What a month it’s been!
Plenty has happened since I last contributed to the Marching with the Virginian blog and to this series. The football team lost its head coach and started winning, Band 52 went parading down Main Street, and I edited more PA scripts than I’d like to admit. It’s been an absolute whirlwind, but it’s one I’m absolutely loving each and every day.
From my viewpoint, the band has grown in strength and confidence exponentially over the last thirty days. Band 52 has beautifully matured into one unified sound from 330 individual voices, and it’s been such a blessing to see the results of hard work on football weekends.
I’d like to review each thrilling event the MVs have been a part of over the last month in today’s blog post. Far too much time has passed since I last wrote for the website, which can be squarely placed on the fact that photography has been such a focus of mine now as a junior MV.
I’ve also been slowly, but surely, playing my saxophone again for the first time since breaking my jaw in February. Maybe Band from the BENch won’t be from the bench much longer...at least I can hope.
Vanderbilt
My first view from the VT press box. Photo credit: Benjamin Gozzi
Ah, Vanderbilt. The promise of a new season still stood before Hokie Nation when we faced the Commodores, a team that had garnered national attention after knocking off Alabama just a season ago. Yet, they had to face not just the Hokies but a raucous Lane Stadium in the home opener. I had plenty of faith heading into the matchup.
Under a signature Blacksburg night sky, Band 52 took the field and performed a knock-your-socks-off Superhero show that featured music from plenty of great comic book adaptations. My personal favorite was the Superman set, in which MVs perfectly dressed to create the sharp lines of Clark Kent’s signature “S” chest piece.
What made my experience on Superhero Saturday special, however, was the fact that I was able to travel to the tip-top of Lane Stadium and photograph the band in the press box. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with cameraman Matt McHugh this fall, our specialist when it comes to recording halftime performances. If you’re watching a performance on the MV YouTube, it was probably recorded by him.
My first trip to the press box started with a journey that first weaved through Lane Stadium attendees and ended with a seven-floor elevator ride to the roof of the venue. The sheer size of not only the stadium, but Worsham Field is in my opinion only conceptualized by a view like that (see right). It’s high, it’s loud, and you can really feel the passion Hokie Nation comes in with each time the Hokies take the field.
The rest of the game is one I’d like to forget. 34 unanswered points, barely any offensive production, and a brutal collapse from our defensive unit was a tough watch, especially seeing so many fans up and leave once the score became too much to bear. I have never seen something quite like that, or so I had thought, seeing that we then witnessed...
Old Dominion
As far as confidence goes when analyzing the Hokies football team, mine was high knowing that we had a chance to bounce back against Old Dominion. A team that plays in the Sun Belt conference should not give the Hokies trouble, especially seeing as they had just let Indiana do whatever they pleased two weeks prior.
Such was not the case, however. Quarterback Colton Joseph meticulously diced up our team once again, a loss so unforgivable that it resulted in former head coach Brent Pry getting the boot from Blacksburg.
If only Mitch knew what was coming… Photo credit: Benjamin Gozzi
From a media perspective, this was an utterly fascinating time. I’ve mentioned my employment with Virginia Tech Athletics mostly by word of mouth to other MVs, and my work there is largely focused on curating article content akin to that of the MV blog. That week post-Pry was one of the most interesting weeks of my entire life. It was like the life was sucked out of Blacksburg, many people unsure of what was to happen next or how we would move on as an athletics program.
Being on the wings of those conversations, the “What happens next?” talks, was especially peculiar in the best ways. I was challenged both at work and at the band, especially in crafting the newsletters that MVs read each week. Going back and seeing how people were so emotive in their reactions to the game provided some tragically beautiful moments. It was a weekend, and a week, that I won’t forget anytime soon.
Wofford
New coach, new kickoff time, and to some, a new season. That was the Wofford game just a couple weekends ago. The Terriers rolled into town on a noon kickoff game and played the Hokies under an unrelenting sun, and it was the first game that the Hokies had interim head coach Philip Montgomery at the helm.
My gameday experience on the Wofford weekend started off in a half-funny, half-ridiculous way. I’m admitting this seeing as it was many weeks ago now, but I was almost late to band because I GROSSLY mistimed my McDonald’s breakfast drive-thru order. I jogged through the trail behind the MVC to arrive at 8:02 a.m. when the call time was 8 a.m. That one’s on me.
Lot of good energy throughout this game. Photo credit: Benjamin Gozzi
More content was captured at this game, this time with a new camera lens from the VT School of Communication (us journalism majors get the good stuff). I was able to utilize an enhanced zoom for a plethora of shots, and these were much more positive than those I captured when we faced Vanderbilt and Old Dominion.
Military Appreciation was the focus of our field show on Wofford weekend, and I got to enjoy that from the air-conditioned press box. The sets looked superb, and I could really tell how much it meant to members of Hokie Nation that we honored their bravery and valor with our show. Military is always one of my favorite shows to perform, but it was even more special to witness it the way I did this season.
Wake Forest/Homecoming
Wake Forest weekend rolled into Blacksburg after the MVs had a moment to breathe on our first off weekend of the season. I spent mine swaddled in blankets on my couch in Richmond. Seeing my dad launch off the couch after we beat NC State is seared into my mind.
Homecoming weekend always has a rare air in Blacksburg. I personally believe it’s because this town and this university mean so much to so many people, and seeing former Hokies reunite in downtown bars, dining halls, and on the Drillfield makes the celebration so much fun.
So many people stopped and cheered for the MVs! Photo credit: Benjamin Gozzi
The parade on Friday was unlike anything I have captured in not just the MVs, but in my budding media career. I broke my out Saucony running shoes – bright neon orange with green and white laces, in case anyone was curious – and was quite literally SPRINTING down Main Street to capture good angles of the MVs. The band was moving so quickly and was hitting so many turns that I truly felt like I wasn’t going to keep up. My Apple Watch rings must have been so proud of me.
Gameday was just as fun. The atmosphere was vibrant, the fans were loud, and the Hokies donned fully orange uniforms with never-before-worn helmets at the 1 p.m. kickoff. While we did lose, I felt the most confident I ever have in my camera work on Saturday. The camera felt like an extension of me this game, maybe because the mysterious morning weather gave me a chance to capture some interesting angles before March to Victory.
While we did lose, I’ve grown to appreciate afternoon games because we’re done no later than 6 p.m. After I left the MVC, I wolfed down Five Guys Burgers and Fries with my parents, came home, took a shower, did some laundry, and edited photos while I let a Burt’s Bees facemask do its thing. Self-care is me, and I am self-care. It was awesome.
The last month has been such a blast with The Marching Virginians. I’m so excited that our outstanding MV Blog Team is going to be hitting the ground running this month, and I encourage anyone reading this to meet the bloggers on page located at the top of this site.
To many more awesome rehearsals, gamedays, and events, Band 52!