Why You Should be a Hokie Fan

Why I am a Hokie fan and you should be too.

Sept 7, 2015

Dear Hank,

Many things have been going on, which have caused me to be away from the keyboard, but now it’s time to get back to it.

Did you notice the subject line?

Okay, I know you like those stinkin’ gators down in Florida, and that’s okay, but you should be a Hokie fan too, maybe, a closet Hokie fan.

But for those of you who are not sports junkies, like my brother, let me explain. Hokie is the name of the mascot for Virginia Tech.  The mascot is represented as a turkey. The name came when there was a song or cheer that needed a word to complete a rhyme, and someone made up the word “Hokie” and it stuck.

Virginia Tech is located at the western part of the state of Virginia, in Blacksburg, at the edge of the Appalachians. It’s a good school, but it’s out in a place most people wouldn’t stop by unless they were going to the university.  They have a really good football program,  but like Rodney Dangerfield – it gets no respect, or very little. They have a knack of winning an important game and losing some stinkers, and then in the bowl games they tend to blow it. So there’s a reason that they are considered a tough opponent that can ruin your season, but rarely are they considered the team to win the national championship. The last time they were in contention was when Michael Vick was there and he took them to the championship. His brother, Marcus, was next in line to the throne and he blew it, then Michael got in trouble for dog fighting and he went to prison and now he’s back. But it’s like that for the Hokies.

The other big name in Hokie football is Bruce Smith, rough tough defensive back for the Buffalo Bills. Bruce played in Blacksburg. He came back here to establish some hotels and restaurants, and can be seen along the sidelines during most home games.

Being married to an alumnus of Virginia Tech, I’ve been caught up in the mania of Virginia Tech football. Every year it starts out the same, during the winter there’s discussion of who left, who’s returning, and who’s new and promising. This builds to a crescendo leading up to the first game. I call it, “This could be the year!”

And then.

Something happens.

Or doesn’t.

Then there’s the “Why?” “What happened?” “Why didn’t they?” questions.

Ah to be a Hokie.

It’s like my becoming a Mets fan. I lived outside of New York and everyone was a Yankee fan. This was the age of Mickey Mantle and then Roger Maris. We had a chart in my 6^th grade classroom keeping track of the two men’s home runs, “Who would make it to 60 first?”

I hated baseball. I developed that hatred, or rather indifference, in day camp. A sandpit literally, where every afternoon we’d play softball. It was very unstructured. The biggest kids and the loudest mouths played. The rest of us took up spots in the outfield and sat down. We didn’t even come in after three outs. What was the point? A kid who was three feet tall would scream, “Batting order begins at the top of the order” every inning. No one challenged him. I don’t know why. Maybe, nobody cared. Every other day a ball would roll my way and people would be screaming at us in the outfield. We could see in the distance people running around bases as the dust rose. One of us would jump up and heave the ball somewhere near second base, and then we’d sit back down and pick weeds or toss pebbles. It was hot and miserable.

Then the Mets came into existence and I was a Mets fan. I didn’t know anything about how well they were doing or not doing, all I knew was – they weren’t the Yankees.

What was the point of cheering for the Yankees? Everyone thought they were going to win. They were supposed to win. If they didn’t it was a fluke. It never had anything to do with the skill of the other team. It was just an accident, and that was that. I hated that attitude.

Well, the Hokies are like that. They upset a team and it’s not their skill and ability but the other team wasn’t ready. Virginia Tech got a lucky break, etc. etc. etc.

They’ll be a sports summary of a game and the other team gets mentioned all over the place and Tech barely gets mentioned. It’s not fair, but that’s what happens.

Take last year. Second game of the season. It’s away. It’s at Ohio State. Ohio State hasn’t lost a game at home in 24 games. They’re ranked. They might be the national champions, etc. etc. etc.

Virginia Tech comes in and beats them 34 to 21. That’s not a small margin. The sports announcers before the game were talking Ohio State; the sports announcers after the game were talking Ohio State.

This year Ohio State is the first game of the season, but they aren’t playing in Ohio like last year. They are playing in Blacksburg, in Lane Stadium. I’ve been to Lane Stadium. I know what it’s like.

Just before the team takes the field the PA opens with a guitar note, one note, held. It’s Mettalica’s Enter Sandman. I’ve never listened to Mettalica. I don’t really know their music. Just one of those things, too many groups, not enough time. But that note, that chord, once you hear it you know what’s coming. It’s like the beginning of Satisfaction by the Stones or George Harrison’s opening to I Feel Fine. Or Beethoven’s ninth. You hear those notes and you know what’s coming. Except in Lane Stadium, the note comes over the PA and the place explodes. It’s the loudest noise I’ve ever heard in a stadium, except the time the Hokies played at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium (Redskin Stadium). When Enter Sandman played there, that was the loudest noise I’ve ever heard. And that’s a huge open air stadium where the sound goes straight up into the air with no ricochet. It’s hard to make a big noise there, but the fans did.

So what’s the discussion for tonight’s game? Two things: What quarterback will Ohio State start, and will they repeat as National Champion. The in-depth reporting mentions how many returning players Ohio State has. The polls also mention that Virginia Tech doesn’t have a chance. They somehow forget to mention that Tech has just as many returning players on both offense and defense as Ohio. They forget to show, or mention, the sacks of Ohio State’s quarterback, or the interceptions he threw in last year’s game. (The smart money says he’ll start again.)

There’s rumors the Metallica has hotel rooms in the area under assumed names.

Ohio State may be national champions. They may repeat. They may start the same guy they lost with last year, or they may start the guy who took them to the championship. I don’t think it will matter.

I hope, for all the Mets fans, for all the Rodney Dangerfields, that the Hokies deliver one of the most stunning upsets in sports history. Just like they did last year.

Go Hokies.