Despite the record-setting crowd for Saturday's ACC showdown with Miami, it wasn't all fun and games for some Wahoo diehards.
Starting late last Wednesday night, the first groups of students could be found camping out for the prime seats for Saturday's ACC showdown.
First-year Engineering student John Carrier was part of a contingent of eight students who were in the first group to arrive at Scott Stadium Wednesday night around 11:45. Carrier was one of two students who stayed in the tent all three nights -- including the first evening when the group hadn't acquired a tent yet and temperatures dropped to 28 degrees. The crew of eight had someone manning their spot 24 hours a day.
"We felt pretty confident about getting front seats -- getting a pick of the seats in the student section," Carrier said.
But things didn't go as planned. Carrier and his friend, first-year College student Brian O'Neill, were the first students to go through the North Gate, where students enter. But to their dismay, the two students saw a rush of people flowing in from the East Gate and reserving large chunks of seats in the student section before they opened the student entrance.
When Carrier and O'Neill finally made it down to the student seats, they were able to get only two people in the front row and that was just because they moved one of the programs that was reserving a seat.
"I don't get upset very easily," Carrier said. "This is the first time I've been disappointed or upset while at U.Va. I was extremely angry. Just because we camped out for three nights, with the understanding that we could have front row seats at one of the best games in U.Va history, and we were gypped out of that."
Students are only allowed to enter the stadium through the North Gate, where their ID cards are swiped. However fans with general admission tickets that allow them to sit in the student sections can enter the stadium through any gate.
Jason Bauman, associate director of Athletics for Facilities and Operations, said his staff made the call for all the gates to open a little after 1:30 p.m., but the opening of the North Gate got delayed for safety reasons.
Because of "the physical push of people at the student gate, for safety to those involved at the gate, we held it for a few minutes -- a minute to two minutes maximum -- until we felt comfortable," Bauman said. "Once we got everybody under control, we let the student gate in...We may have to consider opening the student gate a few minutes early."
Some students had also entered the student section early by signing up to work concessions in the stadium. But because these groups had so many students signed up to work the refreshment stands, some were able to leave their post and reserve front row seats.
"We did become aware of a couple of people that were working for a concessionaire that were trying to obtain seats," Bauman said. "That will be addressed appropriately with that subcontractor directly...My goal much like [the students'] is to have those people [who camped out] with the first choice of seats. By a small number we missed that goal. That's a mistake that we had on our end."
Athletic Director Craig Littlepage said he wasn't aware that students were reserving chunks of seats before the student gate actually opened.
It "certainly wasn't something that we permitted them to do," Littlepage said.
Despite what Carrier perceived as the apparent injustice of those who received top seats in the student sections, he remains optimistic.
"I personally would like to try again," he said. "I just hope the same thing wouldn't happen. I really believe that what we were doing was good for the U.Va. sports community as a whole. It's certainly an enjoyable experience for the fans if they know there's a purpose to it."
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