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Aren't we scheduled to open the 2017 season vs WVU at FedEx?

I think its only fair you start calling him Addazio, with a mafia the accent, and refuse to tell him why you have given him the nickname.

I dunno. Just looks like a weather balloon to me...

Steve Addazio would tell it anyway.

We need to steal the BC linebacker recruits. How many of them are now in the NFL?

The real crux of the issue is that it is now legal to fire/refuse service/refuse housing to people in NC if they are LGBT.

It's even broader than that. Filing any sort of anti-discrimination claim got three times harder once the law passed.

Correct me if I'm wrong but most of the plays that ended up as fumbles seemed to be pretty good chunk yardage plays. A lot of them seemed like they would have ended up with a first down or short yardage down at least. That's what kinda of struck me as we have something here, just gotta tighten up the screws a bit.

Steve Addazio thinks Boston Crme pie is the be all end all for the cake vs. pie debate.

And again.

You can say that again.

I'm now back in Florida, and the Battle at Bristol is but a memory.

Here's my take on the event and venue.

Traffic and entering the venue on Saturday afternoon was relatively well directed and painless. That many VT and Tennessee fans all in one place was a sight to behold. The atmosphere was electric. It was a very hot and sunny day (90+), so we didn't walk around as much as we might have otherwise. There seemed to be adequate parking for those with parking passes, and there were plenty of parking options outside the venue, some charging extra if you wanted to tailgate.

The fans around us were mostly Hokies, though there were some Tennessee fans as well. Everyone around us was well-behaved and out to have a good time. Lots of families with kids, lots of individual tailgating, and there seemed to be plenty of room provided for that. Most of the cars were facing a different gate from the one we entered through, so the assumption was that exiting the venue would go smoothly, but that didn't work as expected (already commented on that higher in this thread).

We brought everything we needed for tailgating, but there were things for sale at the venue (beer, food), and there was even a truck that came by selling bags of ice -- people in need of this were very happy to see that.

Our entrance to the stadium at about 7:30 went very smoothly. We went in gate 3, because the lines were very short. Got to our seats quickly.

Went for beer and water during the second quarter, and missed half of it, as one of the two ladies selling beer and water left inexplicably, so for 10 minutes we just stood there watching someone stock new beer and water while the other lady slowly (and I do mean slowly) sold beer and water to the other line. There seemed to be a lot of chatting, not much in the way of efficiency, and no awareness that people might want to get their beer or water and get back to watching the game. How hard is it to sell bottled beer (bud and bud light) and water? Take the money, make change, give them the right number of beers. The biggest problem (other than our missing sales lady) was that newly stocked beers were in the same tub with the cold beers, and people insisting on a cold one really held up the line while the lady hunted for a cold one. Clearly a process that could be improved upon, as they had multiple tubs. Finally, our lady came back and started selling beer again, but not before I missed the disastrous second quarter.

Our seats, in the Allisons J, were great. Views from the Allisons were better than I expected. The field was far, but not as small as I expected and sightlines were good and I had binoculars. Colossus was a nice screen, but like others mentioned, they didn't do near enough replays, and spent too much time showing fans cheering, dancing, or whatever. We saw some people trying to start a wave, but it kept dying in the Tennessee section. Too bad, as that would have been awesome. I did feel as if there was a bit of a bias towards Tennessee (why did their band get fireworks, and VT's didn't? Shouldn't the vault drawings have resulted in similar awards? ), but I also noticed that by and large, the management tried to at least give the appearance of being neutral. They did show Bruce Smith and Mike Vick, and gave Beamer his moment on the field.

We left after the last VT turnover. I told my wife we'd be staying to the end, but I just couldn't take any more, and there was really no chance of redemption at that point.

Getting back to the car was fast and easy, but leaving the parking lot was a bit stressful, as I explained in another post in this thread. Some people who apparently didn't know that the parking lots were closed for an hour spent that hour in their cars with their motors running and their headlights on. During that hour, we grilled out, watched the fireworks, and ducked into the car for a brief rain shower. Once we figured out a way out of the parking lot, traffic flowed smoothly.

The Tennessee fans we encountered were really nice and fun, with the exception of one clown a few rows above us who would occasionally scream nonsense or misinterpret what happened on the field. If you have no grasp of what is going on, maybe it's better not to be so vocal.

Overall, was very glad I went, and we really did have a good time. It was really an amazing weekend, and I'm glad Virginia Tech was part of the Battle at Bristol. I only wish the team hadn't shot themselves in the foot with turnovers, as I do think they'd have won otherwise.

EDIT: Whatever happened to the "Enter Sandman" entrance? Seems like that could have been arranged, and would have been better than whatever it was that did happen. I mean, Tennessee got Rocky Top, and it's not like we didn't hear that enough.