countdown

They're always the ones catching up to me, and it's never in time.

Magnificent. Kudos to you billdozervt.

There's only 47 more days until Hokie Football.

"An F/A-18F Super Hornet flying a Virginia Tech flag somewhere over Iraq", via.

Whenever, wherever we go Hokie Nation is always flying the flag. Our loyalty and pride isn't unique among college football's most recognizable fan bases. From my travels I've noticed an abundance of LSU, tOSU and Notre Dame hats, vests and shamrocks standing out from the crowd. However, that doesn't make the feeling of seeing a perfect stranger rocking the orange and maroon any less special. It almost always starts with a "Go Hokies!" and ends up with conversation and new friend that you'll lose touch with immediately, but will meet over and over again.

There are only 65 more days until Hokie football.

Is David Wilson ready to be the Hokies' featured running back?

"I think I perform well when pressure is put on me," says Wilson, who gained 619 yards on 113 carries while splitting time with Evans and Williams last season. "When I have to do something, that's when I feel like I perform better."
...

"It's my time," Wilson says. "I'm the No. 1 running back going into the season. I have to work hard and make sure I lock that down and keep moving forward. I can't be complacent. I have to be consistent."

It would seem so. However, I think it would be unreasonable for anyone to expect Blacksburg's very own sunny blend of Superman and Evel Knievel to make up for Evans' and Williams' production last season. While Wilson banged out 619 yards on his own, the 100 Proof Backfield combined for 1,331 yards. I think it would be a major success if he could carry his own production forward and account for 75% of the losses. That would be 1,617 yards.

In other news, bowling balls are disregarding gravity and taking to the air. Wilson finished 6th at the NCAA Track Championships. He leaped a personal best 53-1.75 in the triple jump and earned All-American honors.

You can hate me now.

The one game to win. Tyrod went 4-0 against UVa. In four years he threw for 537 yards, completing 60% of his throws, ran for 212 yards and scored 4 touchdowns. As of today we've owned the Commonwealth Cup for 2,387 consecutive days.

Drop a caption for Tyrod waltzing into the end zone in the picture above, below. If you're new around these parts just create an account.

Things have been quiet around here. That's a good thing, noise around a college football team at this point in the season is never a good thing. I hope you guys have more to share than I do.

Jim Tressel resigned as head coach of The Ohio State Buckeyes on Memorial Day morning. His brilliant coaching career was ended the minute he withheld information about his players receiving improper benefits. Good people make mistakes too, and I hope he gets the opportunity to redeem himself. Tressel (241) had been second only to Joe Paterno (401) in wins among active coaches. The Frankinator (240) now has the distinction of riding shotgun to JoePa. The HokieMD is thankful for everything Coach Beamer has done.

Their facial expressions are priceless.

THERE ARE ONLY 100 MORE DAYS UNTIL WE KICKOFF* AGAINST APPALACHIAN STATE. WOO!

*I mean this in the most literal sense. If we win the toss we're going to defer, and if App State wins they'll take the ball.

Preseason rankings mean very little, but they make for good conversation to obsess, gripe and swoon over. Bill Roth says preseason preview magazines Athlon and Lindy's have the Hokies ranked 7th and 12th respectively. I think both are too high. I rate a team based on how good I think they are, not how well I think they can manage their schedule. I can't see the ceiling for this team, but the offensive line and LT3 really need to convince me they can ball before I look up.

More importantly Roth reports (pun intended?) the STRAIGHT BURNER and Nosal will be 100% healthy for camp.

INJURY UPDATE: Good news on the injury front for the Hokies. Per Assistant Director of Athletics for Athletic Training Mike Goforth, Tech receiver Dyrell Roberts is "100 percent and back over 200 pounds for the first time." Goforth said he’s never seen anyone so excited to get back on the field as Roberts, who endured a painful injury and rehab from his compartment syndrome incident in last year's Georgia Tech game. Goforth says that lineman Greg Nosal, who had shoulder surgery, will be at 100 percent by the start of the second summer session and should be ready to for the opening of preseason practice. Safety Theron Norman, who also had shoulder surgery, could return by the end of September or early October, per Goforth.

♫ The Hokiebird makes it his biz to make sure all the cheerleaders swoon. ♫

via @vtnews: The 1962 edition of the Hokiebird.

The real offseason began immediately after the conclusion of the Maroon-White game two Saturdays ago. Sure, there was no Hokie football going on between the end of the Orange Bowl and start of spring practice, but it was a manageable break, one that's often appreciated by my body, but never welcomed by my heart. It's almost summer, and soon we'll all pass the time by doing summery things: grilling, yard work, vacationing, going to the beach, etc... If any of you are like me you'll take the beautiful weather and fun in the sun a little bit for granted because you'll still be looking ahead to the upcoming season.

My obsession with Hokies football is in part what motivated me to create this site. We talk Hokies football all year long here. I've said it since the beginning, our community is only as good as those who contribute to it. So I invite those of you who come by daily/weekly/whatever-ly to create an account if you haven't already, say hello, and join the conversation in the forums/posts so we can all pass the time to September together as quickly as possible. As always if you have any suggestions of how we can make things better around here please let me know.

♫ the boss boss boss da boss boss boss da boss boss boss da boss
the boss boss boss da boss boss boss da boss boss boss da boss ♫

There are only 150 more days until kickoff against Appalachian State. That calls for an Ashley Schaeffer, "Woo!" I wrote only like it somehow won't be an excruciatingly slow crawl though summer until the start of the season. It will be, but at least now we have spring ball to tide us over. Right?

Including the two scrimmages and the Maroon and White game there are 15 spring practices in total. The former three events are the only ones open to the public. Those are our only opportunities between now and August to use our eyes to evaluate, scrutinize and analyze the team. Everything else that goes on will happen behind closed doors, with peaks through window granted to a precious few media members, some of which the average Hokie cannot stand because they don't hold the team as near and dear to the heart as the rest of us do. (That's neither fair or rational, but it's true.)

What we will learn/are learning from the other twelve practices will be barely enough to survive on for those of us obsessed with Hokie football. A steady diet of coach speak, served up with a couple morsels of sustainable information, chopped and re-chopped by the various media outlets over and over again. That's just how the Frankinator wants it: uneventful, calm and controlled.

Yup, I do believe Ashley Schaeffer's, "Woo!" has just the right amount of emphasis behind it. Even though I'm being fed, spring ball will end and I'll still be hungry.

Haters Gonna Hate

Some never get there, some never even get close, but when you're on your way, tell 'em where you're going.