Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 13 No. 6 | June 2021

“We now stand high atop Lane Stadium as the first notes of Enter Sandman fill the Blacksburg night, looking down on a scene we will never take for granted again.” I don’t know the entirety of what I will say on September 3rd when the Hokies welcome the North Carolina Tar Heels to a jam-packed Lane Stadium, but I do know that it will include that. I also know my anticipation for that day will consume me through the summer, more so than any other game ever has. Including my first, which was also a primetime game, against reigning national champion Ohio State. It will really start to hit me when I wake up that morning. Because all the things that make my life so special and blessed will return with the promise of that morning’s sunrise. I live only a couple of blocks away, so I will walk to the stadium. But I won’t be doing it for the sake of proximity. I walk because that allows me to fully absorb the environment. I will smell the grills and turn down beers from well-meaning tailgaters and promise to return in the postgame. I will snag a brat or burger from someone and listen to where they’re from and how they came to be a Hokie. I’ll be startled when they fire Skipper for the first time. Every week I tell myself to remember they’re about to and every week I forget! I will wander into with Jon Laaser A Return to Lane and Life Hokie Village and mingle with Hokies. I will take my time going up to the booth, but only because I want to hear just one more Hokie yell at me from across Beamer Way, “Hey Laze, call us a winner tonight!” That’s always my plan, but it doesn’t always happen. But I will never tire of looking across the street, shaking my fist in solidarity and promising to do my best. And then I will make my way up to our booth on the seventh level and greet my extended family, all together for the first time in a long time. Mike Burnop will undoubtedly be there first—he always is. I believe that’s because even in all his decades he has never gotten tired of the experience. And I will think about how much the Hokies have meant to his life and how difficult this past year has been for him. Our engineer, Dave Stipe, will follow shortly thereafter. He is the self-appointed Mass-hole of the group and will fill us in on all the things about the New England Patriots that we never wanted to know. I will listen intently this once. Wes McElroy, our sideline reporter will arrive next. He is one of my best friends. I was in his wedding and he was in mine. Carter Myers, our statistician, will be next. He is the kindest man in the world and the elder statesman of our crew. inside.hokiesports.com 7 Continued on page 8