If there is one thing that I have taken a lot of pride in as a Hokie, it is how we support each other - in good times and bad.
Go The Distance: Virginia Tech Alumni Message to our Hokie Family
There have been other posts about this topic, but now players, and former players, are calling us - fans - out, or at least some of us. I'll embed more tweets as I find them
Please, for goodness sake, stay the entire game if you show up to a game. We as fans have to give up 3.5 hours on a Saturday to watch guys that are putting in way more hours of work on the field. Regardless of how we feel about the coaching staff or how the game is going, stay in Lane.
One of the biggest ways that we can give back is to not quit on the players - they need us, and they suit up every week for us.
If you left the stadium earlier with a few minutes left and down by one score... don't ever come back into Lane 🤷🏾♂️— Luther Maddy (@luthermaddy_) November 24, 2018
Comments
It was sad to see people leave around us when they intercepted the ball. Down four with 3 minutes to go is not the time to leave the stadium. Everyone who left deserved to miss out on the celebrations. Same with those who may have left Texas A&Ms stadium
Reminds me of all the "fans" that left the 2013 Finals game right before Ray Allen hit the game-tying 3 to send it to OT. They showed the masses of fans outside trying to get back in and being turned away. Their loss.
I support this message.
After the uva interception fans around me started to leave and one uva fan said "where y'all going", not in a nice way, but a shit eating condescending way. While I didn't say anything, I actually agreed with him.
I know some left because they were cold and I'm guessing others left because they'd seen this script before, and perhaps others because they didn't want to see uva celebrate in our stadium.
I just had a good feeling that we would somehow win that game and as I ran the time left in my head I knew there was enough time if we got a stop.
And to those who were praying those last few minutes, they were answered. I don't know what a Hokie is, but God is one of them!
You would think that the Nebraska game would have taught all Hokies a lesson. I'll never forget Bill Roth's quote after that game: along the lines of "folks, this is one of those times where 30,000 fans were in the stadium, but if you interviewed everyone, you'd tally up 100,000 people that said 'they were there.'"
that was my first year at Tech and I had those horrible nosebleed seats after winning the student lottery. I was happy as hell to get in regardless of where I sat and as a new student, was baffled as to why people were leaving when there was still time left on the clock.
when I caught the bus back to my place, a lot of people were down and realized many thought we had lost. after that experience, I told myself I'd stay until the time read "00:00" regardless of what the result would be.
I will admit that I was planning to start packing up and walking out if they had gone up by double-digits. I don't think I could have watched them carrying the Cup around Worsham Field without losing my mind. However, they didn't go up by double-digits, so I stuck around in case we got a miracle, and it took at least 3 miracles to win.
With an ending like we witnessed on Friday, I wonder how many Hokie fans couldn't celebrate with their whole heart because of there was self-inflicted guilt from leaving early?
Agreed. Could have a ripple effect too. Recruits see fans bailing out and that could affect their experience.
Recruits also see people not showing up to the game in the first place.
Students should always stay throughout. There are some games and circumstances where I don't fault fans leaving early.
If it is a night game and you are traveling home 2+ hours, I don't have a problem with that IF we're getting blown out (Ex: GT this year). We've had that multiple times this year and while the optics aren't good, I don't fault people for beating the traffic.
I still have a problem with the fans that left the BC game when it was only a one score deficit...I'll get over it one day. /s
I completely agree. That's was a 3:30 game so the travel excuse doesn't cut it.
I completely agree with this message. What cracks me up is the hoos that believe they have some fandom moral ground to stand on and call us out for it. Bitches, you can't fill your own stadium at kickoff when you're having the best season in years! If a Hokie wants to make this assessment, I'm fine with it and will even back their argument. Not trying to hear this from hoos though. I will shut that shit down with a quickness!
I thought that Virginia Tech fans always took pride in showing up and staying for the entire game- it always gave us leverage for mocking UVA, with fans that do not show up, and - in our eyes - ALWAYS would leave the game early if they did show up.
If they weren't fans, they wouldn't have been there to begin with.
I rarely leave a game until the end, but I've been to a lot of football games, from high school to professional, and there are always people who leave the game early. Sometimes for good reason, most of the time just to beat traffic. This game was WAY too close to give up on, but that said, if someone wants or needs to leave, it's fine. They help out with the traffic on the way home. It may be that the only way they could attend was if they left early - - - I've been in that situation before. Better that they showed up than not at all. If they want to go, it's fine.
No, the punishment that these fans got, as stated in the title of the article, is that they missed seeing lucy pull the ball away this year. And this year in EPIC fashion. What a game! Those who stayed to the last moment were amply rewarded.
You know what, I am going to play the part of grumpy old man for once. And this is not directed at any one person, but as this was not meant directly towards me I will respond anyway.
Don't tell me how to spend my time in Lane Stadium. I have been spending money for years for a seat in that place and have been giving up my weekends driving to and from Blacksburg every football season. I have paid my pennance. I do not owe anybody anything else. The University got my money, the Athletic Department got my money, I am gonna do whatever my happy ass wants to do.
And don't crticize the students for leaving a game early when they at least made the time to be there in the first place. Our crowd on Friday was way better than I expected for a 4-6 team in the middle of Thanksgiving Break. Breaking away from home and seeing friends you haven't seen all sememster to get back to Blakcksburg is already a big commitment, and they did just fine.
Now for anyone thinking I am making an excuse for leaving early, fine. I left my seat in the East, cold, and with no desire to see us give them the cup. I made it all the way to under the North End zone before I realized there was something left to see and went and watched the rest of the game up there. I don't regret that at all because it has been forever since I have been in the North and it was a great place to see the ending and celebrate.
If anyone who watched this game from their couch at home and is agreeing with the "you should be ashamed if you left early" mentality, you can kiss my ass too. I know there are endless reasons why someone can't make it to a game, but that doesn't mean you get to preach how to be a good fan to anybody who did go.
Let's not even get into how rediculously long this game was. The TV timeouts just seemed abnormal for a game of this profile.
Main point: You do football the way you want to do it, but don't tell others the way they should be doing it. That's a one way road to ruining the experience for someone and keeping them from wanting to come back.
The tv timeouts did seem excessive!
There were a few times that I couldn't remember why the game was at commercial.
Well said.
People will jump on any chance to act sanctimonious. This whole business is about wanting to feel superior to others. Ironically, "stay in yo lane" means to worry about your own business. If people want to leave they are punished by missing a great comeback.
Thank you. I had seen a few comments like this and avoided saying anything.
My wife is pregnant and is feeling miserable in her first trimester. But she hasn't missed a game. She hauls herself over to that stadium every week to watch our Hokies. But when she was freezing and miserable and asked to leave at halftime, there was no question. We watched the second half from our couch. We're not bad fans and I won't be lectured to.
Our friends that we sit with stayed longer, into the third quarter, and only left when the "fans" around them became unbearable. Our own Hokie "fans" bitching and moaning about how awful Willis is, how Fuente sucks, how Cornelsen is a moron, how targeting calls are because "players these days are sissies," etc. Do they get credit for staying to the end, even though they were bitching the entire time? My friends get ragged on for not wanting to endure their horrible attitudes? Sorry, no. We go to games to enjoy ourselves, and to cheer on a team we love. When it becomes unbearable to stay because of the attitudes around us, yes, we'll go home and support our team another way.
congrats on the pregnancy VTGM!
Good on you, sir. I've missed the last couple games, mostly to be home with the wife and our newborn. Not, that she'd tell me not to go, but that after 9 months of pregnancy and the issues of birthing, I'm not going to leave her hanging. So, I didn't attend, when I otherwise would have been there every game. Tech has been a part of my family since I was an infant, and family should understand.
Congrats to you and Mrs. VTGuitarMan!
On an unrelated note, this gif is now sadder to watch since Hill and Savoy are not longer on the team
Congrats!
Thank you.
I'm one of the friends mentioned here. My hubs and I drove four hours back to the Burg that morning, dropped our stuff at home, got back in the car and headed to Lane, forgetting the blanket that I'd planned to take.
We were freezing, exhausted, couldn't feel fingers and toes, but wanted to stay. As VTGM said, it was fellow Hokies who made us want to leave. One of them was so self absorbed, he smashed into a soda carrier and spilled soda over people two rows down. The other was basically telling his kid to shut up when the kid said he was cold. Am I disappointed I missed the ending live? Hell yes. But I'll be damned if I'm a bad fan for being too tired to deal with constant assholery.
Thank you kind sir. Could not have said it better myself. I have been a die-hard Hokie fan for 60+ years. Have not missed many home games in that time. I never give up on anyone; team,coaches,fans or school. When you are old and cold and still down from a disappointing season sometimes you leave early. For you sanctimonious folk, get over it. Besides I didn't miss a moment of action. The radio feed blares loud and clear outside the stadium. Not one person inside Lane enjoyed it more than me.
I think it's a perspective thing here. Do you think the game is there as entertainment for the fans or is it to support the work the kids and coaches have put in. Yes, it can be both but one ultimately takes precedence.
If you think it's the former, then by all means leave whenever and do whatever you need to do to enjoy those couple hours. If it's the latter, then you should stay til the end no matter what.
Either way, I don't blame players or former players from complaining about it. You can't go and pitch the idea of This is Home and we're this great family community and then leave the game early, specifically when things are bad.
Fully agree. There were plenty of students who did not dress for the weather or tailgated too quickly because of traffic or just didn't want to watch what frankly seemed inevitable. There's no reason for us fans to be so upset at these people, let them make their own adult decisions. This one blew up in their face and we can laugh and tell them it sucks that they weren't there but leave it at that - our win, their loss, happy 15 years to everybody.
Again- this is just my personal opinion, but walking out of a game early is a signal to the team that you are quitting on them for the day. Is that a message that we - "the best fans in the country" - want to send to the players, the same players who decided to come to Virginia Tech over countless other schools? Probably not. I understand that winning gets asses in seats - but - regarding this game - there are 6 seniors that were fighting to play one more game on Worsham Field. Even if we would have lost, being able be in the stands, and give those kids an ovation for 4-5 years of hard work and representing VT and how much they meant to us.
No one asked anyone to "give up their weekends" - that is a personal choice. Not only the players and coaches, but members of the Police, Rescue Squads, The Corps, concession volunteers, ushers, gate keepers, spotters, game support personnel, and hundreds of other people/volunteers 'give up' their weekends to ensure that we - the fans- can have a great experience in Lane Stadium- regardless of the outcome. They also gave up 6 or 7 weekends in the fall.
For me I have varying expectations.
VTGM's case: There was a necessity to leave early.
Wasnick's point: If fans that have paid good money to go and feel they want to leave then that's their choice. We're all adults here, including the players. Everyone should be able to maturely understand why people may want to leave. It's also a means to show the AD that you disapprove of the current state of the team.
Students: If you don't want to be there all game then don't get a ticket. You have the most flexible lives out of anyone there and there are likely students that didn't get in the game that would have loved to stay the whole game. Stay in your seat, stand the fuck up and cheer on your fellow Hokie students athletes till the bitter end. (Barring any emergencies or logical reasons for needing to leave.) And after the game check the calendar for the next female sports event and go to that and cheer on some hard working lady Hokies that don't get enough fan support.
This xBeard
To be fair to the folks that made a line for the tunnels after the int, it did appear that most did as Wasknick and came back when they kicked a field goal.
ND, Pitt, Arkansas, UNC, and now UVA, Fuente's teams have some great never give up games. There are lots of reasons people need to leave early, but because you think we will lose is the last reason to leave early.
I would have hated being at the 5 hour game between LSU and a&m. But I'm old and like my sleep. But there are only so many games I go to so I would want my money's worth. But life gets busy and some people can only go for 3 hours. Its not like the stadium was overly packed. Or at least it didnt look like that to me on TV.
If I can stick out the shit show that was Miami, you people can stick out a 4 point game against a rival. Ffs that made me mad, I thought we lost too but by god I watched till the end and was thrilled
I honestly didn't understand people leaving when it was only a 1 score difference. Sometimes you just have to have faith.
Most times I've left early was when I had cold kids with me. Sometimes it was a blow out victory. Others a close game we've been trying to come back. And all times after begging them for 10 more minutes lol. That being said, I agree with the post above about doing football how you want to do football. I don't necessarily agree with leaving just because you think we'll lose, but fandom is a fickle beast.
I honestly felt guilty about walking outside to cool off a minute when they went up 7 late. I was fearful of the language I was about to use in front of the inlaws and younger cousins. However, after a quick 5 minutes of pacing up and down the street, I was back in my seat for the end and all of overtime. The celebration in the living room was epic.
Long story short, I think the fans who left early, regardless of if they tell people that "they were there", when they're honest with themselves hopefully have learned a lesson and don't need us dumping on them. Team and fans need unity now, something this victory should provide if we don't get in the way. I know I learned this lesson the hard way at the 2012 Labor Day GT game, the one time I left early for regrettable reasons. Hopefully Friday's early exiters learned this as well.
Go Hokies!
I think this whole "calling out other fans" stuff should be dialed back. Sure, it looked bad to see people heading to the exits in such a close game, but I don't fault anyone for thinking our goose was cooked after how the rest of the season had gone up to this point. We've all done things in the heat of the moment that others can call us out for.
I'm all for people coming and going as they please. I think the upset feeling over leaving is more representative of people's resentment towards the negative attitudes when things don't go the Hokies' way. The unrealistic expectations and the average fan who thinks they know so much more than the coach, AD etc. typically sounds ridiculous. If we are running the program the right way (kids staying out of trouble, going to class and working hard) and the effort is there day in and day out why talk about these kids like they don't want to win. Also, as everyone knows we are incredibly young, learning and have talent. The real evaluation will come over the next 2-3 years if these kids use this experience to improve and win constantly. Don't just support the team then, but support them all the time. If you leave the stadium and that's your experience no worries and certainly no criticism. If you are the fan who forgets the mistakes in wins and remembers them all in losses then I would suggest taking a step back and consider another perspective.
Strong gatekeeping. Wasknick nailed it.
Let's look at this from a different perspective. This was the greatest trolling job (albeit indirect) of uva fans since adding the "T" to their midfield logo. They thought this would be the year to end the streak based on the two team's overall seasons.
With their comeback in the fourth, they didn't/couldn't leave early and had to watch yet another defeat snatched from the jaws of VicTory!!!
This was a bigger long play than giving up the lead in the 4th quarter.
I am going with:
The Hokies knew they weren't beating Clemson to make it into the playoffs so; lose to ODU, ND, Pitt, BC, Miami & GT to give UVA fan's more confidence going into the game. Then snatching the victory in overtime was taking the pain to 11.
All wins to end the season and through next year's season too.
I hope this ages well, my optimism and sarcasm are fully dipped.
I wish more people would realize when all hope is truly lost. The low point was clearly when Willis threw that final interception and UVa had the opportunity to make it a 2 score game. Even at that moment anyone who's watched more than a season's worth of football can tell you that doesn't mean the game is over. Hell, we had a comeback pretty similar to that just earlier this season against UNC.
A separate thought: I'm not going to pretend to know any individual's situation so understand I'm not calling out anyone in particular. But I mean, come on. People left in the numbers they did because they gave up. That's a legitimate thing to call people out on, and therefore I have no qualms about posts like this.
I have so many mixed feelings about when people should have left this game. On the one hand, I get why people left early and don't begrudge them at all. On the other, in this instance, why not watch uva's possession and if they had scored a TD, then leave. I think if we are all honest, the stadium would have emptied fast had they scored to go up by double digits.
Just pointing out that the first two lines of of our fight song are:
Techmen, we're Techmen, with spirit true and faithful,
Backing up our team with hopes undying;
I get that there are times where you need to leave, but the fans leaving did come off as people giving up on the team. That is the complete opposite of what the fight song stands for.
It doesn't say which team of ours.
The chorus provides the necessary context.
Unpopular opinion warning: Even the fans who left early deserve some kudos for showing up to this game in the first place. To come out in the cold and risk watching UVA celebrate on Worsham Field when, if we are honest, Tech's chances of winning were slim, demonstrated a lot of support for an embattled team. If they were fair-weather fans, they would have stayed home in fair weather.
I'll leave when I want to leave. I will enter when I want to enter.
It won't be because I don't support the team.
If that's the conclusion you come to, it's in your head, not mine.
I come with kids, I sometimes come with elderly and sometimes with infirm, I sometimes come with other commitments. There are other reasons I cannot fathom that will come up.
If this does not suit you, tough. I do not need to justify it to anyone but myself.
In this case it's a good thing you didn't go. Those hugs don't come cheap.
I have no problem with the fans who left early... at least they came. The parking lots were a ghost town and attendance was mediocre at best. I've been to the last 77 consecutive home games from Richmond and I was appreciative of those who came out the day after Thanksgiving in the cold weather.
It looked like a decent crowd from the stadium.
People who left early will justify their decision somehow. People who stayed will ridicule those who left.
Rinse, repeat next year.
I think I gotta go with wasknick on this one. Despite the fact that he likes crappy beer, he makes some good points here. It gets very tiresome when people are trying to tell you how to live your life.
BTW, am I the only one who thought this post was on an entirely different topic? I'm glad it didn't go there.
Actually, thanks to a certain Brewmaster that frequents TKP and Lot18, I was drinking far from crappy beer last weekend. Cheers, Egbert!
I get the comments about it's your time, money etc. I agree with those sentiments. I would suggest let's not pretend that all those outside of football things just happened to simultaneously come up when those fans all uniformly decided to leave at the exact same moment. If you are leaving because you have to leave at the end of the 3rd quarter because your child has a commitment kudos to you. If you leave when everyone else leaves because you are mad because you think the game is over let's admit it and not turn this into a rights of a fan issue. Do people really expect everyone to believe that all 3,000++ fans who strolled our after the pick left because they had other commitments or weren't just being negative??
I agree. While no one needs permission to leave, don't pretend that it isn't a bad look for us when people stream for the exits en masse in a tight game. There are so many good reasons to leave early, but more good reasons to stay and support the team if you don't have good reasons to leave. I'm not surprised it rubbed many folks, players, former players, etc., the wrong way to see it happen.
Everybody is free to make his/her own choice. But someday, probably sooner than later, there will be another argument about whether it is or isn't harder to recruit kids to rural Blacksburg, VA. Inevitably, somebody will point out that we have the greatest fans in the nation. But, perhaps, we have fans just like every other fanbase.
Excuses be damned, the exodus occurred seconds following a turnover, down 4, deep in UVA territory. A field goal keeps it a one possession game and there was plenty of time left.
Just for clarification - I understand that life situations come up to where it is necessary that people must leave early: kids, pregnant wife, health emergency, rude fans around kids, along with a list of other things. But when it is blatantly obvious that people are leaving because they give up on the team, and the "game is over", that's where we need to urge each other to stick it out, especially on senior day like this past Friday. Everyone has a choice of how long they want to stay at a game - I get that. We all donate our time and money, among other things to make a trip to Blacksburg. But it is exactly that: a choice. If someone makes the choice to go, how is it so difficult to make the choice to stay the whole time?
As I have stated in the comment above - we, as Hokies, have always taken pride in staying the whole game, and have ridiculed UVA for either 1) not showing up at all or 2) leaving early. Hell, UVA had a whole "I Pledge" video in 2011 that urged fans and students to do the same: show up and stay the whole time.
This season has truly been one of a few ups, and more downs. I get it is tough to stay - but those kids on the field have played their nuts off (and you can quote me on that shit too) the entire season and have not quit. Heck, Dax was flying around with under 3 mins to go in a blowout loss vs. Miami because he never stopped believing and competing.
My son and I left our seats when they threw the pick...
In order to grab up some sweeter seats that were abandoned for the rest of the game,. Hahahaha, suckers!
#didntevenneedtheseatbackscausedwestoodthewholetime
Regardless I think we should all agree that excuses are like assholes in that UVA has both in abundance.
Ok but what about when the team quits early too like in more than one of our home losses this year?
this is like so many things, where it's not always black and white. I'm sure some people had legit reasons to leave (a cold pregnant wife is definitely a ok reason) and some people left because they quit on the team. Some people stayed and were annoying fans bitching about things and some fans stayed yelling their asses off the entire game. I agree that the students were the most embarrassing ones to leave, the north end zone was half full for OT. They should scan students in and out of games and if you don't want to stay for the entire game, you lose your tickets. Lane will never be the terror dome again if the students don't stay the entire game.
I know that this wasn't the case for all of the fans. But I was sitting in the lower west stands with a lot of the athletic department employees and their families. I don't live in the Blacksburg area and I would have had no idea, but one of my friends told me at halftime to expect to see a good portion of our seating area leave in the next little bit. Apparently Blacksburg High School was playing in the Region 4D final and a lot of the people in our section have kids that attend either the High School or are younger and will soon attend Blacksburg High. She was right as I saw people start trickling out well before they took the lead. I know that this wasn't the reason for a lot of the people leaving, but just thought I would share that.