Big East News

Step one of Tech's quest for Big East membership took place Wednesday, and at the time of this writing (11:30 pm on Wednesday), it wasn't clear how it came out.

According to an article written by Mitch Vingle of the Charleston (WV) Gazette, whom I have a lot of respect for (Mitch, not his paper), the Big East athletic directors were going to vote Wednesday on whether or not to recommend to their school presidents that Tech be admitted into the Big East. The article, titled Big East con$iders Va. Tech, can be read by following the link.

This, as I said, is step one.  The 13 AD's involved needed merely to vote 7-6 in Tech's favor for the recommendation to "pass."  I gather from the article that it is necessary for the AD's to make the recommendation in order for the vote to proceed to the school presidents.  I think you can infer that if the AD's don't vote to recommend us for membership, then the school presidents will not hold a vote, and the issue will be dead.

If the AD's do make the recommendation, then the next step is for the presidents to approve it, and it has been reported that the presidents will vote in June.

Late Wednesday night, a rumor sprang up on the message board that the Big East AD's had voted to not recommend us for membership, I repeat, not recommend us.  The rumor, started by Screaming Lizard, was little more than a cryptic comment with no additional information, and the comment ("Would you believe they did it to us again?") can be interpreted in any number of ways.

I had put together a Special Feature with commentary on the Big East membership issue, but given these latest developments (the AD vote and the rumor), I'm going to hold off on posting the article one more day.  I want to have a look at Thursday morning's articles and information before I move ahead with posting the article, and if the article is still timely and appropriate as-is, I may even get a chance to post it during the day.

I channel-surfed during both eleven o'clock news broadcasts, and neither Channel 7 nor Channel 10 mentioned the issue.  They were both too busy talking about Jeff Gordon.   Stay tuned to the message board this morning for any breaking news.

Tech Notes

• Several readers emailed me to inform me (and to chide me for not mentioning) that the Tech baseball team has already played two of the teams in its bracket in the NCAA tournament.  #3 seed Tech went 0-3 against #1 seed Wake Forest, losing 4-2, 10-9, and 8-4, and Tech beat first-game opponent and #2 seed Richmond in their only meeting, 8-4.

• Also of note (and I forgot to mention this in my last update), the Tech women's basketball team will participate in next season's preseason NIT.   Hokiesports.com has an informative article about the preseason NIT.  The quick facts are, Tech will host Liberty in the first round on Monday, November 15, and will meet the winner of Georgia/UAB in round 2.  The second-round host is determined by first-round attendance figures, and the Georgia/UAB game is at Georgia.  The tournament is a 16-team tournament, and other notables in the field include Duke, who is already scheduled to visit Cassell next year as part of the regular season.

• Ground has finally been broken on Lane Stadium's North end zone bleachers.  Whereas the temporary bleachers we've been renting in the past have been set up on the grass, I am told that the new bleachers will be built on a concrete foundation, and the grading and preparation work for the concrete has begun.  I will try to get by there throughout the construction process and take pictures for posting here on the web site.

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