By plane and van, fans flocking to Chattanooga

University of Richmond football fans are flocking to Chattanooga, Tenn., for tomorrow night's FCS title game. The high-style award goes to a group that includes a couple of former Spiders.

Rafe Wilkinson and Troy Gray, ex-linebackers, are among those renting an eight-seat jet. They are flying into Chattanooga tomorrow afternoon for the 8 p.m. game involving UR and Montana and are scheduled to be back in Richmond by 2 a.m. Saturday. A representative from aviation charter and management business Martinair Inc. yesterday approximated the rental cost for a small aircraft for such a trip at $8,000.

Most Richmond fans are hitting the road for an eight-hour drive to Chattanooga. Jeff Crook accompanied his father to the 2003 Division I-AA (now Football Championship Subdivision) title game in Chattanooga. The elder Crook, Russ, attended Delaware, which that year beat Colgate for the title.

"I didn't think there was any way possible Richmond could be there five years later," said Jeff Crook, a 2001 UR graduate, Richmond-area resident and major Spiders' fan. UR went 2-9 in 2003, the third in a string of four consecutive losing seasons.

Then, shazam. Richmond caps a streak of four consecutive winning seasons when it faces Montana. Crook rented a van that will be occupied by 15 UR fans after their work obligations today. His group intends to drive perhaps halfway to Chattanooga tonight, then sleep at a hotel. Crook and company will shove off again tomorrow morning.

"Wouldn't miss it," Crook, who has attended 11 of 15 Richmond games this season, said of the Spiders' championship game. "Richmond fans certainly didn't expect to be in this situation a few years ago, but hopefully, it's not a once-in-a-lifetime deal."