ACC Weekly Feature - Blacksburg, VA - Hokie Hokie Hokie Hi

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Virginia Tech

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Town: Blacksburg, VA

Head Coach: Frank Beamer

Stadium: Lane Stadium

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Mascot: Hokies, HokieBird

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Colors: Chicago Maroon and Burnt Orange

Biggest Rival: Virginia and West Virginia

Traditions: Orange Effect, Maroon Effect, Enter Sandman, Hokie Pokie, Commonwealth Cup, Beamer Ball, Corps of Cadets Band, Fighting Gobblers

Best Plays to Go in Town: TOTS and Big Al's

Thanks to Jennifer for the insider info.

My close friend, Colleen, graduated from VT in 2005.  I asked her to tell me what it means to be a Hokie and this is what she sent me.

It was January 1, 2001, my senior year of high school and I had a big decision to make.  Where to attend college?  Virginia Tech was playing Clemson in the Gator Bowl.  At the time, Clemson University and the University of South Carolina reigned high on my list, but my brother was a sophomore at Virginia Tech and it crept in, too.  After many visits to see my brother, I had grown to love "the cow school between the hills."  Virginia Tech and Clemson became my top two choices.  Would I be a Hokie or a Tiger?  I had to make a choice, a choice that would make me the person I am today.  So back to January 2001, we go...I let football determine my fate.

Virginia Tech beat Clemson 41-20 in Jacksonville, Florida and I needed to figure out what a "Hokie" was because that's what I was going to be.  It didn't take long for me to learn that "Chicago Maroon" and "Burnt Orange" matched better than black and white.  Virginia Tech is the coldest, hottest, and windiest place I have ever  been.  I believe with all my heart that God is a  Hokie because I had never truly seen the beauty of fall until I watched the leaves turn maroon and orange my freshman year of college.  I had become a Hokie and I lived for Saturdays at Lane Stadium.

It is difficult to describe the feeling you get when you wake up on Gameday in Blacksburg, VA, but I will do my best to give you a little piece of what I call heaven...

"We are Virginia Tech" and on Saturday at Lane Stadium it's Frank Beamer's team running out to Metallica's Enter Sandman while 66,000 fans jump up and down at the Home of the Fighting Gobblers, it's the Corps Cadets in the south stands and students in the north, it's Turkey Legs and key plays, Go Tech Go's and Stick It In's, it's blocked kicks and special teams, the "Lunch Pail" defense and the "Hammerin Hokies" offense, it's Hokie Bird and Hokie Stone, it's 4th quarter Hokie Pokies and dancing Tuba players, it's tailgates and TOTS, Hokie House and Hokie Hy's, it's where my heart is and if you don't know anything about what I just told you then pay a visit to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virgina where there's a small stadium with a loud crowd.

xoxo,
Ashton