The red solo cup in the gutter is classic college town stuff, love it. I don’t even want to know what that other empty bottle on the roof is/was.
That was an incredible road experience!
- Thread starter Randal7
- Start date
I know. I loved it. I love this kind of banter. Uniquely college football. It’s our culture
I agree
Completely agree - really made me appreciate the B1G network
So this was the first away game I had attended in quite some time. Really great experience. Drove down Thursday, stayed with Tyler in Charlottesville, then drove down to the game Saturday morning. That didn't go quite as planned, the traffic on 81 South just sucked, particularly the 20 miles or so before and through Roanoke due to the construction. We ended up stiffing @RUOPTIMIST (sorry buddy) because the Church on Main lot was full by the time we got there. Finally ended up at the Lutheran Church on Prices Fork Road.
Random thoughts:
Random thoughts:
- Really fantastic being in a large group of enthusiastic RU fans at an opposing venue.
- The sight lines for a visiting fan section were really pretty good, probably the best I've encountered in all the stadiums I've been in. Very surprised they didn't stick the visiting fans section in the endzone.
- I think the 4th quarter took 5 years off my life, how we blew a 23-7 lead to bring it down to a nail biter........
- Virginia Tech students and fans were by and large friendly and nice to talk to.
- Only down side is we ran into these Screws walking out of the stadium......
- Funny, in the visiting section I had no problems with cell coverage.
- Tyler commented on how the architecture of the VT buildings just varied so much, like they couldn't decide on a theme. One looked like an old English carriage house, other's looked very medieval, still others looked like old brick garment factories from the 50's.
- Great game day atmosphere, loved that most of the fans bought into the "Wear White" theme. I understand the predicament @Knight Shift had walking behind some of the fairer sex.
- I really don't understand how they can have such a great game day atmosphere without music blaring constantly from their sound system - I think our sound guy needs to go down there and explain that to them.
- They did some good stuff with the scoreboard, but some pretty silly stuff too. And the eating contests...................I guess that's a southern thing?
- Oh, and can someone explain what the hell the horse on a treadmill means?
- Another thing: our parking attendants can learn a helluva lot about civility from the people working parking down there. Talk about nice, friendly and accommodating!
- I know we parked farther out in that Lutheran Church, but man was the tailgating scene dead.
- Chicken and veggie kabobs on the grill really turned out well, we just threw that together Friday night (chicken) and early Saturday morning (veggies). And the extra uncooked kabobs are now available for Tyler for the rest of the week. BTW, he has my old tailgate grill down here.
- I'm happy some of the VT fans left in the 3rd quarter, less noise for our moronic 4th quarter collapse.
can you compare the audio to Rutgers?
Was the PA system loud? Could you hear the PA announcer. Could you hear the ref when announcing a penalty?
Did they let the band play?
How much music was pumped in?
Did the crowd make noise/chant etc?
Can you compare the crowd ? Was it a louder/more energetic crowd to RU?
Was the PA system loud? Could you hear the PA announcer. Could you hear the ref when announcing a penalty?
Did they let the band play?
How much music was pumped in?
Did the crowd make noise/chant etc?
Can you compare the crowd ? Was it a louder/more energetic crowd to RU?
That's how you're supposed to enjoy the game, lol - my phone is usually off all game, with maybe a check in at halftime.
Does the local cable company still carry the RU Network(Radford University)?
That cracked me up in '96.
That cracked me up in '96.
1. Announcer did all of the audio. No canned announcements so it was definitely a lower volume.
2. Definitely heard the announcer & the refs
3. Band played a little, not a huge amount
4. Game was truly sold out & Crowd was VERY loud. most everyone was in their seats well before the team came out. VERY energetic crowd. We haven't had a crowd/energy like that in a long time. I expect, however, that Friday night will be a different story.
Also:
Clear bags allowed & NOT searched. everyone just walked thru the metal detectors (same ones as RU) and went into the stadium. Very easy process. Outside water bottles WERE allowed. Water was sold with caps on. 3 snipers were visible above the press box.
We are louder at our best but that’s also bc Rutgers took the crowd largely out of the game
It is a good lesson. My crew swung through there back in Frank Beamer's early days. We stopped for Thursday night game vs BC before attending Rutgers at Duke (disgusting loss) in Graber's time... Thunder and Lightning, Presley and Willis (and Lucas, IIRC) .. and a bad, bad loss.
In any case, Lane Stadium reminded me of Rutgers poor attendance. Open rows of seats. Disgruntled fan base telling me Beamer was a bum.
My how things changed since.
It CAN be done.
Is that # towards season tickets / partial plans (amount you have to donate to get seats / parking)? Or seperate
The one guy was practically a cheerleader for Va Tech during the broadcast. He was calling the game like his son was playing. But we knew ACCN was dogshit and even still was awful.
Knight Shift, you from OB? You know the guys from OB Militia? I went to high school with them.
Re: architecture…the area that looks like West Point, just a few blocks from the bar area, IIRC is the original military school? Stunning architecture over there!
No, but I have read way too much about them. Also read Jonny Z's book, which was great.
There was a house in Farmingdale owned by an electrician, which was a party house for Metallica and their fans (and I think some other bands). They had deep NJ roots after they left the West coast.
I think it is 159 Asbury Road, which is technically not in Farmingdale, but has a mailing address. Also, the property must have been subdivided, it is listed as 2.82 acres.
Here is the pic from the Metal Militia website. Slayer played there too.
Metal Joe was living with his uncle for a while until he finally had decided it was time to move out. He and Bobby Oujo found a house for rent in Farmingdale, NJ which was about a half hour away from Old Bridge. It was a four bedroom farmhouse located on 29 acres with no neighbors and was in the middle of nowhere. They used their property to engage in activities such as dirt biking, canoeing, skeet shooting, and archery. In other words, there was something for everybody to do, so the house obtained the title “The Fun House”. But eventually we got bored and hooked up the canoe to a four wheel drive truck with a chain. We then proceeded to go for rides while in the canoe as it was being pulled around by the truck. The driver would even take us down the road until they got to town without a single person bothering us. It eventually became a game to see who could stay in the longest without falling out. It obviously got out of hand pretty quickly, and someone was knocked out of the boat only to be knocked unconscious and sent to the hospital. It was crazy all the time and somebody was always getting hurt but thank God nobody ever got killed.
Joe and Bobby had a lot of wild parties at that house; some even would last all weekend because nobody would bother you. However, the most memorable one was for my 23rd birthday. I remember Bulldozer Bob and Party Arty sent a limo to my house to pick me up. When I got to Metal Joe’s the place was loaded with a lot of friends and he said there is something waiting for you in the basement. When I got down the stairs, I discovered a band called Hades all set up with a P.A. system, and ready to play. I had just seen them two weeks earlier at Emmet’s and told Joe how much I liked them. At the time, they were only doing Judas Priest and Iron Maiden covers and they were the first band that played at “The Fun House”. When they hit the first note, all the lights went off- they blew the power out. Bobby Oujo had to run a line from the meter pad to the sub panel in order to restore power. Once the power came on, we were set to go, and the band played all night. They came back a second time a few months later and played for us again, before becoming an original band. After enjoying the private concert, a few months later we invited a band called The Beast to play for us as well. That night Jon, Marsha, and some of the Anthrax guys came down to the house also. After meeting the bands Jonny decided to sign The Beast and Hades to one of his compilation albums on his record label, Megaforce.
Story:
History of the Old Bridge Militia Foundation
Detailed history the Old Bridge Militia Foundation
oldbridgemilitia.org
Zillow pic in link>
159 Asbury Rd, Farmingdale, NJ 07727 | Zillow
159 Asbury Rd, Farmingdale NJ, is a Single Family home that contains 1512 sq ft and was built in 1907.It contains 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The Zestimate for this Single Family is $497,000, which has decreased by $5,480 in the last 30 days.The Rent Zestimate for this Single Family is...
www.zillow.com
my perception of the buildings on campus was they all looked alike….pretty much all made of hokie stone. Nice campus but the buildings gave me a depressing sort of feeling with that greyish stone on everything
tailgating wasn’t dead at all. It was tremendous in the lots across from the west side of the stadium and in the Center Street area. And, they had other larger areas with giant party tents, high end catering etc which I suppose isn’t technically tailgating but something we completely lack. Obviously parking garages and small private lots aren’t conducive to tailgating so you were looking in the wrong places.
A+ pregame experience, best overall I’ve experienced and I’ve been to many.
Insane! I wouldn't have felt safe without a Kevlar vest with all those watter bottles with caps on! Homeland Security has been notified!!
Well, I did mention earlier that there were 3 SWAT snipers on top of the press box side of the stadium....
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This was a last minute trip once they announced the 3:30 game time.
- Left South Jersey at 5:45am. One stop in Harrisonburg by JMU (4 hours in) for gas and potty break. Arrived in Blacksburg at 12:30pm. Overall an easy ride. As Degaz mentioned, there are tons of trucks as Interstate 81 is major trucking route but if you keep alert up and down the elevations it’s a pleasant ride. Barely anyone driving crazy or extreme tailgaters which isn’t my experience on the NJ Turnpike or Parkway.
- Parked at Historic Smithville Museum thanks to a fellow board member with an extra pass. An easy 0.8 mile walk to the stadium. Had enough time for some sandwiches and beers. A few VT fans welcomed us or said hello. Packed up early (2:00pm) to head into the stadium.
- Walked through what seemed to be the core of their tailgating scene. I got Scarlet Lot vibes. The lots were packed with some decent setups and there were a good amount of RVs. Overall it seemed like a fun tailgate scene - and I got more assurance of how our tailgating is top notch.
- Entered the stadium at about 2:30pm. Fans were pouring into Lane an hour before the game, including what seemed to be all of their entire student section. I didn’t get a single snarky or distasteful comment (which I was totally expecting) walking through their lots and right through the thick of their students entering.
- Got to my seats in 135 at about 2:45pm and concur with Degaz. The main student section behind the end zone was already full and the sideline section was filling up quickly, 45 mins before the game.
- Enter Sandman lived up to the hype for sure. The whole stadium was in their seats waiting for that moment and they delivered. Coolest part was when they cut the music at the end and the whole stadium sang in unison. Almost gave you chills - I can’t imagine what the is like for a big night game. This was right up there with the Iowa “wave” as best traditions I’ve seen in person.
- Lane stadium was great. Extremely easy entry through the medical detectors. Entrance took about 2 minutes and there are no separate bag lines. Sealed water bottles are allowed and they even have refilling stations throughout the concourse which was great on a hot day. The concourse was wide and the bathrooms were plenty. Concession prices were more reasonable than SHI. A majority of the seats in the lower / middle levels at Lane have permanent seat backs. It was nice that everyone could tell where their seat/space was and it added some extra back support, but it also made things more tight and if you’re over 6’0 your knees get crushed by the seat back in front of you. I had mixed feelings about the seat backs.
- Fans in 135 who interacted with us were all very nice. I kept the cheering pretty tame as I was surrounded by VT fans. I heard plenty of compliments about our team and Monangai around me. The guy in front of me even commented to me how big our line is and how the BIG10 has big boys. It’s nice to hear us accepted as a legit BIG10 member by an opposing fanbase.
- The fans were juiced early but man did we take them out of the game and make that stadium a non-factor. When we got the ball again up 23-7 the students and other fans began leaving and pouring out. I would estimate about 1/3 of the fans left. Once they stopped us on 4th and 1 things changed. The remaining fans stayed and it got really loud after they scored their first TD, and even louder after the 2nd to tie it up. The energy and noise level really picked up - luckily we took the stadium out of the game for the first 3 quarters.
- Stayed until the end and went down to the front to watch the players sing the alma mater with Greg who was pointing up to the hundreds of fans (maybe thousand) in the 200 level. It’s a shame they couldn’t all make it down and join the team, but you could tell Greg appreciated the turnout from the fanbase.
- Traffic flow off the campus was well organized from my lot and it was extremely easy to exit. Hit some stop and go traffic on the highway exiting campus but overall not bad. Drove 2.5 hours towards home and stayed over in Charlottesville for the night.
Overall a really fun trip and the win made it even sweeter. If we ever play in Blacksburg again I would definitely do another trip, but look to stay on campus (or close) to get the full experience.
- Left South Jersey at 5:45am. One stop in Harrisonburg by JMU (4 hours in) for gas and potty break. Arrived in Blacksburg at 12:30pm. Overall an easy ride. As Degaz mentioned, there are tons of trucks as Interstate 81 is major trucking route but if you keep alert up and down the elevations it’s a pleasant ride. Barely anyone driving crazy or extreme tailgaters which isn’t my experience on the NJ Turnpike or Parkway.
- Parked at Historic Smithville Museum thanks to a fellow board member with an extra pass. An easy 0.8 mile walk to the stadium. Had enough time for some sandwiches and beers. A few VT fans welcomed us or said hello. Packed up early (2:00pm) to head into the stadium.
- Walked through what seemed to be the core of their tailgating scene. I got Scarlet Lot vibes. The lots were packed with some decent setups and there were a good amount of RVs. Overall it seemed like a fun tailgate scene - and I got more assurance of how our tailgating is top notch.
- Entered the stadium at about 2:30pm. Fans were pouring into Lane an hour before the game, including what seemed to be all of their entire student section. I didn’t get a single snarky or distasteful comment (which I was totally expecting) walking through their lots and right through the thick of their students entering.
- Got to my seats in 135 at about 2:45pm and concur with Degaz. The main student section behind the end zone was already full and the sideline section was filling up quickly, 45 mins before the game.
- Enter Sandman lived up to the hype for sure. The whole stadium was in their seats waiting for that moment and they delivered. Coolest part was when they cut the music at the end and the whole stadium sang in unison. Almost gave you chills - I can’t imagine what the is like for a big night game. This was right up there with the Iowa “wave” as best traditions I’ve seen in person.
- Lane stadium was great. Extremely easy entry through the medical detectors. Entrance took about 2 minutes and there are no separate bag lines. Sealed water bottles are allowed and they even have refilling stations throughout the concourse which was great on a hot day. The concourse was wide and the bathrooms were plenty. Concession prices were more reasonable than SHI. A majority of the seats in the lower / middle levels at Lane have permanent seat backs. It was nice that everyone could tell where their seat/space was and it added some extra back support, but it also made things more tight and if you’re over 6’0 your knees get crushed by the seat back in front of you. I had mixed feelings about the seat backs.
- Fans in 135 who interacted with us were all very nice. I kept the cheering pretty tame as I was surrounded by VT fans. I heard plenty of compliments about our team and Monangai around me. The guy in front of me even commented to me how big our line is and how the BIG10 has big boys. It’s nice to hear us accepted as a legit BIG10 member by an opposing fanbase.
- The fans were juiced early but man did we take them out of the game and make that stadium a non-factor. When we got the ball again up 23-7 the students and other fans began leaving and pouring out. I would estimate about 1/3 of the fans left. Once they stopped us on 4th and 1 things changed. The remaining fans stayed and it got really loud after they scored their first TD, and even louder after the 2nd to tie it up. The energy and noise level really picked up - luckily we took the stadium out of the game for the first 3 quarters.
- Stayed until the end and went down to the front to watch the players sing the alma mater with Greg who was pointing up to the hundreds of fans (maybe thousand) in the 200 level. It’s a shame they couldn’t all make it down and join the team, but you could tell Greg appreciated the turnout from the fanbase.
- Traffic flow off the campus was well organized from my lot and it was extremely easy to exit. Hit some stop and go traffic on the highway exiting campus but overall not bad. Drove 2.5 hours towards home and stayed over in Charlottesville for the night.
Overall a really fun trip and the win made it even sweeter. If we ever play in Blacksburg again I would definitely do another trip, but look to stay on campus (or close) to get the full experience.
Probably too many users at once.
In traffic jams service gets bad because everybody starts checking their phones
I’ve been to several Rutgers away games over the years, and this may have been the best one. The weather was amazing, and Enter Sandman lived up to its billing. The VT fans were also wonderfully cordial, and the downtown bar and restaurant scene was hopping. Also, great job by RU with planning both the Friday night happy hour and the pregame tailgate. I have many photos that I will post at a later time. If you skipped this trip, you really missed something special - an amazing Rutgers experience. I would love to play them again.
Scarlet Jerry
Scarlet Jerry
Again, if you listen to latest podcast by VT guys critiquing the game ,you get the real feel for the grass is greener expression. They were complaining about seat backs being new in their stadium-- how it kept fans in their seats and not standing all game cheering and how uncomfortable they were and, believe it or not , how the music was not loud enough at times. And wow did they complain about the town of Blacksburg and how long the lines were to get into a restaurant be it Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
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There’s no comparison. Main Street which was great is right on the edge of campus and being one campus with football and b ball stadium right next to each other was great. Campus was beautiful. Stone buildings (all pretty much the same) were awesome and people beyond friendly.
Parked on main st lot and walked to the stadium (less than a mile).
Look
Was there a collapse on the 4th quarter?I thought that was just a typical GS RU event.U know...How to give heart attacks to us
We bought tickets via stubhub, so we had seats around the 35 yard line, about two thirds up from the field. The seats had backs and they were great! People still stood up on third downs, and I wouldn’t like to stand for an entire game. You don’t need to stand up to cheer and make noise..
Yes, there was no music blasting during halftime - and it was very refreshing! I could actually have conversations with the Tech fans about the game. There was also much less music during the game than we have at our games. I wish that we would reduce our constantly blasting music as well.
Yes, the lines were long at the establishments in Blacksburg, but it was also hosting a sold out football game and Family Weekend. Of COURSE everything was crowded.
The only negative was that many of the students left at halftime. There was never more than a two score lead, so that was baffling to me. When I mentioned that to a Tech fan sitting near me after the game was tied in the fourth quarter, he said with disgust “They always do that.” We got the sense that the students leave early so that they could change into their party outfits for the postgame parties. Cowboy boots were very popular. I won’t comment on anything else. Like I said, if you weren’t there, you really missed a great time!
We really gave momentum away on that failed 4th and 1 in the 3rd quarter, then we ended up giving them 2 TD's along with 2 2-point conversions to tie it up. We should have kicked the damn FG at that point. Puts us up 3 scores, keeps the momentum in our favor.
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