Hokie Nation travels

On Jan. 6, I was lucky enough to be in attendance at Cameron Indoor Stadium as Virginia Tech upset No. 5 Dook 69-67 in overtime.
A few thoughts on the game:

• Maybe it was because of global warming or perhaps Durham's proximity to hell, but it was 75 degrees outside. And despite all their fancy book learning, the Dookies obviously don't know how to work a thermostat because it was easily 105 degrees inside the cramped arena. I was wearing jeans and short sleeves and began sweating profusely as soon as I entered the door. It finally made sense to me why so many Cameron Crazies choose to go shirtless. By the time I got home that afternoon, my fiancee Susan insisted that I remained at least 3 feet from her at all times until I showered.

• It was my first trip to Cameron and I was impressed by the overall atmosphere, but it was not overly intimidating. As a favor to my friend Mike, who is a Dook fan and was nice enough to bring me along to the game, I only wore a maroon collared VT shirt. I left the gobbler noisemaker at home. The octogenarians in our section shot me a few dirty looks, but the biggest reactions I got were from fellow Hokies. There was a pretty strong Tech contingent there, because as everyone knows, Hokie Nation travels.

• As for the Cameron Crazies, I didn't think they were everything that Mr. Vitale makes them out to be. The VT players didn't seem bothered by the preppy kids' coordinated cheers or flailing arms either. Final free-throw count: VT 13-18; Dook 18-28. My thought is: You can't intimidate thugs. A couple of years ago, the Hokies had a player named Terry Taylor who admitted that he had previously sold drugs while basically living on the streets. Do you think a guy like that is going to care if a 140-pound beanpole with a 1,600 SAT yells "airball" at him? The Crazies did do one thing during Hokies free throws that seemed totally out of line. They pulled their shirts over their heads and jumped around like monkeys. The Crazies have to be smart enough to realize there are racial undertones to such behavior, and with the recent uproar over Dook lacrosse in the community, I'm shocked nothing has been said about this.

• Coach K once again revealed himself as a ridiculous blowhard. After the Tech win, Zabian Dowdell pulled his jersey out in the direction of the Crazies in celebration. This move is done all the time by players nowadays, and seeing as how Dowdell was on the court the previous year when Dook beat Tech on a last-second half-court shot by Sean Dockery, it seemed a more than reasonable celebration. Of course Coach K pulled him aside, and according to Dowdell, said "You're too classy a guy to be carrying on like that." Yeah K, your sideline cursing and your players' pompous behavior really shows you to be the picture of class.

• In the end it was one of the biggest wins in VT basketball history and certainly the best Tech game I've ever been to. It just made it all that much sweeter that it was at Dook.