Hokies win honorary beads from fans

NEW ORLEANS -- A couple of hours ago the Auburn University Tigers won the Nokia Sugar Bowl here in New Orleans. Writing about that game would be a lot easier if my team, the Virginia Tech Hokies, had not come in second. I imagine that Hokie fans partying on Bourbon Street would be having a happier time, too. But win or lose, if you are in the city that’s synonymous with celebration, you don’t miss taking advantage of that opportunity.

Speaking of missed opportunities, the Hokies had plenty on Monday evening. A dropped pass in the end zone, a missed field goal from extra-point range, two interceptions, badly timed penalties, and two failed onside kicks, to name a few. The defense also gave up some third and long conversions for first downs by the Tigers. The sealer for me was near the end of the game when an Auburn punt that should have gone into the end zone for a touchback bounced at the two and died, giving the Hokies bad field position in a danger zone.

Auburn’s a good team, maybe a great team. They didn’t miss too many opportunities; they won the game.

In a city famous for the line “Throw me something, mister,” the Auburn team grabbed the best thrown to them. That’s the glass bead necklaces that New Orleans is associated with. Every spring during Mardi Gras, masked men and women riding atop parade floats throw goodies to the onlookers, who chant for the treasures. For years the most coveted of these trinkets are the beads. The revelers throw other stuff, too, like doubloons, cups and Frisbees. That’s what the Hokies came up with Monday evening.

They also came up with some thrown footballs. VT quarterback Bryan Randall threw to the receivers 38 times, two for touchdowns and a total of 299 yards. While the Hokie team led in the throwing statistic, it wasn’t enough to earn the beads.

From the looks of the 77,000 fans, most of the city’s beads were around their necks. Some wore one strand in their team’s colors; some wore multi-strands. There were small bead necklaces, beads shaped like footballs, and beads the size of the glass balls that hang on Christmas trees in grand halls of hotels like The Homestead.

Only the players had no beads. And when the game was over, the VT players were still beadless. I would give them a strand, especially the seniors who won’t get another chance to earn them. To Randall I would give more than one strand. Before the game, Auburn’s defensive coordinator Gene Chizic said that one of the keys to VT’s success has been Randall’s quarterback play. “He’s really a dual threat,” he said. “If he doesn’t do it with his two feet, he’s going to do it with his arm.” VT fans know that Chizic left out one of Randall’s most important qualities: his heart which makes him a triple threat.

In the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, it was that third quality that fans pinned their hopes on -- that Randall would “throw us something” like he’s done all year especially when the outcome of the game looked the darkest.

He did: a long touchdown pass, the final one of his college career. It might not have been enough to win the Sugar Bowl beads, but his performance and those of his teammates were enough to win honorary beads from the fans.