Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 11, 1994 TAG: 9412120068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Yes, they painted their faces in their school colors.
Yes, the guys took their shirts off and bared their chests for the ESPN cameras.
And yes, they threw rowdy all-night parties at the Days Inn, where they made the acquaintance of the local constabulary.
Salem's only had the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl for two years now, but we're catching on fast to what this means.
Say they're some Washington & Jefferson frat brothers playing tennis on the motel courts? Say they're only wearing underwear? And it's 4 a.m.? So? Don't you know there's a national championship college football game in town - along with a campus full of crazies from each school?
Just because it's Division III - tiny schools where the coaches can't offer scholarships and the players are late for practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays while they attend science labs - doesn't mean the fans don't care about football.
Indeed, the odds are, by the time their teams make it this far, their fans may care more than they do at bigger schools. After all, how often do places like Albion College and W&J get a shot for a national title?
So that explains the hordes of road-tripping college students who hit Salem - and all of its bars - Friday night. So many kids from Albion College made the trip from Michigan that sophomore Jane Neitz wondered whether anyone was left back home. "We came to Salem and it seemed like we took over the town. Everywhere we went, there was a Briton."
Let's just be thankful these are small schools. That may be about all we can handle.
That little commotion at the Knights Inn? Blame Ogre for that. Don't know Ogre? Then obviously you're not an Albionite. It seems everybody at Albion knows Ogre. His parents know him better as Scott Engman. "But when I was moving in as a freshman, somebody said I reminded them of 'Ogre' in 'Revenge of the Nerds.' The name spread like wildfire. It's how I'm introduced at parties. A lot of people don't know my real name."
As soon as Albion learned it was headed for the Stagg Bowl, Ogre grabbed the phone and called directory assistance. "I said, 'Hey, what's the area code for Salem, Virginia?''' He booked his buddies into the Knights Inn. And Ogre's got a lot of buddies. "We basically threw a party out there all night," he said. "But a few rooms weren't from Albion and they complained about the loudness."
Imagine that.
Of course, that doesn't quite compare to his W&J counterparts at the Days Inn near the Roanoke Civic Center, who felt the need to take a break from their partying to lob a few tennis balls in the wee hours. "The cops came and talked to us," said senior Larry Nishnick. "They said they got 11 complaints."
Only 11?
Our advice to the Roanoke Valley: Get used to it.
Salem's three-year contract for the Stagg Bowl got extended just last week by another two years, and as long as college teams keep coming here to play football, so will crazy college kids.
Then again, not all of them may be as crazy as the guys from W&J's Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity - a frat so loud it's known as W&J's "12th man" at football games.
There was even a banner saying so, strung up in the Salem Civic Center parking lot Saturday morning. But that's probably not the only thing you'd have noticed. The painting of John Travolta - yes, the John Travolta - was a nice touch, too. Senior Brian Kurn picked it up at the Furniture Fantasies store in Stowe Rocks, Pa., two years ago from an accommodating merchant who was only too happy to give the thing away.
Since then, it's become the fraternity's icon, Kurn said. "A cult thing." To be sure, the fraternity has made a few "improvements" to this masterpiece - the "W&J" logo on John's lapel, and the "12th Man" armband, for instance.
But now, Travolta accompanies the frat on all of its road trips to W&J games.
"He's our designated fraternity brother," said sophomore Jim Mirasola.
Saturday, the frat went all the way - and we don't mean Salem. Just before game time, eight brothers shucked off their sweat shirts and jeans and donned ... disco clothes.
Wayne Davin in the lemon-yellow polyester pants and vest was the most, um, striking.
Why?
"Why not?" answered junior Mark Olivani, who also was striking with a gold medallion hanging 'round his neck.
OK, can't argue with that logic.
Call it Saturday Afternoon Fever; Salem suffered an outbreak.
But before you get the idea that all the students at these two schools were hellbent on making fools of themselves for a day, let's consider the case of Becky Monstur, an Albion junior.
"I have a 10-page paper due Monday and a psych exam and a music theory exam on Tuesday and another paper, so I shouldn't have been here," she admitted.
But she persuaded her friend, senior Heather Berlin, to drive them to Virginia to see the game. "I made a promise to myself," Monstur said, "that I'd study on the way back."
by CNB