Life Is Good ... Maybe It'll Get Even Better
- Campus View, by Hokie Jake
- posted 8/27/99

After careful consideration, I have decided that student season tickets are one of the greatest ideas the Virginia Tech Athletic Department has ever had. Much better than the all-maroon uniforms or the "win a date with Druckenmiller" contest.

My feelings are greatly enhanced by the fact that I have seats in close enough to the field to hit the opposing bench with a flying Beamer Ball souvenir cup. I sat this close to the field one other time last year, and now I’ve got these seats for an entire season. Life is beautiful.

It’s about time the athletic department did something for the best damn fans in the world. No offense alumni, but we’re the ones who rock Lane Stadium. Try as they might to hold us down, the Tech Police haven’t been able to quiet us down.

OK, enough rhetoric. When I first heard about the new ticket policy, I have to admit I was a bit skeptical. I didn’t like the idea of paying for a ticket that was supposed to be free of charge. I already paid my comprehensive fee, why should I pay more?

For $42, or seven bucks per game, I could see Tech football all year with the guarantee of never being shut out of tickets. This is a plan for the die hard fan. If I want to pay a little extra, why shouldn’t I be guaranteed a seat?

I have yet to miss a home game in my two seasons of Tech football, and I’ve already informed people that I will never miss a Tech game for any circumstance other than death. This seemed to annoy my ex-girlfriend a bit, but I had to explain to her that Tech vs. Pittsburgh was more important than meeting her parents. Maybe that’s why she’s my ex.

Anyhow, back to the subject at hand. One important thing to consider is that this is NOT a mandatory program. Students who don’t want to break the bank on football tickets can still get in line at an ungodly hour of the morning to get tickets that will probably be in the flight path of some of the aircraft landing at the Tech airport. But for those who choose to make Tech football a number one priority, the season ticket is ideal.

The fact that the school implemented this policy this year is impressive in itself. Regular season ticket demand is at an all time high, and they could have easily trimmed into the student section to satisfy the public thirst. However, the whole reason these student tickets are even available are because of the massive student response to the lack of tickets for last year’s Virginia and West Virginia games. Weaver’s office received over 500 e-mails from angry students and parents. Maybe that’s why he hates the Internet so much.

Another big factor was Frank Beamer’s public comment that said something to the effect of any student that wants a ticket should be able to get one. Beamer has said before that the students are the backbone of any home field advantage, and he’ll do his best to keep them there. When Beamer wants something, he generally gets it.

After all of the hoopla and anger died down, the athletic department called a meeting with some student leaders and student media to determine how to fix the problem. Out of this, many new policies came. The season tickets for starters, but now a student is limited in the number of guest tickets he or she can buy for certain games.

For the "sellout games," Clemson, Syracuse and Miami, a student can only buy one guest ticket. For the other games, a student may only purchase two. Before the West Virginia game last year, a student could buy as many as he or she wanted.

Large group seating has been reduced from 50 to 75 seats. Some organizations would get as many tickets as they thought they needed, and then a third or even a half of them wouldn’t be used.

All of these are sensible ideas that should work. I see no reason why any of them won’t. But this is the real world, and someone will surely find something wrong with the current plan.

Since the school has rolled out the program, maybe their attitude toward student fans will change. Did anyone notice that the field looked more like Rikers Island than a football stadium after last year’s Virginia game? So what if we storm the field? Everyone else does it. Do our goalposts cost that much more than Virginia’s?

If we win as many games as I think we could this year, then dammit, I want to destroy something to show my appreciation. This is a tradition that many championship campuses and cities carry on each year (just look at Denver after the Super Bowl – we only want to rip down a goalpost).

Also, what’s with the disparity in drinking law enforcement? The East gates are lined with Virginia Tech’s finest, ready to conduct the always exciting frisk if they suspect that someone may have been drinking. However, after having been in the West stands a few times, I have seen open bottles of Beam, Jack, and all of those other wonderful men (or Wild Turkeys).

I’m not proposing that the students be allowed to drink. That is a disaster waiting to happen (and sometimes it happens anyway). But the fact that students are being harassed while alumni and the rest of the public can do and drink what they please is inequitable.

OK, I’ll get down from my pulpit. I’ll see you all at Lane Stadium Sept. 4. I’ll be the guy in the Maroon face paint with the #56 jersey. If only I put this much effort and thought into my differential equations class…

-- Hokie Jake

Hokie Jake is a Virginia Tech senior majoring in Tech sports.  He chooses to remain anonymous because he owes the Mafia big money.

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