I was going to put this in the "Vent" thread, but thought it deserved it's own forum topic.

Anyway, I know we're all disappointed with the on-field performance of the team last night, but here's another thing that I was hoping we'd never have to vent about: the Lane Stadium experience.

Don't get me wrong, it's impressive that we can get 60,000+ to show up for a bad team, but boy the stadium experience is just not what it was.

I know it's not everyone, but the students are acting like absolute clowns. Throwing bottles into crowds with families and small children. Pushing and shoving fans around. Elbowing people in the face. Screaming obscenities at fans that are just trying to enjoy the game. Etc. etc. etc. And I'm sure other people on here can vouch for this happening.

It's getting to the point where I would barely feel comfortable taking my wife and small children to the game, which is really, REALLY pathetic.

On top of that, we've got fans (likely students) leaving at halftime of a tight game against a bitter rival?? When did that become a thing??

I don't know exactly how it got to this point, but I'm sure there has got to be a way to turn this around again. I realize I'm not offering much in the way of help/suggestions, but just wanted to vent a little bit and see if y'all had any similar experiences.

From TV, the students looked straight up bored. My wife (not from a football school) was curious why everyone looked so unengaged (this was the first quarter)

Crowd was juiced at first, then by mid second quarter it just seemed liked people were resigned to us losing even though it was still close. Maybe due to the terrible offensive performance? Very flat atmosphere for a close rivalry game.

This is hard to read about every week. Its like COVID flipped a switch on people behaving in public or these kids parents are just assholes. I went to every home game from 2004-2015 and not once did I have an issue with VT students even as a student myself in the middle of NEZ.

I think our expansion has led to taking many kids of questionable character

I didn't know character was part of the admissions assessment. What portion of the SAT covers character again?

Would you like Prys with that?

How so? By what measure were we assessing character that we've loosened up? By the admissions metrics, VT is more selective than ever.

This isn't just a VT-issue. I've read about so many schools having these issues. Don't really know how to solve it to be honest.

Another white bronco? The first one didn't go too far.

Now finish up them taters; I'm gonna go fondle my sweaters.

My Rant on the Experience?

The changed the shuttle buses this year and they aren't as frequent and drop off in different places. The CRC shuttle bus now drops and picks up by Cassel instead of the South End Zone? That means you have to walk away from your cars to try and catch a bus that might run once per hour. We were 3/4 of the way back the 1.25 mile walk to the car when the shuttle bus passed us.

I am not sure what happened last night, but we got to gate 3 last night at 6:35. It took the normal 15 minutes to get to the scanner. At which point all motion stopped. It was packed to the gills under the stands with nobody apparently going to their seats. The police and event staff held us place in the hall between the scanners and the concourse for over 30 minutes. Eventually, after the cannon went off we were informed by police that we had to leave and go around to a different gate!!!

We had to go to gate 4, argue that we had already had our tickets scanned and that is why they weren't working. Then go back through the area they wouldn't let us walk through 5 minutes before to get to our seats.

I am not sure what happened, heard rumors of fights etc. But they need to be quicker about clearing things up when you have over 1,000 people trying to move along and just walked to their seats. For the second game in a row, because of bus screwups or gate mismanagement I missed Enter Sandman. This time I at least got the kickoff.

My wife and I were in our seats between sections 14 and 16 fifty minutes before kickoff. I don't know what was going on under the stands or on the concourse but people were coming up the portals of section 20, 18, & 16 and crawling over bleachers, chair backs, and people (including us) to get to their seats in sections 2, 4, 6, 8, 10. It was ridiculous.

I seldom speak to loluva grads, but when I do, I tell them I want large fries.

Lol, you must be either above or below me. My seats are in both 14 and 16 as well. I have the three seats in the exact middle of the row covering both sections.

Yeah - something strange happened between section 16 and 18. We were trying to get in through gate 4 and were stuck between the gate and concourse for 30 minutes. I heard something about a cable falling, but never saw anything. Definitely not a safe situation with everyone trying to get in for enter sandman. Eventually had to leave the stadium and enter through another gate.

I think we need to change the student ticket experience. The way we have them up the side and around the top of the east stands is weird.

I would split the lower portion of that to the four corners (east and west stands). That way they have compete against each other for quadraphonic sound to annoy the other teams. Students love that crap. Make up names for each group, etc.

We put the K in Kwality

I think this merits discussion, attention. I haven't been to a game since pre-Covid, and was considering to take some fam, but I'm hesitant based on reports like this. Why pay for this experience?

We DID take an RV to Bristol for the VT/tenn game. Vol fan behavior was HORRIBLE (glass shards from thrown moonshine jars, watching a tenn fan PISS on the feet of a VT fan!!!, etc.)

Unfortunately, some of this is cultural, but that doesn't mean its excusable.

The team performance is beyond our control, but fan behavior and game experience should be fair game for the athletic department to aggressively fix.

I'd suggest sending feedback to Whit's office with specifics-they need to know and I think they are invested in improving game day experience.

I don't think it's all that bad. Especially based on individual accounts. I went to a game last year, sat high in the student side, nothing of note, kids being kids. Sure we have our share of idiots; I don't think it's indicative of some broad "kids are more of a danger than ever" panic.

I graduated in 2013 and I saw other students file out of the stadium by halftime in all my years... I honestly don't get it, especially on a Thursday night vs. Saturday night where the kids want to get to parties.

One of the main reasons why I wanted to go to tech was for the excitement of football games in the fall. Now its just they experience Sandman and then leave at halftime.

Bleeding burnt orange and chicago maroon

2 different issues here IMO: one is student engagement with sports, the other is behavior. I'm going to avoid discussing the latter because I feel pretty ignorant about it.

As far as engagement goes, I think 18-22 year olds today have come of age of social media, instant gratification, and content overload. I'm not saying that's bad thing, but it's very different from a lot of us. These kids have more options than just going to the game, and those options are constantly presented to them (via text message, social media, etc). This is a problem at every school - attendance is down big time.

I would also add that games are getting longer and longer due to TV breaks. It's fucking obnoxious when you're watching it on TV, but it's also kills the vibe in the stadium.

It was especially egregious last night in the stadium. The commercial breaks were getting longer and more frequent to fill an ESPN timeslot.

I echo your sentiments. Obnoxious behavior last night. Wife got shoved trying to go to the bathroom. Why is there just a constant massive unorganized blob of people congesting the concourse at all times? It doesn't matter when you go it's like people spend the whole game in the concession or restroom line.

I frankly just don't think there is enough adequate security to man the stadium. Just lack of organization and chaos. First game going back in four years and probably my last for a long time. It's just not what I remember as a student.

I've heard from some teacher friends of mine that since COVID lockdowns ended, it appears that young people are just a bit off socially and behavior issues have escalated and haven't really come back down to former levels. I hate to sound like an old man yelling at clouds (I'm only 33) but young people are a different caliber than they were when I was in school (07-11). Could just be the changing of the times.

That being said, I didn't have any issues in West stands last night. It was a pretty good experience for me other than the game. I'll also add that the concessions seems to have been able to fix the issues causing long lines. I didn't have to wait that long to get hot dogs and I was able to refill my drink 3 times. The bathroom line on the other hand...

I am more convinced now than ever that we probably need to seriously consider enlarging the North End Zone for the sole purpose of containing the entire Student Section to it, and physically remove them from the rest of the fans.

Last year was a problem, this year is apparently worse. Its not getting better, and barring the school ramping up security measures, I think its going to eventually get so ugly that its going to actively keep boosters and the general public away from VT games.

This is my school This is home

I've been saying this for so long... just section off the students from the non-student fans. Don't let their behavior ruin it for the rest of fans there

Bleeding burnt orange and chicago maroon

At least in our immediate vicinity in Section 31 at the upper portal, the fans (from both sides) were engaged and respectful and loud. I did see the police go up to the top of the section twice and escort a drunk fan out of the stands.

Side note- what is the deal with our clock and video board folks this year? Multiple times with incorrect down and distance on the scoreboard; several times when the play clock didn't reset and/or wasn't started in time(and in most of those cases hurting the home team by giving more time for the WVU audience? And is it just me or should someone explain to them that "karaoke" means YOU PUT THE WORDS ON THE SCREEN!! Otherwise it's just a sing along not karaoke. Not sure who to address these concerns to but it's been consistently bad this year.

Side side note-wtf was the tuba section's point in coming up to section 31 only to play a half hearted few bars right before the end of the timeout? Myself and many of the fans around us - Mountaineers and Hokies alike- had the same thought-it looked LAME. It COULD have been cool if done better.

Ok one last rant and I'll stop-why can't they have at least one or two folks doing the tshirt toss come up to the upper levels so those higher up can have at least a CHANCE at getting one? Kinda hard to expect someone throwing from the field to get one thrown 80 rows up(and if they can, maybe they should stop by Pry's office about a job)

From the 2018 VT-uva game-"This is when LEGENDS are made!"

We were in section 29. Had no issues getting into the stadium or getting to our seats (we were seated 57 minutes before kickoff). I will say the students were frequently crossing all over the sections adjacent to the student section to get to and from, not really sure why and it was really annoying. I saw several things thrown from the upper parts of the student section, biggest thing was them tearing apart those pom-poms. They were very disengaged throughout and (as I said in the Rant thread) leaving in droves at half time. Piss poor.

Was it just me, or were the MVs quieter than usual? I didn't hear them very much at all throughout the game, even later when the crowd was low when we were getting whooped. Also the scoreboard is very poorly run. They put up the "SAFETY" animation after our field goal, down and distance constantly wrong. WHERE DID THE TURKEY GOBBLE ON THIRD DOWN GO????? Last rant about the experience, I have never seen so few people jumping during Sandman in East stands than last night. It was loud but no where near what I expected for a bitter rival, Thursday night sellout.

"GO BACK TO YOUR ROOM LITTLE BROTHER, THE CUP IS COMIN’ ON HOME!”

I have never seen so few people jumping during Sandman in East stands than last night.

I noticed this too... I think the fans/students are so addicted to social media where they have to record everything, and in exchange, don't jump and enjoy the experience. First world problems, I get it, but it is very annoying and always gets a eye roll from me when watching on TV

Bleeding burnt orange and chicago maroon

I'm gonna have a "get off my lawn" moment ("I'm a man! I'm 40!")

I think since Covid, and it was already starting to happen before then, people have just forgotten (or never learned) how to not be dicks to other people. I've not been to a game in a few years at Lane, but all my friends that have that I've talked to relate tales just like yours about our fans behavior towards each other.

I would not be surprised in the least that almost every other program has similar stories about that trend in Gameday behavior, and it's not just the students

I know it was last weeks game, but had no issues with the gameday experience. I liked a lot of the things that Bailey Angle did that allowed more interaction during tv timeouts and other breaks in the game. What I did have issues with was the student section being gone in the second half. They need to create something that rewards students that stay. Also, I know they made student seating general admission to try and make it look better/fuller, but I enjoyed the assigned seats when I was there 04-10. The new fence they put up around the student section just seems like it was done with little thought and hasn't completely fixed the issues they thought it would fix.

Stick it in...Stick it in...Stick it in

As long as we're talking about Lane, can I ask a favor of the maintenance staff. Or grounds crew staff. Hell, I don't know, just whoever is in charge of Lane operations....

Put the damn stripes back on the walls. Yes, the stripes. The maroon and orange stripe that we had ringing the top of the walls going back to at least the 90s, possibly earlier, that was inexplicably removed in 2017. Just something about the stadium nowadays that feels bland and hollow, and putting them back would at least help make it feel like VT football again, and not some bland shell of what it used to be.

This is my school This is home

Wow I never noticed that. You are right, the stripes look much better.

I was hoping when they took the stripes off they were going to put Hokie Stone up on the walls, but that didn't materialize. It does look a little bland right now though.

I've been on the east side 25 yd line (towards the SEZ) for years and never have an issue. The atmosphere yesterday at kickoff was close to as good as it gets near me. I also can bring my 3 year old through to halftime for the last 2 years.

It may really just be a proximity to students thing, but the game experience, to me? Still solid and I found a few secret wifi spots too this year.

I didn't get even a hint of a bar of service..... until the mass exodus of students(and some non-student fans as well) after halftime- then I got up to two bars- just before 10 pm.

From the 2018 VT-uva game-"This is when LEGENDS are made!"

I don't want to pretend to be a social expert or anything, but here's my thinking related to the post...

Our society as a whole is in a moment of vitriol, toxicity and generally lacking in mutual respect for humankind. Our leaders and representatives do not speak about the "others" with any sort of dignity or respect, it's all mostly vitriolic in tone. That filters down to the news media, through our universities and into every nuance of our communities. There are certainly exceptions, but in the end the moment in which we live is not one that can be defined by dignity and respect.

It seems to me that 18-22 year olds, college students in particular, are being swallowed up by the type of mentality where general dignity and respect for other human beings isn't important. Everything in our society is about "me", "my" and "mine" (or those like me).

I'm obviously making a gross generalization, but it is one worth considering since this does seem to be a trend at a broader level. How do we solve it? I'm not sure. Collective effort towards something though.

Can't be mad at the students for leaving early. There wasn't enough alcohol in Lane last night to keep me plugged into the game. I turned it off at home midway through the 3rd. I can handle Tech losing, but I can't handle them looking like idiots when they do so.

Access Exclusive Content and Financially Support The Key Play

Ask the Expert: Connect directly with Principal Broker Jeremy Hart

Ad via TKP sponsor Nest Realty New River Valley

Shop fresh Hokies gear at TKP sponsor Homefield.

View All Discussions » French on the Bench »

We bleed orange and maroon.

"David doesn't even fart. That's how good of a kid he is." — Billy Hite

Thekeyplay.com is not affiliated with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

©2010–2022, Orange and Maroon Media, LLC.

Join the community. Registering for an account is free and easy. Registered users can participate in the forum, post and vote on comments.