Nov. 21, 2008

PHOTO GALLERY

BLACKSBURG, VA - When I woke up this morning and saw frost on my truck, I thought to myself, I think winter has decided to come early. Stepping off the bus in the mountains of Blacksburg, VA, winter had already said hello!

It had to be about 30 - 35 degrees when we arrived on Eagle 1 in front of Cassell Coliseum around 1:15 for shoot-around. As soon as we stepped off the bus Coach Williams and I had the same thought "it's going to snow!"

Virginia Tech has a beautiful campus stretched out over many, many acres. I would HATE to not have a car and have class half way across campus, especially in the cold winter months. Cassell Coliseum is pretty amazing too. The seats go all the way up to the very top of the ceiling, and all thru out the coliseum there are TV's broadcasting "Hokievision" so you never miss any of the action.

Being a member of the Sports Information team, the first thing I noticed was that there were two rows of tables set up as press row. I began to envision the whole coliseum filled to the top and both press rows in action, on top of a TV crew running around, and was ELATED that I didn't have to run that show, instead I would be experiencing the other side of being a team member, by filling the role of the Lady Eagles team manager for the night.

We were privileged to have an unofficial tour guide (courtesy of Coach Mike Charlton) after we left shoot-around to show us the campus and the beautiful memorial that was set up to honor the students lost last year. All of the buildings are made of stone giving it a medieval/renaissance effect. Even with the campus being as spread out as it is, there are buildings everywhere and they are currently constructing more to accommodate the rise in enrollment.

The memorial is amazing to see. Built of the same stone as many of the building are; in the center of the memorial lies two plaques. The first one states, "We Will Prevail, We Are Virginia Tech" followed by a plaque that states:

April 16 Memorial

"This memorial to those lost on April 16, 2007, was inspired by a spontaneous arrangement of 32 Hokie Stones - The cornerstone of buildings throughout campus - created by grieving students following the tragedy. Today, the memorial stands both as testimony to the Hokie Spirit and sense of community that arose within all members of the Virginia Tech family, and , more importantly, in remembrance of the 32 inquiring minds and inspiring lives that will be forever treasured."

Dedicated August 19th 2007

Arranged around the memorial in a half circle are 32 Hokie Stones with the names of the students lost etched in the stone. Thank you to Ms. Alex Valliant for taking the time to share this experience with us!

I have to keep it funky at this point and give a shout-out to the staff at VT's Restaurant in Blacksburg, for an amazing pre -game meal. (Coach Cole, kudos to you too!) They provided excellent service and hospitality to us the whole afternoon. They even let the team hang around after we ate to have a study hall session so the ladies could work on school work.

Two hours later, it was game time. Tonight I was charged with the task of filling in as team manager for the Lady Eagles. Despite always seeing different managers run around on game day, when it came time for me to be in charge, I was clueless. Enter Coach Cole to the rescue! After a quick lesson, it was time for me to step up to the challenge.

As the game progressed, I began to have a greater respect for the ladies and gentlemen that serve as team managers. It's a lot to keep up with, from making sure the players have water during time outs, uniforms are kept in place, towels are handed out and making sure that the player's attention is focused on the game not having to worry about any of the extra distractions. Although, I think Jori Nwachukwu might have been a little confused by me handing her a cup of water during a time out, when she's used to seeing me behind the scorer's table! By the end of the night, I was ready for that bus ride back and nap that was calling my name.

It was an honor to help out the Lady Eagles team, thank you to Coach Robinson, Williams and Cole for letting me join them on this trip!

As always, EAGLE PRIDE!!

Nicole Mitchell