Virginia Tech Fans Ignored a Temporary Ban on “Enter Sandman” and Sang It Anyway

It may be the most overplayed Metallica song of all time (with “Nothing Else Matters” being a very close second), but there’s no denying that “Enter Sandman” is a great/inoffensive song to use if you want to pump up a crowd. Yankees fans know this thanks to Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera using it as his entrance music and so do Virginia Tech fans, who have heard the song at most of the school’s sporting events since 2000.

Yet during a recent Women’s NCAA basketball tournament game, the school was barred from playing the song before tip-off since, according to a reporter with the local NBC affiliate named Riley Wyant, they were hosting the contest as a “neutral site.” The school was even warned against using the song and told they’d be fined if Metallica’s biggest single played.

…but they never said anything about it being sung by fans.

With scores of Virginia Tech fans standing in the crowd donning their maroon and white shirts, the song’s first verse rang through the auditorium. Honestly, I’m just amazed today’s late teens and early 20-somethings even know “Enter Sandman” at all, let alone know the words.

You can check out the clip in the tweet below. It’s kinda wild and a great way of giving the NCAA—a highly exploitative organization, mind you—the middle finger.