I received an email today from Bristol Motor Speedway announcing a Trophy Design Contest for the Battle at Bristol.
Here is the link to the contest:
http://www.bristolmotorspeedway.com/BattleTrophy/?camefrom=EMCL_519952_2...
Although its not something for me, I imagine that there are some of our members that might submit some amazing concepts for this and it would be pretty cool to see that come to fruition. Good luck if you enter some designs.
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Comments
I may just do an entry.
One confusing thing though is that it says:
which leads me to believe that this game will happen repeatedly in the future, but I don't see that in our scheduling.
I would not be opposed to this being a regular match-up between us an Tennessee
Trade ECU for Tennessee please
It was my pleasure to make this green.
This. Would rather see a regular VT-UT game than VT-WVU renewed.
Bring them both on
I would imagine that most, if not all, of the future Battles at Bristol would involve UTenn. Just not us every time, or if again. It could become a frequent event for the Vols to play high profile OOC teams. For example, what if they played Notre Dame there? I would bet there would be some tickets sold to that.
Why would it be a frequent event for UT instead of VT? I don't understand your logic. Bristol is almost exactly in between the two schools. It's the perfect place for a neutral site rivalry between two schools that are both very very well represented. I would say 90% of the college sports fans in Bristol are either UT or VT fans.
Because some people can't get out of the "VT is a small backwoods school in the mountains of Virginia with a small fanbase" mindset.
If anything, I think there's a pretty decent chance this could be a regular matchup between VT and UT if 2016 goes well
The Battle at Bristol was originally conceived and has always remained envisioned as a matchup between these two schools. It doesn't make sense to do it otherwise, because Bristol is the perfect "line in the sand" location between the two campuses. I guarantee you that calling this the inaugural Battle at Bristol signifies Bruton Smith's hope that this becomes a regular fixture between the two schools.
Exactly. With there being a Bristol VA and a Bristol TN, it only makes sense to do VT and Tennessee. It's literally not The Battle of Bristol without those two schools.
UVA v UTC? It could be held at any Bristol middle school's football field.
Edit: Corrected grammar to change implication of there actually being a Bristol Middle School.
As a native to Bristol, I have to point out there isn't a Bristol Middle School. It'd either be Virginia Middle School or Vance Middle School. In all seriousness, both have pretty nice facilities with Gene Malcolm Football Stadium and The Stone Castle.
What's wrong with Avoca Elementary School? I hear they have plans to renovate the playground.
My alma mater! That's where my glory days of recess football were played.
Stone Castle just got turf, too. It is really cool for being just a high school football field. Most kids play on a field with some bleachers. We had a friggin castle!
I might be getting way too dramatic for my own good here, but major structural demolition and construction is taking place to make this game happen. Not only is the scoring tower being taken down temporarily, but infield buildings are being demolished. I have heard that a major infield facilities upgrade was due before the 2017 spring race anyway, so all that sort of coincides.
Even if they rework all the future schedules and this matchup becomes a regular thing, is Boss Hogg (Bruton) going to pay for the required demo and construction every time there's a ball game?
I think this is going to be a one time thing at the racetrack and for more reasons than I've stated above.
I'm wondering if it would be possible to design a more easily removable tower (like when they started making collapsible goal posts when fans tearing them down became an issue) and more modular units for the infield buildings so as to make the transition easier.
Yep, that's what I'm thinking as well. The Bristol infield will be convertible, like how a hockey arena can convert to basketball. Bruton Smith doesn't exactly strike me as the kind of guy who wouldn't think as far outside the box as possible to ensure this kind of football event doesn't happen as often as possible.
He has enough money to do so. That's for sure.
It seems like it would be easy enough to leave a big enough space open in the infield to fit a football field. It's mostly open as it is now, pretty much a really big parking lot except for the scoring pylon.
I still maintain it'd be more fun to have the football game going while a race was happening at the same time. That way, people could sit and wait for drivers to crash during the ridiculously long/frequent ESPN commercial breaks. Win-win.
So is a FG worth 4 points if it bounces off a car's roof after going through the uprights, or would that be worth more, like catching the golden snitch?
8 points for the throwing team if anyone completes a pass to a driver.
3 points for nailing a crew member on the fly with any kick.
What if Bucky catches a pass in the endzone, but lands on the roof of a car, pulls kyle bush out of the car and throws him to Dadi (RIP), drives the car to our end of the field, and then drives the car back into the opposing end zone again while spelling out VT on the field? 38 points?
That's actually only 37 points. It's 38 if you make the conversion afterwards.
Something, something, -0 bro.
Also, I'm a little ashamed at how hard I laughed at "throws him to Dadi (RIP)" because I definitely read that as, "throws him [and the car] em>into Dadi (RIP [Dadi])"
Yep. I'm guessing he's positioning this to be the Atlantic seaboard's version of the Red River Shootout to become an annual huge event at the midpoint of 2 huge football schools that happen to be geographic neighbors. This trophy they're designing likely has every intention in the world of being the UT-VT rivalry trophy.
I think it would be a UTenn thing more than us because Bristol is inside the geography of the Vol fan base FAR more than inside the circle of the Hokie fan base. Bristol is 90 minutes from Knoxville. The Vol fan base extends into SW Va. Once you get into deep SW Va or so, there tend to be a lot of folks wearing the ugly shade of orange. The Vol fan base extends into western NC as well, and in eastern Tenn it is overwhelming. They also have a 100K seat stadium that sells (nearly) out on a regular basis, so it isn't a stretch to think they would be the host often.
That's a big contrast for the Hokie fan base, which despite being (not nearly as far) in SW Va has the bulk of fans in NoVa, Richmond & the 757. Add to that the fact we already know our OOC schedule is pretty darn full for the next few years & it would seem as though Whit might have mentioned something about it when he announced the schedule revisions just a few weeks ago if we were going to be in it on a semi-regular basis.
Lastly, it could just be Bruton Smith doing some PR semantics and there might not be another one for a few years.
As for the emotional knee jerk response above about VT being 'backwoods'? That was zero factor in the thought process at all.
Bristol is 90 mins from Knoxville. Its also about 90 mins from Blacksburg. The fanbases of both Tennessee and Virginia Tech exist heavily in that area. The reason the game is even happening is because of this unique dynamic you see in Bristol.
So what if they have a big stadium that they routinely fill. If we played our home games at FedEx Field we would be routinely selling out a 90k stadium, easily. Both fanbases are big, both fanbases are important to Bristol. To say that this would be an event custom tailored to Tenn and that we're just riding along now out of convenience is.... its actually insulting.
Sigh...
You must have forgotten Whit's recent announcement that we only have one OOC game not determined until 2025. One. That is in 2022. Six years after the 'inaugural'.
Again, look at the geographic centers of the fan bases, not the school zip codes. It makes MORE sense that UTenn would be the more regular participant because Bristol Tn is deep deep in the heart of Vol country. Not on the fringe, like it is for the Hokie fan base. Deep into Vol country.
And lastly, take anything Bruton Smith says with a large grain of PR generating salt. As correctly mentioned above - they have to demolish & remove buildings and towers to make this happen.
Right, because we wouldn't go out of our way to ensure we can be an annual participant in that game should the opportunity arise... Must hold onto those annual ODU and ECU matchups.
And again, Bristol is in the heart of both fanbases. Its the dividing line between Vol territory and Hokie Country.
I don't know why you're so emotional about this, but you are incorrect that
Bristol Tennessee is in the heart of the Hokie fan base. You are just wrong about that, though this is becoming a tangent.
Yes, there are many Hokie fans in Bristol Va. You would be more than a little surprised by how quickly that changes when you drive the 8 miles on down I-81 to get to the Speedway. Bristol is on the edge of the Hokie fan base, and the division in Bristol is not 50-50, to be sure.
You referenced Hokies selling out a game in FedEx. Yes, because of the fan base, not because of the school location. Seriously, try to look objectively at ALL the factors, and stop trying to be insulted by the thought Tenn could play in it more than us.
That's not an insult. It's just an observation of several factors we know. Not just the drive time from Lane Stadium to Bristol Speedway.
I see what you're saying about drawing the lines but let's theoretically say UT plays Notre Dame at Bristol Motor Speedway in 20XX. You can't call it The Battle of Bristol. It's not the same.
This is two teams meeting at the theoretical boundary line of the fanbases or halfway point between the two schools for a battle. That battle is in Bristol.
If UT plays Notre Dame then it's just the Battle of Historical Powerhouses Who Are No Longer Relevant to the National Stage of College Football. That is hard to fit on a trophy.
Nitpick because I've seen it a few times now. It's not "The Battle of Bristol," it's "The Battle at Bristol," so really all it's saying is Bristol Motor Speedway is the venue. Any two high-profile teams could play there, it's just very logical (from a geographic and interest standpoint) to have a UT-VT matchup.
Ah. Shoot. That is important for the future. Add another to your pile.
After marketing the hell out of this one, I don't think they'd use the same moniker with two different teams. And this was what Bruton Smith always envision, to the extent that he didn't approach other schools when the Hokie Smokey Classic looked like a pipe dream. I think this matchup specifically is his dream.
Bristol is a great town to host the game just because of the nature of the city. Where the actual venue is in regards to State Street is irrelevant, as is the loyalty of the people who live in that neighborhood. We would draw fans from along the entire I-81 corridor and a decent share from NoVa. I don't think we'd have any problem fulfilling our allotment annually.
If our allotment was more in line with capacity of Lane Stadium (I'd say less than 50,000) and Tennessee's was closer to Neyland Stadium (less than 90,000) then I could possible see it. However, we wouldn't be able to keep up if the allotment was split.
This argument has gone off the rails because it's not about VT being a smalltown backwoods school with a small fanbase. Our fanbase is undoubtedly one of the best in the ACC and is very impressive compared to most across the country- that's something to be proud of considering where we came from historically. I think people are failing to realize though that Tennessee has been a huge name in college football for decades and has one of the largest fanbases in the entire country. For some perspective, my grandfather saw UT play in the Rose Bowl 70 years ago- Frank Beamer wasn't even born yet and Virginia Tech had never made a bowl game. UT joined the SEC in 1921 and VT didn't make it to the Big East until 1991. UT won 2 national titles and played in 27 bowl games before VT won their first bowl game in 1986. VT has gained momentum and national recognition faster than maybe any other team in the last 20 years, but anyone older than 30 had far more exposure to UT than VT and I can promise you that is still reflected in Bristol.
Wait... So the 8 mile gap between the border and the stadium is enough to completely write off Virginia Tech as a desirable regular contender in that venue?
You really won't let it go, will you?
Look at our OOC schedules - one opening in 2022, full for a decade otherwise.
Look at the geography of the fan bases, not the schools.
Look at the expense & time needed to reconstruct the infield.
Then, try reading my first post, where I said UTenn makes the more natural regular host.
Lastly, stop looking for a reason to be insulted by that. I'm done with this pointless tangent you're scratching. Have a nice day.
FWIW, I'm not insulted, I just think you're wrong.
Whit would work the OOC schedule for this to become a regular occurrence, IMO. This sort of thing is right up his alley.
Don't take this the wrong way. I just think you're wrong. I think your basis of the definition that makes this a natural fit for Tennessee and not Virginia Tech are completely wrong.
Field construction being a big limiting factor? Bristol hosts what, two races a year? I'm sure they can find a way to schedule in a few weeks where they put the footings in for a football field, get the sod in, and get the infield cleared out (after renovations which make the infield convertible). Its not like they're in a major time crunch where they have weekly events that just can't be compromised.
Geography of the fanbases? You mean the two closest large fanbases to Bristol? If we can fill up Bank of America Stadium when we play for the ACC title, we can fill up Bristol, which is legitimately in our own backyard.
As far as OOC scheduling... That can always be amended. 100 times out of 100, if Bruton wants to make this an annual thing after seeing the success in 2016, we're on the phone with ECU or ODU the next night, working out a way to cancel either series. None of those games are set in stone. Everything is subject to change.
Bristol hosts a spring and fall race. The fall race has been held on August 20th or later every year since 1976. The college football season currently starts the weekend before Labor Day, which is the 1st Monday in September, and most OOC games occur in the first couple weeks. So even if they only have two events a year, the timing of the fall NASCAR race and college football season are fairly close together, which does actually create a bit of a time crunch to prepare and completely change the setup of the speedway for a college football game.
So we're now comparing ACC Championship games in which we played the other two largest ACC fanbases, Clemson and Florida State, in BoA Stadium, which holds 73,000, to an OOC game at BMS, which is expected to 150,000. I don't think that's even close to a legitimate comparison.
I went to that game against FSU. That stadium was packed in, and the crowd was easily 70-30 Hokies, if not tilted further in our direction. And then the next year, we packed it in again.
I'm not saying that BMS and Bank of America Stadium are the same. I am saying our fanbase will travel to an event regardless of location. Doesn't matter if we have to cross state lines, doesn't matter if we have to travel multiple hours, we'll show up and we'll show up in force. BoA Stadium is 2x the distance from Blacksburg that BMS is. BoA Stadium sits in the heart of Tar Hole country. Didn't matter, we took it over, like we've taken over just about every stadium in the state of NC. BMS is 8 miles from the border of SWVA, which happens to be the beating heart of the Hokie fanbase. We might not send 100k to Bristol every year, but we'd send a very, very large contingent.
As for the race itself, if Bruton sees a way to fit in an annual football game on his property, that fall date will adjust by a few weeks to accommodate. Heck, even NASCAR realizes they're going to get a ton of exposure out of this event, they'd probably be the ones pushing for the move to allow it to happen. Its not like with a slight change in date, the demand for the fall race at BMS is going to plummet.
Not to mention Miami, Georgia Tech, and to a lesser extent anOSU...at least that's the way it has sounded the last times that we have played in their stadiums. .
VT has one of the best fanbases in football. It's not an insult to not be able to routinely fill a neutral site out-of-conference game with 100,000 fans. There's few, if any, schools that would be able to accomplish that. Don't know why you feel so compelled to dig your heels in on this, but there's loads of evidence using actual attendance that contradicts what you're saying. And you can tout SWVA as the "the beating heart of the Hokie fanbase" all you want, but Whit Babcock himself stated in the press release for the Military Bowl, "The Northern Capital Region is home to our largest alumni base." It's a fact that most VT alumni live in that region- not SWVA.
I agree with you and it IS fact that the Aulmni are there, but I think that there are A LOT of people in the SWVA region who are not alumni, but are lifetime VT fans. Just because the people didn't graduate from VT doesn't mean they wouldn't pay money to go see the game annually.
FWIW I know you don't mean for it to come across that way, but it kind of alienates the non-alumni fans of both schools who live in the area andwould come to the game year in and year out. Again, I know you don't mean that, but it could come across that way. Just food for thought.
This post by swvadon should totally not be getting downvoted. Up to this point we have been able to disagree rationally. Let's not go off the rails just because we disagree with someone. Nobody here has been insulting.
I rarely comment on this site as I usually just stick to reading the forums...but you couldn't be more wrong Alum07. More than 50+% of VT's fanbase lives outside of a 200 mile radius of Blacksburg. The majority live in NOVA with a smaller portion in Richmond/757. Combine that the fact that Bristol is an additional 2 hours south and that's quite a commute for the majority of fans going and alumni going to an annual game. Swvadon is 100% correct. TN fans are far more numerous and the majority live within a 3 hr drive on Bristol. Tennessee is by far the more natural host. Stop taking it personally and just analyze the facts of the situation. Our boosters live in the cities not in bumfuck SWVA. Yes the game is between the two schools, but I fully expect a 60-40 TN crowd come 2016.
As someone raised in bumfuck SWVA, I think you're way off base here.
You're taking it personally because of that one comment (which sounded harsh but I don't believe was the poster's intention at all). I lived in Bristol my entire life until attending VT. I still have plenty of friends there and my parents live there as well. My dad's family are UT fans and my mom's family are VT fans so I'd like to think I have a pretty good knowledge and objective take on it. The truth is that UT has a far larger fanbase in Bristol. I don't know why people are taking it so personally or as an insult in this thread, but UT was the major sports team in the area for decades and even though Virginia Tech has gained a lot of ground during Beamer's tenure, UT still vastly outnumber VT fans in the area.
Actually you're misinterpreting my reaction. My point was, I'm from that area. I used to work summers at BMS through a temp agency to get in free to the supertruck races. I grew up 20 minutes from Kingsport. There is plenty enough of a VT fanbase to fill seats in BMS, plus the I-80 corridor. Roanoke, Waynesboro, Wytheville... Trust me, we don't need all of NoVa to migrate south in order to fill a chunk of that venue. My issue with the statement was not thatbit was personal, it's that it was inaccurate.
You are my hero. As someone also raised in BFE, SWVA, I can back you up on the statement that there are plenty of butts to fill the seats for both sides. Just because the boosters don't want to drive down from NoVa beacause "it's too far" doesn't mean you write off every other fan Southwest of Roanoke.
Where you at?
Grew up in Giles, spent summers in Wise. Moved to NC in middle school. Still have a lot of friends in the Kingsport, Johnson City Areas. Most of my family is still in Giles too.
Maybe so, but I want to make it clear that I'm not debating if VT will have an excellent turnout for the game in 2016. I think we will show very well and bring 50,000-70,000 fans (making UT fans as 60-70% of the crowd). However, I have serious doubts that level of attendance would be sustained if this became an annual event. All of the cities you noted are actually much closer to Blacksburg than Bristol, meaning these fans can more easily attend a Virginia Tech home game at a cost closer to $50 a ticket and not have to pay for a hotel room. The average ticket price for the Battle at Bristol is $93 and the views from most seats are going to leave a whole lot to be desired unless you shell out $120-$140 per ticket. Also, the populations of the towns closer to Bristol than Blacksburg are quite small. Bristol (TN) 26,000; Bristol (VA) - 17,000; Abingdon - 8,000; Marion - 6,000; Wytheville - 8,000. Even if 10% of the population are Hokie fans and attend the game, that's all of 6,500 people. Roanoke, Lynchburg, Waynesboro, and other towns are two hours farther from Bristol than Blacksburg and would find it much cheaper and easier to simply attend home games. Finally, the 2016 game can be (and is) billed as a once-in-a-lifetime event and experience, as "College Football's Biggest Ever" game. That type of promoting is great when it's true, but after the game is played that angle is going to lose it's appeal and would be extremely difficult to sustain for an annual event. These factors are the reasons why I very much doubt this game would be a success as an annual event.
The Tri-Cities area has a population of about 500K people. That's roughly the population of Washington DC. Finding locals to go to the game won't be a problem.
Guess we'll only find out if they ever host another game. I find it nearly impossible to believe that the Tri-Cities area would regularly draw 150,000 people when no other city, region, or location in the country manages anything close to that (it would literally be almost 50% better attendance than any other stadium in the entire US).
You're comparing apples to horses (on treadmills). The Tri-cities is an MSA. While DC may only be around 500-600k, the DC MSA is 5.8 million. If you span to the CSA (Baltimore-Washington corridor) it's 9.3 million.
No, I'm comparing population to population. The population of the Tri-Cities CSA is approximately equivalent to the city of Washington. Not the DC Metro area, just the city. My point is, the Tri-Cities CSA is population-equivalent to a major city, and more than large enough to fill BMS with a large percentage of locals come the Battle at Bristol.
I live in bumfuck SWVA. Myself, my father, and both my sisters are all die hard Hokie alums. Yes, UT does have a bigger fanbase here. But I just don't see how you think that we couldn't annually sell our allotment of tickets. Up until a few years ago (coinciding with the recession), both spring and fall Bristol races were sold out several years in advance. During these events, it is a pilgrimage of RV's and campers heading to the speedway for weeks before and after. Why? To watch Nascar? No. To go and party all weekend. Almost everyone in our area (I'm about an hour from the speedway) that I know that watches college football, Hokie, Vol, Bulldog, whatever, is planning on attending this game. It would fill up just for the tailgating and atmosphere.
And by the way, there are I believe 5 coal producing counties in bumfuck SWVA. VT has one of the better mining engineering programs in the country. Where do those grads go to work? There is a larger fanbase here than you think. And if people don't want to drive to Bristol to go to the largest annual college football game each year, then stay at home and iron your bowtie. The rest of us will fill in.
Don, you're doing the smug thing again, Don't lead your post with an arrogant sigh.
Furthermore, from a casual observation, you're net zero leg-wise on your what, 4 posts so far? This isn't the end-all, be-all determination of your worth but it's a damn good indicator that you're generally not contributing in a way that people appreciate.
the sigh was a bit snarky as was the "done with the conversation, good day" but neither deserve downvotes. He is just expressing his opinion about the topic and both sides were taking things a bit emotionally, as they have in the past with each other. I tend to agree with what he is saying though.
I think even if Bristol were close to 50/50 that UT has better chance of being the recurring match-up than the Hokies. Our current lack of scheduling for one, though that could change by backing out of a few engagements. The schedule may look set until 2020 but it will almost certainly change in that time. But also because, and this is not meant to ruffle any feathers, but Bristol has always seemed more easy for UT fans to get to. That's not to say Hokies won't travel there, or there aren't many VT fans in SWVA, rather that UT's larger fanbase it is much easier to swarm to Bristol than Hokie's.
But beyond that, let's stop with the aggravated personal call outs. He was downvoted. that's how the community moderates as a polis, leave it at that. But having no turkey legs on a comment should not mean the comment is worthless.
thanks for your opinion. referring to what I said as an aggravated personal call out? whew, kid. that's a fancy fuckin term.
wow, you think "aggravated" is a fancy term? you must have been blown away by "polis".
the irony of you telling someone that they are being smug and then replying obtusely is laughably immature.
the term you used was "aggravated personal call out" which I think is a completely over-dressed description of my commentary to Don. That sounds like a legal charge. Back to the point, Don is SMUG AS SHIT in nearly every damn post he puts on these boards. "Sigh" , "you really don't get it, do you?" That's not how people should be talking to eachother on these boards. I come here because I don't have to listen to people like that. You wanna talk DOWN to other people, go to fucking Charlottesville.
You're generally right about the legs. That comment was silly. Hell, look at Lt. Dan.....
I was hoping to avoid this part of thread, but I'll weigh in because at this point I probably should. Your original comment was spot on, basically "come on man, do better." I've spoken up about condescending posts a few times before, and it appears that none of that was taken to heart. I leave it to the community to judge anything else. As long as people aren't totally flaming each other, I expect some snark and smugness comes up from time to time. I dislike it, it's disrespectful, but it's generally in a very small minority of posts on this site, for which I am thankful. Calling it out is one thing, but realize too that you're starting to go towards that emotional deep end that you're calling out. Saying that someone else is "SMUG AS SHIT" is just as, if not more, disrespectful than anything posted before. You may not like the tone of Don's posts (and you're not alone; I've seen the votes that all of those posts have gotten), but he doesn't deserve to be insulted, either.
So let's everyone cool off. If you don't like smug/condescending/snarky replies, act accordingly with your votes or (respectful) reminders of expectations of conduct. And I will step in if it ever gets over that tipping point of people being downright assholes to one another. So let's not get to that point.
/steps off high horse (on a treadmill)
Remember when this thread was about a Trophy Design Contest?
Something, something, something squirrel?
Those were the good old days.
I don't believe you know what "aggravated" means.
I don't think you know that aggravated is a word, not a term.
BS82, I find your continued negative reactions to my posts interesting. Evidently, I touch some inner internet nerve with you that is negative. That is unfortunate.
You chastised me for posting something that didn't receive multiple positive 'legs'. It is troubling that you seem very clearly to equate posting a comment as necessitating posting something that curries affirmation from others. There are times where a person posts and not everyone hugs them in affirmation, just so you know.
The purpose of posting is not - or at least, SHOULD not - be to merely acquire 'legs' but you seem to have missed that point, as perhaps others have also. Isn't this a message board? Free discussion of varying opinions? Or is it a mere collective of like minded folks reaffirming one another? I would like to think it is a format for discussion - which by definition means communication between various perspectives.
I'm sure this will create the opportunity for those who dislike my 'style' to downvote me, and that is okay, too. I've lived long enough to know that some people are secure enough in their lives to accept differing perspectives, and others are not. Obviously, both types occupy this board. What happens, happens. Have a nice day. And for those who want to pretend that is snarky - you are wrong, it is a means of saying - take it with perspective, because I don't want to argue about it any more..
My reaction after taking a three day break from TKP to prepare and celebrate my daughter's birthday and see that this is still going on! Do I really need to start quoting Frozen around here!? Please don't make it come to that, no one deserves Frozen quotes on a day of the week that ends with the word day in it!
I have two young kids. I know that movie inside and out. But I don't remember this line...
I found this one to be appropriate:
Come on, man. This is so far from being the truth that it's laughable and there's plenty of evidence. The Military Bowl this year was less than 30 minutes from FedEx and didn't sell out with a capacity of 34,000. In 2012 we played against Cincinnati at FedEx and the official attendance per HokieSports was 46,026. How do you figure we'd "easily" sell out 90k when we barely managed half of that?
I'm not saying I agree with the 90k assessment, but that Boise State and USCw games were pretty rockin there.
Wish the outcomes had been better...but alas...
Completely agree, but the opponents and magnitude of the game were major reasons why those games were rockin. I believe the game against Cincy in 2012 was far more representative of a routine home game. FedEx was not rockin for that game, but I also wish the outcome had been better.
However, Cincy was an away game.
Military Bowl was a sellout at 34,277.
And it sold out pretty fast, if I'm not mistaken
While the VT athletic department did sell out their designated allotment, I searched and failed to find a single article stating that the game was a sell out (Andy Bitter called it, "a decidedly pro-Hokie crowd" but sellout was not reported). I did find that the attendance record for the stadium is 38,225 set in October 2013 against Air Force, indicating the stadium can hold more than the Military Bowl attendance. So take that as you will.
It was a good turnout considering our mediocre season and approached the capacity of the stadium, but it was also 30 minutes from the largest alumni base and the stadium's capacity was all of 1/5th that of Bristol Motor Speedway.
It takes me 30 minutes to go ten miles around here most days, Annapolis is a lot farther away from Northern Virginia than 30 minutes. Even Fedex field usually takes me over an hour to get to. Dont try to make Annapolis an easy road to get to. Having had such a mediocre season also didnt help get people to go. 2016 version of the Hokies is expected to be a lot different vibe at the moment, based on the talent coming in. Much more desireable game to go see compared to "Can we avoid a losing record against Cincinnati?"
I live in Washington DC so I'm (unfortunately) quite aware of the traffic. Traffic is also significantly worse during weekdays than on Saturday mornings, which is when travel for the bowl game was necessary. In fact, I drove to the game that morning and didn't have any more issues than those I've typically had accessing/leaving Blacksburg on game days.
Regardless, the Military Bowl was easily within 2 hours of the largest alumni population and a far easier trip than Blacksburg. It was a good turnout of 30,000 fans. I'll say it once again- this isn't about insulting Virginia Tech's fanbase. We show up well and better than almost every other fanbase. That still doesn't mean we would sellout FedEx every game we played there (that's objectively already proven not to be the case) or that we would sell 100,000 tickets for games at Bristol Motor Speedway on a regular basis. In my opinion, those expectations and comparisons are unrealistic for almost every, if not all, college fanbases.
So let me get this straight. Military bowl made sense to us because it was 2 hours away from a large portion of our fanbase, but Bristol never will despite it being 90 minutes away from Blacksburg?
What are you talking about? Where did I state playing at Bristol would never make sense?
Let me try to spell it out one more time. Bristol makes perfect sense as a once-in-awhile mega-event. It does not make sense as an annual game that would require VT to sell more than 60,000 tickets. This means moving VT v East Carolina games to BMS would be a colossal flop and there's only a handful of teams that could make it all work (UT, Alabama, Ohio St might be about it).
The Military Bowl made sense because, well let's see, it was a bowl game that selected us to play. I've never once advocated that we choose to schedule neutral site out-of-conference games at Annapolis. There were many pros to being selected to play the Military Bowl, one of them being it was close to a major alumni region for the AD to easily sell out their designated ticket allotment of 8,000 tickets. Maybe you will eventually realize that VT would need to sell more than 12 times that many tickets in a much less population dense area to conceivably host a VT game at BMS.
If it became an annual event, VT, Tennessee and BMS could come to and agreement to include the game in season ticket packages for both schools and the Sprint Cup series. That alone would account for the vast majority of tickets.
I guess it's possible as I certainly agree the potential for a regular rivarly is there. I would say the only experience I can recall with a neutral site game being included with season tickets was the ECU opener in Charlotte, and I don't believe that went over too well with ticket holders.
Ultimately, I have a hard time seeing BMS as a venue to annually host the game. As others have discussed and alluded to, the views are probably going to be very poor for the majority of fans. It's an easy sell for the fans to show up for 2016 and be part of the biggest game ever but if the game experience isn't nearly equivalent to that in Lane or Neyland Stadium, fans might not return with quite the same fervor. I think 2016 will be a big success and sell a lot of tickets- I just don't see it as a viable model for sustaining an annual rivalry with Tennessee.
I took a break from chiming in for awhile but I'll get back in with this:
I hope this game starts a rivalry with Tennessee. I really do. I'd love to play them every year or even every few years if that can't happen. I think we all agree on that being a good thing. But like you, shakeitallabout, I don't see the race track being "home" to this rivalry. There are too many obstacles. I think BMS knows this is a one shot deal because, as you said, after 2016 fans might not return with as much fervor. I'd guess that the stakeholders might even be scared of that when thinking of doing this thing again.
Looking beyond the inherent obstacles of the venue and dealing strictly with ticketing, the benchmark to use is other marquee rivalries that occur at neutral sites. Do Texas and Oklahoma include the Red River Rivalry in their season tickets? Or Florida and Georgia with the Game Formerly Known As the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party? Those games capture the flair of if the Battle at Bristol were to become a thing way better than the ECU Charlotte game.
I do not doubt that ticket holders were not happy about this. I don't doubt it one bit. It is, after all, East F***ing Carolina. I'm not sure it's really fair to take that instance as a good indicator of what the fan reaction would be to including a neutral site match up with UT in the season ticket package. I'm willing to bet that including a neutral site game with a (relatively) local rival in the season ticket package would go over a whole lot better than including a game against some (at the time, mind you) scrub team that we don't really care about playing
The official website for the stadium says the capacity is 34,000 so probably some seats were added to a Navy-Air Force game to set the record. The bowl chairman said in an on-field interview that it was a "capacity crowd." So take that for what you will. Stands looked full to me.
Consider these points:
1. Cincy Vs Tennessee ('nuff said)
2. Beginning of season vs end of season (okay, perhaps this needs more elaboration). I'm willing to bet that a significant portion of VT fans decided before the season that they would spend their time/money/energy on the anOSU game this season. We went into the game un-beaten and we played a big name at an exciting and well known venue. That's the same exact set-up for the Battle at Bristol. HOWEVER, the Cincy game came at the end of a disappointing season when most fans were probably burnt out on vacation time, money, and energy. The draw to Annapolis for a 3rd tier bowl game at the end of a 6-6 season isn't going to attract a whole lot of attention regardless of which team we're talking about.
3. Planning. We (fans) have known about this Battle at Bristol for 2+ years before it actually happens...The military bowl in Annapolis wasn't set until ~2 weeks before it actually happened....much more difficult to plan for
4. Novelty. How many people can say (or even want to say) that they've played in Memorial Stadium? How many people know where Memorial Stadium is? Now, ask yourself the same questions about Bristol. How many people want to be a part of potentially the largest crowd to ever view a Football game?
So basically, fans are going to be much more excited about seeing VT VS Tennessee (over cincy) in POTENTIALLY THE LARGEST CFB EVENT IN THE HISTORY OF CFB (not the Military Bowl) at Bristol Motor Speedway AAAAAAAAAAND it's going to be at the beginning of the season when there is all kinds of hype to live up to (Hey, we'll be undefeated!!) and people can PLAN to spend that money/time/energy.
I've already locked up 10 tickets to the Battle at Bristol and I fully expect it to sell out. VT and UT are both on upward trajectories and the 2016 season will look bright for both teams heading into the season. It's going to be an epic event and it will draw fans. I lived in Asheville, NC (about 1.5ish hours from Bristol) for 4 years and when that game was announced all sorts of people claimed they wanted to be at that game even though they weren't fans of either team. They just want to be part of something BIG.
/\/\/\/\ THIS
Regardless of where our largest alumni base is or how long of a drive it is or how UT would outnumber us, if they chose to make this an annual event I think they could come damn close to selling it out every time. I've said it before, there are big boy races twice a year at Bristol and before the economy went to crap they where sold out for years in advance. Now they just sell out each year. Me and about two dozen others used to make the 60 mile trip each spring and fall, and none of us cared one bit about Nascar. It was a weekend long party that was not to be missed.
As the above poster states, you're going to have a good deal of VT fans (Blacksburg is only 2 hours away), an even bigger number of UT fans (Neeland sells out 100K plus several times a year - less than 2 hours down the road), mix in a good number of college football fans in general (the Tri-City area is the third largest metropolitan area in the state of Tennessee, if you like football why would you miss it?), and throw in a few Nascar fans who just want a reason to camp out and sit in the grandstands, and viola! You have an annual marquee event in a great venue that is easy to get too, is set up for beyond prime camping and tailgaiting (topless mechanical bull riding at the Red Barn could be in play), and has a novelty factor that cannot be matched. I could be wrong but I think it would be no problem for it to be an annual success. I also don't think you're going to get any better draw if you swap out VT with Notre Dame or Bama.
The big thing I'm worried about is UT played more freshman last year than anyone. They have had top 10 recruiting classes the last 2 years. And they haven't beaten us since Peyton Manning was a junior. 2016 is going to be a good year for a hungry team in Knoxville. If we lose this game next year, it will take a decade off of my life. For those of you who weren't in Atlanta a couple of years ago, UT has some of the most arrogant, obnoxious fans in the business. And I'm surrounded by them. We need to win. GO HOKIES!!!
This is the number one reason that we need to win. The rest is secondary.
The LeNoWiSco area is pretty close to an even split, but I tend to see more VT stickers on cars than Tennessee stickers when I go home for a visit. Bristol seems like a pretty good location. Some fans from NoVa won't make the trip, but I think we will have no problem drawing a crowd. I expect BMS to skew about 60/40 in favor of the Vols.
Everything you've said about the fanbases was absolutely true.....pre-Michael Vick. I grew up in Bristol pre and post Vick. When Michael Vick came through and VT went to the NCG in 1999 all of a sudden you saw way more VT stickers and magnets on cars and way more people in WalMart with VT logos. Heck, you could actually get VT stuff at WalMart without driving to Blacksburg.
1999 is when Bristol became this rivalry town. The schools have never had any sort of real rivalry but don't tell the college sports following population of Bristol. I think that also extends some to the surrounding areas such as your territory in Abingdon. But if you go back to the years of Tennessee's heyday, no one really cared about that little cow college in Blacksburg with a 2-10-1 football team. You only saw Tennessee stickers and shirts.
Next point, I absolutely agree that this whole inaugural thing is PR semantics. I think this is a one shot deal at the racetrack. I can only hope it turns into a regular OOC matchup and a rivalry.
I think what we have right now is that in the ADs' minds, this is a one shot deal, and in Bruton Smith's it's the first game in a storied rivalry.
If this thing goes off without a hitch and is a big moneymaker and prestige-builder for both schools, I think both programs would be willing to tweak schedules to make this happen fairly regularly if not annually.
I would love for this to be an annual thing:
1- a rivalry with a geographically similar team that might actually win one once a decade
2- another chance each year I hand the SEC a loss
3- my wife's family is from Knoxville and both her brothers graduated from UT
I'll beg to differ on this point. As you said, before Michael Vick, you couldn't get ANY Hokie stuff in Bristol Tenn. After, suddenly you could. The difference is though, that Vick extended the range down to Bristol. Bristol is not even close to being in the heart of Hokie country. That is laughable to suggest. It is in Hokie country, but not exactly 'the heart'. How can you tell? because if you drive 15 miles to Johnson City or Kingsport, you find very little Hokie gear. Suddenly the ratio becomes 90-10 and not 50-50. Just as if you went to Petersburg WVa, the ration might be 50-50 but that doesn't mean the town on the edge of the geographic fan base is in the heart of Hokie Country.
I have no problem at all finding VT gear in Kingsport. I load up every time I'm there.
There is (was?) also a really great collectibles store right on the state line on Wadlow Gap Road that was pretty much exactly an even 50/50 split of VT and Tennessee merch.
My experience in the Tri-Cities is considerably different from what you're describing.
I remember that store but I'm pretty sure it's gone now. Wadlow Gap used to be my commute into Gate City from my apartment on John B Dennis. I miss that drive in the mornings.
Do you remember that little shack of a bar that was right on the state line that always had a murder of crows perched on the tin roof? That was always freaky as hell. It would've been on your left coming from Kingsport, and it was exactly where the asphalt changed, where TNDOT stopped maintaining the road and VADOT started, just before you came down the hill toward the Homestead.
I know exactly where you're talking about but I don't remember there being a bar there. Might have been before the time I spent in that area. I worked in Gate City from 2008 to 2011.
I know of Diane's Pit Stop Lounge, off John B Dennis, which became the Peacemaker's hangout after Ralph's closed.
Yup I think they demolished it around '06. It was one of those places you were pretty sure you'd wind up as dinner if you went in without knowing the locals. At one point I think in addition to being a bar, they worked on transmissions. And I mean the crows COVERED this thing. Crazy.
Gate City by-God Virginia, home of the Italian Stallion, Nick Colobro. Class of '97. Go big blue.
IT WAS A GODDAMN CATCH
Blue Devils, brah.
Those Gate City boys are corn fed and bred to be football players.
Jake Housewright went to Gate City too. Hokiesports mention Colobro in Housewright's bio.
I graduated with Chad Beasley, and Jake Housewright was the year after me. I'm not sure why we cooled on recruiting that area.
I forgot about Beasley. I do know that Gate City's program declined a bit in the mid-2000s, so maybe that's why the recruiting cooled off.
Jake Housewright ran over me on the last play of the game when we played them in 97. He was playing tailback. Two years later he started at mike linebacker at the NC. I didn't feel so bad after that.
Jake is absolutely the nicest guy, too. Whenever we ran into each other on campus we'd spend twenty or thirty minutes just shooting the shit. His dad is now head coach at Gate City.
He was a nice guy. I got to know him pretty good because we ran track against each other too. Him and Beasley were beasts back in the day. Beasley once threw a discuss across our football field and onto the track on the other side during a meet.
That was back during the heyday of athletics in our area. Beasley and Houseright from Gate City, Browning Wynn from Lee High, the Jones brother's from Powell Valley. Lots of good talent in the 90's.
I believe it was called "H & H Place". It was right at the top of the hill. Had a big sign that said "Cold Beer".
THANK YOU.
Though I've taken to calling it "The Bar from Deliverance"
I wasn't the one who said it was the HEART of Hokie Country. Wouldn't that just be Blacksburg?
I completely agree that Bristol is on the fringe of the "territory" and that in Kingsport or Johnson City you won't find much Hokie gear being worn.
Really? Man, I must have Hokie radar. I have never noticed a shortage of VT stuff in Kingsport. More Tennessee stuff, yes, but no shortage of VT stickers and license plate frames.
Maybe Tennessee stuff just sticks out to me because I'm thinking, "Oh look, an asshole UT fan."
That's probably harsh but their unearned superiority complex gets on my nerves.
This deserves the elusive Murray Upvote.
This is devolving into one of those "Let's define "THE SOUTH" and its true boundaries" arguments.
This is just my opinion (IMO disclaimer) but I see this as a one time deal. It's going to be a spectator nightmare. The only people that won't need binoculars for the entire game are the big money tickets in the infield. I went to the Bristol spring race from 1995 to 2010 and sat 10th row on the finish line every year. Ridiculous seats for a NASCAR race. We still brought binoculars to every race so we could see what was going on in the pits. Remember, this is pit row, the closest part of the infield to the grandstands. Anybody sitting in the grandstands is going to watch the entire game on the jumbotrons, if they decide to have them. They're still figuring out how to place them without obstructing any sight lines.
I hope I'm wrong about this one but I know what my vantage point was like from the 10th row. I'm thinking I'm going to have a better weekend by making it a 2 or 3 day tailgate and watching from the parking lot.
Bourbon and Pie will make this not matter very much.
Got my popcorn and got all comfy...
Several years ago, when I told a friend of mine about the rumored game taking place at BMS, his immediate response was:
"You wouldn't be able to see the game. You'd be too far away."
I love the way you started your post. Then you called another posters comment laughable. If you would just simmer down on your insults to others, Don.
Back in my day, Notre Dame was a big draw
- Everyone who was born before 1960
One thing I would be curious about, though, is that Neyland Stadium has a seating capacity at 102,455. The expected seating at Bristol would be around 160k, expected.
Unless the guy is forking a lot of cash to UT to bring them expecting 60k more seats to be filled for UT versus what other team, it would be silly to make it annual, or every couple years for UT versus other teams that don't travel as well.
Neyland had an attendance record of 109k and some change in 2004, and an average of 107k over the course of 2000. They sold out once in 2014 (the season opener against Utah St) and that was the first sell out since 2007. I would doubt they would shift a game 90 miles for a game that has no chance of seeing more than their capacity at Neyland.
If the fans for UT and VT have been speaking for years about wanting this matchup, and the Battle at Bristol shows they can get even 120-130k people to come to Bristol for a game outside of the Nascar Race, it may be worth it to make it more than a one time event.
Are there other schools they could face that could potentially do that? Maybe, but their record crowd was against Florida in 2004, which was a big deal at the time. They only sold out their home opener against a team they typically don't face because there was a lot of possibility based on new things happening there.
If it doesn't do well...then you can bet it won't happen again for quite a while.
I don't necessarily disagree with either of you. But I doubt Smith cares about geography, VT, or UT... What I think he cares about is being able to say that he sold 200,000 tickets to a football game. If the VT/UT game goes well, I could definitely see him trying to line up an OSU/Alabama/Michigan/Notre Dame type game just to see if he could sell more tickets, get more attention, and make more money.
Bristol is not well suited for a destination game. TRI is not a well serviced airport, and the Tri-Cities lacks the infrastructure and accommodations for an event of that size that isn't attended by a high percentage of locals who sleep in their own beds that night. It's one thing when it's the race, because it draws heavily from the surrounding areas for attendance. The reason VT/Tennessee might do well is because it's a similar situation. Trying to draw, say, that Alabama and Michigan fan bases would be problematic for the venue and the area.
I'm not sure Michigan would be a good draw for Bristol, but Bama fans could drive their homes right up to the campground.
Seriously though, I think a game at BMS could be successful with other teams if it drew from fanbases that are likely to be NASCAR fans who appreciate RVs, camping, and week-long tailgating. The biggest problem is most of the fanbases matching that description are in the SEC. I think the ideal matchup would be Tennessee or Alabama vs. Texas.
Yeah, because VT fans wouldn't pack it in against Texas or Alabama at BMS.....
You seem personally offended by the fact that Tennessee puts more butts in seats on a regular basis than VT. It's like me saying, "more people buy Bud Light at a NASCAR race than Yeungling" and then you repeatedly responding, "oh yeah? What do you have against Yeungling??"
I prefer Yeungling over Bud Light too, but that doesn't change the fact that Bud Light is more popular at the track.
I am not personally offended by anything
I'm just poking holes in an obviously feeble argument. Apologies if you don't like it
If you consider an argument based on empirical evidence including actual attendance data and quotes from the Athletic Department feeble, you can only imagine how tired everyone gets of reading the purely opinion-based nonsense you spew 24/7.
And who's taking it personal now?
I'm sorry that you don't like the fact I am disagreeing with you. But lets keep this discussion about the topic at hand, which is whether or not VT is a suitable candidate to have multiple games in Bristol, and not a personal critique of posters on here.
You I guess? I've never taken anything personally so I'm truly deeply sorry that you felt the need to be sorry. That's just a real shame and a cloud over an otherwise sunny day. Apologies if you don't like it!
Try to stay on topic though about Virginia Tech and Bristol- I'm sure the mods would appreciate it. I personally heard they're going to let Beamer drive a pace car around the track as the team runs out to Enter Sandman and the 300,000 Virginia Tech fans (or is it 500,000? they aren't a small backwoods cow college after all) will have a jolly good time doing the Hokie Pokie. Cheers!
The mod would also appreciate people not editing comments to layer further snark on top of their existing replies. Really, not to pick on you specifically, but every time a new post pops up on this thread, this is me:
We're really close to an interesting topic (and worthwhile debate, though that's pretty much lost now) becoming totally useless. So to all these asides and meta-arguments:
The Bama comment earns a leg.
The RV idea, though, is problematic, simply because they're aren't enough campgrounds in the area to accommodate the number it would take considering the availability of hotel rooms in the area. The Tri-Cities lacks the infrastructure of a tourist destination. For this to work, the attendance demographics need to mimic what they are for the Sprint Cup races, and that includes a really big number of local asses in the seats.
At Martinsville the RVs mostly set up in lots and property adjacent to the track. Some folks stay there all week. Is BMS (which is smaller than Martinsville no?) really that different? Both are remote and have little enough infrastructure. And while locals are well represented at the Martinsville race, the majority aren't locals, and most out-of-towners stay at least a night or two. I don't see Bristol being that different, but maybe I'm drawing a false equivalency.
Yeah, a similar setup at BMS. But the RV crowd is a relatively small percentage of the total attendance at the race. You couldn't depend on using that method to house a big number of people in town for the game, either.
There's a lot of hotel spillover into Kingsport, Johnson City and Abingdon for the race. And they're talking about a higher attendance for the game than the races. So I think getting that same strong local showing is critical for this to be a success. I think that only happens if you get both of the local teams involved in the game. Bringing in an outlier will reduce local interest and cause more logistical headaches.
There're a lot of posts in this thread that I didn't take time to read (okay I skimmed). Did anyone mention that Tennessee refuses to do the home-and-home thing? That's why it would feature Tennessee more often. The Hokies don't mind going on the road, but Tennessee can't be bothered. Isn't this [one of the reasons] why this was such a big deal in the first place?
I'd take that as the game itself will be played again whether it's VT and UT in the game or not
How about a big shinny brass vagina?
Wait...what? Already been done.
Never mind.
I hope it turns out better than the logo they've put together for this game. It looks like something designed for a game in 1996, not 2016.
My humble submission
NSFW
Edit: sorry guys
Might wanna add a NSFW tag on that one^^
NSFW, before anyone clicks (thanks for not embedding).
Should've known the ever watchful eye of our moderator BatGuit...I mean VTGuitarMan would be on top of things. Apologies
The community still is, and always has been, self-moderating. I just carry a bit of firepower when people are out of line :) No need to apologize for anything. Thanks for being on top of stuff.
How about a Coliseum ? Centered around "the last great..." theme.
Sorry guys and girls, this one is over. Just submitted 3 pictures of Bud Foster.
Since Tech is an engineering school, should win this one hands down. It's gotta be pimped.
I'm sure to win
If someone sticks a pic of Beamer on that then they'll be a green comment for sure
Shivakamini Somakandarkram!
Only if the looser get this.
edit: apparently the gif i wanted to put is not able to be on other sites.
Winner of the trophy design shall be: Jim Halpert
Anyone else get the feeling tihs is just going to be a brass Barrel of Moonshine Trophy?
That, or the Country Ham Biscuit Trophy.
Tennessee already has a barrel trophy with Kentucky.
Along the lines of what you're saying, it could end up being a brown jug with "XXX" and the game logo.
I think that somewhere in the Big10 is the battle of the little brown jug. Not sure which school and too lazy to look it up.
Michigan vs Minnesota
Leg for bouying my laziness with facts
The Copper Pot Still trophy.
It will have to be able to accommodate the Cracker Barrel logo on it somewhere.
i posted this on twitter dot com earlier, but here:
Their are two major factors that point to this being a one-time event at the actual speedway:
1. The massive infield renovation that is allowing for the stadium and extra stands to be temporarily installed. I do like the idea of a modern, convertible infield that allows for more than just racing.
2. The logisitics of seeing the field based on how far away the stands are currently located. As others have pointed out, actually seeing the game is going to be difficult and most fans in attendance will probably just watch on the giant screens they install. A lot of people would probably not come back once word got out that you could not hardly see the game you actually paid a lot of money to see.
But this got me thinking. What if this is just Bruton dipping his toe in the college football water? If the "Inaugural" Battle at Bristol is a massive success, would it not make sense for Bruton to try to get a football stadium built adjacent to the speedway or at least nearby? That could potentially bring a ton of business/money to the area (hello taxpayer assistance). He could set up something like the Chick-fil-A Kick-off game(s). Maybe even use it for a bowl game. With NASCAR revenues dropping, it would make sense for Bruton to look for other potential revenue streams, especially one that could piggy-back on the BMS.
Or he puts in a state-of-the-art, convertible infield that allows for more events and football games. But even a convertible infield doesn't necessarily help the issue of seeing the field with the stands so far way. That is what got me thinking of a stand-alone stadium that could share the parking areas.
Either way, whether or not this is a one-time event really depends on how profitable it is and/or could potentially be.
ability to see the game is going to be a big issue. If you get seats in the corners or ends you are going to be VERY FAR away from the action, bring your binoculars. But even you get a 50 yard line ticket but up the grandstands you are still going to be VERY FAR away from the action.
I love the idea but the closer it gets the more I wonder just how enjoyable this game would be to watch live.
I thought I heard they weren't gonna sell those seats and make up for it with the temporary seating they're installing on the track itself.
And don't worry, I'll provide a full report on the live experience.
that would make a lot more sense. though they would need to build some fairly large stands and still have a bowl I think to reach the 160k figure
Yes Hokies travel well. Do I see our Alumni wanting this as a permanent matchup. I say Hell yes. I love ACC vs SEC matchups. We don't have an instate SEC rival. Tennessee is closest and they don't have an ACC instate rival.
Louisville vs Kentucky, Clemson vs SC, Noles vs Gators, GT vs UGA. VT vs UT could be an epic matchup that could add some much needed hype to both programs. Both programs have seen a decline in their Win column.
A regular scheduled opponent from a top 5 conference school would be a GREAT thing. This site will be able to sell alcohol during the game and the tailgating there is AWESOME!!!!. TN fan base ( while SEC ) is much more tolerable than say Alabama or LSU. We need to dump ECU, JMU, William & Mary, Richmond, Liberty, Furman, type games. I still say hold onto to ODU even though they backstabbed and allowed Penn State in our backdoor. ODU games are a great way to show case VT to 757 recruits who wont make trip to Blacksburg. But if this becomes a regular game we need a cupcake on years we have another big OOOC game ( ND, Ohio st, WI, Penn State ) or if we get Noles or Clemson plus big OOOC game. Definitely has makings for championship slotting consideration on strength of schedule. I live in South AL. I drive to Tallahassee and Atlanta n New Orleans for any Hokie games. I'd drive to Bristol in a heartbeat. I haven't been to Blacksburg in years....sobs.....
Just a reminder, this contest closes tomorrow for those that actually were discussing submitting trophy designs and not who has a bigger swinging fan base in the area of Bristol.