ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, November 23, 1996 TAG: 9611250155
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: ANGIE WATTS STAFF WRITER
They're "Rufin It." At least that's what their license plate proclaims. But for the several Virginia Tech and West Virginia fans who parked their motor homes in the campus lots Friday afternoon to prepare for today's game, roughing it just doesn't seem the best way to describe them. "Enjoying It" seems more appropriate.
"We're not alumni," said Carolyn Sturm, "we're just diehard fans."
Alumni or not, diehard seems a universal trait for these campers. Carolyn, 58, and her husband Dick, 62, have been traveling with the Mountaineer football team for nearly 12 years.
Home games? They're there serving up enough food at the tailgate to serve 15 to 30 people, depending on the weather and the menu.
Away games? They're in the lots with friends they've met along the way, making new friends all the time. Bowl games? Yes, you can find them there, too.
"We've been going to games in one motor home or another for the last 12 years with up to 10 people in tow," Carolyn Sturm said. "We've just always loved the games. Our son first started going to West Virginia games and he was the typical tailgater who mooched off everyone in the parking lot. Then we started going to the games, too."
This is their fourth trip to Blacksburg from their home in Weston, W.Va., and they were the first of their party to arrive Friday. They spent much of the afternoon moving in and out of parking lots trying to find a level spot while they waited for four more motor-home loads of friends to arrive.
By 5 p.m. Friday, the only guest inside their plush home away from home was their stuffed Mountaineer Bear. Decked out in a WVU T-shirt and dozens of buttons, the bear goes everywhere they go. Their only neighbors outside were two recreational vehicles filled with Hokies.
"I guess we've been coming here in a motor home for close to 20 years now," said Cade Holliday, a 1952 Tech graduate from Midlothian. "There's a group of 10 to 12 of us that all come - almost as much for the socializing before the game as the game itself. We get together and talk about what's going on, where we've been and where we're going. In years past the West Virginia fans have outnumbered the Hokies here in the RVs."
And that may well be the case by today's kickoff. The Mountaineers traditionally bring a good following with them from Morgantown, with many of the fans choosing motor homes rather than hotels for their night's sleep.
"You can't do this in a motor home," Dick Sturm said, gesturing to the proximity of the football stadium. "You can't have that motel room where you want it."
And where they want it is in the middle of it all - soaking up as much of the excitement surrounding collegiate football as they can get.
The Sturms said there's nothing like joining the hundreds of students who drive up in their trucks, unload their couches and party at the tailgates.
"In 1988 we were in Giant Stadium for a game against Rutgers," Dick Sturm said. "It was freezing outside, and when we got up that morning we opened the curtains and parked in front of us was a couple with a pick-up truck, shaking as they tried to drink coffee. We felt sorry for them so we invited them in that's how you meet people."
Both the Strums and the Hollidays agreed they have met some of their best friends staying in their motor homes at football games. What about their worst enemies? Contrary to what people might think, all is pretty friendly among the campers, even if their loyalties lie on opposite sides of the field come game time.
"Hey, the more the merrier," Holliday said.
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM\Staff. Carolyn and Dick Sturm have beenby CNBtraveling with the Mountaineer football team for nearly 12 years.
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