Living in southwest Virginia, we are blessed to have an abundance of great sporting events to experience. Of course an experience is often only as good as the company you share it with and for me, this was often my dad. Being Father's Day, it seemed only fitting to pay a little tribute to some of the best sports memories from the area that I've shared with my dad.
Enjoy and feel free to leave your own favorite memory in the comments!
January 26, 1992 - Rural Retreat, VA. - Super Bowl XXVI
The Washington Redskins had Mark Rypien and that glorious posse of wide receivers including, Art Monk, Ricky Sanders, and my favorite, Gary Clark.
The Buffalo Bills were heading their second straight Super Bowl under the leadership of Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas.
It was a great match up, but what do I remember most? Dad made pizza. The Redskins won, 37-24. Gary Clark scored a touchdown. And I won 50 cents from my dad who foolishly bet me based on his love of former Virginia Tech great, Bruce Smith.
As far as Super Bowls go, it's been all downhill since.
March 3, 1996 - Richmond International Raceway
Remember when you used to have to bundle up for early NASCAR races?
I do. I also remember taking the trip to Richmond in 1996 to see my first ever event in layers of clothing, including my Virginia Tech Starter pullover.
I remember us stopping at Hardees on the way there and piling up on bacon, egg, and cheese and steak biscuits for the day.
I remember my dad paying my way into the race pool and then me drawing Jeff Gordon's name - only time I've ever pulled for him - and then winning fifty bucks when he took the Pontiac Excitement 400 trophy.
I also remember us eating a combined dozen and a half biscuits and me buying a ridiculous looking Bill Elliott shirt. I think he was dressed as a knight or something. It was awful.
September 22, 1994 - Blacksburg, VA
When a team gets good, you can feel it through the entire community. That was defiantly the case around Blacksburg on that Thursday in 1994.
The Hokies were coming off a Independence Bowl victory in 1993, which combined with hype of ESPN making Tech's hosting West Virginia their Thursday night showcase, virtually shut the area down. At some point, I expected to see palm branches waving.
Dad took off work early, picked me up, and we headed downtown for a couple of pregame burgers. While most of the campus indulged in a more liquid based binge, curly fries was our vice for the day.
Virginia Tech thrashed West Virginia that night, 34-6, as the Hokies earned their 100th victory in Lane Stadium.
Two distinct memories stand out in my mind from that night.
The first was a young runningback named Ken Oxendine, who got a little mop up time late in the game and turned his first touch into a 53-yard score.
The second was the massive cup fight which stole most of my late-game attention. What can I say, seeing that guy in a oversized WVU hat get peppered as he taunted the students' section stuck with me.
March 22, 1995 - Blacksburg, VA
It was a Wednesday, Dad ordered tickets, and I spent the afternoon making some ridiculous looking Shawn Smith poster in hopes of catching some ESPN glory. Which by the way I did, check the game tape.
I honestly don't remember sitting the entire game.
Virginia Tech went on to win the NIT that year on a pair of Shawn Smith free throws
October 21, 2003 - Martinsville Speedway
My dad somehow acquired a pair of tickets to the fall Sprint Cup race at Martinsville and naturally I was game. I drove home from college and am pretty sure I was running on about three hours of sleep by Sunday morning when we left for the track.
It looked to be the typical race day, same as we'd played out a few times before, but then it happened.
Just when I was starting to get geeked for an amazing day, something else happened. They apparently had not secured enough drivers for the trucks and now, at the last second, needed more.
My dad was quickly to point out that I too was fully capable of driving and suddenly a 20-year-old running on three hours of sleep was handed the keys to a truck and order to drive around the Martinsville Speedway. Funny, in a world where you get carded for buying spray paint, I don't remember anyone ever checking my license, seeing if I had any weapons on me, or even asking if I was sober. They just handed me the keys to a $40,000 truck and cut me loose in the infield.
We spent an hour hanging around the garages that day, mingling amongst the top drivers in the sport. Then we each drove a truck around the track containing a waving driver. I got Hermie Sadler, Dad got Jeremy Mayfield. We both made it safely around the track, avoiding millions of dollars of potential damage and not hurting a single driver.
-- One of the best parts of this whole scenario was that my dad had also secured two other tickets, which I was supposed to give to a couple of friends who were meeting us there. As it was destined to pan out, they were trying to catch up with us and get the tickets at the very moment we were driving around the track. They would call my cell phone. I would tell them I couldn't talk because I was on the track and didn't want to kill Hermie. All but convinced I was playing one of the greatest pranks ever on them, they would curse me and hang up. This cycled through about 10 times. Granted, it would have been a great prank. --
Oh, and this wonderfulness happened before the actual event we were there for. Amazing.
We finished the day taking in the race from the front stretch. Jeff Gordon won again, as he seems to do when we attend races, and on the way home we stopped for tacos.
To this day I have no idea how this all happened and to be honest, I'm not sure that I want to know. As I do many other things, I'll just continue to chalk it up to Dad's magic.
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