up here and voice my opinion, no?
Not sure why you two got offended but sorry for speaking my mind about gameday stuff in a thread complaining about gameday stuff. And yes that's my downvote Boner - I must have missed the thread saying it's acceptable to tell others to shut up on this site.
And for the record HokieHi, I don't NEED any music or anything to get me pumped before the 4th. Just being in LANE gets me pumped enough for the whole game. I was speaking in more of a general sense for the casual fans that may get some extra encouragement from something a little more fired up.
Also, the crowd/environment for football games and baseball games is way different, something elementary school like may be cool for baseball but a college football environment should be much rowdier than a baseball crowd - bad comparison. I see where you're coming from with the family aspect but we don't have to do the hokie pokie to maintain a family environment. I guess tradition is tradition though - I wasn't saying I expect it to stop and I wasn't trying to make a big deal out of it. Just saw the hokie pokie mentioned in the above comment so I commented about it.
The reason I took issue with it was the usage of the phrase "bitch-ass Hokie Pokie." Your point could have been made, and just was, without calling it that. It makes it sound like the Hokie Pokie is somehow beneath you to do.
Woaw my man, never said it's beneath me to do. I've done it many times in my lifetime (maybe twice in LANE) and have admittedly done more bitch-ass things in my life than the hokie pokie. I just don't like it for LANE stadium.
I called it "bitch ass" because I've been told by many non-Hokies visiting LANE, that it's in fact bitch-ass and I happen to agree - has nothing to do with it being somehow beneath me, not sure how I came across like that. Nonetheless, sorry for offending you, it was just a gut reaction to the previous comment and I used the language that first came to my head.
Fair enough. I think Pitt singing Sweet Caroline is pretty stupid too, but each school has their thing. Our thing just happens to be a 50's era song that has a simple dance to it.
This could be a whole thread, but I would add the Orioles playing "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" stub the 7th inning stretch to the list of questionable stadium traditions
Have you been to any part of Maryland not along the I-95 corridor?
i'm from st. mary's county. can confirm what you're getting at here.
Why yes! There's a lovely Bavarian restaurant in Hagerstown, and I visit family down in Calvert county quite often. However, Baltimore is neither of those places, and is, in fact, along the I-95 corridor. Hence why I think the association with country boys is a bit odd
My point is that the majority of Orioles fans are from the "country" areas of Maryland, hence the song's connection with them and why they love it.
I gotcha. Wasn't trying to ruffle any feathers (pun slightly intended). I also might be slightly biased because I don't like country music
I don't agree with what you called it, but I do agree that the Hokie Pokie really doesn't belong in the 3rd/4th quarter break. Just seems like, with all the emphasis on the fan involvement, and the ridiculously crazy atmosphere we have for Enter Sandman at the start of the game, having the campy HP playing right before the final quarter begins sticks out like a sore thumb. I've seen it throw a wet blanket on a fairly crazy atmosphere before (if only for a series or 2). Its the start of the 4th, we should be doing something to get the fans amped up again, and this really does the opposite.
I'm not saying get rid of the HP, but maybe move it to the 1st/2nd quarter break.
This is what we should play to start the 4th Quarter. GMU has it right
Looking at the video....I can tell that girl in the red is a big Rage fan lol
Agreed! the hokie pokie is certified 100% BITCH-ASS... it should begin and end where you learn it, in preschool. There's nothing motivational, awe-inspiring or exciting about it. Then to do it in front of the fans of opponents, it's flat out embarrassing; there can easily be a substitute that's more stadium appropriate, like "I Believe" or the "Jump Around". Going from Enter Sandman to the hokie pokie is like taking Logan Thomas (last year) back in time and benching Michael Vick in '99 during their undefeated season. IT SHOULD NOT BE DONE!
scorching hot take, brah.
Did you make an account just to comment on this? Or just chance upon this thread first? Either way, welcome, but I disagree about the hokie pokie. The connection is pretty obvious to the school, and while it's not exactly pump-up music, it is fun and fine for all ages. And there's always plenty of time afterwards to get hyped up for the 4th quarter
yes, I surely most certainly did... : /
Stick It In Will Never Die!
HokieKnight alt account?
He prestiged!
Agree, the music is a bit too loud and a bit too frequent, but there's a whole lotta #getoffmylawn in this thread.
Winning cures everything, but in the meantime let's just focus on getting people engaged and loud... if that's happening I don't really care how.
I found this statement pretty offensive and wrote off everything else he had to say after reading it.
I assumed they were using the phrase incorrectly & was giving them the benefit of the doubt. Then I read the PS.
Jeffery, you sound like a really fun guy. I'd love to see your tailgate parties!
I haven't been able to attend a game since two seasons ago due to being out of the country a lot, but the last game I attended was dead. The crowd was not in it like they were when I was younger and many of the season ticket holders sat quietly on their hands as if they would rather be home watching a Seinfeld rerun. If the piped in music wakes up the crowd a little and gets the student section going then I am all for it.
I hope the paper airplane comment was a joke, because that is ludicrous.
Don't bring the music.
I'll start reading books and sipping sparkling water with a slice of cucumber at the games...
You better leave that non-traditional cucumber water at home, otherwise you might upset real fans. River water only, we've drank it for millenia so it must be good.
Haha. I can't even act like I drink weak sauce like that...just trying to please the softer fans.
Music. Nothing divides a fanbase as much as music. Selections, volume, frequency.
Everyone has an opinion on music. Not everyone agrees. Shocking.
Can we stop with the fucking downvotes for differing opinions already?
I'm not sure I saw downvotes for opinions. I saw downvotes for a personal insult (callin someone a GT fan... completely over the top and uncalled for... next thing you know he'll be callin others Hoos, and that's just bad) and for a thinly veiled racist remark.
Edit: Ok, so when I scrolled a bit further I did see a couple for opinions... My bad
If saying someone is sounding like a GT fan because they said "you can do that" is a personal insult, we've gotten WAY too sensitive on this board.
EDIT: Also, what was the thinly veiled racist comment? The "Mexican wave" comment? You do know that's what it is called, right?
*phew* I thought I just didn't know how this whole thing works.
EDIT: Apparently I don't know how this works. 25 downvotes! I guess there is a rule that says do not joke about someone being a member of another fan base as a result of the phrasing of their comment being similar to a viral video or common stereotype of said fan base.
I would say the problem is the internet groupthink mentality. People see someone getting berated and immediately they are led to follow along. Rest assured, I've tried to upvote when I can to even out the ridiculous downvotes.
Agreed. This thread, of all the threads I've ever witnessed, is the worst I've ever seen for people just jumping on the downvote button. So many nonoffensive things are downvoted, some to the point of being blurred.
For the record:
I haven't been to a game since 2004,
don't know what EDM is (I read the definition here and now think I wouldn't like it),
wouldn't like to hear that we're going with all the same music everyone else in college football is (Crazy Train, Welcome to the Jungle, etc),
would rather hear the bands,
would like someone to mix the sound correctly for a pleasant experience,
I appreciate the difference between the 'get off my lawn' crowd and the 'kids' crowd,
know I fall somewhere in between,
would like to have the best in-stadium experience in college football,
don't like paper airplanes (but don't think they warrant an arrest),
know that Whit is willing to try new things,
know that some of those things will flop,
know that some will succeed,
know that I couldn't care any less about Stick It In, know that since it's brought up so often I now have begun to actively dislike it and never want to hear it again,
also thought that the 'you can do that' line was on the way a few posts up,
know that calling someone a bee doesn't deserve 25 downvotes,
and have other opinions as well.
I also know everyone is entitled to their own opinions. Live and let live.
EDIT: Changed formatting for ease of read, no content changes
Straight from the horse's mouth
boooooo. hiss. *throws cabbage*
This site right now I getting into a really odd mix of fans. It was mostly hardcore fans when it started and as it grew more casual and new fans have jumped in. Now it's a regular for new fans and knee jerk fans. Couple that with the Karma whoring that goes on and it's starting to turn into a niche subReddit atmosphere around here.
Writes post about ridiculous downlegging, gets downlegged. I feel like there should be a function where you can hover your mouse over the pluses or minuses and see who did what. Taking away anonymous downvotes would likely solve the problem.
Indeed. Abuse of the downvote all over this thread. The only reason I keep returning to this thread is to offset the crap voting I'm seeing. Some posts deserve it, most do not. What Horse said is the definition of a rational opinion and the definition of a post that deserves no downvotes. I'm not inclined to believe the "accidental downvote" here, as it's pervasive throughout the whole thread. I just hope this sort of stuff doesn't get out of control and spill over onto other threads. I can already see it happening to a few people and it is bad news.
Or maybe Paul Johnson is, in fact, lurking among us...
Thanks, GuitarMan, but I did say I didn't like Stick It In, so there's that.
I guess if you're CPJ, you can do that. It isn't like his time is taken up by putting in a new system to play against us.
The Mexican Wave is so called because of its origination in Mexico during the World Cup they hosted, hence my reference to a soccer pitch, and to the Mexican national team's uniform colors. I'm not quite sure how any of that could be misconstrued as racist, unless it was so thickly veiled that even I didn't get it. Even then, I'm pretty sure the downvotes there were for the "get off of my lawn" vibe of my post, which, though it is an improper use of the downvote function, I fully accept, because Clint Eastwood was fantastic in Gran Torino, and we should all be so lucky as to get that comparison.
^^ speaking of racists (Eastwood's character in this movie)
Who grows and gets out of it before the movie is over.
I detect sarcastica in the downvotes. :-)
The automatic assumption that all non students don't enjoy some music other than the marching band is laughable. That being said I would like less of it and more marching band music.
Ferg irl
God, if only I could've planned to drop in some "Gran Torino" gifs...
Its DECLENSION!...
I hear Whit is always open to feedback so this probably should be sent to him and not posted on TKP boards. I know TKP is the be all end all of Hokie fan sites and Whit reads daily, if not hourly, but probably better served just to send directly to the man.
I more or less agree with you, but based off of the tone of this letter I thought you were considerably older than someone who graduated in 2007.
I'm not a fan of music being piped in in general, but if it is going to be pumped in while we're mounting a comeback why the hell not Enter Sandman instead of Thunderstruck? At least, that would hold some semblance of VT tradition.
The last times it was acceptable to play pumped-in music were 1) after David Wilson's return TD against GT, and 2) during the Miami game in 2011. Now it's turned into overkill.
Couldn't. Agree. More. Whenever I hear that song I just picture David running that kick back.
Dude. You're officially old. Thinking an '07 grad would be able to appreciate some obnoxious EDM in his time sheesh.
If you're going to downvote a post be prepared to give a reasoned reply to prevent the content you dislike from reappearing, otherwise keep moving.
lol
I had heard this summer that the band would be playing less, but I did not realize they would be replaced with piped-in pop music. I also didn't realize such music was employed SO ridiculously frequently until I listened to the radio broadcast this weekend. It's loud, and it's after every dang play. I will investigate this weekend when I (finally) attend my first game of the season in Lane.
As for the paper airplanes, I COULD NOT AGREE MORE. Y'all who think Jeff is overreacting say you want people to be engaged in the games, but are OK with people outwardly, blatantly, and rudely demonstrating that they are NOT paying attention by throwing trash onto our playing field. They are NOT watching the game. They ARE looking down at their hands folding paper, then projecting it into the game environment. Entering the field or causing objects to enter the field is a violation of Lane Stadium rules and such behavior subjects the actor to a criminal trespassing charge. SOMETHING needs to be done about the goddamned motherfucking paper fucking airplanes. Do not excuse my language, as I fully mean it. I would be more apt to advocate that those caught, witnessed, or otherwise proven to have thrown a paper airplane in Lane be ejected from the game and given a JR for trespassing (or whatever equivalent they have these days in the Student Conduct Handbook). Punishment should include picking up trash in Lane after games.
#ESQforDirectorofStudentConduct
I'd hate to see your stance on airplane bottles.
Well if you're throwing airplane BOTTLES onto the field, then you definitely deserve a police escort out of the stadium.
Wasn't really talking about throwing them....
There are a lot of new TKP members, so some of you have missed some great debates that have come up. Paper airplanes was one of them. Most TKP members pretty much agree that they could do without them. However, rather than rehash an old topic I encourage you to read what was already said here: http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2013/october/13/paper-airplanes-and-wa...
The tracker is your friend. You can find really amazing things on it. There are a lot of great new Hokies on TKP with great new ideas and opinions but the amount of new posts on duplicated or previous topics is growing. Use the functionality that Joe has built into this amazing site.
Ummm...look at HokiESQ's profile fern
I think she knows how everything works here.
My comment is more in general. Not directed at HokiESQ. I should have made that clear
That other thread is nearly a year old. I'm not sure its appropriate to try and tell others 'this subject has already been discussed' when they might not have been around a year ago to be a part of it, and I'm not sure that dredging up a year old thread to continue that conversation is ideal, either. I liken the tracker more to not duplicating the same discussion a month or week after it already happened. A year seems to be beyond the statute of limitations.
why not? it's been done many times before. There is a great discussion there about paper airplanes. Why not use it?
Like the "The Key Play Birthday" one? It's pretty sweet.
I neither downvoted or upvoted your statement. I probably would have upvoted you until I got to the language, at which point I was like meh. I am not a prude and I think a good f-bomb in the proper place does add emphases to a point, but lately it seems that this site has been overrun with that sort of language. Let me emphasis that I will not downvote anyone for the use of that language, just saying that most points can be made without resorting to said language.
On another note, I have never had the privilege to attend a game at Lane stadium but I am going to try to get tickets and go to the VT vs. UVA game. If I do, I am going to enjoy every second of the experience, from the Hokie-Pokie to the EDM to the marching bands, etc.
Coming from someone who graduated in 2008, (I've seen both the good and bad when it comes to the engagement of the fan base inside of Lane), I liked what I saw from the noise level of the fans on Saturday. The intent of the piped in music is to get people up, moving and loud. The music that they played accomplished that. But, I didn't think the music they played was very original. Point being, like most things in life, the answer is somewhere in the middle. The idea of piped in music is great, the fans were as loud as I could remember on Saturday, the music choice wasn't the best, and the balance of music being played in relation to the band wasn't the best. We are new at this, Whit will figure it out, lets all calm down.
I said it after the W&M game and it still holds true, SO FAR, I have been largely impressed with the student section this season. Paper airplanes aside, they have been more engaged, louder and just present (not leaving to go to some party). Now, if anyone wants to rake the south endzone over the coals, that's a bandwagon I will not only jump on, but lead.
I agree with HokiESQ, the paper airplanes thing has gone on WAY too long, and this year's choice of music blaring over the PA has become a nuisance and a large distraction from the gameday experience. I want to hear the MV's do the kickoff cadence before a kickoff, NOT listen to 20 different remixes of zombie nation or some other techno bullshit. I also don't want to hear the Highty Tighties mic'd up. They are plenty loud as it is.
I get it, it gets the student rowelled up, and they'll jump to just about anything nowadays, but it's embarrassing to everyone else.
Oh, and I understand you all have good intentions, but the learning how to cut an avocado is completely useless information for all 66,223 of us.
WHIT, HELP US!
As an HT alum, I have to disagree with this one. I've been to a few games where I've gotten seats on the press box side*, somewhere around the north 40 yard line, and I could barely hear the band. It improved the last couple of years as the band's gotten bigger, but the sound doesn't carry by itself.
Now I haven't been to any games this year yet to hear the new sound (and when I do go I'll be sitting right behind them), but I gotta think that putting a mic on the HTs can only be a good thing.
*Sorry, I can't keep the directions straight. Four years of putting shows together, and it's MV and HT for the end zones, and press box and students for the other sides. Easy way to remember which way to turn.
Having served as Performance Officer of the HTs, I can tell you we NEED the microphones. The volume of sound just isn't there for a 140 person band to be heard in a stadium like Lane.
I have been fortunate enough to sit in North for the past 3 seasons and I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've actually heard them. Ever.
Yeah, everyone around me was like WTF to the avocado part.
TWO DOWNVOTES ON WARTOOTH WHAT IS THIS HERESY
I don't ever remember getting a downvote here. [scans pic for exposed genitalia and kicked puppies]
I'm also not going to be lectured on fan behavior by folks who think doing the wave (while losing, no less) is acceptable.
I did happen to notice the majority of the ECU section was doing the wave though...
However there was a large resounding "BOO!" when it got to the ECU section as he says. I was a little disappointed with that.
If ECU is going to help continue our wave, why boo them? I do agree, that I saw no point in doing the wave early in the game when we are losing.
I think the general attitude of the fanbase was that it was in jest. We were having fun with it -- ECU fans would celebrate when the wave passed.
Scuse me I am new here and do not understand your languages and practices. Why can I not upvote this 100 times, Joe? Please advise.
Seriously? People were laughing with the boos. It was all in jest.
I have no idea what the hell this guy is talking about -- the wave occurred during a TV timeout.
There was no football happening and the wave stopped when the game continued.
The Cadets start the wave every game during a TV timeout. Far be it from any of us to tell them what the hell they can or can't do on this one day they get to break from the monotony of Corps life every other day of the week.
Smh, why do people do the wave? Because it is fun and when the fuck else are we going to get to see 66,000 people all collaborate like that? I'm a diehard Hokie fan, but it is still just a game. A time for friends and family to get together and have fun. Once you try to take the fun out of it, why are we there?
I absolutely hate when the wave starts when we are losing. It is really never a good thing unless we are blowing out a team, something about counting your chickens...
What is this blasphemy? Believers in the true faith believe in the infallibility of Frank, the vicar of beamerball, the Punter Maximus, the Sacker of the Sackers of God, Successor to the Prince of the Pass Rush, the Patriarch of Lane
Let me say this first: 1) I have season tickets in the NEZ don't so know how bad the phasing is (The time difference between the our acoustic sound versus the amplified hokie vision sound). 2) I also don't know how loud the dance music is in other parts of the stadium 3) I have been mixing sound for 10 years
Either the sound board guys don't know what they are doing or the new sound system has major defects. I'd lean towards the former. My hypothesis is that the people operating the sound system are graduate students who put together the videos. They are good at making videos but don't have a clue about how to properly operate a sound board. This is evident with the player introductions. You can barely here the announcer. The BACKGROUND music is way to high compared to him. This is most likely due to how the package was put together. The students put the video together on a computer using headphones. The mix in the headphones is going to be drastically different from how it actually sounds in the stadium. The way it should be handled is splitting the audio from the video and then adjusting the announcer to music level relationship when you play it on game day. This is just one example. I won't go over how badly they clip the sound sometimes (clipping sounds like distortion). This is BASIC mixing fundamentals people. Clipping is corrected by the turn of one knob. I'm willing to bet the dance music levels I am hearing where I STAND in the NEZ is way different from what people hear in the West Stands. It's about the right level where I am, but then again who balanced the sound system for Lane Stadium? Sure, we paid a lot of money for THE one and only scoreboard company (to my knowledge mainly one firm has a monopoly on all the new installations across the company), and they balanced it to sound well when used in Lane. But, in my 11 years of experience, I know how people can screw up any sound system - making a $50,000 sound system sound like it's being played through the boombox I was given when I was 7. The speakers have to be balanced for the stadium. I have no doubt the west stands is having their eardrums blown. That's why you have directional line-array speakers. You crank up the music for parts of the stadium and not others (i.e. the student sections in north and east end zones)!! Yes folks, if the sound system was properly designed, you can be as specific as having a fourth of the east stands hearing one volume level and the rest hearing another. We have installed an 18 million dollar sound/score board people (or however expensive it is). Let's operate it correctly!!
I feel like I'm talking to my grandpa. I'm a senior and I haven't seen the student section this loud and energized since 2011. It's not just because we beat OSU. The W&M game was rocking too. One minute you all are complaining about how the students leave after halftime the next minute you're complaining about how the VT marketing is trying to make our football games entertaining. Imagine that. A stadium that has the "X Factor" that energizes the crowd enough to help our football team win. Oh wait. That must be Enter Sandman at Lane Stadium. We might as well get rid of Enter Sandman. That's wayyy to loud.
The stadium atmosphere is maintained by the students. On Saturday ECU scored with roughly 16 seconds left on the clock. The West stands started to vacate. I did not see one student leave......with 16 seconds left....with a 1% chance of winning.....the student section was as full as it was at kickoff. We listen to this music. The student section was jumping up and down every time they played music over the speakers.
A couple things, I used to work in the VT athletic video department, yes the packages being put up there on the videoboard are sometimes being produced by student assistants, and the ability to properly mix the audio is something that we could use help with. However, the video department has nothing to do with the music being played during the game, it is controlled in the press box, not from the videoboard control room inside the Merryman center.
Also, someone who is in the MV's and appreciates the students being loud the entire game AND who admits the music coming from the press box influences that is the epitomy of honesty.
It was so loud in east stands I had to lip read my wife because by 3rd q we could no longer shout over the techno.
They still do player introductions? I heard talking but had no idea they were actually still doing introductions. Fix or Dosomefink.
Yeah the timing of the sound with the miked band is horrible where we are. Better to unmike, we can't even make out what is being played.
The canned music reminds me of going to hockey games back in the 70s. Manufactured noise and hyped emotion rather than the real thing, bands and fans. The only thing that can possibly occur when those things are playing is dancing. Except the girls standing in front of my 8year old, they were comparing fingernail polish and braiding their hair incessantly.
The canned music plays waaaay too long. As soon as that guy in the red shirt raises his hand to signal the near end of the TV timeout, the music needs to start fading out.
The canned music should not be playing during 1 downs so that the boosted/band led cheer can go H-O-K-I-E-S.........
It wasn't just the west stands that started slowly leaving at 16 seconds. The east stands were leaving in droves. Where I was in the west, nobody left until the clock read 0:00.
I'm just glad they are trying to bring the energy back to Lane.
This is ridiculous. I'm sure that anyone who agrees with OP's position are the old hokies and not the newer ones. Just stop it.
I like the EDM music; I want the atmosphere that we're getting. Don't try to stop it just because you don't like it -- the younger generation likes it, they get it, and in the end, it attracts the RECRUITS.
Things change with time -- deal with it maturely.
Nope. I'm 24, been a Hokie since 2008. And I agree with the musical concerns of OP.
2014 Grad, younger than some students, agree in principal with OP's general statements. The occasional techno garbage is alright, but having it constantly piped in diminishes its effectiveness. It's not a dance party, it's a football game, and if the music interferes with the team being able to communicate, then the music has to go. Also, if you have any shred of evidence to back your theory that it attracts recruits, I'd love to hear it. If all recruits cared about was EDM, South Carolina would have the #1 class every year because Williams-Brice Stadium loves them some Sandstorm.
Yeah I'm also a "new Hokie" who graduated in 2012 (although I've been a Tech fan all my life) and I can't stand the EDM music. I've been going to Tech football games for at least 15 years now and I've always liked the music coming from the bands. Remember the bands are there to provide entertainment during the ENTIRE game... not just halftime. The OP has a good point that we have many traditions that take place during the game and a lot of this new stuff takes away from that experience and just seems to make it like every other football game. Yeah make sure you're being current with the times, but over the past few years the MVs and HTs have been adding more contemporary music to their library to replace older songs. As someone said earlier the MVs have played some songs that immediately got played on the speaker and the MVs played it much better. Also, from what I remember during games of the past, there was never a problem of generating atmosphere in the stands because lack of piped-in music.
Says
, proceeds to downvote all three rebuttal statements.
When we win, things are great. When we lose, some people lose rationality. In regards to the music, I like to believe Whit is approaching this like training a dog. Give the dog a treat to help train him/her. Soon enough, the dog won't need as many treats anymore.
That said, for now it seems to be engaging the students more and getting them excited about games, which is something that's lacked for some time now. Hopefully by season's end I hope we hear less piped-in music, and can get excited for all our games (regardless of the opponent), and hang around until it's over. To me, I like the move for now. Just hope it's not permanent.
Paper planes are the real nuisance though. That's gotta stop.
The paper airplanes need to stop. I've been embarrassed from losing to JMU, been embarrassed from pretty much getting worked by ECU on Saturday, but I've seriously never been more embarrassed than after watching people throw paper airplanes down towards the field like a 12 year old. It started about 4 years ago and every game I go to, I hope to not see it, but sure enough, I do. Something needs to be done, its rude, its disrespectful, and its embarrassing as a school. Call me what you want, I graduated 2 years ago, I am only 24, I am not a "get off my lawn" guy.
Is the hate for the paper airplanes a danger issue? I seriously haven't really seen the hate for it until I got here.
No, I am not worried about the danger. Its just a childish act (in my opinion) that I feel makes our school look bad. That's all.
I guess I'm just not seeing how it is childish. Are you saying once you graduate you have to stop all "childish" things like making paper airplanes, playing pokemon, or watching Disney movies?
Haha, no, I still watch Disney movies. I am saying, who makes a paper airplane at a football game and throws it to see if you can make it onto the field? I don't know anyone personally over the age of 18 that has made an airplane since the 4th grade. But apparently its the "cool thing" to do at Tech games now.
I just graduated and tried throwing a paper airplane across my office last month XD... Personally I'm not too surprised a bunch of engineers (and other students, yes) make paper airplanes and try to throw them. It's bad when no ones paying attention to the game, and I know there are rules about throwing stuff on the field. That part does bother me, but I've never quite understood the zealous hatred of flying origami on here
Haha! Nice! I think you just made me realize my point, without me even knowing. My point is: I came to watch a football game, to support my football team (for whom I love very very much), so I just dont understand the paper airplane throwing while at the game. So if you're 23, 45, 60, 89 years old and you're bored at your office, build a nice paper airplane and chuck it, that's all good, but if you show up to Lane to watch the football team play and root them on, save your engineering skills for a different time.
You do realize there are these large gaps between plays right? What are people supposed to do? Study the sideline behavior of the team?
Hmmm, maybe act like an adult and not throw a paper airplane?
Throwing paper airplanes is in the same category as yelling 'Oh!' during the national anthem. It's copycatting other universities' student behavior and it is most certainly a plea for attention. Most people grow out of it when they graduate HS, but not all.
I never like people yelling oh in the national anthem. I started a Facebook campaign (back when facebook was only for college students) to quit the Oh and yell Hokies over brave at the end. So it would go "O'er the land of the free, and the home of the HOKIES!" People usually cheer over the word free anyways.
The people yelling Oh during the anthem are Orioles fans. Lots of them around..
That doesn't make it more acceptable
I don't understand your issue with it
Because its disrespectful to the National Anthem.
I'm in college, I'll have time to act like an adult later in life.
Yell and make as much noise as possible while we're on defense for starters, not just for the 2 seconds before the snap. But really, paper airplanes don't need to be thrown. I'm sure the players don't appreciate it. And if you don't believe so, I'll make sure to come to your wedding, or some other day when it's supposed to be all about you, and throw paper airplanes. Imagine how that would be. The first one the first time was probably amusing for everyone, after that it got ridiculous.
That is the most ridiculous analogy.
Four years of every home game as a student, plus over 20 games since then....somehow I managed to keep myself occupied between plays without throwing paper towards the field.
I have never thrown a paper airplane at a game, but I don't see the problem.
i guess it's annoying. plus there is the "why aren't you paying attention?" factor. not sure i get it either. ho-hum for me.
regarding danger...students have been throwing anything and everything since i went to my first game in the 90's. paper airplanes were the least problematic. heck, i prayed for paper airplanes. the airplane bottles, wet toilet paper rolls, full cups of soda, turkey leg bones, keys, shoes, etc were the danger.
yes, the airplanes are distracting, probably childish, and not what people should be doing at a football game but it's probably not going to stop. if it doesn't cause harm, just ignore it and cheer on. at least they're enthusiastic about something, which is more than lolUVA can say (ties, zima, popped collars not withstanding).
I have never been a fan of fans/students throwing paper airplanes and have never done it before. It's just annoying to try and watch a game while you have paper airplanes either whistling right by you or poking the back of your head. Do I think it is such a big deal that people should be arrested for it? lol no, but it is annoying and I would be one in favor in stopping it.
OK - maybe I am showing my age. What in the hell is EDM?
electronic dance music
Not gonna lie, I didn't know what it was either. I had to google it.
This is my favorite post from this entire thread. Thank you. I'm not being an ass, I had to look up EDM at one point as well and I'm probably of an age where I should know better.
Hilarious. It's very clear that I need to get my glowsticks ready for the western michigan game in a few weeks.
Me during stick it in:
THE CHEAT is GROUNDED!
#GlowStickItIn ?
I knew this question was going to pop up sooner or later haha
I legitimately laughed while reading this post because of how out of touch it is. These "get off my lawn" Hokies that do not want piped in music are the same ones that will post on here three weeks from now when the student section is dead because they are listening to "Light Em' Up" by the Marching Virginians for the 12th time in a game because there is no piped in music. The student section creates the atmosphere for the stadium and sets the tone for the fan interaction during the game. This Saturday was the loudest I have heard Lane Stadium in years. I sit in the West Stands and the fans just are not engaged even if they get to hear all of their Marching Band tunes and can sit the whole game without any "young fellas" blocking their view because they feel the need to stand when on Defense.
Has it really gotten to the point where our students are so disenchanted by the team's play that they must have music to engage them? I didn't realize it had gotten this bad in the student section. yikes
People like dancing to music when they're out and having fun, It's crazy.
So do I. I love EDM. (I know, I know)
But not when I'm trying to watch a football game and cheer on my team. I don't need external influences* assisting me with getting pumped up. I didn't realize that our play was that boring to others.
(*bourbon doesn't count)
Holy shit! I've never seen that before! Such ingenuity.
I appreciate the move to "modernize" the games but is it necessary? As the OP said, there needs to be a better balance of piped in music and traditional band music. (And while we're on the subject, let's remove the mics from the MVs and HTs. The echo is horrible.) We're not Miami, nor do we want to be Miami. Their piped in music sure has helped their attendance, right?
IIRC, a certain other team in our state that mics their band also doesn't know how to stand during a football game, drinks Zima, and needs to photoshop people into their stands...
Hey at least we aren't piping in 'All The Way Turnt Up' like Georgia Tech used to do between every series (dont know if they still do this)
I still pipe it into my living room during the pregame.
As someone who was at GiT/GSU this past Saturday (wife is a Ga Southern grad), yes. They still play this. And they are all fucking tools.
Yea but we have "Turn down for what"... Every series.... Shakes head
And how, exactly, is that a bad thing to capitalize on a catchy tune that ran through the student body like a firestorm over the summer?
I think the OP may be going slightly overboard but I do agree that there is too much music being piped in currently. I'm actually sending Mr Babcock an email today. My major concern is that everyone in the stadium disengages with all the piped in music, students included. There were numerous times on Saturday that would have presented a perfect opportunity for the band or cheerleaders to get the entire crowd engaged with any number of traditional cheers and each time the music ensued through the speakers, drowning out whatever cheers had been started.
I'll caveat this by saying that if the players would prefer the piped in music then I'm all for whatever gets our players the best results. However, given their reactions when the crowd gets animated, I find it difficult to believe they prefer the music to some good old fashioned crowd noise.
The general consensus on this board is that over the last two home games the crowd has been more engaged than it has in years...
Yes, but back in my day there were none of these newfangled speaker things. We got engaged by singing with the band and that was after walking 15 miles uphill BOTH WAYS to the tailgates and to the stadium where we only drank Wild Turkey. These whipper snappers don't know what it really means to cheer for their team, we were better.
On a positive note, I now know how to cut an avocado.
And fun different ways to use it in every day meals!
You can do many fruits the same way. Cantalope and watermelon especially come to mind.
Also handy for mangoes.
That's how I'll do them to get them liquified for mango daiquiris.
Which is a fine orange drink of about the correct color, to pair with a maroon beverage for tailgating games, BTW.
Prepare to have your mind blown:
Mangoes are at the 0:31 mark.
Saw that many moons ago.
I learned how to prep mangoes in the Philippines.....sticking with it.
Healthy eating is no joking matter. I'm resisting the down vote. Do you know how much healthier my egg sandwich was this morning? No? You don't? A lot healthier.
Do you know how many empty calories from fat are in Avocado's? Not sure it was "healthier."
I substituted the the deep fried lard I normally use & danced like no one was watching to EDM while I ate it.
Not all fats are created equal:
http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/why-avoc...
I'll drink to that.
Wait......
Also, Kyshoen needs to brush up on his Michael Jackson and may or may not listen to too much Rihana.
FINALLY!!!! I thought I was the only one that heard that on Saturday. I feel much better now. I think that segment being played in Lane Stadium upset me more than our play in the first quarter. What the hell?
I really want to watch that video now. Maybe I've been cutting my avocados wrong my whole life.
I can't grab the exact link, but it's on this page...
http://www.hokiesports.com/videos/channels/health/#
The video did not demonstrate how to get the seed out easily! I usually end up smashing part of the fruit. The easiest way I have found is to swing the knife parallel to the fruit and stick the blade into the seed them use the flat part of the knife to leverage on the fruit and pop out the seed. Since the flat side of the knife is spread out on the flat part of the fruit it usually will not smash it.
Easiest method is to take a knife you don't really care about, a heavier one if possible, and swing it directly into the pit. You only need to swing it hard enough to get the knife about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way through the pit. Then, use the knife to twist the pit out. No need for leverage. Just a basic clockwise or counter-clockwise turn will dislodge it.
I hid my face in embarrassment... When that happened. My biggest complaint and playing music while brewer was trying to call the plays.
Arrested for throwing paper airplanes??? Wtf did I just read..... I hated that too when I was a student and never participated in that but you have gone wayyyyy over your head on that one.
Anyways, even as a recent alum, I still kind of take offense to the Millennials student comment. Look, you are never going to satsify every fan at every game. New students/fans are going to like different things because times change. Im all for keeping the big traditions, but to say get rid of the music that todays student like is selfish.
Here's an idea: We tear down Lane and build a beautiful brand new stadium to give the program some fresh life. But it won't have electricity or plumbing, so it's old school. #compromise
All night games will be played by candlelight and/or whale oil lamps
Did you miss the artist's rendering of the Frank Beamer Terror Dome? It was in a post in Jan, I think, right after baby TKP showed up. It was glorious.
Colosseum Lanius, coming 2016
A better, alternative, I think.
As a current student, I absolutely LOVE it. The music gets students pumped, making Lane that much harder to play in. Every student I have talked to also loves it. I hate to say it but it's extremely difficult, if not impossible, for a band to get a student section amped like the music has been doing.
Yeah, but have you thankless students considered the fact that your "music" is terrible and really bothers a bunch of grumpy old (in spirit) people?
I love this site. Two Weeks ago: "The students don't care anymore! They aren't engaged and only care about their phones and twitters and such and they leave early!" This Week: "I wish they would stop playing the music that makes the students dance and be energized and be super engaged!"
Everyone is awesome, no one change a thing.
Keep the ACDC and Bruce Springsteen coming. No problem with the older music. I'm just a fan of having music running through the speakers as much as possible. Really adds to the atmosphere in Lane.
And I prefer music coming from the band sans mics. Neither of us is wrong, but the important part is finding a balance. So while everyone here would like to continue to shout "no my music is better," let's get back to the point that Jeffrey tried to make in that there needs to be a better balance between piped in music and music from 2 of our quality marching bands.
I definitely agree with that. My comment was geared more towards individuals who want to get rid of the piped in music all together. I believe there's a time and a place for both musical components to be incorporated. But it's only the 2nd home game... there will always be a trial and error period. No one is ever certain how it will turn out. But luckily, the athletic department personnel get it. It's only a matter of time before all the little kinks get ironed out.
3 words: Stick It In.
3 words: have a leg
How about we put a bunch of bean bags in the end zone so that the students can take naps in between quarters? This way they can be rested and energized to make it through these long, arduous games.
Bean bags? Preposterous. I can't believe you didn't think of the air mattress solution. Compact, can be used by multiple students (get your head out of the gutter, this is a family environment!) to sleep, and is water resistant. Best of all, after blowing up the air mattresses the students will be to tired/deprived of air to yell, allowing them to sleep in a quieter atmosphere. Of course we would all wake up in time for the Hokie Pokie and the halftime show, then promptly return to a peaceful snooze while some silly people run around on grass.
Personally, I would prefer a nap pod as it would drown out the EDM music.
Lane Stadium is on the verge of losing its uniqueness. We went to OSU a week ago - the band was awesome, the stadium was huge, but nothing else was anything special. During the game, ~10% of the music was from the band.
Sure, the players like the loud music. But you know what, THE PLAYERS ON THE OTHER TEAM LIKE IT, TOO. The other teams don't like it when we are screaming our asses off.
We aren't this bad in Lane, but we are quickly moving in that direction. When both teams are on the field, there's no need for piped-in music. The fans and the bands are quiet when they need to be and louder than hell when the other team has the ball. Nothing compares to our fans - we are among the smartest fan bases.
However, the first two games of the season have not shown us to be "smart fans" - the stadium should be eerily quiet when our QB is on the field. Some students probably don't know that. We have ONE job - to know when to cheer and to do it loudly.
I love football. I love VT football more than any person should. I love the new fancy video board and I even enjoy the music - but not when it interferes with our home field advantage. Okay, now you can get off my lawn...unless you are a Hokie. Hokies are always welcome - ALL OF YOU!!
The other team likes having fun. Perhaps we should ban having fun in the stadium as well.
At a certain point I think we should stop being so snarky here. Young and old Hokies alike.
Not: I did not downvote you here.
I think there needs to be a middle ground with all of these issues.
The ECU game was my first game this year, and I was sitting at about the north 40 in row DDD. The most immediate and obvious issue I heard was with the mic on the MVs. Having the speakers blasting away at a quarter second delay or so was absolutely ruining the sound coming from the band. Yes, it was louder, so it was easier to know that the band was playing, but there were times that it was difficult to tell what song it was.
Also, I think there is a lot of tradition with the MVs that I think is in danger of being lost in the shuffle here. There were plenty of times that the band started playing something that they've done for years and the sound guys played piped-in music over top of them. Sometimes they realized they made a mistake and switched over to the MV mic mid-song, which was just really awkward. I noticed this on a replay (where the band usually plays Scatman John), a few first downs (H-O-K-I-E-S-Hokies), and I think they might have missed a "We Will Rock You" after a sack. Though, I think there are certain situations where the first down jingle should probably be skipped, such as near the end of the half when we're in the hurry-up, because there have been numerous times over the last few years where we've been finishing the chant after the ball is snapped, but that's an issue for another day.
I do think that the canned music has its place, such as TV timeouts and other situations when the MVs don't necessarily have set rotations, but it shouldn't come at the expense of the band as being a central part of the gameday atmosphere.
Also, yes, the paper airplanes are a problem, not just from an attention standpoint (which isn't really that bad in the scheme of things, I find the wave to fit that category too), but more from the fact that you're throwing things in the stands. Now, really, a paper airplane isn't likely to cause any significant damage, but it could hit someone in the eye if they turn around at the wrong time, and it's also littering. And considering that the goal seems to be to get it onto the field, that violates all sorts of rules, both at the school and NCAA level. We don't need to kick out everyone who throws one, but I think we need to start collecting the tickets and sending warning emails to those whose tickets were thrown. Maybe have some sort of 3-strike system in place, where you lose your tickets for the rest of the season and your ability to obtain tickets for future events until you volunteer to help clean Lane (or possibly Cassell) after a game, for example.
I think this is my favorite comment in this thread. You brought up some good points about the mic issues with the bands, tradition vs excitement with the music, and the paper airplanes problem. Everyone should read this post in its entirety and take notes. +1
Yes x's 1000! My thoughts exactly. Except the paper airplanes need to only have a 1 warning system then you get denied tickets for the rest of the season.
The only other comment I will make is that they need to stop playing the piped in music when we are on offense!
I have absolutely no problem at all with the music being pumped into Lane. The band still does get their time and of course there's going to be overlap between the band and the music. This is the first time we've really done this with the music being pumped in so of course there's some kinks to work out. But one thing that we really needed to do better this year was engaging the students more. The last 2 years I couldn't blame people who aren't diehard football fans for leaving games early cause they would get bored at the games and playing pushover teams gets people in the habit of staying till halftime then leaving. But with this new music being played our student sections and thus the stadium have been the loudest it's been in years. The first thing my buddy said when we were walking out of Lane was that was the loudest we, as a fanbase, have been since possibly Miami in 2011.
Look, nobody likes change, but change has been needed in Lane for some time now because Lane hasn't been Lane since that 2011 season. It's a new generation of students so there are going to be things that are different from the past. We just need to be patient as a fanbase and if you have a problem with something, a message board on the internet is not the place to voice your opinion on a subject that we as readers of TKP have no power over. I'm sure if you send an email to Whit he will read it and he will do his best to get back to you.
I can understand why Jeff is so upset. I remember the day when I realized that I wasn't the only one in Lane Stadium too.
and I thought I got a lot of downvotes on saturday.. good lord people..
College Kids love EDM- ever hear of these music festivals? Go to any club at 2am what's playing EDM, what's happening a lot of jumping,dancing and drunk talk.
I don't think the music will change at all, maybe as we get into our ACC schedule it will taper down but IMO the attendance/spirit/loudness of lane has been awesome! Whit has found a way to make Lane Loud at 12... Imagine what he can do with an 7 or 8 o'clock ACC game. People will already be pumped/loud and just insert one or two edm tunes and boom! Lane will be bouncing !!
First off, I'm just going to leave this here:
Second, for the love of all that is Orange and Maroon, get your damn fingers off the downvote button, people. I'm sure that will earn me a few downvotes myself, from those who think it is cute, to which I say:
LARGER POINT ALERT
We should be pretty happy that our new AD is willing to try new things. Not everything is going to be a home run. But in the current days of declining attendance nationwide at college football (and other sports) events, being innovative is good. Breaking free from the norm is good, at least to try. If something doesn't work, it will be changed. And why is that? Because Whit cares. Everything we have seen from him is indicative of his desire to engage the fans, in person, through social media, etc. He's trying to make things better. I am ecstatic about that. Now, I haven't been to a game in a couple of years (financial and work realities), so I won't comment on anything related to what people are experiencing in the stands. But the fact that there's new energy is a good thing. Butts in seats (or feet on bleachers, your choice) is a good thing.
All that said, there is nothing more likely to get everyone riled up after a loss like an "open letter" on the site. The intentions are good, but again, this is basically a rant post that just makes things worse here on the boards. Pose questions, make comments. Don't make edicts. Don't post rants. While I can see a lot of validity in the problems you have, it comes off as condescending and preachy (and come on, people, the "get off my lawn" pics are funny - it's just a little jab). You want change? Send it to Whit. Just consider the fact that the man is doing his damndest to make the Hokie experience great. So be constructive.
Ah! A fresh, educated, well-constructed opinion. Leg, sir! The only shame is that I had to scroll to the bottom to find it. (I got so bored with this thread, I started reading backwards)
I <3 U, GuitarMan
I agree. I'm encouraged that Babcock is willing to try some new things and also appears genuinely interested in feedback from the fans. In the end there is definitely a happy medium that will result in a raucous Lane Stadium.
Everyone talks about wanting to Lane to be "unique" yet they want a marching band? Like every other school in the country? My apologies to the HT's and MV's on here, but I think we should bring in an acapella choir.
I like where your head is at, but it takes a special kind of (bag)man to appreciate acapella choir and football. I was trying to think about something unique to Tech and the corps comes to mind, thought maybe they could do more of a drill like leading of cheers, buuuuuuuuut TA&Mu already does this, so crap.
The Corps actually just started doing this. Thank Christ it didn't start till after I graduated.
What about getting Method Man to lead the team onto the field, like in Great White Hype? I'm in favor of that.
I haven't seen Great White Hype, but if his pregame speeches are anywhere near as epic as his speech from Garden State, I would support his presence in the locker room.
While we have to maintain our Hokie tradition, we cant stay stagnant and watch the rest of college elite making progress. College football is evolving. The hokies have to evolve with it before falling further behind. The new AD and the new president should take the VT brand and expand on it with modern technologies.
I've heard a phrase similar to that before....something about invent the future?
Glad to hear that current Tech students are now being referred to as the "lowest common denominator"...
This thread just proves that Saturday can't get here fast enough.
No, this thread proves that Monday sucks and causes people to lose their damn mind when trying to have discussions with others. It also proves that many of us get very defensive after a Hokie loss, even with each other.
Yeah, you're probably right. I haven't read the whole thread, just skimmed through some of the comments. Hopefully if we beat GT everybody will be happy again.
No we don't. #$%#$%##!!!!
Those TV timeouts on Saturday were the worst I've ever endured.
Every time we seemed to be building momentum, Redman would step on the field for like 2 minutes at a time.
As for people complaining about students and music:
Also -- piped-in music should be limited to instrumentals: hip-hop, rock, techno, etc. Let the crowd choose what song they want to sing-along to via the aforementioned text contest. Hell, get someone from WUVT to choose the music.
All-in-all, I love the fact we're changing things up a bit to make the atmosphere more fun for non-football fanatics. Of course, as with any adjustments, things need to be tweaked a bit until we hit the golden ratio.
Ooooooh, you do not want someone from WUVT to pick the music. Nooooo. All the old guys here would then have to google terms like indie and art rock and Animal Collective.
That was a joke, by the way. I love WUVT. FNB4EVER!
I am a traditionalist and over the years I've been in the Hokie Nation (15 years) and I did not like my experience at Bill & Mary to some extent. I emailed "Can We Get A Whitness" after the game and thanked him for the new & exciting changes at the game and hoped that more and more positive changes are coming. I started with the Hokies along side of step-daughter & son-in-law who were undergrads then. They got me jumping (at my age) when Sandman played and got me doing the Stick-It-In too. I was as loud as I could be on the "Let's Go Hokies" chant and did the chop on kickoffs and had my keys out on 3rd down. I like all the tradition and told Whit so. I also said that I liked some changes (we needed it) and thought a good balance between tradition and contemporary was great. But, my problem was that some times the chant was drowned out, a few times the "Chop" was drowned out and even one time the band was playing while the spirit kids were doing the chant. Lastly, the PA announcer was announcing something at a kickoff and the music overwhelmed him too. Whether we like it or not, change is inevitable and that's cool but I think a little tweaking needs to happen to make the effort a little more smoother.
What I take away from this post:
1. Every person on TKP, in the NEZ, in the East, in the West, and watching on television has a different idea of what they want to see/hear in Lane for crowd enhancement/entertainment and for the overall gameday experience.
2. Since every person has a different idea, it is likely that some people will either be 1) very pleased, 2) okay with, or 3) very unhappy about what they see/hear in Lane for crown enhancement/entertainment and for the overall gameday experience.
What I would like for people to consider before posting more irrational things on this thread:
1. In life, everyone cannot be pleased. It is simply impossible.
2. Whit Babcock is one man: one man, who is charged with balancing the interests of 18-22 year old college students, families with small children and teenagers, older alum, and younger alum. He is also charged with keeping kids aged 5-22 and adults aged 23-80 engaged in the game. Those are tough tasks.
3. You try doing Whit Babcock's job and see if you don't piss some people off with your choices.
What I wish to say about this issue:
1. I have attended both home games this season. I sit on the West Side. And have for years with the exception of the last two years where we moved to the East (an ill-advised decision, in my opinion).
2. I have noticed more students remaining and staying loud until the end of the games (which makes me very proud, especially this past Saturday against ECU when I felt like the team needed the crowd to hang in there).
3. From my boring West Side seats, I have noticed wayyyyy more kids and teenagers involved than in previous years (i.e. dancing, yelling, participating in crowd chants being engaged, and just generally having way more fun than normal).
4. I understand the need for pumped in music (I sideline cheered for four years and let me tell you it is very difficult to keep young people pumped on marching music alone, I adore the MVs and the HTs, but in this day and age, we can't rely on them alone for the gameday experience. Even USCe doesn't rely solely on the Mighty Sound of the Southeast for music.). I also understand that despite picking the music you pump in very carefully, you're still going to have people who absolutely hate it.
5. I understand the need to mic the HTs, but do not understand the need to mic the MVs. It's actually more annoying than beneficial. That's probably my biggest gripe so far. That and the one time the soundboard guy and the MVs were definitely not on the same page and were playing over top of each other. Please be on the same page.
6. I also understand that people will be mad no matter what happens/doesn't happen on gameday concerning the fan experience, having been there and done that with my own alma mater. Everyone has a different idea of what they want to get out of a gameday experience. Hokies should just be excited that 99% of the student population is not simply apathetic and doing homework during games.
I think Whit is doing a fine job with trying to balance everyone's interests and trying to make the gameday experience better for more people than ever before. I know that I certainly couldn't do any better. If I was in charge, I'm sure more people would be upset than they are now.
Well said. I agree with every point.
To your point #2 (both of them), I think that students traditionally draw the short straw when decisions get made, in terms of lottery for seats, WHERE the seats are, etc. I still think it would be great if we could have a section of students getting rowdy RIGHT BEHIND THE VISITOR'S BENCH, but I understand the decisions made to give the donating alumni better seats and keep drunk students away from the other team. I also remember the cadets used to sit right behind the visitors and I think there were specific reasons they were moved. So, while I'm old and will shudder at Sandstorm being played in my beloved Terror Dome, if it gets the students pumped up, let em have it. I would like to see someone come in and balance the sound so some people aren't getting deafened and it would be nice to find a better balance so the MVs and HTs get some more opportunities to play, as well. I trust that Whit will work out the kinks.
As several people said, losing sucks and puts people in a bad mood. I doubt the letter gets written this way (or possibly written at all) if we had won on Saturday and I doubt this thread descends into the depths of douchery we are witnessing if we had won. So, everyone have a leg and a shot. Let's focus on Georgia Tech now.
Agree 100% about balancing the sound. That would be extremely helpful.
Hahahaa, you actually pointed out the one semi-negative experience I had with the music on Saturday: I'm not too particularly pleased with the appearance of Sandstorm in Lane. I recognize that this is purely a personal complaint, and totally against the spirit of my original post, but indulge me for a minute...
I cannot handle Sandstorm in Lane. CAN. NOT. Every time I hear it, I automatically raise my hand to swing a rally towel and begin chanting "U-S-C-U-S-C-U-S-C" like I've been brainwashed to do by the HBC and these Gamecocks I'm surrounded by. If you were on the West Side, you probably saw me do it. It was awful. I feel like I'm cheating on Tech.
I can almost say Cocks now without wincing. UGH. #SEClawschool was maybe not the best life choice I've ever made...
On an unrelated sad note, I think this is the first home Techmo Bowl I'll have missed since joining the ACC. #lawschoolsucks #stuckatUSCe
So emailed Whit and mentioned the 3rd down music was really tired- the same stuff every other stadium plays it seemed.
I love that there are less commercials and you know Tech lost money on removing them.
Honestly, my biggest problem is how the hell did "Born in the USA" win the vote to be played? How do people not realize it's about how much Bruce though America sucked during Vietnam? It was embarrassing to have that played at the military appreciation game
You are exactly right about the Boss's take on "Born in the USA".
But isn't it just simply delicious that most of us common folk have adopted the song to express patriotic pride? Bruce has gotta be pissed, and that's awesome.
Pissed until he sees how much money he's made off of that song.
I think that it is time to admit there is quite the divide between older folks and current students on TKP. The older folks dominate the threads a bit more, which leads to their opinion being the perceived general consensus. I am a current student and the games this year have been pretty rockin'. The students like it and that is what matters when taking atmosphere into account. The "get off my lawn" complaining is frankly kind of annoying. You past students had you time here, you have those memories and no one can take those away. Now it is our turn, if you don't like the way the between plays time is being used, go watch the game at your house.
Exactly, people seem to forget that the college games are for students, by students. They're the heart and soul of the team, not you. We kind of forget that with how overly commercialized college football has gotten over the past few decades. You had your 4+ years to enjoy it how you did or wanted, now let the younger kids have the same luxury and enjoy their time how they want. It's not like they're destroying tradition by removing the bands and replacing them with pop music. They have been playing with piping in music for a while now and they'll eventually get it in the right balance.
Besides it's extremely rude and disrespectful to hound the current students for enjoying something a different way than you did. You enjoyed it differently than your parent's generation and so will your kid's generation.Times change, I don't wash my dishes by hand every night just because that's how my parents did it and it's tradition.
Not sure I'd agree that the games are "for students", if that was the case there'd be no need to put them on TV, they could just broadcast them on a VT television network across campus... also they'd be no need for a 65+k stadium, as there aren't that many students... time to face the facts, it's the older generation buying season tickets and driving TV ratings that keeps college sports in business... there will have to be some kind of blend of what everyone likes (and for the record I don't mind the piped in music at all, and even if I did I think I would understand it is a work in progress and chill out about it)
For the record, the games are far from being for the students as the amount of money the students bring to the athletic department is but a drop in the bucket compared to the amount coming from the conference, television contracts, and donors. When there are people who have to donate $10,000+ a year to get their 8 seats on the 50 yard line, that adds up a lot quicker than the student athletic fees. So I have to wholeheartedly disagree that the games are "for students." If the school wants more money for the athletic department, there are 4 ways to get it, and only 2 of them do they have exclusive control over. Sure, the TV contract could be renegotiated or we could change conference, but the main way to get more money is to either raise student fees or get more donors. Happy donors means more money. Weaver catered to them too much, but you can't ignore them. As I've said throughout the comments on here, it's about finding a balance, but the proper balance gives more preference to the people with money. And for everyone who says that students will be the ones with money later, here's a little fact about the current generation and donating. Yes, Millennials have proven to donate more frequently than their predecessors, but they are less likely to make recurring donations. Some of those fans in the West Stands have paid tuition at Tech 5+ times through their giving. Just don't think it's all about you, regardless of which side of the fence you are on.
Can't just say that though. Everyone is a part of Hokie Nation. Just because you're in school at this current time doesn't make you more privileged than the individuals who may have graduated 30 years ago. I'm not old. I graduated this past spring. I just understand that without the checkbooks of alumni there is no lane stadium expansion, indoor football facility, and all other upgrades our athletics gets. And it's not just about the money. They went to VT so they deserve exactly what the students deserve.
I get that. I'm not saying the games are just for the students. But to complain about the atmosphere not being what it used to be, i.e. students not getting into it like "the good old days", and then to complain when the AD and co. try to get the students into it by doing what they like is contradictory. It's time face the facts and understand that this generation of students is not exactly the same as the students 10 years ago.
This is exactly the problem. Not just at VT, but at stadiums across the country.
I feel like there is a very big assumption being made in this thread: "Only football fans are at football games." If this is true, then maybe some of the arguments about the wave and music and yelling on third down are valid and people should definitely pay attention. But I don't think that is a valid assumption. I bet there are a significant percentage of students that go to games because they are fun, not because they care about football. The game atmosphere must include them as well, so there have to be things done that may not be directed at hardcore football fans. EDM seems like one of them. It doesn't matter if you are a football fan or not, when Sandstorm comes over giant speakers right behind you, you jump around and get loud. Jumping loud people make a game very fun.
For the "get off my lawn guys": You do realize that Whit only has two Lane Stadium games under his belt, right? Not everything is going to go perfect. Whit isn't trying to poo-poo on traditions, he's just trying to blend the old-school, mainstay traditions of the MV/HT with modernizing specific aspects of the gameday experience. In my mind, he has done a marvelous job with the conditional expectation that he has NO PRIOR EXPERIENCE at a major football program.
Things are going to get tweaked. The sound system will get better. The music choices will get better. The MV/HT will get more involved. Shit is going to evolve. Whit has already demonstrated he listens to fans, it's not like he's going to keep doing the same thing over and over again if it's not working.
He's trying something new and different and it has worked with a few glaring but fixable problems. He's going to keep improving with every home game.
Calm the fuck down.
I've been coming back to this thread for the past 24 hours reading all the posts and what you said are my thoughts exactly. I was just too afraid to throw myself into this whole argument because of how heated it seemed to be getting. Let's give Whit credit for trying. Couldn't agree more. Give him time to figure out the happy medium. At the W&M game I noticed all the EDM and what not, and I wasn't 100% a fan of it but then I looked around and saw everyone seemed to be having a great time. I really enjoyed seeing students and other fans in general dancing and getting excited on Hokie Vision. Even though I personally wasn't a huge fan of it, I didn't care that much because the overall atmosphere seemed to be a lot better than seasons past, both when I was and when I was not a student. It'll get there. He'll ultimately find that middle ground to please the people with the checkbooks and the current students that add a lot to the atmosphere.
What is that song they play that has a bunch of "oh oh oh" back and forth. Then some guitar riffs?
Seven Nation Army?
Unfortunately no, I have heard Seven Nation Army. The song I am thinking of alternates between guitar riffs and a crowd singing the same "melody/riff".
I believe that's Crowd Chant by Joe Satriani
1) Replace Enter Sandman with The Rooster #Ain'tFoundAWayToKillMeYet
2) The band plays the Empire March after every sack or tackle for a loss.
I can do without the rest. All I need to hear are the crack of the pads and cheers.
Thank you for the forum. Downvote me at your own peril. I am a large, angry man.
Ah, but a large angry man is but a voice on the internet.
Don't fall for one of the classic blunders:
1.) Never get involved in a land war in Asia.
2.) Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line.*
3.) Do not disrespect French on TKP**
*Slightly less well-known
**Slightly slightly less well-known
Well, a knowledgeable football voice, I'll give him that.
I am still trying to figure out what "EDM" means. Did they play "You're Unbelievable" 40 times or something?
It's like a ZJ, if you don't know it, it's not for you.
electronic dance music is what somebody told me.
No lie, "The Rooster" found a lot of playing time with me before the tOSU game. Such a damn good song.
And it fits the whole poultry motif... Plus it poignantly tells the tale of the underdog who just won't lay down quietly in the sweet night...
Don't you even joke about that!
Replace Sandman!?!?!?! BLASPHEMY! I do really like the idea of Rooster at the start of the second half if we are down, but the Sandman Entrance gets me jacked in my living room. It would take me awhile to get over it if it were replaced. I am sure that day will come, but hopefully I will be too old to jump when it does.
I predate Sandman. When they adopted it, my reaction was the same as Ferg's to this "EDM" stuff. Cheesy, don't need it to establish tradition. Say what you want about traditional powers, but give me the USC Marching Band, Touch the Rock, LUNCHPAIL type traditions. If I wanted a ballyhoo and pyro, I'd go to a concert, not a football game.
Yep...
I feel the only people that should complain about pyro at VT games are the Old Guard that predate The Skipper.
As far as USC, I really like that their cheerleaders still sport the 50's sweater look.
So classic and classy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DmYLrxR0Y8
If we are turning this into a music thread, we need more Wilson Pickett.
I'm going to try to withhold judgement until I visit Club Lane in 2 weeks (sorry BCO, saw it on twitter and had to steal it)
I've been coming to games since I was little and I have watched a game in just about every corner of the stadium, including the NEZ when I was a student, I have seen a lot of traditions grow and die over the years. I don't mind the EDM, I get it, it keeps people excited, just a bit too loud in the West Stands. The sound guys just need to iron out their volume issues, but more importantly their timing. It plays way too close to the snap of the ball.
I feel like there are legitmate concerns coupled with some severe overreactions, we are all pretty on edge this week after the ECU game I suppose.
As for paper airplanes...I don't like them, but should someone be arrested for it...meh. I'd prefer we police each other v. getting security involved. Pretty sure everyone here is guilty of doing something irresponsible and stupid in college.
Calm, rational, and level-headed comments have no business being posted in this thread. Did you not get the memo?
I can assure you I've never done anything irresponsible while here at Tech. Ok, well MAYBE that night I had 3 rails was a bad idea but they're just so. daggone. good!
I don't know of too many people that don't have a "that night I had three rails" story. I have one and I thanked the bouncer when he asked me to leave.
I had three and tried to convince Eddie Royal to go streaking across the drillfield with my buddy (also three rails deep) and I. Eddie declined and my buddy dropped his wallet when he ran through and I naked leap-frogged a guy playing a guitar in some hippy drum circle at 3am. We had to shamefully go back and ask if they found it.
That is brilliant!
Since it is story time...
I was standing in the bathroom line at TOTS and this guy started heckling Sean Glennon (this was the year after he left VT). So Glennon called his buddy over, who was a former scout team fullback, the fullback pushed the drunk guy, then the heckler cracked a beer bottle over the guys head, then a melee ensued. That is the only time I have ever seen that (beer bottle being broken on someone's head). It was like a scene from a movie and quite frankly it was pretty awesome. No one was arrested, Glennon somehow managed to avoid being thrown out. That place is a Wild West Saloon.
After that, I just meandered onto the deck and finished my third rail. Next thing I know I'm laying in my bed the following morning watching videos of me riding a mechanical bull.
So it was like the movie Roadhouse?
Yeah, just replace the TOTS sign with the Double Deuce and imagine Dalton as staggeringly drunk the entire movie and you're good to go.
I'm envisioning the fight scene from Cool Runnings....
Thank you, thank you so so much for this.
Anytime, anytime.
I see PRIDE, I see POWER!
Not sure how younger students are somehow less worthy as fans at a college football game. The OP's post reads like some who graduated in 1907 rather than 2007. Maybe he was one of those retirees or people who had a midlife crisis and decided to finish college late?
I know I'm late to the party here, and haven't read every post...
But will say this, why in the heck did we not play Enter Sandman with 3:17 left when we called TO when ECU had the ball? That was the one dropped opportunity that I saw. Just sayin.
Like this: Confused Al
Because we were still losing at that point. The only times I remember in-game Sandman, we were either ahead or tied.
(But if we are doing new things, and want to try to tip the scales, that would have been the time to break it out...)
if the VT athletics department actually read this is would be hilarious to see their comments.
I'm sure they would be very overwhelmed and wonder if TKP was fully dipped in something other than dork magic..
Too many comments, can't read them all.
Disagree with the original post. Lane Stadium was losing its luster the last few years; 46,000 old people / alumni do not bring the same energy level that a manic student population brings. Pipe in the music. Let the students rage. Return to the terror dome.
"Return to the Terror Dome" by doing things that were not necessary to do when the term Terror Dome was originally coined...makes sense.
My entire argument was that we -- every last person in Lane, together -- can make it feel like the Terror Dome again, and we don't need music blaring through speakers in order to achieve that.
Virginia Tech was also a young up and coming program with a fanbase that was ridiculously juiced up because we weren't used to success. Its really not hard at all to get crazy atmospheres when you have people who aren't used to success getting it. The struggle becomes trying to keep that same energy when you have a fanbase who has grown used to success, and especially when the team is starting to have a down period.
Times change. Keeping the same things we were doing in the 90s is why Lane was such a snoozefest over recent years. You either adapt or die. I'm glad Whit has chosen the route of adaption.
I agree with most of the letter except the PS, most of the paper airplanes I see are from little kids. SO lighten up.
I know they look young, but college kids are usually 18-22 years old.
In terms of music, here's a non-edm track we should play every time Marshawn Williams scores - just the chorus (starts at 1:03) #JUICE
I approve of your suggestion - nice work!
These aren't necessarily chant songs, but still on the topic of Juice and non EDM songs...
Shai's new nickname should be Gin so we could have Gin and Juice
Actually, he didn't. Yes, the Big East part is correct, but the C-USA part is not.
Whit Babcock took over as AD of Cincinnati in 2011, six years after they moved from C-USA to the Big East. The Big East became the American Athletic Conference in 2013, during the final year of Mr. Babcock's tenure there.
From the Roanoke Times article announcing Mr. Babcock as the VT AD:
http://www.roanoke.com/sports/columns_and_blogs/blogs/andy_bitter_virgin...
None of those schools were ever part of C-USA.
Therefore, it is not fair to say that Mr. Babcock comes from a CUSA school, when the closest he's come was working at a school six years after it left that conference. That's like saying Jim Weaver came from a Metro Conference school.
You're absolutely correct and thank you for bringing this to my attention. In my effort to get this written and posted, I neglected to check the dates of the University of Cincinnati's inclusion in C-USA and the Big East/American Athletic Conference against Mr. Babcock's tenure at that school. It's a regrettable error for which I take full responsibility, and I will be sure to conduct more thorough research for future posts.
Not sure if this was posted on here or not.
http://www.roanoke.com/news/columns_and_blogs/blogs/times_square/thumbs-...
I just love our fanbase sometimes....
Complain for the past 2 seasons because the atmosphere in Lane sucks and we're pining for the days where Lane was rocking and the crowd was into it.
New AD is widely praised when he comes in and says he wants to start implementing changes to the gameday experience that re-engages the student body, which he says he believes will lead to an overall better environment
The changes are implemented, the student body is engaged moreso than it has been in any of the previous 5 seasons, and the complaints start flowing because the alumni base doesn't like what it is that engages the students.
You've just described what happens to every fan base once a program becomes established at a high level for long enough to have a sizable age gap between alumni and the student body, all of whom are enthusiastic about the program but in different ways. Same complaints come from every big program, but especially southern programs where there's more of a prevailing purist attitude regarding football. And the VT fan base is very akin to an SEC fan base.
Whit is doing what he said he was going to do, and some of the alumni don't like it. But if it gets more butts in seats, look for it to continue. There is nothing special or unique about VT that makes it somehow immune to the considerations of how to bring bodies to the stadium. VT can no longer rely on the inherent enthusiasm of an ascendant program to draw a crowd, and there is an increasingly prevailing sentiment among more casual fans that VT football has grown a little stale over the last five or six years. Win on the field and you can play Flock of Seagulls over the PA for all I care. But if we can reengage the students with the program, I'm all for it. I'm on board either way.
Also, this is an internet forum. Complaints are mandatory.
This thread:
