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Weekend in Hokie
Country (Cont'd)
falling, and into
the
Downtown area - rich with specialty shops, bars and restaurants.
At the University Bookstore on Kent St.,
he hit the jackpot on Hokie gear - buying a
cap, coffee mug, oven door magnet, and shirt.
He roamed the downtown area, and as the evening set in, his
stomach called for a pre-gameday steak. He found it - at Bogen's
Steakhouse on Main,
across from Wendy's - a flatiron steak hit the spot.
Back out on the streets, the downtown area was pumping with
the energy of fans pouring into the area, now - in the restaurants,
shops and
bars - tuning up for tomorrow's battle.
Full, satisfied and tired, Cap retrieved his car and cruised
back down 460 to the Hampton.
All of a sudden, he was very tired, and as his head hit the
pillow, all he could manage was to briefly contemplate the haunting
question:
"What is a Hokie?” And then he was asleep.
Gameday
Gameday dawned clear and crisp. Cap rolled out, dressed in a
flash and took stock: game ticket; maroon cap, orange VT on the crown,
new
maroon shirt orange HOKIES across the front – bold, strong; fold-up
schedule of
match-ups and game times, nationwide; binos; lineups, cash. Check.
The
Honor Guard prepares for a memorial service for a fallen Hokie.
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Cap headed out to find a place to watch the GameDay show and
today’s showdowns. He parked on College Ave.,
across the street from the Squires
Student Center,
and headed to Big Al’s -
above Poor Boy’s - on Main. Big Al’s was not
open yet,
and he went next door to Boudreau’s, for a gameday perk-up.
A cup of java did
the trick and he watched the GameDay show on ESPN, coming from Norman,
for Oklahoma State
at Oklahoma. The GameDay
crew
broke down the day’s showdowns and Corso wrapped it up when he donned
the
Schooner Head - picking OU, while the other patrons chuckled and jeered.
He stepped back out and checked his watch - 11:00 a.m. The early games were near
kickoff. There was a line at Big Al’s
door, and as Cap took a place at the end, the door swung open. He took
off up
the steep stairs, racing for a prime seat.
As he entered the room, the games were coming. He grabbed a
seat at the bar, ordered a second cup of joe, and surveyed the TV
set-up.
Big Al’s had satellite TV, 17 screens: seven screens across
the top, behind the bar; one screen in each corner of the room; one
down the
hall leading to the restrooms; and a huge screen on the end wall to
Cap’s left.
The "screen master" came down the line at the bar
- asking everyone what game they wanted in front of them. The guy next
to Cap
wanted to see his alma mater, North Carolina
at Maryland. Then the
screen
master picked up the microphone and took a vote on the question of the
day:
"What game to put on the big screen?" He called out each game and the
crowd screamed, stomped and clapped for their favorite. The big
screen
pick was Nebraska at Texas.
courtesy VT SID
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Cap started with a brat at the top of the day as games from
all across the country came into the room, and the morning unfolded. A
group of
fans at a table behind him, decked out in Nebraska
gear, were living and dying with the Huskers as they took their lumps
in Austin.
Around him the games swirled: Michigan
at Michigan State,
Northwestern at Purdue, Pitt - with Heisman candidate Larry Fitzgerald
- at Boston College, Utah
at Air Force, South Carolina
at Ole Miss. Then Florida State
at Notre Dame started.
And so it went into the second halves of the games. Then the
screen master was back on the mike, taking the vote for the afternoon
games -
which would it be? Oklahoma State
at No. 1 Oklahoma, Ohio State
at Penn State, Florida
versus Georgia
at the world’s largest cocktail party, or Virginia Tech’s hated rival,
Virginia
at North Carolina State.
The screen master took the vote, - clearly, it was Oklahoma
State at Oklahoma
on the big screen - and another round of games took off. At any one
time, there
were seven or eight different showdowns beaming into the room at once.
Keeping
up with the games, Cap breezed along. The crowd was boisterous,
fanatical at
times. A local middle-aged lady standing to Cap’s left screeched like a
banshee,
staring at a screen where N.C.
State
had just scored against hated Virginia.
 Oklahoma
was
making short work of their in-state rival, Oklahoma
State, and as
Cap washed down a
scrumptious polish sausage sandwich with a Dr. Pepper, the screen
master was
back on the mike, "We’ve got a blowout game on the big screen, time to
make a change - let me hear your preference." He ran down the choices -
Florida/Georgia ruled over Ohio State/Penn State, and just like that -
the
Gators and Dawgs were elevated to the big screen.
Cap watched the games in front of him, then around the room
between plays. Passing up-dates to those seated nearby and watching
incoming
scores - the afternoon wound down.
Texas waxed Nebraska, Michigan State squeaked by Michigan in
a photo finish, Florida beat Georgia, Ohio State nipped Penn State in
Happy
Valley, Oklahoma drilled Oklahoma State, N.C. State beat Virginia,
Florida
State riddled Notre Dame in South Bend, and Cal beat Arizona State. And
on it
went.
These folks were college football savvy – knowledgeable of teams
across
the nation. The noise level in the room
rose and fell with
Weekend in Hokie Country continued on next
page...click here
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©
2005 Autumn Spectacle, LLC.
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“That's
the beauty of college football - every place is different...It's all
great fun, no matter where you go."
- Craig James,
in "Every Saturday in Autumn"
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