A Battle to Behold: HBCU Night at Atlanta Dream

Eight. Hey, that's right. Behold, tomorrow, the Norfolk State Spartans take on the Florida A and M Rattlers in Atlanta, Georgia. This will be their first game of the season. Such an exciting time. It's also their first appearance in the mi A swack challenge and these firsts happening on a national stage nonetheless, uh such an exciting time. So exciting. Let's bring in our very own. Eugene Daniel live in Atlanta. You know, Eugene, there is so many exciting moments coming up here for NSU. Yeah, Ashley Bethany, you talk about all of the first and the great things. What can only be great or maybe, I don't know, seeing the game in person. Oh, I've got to be able to do that. I'm so excited about it, but to kind of lay the groundwork of how fast paced and how energetic this week has been. You know, the team left overnight yesterday and got here somewhat in the afternoon yesterday. Their first stop was to was to the MLK Center to learn about the history of the city and obviously of one of its great leaders, one of the great leaders of the nation. So things have really been picking up steam here as we get ready for the Mi A WAC Champions Challenge game. But the thing is not only is this weekend about a football game, it's really about celebrating historically black colleges and universities and their culture. This week there were two H BC U nights hosted by the city's W NBA team, the Atlanta Dream and the Atlanta Braves. And this was an opportunity for plenty of people to come out and show their support for their universities repping their school colors and their pride, including some Spartans as well. Get this as we're going around. We learned that the marketing director for the Atlanta Dream was born and raised in Virginia Beach and remembers going to the Battle of the Bay between Norfolk and Hampton every year with his dad. And he's a part of the team that spearheaded these H BC U nights and says he is glad to see NSU get this opportunity seeing where it is now and where the trajectory where, where it's heading is, is important. Oh, excuse me, is, is awesome. And I think it's important that you get a stage like that. People in Atlanta don't know about Norfolk State University, but they're gonna find out this weekend. Oh, she was sure about that. And I don't know if you two know uh Bethany Ashley, but most of my family actually graduated from H BC U. Shout out to Southern and to Grambling and you know, the thing about it is everyone we spoke to talks about. It doesn't matter which school you went to the H BC U culture is one of a family. Everybody is rooting and supporting for one another. So even though this battle is gonna take place on Saturday, they're still saying, hey, we're family, we're celebrating the same culture. It's an amazing thing to experience down here. Y'all absolutely love this. I love the vibes there and then the fact that this is on the national stage, it is so special for NSU and for H BC us in general. Thank you so much, Eugene. We'll be checking with you again in just a few minutes, but hey, not only is this weekend about a game, it's also a chance to continue celebrating these incredible, incredible school. So again, we're gonna have more on this coming up here in just a few minutes and the players also know they have something to prove. Some people may not know of Norfolk State when that game come on. So it's just showing them what we're about and what are we got and what we can do. All right, you heard in there, an offensive lineman Samuel Eskridge had to say when he was asked about taking to this big night tomorrow night on the national stage. And you know, it's a stage but, you know, they're very familiar with uh you know how things are gonna be flowing and, and that sort of thing. So let's talk about Dick's Price Stadium at this point. That's where we find Casey Baylor this morning. Casey, the Spartans are ready for the weekend and Ashley, they are ready for the nation to behold the green and gold. I've got my green and gold on. I know y'all do as well and we know they're not, you know, taking the stage here at the Dick Price Stadium, but they do want to make sure that when they hit the field in Atlanta, they know that it's their home turf. Let's talk about these pre game celebrations really quickly. There will be a special tailgate to get our Spartans ready to for tomorrow night. The ladies of Sparta will perform in a special declaration will be live on 13 news now at noon and just hit, you might want to pull out that green and gold today. Spartans do have a bit of a chip on their shoulder with this game. They ended their season three and eight last year. Meanwhile, Florida A and M is coming off of a 12 to 1 season now, they are the defending H BC U champs, but Norfolk State is saying, do not count them out just yet to say, hey, we could do it just as good as the next guy. You know, we're still here. It gives us a place to come back to when we couldn't go anywhere else as A H BC U culture. It's just the culture. The love is nothing like A H BC U. It's, it's just different. And head coach Dawson Odom feels like Norfolk State University can resonate with many across the country and he hopes his team can show out against the fighting Rattlers on Saturday night.