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Written by Sam Renaut
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Thursday, 01 September 2005 |
Football has a new face at Virginia Tech. In fact, several.
Some are familiar old ones that are just now starting to shine in
Blacksburg, like Marcus Vick. Others are beginning to glow in the
national spotlight, like Bud Foster, Darryl Tapp, and Jimmy
Williams. But the brightest star of all might just be Lane
Stadium itself. The total west side renovation will give Worsham
Field a state-of-the-art new look to reflect our growing power in the
ranks of college football. What many opponents see as the most
hostile environment to play in is about to become even fiercer.
Now, I've been to a few football games in my day. I've been to
soccer games, basketball games, lacrosse games. I've gone to
packed concert halls, sold out arenas. Byrd Stadium at College
Park, the Orange Bowl in Coral Gables, Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill,
Bobby Dodd Stadium at Georgia Tech, Groves Stadium at Wake Forest,
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium at ECU, FedEx Field, RFK Stadium, the Georgia
Dome, the Superdome in New Orleans, Camden Yards: the list goes
on and on. And nowhere--absolutely nowhere--has been as loud as
Lane Stadium during a night game. Or even during a day game.
The loudest experience of my life occurred the night of November 1st,
2003. Miami had come to Blacksburg ranked second in the
country. Virginia Tech had just been upset big time and needed a
huge win to get back on track to a major bowl appearance. Most
hardcore college football fans know about the entrance to Lane
Stadium. Metallica's "Enter Sandman" comes on as the Corps of
Cadets lines up with the Cheerleaders outside of the tunnel.
Everyone, and I mean every single home fan, gets on their feet jumping
and screaming at the top of their lungs. Right as the bass hits,
the team rushes out, flags waving, players hopping and skipping with
coaches right along side them. And that is when the stadium
really erupts. The boom is deafening. And I could prove
it: just let me set up a seismograph on the 50-yard line.
I'm confident that Lane Stadium would measure pretty high on the
Richter scale. Now I'm not talking San Francisco, 1906. But
I think the Hokie Nation could lift the scales to at least a four or a
five on a good night, a night like that night.
And that was in 2003. Ask yourself, with this megamillion dollar
project on its way to completion in Blacksburg, how much louder can
this place possibly get? Well, to start, it will be even more
completely enclosed now, with the entire west stands reaching the
highest point of the stadium, not just a small section in the
middle. The seats won't go any higher. Instead, the new
construction consists entirely of press boxes, club and VIP boxes and
suites and concessions, things of that sort. Which means the
entire addition will be flat-faced--perfect for bouncing sound around
inside the field. An extra thousand seats to fill won't hurt,
either.
The good people at rivals.com already voted us the number one most
intimidating stadium in the country for the upcoming year, and they
haven't even seen the new look or heard the new sound yet. And to
be honest, I don't think they have to. Spider glass and
Hokiestone won't rumble on their own. It's the fans who make the
ground quake. Lane Stadium is a madhouse on gameday, and the
Hokie Nation will rock you.
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Virginia Tech 