ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 16, 1996 TAG: 9602210002
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: HAL SHEIKERZ STAFF WRITER
There will be some division among Virginia Tech students Saturday: those who have tickets to the UMass game, and those who don't.
The sold-out Cassell Coliseum is expected to be packed with more than 10,000 fans when the No.10 Hokies face their biggest game of the season against No.1-ranked University of Massachusetts. The game, which will air at noon on ESPN, is drawing national attention. Even press row will be packed with twice as many people as usual, said Sandy Smith, assistant ticket manager.
Approximately 5,000 student tickets were distributed in less than two hours Monday morning. Tickets for the general public have been sold out since November. But Smith said his office still gets as many as 100 ticket requests each day from both students and the public.
"This is a national caliber game," Smith said. "It's on ESPN, so it's not like it won't be on TV."
Everybody will be able to see it, he said, "everyone [just] can't be in the arena."
And things will be tight at Cassell - a tight squeeze as fans try to find their seats, and tight security at the door.
Smith said that because they expect every seat to be filled, they will make sure students don't get in without the proper identification. Of course, many people are expected to be outside the coliseum before the game trying to buy tickets.
"I'm willing to pay," said Rob Dodman, a graduate student. "The morning of the the game we're going to go to Cassell and try to get tickets. I'm not so mad that I'm going to sit at home."
Dodman and his friends camped out for four days before tickets were distributed and were No. 41 in line. By the time they reached the box office, the tickets were gone.
Dodman is a little bitter, though. He's been to every game this season, he said, and "there're tons of people who don't go to the games and will be there for the UMass game. The best game of my [college] career and I won't be there."
Jeff Sweeney, who's missed just two games this season, also will be out Saturday looking for tickets - but only if they're at face value. If he can't get them, he'll go home and watch it on TV.
Jack Regler and his roommates aren't even trying for scalped tickets. They'll watch the game at home, the first time they've missed a live contest all season.
"I didn't want them bad enough to sleep outside for a week," Regler said. "I figure it's on TV,"
Frank Pisano and his roommates are among the elite who will attend the game. His group of friends camped out for six days.
"We split them up so that whoever stayed out the most got the best seats," said Pisano, who stayed out on the coldest night and got an ear infection. He got the best seat in the group.
This is not the first time the fans have gone overboard with Hokie basketball.
Smith said every year there is one game that everyone wants to attend. Previously, the games had been against Louisville. However, those games were traditionally on weeknights, and rarely were both Tech and the visiting team ranked so high.
For the Hokies (19-2), this is the biggest test of the year.
"I think it's time for Virginia Tech to get national recognition for beating the No. 1 team and moving into the elite of college basketball," said Steve Bookwalter, who plans to paint his face to show his Hokie spirit at Saturday's game.
"It's probably the toughest team Virginia Tech will face this year. I think for the team it will show that Virginia Tech basketball program has come a long way," said Tech student Bill Fennell. "I think it's important that even if we don't win, we come out looking like we are a top-10 team."
LENGTH: Medium: 74 linesby CNB