Team Names, Spring Game Format
- By jason stamm
- The Gobbler
- 1 Replies
Announced by VT:
The Virginia Tech athletics department has selected two longtime season ticket holders to be honorary coaches for the annual Maroon-Orange Spring Game that will be held Saturday starting at 2 p.m.
Rather than split the roster into two teams, Tech’s coaches have changed the format for this year’s game. The first-team defense and the second-team offense will comprise “Team Pylon,” while the first-team offense and second-team defense will be “Team Medal of Honor.” The team names honor the university’s Corps of Cadets and its military tradition.
Dr. Dwight Bradshaw of Suffolk, Virginia, will be the coach of Team Pylon, while David Lawson of Crownsville, Maryland, will be the coach of Team Medal of Honor. The two renewed their 2015 football season tickets by the “Early Bird” deadline of March 30, and by doing so, entered a lottery from which the honorary coaches of the spring game were chosen.
Dr. Bradshaw and his wife, Jennifer, have been longtime season ticket holders in both football and men’s basketball. They come to just about every football game and most basketball games, and were honored to be a part of the festivities this weekend.
“First of all, my wife was ecstatic about it,” Bradshaw said. “I was thrilled, too. I don’t know too much about what it entails, but it sounds like it’s going to be a lot of fun. We’re thrilled. I’m not too worried about calling any plays. I’m going to leave that up to the coaches.”
Dr. Bradshaw graduated from Tech in 1966 with a degree in biology, and while at Tech, he served a two-year stint in the Corps of Cadets. He then attended the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, where he received his D.D.S (Doctor of Dental Surgery). He returned to his hometown of Suffolk, where he continues seeing patients in his private practice.
Lawson, like Bradshaw, has been a season ticket holder for more than 10 years. He graduated in 1991 with a degree in electrical engineering, and like Bradshaw, was also in the Corp of Cadets. He currently works as an engineer for Northrop Grumman. He also serves as the president of the Maryland Hokie Club, something he’s done for the past three years.
He and his wife are excited about the opportunity as well.
“I was excited and surprised,” Lawson said. “How many thousand season ticket holders are there? It was a great honor, and I was excited to be asked. I’m looking forward to it. It sounds like I’ll be on the field for the coin flip and then have a field pass and be on the sidelines. It will be fun. This will be the first time I’ve been on the field since college.”
Both Bradshaw and Lawson may get additional help on Saturday. Bradshaw and his wife are bringing their 5-year-old grandson to his first spring game, and Lawson and his wife are bringing their 2-year-old daughter to her first football game.
“Hopefully, she’ll enjoy it,” Lawson said of his daughter. “I think she’s a little young to stand on the sidelines, but I’ll get to spend some time with her. She’ll be upstairs with my wife.”
“The coaches better be looking at him already,” Bradshaw said of his grandson. “He’s a ballplayer. He’s been to games and he really watches the game. He’s not just there to go to the concession stand and all that stuff. He’s attentive to what’s going on. This is going to be fun. He’s going to have a great time.”
The game kicks off at 2 p.m. Admission is free.
The Virginia Tech athletics department has selected two longtime season ticket holders to be honorary coaches for the annual Maroon-Orange Spring Game that will be held Saturday starting at 2 p.m.
Rather than split the roster into two teams, Tech’s coaches have changed the format for this year’s game. The first-team defense and the second-team offense will comprise “Team Pylon,” while the first-team offense and second-team defense will be “Team Medal of Honor.” The team names honor the university’s Corps of Cadets and its military tradition.
Dr. Dwight Bradshaw of Suffolk, Virginia, will be the coach of Team Pylon, while David Lawson of Crownsville, Maryland, will be the coach of Team Medal of Honor. The two renewed their 2015 football season tickets by the “Early Bird” deadline of March 30, and by doing so, entered a lottery from which the honorary coaches of the spring game were chosen.
Dr. Bradshaw and his wife, Jennifer, have been longtime season ticket holders in both football and men’s basketball. They come to just about every football game and most basketball games, and were honored to be a part of the festivities this weekend.
“First of all, my wife was ecstatic about it,” Bradshaw said. “I was thrilled, too. I don’t know too much about what it entails, but it sounds like it’s going to be a lot of fun. We’re thrilled. I’m not too worried about calling any plays. I’m going to leave that up to the coaches.”
Dr. Bradshaw graduated from Tech in 1966 with a degree in biology, and while at Tech, he served a two-year stint in the Corps of Cadets. He then attended the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, where he received his D.D.S (Doctor of Dental Surgery). He returned to his hometown of Suffolk, where he continues seeing patients in his private practice.
Lawson, like Bradshaw, has been a season ticket holder for more than 10 years. He graduated in 1991 with a degree in electrical engineering, and like Bradshaw, was also in the Corp of Cadets. He currently works as an engineer for Northrop Grumman. He also serves as the president of the Maryland Hokie Club, something he’s done for the past three years.
He and his wife are excited about the opportunity as well.
“I was excited and surprised,” Lawson said. “How many thousand season ticket holders are there? It was a great honor, and I was excited to be asked. I’m looking forward to it. It sounds like I’ll be on the field for the coin flip and then have a field pass and be on the sidelines. It will be fun. This will be the first time I’ve been on the field since college.”
Both Bradshaw and Lawson may get additional help on Saturday. Bradshaw and his wife are bringing their 5-year-old grandson to his first spring game, and Lawson and his wife are bringing their 2-year-old daughter to her first football game.
“Hopefully, she’ll enjoy it,” Lawson said of his daughter. “I think she’s a little young to stand on the sidelines, but I’ll get to spend some time with her. She’ll be upstairs with my wife.”
“The coaches better be looking at him already,” Bradshaw said of his grandson. “He’s a ballplayer. He’s been to games and he really watches the game. He’s not just there to go to the concession stand and all that stuff. He’s attentive to what’s going on. This is going to be fun. He’s going to have a great time.”
The game kicks off at 2 p.m. Admission is free.
