Illinois Hokie's Recent Comments

If you're ever in Asheville, give Biscuit Head a whirl.

Bah gawd, that's Hokie Fireman's music!

This comment, right here, reflects the crux of the matter regarding the stagnation/regression of TKP. I have been a proponent of this idea since TKPC became a thing. It has never gained traction. In fact, there honestly isn't much different about TKPC today vs the day I joined (which was, I think, the first or second day it was a thing). The stated goal of TKPC was to hire a dedicated beat reporter to cover VT sports, with a target of 1,000 members to fund that. After years of membership hovering in the mid 600s, it's clear that that goal is unattainable using the current model.

So what is the current goal of TKPC? Still to hire a beat reporter? I can't argue it possibly could be, because we have a large enough sample size to demonstrate it won't meet that mark. But has that goal been replaced with another? In essence, where is the money going? What am I buying for by $84?

If the goal still is to hire a dedicated reporter, the business model must change. But I haven't seen any eagerness to explore that sort of change. So we're kind of stuck in limbo, not really sure where we're headed, but also not really certain we're off course because we aren't completely certain of where we're supposed to be headed.

Then why are you in this thread?

So here we go. I've held my cards during this, because I didn't feel like letting speculation on a coaching change diminish my enjoyment of the first Sweet 16 run of my lifetime.

First and foremost, a deep and sincere thank you to Coach. I am not sure anyone else could have pulled off this complete rebuild of a program. It took a complete culture change and complete buy-in to pull VT men's hoops out of the shit-encrusted cellar it was in, and Buzz was the perfect fit. He did to the basketball program what Frank did to the football program. That is no exaggeration. At all.

It is specifically because of this perfect fit that I say this move simply does not make sense. VT is a football school first, yes, but aTm is a football only school. When Buzz came here, the fanbase was checked out, because the JJ hire cemented that basketball was a distant second fiddle in the athletics department. At aTm, the fanbase is checked out, and their team is consistently good. The Aggie faithful will never embrace Buzz the way Hokie Nation has, because it is impossible to make those fans care about basketball. It doesn't matter how many runs Buzz goes on, or how deep into the tournament they go, the hoops team will be eclipsed the moment spring football starts in College Station.

Ultimately, home is home, I guess. The Texan is returning to Texas. But ultimately, I think Buzz will be the one to lose out on more from this move. Our program is rebuilt. (Again, thank you, Buzz.) We are ready to keep improving. Meanwhile, aTm has just proven they will dismiss a coach with two recent Sweet 16 appearances. The money is better, but Buzz wasn't spending nearly everything he made here. So I just don't see what Buzz gets out of this except a shorter leash and an ungrateful fanbase.

That was maybe the worst call I've ever seen on that block.

SIU was custom built to counter what Greenberg's squad was all about that year. The outcome in the second round sucked, but it wasn't unexpected.

March 16, 2007. An incredible contest between Greenberg's Hokie squad and Illiniois. We trailed from the 8:39 mark in the first half until Deron Washington hit a jumper with 47 seconds left in the game. And then about six different heart attacks during those last 47 seconds of play. The last time we made it out of the first round of the tournament and just a classic game all around.

Woah, didn't realize details of the offer were known. That's insane, considering we are paying Buzz more than aTm was paying Kennedy. I didn't realize aTm was prepared to more than double their basketball salary.

For those talking shit about this, at least in regards to the Mayomust sauce, did y'all heathens never eat at Joe's Diner after a hard night at Hokie House/Sharkey's/Rivermill/Big Al's?

Yeah, obviously if nobody else sees it as a problem, I'm off base. And it really wasn't anything specific to this thread that sparked the response, I've just noticed a lot of older threads being revived and decided to finally share my musings on this one.

Anybody ever heard of this stuff?

Normally I wouldn't be interested in a young rye from a moonshine distillery, but it keeps popping up on my Facebook feed, and my go-to whiskey blogs give it pretty favorable reviews.