The Tunnel

This is the most likely outcome, given the various issues in play.

Considering the practice facility would replace less than 20% of "The Woods" and most of the old trees would still be preserved, I really don't see a big deal with putting it there. JMO.

Great point. I just can't stand a PC decision which really just plays into the hands of our recruiting competitors. It's a lock they will say to recruits "nice facility, but you have to walk a mile just to get to it". That's what I would say if the shoe was on UV's foot.

They are trees! Plant some new ones and some day they will be old. We'll call them Victory trees. One planted every time we spank UV. We'll have another forest in no time!

Fellas...unless you live in Blacksburg you just can't understand.....this town is so PC.....I could go on and on and on about many things that this town has done but won't because it does no good....should never have formed a committee to make a decision....I know that is protocol for the university but that was the death of the project...all of a sudden it becomes a cause....I thought that I had made a good suggestion by relocating the trees and plant them on the drill field....was just kidding but the people I spoke to did not see my humor....I also made a few more suggestions that went south as well....like I said in an earlier post...I love the woods and use it often....but it did take on a life of it's own and if you know Blacksburg then you know what I mean....there are a number of people in this town that resent how successful our football team is and you can see the green around the edges when talking about any money used by the athletic department to build anything....those people just make me angry...they don't seem to realize that VT football adds to the university and community...some very narrow minded people in this town....sorry for the rant but this town is a piece of work sometime.......

Do you think the students want some trees and a roller hockey rink, or a 80k seat stadium, practice facility, SEC opponents, national title trophy? Do we automatically get all of those? No, but this is a step that has to be taken

No offense, but I think you're being a little narrow minded as well though. I'm probably more of a hippie than most people on this board and I'm fine with that, so I'm glad they decided to not build in the woods. While the football team brings in a ton of revenue and helps the university tremendously, there are many people who attend VT and teach at VT for reasons other than football. We have alot of academic programs that we pride ourselves on and Forestry is one of them. You may call the town being PC in this situation, but I see it as city planning 101. I think those defending the trees realize how important football is, more than you think, but view VT beyond football. They aren't denying the football program the ability to build the facility, they're just asking it to be built elsewhere. I think this was a great example of compromise and shows that VT can work around problems and reach decisions in an appropriate manner.

Actually the forestry folks are very informative and gave a lot of good input...they are not the folks I'm addressing.. it's the people that put their two cents in that neither care about the woods or the football program...we have a large group of people that just want to be part of the cause.......my personal opinion as to where the facility should be built is not the woods...that is not my point...if you read my earlier post you would see that I both live near and enjoy the woods....

I think they made the right decision this is compromise at it's best. I love VT football and it's contributions to the University and the economy of SW VA cannot be denied, but the facility is going to be built and built with private donations as all athletic facilities are. It's not that much farther than the original site and it's not like they will be using it every day, only during inclement weather. The fact that we are getting one at all just shows that we are committed to excelling in football and will continue to grow and compete with the big boys. The new facility and the improvements to the field house should really help as a recruiting tool, and the fact that we were able to compromise and make the most people possible happy also shows that we value other peoples opinion and won't compromise our integrity, or other peoples values for a win.

Planted a maple tree in my back yard yesterday. Seriously. I feel much better now.