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After a trip down to Atlanta, Ga. for the Georgia Tech versus Virginia Tech game last Thursday, I have decided to write in reference to the criticism of Jim Weaver's campaign for Hokie Respect.
The hospitality provided by the restaurants, hotels, and local shops in Atlanta was above and beyond my expectations and standards; however, this was not the case in the stands of the Bobby Dodd Stadium. My friends and I were seated in the visitor's corner, surrounded by older Georgia Tech fans. From my four seasons of experience with Virginia Tech football, I would judge that the visitor section was filled with a slightly more mild Hokie Fan. Now don't get me wrong, it is well known by all Hokies that we are some of the loudest and proudest fans anyone will ever come by. In the first moments of the game I noticed the Georgia Tech fans were in for a treat because even though our section was on the modest side of cheering, the Georgia Tech's fans voices were inaudible compared to our screams and chants. Even though they were not as loud or energetic in their cheering, they did have a few words to share with my fellow Hokies.
From the beginning of the game, my friends and I were harassed and taunted about our school, our community and our Hokie culture. Cheers were chanted by some of the older Georgia Tech fans seated near us. These chants and cheers implied Blacksburg is a trashy place to live and go to school and that we all live in a trailer park and are considered "hicks." These comments did not come as a big surprise to me, as many in the past have expressed similar judgments about Blacksburg toward me. However, the age of the fans and the form of mockery came as a surprise. When an older man behind my friends and me started swinging his hips, pumping his arms and singing "Blacksburg Trailerpark," I decided these fans were immature and did not deserve our attention. However, when a friend of mine was approached by a Georgia Tech fan and asked if she wanted to hear a Tech joke, she obliged and was told a joke mocking our community and the events of April 16. At this moment, I was mad, upset and frustrated with the treatment and disrespect of me and my fellow Hokies. In addition, I was more proud than ever of our fans: students, staff, alumni, friends and family; I feel as though our fans, with the help of the Hokie Respect campaign, are courteous, helpful and respectful. Not only was the respect from Georgia Tech lacking, it was utterly rude and sickening.
The campaign for Hokie Respect may be a joke to some, allowing us to yell at our fellow intoxicated friends "You're on Jerk Alert!" Or it may just be one more loud announcement that prolongs the entrance of our team and our incessant jumping to "Enter Sandman." However, Hokie Respect has a new meaning to me: Proud and Honorable Hokie Spirit.
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I've heard that the Georgia-GT rivalry is like the VT-UVA rivalry, with GT being more like UVA (i.e stuck up). That could explain the fans being snobs and accusing us of being hicks.
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Absolutely every school has respectful fans and fans who are jerks. Everyone's definition of the border between respect and disrespect is different. When are we going to get over this and not stop the presses every time we sit near obnoxious fans from the other team? I'm sure GT has respectful fans, and I'm sure VT has disrespectful fans. Guess what: UVA has both types also.
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While it is a well known fact all schools have respectful and disrespectful fans, Georgia Tech seems to have mostly disrespectful fans. Obviously you are going to hear trash talk from some fans, but when it's the majority of the fans saying it and they're 40+, it's immature and inexcusable. And the April 16 joke is criminal.
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do we need a campaign to tell us to respect each other? maybe, just maybe, we're capable of showing maturity (at least as much as is appropriate at a football game) without a poorly animated cartoon turkey telling us to? I don't credit my in-game manners to Jim Weaver or any of his dumb schemes.
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The point I'm making is that, had April 16 happened at some other school, I guarantee that there would be some VT fan somewhere who would joke about it in the face of that school's fans. This argument about the relative degree of niceness or jerkiness is tired, and, as I mentioned, is highly dependent upon the particular opposing fans with whom you come into contact. Also, let's not forget that two years ago, Marcus Vick singlehandedly did more damage to VT's reputation by stomping on the Louiville player's calf than any of our fans. EVERYBODY saw that, and EVERYBODY knew right then that he is a class-A jerk.
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I've been to games at Tech since I was 3. I'm 20 years old now, and fans here have never been abusive and rude and whatever else comes to mind, and this was way before Jim Weaver and Hokies Respect rolled around. The Hokies Respect camapign didn't make our fans who they are, they were like that to begin with. This is the reason I more than dislike Jim Weaver. Come on, its not like we have a football team that brawls and throws helmets at opposing players with horrible fans to go along with it. I hate that people give Weaver credit for the kinds of fans we have - he did nothing but slap a name on how our fans have always acted and take the credit for it.
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Oh yea, here's another thought. The whole campaign has been shoved down our throats for the last 4 or 5 years. There are even signs for it on Southgate - its everywhere. I imagine people could get a little tired of seeing that all the time, especially when there's nothing wrong with our fans to begin with. And because people get tired of hearing about it and seeing it, they act out against it by booing and such. And yes, we are still going to boo when other teams run into Lane or Cassell. Everyone does it. Get over it.
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Think about it from the opposite direction, though... The Hokies Respect campaign not only exhorts the fans to good behavior, but expresses to visiting fans that we as a group denounce the poorly-animated bad behavior. In this it is as much a PR campaign as anything. It may just have visiting fans remembering us as a really great group of fans "except for that one rude guy we saw", rather than consider us wholly rude as a group because of one rude guy they encountered.
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