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I ran into Fred Funk at the Maryland State Golf Tournament my senior year. He had just left as coach from MD, and was working to get on tour, so this is Funk before Funk. He blew me off when I talked to him, even though I was top 15 out of 156 players. Didn't want to go to a "big" spread out school like the Twerps has, and he kinda backed that up with the way he acted. Was hoping for some $$ to attend in Engineering, but do not regret my decision one bit, in any way.
Was born in Auburn, Alabama...mom was a professor at Auburn. So I do have a soft spot in my heart for Auburn. I remember passing by War Eagle's cage on the way to daycare. She got a job at VT so we moved here in the summer of 1990.
Attended my first game that fall and have been hooked ever since. Spent most of my fall Saturday's working at a concession stand (got to see most of the games for free, and I got paid. double win!)
Sadly I didn't get into VT, had too much fun in high school. Eventually went to nearby Radford University to study CS and in 2004 finally was making enough money to split season tickets with my mom. Have attended almost every game since.
Now I've got a wonderful Hokie alum as a girlfriend and live in Christiansburg. I will hopefully see you all at a tailgate some point in the near future.
Go Hokies!
Not saying thos guys won't contribute but it doesn't appear that they'll be of the caliber that Lu big 3 are now...ever..from all accts they isn't really stand out..but yes..knowles is. Burner and I expect him to return KOs
...irick will be a good one though
Fuck Robert Lockhart
I grew up in NOVA and followed Virginia Tech football, getting really into it during the Vick era. I ended up going to George Mason for undergrad, bypassing a VT acceptance letter because my gf at the time didn't get in and was going to Mason. While Mason was a good school, I still went down to Blacksburg as much as I could to visit friends and fell in love with the area and the town. Girl ended up being a piece of crap and when I decided to go get my masters I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice! Shuttled on down to Blacksburg for the two best years of my life. I am really in to outdoor activities, cycling and hiking and I can think of know better place for it in the Commonwealth. Now working back up in Nova I rarely go more than a few months before Blacksburg starts whispering sweet nothings in my ear telling me she misses me and I always answer the call. I share season tickets with a fellow Hokie and make it to 50-75% of the home games. See you all Sept. 3rd!
I also enjoy Joe's wife HEYOOOOOO
My Dad attended almost 40 years ago and brought me up VT from the start. I have vague memories of watching VT football games growing up, and much sharper memories of going crazy during the Miracle in Morgantown and the championship game in 1999. Attended quite a few games before I went to school, and when time came to go to college I looked around but nothing compared to VT. Luckily the great CS program gave me no real reason to look elsewhere.
Amazing 4 years, great final year with our first ACC championship. Then law school at UVA, which isn't as bad as it sounds - the law school is beer and softball and generally hates the undergrad population. Plus sitting in the student section during VT/UVA games and watching them get pounded was great. The huge 52-14 victory where we took over the hill by the third or fourth quarter is one of my favorite games ever.
Don't go back to Blacksburg nearly as much as I'd like with life and work in DC, but generally devote fall Saturdays to slow cooking meats and marinating in football watching as many games as humanly possible.
I'm from Maryland and both MamaESQ and PapaESQ went to UMD but I always, always knew I was NOT going to University of Maryland. I didn't even apply. But I have a confession: when I was 14, I wanted to go to UVA. Yup. I know. Terrible.
My summer swim team coach at the time was a Hokie. He was from the neighborhood and I had known him for years. I didn't even know about the UVA-VT rivalry when I told him I wanted to go to UVA. His response was: "Do you want to wear a dress to football games? No? Didn't think so. I really think you'd love it at Tech." I didn't really give it a second thought.
When I was researching schools my junior year, VT kept coming up and I remembered what my coach had said. I applied just for the hell of it (this is a recurring theme in my life; I applied to my law school just because it was a $25 app fee). I got into VT, Clemson, Miami, ECU and St. Mary's (waitlisted at FUCKING ELON because too many people from my high school had applied there and I didn't submit apps until the last day they were due [also a recurring theme, did the same for law school apps. I'm lazy. Shut up.]). For me, it ended up being between St. Mary's and VT which really couldn't be more different. After having to explain what my high school was (private school), I wanted a well known school; and after following BroESQ's high school football career, I wanted a school with a football team. I was very comfortable at both VT and St. Mary's, and my boyfriend at the time was going to UMD. He wanted me at St. Mary's because it was closer. I cried A LOT in the few days leading up to May 1, the day deposits and commitments were due. If you follow me on Twitter, you know I don't make decisions without getting other opinions; I took surveys at my high school asking where I should go to college. I was conflicted.
I picked Tech, sent in my deposit... and then woke up MamaESQ at 3am to tell her I had made a huge mistake. She was willing to submit deposits to both schools, but I forced myself to commit. I was all in, no matter what.
Then I got my room assignment: in SLUSHER EFFING TOWER. All girls (at the time). I do not get along with girls, at all. Long story short, it ended up being the best thing to ever happen to me. The girls I met on Slusher 7 are easily some of the best people I know, and are still my best friends to this day. I am not me without them.
The boyfriend though... he was not happy. My first semester was rough; I spent a lot of time driving back and forth between UMD and VT, and fighting on the phone with him. Another confession, and this one is even harder: I applied to transfer to UMD.
But then second semester was a lot easier, and I knew right away there was no way in hell I was transferring to UMD. I actually met BFESQ this semester, but we stayed friends for a while. And I got into UMD with a big scholarship - it would've been much cheaper than going to VT - but I easily turned it down. By then I was 100% Hokie, no looking back.
To this day, my emotional well-being is largely tied to what is happening at Virginia Tech. I'm happy if the football and basketball teams are doing well; I am sad during April of every year or any other event that draws negative attention to the school. Virginia Tech is one of the most basic, fundamental parts of me. I wear it on my sleeve in so many ways. I wanted a VT tattoo for 5 years before I finally got "Ut Prosim" on my ribs this spring.
I have amazing friends, am in a happy long-term relationship, and raised one of the greatest dogs you'll ever meet (who is named Laney, after Lane Stadium). I'm the first in my family to graduate from college. I earned a law degree. I passed the bar (on the first try, bitches). And I've said this before and I absolutely believe it: there are few, if any, things in this world that I am more proud of than being a Hokie.
my bad, didn't read the title on the body.
i know about bubs, have not been. know a former bouncer from their too.
stone is great obviously, but i can and do get that here. i like alpine, some good shit. also russian river and kern river from northern ca is available and they are excellent.
My parents met as students at Tech in the early eighties, and so I never had the chance to even think about rooting for a different team. When we were kids, my brother and I would play a memory game, where one of us would say a number between 1 and 99 and the other would have to say which player wore that number.
I wanted to go to Tech from my first game in 1995 (homecoming against Temple) when I was in kindergarden. I graduated high school in '09, and here I am...entering my senior year as a communication major.
I like to write and talk about sports, and one day hope to turn my hobby into a profession.
I'm assuming you're a Stone IPA or Arrogant Bastard fan. So, go to Bub's and get some local Stone Brewery Beer. Eh, might as well go to the Brewery too. It's pretty cool, good food, and amazing selection of beer.
Growing up I always wanted to be an architect...much like George Costanza. When it came time to choose a college, my options were somewhat limited to prestigious programs within driving distance of PA. I completely fell in love with Tech when I visited, and the architecture program was great (voted best in the country my sophomore year). The campus was actually green and the people were just so much nicer than I was accustomed to.
After 3 semesters in architecture I realized that it wasn't the right career for me, and really didn't have an idea what major I wanted to switch to. I thought I might like Environmental Planning, and since Tech didn't have the greatest program, I transferred to Rutgers to get closer to home. Biggest mistake of my life. I hated it so much I dropped out after two weeks and immediately began researching what I needed to do to come back to VT.
I called admissions about re-applying and was told "once a hokie, always a hokie." I switched into Tech's engineering program and began summer classes as soon as possible. Four years later I had a bachelors in civil engineering.
Currently I'm working on a masters at NC State...wishing every weekend I hadn't left Blacksburg for grad school.
Virginia Tech was never on my radar in terms of a college destination. I grew up in Central Jersey (parents were Rutgers season ticket holders, talk about dedication) and by the time high school wound down, I was interested in politics/international relations. I applied to Saint Anselm in New Hampshire, and Wake Forest, which was my top choice (a childhood friend moved down to NC so I was pretty familiar with the Carolina schools from visits). I was forced to apply to Rutgers, and to humor my parents, I applied to Saint Joes in Philadelphia as well. My 'rents said they'd pay for up to five college applications, but I really didn't know where else to apply. One afternoon, I logged onto the interwebs and there was a picture of Mike Vick flying through the air on si.com's homepage. My high school mind thought, "why not," and I applied. I got wait listed at Wake, went to visit the school again, and on the drive back up 81 from NC to NJ stopped to take a campus visit at Tech. It was May and SNOWING. I took it as a sign. The campus was beautiful, and I stepped onto campus in Fall 2004. Seven years and 2 degrees later, I finally moved out of Blacksburg.
I missed two home games (both losses) my entire stay at Tech: the 2005 debacle against Miami, and the 2006 Calvin Johnson show. I continue to maintain that if I was in attendance, we'd have won both games. Also, I swear that Brandon Pace's FG went through the uprights against NCSU in 2004. Sure looked that way from the East stands.
After a year of bouncing around the country (Seattle, WA, Manhattan, KS, and finally back home to Princeton, NJ) I'm going BACK to school, moving down to Alabama to start my PhD program at Auburn this coming weekend. I'm excited for the opportunity to continue my educaton, but make no mistake: I'll always be a Hokie first. I'm debating whether to start a new blog series on my experiences in SEC country as a displaced Gobbler (hopefully, I'll have the time).
I'm proud to say that I'm a part of TKP community, and some of my favorite memories include other contributors to the site. I'm still not certain as to how I survived this past Sugar Bowl. You guys really are the best.
I grew up on the Jersey shore, I came to know about Virginia Tech from a postcard in the mail in the spring of 2007, my junior year of high school. Before that postcard I had every intention of applying to and attending either Klempson or JMU, where my two older sisters went (I shudder to think about if I had gone there). However, as soon as I stepped onto the campus during my visit in 2007, I knew that was exactly where I wanted to go.
I spent less than an hour on campus that day because we were on our way to vacation, but I knew that no other school was going to compare to what I saw that day. The drillfield, the Duck Pond, Lane, everything. I'll admit I didn't know much of all about the football program but I wised up pretty quickly my freshman year in 2008, and I've never looked back.
I consider Blacksburg more my home than the town I grew up in, and I think that's the way it should be.
I think that is a pretty common theme on here. But it didn't really take hold on me until 1997 when I was 9 and my best friend's dad took us to a Tech-Xavier basketball game in the Cassell. His dad played football for Tech during the 1960's and was actually a teammate of the Frankinator, so he's pretty much been a lifelong Hokie. I can remember the Cassell being somewhat empty, but he had tickets just a few rows back from the floor at half court, so it was a pretty awesome experience.
Tech lost that day, but I'll never forget my experience walking around campus and cheering on Ace Custis. From then on I was hooked. Despite moving around for school/work and serving as the play-by-play/and sometimes color commentator of Emory & Henry College for four years, I managed to still make it to at least one game every year since 1999, though I have been to as many as five home games in a year. I know that may sound silly to some of you who have grown up multiple generation Tech fans, but for a kid whose parents are E&H and U of R grads (with no particular Tech ties) and someone who had to work five jobs at times in college, I'd say that's something I'm pretty proud of.
Go Hokies!
bub's?
757 born and bred.
long history dating back to my great grandfather who lived in blacksburg, and sold stoves to people in nc, va, wv and ky (including the hatfield and mccoys.) my grandmother worked in the library and all of her brothers went to VPI, my uncle went to VPI. My 4th cousin is very well known at tech currently. My parents went to Richmond and W&M, did not push me to VT or anywhere at all.
I visited VT for the first time during the 1990 uva game as a h.s. Sr. The yr they were ranked 1 and the game was espn. back then, that was a HUGE get. The place was nuts, every bit as crazy as about any game since, save the Mia game in 03. It was over, I had been to w&m and uva and chose VT over both. The rest is history, tho quite a bit of it is a blurry memory.
I was a soph for the 2-8-1 year, most of youngens freak if VT only goes 9-3, try the debacles that were my frehsman and soph yrs!
#beercontrolfather, craft beer (mostly ipas, stouts and sours), #757, cornhole, twitter trollin', growing my beard back, trashing how boring the nfl is, hatin' on the cousins and of course peepin' the babes.
great bar for VT football games. (Owner is a VT alum). Get some Stone's.
if i get back to san diego.
Grew up in NoVA, and wanted to go to college with a great football program when I graduated HS in 2001. VT was definitely the better in-state choice, especially with the recent Nat. title run.
Experienced Lane Stadium for the 1st time as a freshman, and never looked back. Now I live in San Diego, so I must enjoy the Hokies from afar, but still try to make it to bowl games and such.
to see kamara in o&m.
you are way to harsh on the young guys, tho this is a wake up or move out season for smiling.
knowles is a burner, fastest wr on the team, by a decent margin. he will play this yr and should be good.
don't give up on asante yet, he's a r-fr, which means he got 0 reps last year and did most scout team.
irick is a big guy, give him a yr in the s&c program, could be a lot like boykin.
Ralph and Nick had the best time and showed me that I need to enjoy the walk at night more than normal. We are trying to get him to come back at least for UVA.
that didn't attend the school. I wish VT had that SEC-like fanbase, where the entire state or people with connections with school just associates with VT whether or not they ever attend. That would be great for the program, and could really boost their revenue.
My wife is from GA, and I wish we had fans like UGA. It doesn't matter if you attend college or where you attend college in GA (sans GT), you're most likely a Bulldog fan. I wish all Virginians would support VT football, even if you attended JMU, ODU, VCU, CNU, GMU, etc.
I'm from the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Signed up for a golf tournament on the western shore, played, then drove south to visit Tech. We his Harrisonburg and were going 35 on 81 because it was raining so hard. Thinkin this better be worth it. Kept going, and going, and going south. We pull off 81, and i'm waiting to see something. Finally, after a long day, we turn right into the campus from 460.
I see the VT hedge, the stadium, the sun had come out and it was starting to set. The Hokie Stone was awesome. I fell in love immediately and told my parents I was home.
Enrolled early decision, got accepted the first week of December, and cruised senior year. Started freshman year in '92 when we went 2-8-1. Nothing but bowls and 10 win seasons since!!!
INTA-NASHANAL!!! Way to go Hokies!
When you grow up in Roanoke, VA, the decision to attend Virginia Tech is almost as automatic as breathing and blinking. But the decision to LIVE the life of a Hokie is a choice, and one I was happy to make. I'm 39-years-old now (born in 1973), which makes me one of the senior contributors to this thread. My heroes growing up were guys like Dale Solomon, Bruce Smith, Jesse Penn, Cyrus Lawrence, Dell Curry, Franklin Stubbs and, of course, Bill Dooley, Charlie Moir and Chuck Hartman.
My mother worked at Virginia Tech, my father began his graduate work there (until General Electric offered him something he couldn't refuse) and my uncle played baseball there. There were bedtime tales of Don Strock rifling passes and shredding defenses. I was six-years-old, listening to Hokies basketball on a crappy little radio, when Les Henson shocked Florida State with a 90-foot heave at the buzzer. I was 10-years-old the first time I saw Bruce Smith dominate the offensive line and crush an opposing QB in Lane Stadium.
For me, being a Hokie was like being a Red Sox fan growing up in Boston. It was elemental, it was something that shaped your appreciation for underdogs and the blue-collar sports ethic. It was awesome.
Glenvar High School wasn't a big high school (graduating class of 101), but my principal was Dennis Semones, the brother-in-law of one Frank Beamer. I played HS hoops with Frank's nephew, and graduated with his twin neices. One of my best friends was a distant cousin. I was surrounded by Beamer DNA.
Fast forward to 1991, when I enrolled at Virginia Tech. I had dreams of being an aerospace engineer, but by 1993, I had made the transition to Communications. After all, having any ability to write was useless in the engineering field. So by 1994 I was writing for the Collegiate Times, working on the sports staff as an associate editor and penning copy on what I felt was the greatest college in the land. Yep, it was a dream come true.
It's something that never leaves you, that Blacksburg Feeling. I've carried it with me through the last 15 years in my NASCAR career. There are quite a few of us Hokies earning a living on the NASCAR circuit. Working weekends, a lot of us struggle to make it back to Lane Stadium for those perfect autumn afternoons, but I've managed to build my schedule around Hokies football. My family has been season ticket holders since 1987 and that, frankly, is something worth shifting some work commitments around.
And now I have a one-year-old son growing up in Tarheel Land. And I'll gladly pay the out of state tuition to let him feel the pride I feel.
Go Hokies!!!
-- Chad Willis @ChadWillis