Ask TheFifthFuller: Championship Week* Edition

Inane mailbag question and answers, PLUS a ranking of all 15 games in the streak according to the TKP LOLUVA™ metric.

[Mark Umansky]

Hello. WELCOME TO CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK. As they say in the NBA Playoffs, win or go home. While most of the teams playing this weekend aren't playing for their lives, apparently Fuente and crew need the pressure to be playing for THEIR JOBS in order to, I dunno, show up after halftime. The reward is a date with the alma mater of Eddie Royal's brother.

1. From SharkbaitHokie: How miserable are loluva fans right now?

A. Hehehehe, my neighbor won't even talk about it. I've brought it up four separate times and she immediately changes the subject and pretends not to hear me. When I finally got it to the point where she couldn't avoid it, she was very clear about how she felt. "STOP. IT'S BASKETBALL SEASON. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY WE HAVE A F#&KING FOOTBALL TEAM."

2. senjohnblutarsky asking something a little too on point with his handle: Is there anyone who actually enjoys straight vodka? Or is it just alcohol to be mixed into things?

A. No. Although, frankly, I don't believe anyone who says they enjoy drinking unmixed liquor. We went to the Final Four in Atlanta for my bachelor party and we went out after the semifinals and we all ordered One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer to honor the Delaware Destroyer. The bartender asked us how we wanted the bourbon and the scotch. The bourbon and beer we did as a boilermaker and, being idiot children, got the scotch on the rocks. My friend almost punched me in the face for making him waste money on the scotch and being forced to drink it because he was a cheap bastard. Yeah, I'm sure it wasn't good scotch. No, I am not sure good scotch exists.

3. Yetti asks: How much sawdust can you put into rice krispie treats before people start to notice?

A. I liked the Reddit answer to this that said rice comes from plants, plants are basically trees and sawdust is tiny parts of trees, which is what rice is, so voila, 100%. However, I happen to know the truth. Per my vegan inlaws, in order to make Rice Krispie Treats vegan, they replace the rice krispies with reconstituted saw dust. Just mix in a little milk and eggs and boom. Vegan Rice Krispie Treats.

4. Hokie Hounds asks: Can every team that wins their game during Championship Week claim a championship?

A. I think this is a very good rule. Quick, someone come up with the Southern Appalachian Coalfield Championship Trophy or, better yet, BELT. Then make sure the winner gets an automatic invite to the playoffs. I don't want Marshall to get left out.

5. VT_Fencer asking etymological questions: If a group of crows is a murder, and a group of geese is a gaggle, then what is a group of Hokies called?

A. This is so much fun. Did you know a group of giraffes is called a Tower? And a group of owls is called a Parliament? Perhaps more germaine to the question, a group of wild turkeys is called a Rafter. It's pretty cool that they came up with terms that suit the particular animal. So I was wondering, what WOULD they call a group of Hokies? I was wondering if they'd go for something like a Lunchpail, or worse, something along the lines of "What's a Hokie? I AM!" Then I realized, it's right in front of me. A Fuller. A Fuller of Hokies.

6. Jander75: Over/under 69 loluva souls crushed on Friday? I would normally say they over but they are much more of an olympic sport school than a football school...

A. WAAAAAAAAAAAAY under. They have like seven fans and as soon as Perkins dropped that ball, they went 100% focused on Kyle Guy's man bun.

7. HomebrewHokie08 wants to do some menu planning: If Urban Meyer eats sad pizza, what does Bronco Mendenhall choke down after big game losses?

A. I mean, the easy answer here is sour grapes, right? WINE, GET IT? But, nah, that's too easy. So I went poking around on the internet about Bronco and found this beauty on his Wikipedia page

Thank you, anonymous Hokie, for making the internet a better place. And Bronco probably gnaws on store brand beef jerky that he bought at a discount off of the expired food shelf in the back.

8. Dragone asks: If something "goes without saying", why do people still say it?

A. This is just like people who sprinkle "Obviously" into a sentence unnecessarily. There's two paths here; one is that it truly is obvious and you don't need to say it because we already know, which makes you a tool who likes the sound of his or her own voice. The second is that you are just being a condescending prick implying that it SHOULD be obvious but it appears you must explain it to the lackwits around you. It is not uncommon for these "Obvious" talkers to be LOLUVA grads, it should go without saying.

9. 4VPISU actually remembered there's a game this weekend and wants to talk about it: Is Willie Johnson a legitimate deep threat for Marshall? And while we're on the subject of roster: is there another D-1 school that has more players with 'difficult' to pronounce last names?

A. Who? OH, football game! Sorry, it's basketball season and Virginia Tech is a basketball school. Sometimes I forget the Hokies have other teams that Justin Robinson doesn't ball out on. Anyways, I wouldn't expect Willie to go too deep. He's much more likely to go underneath, try to slip between defenders in a zone and once he tucks it away, really try to pound it home. The issue I'm hearing from scouting this team is that Willie is just too soft, and he frequently is explosive early and then can't get up for those jump balls the rest of the game.

I didn't see that Marshall's roster of last names was TOO difficult, but I LOVE the fact that they had pronunciation guides for every name, and it was the players themselves giving their Monday Night Football introductions from what sounded like a crowded elementary school cafeteria. My biggest fear is Ty Terrell, who is joined by Kereon Merrell, and then Garet Morrell, Alex Mollette and finally Jestin Morrow. They also brought Danny Darko back to life to flesh out the wide receiver rotation. Some other highlights include Obi Obialo and dudes named Wale, Dallas, Paris and Stone.

10. QMaroonQ is trying to STRESS ME OUT: How do we counterbalance the fact that Marshall has a Fuller coaching their safeties? How do we counterbalance the fact that Marshall has Cornell Brown coaching their defensive ends?

A. DON'T YOU PUT SAD SPIDER-MAN ON ME! THAT'S NOT FAIR! And I looked him up; he's some sad sack from Massachusetts. That is NOT the purebred Fuller line! Fullers only go north of the Mason Dixon to punk some fools on the football field, or coach them, as Corey is currently doing in Michigan. Cornell's presence does concern me, however, I am fairly confident he's going to go over before the game and have a good talk with Foster and Wiles and remember to accidentally signal in the wrong plays to his linemen on any key play.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Can you rank the past 15 VT/LOLUVA games in order of how much LOLUVA LOLUVA'd, with 15 being very little LOLUVAing and 1 being the most LOLUVAd LOLUVA has been?

A. Big Perm asks a good question; yes, LOLUVA LOLUVAs every year, but what year did they LOLUVA the MOST? What was the PEAK of the STREAK? Let's go to the videotape! In order from least LOLUVA to most, I present, 15 years of futility, encapsulated.

15. 2010 - The beginning of the Mike London era was never in doubt, but at 37-0 late in the fourth quarter, LOLUVA actually blocked an extra point and scored a couple of minutes later, marring the ideal scoreline. An unforgivable sin. But don't worry, this is a REBIRTH year, the program will rise from these ashes!

14. 2006 - This was an embarrassing 17-0 sleepwalk where the Hoos gained a total of 112 yards. TOTAL. The Hokies defense was great, and the offense was led by...Sean Glennon and Kenny Lewis. And y'all lost to that.

13. 2009 - LOLUVA was terrible this year and Tech treated them as such, a 42-13 shellacking. Ryan Williams had FOUR touchdown runs and then David Wilson went in during garbage time and he scored ANOTHER one. I cannot imagine receiving over three quarters of pain and then the opponent puts the backups in and it's David Wilson. Sadly, this marked the end of the Al Groh era.

12. 2007 - A back and forth affair that LOLUVA actually led at one point in the second quarter and punctuated by trying to pick a fight with Sean Glennon because of victory formation hijinks. Heralded the arrival of one Tyrod Taylor to the rivalry.

11. 2005 - 52-14 over a mediocre LOLUVA team. Hokies were up 24-0 at halftime, the Hoos scored on the opening second half drive before giving up 28 third quarter points to meekly bow out. This one gets ranked higher because it officially marked the field as Lane Stadium North:

10. 2012 - A 17-14 squeaker. David Wilson was gone and it was officially the Logan Thomas era. A mediocre Tech team is saved by an even worse Hoo squad (this was, sadly, a recurring theme). This one gets downgraded because Ron Cherry refereed.

9. 2013 - Another year of Hokie regression mirrored by LOLUVA stringing together 2 wins and no conference victories. A battle of field goals punctuated by an Edmunds brother touchdown that is best forgotten. You really have to wonder how LOLUVA managed to win none of these games when Tech was relatively not-good.

8. 2017 - Nothing was really riding on this one and LOLUVA put forth that much effort. This one gets a little bump because it was a shutout and allowed the commentators to remark during THIS year's game that the Hoos hadn't scored on the Hokies in two years over three halves before they finally broke their duck.

7. 2016 - The problem with this game is Tech was at 38-0 three-and-a-half minutes into the third quarter. Inevitably, UVA got a field goal back, Fuente got pissed and dropped two more touchdowns on them for good measure. This was a new Hokie coach reminding a new Hoo coach of his rightful place in the state. Gets rated higher because the Hoos, despite only winning 2 games, were convinced that Bronco was going to change EVERYTHING. Lol.

6. 2008 - Probably one of LOLUVA's best chances to win over the streak, this was Tyrod's first real year and Hokies defense wasn't great. Their halftime lead evaporated when they made the unusual halftime adjustment of forgetting how to play offense.

5. 2004 - A 24-10 win between two ranked teams, it was tied with under ten minutes to play until Josh Hyman hauled in a 32-yard touchdown and Cedric Humes put it out of reach a few minutes later. This really started the downward spiral and would mark the last year that LOLUVA would end the season ranked. After this, they mostly just started wishing they could end the season before Thanksgiving.

4. 2014 - This one was a nailbiter. LOLUVA led late in the fourth quarter until Bucky Hodges grew six inches and the Hokies retook the lead with under two minutes to go. Not only would a win here have sent the Hoos to a bowl, it would have broken the Hokies bowl streak. And yet, LOLUVA somehow managed to take a bouquet of roses and turn it into manure and then eat it.

3. 2011 - Turns out Beamer was just saving that perfect scoreline so it could be hung on London in Lane Stadium North. This one gets rated higher because, at 8-4 and ranked No. 24, London had "turned a corner" and this was THEIR YEAR and then...

2. 2015 - The Time Cop game. Once again, LOLUVA had the chance to end the Hokies' bowl streak in a back-and-forth game that came down to a tie game and a 41-yard Joey Slye field goal attempt with 1:38 left. And then...

Time out.

Smart, Coach London, freeze the kicker. I mean, that time out would come in handy on the ensuing drive to potentially tie or win, but you do you. Slye comes back out to try the field goal aaaaaaaannd...

Time out.

Oh ho HO, Coach London going for the ULTIMATE brain f#&k. Joey's gonna be all discombobulated now. Look at him, he looks all rattled coming out for the field goal try and...

Time out.

What the hell? Mike London just blew ALL THREE timeouts trying to freeze the kicker? For reals? UVA's getting the ball back after this, and will potentially be down three with not a lot of time left. Wait, there's Joey, I hope he's not throwing up through his face mask he's so nervous after all that time thinking about this and worrying about what happens if he misses and...oh, it's good. LOLUVA gets the ball, sack, completion, CHUCK CLARK PICK AND THAT'S IT. This would truly have taken the cake if not for...

1. 2018. LOLUVA should have salted this game away seven different times and repeatedly kicked themselves in the nuts. This was the most "This Game Is On Drugs" game I have ever been emotionally invested in. Only the Hoos could possibly lose a game in this dumb of a fashion. 98.6% win probability! AND THEY BOTCHED IT.

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Warning: this post occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)..

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Pain is Temporary, Chicks Dig Scars
Glory is Forever, Let's Go Hokies!!

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uva - the taint of the ACC
Callused perineum is a symptom of being a uva fan

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If you play it, they will win.

"How the ass pocket will be used, I do not know. Alls I know is, the ass pocket will be used." -The BoD

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Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies

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"Our job as coaches is to influence young people's lives for the better in terms of fundamental skills, work ethic, and doing the right thing. Every now and again, a player actually has that effect on the coaching staff." Justin Fuente on Sam Rogers

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"What kind of person would throw away a perfectly good dog?"

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"Our job as coaches is to influence young people's lives for the better in terms of fundamental skills, work ethic, and doing the right thing. Every now and again, a player actually has that effect on the coaching staff." Justin Fuente on Sam Rogers

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"What kind of person would throw away a perfectly good dog?"

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"Our job as coaches is to influence young people's lives for the better in terms of fundamental skills, work ethic, and doing the right thing. Every now and again, a player actually has that effect on the coaching staff." Justin Fuente on Sam Rogers

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"What kind of person would throw away a perfectly good dog?"

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30 years after starting grad school at Virginia Tech, I finally defended my dissertation and earned my PhD.
Don't give up on your dreams.

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"Our job as coaches is to influence young people's lives for the better in terms of fundamental skills, work ethic, and doing the right thing. Every now and again, a player actually has that effect on the coaching staff." Justin Fuente on Sam Rogers

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Plan for the worst and hope for the best, not the other way around.

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"The Big Ten is always using excuses to cancel games with us. First Wisconsin. Then Wisconsin. After that, Wisconsin. The subsequent cancellation with Wisconsin comes to mind too. Now Penn State. What's next? Wisconsin?" -HorseOnATreadmill

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Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies

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Wet stuff on the red stuff.

Join us in the Key Players Club

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Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies

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"Tajh Boyd over the middle . . . and it's caught for an interception! Michael Cole, lying flat on his back, ARE YOU KIDDING???"

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I just sit on my couch and b*tch. - HokieChemE2016

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"Our job as coaches is to influence young people's lives for the better in terms of fundamental skills, work ethic, and doing the right thing. Every now and again, a player actually has that effect on the coaching staff." Justin Fuente on Sam Rogers

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I just sit on my couch and b*tch. - HokieChemE2016

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"Our job as coaches is to influence young people's lives for the better in terms of fundamental skills, work ethic, and doing the right thing. Every now and again, a player actually has that effect on the coaching staff." Justin Fuente on Sam Rogers

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"What kind of person would throw away a perfectly good dog?"

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Amateur superstar and idiot extraordinaire.

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"What kind of person would throw away a perfectly good dog?"

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21st century QBs Undefeated vs UVA:
MV7, MV5, LT3, Grant Wells, Braxton Burmeister, Ryan Willis, Josh Jackson, Jerod Evans, Michael Brewer, Tyrod Taylor, Sean Glennon, and Grant Noel. That's right, UVA. You couldn't beat Grant Noel.