VT players lay down the smack

By: Will Stewart | Founder

Yesterday, the players at Virginia Tech’s football press conference threw down the smack like it hasn’t been thrown down in this tepid “rivalry” in quite awhile.

If you’ve read the various blogs from the beat writers today, then you know that Andrew Miller , Logan Thomas , and Jack Tyler had some choice things to say about Virginia in yesterday’s weekly press conference. That’s fine to read them in the blogs, but nothing quite has the impact like seeing the quotes stream out over Twitter, one right after the other.

https://twitter.com/HokiesJournal/status/405026633331257344

https://twitter.com/HokiesJournal/status/405028657523359744

https://twitter.com/HokiesJournal/status/405032308216193024

Wow. Smack-a-rama. Smack-a-rooney. Smack-a-licious. I don’t remember the last time I saw this much pre-game smack talk in this gentleman’s rivalry.

Somewhere, Cam Young, he of the infamous quote “If Virginia was playing Iran, I would root for Iran,” is smiling.

Now, where you stand on the issue of smack talk depends upon your viewpoint. Former TSL blogger bourbonstreet, now the captain of his own blog B.Street and So.Main, is old school and doesn’t like smack talk. “Barking dog don’t bite” he says in this TSL message board thread where the smack talk is discussed.

As for me … well, I think this rivalry has gone soft. (Actually, that’s unfair. I think all of college football has gone soft.) I miss the days when the Hokie fans tore down the goal posts in Scott Stadium (1983, after the 48-0 squeaker), then engaged in on-field brawls for nearly half an hour with Hoo fans who tried to return the favor in Lane Stadium the following season (1984, the John Ford Miracle Catch 26-23 UVa win).

I miss Frank Beamer getting his tooth accidentally knocked out by one of his own players in a post-game melee following the 1989 game in Scott Stadium (although I’m sure Frank doesn’t miss it).

I miss Jimmy Kibble throwing punches on the sidelines. (When was that? 1998?)

I miss … well, I miss Cam Young saying “If Iran and UVa played, I’d root for Iran.”

In other words, I miss the days when this rivalry was nasty. No, I don’t want any criminal acts to be committed, and I don’t want anybody to get seriously hurt, but I do want to see some life in this rivalry, which has become so one-sided this century. We’re up to 3,287 days of the Commonwealth Cup collecting dust in Blacksburg, so we need some excitement somewhere.

Which isn’t to suggest that I’d like to see Virginia win one of these games. Oh, no-no-no. That is the quickest way to breathe life back into a rivalry, but absent that unpleasant outcome, the second best way is probably a little smack talk.

Mission accomplished.

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  2. This is just sad. This shows you how much our program has fallen. I liked this rivalry better when it wasn’t a rivalry. I liked it better when we were winning conference championships and UVA was just the final game of the season — an afterthought. A rival? They weren’t worthy of being considered our rival. But when you go 14-12 in your last 26 games and are all but assured that Duke will represent your division in the conference championship game, I guess there isn’t much else to get exercised about other than UVA. We’ve fallen so far that we now must make the UVA game a big deal and the center piece of our pathetic season. Sad.

  3. Usually I don’t like the talk but maybe all this fake respect for lesser teams has resulted in the team not getting fired up to play them. If they talk fired up hopefully they will play that way.

  4. All this bravado and confidence in a team that doesn’t really deserve much of it at this point? And heading into our an instate rivalry game where a loss would send shockwaves through the fanbase? Seems like we’re trying to manufacture some confidence as opposed to expressing it. I’m with b’street. I’d rather not see this stuff. Just go out their quietly and kick their @$$es. If you want the streak to continue – and we ALL do – we should never take this particular opponent lightly. You KNOW what the headlines would say if they manage to get a win – and they were uncomfortably close last year. Despite 9 years of losses, the ONLY game that will matter over the next 12 months is the one being played THIS Saturday in Whoville. LETS GO!! HOKIES!!

  5. …and who can forget the 1995 Drukenmiller, Moore, Holmes infamous “trip” game, which sealed our path to an eventual 1996 Sugar Bowl win over Texas or…when George Welsh, with much reluctance, years prior, had to accept a Sugar Bowl invite in the Lane Stadium visitors locker room after a Will Furrer led VT team that ended the season with a losing record whipped up on the boys from Charlottesville.

  6. Haha those comments are priceless! That’s old school Hokie chatter from back in the 90s. I hope they come out and *uck them up..excuse my French.

    1. I know Beamer hates to run up the score, but this should be a game where the gas pedal is bolted and welded to the floor. Oh, did I mention Mike London used to be a cop?

    2. Amen Jason….You are preaching to the Choir !! I am sure uva will one day beat the Hokies…Let’s see; I’m in my 50’s and am aiming to live to be a Hundred. I’d say 45-50 more in a row, I’d die a happy man, and you guys are on your own!!

      GO HOKIES!!!!STOMP frenchie!!!!

  8. I miss seeing Jeff Holland scooping up a fumble for — if my memory serves me correctly — was a 100 yard fumble return for a touchdown*.

    (*Please note that my memory gets worse as I get older.)

    1. I believe it was 109 yards. Jeff, very svelte and speedy, picked up the fumble nine yards deep in the end zone and took it back … ALL …. THE …. WAAAYYY!!

  9. I will never forget the “T” added to the V logo in Snott Stadium. Beamer said it was an “inside job”. Classic.

    2. OMG!,, it has been years since I watched that …. Now I know why ….. Neon Deion??? ….. Please please … Frank … Never let VT do a music or rap video!!!

  12. As the saying goes….Talk is cheap. Here’s hoping we are wearing smiles on our faces Saturday, and not egg.

    1. Absolutely. Talk is cheap. Hokies should let their on-field play smack up the Hoos. Then, punctuate the beat-down with talk. Go Hokies, let’s beat the Hoos into oblivion (or maybe just bad enough that they still keep London).

  13. Trash talk has been around forever….personally I love it. It makes things fun and interesting. Just look at this game and how everyone’s talking about it now bc of some quotes….we’re actually talking about VT vs UVA, like the hoos actually have a chance at winning this game. UVA is a completely irrelevant football team…we own them and they know it-that’s whats great about it…we can talk all we want and there isn’t a damn thing any one of them can do about it.

  14. oooo scary…..im sure UVA is shuddering while trying to figure out how to stop our inept offense.

  15. I liked Gayle’s smack, regarding the UVA locker room, “We don’t have a clock. We have a cup.”

  18. I think smack talk IS old school. And I like it. This is a game. These are the Wahoos. Nothing has changed since Cam Young’s days. Even Iran.

  19. Since the beginning of the season,the hoos have a freaken countdown clock in their locker room with VT’s name on it.This is very personal to them. They are fair game to any and all smack talk from the VT football team.This ain’t peewee football.I wanna see our players line up and knock em right in the throat.GO HOKIES!!

  20. From one who actually helped TEAR DOWN the goal post in Scott Stadium in our bitter opponents home field, that was a surreal day in 1983. Ironically, Tech Football wasn’t really that good in those days. These days, everybody has an entitlement mentality about this football team. We used to really suck in the 60s and 70s. Watched many losses in disbelief under Jimmy Sharp and Dooley. We can get this program back on track, just not this year. I have no idea what’s gonna happen on Saturday. I do know one thing….I’m gonna be there cheering them on.

    1. Next year’s loss with UVA fans charging the field the best tackle made all day was a VT cheer leader tackling their lead guy, fights started and VT turned on sprinkler system and on that cloudy cold day the UVA fans left the field, goal posts intact.

  22. I like it. I think they’re taking the qoutes from cindy lou HOO’s OC personal. I think they’re going to make him regret he ever opened his trap.

  23. I obviously hope we win, but smack talk this year makes me nervous. We never know what we are going to see on the field.

  24. Obviously, this VT team knows something we fans don’t know. That we can just “turn on” our A-game when we want to. Wish they had this mindset with Duke and Maryland. I’m sorry but you don’t lay an egg on senior day in your own house against Maryland and talk smack like this. They should know better.

    1. Agree. The way the Hokies are playing, it is quite possible crow is for dinner Sat night. Seems kinda silly talking smack after the year we’ve had. Maybe I’m old school, but I always figure to let your actions do the talking.

  26. Glad the Hokies are feeling up for the game. They still have something to play for. However, this right here is UVA’s season. More nervous for this game as Tech’s recent performance this year. Finish ’em off boys. GO HOKIES!!

  27. What about the game when someone painted a VT on the field at Scott Stdm. I think Tech crushed ’em in that one.

    GO HOKIES BEAT DA ‘hoos!!!

    1. I’m pretty sure that VT was painted on the field by the UVA coaches to try to motivate their team. I’m not positive if that’s just the widely held belief or if the coaches actually came out and admitted it after the game.

  29. Miller’s quote makes him a favorite. Wish I could remember the Webb quote made about 30 years ago. Webb called them out for quitting.

    1. Oooh, I’ve got Hokie Huddlers from that era … let me go look it up.

      Back in a jiffy ….

      … Nope, no “quit” quotes on the Hokie Huddler. Guess they were just in the newspapers.

      1. Oh, I remember that one too, though I don’t remember the exact player. Something about “you come out and smack these guys in the mouth. You could just see that they had quit part way through the 3rd quarter” or something along that line.

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