One of the things that every college football player looks forward to is his last home game during his senior year in which his family (most likely his parents and/or girlfriend/wife) are on the field before the game starts. Each senior gets introduced onto the field one-by-one. It's a great honor and a great tradition. Unfortunately, one of the few things that I regret from my playing days at Virginia Tech is that I never got to experience my Senior Day. Not because I was injured or not present at my last home game. It was because I didn't know about it. My last home game was November 4, 1995 versus the Syracuse Orangemen (we won 31-7 and Donovan McNabb was a freshman). No introduction...no parents...no honor.

At the time, I didn't even know about Senior Day. I didn�t know that all seniors got introduced before their last home game. I wonder if any of the coaches asked or wondered why I wasn�t on the field before the game with the rest of the seniors. I later found out from my dad, that he did get notified by Virginia Tech about Senior Day, but due to my parents' financial situation at the time as well as my dad's health (in general) they could not make it. I would be lying to you, if I didn't say not having my Senior Day was a HUGE disappointment. Every other senior in 1995 got to enjoy their day...except me.

Fast forward 9 years, 11 months and 4 days. I finally get my Senior Day (well, sort of). On Saturday, October 8, 2005, Virginia Tech honored the 1995 Team which finished 10-2, won the Big East Championship, beat Texas (28-10) in the Sugar Bowl and finished ranked #9 (Coaches Poll) and #10 (AP Poll). 2005 marks the 10-year anniversary of the 1995 team. The 1995 team was honored [along with the 1954 VT team (the ONLY undefeated VT football team)] before the Marshall � Virginia Tech Homecoming Football game. Moments before kickoff and after the 1954 team was introduced, former players, trainers and managers from the 1995 team who were in attendance were announced individually. Although I wish my parents were there (especially my dad), I finally got to enjoy my Senior Day, albeit a little later than I hoped for.

My t-shirt I bought on Bourbon Street in 1995

Moments before we walked onto the field to get introduced, one of the people in charge told me I couldn't wear the t-shirt that I was wearing ("Virginia Tech beat the FUCK out of Texas"). I was prepared for this, so I had an extra shirt. However, when they announced my name and as the tv camera was on me (with a live feed to the VT Jumbotron), I quickly pulled up my shirt to reveal my "FUCK" t-shirt. I was on the jumbotron for a second or two, before they quickly cut away. Oh well, I guess I showed my Hokie Respect.

(Left - from L to R) MJ, J. Holmes, Hank, Irby, Del, Bill, Me, Coach Foster, and Raf;
(Right - from L to R) Matt, Brad, Coach Beamer, John, Marcus, Wheel, Danny E., and Houseright

(Left - from L to R) Corny, Steuwe, Atle's wife, Steuwe's wife, Atle, Chad's wife and Chad;
(Right - from L to R) Sully, Okesa, Me, Cornell, Bruce, A Layne, Law Lew, Brad, Big Vick, Killer and Semones

Below is a list of which former players were in attendance. There were about 47-50 former players at the reunion. I should also point out that several trainers and managers from 1995 were also part of the celebration. The trainers were the girls [Jacqueline (Stahl) Cinnamond, Jenn (Hvozdovic) Koerber, and Dana (Bottiglieri) Wirnsberger and guys [Aaron Gresham] that taped our ankles, put ice on our backs, and made sure we had plenty of water to drink. The managers [Lenny Luongo, Michael Jackson, and Bruce Garnes] were the guys who set up the bags for our drills and made sure we had enough footballs for practice. Also in attendance was my former college roommate, Dusty and his son, Cade; my friends, George, Eric, Laura and Amy; and I saw my high school football coach at the game. So, a lot of friends got to witness my Senior Day...although, I still wish my parents were there...

(Left - from L to R) Dana (Bottiglieri) Wirnsberger, Jacqueline (Stahl) Cinnamond and Jenn (Hvozdovic) Koerber;
(Right - from L to R) Michael Jackson (aka "Second to None") and Me

(Left - from L to R) Dusty and Cade;
(Right - from L to R) Eric, Laura and Amy

It was great to see so many guys that I hadn't seen for 10 years. As these pictures show, everyone had a great time and the beer and alcohol was flowing friday and saturday nights. Some players got into town on Friday. Friday night we met up at Sharkey's (a local bar). After the game on Saturday, we had a tailgate provided by the Virginia Tech Monogram Club. All of the Virginia Tech coaches came by to say hello. After the tailgate, a lot of the players met at PK's (a local bar). I don't think I drank this much beer in a 48-hour period since my college days.

(Left - from L to R) Poons, Darby, Me and A Layne;
(Right - from L to R) Tim, Tim's wife, Bill, Del, Me, Bill's wife, Jacqueline, Jenn and Bianchin

(Left - from L to R) Me, Albert and Bianchin;
(Right - from L to R) Del, Druck and Bill

Kudos to the Virginia Tech Monogram Club for the tickets, tailgate and overall coordination of this reunion. Thanx goes to former players, Brandon Semones, Bill Houseright and Michael Bianchin for helping track down former players. A big "FUCK YAH" goes to Brandon Semones, who was "unofficially" in charge and made the intial offer of helping track down former players. Finally, since Virginia Tech has such a big connection to New Orleans (1995, 1999, 2004 Sugar Bowls), former player, Michael Stuewe had the idea of former players voluntarily donating money to the American Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina Relief. We raised $1,980 which will be match dollar-dollar by former player Michael Bianchin's company.

Here's who attended the reunion:
Former players in red could not attend.
Former players in white were at the reunion.

* As Sept 2005, the following former players have games to coach or play in the weekend of October 8-9 - J.C.Price (Coach - JMU); Torrian Gray (Coach - Chicago Bears); Ken Oxendine (Coach - Georgia Southern); Chris Malone (Coach - VMI); Greg Shockley (Coach - VMI); Todd Washington (Houston Texans); Keion Carpenter (Atlanta Falcons); John Engelberger (Denver Broncos); Pierson Prioleau (Washington Redskins). Shaine Miles (Coach - Marshall) will already be at Marshall-VT game.