Monday, February 22, 2010
Tech officials wrestled over choice of Hokie song
Tom Angleberger
The New River Valley-based reporter answers your questions Mondays in his column, What's on Your Mind?
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Q: As most everyone knows, the Hokie football team enters Lane Stadium to the strains of Metallica's "Enter Sandman." How and when did this tradition get started?
Debby Hix, Blacksburg
A: This is a good question, but I have to admit I thought it would have a boring answer.
Boy, was I wrong! Virginia Tech's director of broadcasting and media, Kevin Hicks, filled me in on the mighty doings that led to what ESPN has called "an entrance unlike any other in college football."
Lane Stadium got its jumbo video screens in 2000. The Hokies wanted a music video to play on them.
Apparently, it was easy to pick the musical genre -- heavy metal. But which head-banging tune would be best? It came down to AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" and Metallica's "Enter Sandman."
"When we looked at songs to use, 'Enter Sandman' and 'Thunderstruck' seemed to work well for the video we wanted to create," Hicks recalled. "After a lot of discussion, we weren't able to make a definitive decision on which song to use."
Both songs start slowly and build to pure crazy. Both would have energized the crowd. The lyrics -- if anybody could hear them -- go like this:
"Thunderstruck": "Sound of the drums beatin' in my heart. The thunder of guns tore me apart." (Note: "Thunderstruck" also contains some sexually suggestive lyrics not suitable for this column.)
"Enter Sandman": "Sleep with one eye open, gripping your pillow tight, exit light, enter night."
How to choose? They might have voted or taken an online survey, but that kind of stuff is for wimps. So they set up a test of strength.
"So I decided the only way to pick was to have two people in the video office arm-wrestle and the winner determined the song. Jed Castro, who still works here, was the one who won and his pick was 'Enter Sandman.' " (Hicks declined to name the loser.)
And the rest is Hokie history.
"We had no idea at the time the tradition it would create," explained Hicks. And they've kept it all this time because they don't want to "mess with the tradition."
"It's something about the first few notes of that song that make Hokie fans go crazy. Whether it's a football game, basketball or soccer, we get the same reaction from Hokie fans every time we play it. They recognize it and they react to it. You don't even have to hear the rest of the song, all you really have to hear is the beginning and you know exactly what is coming."
Q: We've had a long, cold winter with lots of snow. Will this kill the stink bugs?
Tom Fowler, Roanoke County
A: Boy, that would sure be a silver lining to all these snow clouds, huh? Alas, the snow isn't going to stop them, because they're keeping warm and cozy -- in your house!
"Because of their nature to seek out protected places like houses, they will survive this winter in good condition," explained Virginia Tech entomologist Eric Day. "My guess is ... more people will see them in the next bug season as their range continues to expand in Virginia."
Got a question? Got an answer? Call Tom Angleberger at 777-6476 or send an e-mail to woym@roanoke.com. Don't forget to provide your full name, its proper spelling and your hometown.
Look for Tom Angleberger's column on Mondays.
