X (Twitter): @TreyKelleher3 (https://twitter.com/treykelleher3)
Charlottesville, VA- UVA (+1.5) vs. Virginia Tech- I had to wait 24 hours before writing this because I was not in a place to write a level headed piece where I meant every word I said. I am there now. Still angry, still upset, still embarrassed, but every word you are about to read is exactly how I feel.
Saturday was the most embarrassed I have ever felt in my 25 years of being a UVA fan (that includes the night of March 16, 2018). Was UVA outcoahced on Saturday? Yes. Was UVA outmatched on Saturday? Absolutely. But that's not what bothered me so much. The players and coaches have been through quite the battle this past year on and off the field. Coach Elliot and his staff would be the first to say they didn't have their squad ready for battle and in all fairness, how are you supposed to get motivated to play a home game against your rival on senior day when you come out of the tunnel and hear more boos than cheers?
They gave it their all, and unfortunately they weren't the better team, which lead to a 55-17 rout in Virginia Tech's favor.
What bothered me was off the field. I started my trip to Charlottesville from Richmond at 10am for the 3:30 kickoff and from the moment I left my apartment to the time I left Scott Stadium on Saturday night, I saw 2x the amount of Tech fans than I did UVA and they were 100x louder.
"It'll be better once I get to Charlottesville" I told myself as I traveled on I-64 West to the game. "It'll be better once I get into the stadium." I told myself at my tailgate where I heard more "lets go...Hokies" chants than I would like to admit. "It'll get better closer to game time." I said to myself as I walked to my seat an hour before kickoff seeing the Tech visitors section already full, and THE FIRST FOUR ROWS OF THE HILL WERE FILLED WITH TECH FANS.
Things never got better. The UVA student section was a 50/50 split between UVA and tech fans (SHAME on you if you're a student and sold your tickets to a Tech fan), the upper bowl was filled with Hokies, and there honestly wasn't much of a "home" crowd in the lower bowl either.
Scott Stadium was a neutral site at best that just happened to have a V-Sabre on the 50 yard line. Usually when this happens, I get irrationally angry at Hokie fans, players and coaches. For what? Because they care about this "rivalry" and want to beat UVA into the ground year in and year out? Because they actually have a fan base that supports their players and coaches during the good times and bad? Because the fans, the alumni, the staff, the students CARE about the result of this football game?
I'm done being angry at them for that. UVA fans LOVE to say that this is Tech's "Super Bowl." That is a lame and tired excuse. NEVER will you hear an Ohio State fan tell that to a Michigan fan, nor will you hear an Auburn fan say that to an Alabama fan or vice versa. Why? because it is both of their Super Bowls. That's what a rivalry is supposed to be.
Winning means everything in a rivalry game. It is bragging rights for 365 days, it is middle school and high school kids going to school with a smile on their face on the Monday after the game (something I can't relate to), It is getting those in-state recruits that are on the fence about where they want to spend their next four years, etc. It means EVERYTHING!
UVA fans, alumni, staff, and students don't seem to get that. Now I can't speak on how it used to be, only the past 20 years or so. If they do care, it is simply not enough. Not enough to show up and take this rivalry seriously.
On Saturday, for example, I saw 1) a line of recruits, who were invited by UVA to come to this game, welcomed into Scott Stadium with a "Lets go....Hokies" chant. 2) A student section that was, like I said, a 50/50 split between UVA and Tech fans. 3) UVA's President, Jim Ryan and AD, Carla Williams laughing on the sideline together at halftime while their school is getting embarrassed by their rival. 4) Tech fans rushing the field after a win for the second time in three years.
Does that sound like a school who really cares about this game? But hey, at least our grounds crew turned on the sprinklers when they went out to take a team picture! Got 'em!
When it comes to football, this is not a rivalry right now, and so many things have to change for it to be considered one any time soon.
Winning means everything, but winning doesn't come overnight. It starts with having a culture that shows up for the student-athletes that put their blood, sweat, and tears into this game.
Nobody wants to see this change more than me, believe me. But for now, it means more in Blacksburg, and it is a damn shame that it does.
Congrats to Virginia Tech on yet another win, they deserved it and so do their fans.
Very well written. It's a "culture" thing and may never change. UVA has almost always been a "basketball" school. I remember years ago hearing UVA fans say "just wait until basketball season"....Well, they can't say that anymore either. Not until UVA makes FB a major priority, will it ever change.
Came across this on Facebook, I appreciate your feelings on UVA football and your viewpoint on how things must change.
I felt the same way you do now about 15 years ago, when I stopped going to games regularly. I was angry at how the powers that be seemed to have almost a snobbish disregard for football, almost as if it was not that important. And that's when 6 to 9 wins a season (on occasion) was a normal occurrence. I knew when the fellow season tickets holders next to my father and myself were discussing winery plans the day after the game, I knew I was in the wrong place. Gave up the season tickets thereafter. Just felt like…