For those who were focused on yesterday’s game between Virginia Tech and Maryland, something probably seemed a little different. During the Pinstripe Bowl, which is held at Yankee Stadium, something seemed a little off. It had to do with Virginia Tech and their helmets sporting the Yankees logo. Huh? Yes, this is correct. Here is why there was a Yankees logo on Virginia Tech’s helmets.
When watching the Pinstripe Bowl yesterday, Virginia Tech’s helmets were a bit different. They were donning the New York Yankees logo, but in VT’s colors. It was pretty cool to see, but questions arose as to why this was happening.
First of all, there is a history between the Yankees and VT. It all started after the campus shootings that took place on April 16, 2007. The following month, the Yankees announced they would be donating $1 million to the Hokies Spirit Memorial Fund. Later on that night, VT’s President, Charles Steger, threw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium.
Image Courtesy of Mark Berman/The Roanoke Times
In March 2008, the Yankees went to Blacksburg to play against the Hokies baseball team during an exhibition game. There were approximately 1,000 fans present. The purpose of this Yankees visit was to help the VT community heal after the shootings.
The Yankees had visited VT’s campus memorial honoring the 32 people who lost their lives. The best part of this was that when the Hokies arrived at the locker room, they found out they would be wearing maroon pinstripes on their uniforms.
What made the event even more special was that, before the game even started, the Yankees had signed autographs for the fans and the Hokies baseball team. The Yankees even stood after the game and just started talking to people. Some of the Yankees involved were superstars like Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada.
It is true that the Yankees get criticized for spending a lot of money to get the players they want. Haters have said that the Yankees are just “buying a championship”. Hearing this personally, it is pretty funny. An owner would want to buy the best players for a chance to win a championship. This is the amusing part to the haters out there feeling the Yankees are just “buying a championship”. Would those same people feel the same way if they were the owner of a team? Absolutely not!
The Pinstripe Bowl showed that it wasn’t all business in the Yankee Organization. It was special to hear how much Yankees have done to help out a team in desperate need of healing. To know and understand the meaning behind the Yankees logo on VT’s helmets helped paint a bigger picture as to what the Yankees are all about.
VT got creamed yesterday 54-10. There were probably a lot of people looking at the score of the game, but that wasn’t the story. Hopefully, more teams can bring together a community like the Yankees did to VT and their community. Seeing more of this in sports is something that can really bring people together. Not only can communities be united once again, but a sports family as well.
It is great to experience a live-action game in person. Nothing beats being at the game. When the home team scores and everyone starts cheering. Complete strangers start high-fiving each other. This is what the sports family does. Any sporting event, is the kind of atmosphere that is around everyone. At hockey games, there are times when fans fight each other. Been there, seen that. Overall, everyone is either cheering together or booing together.
This is the comparison to what the Yankees did with VT, but multiplied by 1,000. It is incredible what took place and to watch it all unfold, was amazing. The Yankees Organization deserves credit for their heart-felt show of compassion.
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