I lived in Maryland for 16 years, and although the Terps have an OK football following, there is a big VaTech contingent in that area, and they're pretty rabid; I knew several people that had season tickets for the Hokies and lived well north of the MD/VA line. This makes sense seeing how that area of VA/DC/MD is awash in tech firms that do business with the federal government; it draws lots of VT grads in the area. As for TV, with both teams being in the ACC, I was subjected to a lot of VT and UMD football games. Other big draws that would get in the way of my SEC/Gator watching were Penn State and West Virginia.
On Thu, Sep 8, 2011 at 11:21 AM, John Vega <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Sep 7, 2011, at 11:29 PM, Rob Alexander wrote: > > I wasn't arguing VaTech versus Maryland, or anyone else. I was saying that > VaTech has several attractive attributes, *one* of which is popularity in > Northern Va. It was a simple comment, and one that is true in my personal > experience. A casual comment... nothing more, nothing less. > > > I apologize if it seemed personal, I was addressing the VaTech/DC argument > that has been mentioned by many sportswriters and talking heads. I happened > to use a post of yours as opposed to a Dooley column, but it was not meant > at you. > > I wanted to make the point that very few people realize how close UMd is to > DC. I had always assumed it was somewhere in the middle of Maryland. In > fact, College Park is inside the DC beltway. > > From Catholic University in NE DC to College Park is less than 6 miles. It > is literally like driving from IFAS to Florida Field. Blacksburg is almost > 300 miles away from DC; roughly the distance from Gainesville to Athens, Ga. > > That said, I do buy the argument that Va. Tech is a better fit for the SEC. > It is a large land grant institution, had similar colors to Mississippi > State, and plays SEC-style football. It also doesn't make sense for the SEC > to skip not one but two states and head all the way North to Maryland. > > Now, NC State would also seem to fit those criteria and would be a better > geographical fit. Not sure it would give up its lengthy ACC heritage, but... > > -Zeb > > -- > GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! > 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions > 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions > 2008 National Football Champions | > Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), > Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
