To My Hokies.
In the fall, when collegiate football time comes around, you'd be hardpressed to find a television station that airs an East Coast game in Los Angeles. Especially when your alma mater kinda really sucks.
I attended the University of Virginia for about 3.5 years. I wasn't too keen on it for many reasons. But that's not the point. The point is: football.
There's a rivalry between UVA and Virginia Tech that has apparently been an existence since the dawn of these fine establishments which comes to a head at football. On the game front, you should know that the Cavaliers kinda really suck. And Tech? Well, they had Michael Vick for enough seasons to establish a reputable football organization. So you know they pretty much all-out spanked us every year when I was in Charlottesville.
As for fans: UVA students DRESSED UP for football games. On game days, you would see scores of boys and girls dressed like they were heading to a church service. Blue button down shirts with navy and orange striped ties tucked neatly into their Dockers. White eyelet dresses paired with straw hats and flip flops with daisies. Tech fans on the other hand, went all out with the painted faces, the lettered beer guts, even the turkey headdress (for those of you who don't know, hokies are technically castrated turkeys). On any given Cavs vs Hokie game, half the stadium was a sea of pastels with a smattering of navy and orange; the other half was simply maroon and orange; and yet the entire stadium would be drunk drunk DRUNK (this is Virginia after all).
I never got the UVA tradition. To me, there is something very perverse about drinking a fifth of liquor on that game day while wearing your Sunday best and screaming "NOT GAY" in the school song (the fifth-drinking part is a tradition for all fourth-years on homecoming, and no I am not lying and yes, some girl died once; and no I am not exaggerating about the anti-gay slur although more and more people have boycotted it). I really preferred the Tech way of doing things: I mean, you're going to a football game. You're going to be tailgating and drinking beer and going balls to the wall. Why try to layer a level of pretentious asshole-ness on it by wearing a fucking tie?
Which brings me to my Hokie friends. Because as much as there was a rivalry between the 2 schools, everyone had friends who went to Tech. And your college experience at UVA was just not complete without at least one trip to Tech where you saw one good band (because no good bands ever came to Charlottesville, they went to Blacksburg and they played at Tech's concert hall and Dave Matthews doesn't count because he's from Cville okay?) and had one raucous weekend where your Tech friends would point out the finer art of tractor racing, the abundance of cows, and the all-mighty Drillfield.
There's been enough coverage today about the incident that happened at Virginia Tech. And it's a tragedy that needs no more words, except: I am truly, deeply sorry.
GO HOKIES.
I attended the University of Virginia for about 3.5 years. I wasn't too keen on it for many reasons. But that's not the point. The point is: football.
There's a rivalry between UVA and Virginia Tech that has apparently been an existence since the dawn of these fine establishments which comes to a head at football. On the game front, you should know that the Cavaliers kinda really suck. And Tech? Well, they had Michael Vick for enough seasons to establish a reputable football organization. So you know they pretty much all-out spanked us every year when I was in Charlottesville.
As for fans: UVA students DRESSED UP for football games. On game days, you would see scores of boys and girls dressed like they were heading to a church service. Blue button down shirts with navy and orange striped ties tucked neatly into their Dockers. White eyelet dresses paired with straw hats and flip flops with daisies. Tech fans on the other hand, went all out with the painted faces, the lettered beer guts, even the turkey headdress (for those of you who don't know, hokies are technically castrated turkeys). On any given Cavs vs Hokie game, half the stadium was a sea of pastels with a smattering of navy and orange; the other half was simply maroon and orange; and yet the entire stadium would be drunk drunk DRUNK (this is Virginia after all).
I never got the UVA tradition. To me, there is something very perverse about drinking a fifth of liquor on that game day while wearing your Sunday best and screaming "NOT GAY" in the school song (the fifth-drinking part is a tradition for all fourth-years on homecoming, and no I am not lying and yes, some girl died once; and no I am not exaggerating about the anti-gay slur although more and more people have boycotted it). I really preferred the Tech way of doing things: I mean, you're going to a football game. You're going to be tailgating and drinking beer and going balls to the wall. Why try to layer a level of pretentious asshole-ness on it by wearing a fucking tie?
Which brings me to my Hokie friends. Because as much as there was a rivalry between the 2 schools, everyone had friends who went to Tech. And your college experience at UVA was just not complete without at least one trip to Tech where you saw one good band (because no good bands ever came to Charlottesville, they went to Blacksburg and they played at Tech's concert hall and Dave Matthews doesn't count because he's from Cville okay?) and had one raucous weekend where your Tech friends would point out the finer art of tractor racing, the abundance of cows, and the all-mighty Drillfield.
There's been enough coverage today about the incident that happened at Virginia Tech. And it's a tragedy that needs no more words, except: I am truly, deeply sorry.
GO HOKIES.
Labels: retrospective.
posted by steenks at
1:13 AM
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