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I think it obviously shows the maturity level of those who participate in such a "cheer". I have never understood the fascination of such a ridiculous cheer and I would never wear a t-shirt with such a silly saying on it even if it were given to me. Surely the fine student minds at Virginia Tech can come up with a more logical cheer than that.

Maybe if you left out the homophobia and threats of violence against your fellow classmates your letter might have a little more credibility. The simple fact is that VT Athletics is now being run like a soulless corporation. NOTHING matters except the bottom line. Don't be fooled into thinking that Jim Weaver actually cares about your gameday experience. He simply wants to make sure that none of the big money donors are offended and keep their wallets open.

Joshua, You are an oasis of reason in a desert of ignorance. Thanks for your wise words.

Lane Stadium has an atmosphere every parent is aware of prior to bringing children...the decision to bring a child needs to be a decision based on the fact that the behavior around them is not something that can be controlled (whether it's a cheer or an f bomb). Institutional control and "banning" a popular cheer is one step in the wrong direction, repression of fun and raucious behavior. I was always a Weaver supporter- not anymore. What's next? The Hi-Techs outfits offensive? Cheerleaders shouldn't wear short skirts? People who have had alcohol can't come in? No cursing or you are thrown out? When someone is "offended", that is their issue to deal with individually- not as a societal issue.

I believe the point really is that this ban is one of many things Weaver has done in his tenure. Banning this cheer is just the last straw with many people like myself. The gameday atmosphere is nothing like it was in the late ninties. You could go to almost any school in the nation and find something offensive, people need to stop being PC and have some fun

The cheer is stupid and it demeans the collective intelligence of the student body. Alumni (though apparently not recent alumni) are embarrassed by it because the blatant sexual innuendo is infantile, and the enthusiasm that it generates is disingenuous. The purpose behind the cheer is not to encourage scoring a touchdown. The purpose is to allow and encourage immature actions that are intended to be offensive. Why not just whip your member out and swing it around? Yeah!, that's EXPRESSIVE!..and will surely encourage the team to block HARDER, pass STRAIGHTER, and CATCH THOSE BALLS. See?, it's silly. The team isn't encouraged. Don't get me wrong, Jim Weaver has always been a toady, or to use a better metaphor for this context...a tool. If this is the last straw, come up with something good to get rid of him. Can't some accounting major audit the athletic department for extra credit?

In the past, I have enjoyed the "Stick It In" cheer. Not once had I ever attached any sexual meaning to it. Also, being a native of DC, the Go-Go like drum beat was always an enjoyment. This Saturday I went with my dad to watch the Ohio game and was waiting for the cheer. What a let down. Remember, we attach our own meanings to things. Some of us have dirty minds and can find something sexual in any phrase or comment. For example, "That's what she said." jokes on the TV sitcom The Office. While I don't condone deplorable actions by some against innocent children and adults, I question how much one can do to stop any and all negative behavior at a sporting event that serves alcohol. I agree that when you bring children into a college or professional sporting venue, you take risks. For example, witnessing a brawl at a pro-basketball game.

For those who read the opinions... you know that I do support the cheer. The cheer is not aimed at anyone or meant to demean any group of people, team or school. If this cheer was/is truely offensive, then I have to ask why it wasn't banned 1 - 4 years after it was conceived? Especially during the '99 and '00 seasons. I can completely understand why the Hey Hey Hey good bye cheer and the Rock & Roll Part 2 ("we're gonna kick the ___ out of you") song/cheer was axed. Those focused negative remarks right at the other team/school. I know they were wrong, and they were rightly canned. The Stick It In cheer is not the same thing, but as i understand what the athletic office has said, they get the same number of complaints per year now as they did back in the late 90's. It doesn't make sense why the change occured now, and it would be great if the athletic department could make a more detailed explanation regarding their decision processes to cut the cheer. But I seriously doubt they will.

First, it's no more "Stick It In." Now Mr. Weaver says, "There will be no more 'We are...Virginia Tech', only 'Let's Go...Hokies!" What's next? No more shaking of the keys for "key plays," because that may offend an athlete, student, visitor or alum (did I forget anyone) that does not have or cannot afford a car. Let's replace all of these with a cheer where the fans stand up and while making a motion with our hands across our mouths we all collectively make a zipping sound, ZZZZIIIIIPPPPP! Come on it's a college football game for goodness sake. While I agree that we need to be courteous to the visiting fans and players, I don't think we need to take this much control of what cheers are and/or are not "allowed."

I looked up Bill Haney cause he's the one accredited to this letter in the print edition of the CT. If it was Joshua Jones, your smart enough to have a balding picture of you insted.

I am a proud member of the VT alum, and I love the cheer "stick it in." How many other schools have a red zone cheer? I do not support the university's movement towards censoring our fans, and creating an environment that is easier for opposing teams to play in. Lane should be loud, proud, and full of hokie spirit, not quiet and boring like Duke.

Don't take little Johnny or Suzie to the student section if you don't want them to be exposed to embarrassing behavior. Try to avoid taking them downtown on a saturday night also. It's just a cheer, people are angry because Weaver is catering to the minority.

So your real issue is with overly drunken males and not the cheer? Thanks, I'm sure we can all agree that overly drunk and slobbering guys at games can be annoying. That's why there is security at every entrance, you want that drunk guy to go away it's not that difficult, he likely has liquor still on him. Back to the cheer however, a ban on the "Stick It In" is effectively saying it has an 'R' rating. So if gyrating your hips has an 'R' rating, does that mean kissing is PG-13? Or using the word "sucks" will get you throw out of the game? All this debat is a good thing but at the end of the day it is the majority that should decide what is acceptable and not acceptable at games, and it seems the majority is speaking up pretty loudly that the cheer is harmless. As for Weaver paying the bills... I'm calling moops. Tuition, donations and tax money pay VT's bills. That money comes from me, you and the person next to you.

In reference to Pat's comment that Weaver is "censoring our fans", let me point out the obvious here...Hokie fans can shout what ever immature cheer they want. He is not censoring the fans in anyway, nor could he if he wanted to. Instead he asked that the Marching Virginians not participate in the cheer because he (and apparently others) feel that this cheer (and added gyrations and hip thrusts) reflects negatively on the university. And considering he is director of athletics and has received several complaints about the cheer he is entitled to exercise his authority on a group that operates out of the Athletics budget.

Who are you to come here for less than 3 years and tell us we should destroy a tradition thats been on going since you were in elementary school? Cutting tradition is what makes people mad about this and makes me mad too. With a late blooming football team we have almost ZERO original tradition at our football games. If he wants to successfully phase out the stick it in chant, he needs to do it by creating another red zone chant thats not provocative. I don't think you'd have nearly as much problem with this if there was a decent replacement.

The cheer is great. It is tradition. However, if the students are going to act like immature children, then they need to be treated like immature children. The simplistic nature of some of these posts by students proves that. Weaver is not to fault for having such a great cheer taken away, nor is the band, it is the students themselves. They should stop trying to rationalize and defend their idiotic behavior. There is no difference between non-verbal and verbal communication if it is seen or heard. If we chanted "F--k" over and over, we would get thrown out of the game one by one for disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace. Don't make our school look so foolish and lame on national TV!! The fools that thought it was cute to add physical sexual innuendos to a great tradition that already had great "double meaning" to it (for giggles) should feel awful for screwing it up for everyone. A great cheer down the tubes. Thanks a lot. Please don't tell me the students at Virginia Tech have lost the ability to be creative and funny...or even recognize something that was already creative, fun, and funny and not dork it up by making it "literal". Like nobody already got the joke. Even Weaver got it. To those particular foolish students: Grow up, and thanks for taking something pretty cool away.

"Stick It In" is no more obtrusive to your personal space then the "Hokie Pokie". Regardless of the sobriety of those sitting around you, taking away a chant will not change the fact that you're surrounded by drunk idiots. It's a college football game, not a tea party. If you want to enjoy a non-interactive and boring football game, go to Scott Stadium.

I must say, all the publicity of this cheer has aroused fond memories of when this chant began. For you history buffs and Tech faithful, "Stick It In" turned 10 years old this year. I was a sophomore snareline rank captain when I wrote this particular version for the VTDrumline in December of 1996. It was first played in the second quarter of our Orange Bowl loss against Nebraska in Miami. Although Tech embraced this cheer and made it ours, I originally heard it played by the JMU Marching Royal Dukes Drumline in the early 90's. They accompanied this cheer with an underlying percussive rhythm from "Rosanna" by Toto (for you young ones, you may have to google this group to hear this song). Anyway, I immediately recognized it's potential in student driven environment like the one at Lane stadium. I wrote a very basic reggae drum beat to support this chant, and the rest is history. Although, as with all of the music the band and drumline plays, it's dictated by the action on the field. For the drumline, it's very important that we feed off the energy of the team and students. If you ever noticed, "Stick it in" was never performed unless the offense was inside the 20 yard line. This was for a reason. This chant WAS'T intended as a opportunity to simulate sexual motions through out the stadium, or else we would have played it A LOT MORE. Don't get me wrong, the double meaning has always been there, students will be students, hence the choreography. Instead, it really meant stick it in the end zone. It was intended as a cheer that everyone could recognize and join in creating a lot of noise for the opposing defense. It gave the Drumline something to play, and eventually the student body added the "oh oh" part to it later in the 90's. It brings great joy to see t-shirts, face books and all the support that students are giving to keep this cheer around. However, I also understand where the administration is coming from when they chose to discontinue the playing of this chant. Oh well, it was a great ten years and I'm sure the talented musicians of the Marching Virginians will come up with something else just as creative and effective for when we get ball in the red zone.

Your ignorance amazes me. Did Weaver pay you to write this article? I just graduated, went to every single home game when I was in school, and maybe saw three people make "pelvic thrusts" during this cheer. You obviously have never been to a game at another big football school, otherwise you would hear cheers 10x worse than this. This is essentially the one cheer we have as a team, so banning it over the thirteen people who are offended is stupid. Also, if you think children are going to pick up on any "alternative meaning" behind the cheer then maybe you shouldn't bring them there to begin with since it is an environment where 90% of the people have been drinking and will continue to be drunk despite what you ban. I might just start doing the motions for Stick It In now just to spite you, Weaver and the twelve other offended people. PS. Please point out your gf at the next game for us

"Stick It In" is no worse than innuendo jokes from the PG rated Disney "Shrek" films. Give me a break Weaver.

Just curious...how is the chant, "Stick It In", any more disrespectful to those in attendance of a football game than the marching bands rendition of "The Butt" (this was actually concluded with the band bending over toward the west stands, pointing their bottoms at the crowd and rubbing/patting them)? I am sure Weaver had a nervous breakdown after that one!

P.S. "The Butt" song was played during halftime at this past week's game vs. Ohio. Just thought it was interesting considering the ban of the "Stick It In" chant for reflecting negativity on the university. Hmmmm.....

Honestly, the Stick It In cheer is a mild sexual innuendo. But does anybody really believe that as college students and adults we should be so offended by a simple double entendre? The cheer is fun, unifies the fans, and does more to increase Hokie Spirit than almost any other cheer. It's no more sexually explicit or offensive than the cheerleader's outfits or the dance team's moves.

from the looks of this guy's facebook. he looks like he's never even been to a game.

it doesnt matter if the band is funded by the athletic department, if the dept tells them they are not allowed to play something, they are censoring them

If the motions are the problem, then there's no way to fix that. Weaver even admitted that he can't control the student section. So if they still do the motions, then removing the song doesn't really fix it. Let us cheer for our team! The cheer doesn't really seem to be the problem, it's the dumbpeople with their implementation. I wonder also, if we're banning things because someone acknowledges the potential offense of an innuendo, are we eventually going to be banning the use of "score", "ball", and "sack" at the games as well? How will we ever talk about sports ? I mean, things don't have to be about sex, unless you let them be and your mind is in the gutter.

Joshua, your "free complimentary knuckle sandwich" approach is so classy, that's what every Hokie should look up to. Go hokie respect (bs) bring back the chant.

This was hilarious! At first I thought it was a sexist woman or lesbian writing this but instead, a guy, a guy named Joshua...I hope nobody from the outside world read this, we'd look like loser's...

How did someone from UVA ever get published in our CT?????!!!!!