Hokie ClubWalking out of a chilly Wallace-Wade stadium in Durham in the very early hours of Sunday morning following Virginia Tech’s 31-28 loss at Duke, I saw a group of Hokie fans who had made the trip to see their favorite team in action. They were cold and disappointed with how the game unfolded, of course, but so was anyone else who watched the Hokies drop to 5-6 following their third consecutive November loss.
But my immediate reaction in seeing this group of people was appreciation for their unwavering dedication. It was after 1 a.m. on a Sunday morning and this group still had a three-hour drive home. But their commitment to this team and Virginia Tech remains resolute.
One thing we never take for granted is the passion and dedication of Virginia Tech fans. I hesitate to use the phrase “fan base” when referring to the legion of Hokies who sell out Lane Stadium weekly and who travel en masse to wherever we happen to play.
“Fan base” seems like a cold, impersonal term taught in a marketing class. Like “target audience” or “market segment.” Naw, that’s not y’all.
The thousands of people who come to every game–home and away–are more “family” than “fan base.” It’s always been that way. You cheer together and high-five together and jump and sing and shake your keys and shout out the letters “H-O-K-I-E-S” without prompting every time you hear the VPI Victory March.
And you hurt together.
And that’s where you are now.
This season hasn’t gone the way anyone expected it go. From the opening quarter at Vanderbilt to the final play at Miami to, well, the entire month of November.
But on this Thanksgiving Week 2024, we need to be thankful for so many things in our lives. From the personal to the professional to our families and to our favorite team. I know I’m thankful to work at a place like Virginia Tech and extremely grateful to represent this school and our teams. I’m thankful we have a fanbase family of hundreds of thousands of fans who watch and listen to our games and who pack Lane and care so passionately about our teams and our players.
So, among the many things I’m thankful for this holiday week is you. Thank you for packing stadiums near and far, supporting our players and coaches, and for creating the soundtrack on our broadcasts. Mike Burnop and I might be the ones talking into the microphones, but your constant roar and the energy you bring every game is unique. It’s as if we have a 66,000-member choir roarin’ along with us every week. So, thanks for making us sound better!
Somewhat related: The I.T. folks passed along numbers this past week with analytics showing that over 260,000 people have listened to Tech football games on the Hokiesports mobile app this season. That’s remarkable that over a quarter-million of you listen to Hokies football on their phones. We have a massive network of over-the-air radio stations, but the number of people listening on digital platforms continues to grow exponentially, and we’re thankful for that, too.
Among the other things to be thankful for this week?
- The culture head coach Brent Pry has built in his program. The effort he’s gotten out of his team in practice and on gameday has been exceptional. The on-field results, the execution, and the in-game performance has not been anywhere near what they expected, but there’s been no sulking or finger-pointing.
- Thankful for Collin Schlee, the Hokies’ QB who is on his third school, had no ties to Virginia Tech before transferring here and yet sticks his head in there, sacrifices his body, and does anything it takes to make plays. Schlee is an honor-roll student, a smart tough kid, and true leader. Thankful that he’s in this program.
- Pop Watson is another one like Schlee who paid attention in all those QB meetings just in case he was ever needed and did everything and anything he could in relief last week to try to rally his team. Smart and tough? See above.
- Bhayshul Tuten. Any question about his dedication and toughness and desire and heart? No sir. A 1,000-yard rushing season despite being hobbled for the last month. Thankful for his dedication to the training room and his teammates.
- APR. I’m thankful Antwaun Powell-Ryland found a home at Virginia Tech and is having an all-conference kind of season. His stats and his impact on games are obvious. His ‘motor’ and his work ethic in practice will impact this program for years to come. Why? Because the younger people see how he prepares and studies and works. APR knows what it takes.
- Dorian Strong. If I told you that Dorian stands out in the classroom as much as he does on the field, would you be surprised? Again a leader and a model for what it take.
That’s just a few things that come to mind, but despite this lousy 5-6 record the team brings into the final game of the season, I’m thankful for the effort we are seeing from this group.
From the managers, trainers, equipment staff, sports medicine and communications team to the interns and GA’s who sacrifice so much.
And most of all, I’m thankful we have one more chance to be all together Saturday night at 8 p.m. for UVA. This is the first time we’ll have a VT-UVA game with fans in attendance in Blacksburg since 2018. (2020 Covid rules limited the crowd to friends/family and the 2022 game was cancelled.) So if you’ve been a student at Virginia Tech in the last six years, you’ve never seen a Virginia Tech – UVA game in Lane. I’m thankful you’ll get that chance on Saturday.
In fact, 66,000+ members of our Hokie family will gather at Lane Saturday night. It will be cold. It will be loud. It will be a high-stakes game with a bowl bid for the winner. But most of all, I’m thankful we all have the chance to be together one more time.
Happy Thanksgiving!