Author Andy Bitter’s 3-year-old daughter Emily is the first to take a glimpse at the sportswriter’s new novel.
Marty Gordon
NRVsports@ourvalley.org
A long-time sportswriter is releasing a new book for Hokie Fans. Andy Bitter unveiled this week his book: “100 Things Virginia Tech fans should know or do before they die,” published by Triumph Books.
“It’s a series that Triumph has done for a bunch of other schools. When I covered Auburn, a friend of mind down there wrote a similar book about the Tigers,” he said.
The publisher points out most Virginia Tech fans have taken in a game at Lane Stadium, can tell you all about the 2000 BCS title game, and remember all their favorite wins over the Wahoos. But only real fans know how the “Enter Sandman” tradition started, know what Bill Dooley said to Bruce Smith to make him a Hokie, or can break down what “Beamerball” means.
Well, this book has it all and features traditions, records, and lore, this lively, detailed book explores the personalities, events, and facts every Virginia Tech fan should know.
The back cover of the book says: “Whether you’re a fan from the early days of Frank Beamer or a more recent supporter, these are the 100 things all fans need to know and do in their lifetime. Beat reporter Andy Bitter has collected every essential piece of Hokies knowledge and trivia, as well as must-do activities, and ranks them all from 1 to 100, providing an entertaining and easy-to-follow checklist as you progress on your way to fan superstardom.
Bitter hopes the book will be well received by Hokie fans. “They might know some of the stories in there. Everybody’s heard of Frank Beamer, obviously, but hopefully they’ll glean some new information about why he was such a prominent figure in the history of Virginia Tech athletics. And I’d bet some of the chapters will be stuff some fans have never heard of before,” he said.
The former Roanoke Times and now Athletic writer has covered Tech for the past eight years and has a pretty good familiarity with the history of the program, but he was even learning new things about the Hokies as he wrote the book.
The book is available at local bookstores and online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The price is $16.95 for paperback and $11.99 for a Kindle version.
To be fair, a similar book is available for those University of Virginia Wahoo football fans out there. The book, “100 Things Virginia Fans should know or do before they die, is available fro Brian Leung.
