|
Officials of City of Jacksonville and the Atlantic Coast Conference certainly were not unhappy to see Virginia Tech beat Virginia yesterday. It is a well known fact, that wherever the Hokies travel to play, their fan base and a pile of tourism dollars are certain to follow. And this following is not limited to ACC Championships and Bowl games either. I can remember several years ago when John Hale, Robbie Raggs and myself went to a Tech - Miami game in Miami. Even though it was only a regular season game, the Hokie fan base in Miami was quite large. The ACC Championship will be that times about 10.
Being a faithful follower of University of Alabama Football, and football in the SEC for that matter, I have seen what it is like to have fans follow the teams by the thousands. Alabama was well known by bowl officials. OK, I heard that joke - Alabama fans traveled with one shirt and one $5 bill, and didn't change either during their trips to bowl games. But, the fact remains that many schools in the SEC have a loyal fan base that follows their teams most anywhere. Virginia Tech may not play in the SEC, but it's fan base most certainly resembles that of a team from the SEC. These are not fair weather fans, they are Hokies for life.
Tickets will go on sale today (Sunday) to the general public (including alumni) starting at 5:00pm on hokietickets.com. Following that, if tickets remain, they will be available for sale through the Athletics Ticket Office on campus starting tomorrow (Monday) at 9:30am. As the day progresses, more ticket information will be available on http://www.hokiesports.com/. Ticket prices are $125 for touchdown club seats; $80 for Lower Level Premium Seats; $70 for Lower Level Endzone seats and $60 for Upper Level Seats. Or you could go another route. Already you can purchase tickets through EBay and StubHub, although StubHub is estimating prices to be as much as $2200 a ticket. But, even if you don't have a ticket, you can still travel down to Jacksonville, and enjoy the fun and camaraderie of being around fellow Hokies, and perhaps score a couple of tickets while there. As for travel packages, check University Travel. They usually have very nice packages put together, but if you are interested I would use their online registration as soon as you can. Their web address is http://www.universitytravel.com/. Usually their packages include accommodations at the Alumni Hotel. In this case, The Crowne Plaza.
Once you arrive in Jacksonville make sure you join in ACC FanFest and visit Pepsi Plaza at the Stadium. Admission is free and you will find live entertainment (Phil Vassar on Friday night), the Team Mascots, Autograph Signings, interactive games, and food and beverage. Immediately following the Phil Vassar concert, you can enjoy live Fireworks on The River at 10:00pm. ACCFanFest continues the following morning (Saturday), again at Pepsi Plaza at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.
The Hokie Pep Rally will be at 10:00am on Saturday morning at the Pepsi Plaza. At 11:30am, the mascots from the ACC will have a game of their own. This will be at Pepsi Plaza as well. If you have never taken the opportunity to follow the Hokies on a road trip, this is a great trip to start. The Hokies are on a roll, they want revenge on an earlier game they lost to Boston College in the final two minutes of the game, and the fans will be "up" for this one. Besides, this game will determine whether the Hokies will be playing back in Jacksonville again in the Gator Bowl with a payout of $2,500,00 OR will the Hokies play in the Orange Bowl in Miami with a bowl payout of $17,000,000. The fans want to travel to Miami, the players want a little "payback" on Boston College and the School Athletic Department and administration like the payout of the Orange Bowl over the Gator Bowl. So, there is a lot on the line that makes this great game to see in person this year. Go HOKIES!!!!!!!
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed
