You can register on-line to win tickets to the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis 8/31-9/2. The winner gets to be a Cruz Pedregon honorary crew member, and the prize package includes:

• Tickets
• Hospitality
• The opportunity to meet Cruz and get autographs and photos
• Q and A session with Cruz 
• A pit tour 

The other giveaway is an opportunity to be the honorary starter at the Advance Auto Parts 200 NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour Race at Martinsville Speedwa on October 19, 2002. You will be given four luxury suite passes and hotel accommodations for two nights. This means that you can bring three friends along to the Advance Auto Parts 200 and the Old Dominion 500 Winston Cup race the next day!

And to make sure you look good waving the Green Flag, Advance Auto Parts will provide you and your three friends with official event shirts. They will also put your photo and bio in the track’s program so you can show your friends at home that you were the Advance Auto Parts 200 Honorary Starter. 

For full details and online entry forms, click here. 

Advance Auto Parts has been a TSL sponsor for many months now and has received some great feedback from TSL readers who shop at their stores. Thanks for supporting our sponsors, and keep it up, folks!

Woltz & Associates, Inc. Property Auction

Don't forget the big auction of 20 properties in the Roanoke and New River Valleys on August 28th. To see a preview of the 20 properties up for bid, and to learn more about Woltz and Associates, Inc. and their on-line bidding process, see their web site.

Hilldrup Moving and Storage  are experts in all varieties of relocation, including domestic, international or commercial. Hilldrup also specializes in warehousing and storage. If you or your company is in need of a relocation expert, please look first to Hilldrup, sponsor of TechSideline.com and supporter of the largest VT sports online community. Contact them today! As always, keep an eye on our list of sponsors on our TSL Sponsors Page.

Abiamiri is one of the nation’s best defensive end prospects, boasting a great combination of size (6’5" 240 lbs) and speed (4.5 forty) that has colleges from across the country eager for his services. Wooden, a 6’1" 190 lb athlete, plays both offense and defense for the Gilman school. He is considered one of the best athletes in the state of Maryland.

Earlier this summer, it appeared Abiamiri and Wooden would wait until the fall to narrow down their prospective schools. According to Cormanick, however, the duo has a pretty good idea of the final five schools that will get official visits.

"Victor is probably going to officially visit Stanford, North Carolina, Notre Dame, UCLA, and Michigan," said Cormanick. "Ambrose likes UCLA, Southern California, Notre Dame, Boston College, and Stanford."

"There may be some changes here or there, but these are the most likely lists for both players."

Nothing is ever over until signing day in recruiting, however it appears the Virginia Tech coaching staff has an uphill battle for these two excellent prospects.

Hokies Looking Good for In-State Top 5

Virginia Tech already has a commitment from Virginia Top 5 player Matt Welsh of Centreville High School. They appear to be in good shape for the other four players as well (per TechSideline.com's ranking of the Top 40 players in the state), as they are near or at the top of the list for Bethel’s Chris Ellis, Phoebus standouts Xavier Adibi and Phillip Brown, and Western Branch All-American linebacker Vince Hall.

Rivals.com reported early this week that the Hokies lead for 6’5" 230 lb defensive end Chris Ellis. Ellis has consistently listed the Hokies in his top 2 throughout the recruiting process. The best defensive lineman in Virginia this season likes the way Virginia Tech plays defense and has many friends on campus, including 2002 VT signee and Bethel graduate Jimmy Williams. It appears Chris Ellis’s recruitment will come down to a classic state battle between the Hokies and Virginia Cavaliers, with UVa currently placing second on his list.

Tech also is the leader for all-everything defensive back Phillip Brown. Brown lists the Hokies as his leader over Clemson, NC State, and UVa. Quite possibly the best prospect in the state of Virginia, the 6’0" 180 lb Brown runs a consistent 4.4 in the 40. He serves as a jack of all trades player for the Phoebus Phantoms, playing wide receiver, running back, cornerback, and even quarterback for head coach Bill Dee.

Roaming the field with Phillip Brown is Xavier Adibi, a 6’2" 205 lb linebacker prospect who currently has offers from Virginia Tech, Tennessee, and Maryland. As a junior last season, Adibi tallied 80 tackles and an astounding 19 sacks in helping lead Phoebus to the Division III State title. He currently lists a top five of Virginia Tech, Clemson, NC State, Tennessee, and Maryland.

Another state linebacker receiving heavy attention is Western Branch’s Vince Hall. Hall will most likely wait until the February signing date to make his decision, although he is not averse to committing early if he feels comfortable with the school. In early summer, Hall said "I would commit early if everything felt right. We’ll just have to see." Hall is currently listing Virginia Tech as well as Tennessee, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Clemson as his top teams with Virginia trailing behind.

If the VT coaching staff keeps up this pace with the in-state recruits, it is possible Virginia Tech could sign all five Top 5 prospects in the state of Virginia.

Texas Alumni Chapters Offering Commemorative TAMU/VT T-Shirt

Commemorative VT/Texas A&M T-shirt Offered by the Texas VTAA

Back Design (covers full back) (click to enlarge)

Front Design (left crest) (click to enlarge)

Click here to order

The three Texas chapters of the Virginia Tech Alumni Association have combined to offer a special commemorative T-shirt for this year's Virginia Tech-Texas A&M game. If you're going to the game, the Texas VTAA chapters want you to wear this shirt, pictured to the right.

The idea is simple: Texas A&M's dominant color is maroon, just like Virginia Tech, and the Texas VTAA feels, rightly so, that wearing an orange VT T-shirt, instead of maroon VT gear, will make the Hokie fans in the crowd stand out.

The Texas VTAA (consisting of the Austin/San Antonio, Dallas/Fort Worth, and Houston chapters) would like to sell a bunch of these T-shirts and create a "sea of orange" in the Virginia Tech fan section.

The shirts were designed by a Houston Hokie alumnus, and Jubilant Cargo, who prints the shirts and is handling the Internet mail order business, is partially owned and operated by another Houston Hokie.

Proceeds from the sales of the T-shirt will go into the Texas VTAA scholarship fund and serve as scholarship monies to be awarded to high school students from the state of Texas who have chosen to attend Virginia Tech.

The shirts can be ordered in Youth and Adult sizes, and they cost anywhere from $10 (for Youth sizes) to $15 (for Adult S, M, L, and XL) to $17 (for Adult XXL and 3XL).

Please note that Jubilant Cargo has placed a September 6th deadline for mail orders being delivered several days before September 21.

3rd Annual Hokie Pride Day, 8/30/02

The Roanoke Valley Hokie Club will be leading Hokie fans in the Roanoke Valley and Hokie Club chapters across the nation in celebrating the third annual Hokie Pride Day on Friday, August 30, 2002.

The goal of Hokie Pride Day is to promote pride and enthusiasm for Virginia Tech and the 2002 football team. Roanoke Valley Hokie Club is encouraging local businesses to decorate their establishments and use their signs to support Hokie Pride Day. Participating businesses may also offer specials to Hokie fans or have a Hokie casual dress day. In the previous years over 100 sponsors in the Roanoke Valley have participated in Hokie Pride Day.

Hokie fans are invited to gather at for a Hokie Pride Happy Hour beginning at 5:00 p.m. at 419 West, the newly opened restaurant, at 3865 Electric Road in Roanoke. For directions, call (540) 776-0419.

Hokie fans in the Valley will be displaying their Hokie spirit by wearing maroon and orange, decorating their homes and vehicles, and preparing for the upcoming 2002 football season. The Roanoke Valley may turn into a sea of maroon and orange for the day!! Each of the four municipalities in the Roanoke Valley (Roanoke City, Roanoke County, City of Salem, and the Town of Vinton) will be issuing proclamations in mid-August, declaring August 30, 2002 as Hokie Pride Day.

Roanoke Valley Hokie Club has contacted fifty-eight Hokie Club chapters across the country to extend the celebration of Hokie Pride Day. All chapters between Georgia, West Virginia, the Tidewater area, and Maryland have been invited to plan activities for the Hokie fans and unleash Hokie Pride in their area.

Hokie Pride Day is going to bigger and better for year number three. There will be no doubt that the Hokie Nation supports their team like no one else. Show your Hokie Spirit!!! Wear your colors!!! Fly your flags!!! Go Hokies!!! We are ready for the 2002 football season!!!

For more information, please contact any of the following members of the Hokie Pride Day committee:

• Pat Green (540) 345-8521 [email protected] 
• Jeanne Welch (540) 966-4195 [email protected] 
• Randy Woodson (540) 342-2265 [email protected] 

Or visit: www.RoanokeValleyHokieClub.com

Massey Ratings are Out

Kenneth Massey has released his preseason college football ratings and predictions on his web site.

Massey Ratings:
http://www.masseyratings.com/rate/cf-m.htm

BCS Ratings (uses no Margin of Victory):
http://www.masseyratings.com/rate/cf-bcs.htm

Weekly Predictions:
http://www.masseyratings.com/rate/cf-p.htm

Each team name is clickable, and the team page lists predictions for the entire schedule. For example:

http://www.masseyratings.com/rate/teams/cf/VaTech.htm

Shows that Virginia Tech's expected record is 9.87-3.13, and the Hokies have a 0.73 % chance of going undefeated (based on the preseason ratings). These predictions will be updated following each week's games.

VT/TAMU Game Time Set?

The TV Guide web site is showing Virginia Tech's game against Texas A&M as a a 3:30 start, with ABC broadcasting the game regionally. As is TSL's policy, we will wait for confirmation from the VT Athletic Department before updating our schedules and TV info.

The Loss of a Friend

We were saddened to hear of the passing of Commonwealth Attorney Ed Meeks, who died at the age of 56 on Tuesday. Ed suffered a heart attack Saturday afternoon and passed away Tuesday night.

Ed Meeks posted as "Hokie68" on the TSL message boards and always brought a cool demeanor and clear viewpoint to the board. A longtime supporter of TSL, Ed was one of the original 264 HokieCentral.com members back in 1997, when the web site was in its infancy.

Ed was a frequent contributor to the boards and was active on the site and posting the very afternoon that he suffered his heart attack. His final post (click here to view it) was a commentary on booing college athletes and is a perfect example of the class he brought to the TechSideline.com message boards.

His post count will stand forever at its final total of 1,583 posts, and he will be sorely missed. Godspeed, Mr. Meeks, and may you continue to enjoy Hokie football from your new seat high above Lane Stadium.