I've sat down a half a dozen times to write something about the football game, but words fail me and I don't think an audible groan counts as a recap. But I trust you saw the horror. No need to rehash what was another predictable leg in the Pack's Indignity Tour '09.
The game aside, we had a good time in Blacksburg, and it's a road trip you should make in the future if you have the opportunity. For an on-campus facility, the parking is surprisingly ample, and there's plenty of space for visitors who don't have a parking pass, which was a relief for us. Tech fans were very nice, though I suspect that was primarily because they all knew this game was a gimme.
The atmosphere inside the stadium was good; it never got especially loud, but then there wasn't much need for noise after the first quarter. The visitors' section is located in the corner of the stadium where they cook turkey legs, so that's a bonus. Losing never smelled so delicious.
TOB at the coach's "chalk talk" session. O'Brien walked in and noted in his usual dry fashion that we were lucky because this newly-renovated hotel was a...rat trap, I believe he called it...five years ago. In addition to discussing Dana Bible's situation for a bit, he said that Nate Irving would be fully cleared by the doctors in January.
If you stay at the team hotel on future road trips, look into this "chalk talk" thing. I think there were about ten people in that room on Friday--I don't think many people realized this was going on--so it was a nice opportunity to get up close to the coach and ask him a question. There's even a cash bar! We thought about buying TOB a beer and setting it on the podium before he got there. He came straight from the bus to do the Q&A.
Lots of Hokie fans in the visitors' section, not surprisingly. Not sure why white shirt guy is excited; must be a third down. It's not quite as annoying as the cock-a-doodle-do sound we endured after every USC score down in Columbia last year, but the turkey call they play over the Lane Stadium PA system is plenty grating in its own right. They would crank that sucker every time we had a third down.
Fumble on the first play from scrimmage. Looks like McCuller is going to grab it here.