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   Welcome to TSLMail #53 - Friday, November 15, 2002    
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   The New Format of the TSL Extra

Have You Seen the TSL Extra Lately?

We've revamped the TSL Extra. Gone is the monthly release, and in its place is a steady stream of articles, posted on the home page of the web site one at a time and marked with the TSL Extra icon: .

So far, in the first nine days of this new format, we have posted nine TSL Extra articles, an average of one a day. Under the old format, that was a whole month's worth of content!

"More bang for the buck!" crowed one message board poster. Exactly right. That's what the new format is all about: more bang for the buck.

And there's even more bang for the buck on the way, so what are you waiting for? Subscribe today, for just $24.95 a year, and read our latest articles, including recruiting updates on Fontel Mines, Terrell Golden, Duane Brown, Tyrone Moss, Tripp Carroll, Courtney Denson, and Bill Foran; a statistical analysis of how the Hokies have performed in November during their nine-year bowl run; analysis of the painful loss at Syracuse; and more.

The fun's just getting started, and the long list of TSLX subscribers is swelling! Click here to sign up today!

   Tech Sports News

Interview With Tripp Carroll

Offensive line stud Tripp Carroll is on track to achieve his goal of enrolling at Virginia Tech in January. The fast-talking Carroll, a veritable human quote machine, has some interesting things to say about what he expects when he gets to Tech. We tracked down Carroll at his home last night and asked him about that, plus how his last high school season went.

"If everything goes well here at my school," Carroll said, "I should be done in December, and then I can join the team in January. December 18th is my last day [of high school]. I'll arrive at Tech January 10th, move into the dorm, have orientation on January 12th, and classes start on January 13th."

Carroll will be on scholarship the minute he arrives at Virginia Tech, and his scholarship still count against the 2003 recruiting class. There was some speculation that he might be able to practice with the team during Tech's bowl game practices, but Carroll is going to play in a high school all-star game instead.

"I'll be in San Antonio at the U.S. Army All-American game. January 5th is the game, and I'll be there between December 30th and January 5th. I was invited to play in the Florida-California All-Star game as well, but that's not going to work out, time-wise."

To say that he's looking forward to his time at Tech is an understatement. "I'm ready to get my rear-end handed to me," he says frankly. "I'm looking forward to going somewhere where I'm not the best, where I can get the teaching that I've not had in high school. In high school, when you're older and one of the best players, they kind of overlook you and work with the younger kids, and expect you to teach them.

"I'm ready for it. The only way to get better is to work hard."

Carroll's love for Virginia Tech, its coaching staff, and its people is well-documented, and there's one person in particular that he likes at VT. Totally unprompted, Carroll says, "Somewhere in [this interview], you've got to bring up my idol, my future teammate, Jake Grove [whom Carroll first met at the 2002 Spring Game]. He's the man. I'm maybe going to live with him next year. Not first semester, because I have to live on campus for a semester, but he has offered to have me come live with him next year. We've become really good friends in a short period of time. He's a really nice guy."

With his early arrival at Virginia Tech, and the chance to go through spring practice with the Hokies, we asked Carroll if the Tech coaching staff had discussed his opportunity for playing time as a true freshman in 2003. "They don't promise anything, and it's all about how hard you work," he answers. "But the one thing they've said is that by coming in early, it probably triples my chances of playing early."

Tripp also told us what he thinks are the keys to a successful Tech career, and what it was like playing high school football in the state of Florida. And you may be surprised to find out that he only played one game on the offensive line this year. What position did he play in the other nine games? To find out all that and more, check out our TSL Extra exclusive article, "I'm Ready to Get My Rear-End Handed to Me."

Please join us in welcoming one of TSL's newest sponsors, Crutchfield. Crutchfield is the place to shop for all your electronic needs, providing everything from home theatre equipment to the latest car audio gear. To keep up to date on the latest product additions, special offers, and other news from Crutchfield, subscribe to their email newsletter.

If you are in the market for any of the products and services offered by Crutchfield, please give them FIRST SHOT at your business. We want to let them know that their TechSideline.com sponsorship of our publication and community is a sound business decision. Sponsorships are a critical component of our business and their success will permit us to continually improve our services to you, our community.

Thanks for all your continued and active support of TechSideline.com, and stay tuned for more information on Crutchfield in the weeks to come!

As always, keep an eye on our ever-growing list of sponsors on our TSL Sponsors Page.

Christmas is Right Around the Corner -- Shop at TechLocker.com!

A brief conversation with the harried Tom at TechLocker.com reveals that we're busy stocking up for Christmas, so get set, get your plastic out of your wallet, and fire when ready -- do your Christmas shopping at TechLocker.com.

Lots of places sell Tech stuff online now (it seems there's a new one popping up every day), but money spent at TechLocker.com doesn't go to some faceless corporation looking to make a buck; it gets plowed back back into TechSideline.com, to make your favorite web site even better.

We also promise that we'll beat the other guys at product quality, price, speed of delivery, and service. Online selling of Hokie apparel and goods isn't just a side business for TechLocker.com. We're not a retail store looking to increase our profit by tacking on a web site to hawk our goods. No, online sales is what we do, period. And we're good at it.

To get started just head over to TechLocker.com now. If you have any trouble, or the item you want is not in stock, just email Tom at [email protected], and he'll help you out. Happy Holidays!

These are Not Last Year's 'Eers

Last season, the Hokies pasted next week's opponent, the West Virginia Mountaineers, by the score of 35-0 in Morgantown. WVU was floundering their way through a 3-8 season in their first year under new head coach Rich Rodriguez.

The 'Eers struggled while adjusting to the new offensive and defensive schemes put in by Rodriguez and his staff, and their only wins were over softies Ohio, Kent State, and Rutgers. Miami, Boston College, and the Hokies creamed WVU by a combined score of 114-13.

Things weren't much different early this year for the Mountaineers, who started off 3-2 with victories over Chattanooga (56-7), Cincinnati (35-32), and ECU (37-13). The losses came to Wisconsin (34-17) and Maryland (48-17). There was nothing to indicate that the Mountaineers were going to do much better than five wins or so.

Since then, WVU has ripped off a 4-1 run, with the only loss coming to Miami, 40-23, in a game that was tied at 23 in the third quarter. WVU has knocked off Rutgers (40-0), Syracuse (34-7), Temple (46-20), and Boston College (24-14) in the run that has propelled them to 7-1 (4-1 Big East) and third place in the conference, just ahead of the Hokies.

WVU is doing it with the running game. They're second in the nation in rushing offense at 295 yards per game, and Avon Cobourne, the Big East career leader in rushing with 4,739 yards, is third in the country this season with 140.9 yards per game.

The Mountaineers, however, are 110th in the nation in passing offense at 126.6 yards per game.

On defense, WVU is 11th in the country in rush defense, giving up just 95 yards per game. They're 20th in total defense at 311 yards per game.

The biggest reason for the WVU turnaround, in addition to their impressive rush offense and rush defense statistics, is their # 3-in-the-country ranking in turnover margin at +1.6 per game (28 takeaways, just 12 giveaways).

Prior to the season, this game was pictured as a cakewalk for the Hokies, a guaranteed win. Now, with Tech reeling and WVU coming on strong, it looks like a dogfight.

The game is Wednesday, November 20th at 7 p.m., and it will be televised on ESPN2. Jeff Ouellet will bring us a preview early next week.

-- Will Stewart

   TechSideline.com Updates From the Past Week


TSL Extra Recruiting Updates: QB's Denson and Foran
by Chris Horne, 11/15/02, 11:30 pm
in TSL Extra

Tripp Carroll: "I'm Ready to Get My Rear-End Handed to Me."
by Will Stewart, TechSideline.com, 11/15/02, 11:10 am
in TSL Extra

Beerman's Picks
by Ben Shapiro, 11/15/02, 12:30 am
in Voice of the Fan

November: A Cold, Cruel Month
by Marty Cassady, 11/14/02, 2:55 pm
in TSL Extra

Around the Big East
by Matthew McKinley, 11/13/02, 9:45 pm
in Voice of the Fan

TSL Extra Recruiting Updates
by Chris Horne, 11/12/02, 2:05 pm
in TSL Extra

Hokie Hotline Notes
by GalaxHokie, 11/12/02, 1:30 pm
in Hotline Notes

Syracuse Game Analysis
by Will Stewart, TechSideline.com, 11/12/02, 1:15 am
Click here

TSLX Supplement -- by Will Stewart
Topics: The importance of play-action, a dozen plays that changed the game, and Ernest Wilford's day.

Randall Explodes, Hokies Lose Anyway
by Will Stewart, TechSideline.com, 11/10/02, 12:30 am
in Football


 
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