Return to Traditions

As some of you know the University of Virginia is a very unique place, packed with weird traditions, secret societies, obscure names, and people clamoring to live in rooms with no A/C or bathroom. This extends, or at least used to extend, into athletics. When Coach Groh and Athletic Director Craig Littlepage came to UVA they seemed to start a war on tradition. Previously football games included traditions like “Guys in ties, Girls in Pearls” which meant that student would dress up to go see football games. This tradition dates back to when UVA was an all male school and student would bring dates to football games. Virginia also used to have the pep-band play at home football games. The pep-band was not your generic college football band by any stretch of the imagination, playing modern style music as well as UVA drinking songs such as rugby road. Upon entering the scene Littlepage and Groh quickly put at halt to this. In his attempts to make football into a national power Coach Groh initiated the “Sea of Orange” which was meant to eventually overtake the previous tradition of dressing up for games. Littlepage has also pretty much banned the pep-band from all sporting events in favor of the new, generic, marching band. Now UVA looks pretty much like every other school in the country on a Saturday afternoon.
But this movement toward the generic may be stopping. In the recent elections a referendum was offered that would take the money that is used to fund the free power of orange t-shirts in favor of providing the student with better access to water during the sweltering August and September games. While this seems like an innocent enough vote if you read between the lines it is a call from the students to return UVA sports to their traditional state. While I don’t think the pep band is ever coming back you can see from this vote that the students would like to see the traditions return, and I’m fairly certain the alumni would too. Imagine if you came back to your alma mater and everything was different from when you had been there. If the old traditions are going to die out let them die out naturally, don’t force new ones on fans like raising that stupid power of orange flag.
The reason I’m writing this today is that I think the new coaching hire is also indicative of something along these lines. Look UVA is a strange place with strange customs; it only makes sense to have a strange offensive strategy. The hiring of Coach Bennett, at least I feel, helps to emphasize the uniqueness of this school which has disappeared from the football program. This school prides itself on being out of the ordinary, especially academically, and I feel at least that the sports should reflect that. Bring back the old traditions and you’ll see people in the seats. Football games aren’t just about wins and losses, it’s the entire experience, and part of that is weird traditions that build the community as a whole. Yeah people might think we’re weird for doing all of this stuff, but at least it unifies everyone in our own obscurity.