ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 2, 1996 TAG: 9601020123
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS
SOURCE: ELISSA MILENKY STAFF WRITER
NEW ORLEANS LEARNED this weekend that you can't just brush aside the little country college in Blacksburg. And the fabulous French Quarter may never be the same again.
Happy, hollering Hokies clad in enough Virginia Tech paraphernalia to clothe a small country practically took over New Orleans' infamous Bourbon Street on Sunday night and early Monday in a rowdy New Year's Eve few will forget.
Hokies in Virginia Tech sweat shirts, T-shirts and jackets were everywhere in the historic French Quarter.
They were on the wrought-iron balconies that look down on the streets in the city's French Quarter, waving banners declaring victory. They were screaming into each other's faces in wordless joy. They were high-fiving and hugging total strangers who suddenly became friends because they wore something with the words "Virginia Tech" on their bodies.
Occasionally, cheers of "Hokies, Hokies, Hokies!'' would erupt in the street, especially when Tech fans were teased by undaunted University of Texas devotees who raised their index and pinky fingers in the ``Hook 'em, Horns'' symbol.
It was a celebration not only of Tech's victory, but also of its vindication after being brushed aside by sports commentators and Texas fans. The excitement from this win likely will not dissipate soon, even as exhausted Hokies traveled home Monday and today.
"This whole program is going to be so much better," said Bob Geib, whose son is a Tech student.
Whitney Lochridge, who graduated from Tech two years ago and now lives in Austin, home of the University of Texas, has had to endure constant teasing from friends.
"They don't know who we are," she said. "They just came in here like, `We're going to run over you. What the hell's a Hokie?'''
Lochridge, like many other Tech fans who spent the weekend in New Orleans, insisted there were far more Hokies than Longhorns wandering the city streets and packing the Superdome. If there was any doubt whether Tech fans outnumbered Texas fans at the game itself, there was no question by the final quarter. Texas fans were walking out of the Superdome in droves at that point.
The Tech fans were in a frenzy of cheering, hugging and celebratory dancing. That is when the holler that sounded like "wooo!'' started, and it never seemed to end for the rest of the night and through the morning.
"Wooo, 1995, hell of a year to be a Hokie, wooo!'' yelled Richard String, a 1988 Tech graduate, as the final minutes of the game unfolded.
"I gave up turkey for Thanksgiving, just for this game, wooo!'' screamed Stephanie Key, class of '86.
Geib, who sat just behind these two fans, alternated between shouting and marveling at the sight of thousands of roaring Tech fans.
"I think there's enough energy in this place to light up the city for a month," he said.
Still, the game was tame compared with New Year's Eve in the French Quarter, where many of the fans gravitated directly after the game. Nearly everyone was carrying cups of beer, mixed drinks or pure liquor. The alcohol, plus the smell of sweat and cooking from the restaurants, mixed together in a distinct odor that became stronger as the night wore on, perhaps as the number of people and debris on the street increased.
A common sight was the collection of bright, multicolored plastic Mardi Gras beads. The necklaces were thrown by people on the balconies to men and women - mostly women - who bared their chests.
Although that was a major fascination among revelers, many Hokies seemed more preoccupied with shouting and cheering about the game and drinking in celebration.
One fan seemed to say it all, as he leaned against a wall and yelled to no one in particular, "It's a Hokie New Year!''
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSON/Staff. Tech students celebrate both theby CNBvictory and the new year
on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. color.