I was at VT from 91-95, then lived in B'burg area until 2000... during my first few years as a student our football team sucked, and chants of "fire Beamer" were regularly heard from the stands. Students chucked pizza boxes, cups (sometimes full of soda), and anything else they could find (worst was a fifth of JD that nearly hit a group in front of us), usually when the other team scored. A particular low point was when what's-his-name from UVA took a pick-six back to our 1-yard line, turned around, held his arms up in a 'V' with the ball in one hand, and fell backwards into our endzone (I think I'm remembering that right). No buildings were built, and campus was pretty stagnant. Then we started winning. And winning more. And all of a sudden the stands were full, the lots were full of RVs, and new buildings started popping up all over campus. Then came the Vick era, and I think the avg incoming freshman SAT score went up ~200 points. So, while these may all be coincidental... well, they aren't. Sports success = alumni interest = donations = brand recognition = better students = more money, and so on and so on...