The Scribes Weigh In: Favorite VT Memory

"Things end, but memories are forever." - Kumar Milan

There is no secret that most of us that are invested into Virginia Tech have some sort of connective memory to the place. Whether that be time on a sports team, hanging out with friends on campus, or hiking the various trails across the town, there is something for us all.

Us as scribes and contributors to Sons of Saturday have shared our memories and stories together and would like to share them with you. Here are some of our memories:

Ohio State 2015 - I'm sure like everyone it's extremely hard to pick one. I've definitely experienced some awesome VT moments. From Tech's first OT game in Lane (on a Thursday night), to hanging out with Tyrod and Kam at Sharkeys, to paying an astronomical amount of money to sit last row at Tech's Sweet 16 game against Duke; I've had my fair share of moments both sports related and non-sports related. I mean living downtown your senior year with your best friends is pretty awesome.

However, my favorite VT memory has to come down to Ohio State 2015 (yes 2015, not 2014) or the West Virginia game in FedEx. The West VA game was one of the most electric atmospheres I'd ever been a part of for a sporting event. The mountaineer fans HATE Tech fans and likewise.

Most people my age or younger weren't around for the rivalry, but the tension in the air was palpable. And then Tech actually wins an important game for once and the reaction in the stadium was amazing, something I'll never forget. Even Dan Snyder refusing to open the parking lots to tailgate more than 2 hours before kickoff and not providing enough Porta Johns to the sold out crowds (which he never gets for WFT games) can't blemish that memory.

HOWEVER, my favorite Tech memory has to be the 2015 Ohio State game in Lane Stadium. This was the most hyped sporting event I think I've ever attended.. and I've been to the Nationals Wild Card and NLCS games in 2019. The lead up to this game was like nothing I'd ever experienced before. It helped that the year prior in 2014 OSU won the national championship with only one loss on their record. Who was that loss you may ask? Why the Hokies of course. So by the transitive property Tech won the Natty in 2014, but that's for a different day.

The environment leading up to this game was electric. The GameDay crew was there to call the game, it was a primetime night game, Brad Paisley performed a free concert the night before outside of Lane, and Ohio State was the first ever unanimously ranked pre-season #1 team in history. There were even rumors circulating that Lebron James was going to be in attendance. Then finally the game started and Tech was leading the #1 team in America at halftime.

It was amazing, especially living on Green Street and being able to easily access the tailgate scene throughout the entire day. Then Tech QB Michael Brewer broke his collarbone to start the 3rd quarter and Braxton Miller gave the internet the infamous "spin move" and the game was pretty much in OSU's hands the rest of the way. But nonetheless, by far my favorite Tech memory to date.

First Visit - My favorite Virginia Tech memory is when I first came to campus. My grandpa took me down from northern Virginia to watch Tech take on UVA in a basketball game and although I admittedly do not remember what happened, I remember feeling amazed by the atmosphere of Cassell.

I then went for a campus tour after the game and my love deepened with every turn that I took. Even though I I was still very young, I became a lifelong supporter of Tech and everything related to it: I would even set my college as “Virginia Tech” whenever I would create a player in NBA 2k or Madden. Although I started my academic career at another university for athletic prospects, it is a wonderful feeling to be completing my college journey where I always wanted to be.

Miami 2019 - My favorite Virginia Tech memory has to be one that didn't even happen in Blacksburg. I remember that my cousin had mentioned that my grandmother had an opportunity to travel with the football team down to Miami, and that I could possibly fill the last spot for the trip. I was ecstatic that I may get the chance to travel with the football team to Miami, which is a really gorgeous place to visit.

It finally came to fruition on Friday of the week of the game. I marched down from my dorm in New Hall West and across to the parking lot outside of Lane and Cassell. I met up with my cousin and grandmother then we got our bags situated under the third bus out of the three that would transport us to Roanoke. I was on the Special Teams bus, which held of course the special teams players and assistant staff members respectively.

I made sure to have my GoPro, which captured most of this trip. Surely I looked like a fanboy to everyone that surrounded me, but I couldn't care any less because this was a once in a lifetime chance for me. We all boarded the charter planes and flew down to Miami. It was a nice little ride to Coral Gables, which is where the University of Miami is located. The buses arrived at the hotel and we all got off to unpack everything from out the bottom of the bus.

This is where my grandmother, who has a great relationship with Bud Foster, introduced me to him. It was a very unique experience to get to meet someone like Bud Foster, who I looked up to a lot growing up. The teams had their meetings getting off the bus with the main coaches, so I just made my way up to my room. However, I was accompanied by Jerry Kill, former VT coach, on my way up to my room. He really is as incredible as he has been made out as.

Night came and went, but it was now Gameday. We made our way to the Hard Rock Stadium with full police escort. I would recommend everyone try it out if given the chance. It was also a big game for the Hokies, just coming off the bad loss to Duke, emotions were high. I remember almost a sense of determination and upmost seriousness among everyone that day. The game was ready to commence.

The game might have been the best part. We had to stay next to the team bench for the game, which was great to get a sense of how the sideline works on Gameday. We came out of the gates absolutely handling Miami. We held 4 turnovers over their head in the first half, and Keshawn King and I "ate the cereal" after Dalton Keane scored to put us at a 28 point lead. We were booming. However, the game didn't stay like that long as Miami came out strong the second half. We had a great score late, but gave Miami enough time to get down the field. In a stroke of notoriety from Bud Foster Defense, DBU held off 2 final pass attempts from the Hurricanes to solidify us the win.

This was easily the best Virginia Tech moment I have ever had. I got to meet a lot of incredible players, coaches, and support staff. And to walk out with a win and some motivation was just icing on the cake.