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Ron Mexico
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Steffi and I have been in Blacksburg for a week, and everytime we're out interacting with the locals, I'm always surprised at just how much mileage one can get out of Michael (or Marcus) Vick as a conversation starter. So much so that I'm tempted to suggest to the town planning committee that it consider renaming the city Vicksburg and/or make VT -- the regular abbreviation for Virginia Tech -- stand for Vick Town or Vick Tech.
The second night after our move, Steffi and I walked into downtown Blacksburg and ended up eating a late 9pm dinner in Souvlaki's, a greasy, Greecy spoon grill near Tech campus. After getting our orders in and sitting down to the bar, we started up a conversation with Chris, the bar and grill tender, and learned a number of things worth remembering:
1. Although Spring semester and the "normal" academic year has come to a close and the majority of students have left town, business drop off is not as extreme as one might expect. Apparently, Souvlaki's only experiences a 20% decrease in sales, Chris reported, because although there are fewer students around in the summer, most - if not all - the good dining halls are closed. Ergo, more (of the fewer) studying summertime students look for grub off campus. Additionally, the local Blacksburgians come out of the woodwork, frequenting the establishments no longer overrun with Tech students.
2. One of the bigger events of the summer is a weekend of activities entitled "Stepping Out." From August 4 through the 6th, all eateries "step out" into the streets of downtown Blacksburg and sell their foodstuffs on the curb amid festivities celebrating the town. Also, according to Chris, the celebration is scheduled - purposefully - on a day when classes are not in session and students have, therefore, also "stepped out." Gives the local population opportunity to step out and enjoy their hometown.
3. I should expect Virginia Tech's football team -- led by Michael Vick's younger sibling, Marcus -- to win the ACC this year. But I probably shouldn't get my hopes up of seeing two national championships in one year. (UNC's basketball team got the first). Chris thinks Tech will be good, perhaps ranked as high as #3 to begin the season, but unlikely to be National Champion contenders. "Marcus is good, " he said, "but he isn't crazy good like his older brother."
4. Mike Vick's a pretty decent guy, because after buying Marcus a Humvee after his big Atlanta signing bonus, he quickly turned around and revoked it once little Emmvee got into trouble with underaged women and hash. Apparently, Michael realized he'd spoiled Marcus too soon after his own success. Vick's also donated large sums of money to his alma mater and, according to another local, had a large house built for his mama over in Norfolk.
5.However, Mike's got his own shady past -- one that leaked out in Blacksburg, earning him a permanent, smirk-accompanied nickname. Chris was quick to tell us that Mr. Vick, in an attempt to get help and keep his identity under wraps, checked himself into an STD clinic incognito under the pseudonym of "Ron Mexico." Like Vick's herpes, I guess, the story broke out, and soon thereafter a rash of crimson and orange T-shirts and jerseys emblazoned with Vick's lucky number 7 showed up in the local souvenir and VT paraphenalia shops. You can figure out for yourself which name these shops had substituted for Michael Vick.
Along with all that knowledge, Steffi and I enjoyed a nice meal and an entertaining exchange with Mr. Chris. Our gyros, vegetarian pita, baklava, french fries, and a pint of Sierra Nevada only set us back $15 (including tip), and the convesation has us looking forward to life in Blacksburg and the prospects of a good football team -- which couldn't come soon enough, seeing as how we've put up with what's gone on on the Tarheel Gridiron for the last 5 years...
Long live Ron Mexico and su hermano pequeno!
The second night after our move, Steffi and I walked into downtown Blacksburg and ended up eating a late 9pm dinner in Souvlaki's, a greasy, Greecy spoon grill near Tech campus. After getting our orders in and sitting down to the bar, we started up a conversation with Chris, the bar and grill tender, and learned a number of things worth remembering:
1. Although Spring semester and the "normal" academic year has come to a close and the majority of students have left town, business drop off is not as extreme as one might expect. Apparently, Souvlaki's only experiences a 20% decrease in sales, Chris reported, because although there are fewer students around in the summer, most - if not all - the good dining halls are closed. Ergo, more (of the fewer) studying summertime students look for grub off campus. Additionally, the local Blacksburgians come out of the woodwork, frequenting the establishments no longer overrun with Tech students.
2. One of the bigger events of the summer is a weekend of activities entitled "Stepping Out." From August 4 through the 6th, all eateries "step out" into the streets of downtown Blacksburg and sell their foodstuffs on the curb amid festivities celebrating the town. Also, according to Chris, the celebration is scheduled - purposefully - on a day when classes are not in session and students have, therefore, also "stepped out." Gives the local population opportunity to step out and enjoy their hometown.
3. I should expect Virginia Tech's football team -- led by Michael Vick's younger sibling, Marcus -- to win the ACC this year. But I probably shouldn't get my hopes up of seeing two national championships in one year. (UNC's basketball team got the first). Chris thinks Tech will be good, perhaps ranked as high as #3 to begin the season, but unlikely to be National Champion contenders. "Marcus is good, " he said, "but he isn't crazy good like his older brother."
4. Mike Vick's a pretty decent guy, because after buying Marcus a Humvee after his big Atlanta signing bonus, he quickly turned around and revoked it once little Emmvee got into trouble with underaged women and hash. Apparently, Michael realized he'd spoiled Marcus too soon after his own success. Vick's also donated large sums of money to his alma mater and, according to another local, had a large house built for his mama over in Norfolk.
5.However, Mike's got his own shady past -- one that leaked out in Blacksburg, earning him a permanent, smirk-accompanied nickname. Chris was quick to tell us that Mr. Vick, in an attempt to get help and keep his identity under wraps, checked himself into an STD clinic incognito under the pseudonym of "Ron Mexico." Like Vick's herpes, I guess, the story broke out, and soon thereafter a rash of crimson and orange T-shirts and jerseys emblazoned with Vick's lucky number 7 showed up in the local souvenir and VT paraphenalia shops. You can figure out for yourself which name these shops had substituted for Michael Vick.
Along with all that knowledge, Steffi and I enjoyed a nice meal and an entertaining exchange with Mr. Chris. Our gyros, vegetarian pita, baklava, french fries, and a pint of Sierra Nevada only set us back $15 (including tip), and the convesation has us looking forward to life in Blacksburg and the prospects of a good football team -- which couldn't come soon enough, seeing as how we've put up with what's gone on on the Tarheel Gridiron for the last 5 years...
Long live Ron Mexico and su hermano pequeno!
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