Virginia Tech battles Boston College tonight on ESPN. I’ll watch from my sofa because I don’t have tickets, but if I did, I’d invoke this logic:
Some colleges have been reluctant to play on Thursday night because administrators feel the midweek games put too much of a burden on fans who travel from far away to attend the games. There are a limited number of hotel rooms in Blacksburg, and many fans have to take Friday off work.
“The special thing about it is it’s a prime-time game,” guard Will Montgomery said. “You get so many vacation days, so you might as well use one on this game. It’s as good of a reason as any.”
…“I think with our fans, taking that next day off is the least of their worries,” Beamer said. “They’re loyal fans, and they’ll be ready for Thursday night.”
The forecast is for cold, clear skies. There are fans who would let an “inconvenience” like that stop them from going, but Hokies aren’t like that. I know this for a fact because even my grandmother stood in Lane Stadium for more than three hours during this:
Hokies fans proved how rabid and loyal they were when Virginia Tech beat Texas A&M, 35-19, on a Thursday night in September 2003. With Hurricane Isabel knocking out electricity to more than 1 million people in Virginia, a crowd of 65,115 still showed up at Lane Stadium and withstood a downpour and 37-mph winds. “The atmosphere is just wild and crazy on Thursday nights,” Lewis said. “It’s hard for the quarterback to make audibles and calls. You’ll see him walk up to the line and get in everybody’s ears because they can’t hear him. I think the crowd makes it a bigger game. That’s why Thursday night games are so big here because the stadium gets so loud.”
Game on.