Homecoming Weekend is not without a football game. It is also an opportunity for the student body to crown Homecoming King and Queen, ordinarily, something I pay little attention to. However, there was a story I read today that caught my eyes.
The Roanoke Times' Christiansburg community journalist, Travis Williams, wrote a fantastic story about one candidate who is trying to win the Homecoming court this weekend. Here's an excerpt from his blog:
"Nathan Orban has never stepped foot in Lane Stadium. By Saturday afternoon, the 7-year-old former cancer patient might call the more than 66,000-seat venue his kingdom. Nathan has teamed up with Virginia Tech senior Chris Atkins, 23, in an effort to have Nathan named the Hokies’ 2013 homecoming king and in hopes of raising money and awareness for leukemia and lymphoma.
Should Atkins, the male representative from Tech’s FarmHouse Fraternity, be announced the winner during halftime of Saturday’s football game against the University of North Carolina, he plans to immediately relinquish the crown to Nathan and make him king for the day."
I strongly encourage readers to hit the blog and read the rest of the story. It is a fantastic example of Virginia Tech's motto, Ut Prosim, and the excellence of the human spirit. I wish Chris Atkins luck and happily endorse him for the crown. What a way to represent the Core Value of Virginia Tech, Chris!
Onto the game...as mentioned, UNC lost to East Carolina, and have been greatly humiliated on a national stage by a team who pushed Virginia Tech to the brink last month. UNC right now sits at 1-3.
In Bud Foster's words, UNC is a wounded animal, and that makes them dangerous. It makes the Hokies ripe for an upset in Blacksburg, which would ruin the Homecoming weekend for the Hokies' faithful.
Don't think the players are not aware about this. They know that UNC is a formidable challenge. All they need to do is turn on the tape and watch former Tar Heels' and current NFL running back, Gio Bernarnd running wild on the defense, and see the final score from a year ago. All they need to do is go back further and watch themselves being blown out earlier in 2012 by a Pittsburgh Panthers team who had a losing record before beating Virginia Tech.
This game could very well be a trap game for the Hokies, even if it should have their full attention. It should be an interesting game/Homecoming experience.