Virginia President John T. Casteen,III single-handedly brought Virginia Tech into the ACC, and Virginia students are apparently bringing Hokie fans into Scott Stadium. For years, Virginia students have bought tickets for their Hokie friends, allowing them to invade the Carl Smith Center and cheer on their vaunted Fighting Gobblers. But according to a recent rumor, Virginia students have stepped up their undermining of Virginia's home-field advantage, selling their student guest tickets for the Tech game online. All this while new Cavalier coach Al Groh has tried to turn Virginia into a "football school."
The rumor about the online ticket sales first surfaced during Groh's radio show last week. One caller claimed that his Hokie co-worker had bought tickets from a Virginia student online. Groh said he knew nothing about it but pledged to investigate.
Being one to spend countless hours on the Internet, I also conducted my own investigation. While I didn't find conclusive evidence to support the rumor, I found enough to make me believe that there is something to it.
Most of the tickets being sold for that game were general admission tickets (same as student guest tickets) and most of the sellers were located in Charlottesville. Since the Virginia ticket office does not sell any single-game tickets for the Tech game, one is led to believe that these tickets were originally obtained as student guest tickets. Moreover, the tickets are all being sold in pairs of two, an interesting coincidence when one considers that students could buy only two tickets for the Tech game.
Regardless of whether or not students actually are selling their tickets to Hokie fans, Virginia's problem of having Hokies in Scott Stadium has gone on for far too long. Two years ago, a distinct number of Gobbler fans were in attendance during Tech's 31-17 victory. Four years ago, the attendance was so mixed that one ESPN commentator brought it up during his pre-game analysis. Not surprisingly, a significant number of Hokies mixed into the Virginia student seats or on the hill behind the north end zone.
Obviously, anyone who buys a student-guest ticket can do with it whatever they want. And most people will probably pick friends over football any day of the week. But Virginia will never be a true football school until its fans start taking some pride in defending their home turf from their biggest football rival. Do you think that Michigan fans sell their tickets to Michigan State fans, or that Texas A&M students give tickets to their in-state UT brethren? I doubt it. And I doubt that the friendships between Virginia and Virginia Tech students run deeper, burn brighter, or go back farther than they do in Ann Arbor or College Station.
In fact, it seems these friendship loyalties don't run as deep in Blacksburg as they do in Charlottesville, since very few Virginia fans can actually get tickets when the game takes place on the Hokies' home turf. Those who go often have unpleasant experiences. My first-year hallmate got threatened and had a hot dog thrown at him in Lane stadium. In Charlottesville? The students invite their Hokie friends to stay around and hang out.
This past weekend, LSU hosted Georgia in a blockbuster SEC battle. All those watching the national telecast saw Tiger Stadium packed with rabid fans proudly sporting their purple and gold. The Georgia fans in attendance were limited to a tiny portion of seats in the corner of the end zone. Virginia students and fans have yet to show the vigilance that made Saturday's display by Tiger fans so impressive. If tradition holds to form, and the rumors about ticket sales are true, all of America will get to see Hokie fans wreak havoc in Scott Stadium come November. Maybe next time they come to town, Virginia students will act with some pride and deny them tickets. Until then, Virginia can't call itself a football school, no matter how much success the team garners on the field.
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