Although it's been over 20 years ago, it seems like just yesterday that I was making some major life decisions; ones that would set the course for the rest of my life. Community college followed by time at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University was the plan... up until it wasn't.
I can't really explain what happened and how it all happened here in this venue, but something in me changed in a fairly substantial way and my life was set on a different path. It was a significant change in direction for a young man, and one that took people close to me off guard just a bit. Nevertheless I had the support of the people who loved me most. Beyond that, and all along the way, I've been extremely blessed to have support and to have "cheerleaders" encouraging me, even when it seemed like I might not be cut out for what I had committed to.
That's a really big deal, isn't it? To have people encouraging you, cheering you on, and happy that you're around. I'm not sure there's anything more invigorating than to have people supporting you on life's journey...
As someone whose family ties are at Virginia Tech and who has watched most every football game since the 1995 season I do feel an attachment to the football program. In a somewhat similar way that I feel an attachment to the team formerly known as the Washington Redskins. My family is from NOVA and my grandfather regularly told us stories of his childhood when he would stand on the sideline of old Griffith Stadium and watch Slinging Sammy Baugh. He was always giddy when he told us those stories. We were always a "Redskins family". I watched them win 3 Super Bowls (yes kids, the Redskins were good at one point in time). I was in my grandparents basement when Joe Theisman's leg broke. What I'm saying is that I can't not be a WFT fan.
It's the same way with the Hokies. It's in me, it's a part of me. And no matter what, I can't not be a fan. I'm certainly disappointed in how things are going, even more so after the press conference yesterday, but I can't hit the "fan portal". I'm not checking out, it simply isn't in me to do that.
Just a few weeks ago Will Stewart of TSL said something in his podcast that I thought was insightful as he spoke directly to Hokie fans. He said (and I'm paraphrasing) that this is your program. This program doesn't belong to Justin Fuente, it belongs to you and to the players who have committed themselves to the school and program. This isn't a time to shrink back, it's a time to rise up and make it more our program.
You know what? He's right. Justin Fuente will be gone soon. Maybe because he simply isn't the right fit for VT or maybe because he really does turn it around and moves on for greener pastures; ether way, I'm convinced his time here is limited. But we will still be here... The players who committed to Virginia Tech will still be here (part of the Tech family). And so while I can't to much in relation to the "15-20", I'm going to do what I can. When I hit Lane Stadium next season for my two games, and when I watch on Saturday's I'm going to be excited that we have some new VT family members on the sideline. I'm going to be cheering for these young men and supporting them the best way I can. Why? Well because they are a part of the very thing that I simply can't give up, and because I remember when I made some significant decisions early in life... I remember how important it was to have people in my corner supporting me.
Our football team might not currently embody what we have always known as "Virginia Tech football". Justin Fuente's squad might not embody the HARD - SMART - TOUGH mentality that he talks about all the time, but that doesn't mean that we, as fans, can't still be what makes Virginia Tech so awesome. What if Hokie nation, instead of drawing back in frustration, were to rise up and embody the HARD - SMART - TOUGH mentality we all long for?
What if we embodied what we want to see Virginia Tech football become? A tough resilient group who rises up in the face of adversity. What if we packed our little black steel lunch boxes and went to work so to speak and showed everyone what Hokie Nation was all about.
Although Justin Fuente is guiding the ship right now, he doesn't have the final say in what Virginia Tech football will continue to be, we do. As little and as insignificant as it may be, I'm going to do my part to to make sure the narrative about Virginia Tech football isn't fully written by someone who likely won't be here when I'm taking my grandkids to watch football games in Lane Stadium.
Comments
I won't be giving up on it, it will just be priority B on Saturdays until they show me a reason to do differently.
As sad as it is for me to say, same here. I certainly look forward to basketball season over football these days.
Whether you are an alumnus or not, I'm glad you are a Hokie. It's challenging because in recent memory we seem to have been close to breaking the threshold and joining the upper echelon of college football. More recently we are middle of the pack and football seems a secondary concern not dissimilar from the vast majority of large state universities across the country. I credit Frank Beamer and his growth of the football program for making my degree more valuable, for making the school more attractive to an ever increasingly competitive group of high school kids seeking to obtain a college degree. Sands should realize the value of a strong, competitive sports program makes the school more attractive to a broader base of students, and the selectivity of the school will make more sports recruits want to attend Virginia Tech for both education and sports.
Full stop, our legacy IS being written by the head coach. No amount of "fan support" will change national or regional perception of the program. Only wins and losses do that. VT's football legacy was Frank Beamer, and now is Justin Fuente, and will be whatever the next coach is. Our support, opinions, feelings are all meaningless to the legacy VT football is writing.
This isn't true. This is our program. We jump to enter Sandman. We support our team with ruthless energy. That is until we don't. That is when the legacy really slips away.
I appreciate your thoughts, but I couldn't disagree more.
There's no other sport in America like college football. The comradery surrounding a college football team is tied to so many things. The Saturday tailgates are as much about the time around friends and shared interests as it is about winning and losing and whether or not I love the coach.
Of course it's much better when we are winning and when our coach is doing leading things well, but as I reflect, my most memorable moments are with my family and friends in the cold SWVa whether eating, drinking, talking about the good ole days and watching Hokie football. Again, the product is not very good right now, but all of the other things remain the same.
I totally understand and respect what you are saying. You're saying that VT football has provided an opportunity for your and your friends to bond over a shared experience. However, I believe that if the shared experience isn't enjoyable, the likely thing to happen is that the bonding will shift to a different shared experience.
I am much more likely to go see my college friends for events that are not associated with VT football, solely because the team is not enjoyable to watch. I will see them for Fork and Cork and other festival things, birthdays, weddings, etc. Probably not football games. And we all went to EVERY game while we were in school.
I guess my point is that the benefits you are describing are not unique to Hokie football and can easily be shifted to any other group gathering. The only way to prevent that happening for a lot of people is to improve the team. That is why I believe the legacy of the team is entirely on the coach. If the teams sucks for a long time, people just won't go to games anymore.
I jokingly said something the full opposite the other day preparing for our podcast tonight. Sands, Whit, Fuente, etc. do not determine what VT is or where VT goes. They guide it, but do not own it. That rides on the backs of everyone that came before and will come after. In jest, I said if we want to turn this thing into the worst form of Auburn mixed with Ole Miss mixed with Tennessee, that is our prerogative, not theirs. The good news is I believe we will never do that, but we are not beholden to anyone. The alumni and fans make VT, no one else. We can choose our path. It will not always be easy, but no one gets to set the course of VT other than those most dedicated to making it what it is today.
I love the concept of this, but I don't know how it gets put into practice. What steps do we take as individuals to prevent or promote any program-wide outcome? It's not like my HokieClub donation has any strings attached to it. Unless I give in the top 1% of all donors, I don't really have a vote at the table. So, we can go to games and cheer, but that doesn't actually do anything to improve the program.
I guess I'm just feeling fairly powerless in the face of what I believe is the downfall of VT football and I'm looking for any ideas of how I can actually help.
Love the game. Love the passion. Support the team.
I think fans care too much about how they feel at the water cooler when discussing the weekend games. There will be bright days ahead. Remember these feelings and appreciate the good times when they return.
I will continue to watch Hokie football whenever I have have the free time on a Saturday. I'll continue to try and get to a game in person every year. I'm a Hokie too. When you've been cheering for the Hokies for 30+ years, the good and the bad years start to fade into just being a Hokie. Been a Hokie since I walked onto campus in 1989.
Until corruption and scandals rock the program, and the character of the program resembles Louisville, Florida State, Miami, or North Carolina, I'll watch.
In recent years, I've found myself turning into the Randy Quaid character from Major League 2 whenever I'm watching the Hokies.
I try to tell myself that I don't really care what happens. But then as soon as there's a big play, I jump off my couch and I'm back in!
Recently learned Randy Quaid and Dennis Quaid are brothers. Had no idea.
Can't keep all my Quaids straight. Wonder if there is any relation to our favorite resident of Mars, Douglas Quaid. Nah.
Thank God I've came to grips years ago that football will rarely, if not ever, compete for Championships going forward. It makes everything happening currently a lot easier to swallow.
Do I enjoy football, sure. But realistically we're no better than a #15 ranked team at our best and unranked at our worst.
Basketball is where it's at going forward. Success is a lot less dependent on the school's financial standing and mostly related to your coach. Luckily, we have a pretty good one from what we've seen so far. Player turnover is a lot less likely year to year and this encourages continual fan support/interaction as you can watch unrefined players develop over 4 years to be your team's most important key player (Justin Robinson comes to mind). Losing a game here or there also doesn't derail a season quite like it does with football. Finally, its framework for determining a champion is also laid out a lot more fairly for winning a championship whether it be Regular Season, Conference Tourney, or NCAA Tourney.
Football will always be watched and having the occasional big game will be fun to attend with the weeklong anticipation leading up to it, but emotional investment for me is a lot more manageable now that I know deep down, losing doesn't matter, unless it's UVA.
Well said. I was a fan before we were good. My wife and I still comment on how many more VT fans live in VA now than when we graduated, and how many fewer LOLUVA fans there are now. I am and will be a hokie fan. I was the guy wearing O&M in NC during the Johnson years in basketball season, proudly telling all the tobacco road fans that we may suck at basketball, but VT is still the greatest school to consider home. If people want to jump ship because football is the only reason they are a hokie it will not bother me nearly as much as reading all the people trashing the school who say they are fans. Stating an opinion about coaches, or decisions being made is fair game, and I no longer believe Fuente is the answer, but the hate toward Hokies who still support the team/coaches/athletic director/president is a bigger disappointment to me than the decisions being made.
Edit: this is meant to be lighthearted, not mocking
Regardless of what I may think about how its being run at the top, I will always support the players on the team, and the team as a whole. My desire for wanting things to be better than it is doesn't mean I'm giving up overall, support, even if my emotional investment wanes.
I'm not *giving* up, but VT football is no longer the central focus of my Saturdays.
I grew up in the DC area, and lived and died by the Redskins, from birth until my mid-20s. It would RUIN my Sunday when the burgundy and gold lost (which, they've done a lot in my lifetime!). But Dan Snyder's incompetence coupled with his lack of any type of ethical or moral standards eroded my interest in the team. How could I support such a trash organization? It's one thing to be bad on the field, but the countless off the field issues (to put it in the most CG friendly terms) have made it hard to care. I put Red Zone on during the 1PM slot most Sundays and track the WFT games if they get interesting.
VT isn't in the same category of ethical/moral failings but Fuente has absolutely sucked the fun out of following this program and the feelings about VT Football are eerily similar to my NFL fanhood. It isn't fair to compare Fuente to Frank but my grandmother grew up with Beamer's family, that side of my family has been in SWVA for generations (they claim Montgomery Co. was named after them) and Frank seemed like family in a way. I've only spoken with him once, but *every* person I've encountered who knows him just gushes about what a kind man he is. Fuente could very well be a good person, but I feel like I know *nothing* about him, or JHam, or Corny or really anyone on the staff. Sealing off your coaching staff and team *and* failing on the field is a recipe for languishing fan support and interest.
Part of it is just growing up, I'm not going to go pound doubles at Sharkeys after my teams lose anymore, and go ahead and call me a fake fan if you insist but less fan interest = fewer fan donations = less overall success.
The *weirdest* part is, VT MBB is doing everything right. Mike Young seems accessible and interesting and down to earth and the VT MBB marketing of him has me very excited about their future. Even as they've struggled on the court, I'm excited about the team. Whit would be wise to force VT Football to start taking some notes from VT MBB in that category.
I don't believe the nuance between supporting the team financially and bleeding Orange and Maroon should get lost in the sauce.
And no one should be faulted for continuing to support the team financially, through thick and thin.
But in turn, no one should be castigated for not wanting to spend their hard-earned dollars to support the Hokie Club, buy season tickets, find a sitter (dog or those other wee ones), buy food and booze for tailgating, drive for hours both ways, buy turkey legs or other concessions, stop for dinner on the way home, possibly a hotel room, etc. Not to mention, the time you have to spend.
At some point, you want to know you're not spending all that just have your heart ripped out every time and make the long, dejected trek home.
Will always cheer for the kids out their playing for us, going to be hard to support this coaching staff and administration moving forward.
Just for the record, this post was not meant press in on folks who are angry or disappointed at the moment (of which I am one). I wrote it to simply express my deeper sentiments surrounding the program.
I did not go to VT but have been a big fan for a long time. The team is halfway down a deep valley. I've never donated before, but just went to hokie club and signed up to give a measly $50.00. Not a lot but at this time, the team needs every bit of help it can get. I'm sending good vibes to the players and coaches and administrators with the hope they can right the ship. And no, it won't be easy.
Just remember, it can get MUCH WORSE.
Yeah good call. I'm going to catch up the last bit of my IPTAY next year and then track that moving forward. Probably always be a small donor but that's ok.
Win or lose we still booze!
But not as much because we're approaching 40 and that shit is getting rough.
not unlike a lot of people in here - its not just my alma mater - its half my family's alma mater: good/bad I dont have a choice
Like someone mentioned above, outside of a scandal I wont stop giving to the Hokie club. I think Whit's choice of words obviously was poorly chosen (as he also admits) - I dont think hes wrong, social media may be screaming they are pulling their funding, but looking at Hokie Club financials its only been growing.
I dont know a nicer way of saying it, but from a PR stance he did need to address the threats arent reality before it becomes reality