Battle of Football Traditions- Virginia

Guys In Ties, Girl In Pearls

A tradition lasting well into the 1940s mandated that all first-year students wear hats while outdoors. “You don’t have to do it,” explained a reminder in a 1921 issue of College Topics.  But you are expected to do it, and it is well to enter into the spirit of any school you attend.”  Fancy dress at football games is a tradition from the days when an exclusively male student body only got to see girls once a week. Dates met at pregame lawn picnics in jackets and floor-grazing skirts.

There is a movement to the “Orange Sea” a more casual fan base, but the guys in ties, girls and pearls still has a lot of support.

Other Traditions: “The Good Old Song,” Adventures of Cavman, Commonwealth Clash, Wah-Hoo-Wah, “The Cavalier,” Orange and Blue, Scott Stadium, Losing to Clemson, South’s Oldest Rivalry (versus UNC)

Hokie

In the 1890s, a student named O.M. Stull, Class of 1896, won a $5 prize for coming up with a new spirit cheer, now known as “Old Hokie.” The original went:

Hoki, Hoki, Hoki, Hy.
Techs, Techs, V.P.I.
Sola-Rex, Sola-Rah.
Polytechs – Vir-gin-ia.
Rae, Ri, V.P.I.

Later, an “e” was added to “Hoki” to make “Hokie”

Originally , Va Tech were the “Gobblers” .The name was already popular when Floyd Meade, a local resident, trained a large turkey to pull a cart at a football game in 1913. Throughout the years, trained turkeys would continue to gobble on command and perform stunts.

When the Gobbler nickname fell out of favor, student George Wills sketched new designs for a class project. The updated mascot appeared at a football game in September 1981. The current HokieBird, which conveys power and strength, debuted in September 1987. (SOURCE)

Other Traditions: “Enter Sandman,” Game-Ball Run, Commonwealth Clash, “Skipper” the cannon, Corps of Cadets, Hokie Stone, The Lunch Pail, “HokieBird,” Highty-Tighties, Frank Beamer