Indictments Handed Down Against 8 Players

The Montgomery County grand jury today handed down indictments against 8 Virginia Tech football players and one former player for two separate incidents.

Charged with misdemeanor assault and battery as a result of the Aug. 31st beating of Tech track athlete Hilliard Sumner are the following players: Michael Hawkes, Brian Edmonds, Nathaniel Williams, Tyron Edmond, Sean Sullivan, and Cornell Brown. In addition, former player Greg Melvin was charged in the incident.

Angelo Harrison was charged with felony attempted malicious wounding in connection with the incident.

In a separate alleged incident that occurred in July, Brad Baylor was charged with felony abduction.

In all, that's eight players and one former player. The players charged with misdemeanor assault and battery are suspended for one game, this weekend's ECU game. Since Brian Edmonds already served a one-game suspension (the Akron game) for this incident, he will be allowed to play against ECU.

Harrison and Baylor, charged with felonies, are suspended for the rest of the season.

The court date has not been set, but it will be November at the earliest. More than likely, the case will go to court before Tech's bowl game, but it could go to court as late as next spring.

That's all I have for now. I will post more information later, if I learn anything new.

Stories posted earlier today ....

Black Wednesday

Today is the day that the Montgomery County grand jury meets to hear the evidence on the Blacksburg Brawl and to hand out indictments. If there are Tech players who are indicted, as it appears there will be, Hokie fans will be watching closely for Beamer's response.

The grand jury session will be closed to the public, so we probably won't get much information on the details of The Brawl. But the indictments will indeed be made public.

If indictments occur, it appears that suspensions are likely, and some player(s) may even get kicked off the team. I don't think that Beamer would have been very harsh a year ago - he probably would have let things play themselves out in the courts. That's his history. But with all that has happened in the last year, he's under a lot of pressure to crack down on any offenders.

I've got two things to say about this:

1. If indictments do occur, and if players get suspended or kicked off the team, show up Saturday night and give your support to those still on the team. They deserve it, and they'll need it.
   
2. If you don't like Beamer's response to whatever happens, if you think he's not harsh enough in his judgments and is compromising the integrity of the university, don't email me. Sit down and write a letter to Dave Braine.

I have to take my wife to dinner Wednesday night (it's her birthday), but I will watch the news and will post a report on what comes down as soon as I can.

Crandell's Status

ECU quarterback Marcus Crandell doesn't appear to be as seriously injured as my source from yesterday reported (think he was yanking my chain?). His status is questionable, and at this point, it is too close to call whether or not he is going to play.

From what I hear, they don't plan on having him practice full speed this week. The snaps are being taken by the backup, while Crandell throws on the sideline and works out on a stationary bike. Crandell's saying, "I'm going to play," but the coaches are saying, "Yeah, right. Let's wait until Saturday before we make that call."

On another note, I saw the newly painted sidelines on TV tonight. No headless pirates, but they do look pretty sharp.

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