Rare Breed

Editor's Note: This is TKP's official stance on how to conduct yourself Saturday. --Joe

66,233. Remember this number. It is exactly the amount of people necessary to take a structure of steel and stone and turn it into a terrorizing sea of opposition for any visiting team. Let the sun go down and an energy amasses that can go toe-to-toe with any stadium in the country. Lane Stadium is considered by most as a second tier venue behind the likes of The Big House, The Swamp, and Happy Valley heralding body counts near or above 100,000. However, the fan base is what makes or breaks the intensity. In 2005 Rivals ranked Lane as #1 in their Toughest Places to Play followed by a #2 spot in ESPN’s “Top 10 Scariest Places to Play”. Make it a night game in a marquee match up and any visiting team will give it a unanimous #1. Getting to that point however takes a lot of hard work, determination, and high tolerance for alcohol. Therefore, herein will be a go to guide for preparation if making the trip to Blacksburg this Saturday.

Editor's Note: Moved to the front page because, well, yeah, read the thing and tell me you don't come away impressed.

By: Max Esterhuizen

You are enduring the elements at a football game: the cold, the rain, and the high winds. None of it matters when you are watching your favorite team play a vicious match. Suddenly, there is a bone-rattling hit on the other teams player. You start cheering because of the ferocity of the hit. The other player doesn’t get up. Concern fills the stands. The player gets up with help, but appears confused and woozy. He just suffered a moderate concussion, which is a growing problem in today’s athletics.

Occurrence and Symptoms

A concussion can occur when trauma to the brain causes it to shake and rattle around inside of the skull. The loose definition of a concussion is that there is an apparent change in the state of the persons’ mental status. This change can be difficult to measure, as no two concussions are alike for any individual. The symptoms are not always easy to identify, but some of them are loss of consciousness, amnesia, severe headaches, disorientation, confusion or mental fogginess for mild to moderate concussions. For more serious concussions, serious mental degradation and not being able to handle stress are some of the symptoms. Additional symptoms are not universal, but also include hypersensitive senses, especially a reaction to moving lights and loud noises.

Recently, the doctors have gained the knowledge that a brain is still venerable even after the initial symptoms have gone away. A brain that has not healed completely is at an even higher risk of re-injury, and also at a higher risk of causing lasting problems to the patient. This has raised awareness about the issue of concussions and caused research about the identification of concussions to be taken more seriously, as having a concussion once does increase the likelihood of another concussion occurring.

Editor Note: This is bumped because it's an insightful fantastic piece. Also, on National Signing Day Hokies asked, "Why not Virginia Tech?"

Last December, ESPN premiered another outstanding documentary in their 30 for 30 series titled "Pony Excess" about the rise and fall of the Southern Methodist University (SMU) football program. If you follow college football recruiting, even casually, do yourself a favor, fire up the DVR and record this program the next time it airs. "Pony Excess" greatly detailed the dark underbelly of college football recruiting in the mid to late 1980s. Many NCAA rules were completely disregarded while money, cars, and girls were some of the incentives used to influence the decisions of 18 year old super star high school athletes. But that was then and this is now, that kind of stuff doesn't go on anymore right?

While attending a Super Bowl party a few weeks ago, I struck up a conversation with a casual friend who also happens to be a high school football coach. During our conversation, the topic of "Pony Excess" came up and I asked my friend, "does that kind of stuff still go on that you know of?" He looked at me and said, "Yes and on a much larger scale." In fact, he told me that this was probably the dirtiest year he has ever seen in recruiting. My friend explained to me that there is so much money and so many stakeholders now in college football, some college football programs are willing to do whatever it takes to recruit at the highest level and it is apparent to him that those programs no longer fear the wrath of the NCAA. During our conversation the coach discussed with me just a few of the things he's seen and some of the methods programs employ to skirt NCAA rules.

Can You Hear Me Now?

The first thing I brought up with my friend was all of the drama on National Signing Day this year. It seemed to me that this year more than ever, kids were making late decisions and suddenly changing their minds at the last minute. My friend explained to me that many programs no longer abide by the rules of the "quiet" and "dead" periods in college recruiting, some college coaches contact recruits when they want and as many times as they want. How can coaches get away with this? Well, in many cases, boosters are providing coaching staffs with BlackBerries that are billed back to the booster or a company owned by the booster. Coaches can call, text, and send emails using these devices and the NCAA has no way of knowing that they exist. In addition, some coaches are apparently giving kids prepaid cell phones that coaches can use as a direct line to the recruit. Since the minutes for prepaid phones are purchased up front, a bill is never issued for the service and the recruit simply tosses the phone when all the minutes are used up. So, despite the fact that January 31st through February 3rd was a Dead Period, some college coaches were likely contacting recruits right up until their letter of intent was signed and faxed to the school of choice.

Happy birthday Stiney! Or belated birthday as it were. I can't believe that I forget about your special day. Truth be told I've regularly forgot my mom's birthday every year since my freshman year in '01.

/dorm phone rings at around noon

Mom, "Hi Joe, how are you doing."
Joe, "Good, just finishing up homework."
Mom, "OK. Anything going on today, something special maybe?"
Joe, "No, not really."
Mom, "Nothing on your calendar then..."
Joe, "Nope."
Mom, "OK hun, I know you're busy I'll let you go, just remember Mommy loves you."
Joe, "Love you too."

/hangs up phone
//grabs another beer out of the fridge
///puts on headphones and goes back to playing Counter-Strike

later that weekend...

Me blurting out during a game of pong, "Shit, I think I forgot my mom's birthday."

Anyways, I hope you had a splendid birthday. I'm sure you did. I wonder what happened...

Stinespring's Birthday Itinerary

7:00pm After practice he meets the family in Christiansburg at Texas Roadhouse for dinner.

7:15pm Orders half rack of ribs well done, "you gotta work for the meat, don't wanna lay up short near the bone neither", a loaded house salad with gravy dressing and green beans smothered in cinnamon butter. Mrs. S points out he didn't coordinate that well.

7:50pm At the behest of his family, he rides the wooden bull around the restaurant moving an efficient 2 inches per pull-n-buck.

8:00pm Tells his family, "my real gift is that I can provide for y'all." Pulls the waitress aside, hands her exactly $63.74, and says, "Oh, and your tip, how 'bout some inside info, we're gonna throw it long first play against Wake Forest."

8:20pm Returns home for coffee and dessert with friends and family.

8:25pm ♫HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU...♫

8:27pm Stiney blows out the candles, wishes for a mid-sized American luxury sudan, nothing in particular they all just get the job done and meticulously slices his German chocolate cake in 16 even servings. His guests are amazed how he cut each piece exactly the same way, over, and over, and over again. Unfortunately the cake has been left out to dry for too long and is stale.

8:38pm Friends and family retire to the living room.

8:40pm Coach Beamer calls to say he's running late and is only one block away.

8:42pm Stiney regales his guests by reenacting the Empire's attack on the Rebel Alliance's Echo Base on Hoth. He turns off the lights and uses a flashlight to make shadows on the wall to show the Millennium Falcon escaping. It was quite beautiful really.

9:15pm Mrs. Stiney puts the kids to bed and asks Bryan to put on some easy listening music.

9:16pm ♫ Tupic - Hit 'Em Up ♫

9:21pm ♫ Eazy-E - Real Muthaphuckkin G's ♫

9:26pm ♫ Jay-Z - The Takeover ♫

9:30pm Everyone decides a game of Monopoly is in order. On his first turn Stiney lands on Chance, advances token to Boardwalk and decides it's best to put it up for auction. "I don't like anything that flashy."

10:00pm With the caffeine wearing off everyone decides to call it a night and wishes Stiney one last "happy birthday" on their way out.

Obligatory