OT: What ever happened to The Hokieman

By: Devonte
GR8 B8 M8 I R8 8/8
on June 5, 2020, 10:30 AM | 27 comments

You'll have to forgive me, I'm scouring the internet trying to find a picture of him and currently failing miserably, so the best I have right now is the description

Always in Maroon and Orange facepaint, typically in a square pattern I believe
Wig, usually dreadlocks
Maroon and orange hat, kind of reminded me of Cat in the Hat
Usually sat in the West stands near the field, also tailgated in the Litton Reeve's lot

When I was a kid (early/mid 2000's), we would always pass his tailgate and I would give him a high five on my way into the stadium. We called him the Hokieman. I'm 26 now and I havent seen him at a game since before I was in college it feels like. Anyone know what happened to him? Does he still come to games and I just havent seen him?

Now I'm not saying he's the cause of our team's recent struggles...but I'm also not saying we went 6-6 when he was roaming the stands....

Edit: This guy https://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3599/969/1600/hokie_man_bird.0.jpg

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Comments

dave's picture dave
WHERE’S DAVE?
| 6 years 1 month #

Whatever happened to the guy in the late 90s who always wore a hard hat and sat in the bleachers in the old endzone underneath the scoreboard? That guy was an absolute, certifiable nut.

Christiansburg Hokie's picture Christiansburg Hokie | 6 years 1 month #

My personal favorites is seeing Drill Sergeant Hokie fan and the other is the fellow who always sport the lunch pail. The camera always seem to find them every game.

H_ighlander_okie's picture H_ighlander_okie | 6 years 1 month #

I've wondered the same thing for awhile. That dude made a lot of press stuff thru the athletic program and was on tv a ton.

Amateur superstar and idiot extraordinaire.

757hokie83's picture 757hokie83
CLASS WAR VETERAN
| 6 years 1 month #

Saw "dreadlocks" in your post and thought you meant this guy next to Hunter, shuddered

Now finish up them taters; I'm gonna go fondle my sweaters.

RealDiehl's picture RealDiehl | 6 years 1 month #

Thought you meant Leonidas at first

I just sit on my couch and b*tch. - HokieChemE2016

Devonte's picture Devonte
GR8 B8 M8 I R8 8/8
| 6 years 1 month # ^

I remember Leonidas, he was a student tho and I'm sure graduated and went on to other things xD

They'll really get after ya

tjbhokie's picture tjbhokie | 6 years 1 month # ^

That's Phil. He got his PhD in Electrical Engineering

Free Hugh

ashore13's picture ashore13
🍺🦃🦃🦃
| 6 years 1 month # ^

I played tackle football on the drillfield with him once. Really good and friendly dude. Pretty sure I got a mild concussion that day from someone else (I was Devin Streeter to someone's Kyshoen Jarrett).

"That move was slicker than a peeled onion in a bowl of snot." -Mike Burnop

wisec4g's picture wisec4g | 6 years 4 weeks # ^

I last saw him in-person, getting ready to board the Metro for FedEx Field with us, off to watch the Boise State game.

What a rough week in football, that turned out to be.

VT '10--US Citizen; (804) Virginian By Birth; (979) Texan By the Grace of God.

Rick Monday... You Made a Great Play...

I also root for: The Keydets, Army, TexAggies, NY Giants, NY Rangers, ATL Braves, and SA Brahmas

Alum07's picture Alum07
🦃 LEG KING 🦃
| 6 years 1 month #

For you younger fans, we're talking about this guy:

I was able to find this from a VT Mag issue about 10 years old....

HOKIE MAN'S CATERED TAILGATES

Every year for the past decade, the Hokie Man, Mike Schroder (hotel, restaurant, and institutional management '92; M.S. education '94), has organized a catered tailgate event with Professional Catering. His wife, Beth (hotel, restaurant, and institutional management '94; hospitality and tourism management '99), and son, Caleb, help host. The event features a tent, lights for night games, tables, linens--in burnt orange and Chicago maroon, of course--flower arrangements, and food and beverage stations.

The Schroders host at least one tailgate at a home game, and most years hold two, usually for a Thursday night game and a Saturday game. Their tailgates traditionally serve filet mignon sandwiches; Hokie Jell-O; and the famous Hokie Man Dip, which includes shredded turkey, buffalo wing sauce, a special-blend hot sauce with home-grown, finely chopped hot peppers, and blue cheese dressing, all mixed and layered in a casserole dish, baked for 20 minutes, and served hot with sliced French bread, crackers, or Fritos Scoops. Another tradition is a face-painting session where anyone at the tailgate can be painted exactly like the Hokie Man. There are usually at least a dozen participants each year, although others come already decked out with Hokie pride and ready for a Hokie win.

There's a Hokieman94 Twitter account out there with a picture that very well could be him. Full warning that if you click the link, you are jumping right into a conspiracy-filled political hole.

"When I was growing up, Virginia Tech was a school that was kicking ass and taking names, and it's time we get back to that" - James Franklin

VTV8's picture VTV8 | 6 years 1 month # ^

That Hokie Man dip sounds delicious. I may have to recreate it.

Alum07's picture Alum07
🦃 LEG KING 🦃
| 6 years 1 month # ^

Now that you mention it, that wouldn't be a half bad idea.

Wonder if leftover pulled pork would work well in there, too.

"When I was growing up, Virginia Tech was a school that was kicking ass and taking names, and it's time we get back to that" - James Franklin

WhiteHouseWes's picture WhiteHouseWes | 6 years 1 month # ^

That's a hell of a tailgate spread.

I am the heartbeat of Blacksburg. A fortress built out of stone but made with champions.

Jander75's picture Jander75 | 6 years 1 month #

He was a fun dude to party with. One year one of the LT's for the Navy Detachment allegedly got his tickets for a game by dressing up as Hokie Man. Could neither confirm or deny this rumor or show the pictures that a young ensign allegedly took with him...

I can imagine no more rewarding a career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction:
“I served in the United States Navy"

hokie4runner's picture hokie4runner | 6 years 1 month #

I used to do makeup for the games as well. One game the CT took some pictures and said I was going to be in it. Apparently they got a better shot of Hokieman that weekend. I'm still sour.

HomebrewHokie08's picture HomebrewHokie08
🍺MAKES "BEER" ⚗️🦃
| 6 years 1 month #

I once shared space on some promo material with him, it felt like I had reached a select tier in Hokie fandom. AD got a shot of me in full upper body paint and Hokie hair wig and I was popping up on all kinds of stuff for a year. Was on a mural in the men's basketball locker room for a time in the Greenberg years. I like to think I was an inspiration for that tourney team in 2007.

Plan for the worst and hope for the best, not the other way around.

Sam Jessee's picture Sam Jessee | 6 years 1 month #

My family had seats near him when I was little! He was always the nicest guy and took pictures with anyone who asked.

hokie07ME's picture hokie07ME | 6 years 1 month #

I keep expecting a

Warning: this post occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)..

Jander75's picture Jander75 | 6 years 1 month # ^

That would be pretty awesome if Sir Alec Guinness was a Hokie...

I can imagine no more rewarding a career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction:
“I served in the United States Navy"

Devonte's picture Devonte
GR8 B8 M8 I R8 8/8
| 6 years 1 month # ^

Haha I'm waiting for that too xD. I get the feeling he's sailed off into the sunset...hopefully enjoying an ice cold one on a beach somewhere

They'll really get after ya

paulpetera's picture paulpetera | 6 years 1 month #

Mike and I were in school at the same time and we worked together at Western Sizzlin' on University City Blvd back when it was there. Obviously ran into him a bunch during the Hokieman years when I lived in Roanoke. One of the nicest folks I've ever met.

Druckenmiller the shotgun snap, fakes short, fires it deep into the end zone it is....caught! It is caught for a touchdown by Jermaine Holmes with 47 seconds left!

griggma's picture griggma | 6 years 4 weeks #

Besides TKP tailgates, who has the best gameday tailgate setups?

dave's picture dave
WHERE’S DAVE?
| 6 years 4 weeks # ^

I remember the '03 Miami game someone had hired a band to play their tailgate. That was pretty wild.

ThePailHolder's picture ThePailHolder
💼🏈💼
| 6 years 3 weeks # ^

There are a lot of good setups over on chicken hill. BB&T used to host a multi-tent setup that had bands, big screens, etc. throughout the years. Now there is a couple of fully catered and DJ'd experiences in Lot 4 along Southgate drive in front of the Softball stadium. Further afield is the Clubhouse Tailgate crew out in the RV lot who always has communion (Wild Turkey Shots) before kickoff and a good spread of food.

I told him I’d crawl on my hands and knees to be the DL coach at Virginia Tech. Now, all of a sudden, I’m sitting in this chair and I told him I’d still crawl on my hands and knees to work here. I just want to be here.
JC Price

senjohnblutarsky's picture senjohnblutarsky | 6 years 3 weeks # ^

Valley Tribe has a pretty sweet set up. Got a little big for a while, but seems to have reined in to a nice level.

H_ighlander_okie's picture H_ighlander_okie | 6 years 3 weeks # ^

Cornhole and multitudes of cheap beer is our typical setup, while we rotate on the meal. We're simple. However, I made venison chili past year for our turn and holyyy shit it brought down the house. Too damn hot for it now but just thinking about it makes me want it.

Amateur superstar and idiot extraordinaire.

George's picture George | 6 years 3 weeks #

He worked for Tech for a while then got a different job (at Towson University I believe) and wasn't able to make as many games. He still comes to some of the bigger games though.