Hokies Football Game

On Saturday, I got tickets to the VT Hokies vs. North Caroline Tar Heels American football game. We initially intended to go early and see all the tailgating, but thanks to a nasty cold, I was not feeling very well and we didn't get out until 11am (the game started at 12.30). We got the bus down to near the stadium and walked through some of the tailgating. There were a lot of people already drunk.

Tailgating near Lane Stadium

Once we got in, after grabbing drinks, hotdogs and popcorn, we headed up to our seats which were about halfway up the south side. In hindsight, the north side would have been better as it was in the shade for some of the time. It was a really nice day but I ended up a little sunburnt by the end.

Garfield at Lane Stadium

Once the stadium filled up, it was amazing. Lane Stadium has a capacity for over 66,000 and I am pretty sure it was full! It was a sea of maroon (the Hokie colors are maroon and orange). There were a few people in the NC Tar Heels colors (white and blue) but not many. The Tar Heels had a small band and cheerleading squad, but tiny compared to the Hokies. I was really impressed by the acrobatics of the cheerleading teams from both sides. It also confirmed to me Hokies fans are insane! :-)

Lane Stadium

The stands filling up.

NC cheerleaders

Hokies t-shirt

We watched the teams warm up while eating hotdogs.

Hokies running warm-up drills 

Tar Heels doing stretches 

Hokies - how could I resist this picture? :-)

Before the game, they had the military band playing. And as it was the homecoming weekend and game, they had another band, the Highty-Tightys, playing. They marched around the field. Then the national anthem played. (Americans know as many of the words as the British know of the British anthem. i.e., not many!)

Lane Stadium during the opening ceremony.

Highty-Tightys (red) and military band (blue)

Flag carriers.

Then they started playing Enter Sandman for the team to come out. Everyone started chanting "Hokies! Hokies!" and jumping to the music. The atmosphere was absolutely amazing!

Hokies entering the field

The first half was fun and ended with the Hokies in front. I was a little shocked and disappointed with the Hokie fans though. When the other teams were in control of the play, the Hokie fans started booing and jangling their keys, triggered by the gobble-gobble sound over the speakers. (The Hokies mascot is a turkey-type animal.) Apparently it is to stop the quarterback from the other team hearing the shouted directions. It seemed like cheating a bit to me.

Hokies passing the ball back

Hokie cheerleaders in action

Sea of maroon

Celebrating a Hokie touchdown

Starting the quarter.

Scrum

During half-time, they presented the homecoming king and queen. The candidates were escorted in by someone, a friend, family member or sponsor. The king was escorted by his friend, a young boy who had survived Leukemia. He used is campaign for homecoming king to raise awareness for childhood cancers. And he gave the little lad his crown. (The crowd went wild.) The queen, who was crowned after, didn't have the same reaction!

Homecoming king

Homecoming Queen

There was also a impressive display by the military band, playing while they moved in formation across the field. And they then played the Hokie-Kokie (i.e. Okie-Kokie) and danced. (I am not kidding!)

Military band display

Gymnastics 

Band

Doing the Hokie(Okie)-Kokie.

The second half was really good with a great run from the 80 yard to the 15 yard mark by one of the Hokie players. And later a fist fight on the field. One of the Tar Heels players lost his temper after a shove by a Hokies player. Then the both teams got in on the action. (I am not sure if it was to fight to pull them apart. A bit of both I think.)

In the end, the Hokie won 27-17, despite a good last try and touchdown by the Tar Heels. After the game, we waited until most people had disappeared before attempting to leave, and then slowly made our way to back to the drill field on campus, with a few stops as I wasn't feeling good. The only bad thing for the day was I lost my cap! It must have been somewhere on route to the bus. :-(  But we were so tired and hot, I really didn't care at the time!

Once we got home, we took cold showers and ordered pizza and chicken wings for dinner and watched movies. Sunday was spent doing some shopping and chilling with more movies.