Just got this email re: next game
At 10 a.m., the top three Hokie Scholarship Fund levels (Hokie Stone, Hokie Scholar and Hokie Ambassador) and students will receive access to tickets.
At noon, all remaining Hokie Scholarship Fund donors (as of March 1, 2024) and 2024-25 women's basketball season ticket holders will receive access to tickets.
At 2 p.m, a limited number of tickets will be made available to the general public with a ticket order limit of six (6) tickets.
Based upon pictures posted on here for today's game (especially the student section), why are students given first access? As I posted earlier, the AthDept keeps catering to the students to little or no success. Why? As my wife says, they should cater to the people with the money.
69 Replies
1y
I don’t think he is angry I just think he (like me) has experienced some things that make you wonder what in the hell is going on up there. I don’t want to speculate but something is off. I’ve been around some athletic department people in the SEC and a Pro basketball team and when I decided to up the ante at my Alma Mater (Give More) I was expecting the same level of operation when I peeled back some layers. I was pretty surprised. I’ll keep supporting our coaches and players. But I absolutely see problems. If I were in charge I’d hand everybody a copy of the book “Good to Great” because “good enough” ain’t gonna cut it in today’s landscape. And “GREAT” is what we could be with leadership that recognizes just how fantastic our fans, donors, facilities, coaches and athletes really are. Give the guy a break. He recognizes people inside may be in over their heads….
(In response to this post by saret)
1y
I was over the top and provocative on purpose. Pissed some people off, I hope. Hope I got them thinking. The AthDept is just poorly run and lead. Has been for years. Yet nothing changes, because there is no accountability and no reason for them to do better. Daily threads start on some corollary to their ineptness and lack of leadership. Last one was yesterday when @Will Stewart posted about media/reporters not being allowed to mention positions for players. That was a Pry decision, but based upon what Pry has seen since he's been here: stonewalling, obfuscating, secrecy, controlling info, etc. It was an easy decision for him to make, based upon the operational leaders in the AthDept. Pry was just falling in line.
As far as giving me a break,...NAH! I've had lawyers, politicians, plutocrats try a lot harder to squelch me with more ammunition they have on this board. I learned a long time ago, popularity is overrated. And, at my age, that's even more true.
Was I angry. Yeah, a little. But what I find more distressing and irksome is, why aren't ya'll (not you ftsumterhokie)? Suggesting withholding of donations and ticket buying was over the top. Got quite a response. But, I didn't see anyone post an alternative method to get the AthDept's attention. One guy responded by saying there were other viewpoints than my own, and I complimented on a good post, and acknowledged he was right. But, even he didn't offer alternatives to my suggestion. Most of the responses just were namby-pamby, or condemning for even suggesting such a thing. Yeah, it's those people who have enabled Whit et al to continue mismanaging the AthDept.
Thanks for the support and request for a reprieve from those who enjoy the downward spiral the AthDept has put us in. I hadn't revisited this string until you posted. Thanks again.
(In response to this post by ftsumterhokie)
1y
Who let this ding-dong on here! Gotta talk to Will about this. I feel abused!
(In response to this post by saret)
1y
the students there would not be a team. You'll get lots of chances of watching the team. Students, not so much. Every experience in college is cherished or maybe you've forgotten? We got tickets to see the NIT win in 73 as students. The memories are forever.
(In response to this post by saret)
K
Kimsw
1y
Couldn’t go last night but some students used my tickets!
(In response to this post by UTPr0sim)
1y
Still a COLLEGE SPORT !! Thank You..
(In response to this post by UTPr0sim)
M
mghokie
1y
the future of the VT athletic programs. Older folks, like me, are somewhat the present but mostly the past. Carrying forward with the VT athletics program will depend on future support from those students, just like they now depend on students from prior decades.
In reality the atheltics department does cater to the people with the money. I'm a Golden Hokie and am a ticket holder for 45+ years for football and MBB. I get better seats and better parking than most hokies. I suspect there are few hokies that begrudge our current students getting the opportunity for tickets. Regardless of how you feel, I know for certain that the people in the VT administration want the students to have tickets, and as a result, that is how it is.
Finally, since you gladly profess to not support the programs or go to games, who gets what tickets at the games is irrelevant to you.
(In response to this post by saret)
The students this year have been the worst.
(In response to this post by saret)
N
N2VT2
1y
(In response to this post by HokieHeartNSoul)
1y
If your point is the students didn't come, then giving them first choice won't detract from anybody else. Students should always have first opportunity. You seem to look for reasons to complain about the AD.
(In response to this post by saret)
1y
lower sections on the sides of the court. The AthDept has catered to them, and cajoled them, and attempted to bribe them. And the pictures posted today are evidence it doesn't work. They don't even care about their fellow students. And the support for the MBB program by the students has been worse. How about some catering to the people that donate and actually "buy" tickets?
I don't have to look for reasons to complain about the AD and the AthDept. They keep rubbing my nose in it.
(In response to this post by Seikoh_04)
1y
(In response to this post by saret)
1y
Just to be sure, this is NOT sarcasm.
(In response to this post by Seikoh_04)
1y
Maybe Sunday, there will be more.
(In response to this post by saret)
1y
Hopefully, I'll be proven wrong.
(In response to this post by ColWilliamFleming)
1y
when I'd go if I could and would love to do so. You take for granted that you can go whenever you want.
(In response to this post by saret)
1y
So, yeah, the choice is mine. My problem isn't the teams, players or coaches. It's the administration of the AthDept. The way it is run now, they're doing more harm than I can/could. I'm assuming you don't live close. If you want to attend more, move closer. That's your choice to make. We had season FB tickets for years when I lived in Chesapeake. Did the drives, got hotels, made the donations, obviously bought the tickets.
In some ways, I didn't pay attention to the AthDept. I bought into the propaganda. Once you live here for awhile, and see the poor execution of leadership/management by the AthDept, with no light at the end of the tunnel, you slowly see the futility of participating in the system they have crafted. They just can't do the simplest of things efficiently, and because they know they can always come back to the donors for more money, there is no incentive for them to change.
(In response to this post by maroonhiker)
1y
I have been at it for much less time but the level of incompetence is shocking. At one point I considered very high level giving on an annual basis until retirement. Absolutely no way I would consider that now. I can only conclude there is a group in control of athletics at VT whose priorities don’t align with mine. My priorities are simple. Be competitive at the highest level. Provide an athletic environment that fosters that….
(In response to this post by saret)
1y
(In response to this post by ftsumterhokie)
1y
(In response to this post by ColWilliamFleming)
1y
But the bottom line is your not going to support the girls who have nothing to do with it ✌️
(In response to this post by saret)
1y
understatement. The AthDept, which is inept at best, causes stuff like this. I've given up my season football tickets (since 1999) and am giving up my MBB season tickets (since 2003) and WBB tickets (since 2003) because of my disgust with the AthDept/VTTO/HC. When those entities start to support the teams appropriately, I'll reconsider. Until then, I guess I'm out. I'll keep giving to SB and SERTC, because they ain't the evil triumvirate. I would suggest others do the same.
(In response to this post by jagerhokie)
Nonsensical. Not going to WBB games because you’re angry (understatement)
at the AD and athletic department hurts the student athlete. And for you to double down on that by encouraging others to do the same? Come on man. You’re better than that.
(In response to this post by saret)
1y
AthDept/HC. When you and/or they find one, let me know, You sound just like Terry Bolt.
(In response to this post by BackInTheBurg)
Nope. Expected more of the same. Again, my issue is don’t project your an-
-ger to the point where you want others to protest…because that’s what you’re doing…protesting, because you’re pi$$ed at Whit, Terry, Danny, Brad, Noah, Evan…shall I go on? I enjoy going to/attending Hokie sporting events. I especially enjoy attending WBB and softball games, because for whatever reason, I just think they appreciate it more. I can separate that experience from the ineptitude of how the Hokie Club is being currently managed. Apparently you can’t. And that’s fine. Again, don’t project that on everyone else. Because in this two dimensional world we call a message board, it sure seems like that’s what you’re doing.
** Edited by BackInTheBurg at 3/21/2025, 10:15:26 AM
(In response to this post by saret)
1y
Let it go Backin The Burg. His anger is what it is. He can talk to me all he wants and I will NEVER, EVER stop buying tickets to the various sports or attending them.. His loss is our gain. Gives others a chance to actually be able to get in to see the games and support the players. Students first. I can accept that and then the rest of us can follow suit. Poor miserable WHATEVER you call the poster !
(In response to this post by BackInTheBurg)
1y
especially our nieces and nephews. I predict, after being back 25 years, your perspective may change also. I'm really not as angry as you seem to think. But I'm trying to make a point. Nothing will change unless change is forced. There is no reason for the drones you name to want to change because, from their perspective, everything is fine. The money keeps rolling in. And the drones you name have no idea what to do, and probably never will, unless they feel an effect for their poor performance, which, up until now, they have not.
(In response to this post by BackInTheBurg)
1y
(In response to this post by saret)
1y
I don't need messages. I need a reason why you even bother to get on this site. Waste of everyone's time reading the garbage that is coming from you.
(In response to this post by saret)
1y
Or save your time or $ or whatever
(In response to this post by saret)
1y
of someone going over the top? Usually you're on the receiving end of that dismissive attitude.
(In response to this post by hokiepro)
1y
You going over the top, really ! I'm getting off of here and going to bed.
(In response to this post by saret)
Haha. Ok. You’re not helping the problem by your posts. You’re just stoking
the fire. You’re angry. Really angry. We get it. Happy to chat about it live next week.
(In response to this post by saret)
1y
Is got from Terry Bolt last week, when I asked her what are the benefits of being in the HC. Her response, "Well, you get to support the programs." My response was, "Really? That's the best you got?' And, unfortunately, it was. Where is my ROI (inasmuch as they call it an Investment Guide)? Where is customer service. She had nothing.
I now analogize the HC to the the money changers in the Temple. When was the last time anyone got customer service from the HC? They collect money on levied fiats from the AthDept, and keep records of said donations (poorly). The HC should be under Advancement, and controlled by Advancement. Whit Babcock should not appoint the head of the HC (based upon the last three (Lansden, Wurthman and White)), his track record is worse than hiring FB coaches.
(In response to this post by BackInTheBurg)
1y
Is nothing in that for you either?
Sorry but you sound like my 11 year old…about 6 years ago
(In response to this post by saret)
1y
Or just in-game reverse mojo?
(In response to this post by hokiepro)
And hopefully the next AD comes in flipping tables.
(In response to this post by saret)
1y
(In response to this post by BlackwaterHokie)
I see what you did there
(In response to this post by BlackwaterHokie)
1y
from home. My anger is justified.
(In response to this post by hokiepro)
No kidding the Benjamin’s always rule *
(In response to this post by saret)
1y
(In response to this post by saret)
1y
(In response to this post by DGHOKIE)
1y
@hokiepro , @Seikoh_04 , and others aren't just as angry.
(In response to this post by jagerhokie)
1y
The fan support and loved the support of our faithful fans ….administration politics were not in our thought process….we just wanted your support…..I also have as everyone else on this board bigger problems …daughters health / family issues….you seem to only concentrate on all negativity of anything hokie…..so no need to reply as you are muted and look forward to never hearing from your hatred for our athletic department again ….but wish you great health and a happy life as I have the fortunate life of being surrounded by great hokie athletes here in Florida ✌️😇
(In response to this post by saret)
1y
to mute me, your choice.
(In response to this post by jagerhokie)
1y
Of an event (like softball or baseball hosting regionals or WBB hosting NCAAs) because the system doesn’t work correctly with my login information and it sells out before I can get a seat, then I’ll be angry.
I’m not grandstanding over ticketing practices for the WBIT that’s drawing 1/3 (at best) of venue capacity.
I’ll save my anger for lack of accountability for incompetent officials who cost us a bid (vs BC) and steal wins from our football team (Miami)
(In response to this post by saret)