College Football Stadiums: Virginia Tech Hokies - Lane Stadium

This time, our series takes us to Blacksburg, Virginia, home of the Hokies. By what I saw, there's no question what team is the main college football attraction in the Commenwealth of Virginia...

On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the best football experience of a lifetime), let's take a look at how Virginia Tech stacks up.

Friday Night: 8

Nicely done, Blacksburg. A good spread of bars in the 'downtown' area near campus gave my group plenty of opportunities to see the sights. The college students were pretty entertaining. This rating was heavily bolstered by a Bruce Smith citing.

Tailgate: 10+

In my opinion, tailgating can always improve...except for at Virginia Tech. The food was good. But between the parties in the RV parking lot, the droves of tailgates by the stadium, the free drinks, the parties, the people, and the environment, it was just amazing. Almost every single person welcomed my group with open arms. It was the friendliest party atmosphere I've ever been a part of.

Pre-Game: 9

There is a regular band and a military band, but bands don't really impress me. The team's entrance to the stadium is set to "Enter Sandman" by Metallica. The entire stadium starts jumping up and down. It's simply incredible, so try not to miss it.

Atmosphere: 8

Virginia Tech fans are a tight-nit group. You can tell they care deeply about football. Lane Stadium is fun and energetic. It is set on the edge of campus and has a beautiful natural grass field. The scoreboard/video board is tiny, it's not the best picture and the sound quality is poor. But that doesn't take too much away from this awesome football facility. Bonus: Stay put for a chance to dance the "Hokie Pokie" between the third and fourth quarters.

Stadium Engineering: 6

The line for the restroom was long. There are concessions on the ground level. Pretty typical for a football stadium. Nothing too great, nothing too terrible.

Decibel Level: 10

You would think a seating capacity of only 66,233 would not produce enough noise to rank high on my road trip chart. Think again. The place is absolutely nuts. I attribute it to three main factors - 1) Young fan base. 2) Tight stadium dimensions, maximizing noise. 3) Unquestionable loyalty.

Overall: 10

I'm almost positive the Virginia Tech fans are not as nice to fans from teams within the ACC. But for me, the hospitality was second to none. My group even came across some fans willing to part with their tickets so we could get into the game. The Hokies have an unbelievably gracious fan base and showed me nothing but respect. I would go back in a heartbeat. Virginia Tech University is a must see, and receives the official college football road trip stamp of approval.

Sources:

http://www.hokiesports.com/football/lanestadium.html

http://www.nfl.com/players/brucesmith/profile?id=SMI088160