Tech Sports Blog

It is unbelievable how fast this summer flew by. It feel likes it was only yesterday that I started my new job. That was 2 months ago. While the end of summer is upon us, and that is bad news to some, the good news is that there are only 4 weeks until the Hokies take the field at North Carolina State.

Four weeks!!! I can hardly wait. I can practically smell the peanut oil for the turkey fryer, taste the goodness of a stiff Jim Beam & coke, and hear Lane Stadium rocking.

So, what happened over summer vacation?

• Boston College officially joined the ACC in July.
• The ACC added two bowl tie-ins for 2006. (The Emerald Bowl in San Fransisco and the Music City Bowl in Nashville will host ACC teams starting in 2006.)
• The ACC media picked Virginia Tech and Florida State to win their respective divisions.
• Virginia Tech is ranked #7 in the first USA Today Coaches Poll of the year, ahead of our ACC brethren (#8 Miami, #12 FSU, #22 BC, #23 UVA).

There is definitely a sense that this season could be something special. But along with this hope there is a dose of reality – everyone remembers 2002 and 2003. Talent plus Hype does not necessarily equal BCS. What will make the 2005 Hokies any different? They have arguably one of the most talented teams in Tech football history. However, this talented team will hopefully remember what it took to win an ACC championship. Team United is what they were called last year. If Team United shows up on September 4th, this season will be more memorable than 2004 and possibly more memorable than 1999.

But, I shouldn’t get ahead of myself. The season has yet to begin, so I’m going to try and keep Rose Bowl talk to a minimum. I wouldn’t want to get too excited only to show up in Blacksburg for a game and see the cHokies take the field.

EDIT: I wanted to leave you with links to two articles – an excellent read at TailGateFever.com and Terry Bowden’s ACC Preview at Yahoo! Sports.

I came across this post on the mighty mjd sports blog from about one year ago, just after the USC game.

The mighty mjd referred to this column by Matt Hayes that Virginia Tech hit the ceiling in 1999 and was in decline. While mjd’s reasons were rediculous, I love this prediction: I can’t envision Tech winning a conference championship or playing in a big-time bowl anytime soon. With that, recruiting takes a hit. With that, everything goes down hill. But other than that, I’m sure the ACC will be a lot of fun for them.

It gives me warm fuzzies to read these opinions knowing that we are now the defending champions of the ACC.

David Teel, of the Hampton Roads Daily Press, talks about the amazing year Virginia Tech athletics has enjoyed in his latest column. Yes, we all remember the Hokies winning the ACC football championship outright. We also remember the men’s basketball team overachieving. But David reminds us of the success the other sports have enjoyed. (eg: The softball team getting a NCAA tournament bid.) Hokies everywhere have much to be proud of, including, but certainly not limited to, our football team.

According to ESPN, the Big East and ACC have settled their differences out of court. After Virginia Tech and Miami’s defections to the ACC, members of the Big East conference sued Miami and Boston College, accusing them of conspiring with the ACC to destroy the Big East. Tech was never involved in this lawsuit because we were essentially an afterthought when ACC expansion began. It appears that they have settled out of court for the tune of $5 million.

So, BC should join up with the ACC in July without much fanfare, and life will go on. As a parting shot, I’ll leave you with this article, titled Beamer says ACC is the place for Hokies.

TechSideLine.com has posted a number of historical photos of Lane Stadium. With the expansion of the West stands expected to be completed at the beginning the upcoming football season, now is a good a time as any to remember the days of Lane Stadium when there were less seats and less people filling those seats.

The 1999 and 2000 photos really bring back memories. Well, who could forget the ’99 season? But the Thunder Bowl is one I’d rather forget. Most people remember it as the night Lee Corso’s rental car got struck by lightening. I remember being in the stands when skies opened up and thinking, “It’s only a thunderstorm. It’ll pass, and the game will get started.” The rain never stopped, and the game was never played. I had to walk back from Lane Stadium to my apartment at Pack Place (Prices Fork Road, across from Turner Street). Instead of walking, I jogged back, because I was quite uncomfortable due to being completely soaked through.

However, of all the old photos, this one from 1972 has got to be my favorite. Check out the gobbler head on top of the scoreboard. That is one pissed off turkey!

Yup, it’s that time of year – pollen is flying through the air and there’s very little going on in the world of sports. Ok, so maybe I don’t really have “the blues”, but my sinuses are fully congested and football news has sharply dropped off in the wake of the draft. I’m sorry, I’m just not much of a fan of MLB. After the strike, my interest waned, and the
controversy surrounding the steroids issues has completely pushed me away. The NFL really is America’s number one pro sport. They have the right idea with revenue sharing, and they have the strongest drug policy of the Big 3. I know
the NFL isn’t perfect, but it is the most well-run professional sporting league of in the US. But I digress …

Getting back to the topic of Virginia Tech athletics, as reported earlier this week, Marquie Cooke was dismissed from the men’s basketball team. While I am sad to see such a talented recruit leave the team, I am happy to see that Coach Greenburg has that team first attitude that brought so much success to the football and basketball teams. While the men’s basketball team didn’t have a super year by ACC standards, they had one hell of a year by VT standards. A number of the games they won were earned by not giving up late, and that helped to galvanize them as a team. According to TechSideLine.com, as well as this Daily Press article, Cooke wasn’t exactly the ideal team player. His dismismal was the culmination of a poor attitude during the entire season. For Greenburg to dismiss him under that pretext tells me much about the kind of program Greenburg is building. What was that catch phrase of the 2004 football team? Team United.

Virginia Tech’s most heralded basketball recruit since Dell Curry has been dismissed from the team. The only thing in this HokieSports.com news story is …

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Virginia Tech freshman guard Marquie Cooke has been dismissed from the Hokies’ men’s basketball program.

“Marquie failed to abide by a set of standards we set for our basketball team,” Virginia Tech head men’s basketball coach Seth Greenberg said. “We wish Marquie well in the future.”

Here is the Roanoke Times article with a little background information. However, it is still unclear if there was a specific incident that set this off.

ESPN is reporting that Dr. Pepper will be the title sponsor the ACC Championship Game. With Boston College joining the ACC this year, the ACC will have an annual championship game in Jacksonville, Forida. It is a 5-year deal between
Dr. Pepper, the ACC, and ABC Sports. At this point, there aren’t any more details in the article.

Vincent Fuller was the 7th pick in the 4th round (108th overall), picked up by the Tennessee Titans, and Jon Dunn was selected in the 7th round by the Cleveland Browns. Jon Dunn joins Andre Davis, Lee Suggs, and Ben Taylor as Virginia Tech Hokies turned Cleveland Browns. Fuller, Dunn, and Eric Green were the only Virginia Tech players chosen in this year’s draft, leaving Jim Davis, James Griffin, and Bryan Randall to enter the NFL the hard way – as undrafted free agents. The big surprise to me was that Jim Davis wasn’t a late round pick. I hope that all three up get their shot in the NFL.

With Jon Dunn joining the Browns, that means there will be 4 former Hokies in Cleveland. Atlanta has 5 former Hokies, and there are a number of teams with 2 former Hokies. So, that makes the Atlanta Falcons the Hokies South, and the Cleveland Browns the Hokies North.

As the 75th overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft, Eric Green was selected in the 3rd round by the Arizona Cardinals. I figured he would have gone in the 2nd round, but he was the 11th player picked in the 3rd round, so that isn’t too bad. As expected, no other Virginia Tech Hokie was picked today.

Was it just me, or was today’s draft a letdown? The first round was incredibly long, lasting nearly 6 hours. I ended up just watching the first 7 picks, the end of the 1st round, and a few picks at the top of the second round. I probably should’ve found something to occupy me while the ESPN analysts tried to fill the time in between picks. There weren’t any blockbuster trades in the top 10. I guess that isn’t too surprising, given the lack of blockbuster players at the top. That said, there are some tidbits from the draft that I’ll comment on …

• San Francisco had a great day. They picked the best quarterback available (Alex Smith – Utah), a solid center from which to receive ball (David Baas – Michigan), and a good running back to hand the ball off to (Frank Gore – Miami FL).
• My NFL team, the Cleveland Browns, also had a good day one. They picked arguably the best wide out in the draft (Braylon Edwards – Michigan), they helped out their defense (Brodney Pool – Oklahoma), and picked up the quarterback they wanted (Charlie Frye – Akron). Edwards is the kind of player who should make an impact his rookie season. It’ll be interesting to see how he fits in, as Andre Davis, Dennis Northcutt, and Antonio Bryant are already established. I have a bad feeling that in the long term, Andre Davis will get the short end of the stick.
• How about Auburn tearing up the first round! Three players picked in the top nine, four selected in the first round. While they have a few holes to fill, that’s going to be great for their recruiting.
• Maurice Clarett was picked by Denver as the final pick of day one. Denver used a compensatory selection on him – obviously they felt they could take a chance with the extra pick. Personally, I would’ve waited to see if he was around in round 5 or 6. I don’t think he deserves to be a 3rd round pick due to how slow he was at the combine and his attitude at the combine. However, I am glad he is getting a chance in the NFL. I don’t really like him, but I feel like he deserves a second chance. Now he’s got that second chance with the Denver Broncos.
• Last, but not least, if I were a Green Bay fan I would be excited about Aaron Rodgers. I think he’s an excellent value at the 24th overall pick, he gets to play behind one of the best in the business for at least a year, and you know he’s going to have a chip on his shoulder when he does start playing. I think that’s a great fit.

Tomorrow is day 2 of the NFL Draft, and hopefully we’ll start seeing some Hokies selected. Vincent Fuller and Jim Davis should be picked up in the early part of the day. Where will they go?