Here it is, recruiting junkies: Channel 10 is reporting that after his visit this past weekend, GW-Danville DE Tyrone Robertson has narrowed his choices down to Virginia Tech and (aaarrrgh!) UVa. He will make his announcement at a press conference Wednesday afternoon (I think the time is 1:00 p.m.), so keep your eyes glued to the Big East Recruiting Message Board for the outcome, because that's probably where it will show up first.

All the while hoping that I'm getting my facts straight, let me say that the Robertson situation is complicated by the fact that he may be a non-qualifier, which means he will lose a year of eligibility and will have to pay his own way the first year, unless he preps. From what I hear, Tyrone has the SAT but not the grades, and if that situation keeps up, he will be a non-qualifier.

If Tyrone commits (anywhere) and then doesn't qualify, he may choose to prep for a year at a place like FUMA, which means that the recruiting battle would be wide open again. Recruiting gurus, if I'm a little off in my summary of the situation, please post any corrections to what I just said on my brand new Message Board.

One more note: Tech will display the list of signees at 6 p.m. Wednesday on the football section of their official sports site, http://sports.vt.edu/football.

The in-state recruiting battle has heated up in the past few weeks, with Tech getting burned by the Hoos for Monsanto Pope, Devon Simmons, Lube Stamasiskndncihevich (or however you spell his last name), and the infamous Yubrenal Isabelle. Tyrone is our last, best hope to land a big-time recruit from in-state.

So do the right thing, Tyrone! Wear the Orange and Maroon, and be a part of a defense that will feature such young stars as Carl Bradley, Thomas Adams, John Engelberger, Camm Jackson, Barney Bowman, Ike Charlton, Lorenzo Ferguson, Andre Kendrick, and a host of other hard-hitting Hokies! You won't regret it!

Here's something I've been meaning to do for a while. I've been wanting to say this on Hokie Central: if you've never been to the Texas Steakhouse on Route 460 between Christiansburg and Blacksburg, go there.

The Texas Steakhouse is a pretty good restaurant, but that's not why I'm telling you to go there. I'm telling you to go there because they're diehard Hokie supporters.

A topic that sometimes comes up on the call-in shows is the lack of visible support shown by area merchants in the Christiansburg/Blacksburg area. To clarify that point, taking a trip to Morgantown leaves no doubt in your mind that West Virginia University is located in that town. WVU flags fly everywhere, and the outdoor marquees for various business display messages supporting the Mountaineers.

On the other hand, driving into Blacksburg - on game day, for crying out loud - gives you almost no clue that Virginia Tech is right around the corner (except for the traffic). Most area merchants along 460 take the opportunity of a football game weekend to display their latest special, like "Buy one greasy hamburger, and get a second for 10% off," or "Garden rakes on sale, 5% off." Almost no businesses along the corridor fly Tech flags or display "Go Tech" messages on their marquees.

The Texas Steakhouse and Saloon, located on the right side of Route 460 just after you pass the New River Valley Mall, is an exception. Not only do they support Tech on their marquee outside, but they've got some cool Tech stuff inside, as well, including two custom-made neon signs that I'd give my eyeteeth to own. One of the signs is a "VT," and the other is the Fighting Gobbler silhouette.

There's other Tech paraphenalia spread about the place, making it a very Hokie atmosphere, and on Saturday nights, they hire the Hokie Bird to come in and entertain the customers (I'm not sure how often they do that, but I've heard that it's often, and I've seen the Hokie Bird myself in there. I gave him pointers before the Orange Bowl on how to sneak a right cross onto that goofy Nebraska mascot's huge chin).

So do the right thing - eat at a place that supports the Hokies! Next time, skip the Red Lobster or the Applebee's, and eat a place like the Texas Steakhouse and Saloon, or a place like Bogen's, where they put their heart and their spirit into the Hokies! And tell 'em I sent you!

Well, the time has finally arrived - I've got my own message board, administered and controlled by me on a separate server. The new board is now linked to the main page, so if you click on the Message Board link on the front page, it will now take you to the new board. For those of you who had a thread on the old message board that you absolutely have to check out or keep going, feel free to visit Hokie.com and drill down to my old message board, at least until it is removed by the staff there.

Speaking of Hokie.com, many thanks to the folks there for providing me with a message board until I could get something up and running myself. Also, thanks to fellow Hokie grad Greg Lee for configuring the script and providing the server room.

The new format is an old familiar format for most or all of you. It's a freeware script that is used on hundreds of message boards throughout the Web, including the two message boards on Mike Bakas's Big East College Football site. Have fun, fill the board with messages, and be sure to read the rules before you do!

Remember that the football schedule on my Hokie Central home page is tentative, as in "not final." Specifically, I'm getting reports that the BC and Miami schedules show them playing each other on Oct. 18, while my schedule shows Tech vs. BC on the 18th. I think the BC and Miami schedules are the official, final schedules, so look for Tech's game with BC to move. Tech will release the final version of the schedule in the early Spring, according to their web site.

Point being, don't go making any vacation or travel plans based on what you see on the football schedule on my front page.

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