Complaint Department

Here's a couple of miscellaneous whines and gripes for you:

1. Does it bother anyone else besides me that whenever the Bowl Alliance is talked about in an article, the quotes all seem to come from ACC commissioner Gene Corrigan? Frankly, it creeps me out that the Bowl Alliance's mouthpiece is from a conference that has a proven disinterest in Virginia Tech. If Corrigan is a driver behind the Bowl Alliance, then that can only be good for the ACC and bad for every other conference.

   Not only that, but I was reading an article about the Alliance in the Richmond Times-Dispatch last night, and they actually called it "the ACC-inspired Bowl Alliance." What the hell does that mean? If that has even a grain of truth to it, then let me say that I'm not comfortable with the course of college football being determined by an uppity, self-important conference that includes such snobby institutions as UVa (ugh) and North Carolina. Not to mention that the ACC is far from being a conference that should carry that much weight in college football. How about the Big 10, Big 12, SEC, and PAC 10 instead?

   Anybody got any comments on why the ACC seems to be so central to the formation of the Bowl Alliance? I'd love some clarification.

2. And what's up with Jeff Sagarin, the guy who does the computer rankings for the USA Today? Sometimes he seems like he's on drugs when he comes up with the initial rankings for the year.

   Example: in 1995, the Hokie basketball team won the NIT and finished about 35th in Sagarin's rankings. That sounds fair enough. Well, in 1996, the Hokies returned all five starters from that team, and yet Sagarin started them out ranked in the high 40's! Anybody see any logic in that?

   And here's the latest example: I was looking at his pre-season rankings for college football, and whereas most polls rightly regard Texas as a Top 10 or at least Top 15 team, Sagarin's got them ranked 25th. 25th? I think Jeff's computer (or his brain, or both) has some kind of virus.

News About the New Guys

Here's some news about Tech's last recruiting class that I picked up from The Roanoke Times that I don't think they put on their web site:

My favorite recruit, LB/FB Jeremy Kishbaugh from Berwick, PA, won't be entering school until the second semester. Kishbaugh, who I'm hailing as the next George Del Ricco (only better), injured his knee last season and is still rehabbing it, so he won't play for the Hokies until 1997 at the earliest. Bummer.

DB Donald Harris, who tore up his ACL in an all-star game this summer, also won't be entering school until the second semester. Same goes for offensive lineman Stan Brown from Florida, who has not met NCAA academic standards yet.

So what does this mean? All three recruits will be able to participate in Spring football, which is good, but that won't count against their eligibility, which will start next year, which is also a good thing. Sometimes this is a boost for the kids, because it gives them a semester to adjust to school before they're thrown into the rigors of a football season.

DB Phillip Summers from Florida, who was expected to enroll next semester as well, was in town for the start of drills, so apparently, he's "good to go" now.

Another guy I want you to watch is a kid named Tim Davis that I once saw play for Pulaski County High School. Davis was one of about six highly-rated recruits from the state of Virginia who went to BC in the Virginia recruiting coup that the Eagles had two years ago. He's a redshirt freshman who is projected as a starter at cornerback for the Eagles. I've always thought the Hokies may have let a good one slip away there, so let's keep an eye on him and see.

Welcome to School, Shayne

Although the news about Kishbaugh was bad, the news about my second favorite recruit, High-School All-American placekicker Shayne Graham from Pulaski County High, is all good. Coach Beamer named Graham the starting kicker today, over Jimmy Kibble. Nice move, coach, you won't regret it. The sooner we get "Old Cannon Leg" on the field and kicking, the better he'll be down the road.

Graham will kick field goals and extra points, and Kibble, so he won't feel left out, gets to handle the kickoff duties. Until they start awarding points for kickoffs, that's just a small consolation in my book, which was no doubt granted in an effort to keep "Kibbles and Bits" from transferring.

You're going to like Shayne Graham, folks. I promise.

He Must Have Eaten His Wheaties

This is me reading the paper this morning:

Let's see... the Hokies had a scrimmage yesterday, huh? Let's see who did what .... hmm, Druck did well. 6 of 7, 153 yards, one TD...Scales caught a 35 yard TD ... Cornell had a couple of sacks ... Jason Buckland had 6 sacks ... Graham kicked a couple of field goals ....

Whoa! Beep, beep, back up the truck!! Jason Buckland? Six sacks?!?!?

So, immediately, I've got two questions:

1.) Who's Jason Buckland?
2.) Who was supposed to be blocking him?

The answer to question number one is that Buckland is a walk-on. Weird, huh? Where's this guy been hiding? Unfortunately, I don't have the answer to question number two, but whoever it is .... they're still running laps, I'm sure.

Basketball Team Lives and Learns

The Hokie basketball team just finished a 13-day, 7-game tour of Europe, where they got whacked by various European teams, losing 6 out of 7. But that's not important. The important thing is that the guys got to see some sights, hang out together, and play together as a unit.

The top performer was Ace, of course, who consistently scored 20 points and pulled down about 8 boards a game. Other guys who did well intermittently were Keefe Mathews and Alvaro Tor, who reared his head a couple of times and played well.

I understand that in the very first game, a 101-97 loss to an Italian team, Troy Manns got a respectful standing ovation when he fouled out late in the game. The European fans are knowledgeable, and they like good basketball, so Troy must have done some serious drivin' and dishin' to impress the fans in attendance, of which I think there were about 7,000.

Hmmm, 7,000 fans for an exhibition game. Sure would like to see that many in the Cassell for teams like Duquesne and St. Joes next year, unlike the wimpy attendance numbers Tech fans posted this past year. But that's another subject....

Hokie Central on the Road

Man, I'm having the coolest bachelor party ever. As many of you know, I'm getting married this fall. The date is October 19th (an open date on the football schedule, of course), and I told my buddies that for my bachelor party, I wanted to hang out with them and watch the Boston College game.

Wouldn't you know it, they took me literally! Guess who's flying up to Boston to catch the BC game?

Yep, I'm psyched. It'll be the first time I've ever seen my first game of the year on the road, but I think I can handle it. Drop me a line and let me know if you're going to be there!

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