ACC Player Haterz Ball: Virginia Tech

Remember how you felt every time you were watching a Maryland road game over the past year and the fans started shouting "A-C-C! A-C-C!" in unison at the Terps? It's time for the Testudo Times crew to respond! Moving along alphabetically down the homestretch, it's time to talk about Virginia Tech.

Player we couldn't help but like:

FlaTerp: Michael Vick. The guy pretty much reinvented the position. He was lightning fast, tough as nails, fearless, elusive as hell and had a cannon for an arm. There isn't likely to be another QB like Michael Vick in his prime any time soon.

Pete: It's hard to argue against Vick, considering how freakishly dominant he was on the field, but I'll go with Macho Harris. The Hokies have had a ton of great defensive players over time, and Macho was one of my absolute favorites.

Andrew: Erick Green was really good on one of the worst basketball teams I've ever seen. I can appreciate a really good player when they don't beat Maryland.

Todd: This is so tough for me because VT is about as much of a non-entity as BC. Are they good at anything besides football? Maybe Zabian Dowdell because...How can you not like a guy named Zabian.

Grant: Seth Allen HAHA, but seriously why would you leave Maryland for VT?

Dave: Malcolm Delaney was really good. He's from Baltimore and it sucked that he didn't go to Maryland, but he was a great four year player at Tech who seemingly improved each season.

Player we loved to hate:

FlaTerp: Michael Vick. Because dogs.

Pete: Malcolm Delaney, who never went dancing. That's his full name, by the way -- he arrived one year too late in Blacksburg to see the NCAA Tournament, scoring a ton of points but coming up with four NIT bids in his four seasons.

Andrew: I'm with Pete. I hated Delaney so much. Yet another Maryland native that came back to hurt us.

Todd: What those guys said. Really, VT fields teams in sports other than football?

Dave: Come on, Pete. Jeff Allen is someone you should hate on more than Delaney. Allen is the one who gave the finger to the Comcast crowd!

Game to remember:

FlaTerp: Last year at Lane Stadium. It's such a tough place to play and Maryland needed that win so badly. After a difficult and injury plagued stretch of the season, it was awesome to see C.J. Brown lay out for the game winner. That was a fantastic win.

Pete: I like to try and pick things in this series that no one else has picked, but I can't beat last year's overtime win. It's the best football win I've seen at Maryland (which may have to do more with Maryland than that specific game), and Brown's overtime scamper will forever be imprinted into my memory.

On second thought, I can -- February 27, 2010. Virginia Tech fans chant "U-S-A" at Greivis Vasquez, so he responds by scoring 41 points with seven rebounds and six assists in a double-overtime win.

Andrew: YOU GUYS STOP TAKING MY ANSWERS. Those are the only two VT games I can really remember positively. Greivis' 41 in double-OT was better, for me. That was a really good basketball game that Greivis just wouldn't let Maryland lose.

Todd: Even though the Greivis game was exciting, I have to go with last year's football win because my basic expectation has always been that Maryland should beat VT in every sport other than football.

Dave: Definitely February 27, 2010. Vasquez just wouldn't let them loose. I think that game might have also been one of Sean Mosley's best games for Maryland. Was that also the game they were delayed starting due to a water main break?

Game to forget:

FlaTerp: Every other time Maryland has ever gone to Lane Stadium.

Pete: I'll agree with FlaTerp here, but I'll add on January 20, 2011, when the Hokies simply hosed Maryland in College Park 74-57.

Andrew: November 14, 2009. A top 25 Tech team throttled Maryland 36-9 at Bryd Stadium. In a horrible 2-10 season that was filled with a lot of close losses, that was one of the few true blowouts.

Todd: I actually have one here. In women's basketball, VT has beaten the Terps once since 2005. That came in College Park on January 26, 2012 when they upset Maryland 75-69 in one of the two games that Alyssa Thomas missed in her Terrapins career. Still, Virginia Tech?

Dave: How about November 18th, 2004. It was the Fall of my senior year and Maryland had two games left to pick up two wins and become bowl eligible for the fourth straight season. It was a Thursday night game and me and some of my friends decided it would be a good idea to drive down to Blacksburg and good to the game. I had to skip my Environmental Science Capstone class (sorry Dr. James!), but decided to go. That was a poor life choice. Final score? 55-6. T'was not a fun drive back to College Park that night, but we did stay until the end of the game.

Parting Shots:

Andrew: I've got nothin'. You're very forgettable Hokies and we didn't play enough to develop a lot of real hate. You were always kinda there. Enjoy 15 more years of Frank Beamer.

Todd: I actually took the time to look this up. I write about 11 sports for TT and VT doesn't filed teams in three of those (field hockey, gymnastics & men's lacrosse). Including football and men's basketball, Tech has a winning record against the Terps in precisely two of the ten sports: women's soccer (6-3-2) and volleyball (11-10). You want the rest? Here they are: baseball 27-35; men's basketball 10-32; women's basketball 6-9; football 15-16; women's lacrosse 0-13; men's soccer 1-12-1; softball 19-20; wrestling 9-13.

And then there's this from from Tech's own website:

A student contest was held to produce a new school yell and O.M. Stull won a prize for his new yell, the now famous Old Hokie. Stull's yell, in its original form, was:

Hoki! Hoki! Hoki Hy!

Tech! Tech! V.P.I.!

Sola-Rex Sola-Rah

Polytech-Vir-gin-i-a!

Rae, Ri, V.P.I.

At some point an ‘e' was added to Hoki and the name stuck as a nickname for Tech teams and the school's spirit.

FlaTerp: Can you blame them though, Todd? Not much else to do down there. Didn't they film Deliverance near Blacksburg?

Grant: Never pick Tech.

Dave: You Virginia schools sure are good at having nicknames that have no meaning. UVA and Tech can just merge and become the Wahoo Hokies.