BEARDS > PEOPLE
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1 week 4 days
# | Virginia Tech Officially Announces Brian White as the New VP and AD 
Recent Comments
Macado's is capable of making a good burger, but they're inconsistent and their fries in particular are just awful now. This is how it is down the hill here in Rumandcoke anyway, I haven't been to the one in Blacksburg in at least 5 years probably.
The place I miss in Blacksburg is Highway 55, that was the best burger in town circa late 2010s but they were a Covid casualty I think. Apparently they still have locations all over NC.
Agree with everyone saying they don't necessarily think "burger" when they think of the Cellar.
Excited about the hire. Nothing guaranteed but comes from a great athletics family and network. Father was AD for ND and Duke, brother Danny is currently AD at Tennessee and probably one of the best run ADs in the nation, and his other brother is head MBB coach at Georgia. Franklin I believe had a huge hand in this as well. Let these guys cook together. Based upon Franklin and White's stated ambitions today (winning a natty at VT), I'm stoked. Also great network if we were looking to hop over to the SEC one day.
I still think the Macado's in blacksburg still makes a good burger
After 4 consecutive titles, I'll allow it
Not counting chickens but our path forward is clearing up.
I'm worried it's going to work out a bit TOO well and we'll be looking for another coach in 4ish years lol.
I think the other thing that strikes me reading the NFL response is their implication of how little information was included.
While the public doesn't have the body of the application, the implication certainly is that there was little to no detail included regarding a plan to continue to avoid gambling.
For instance, some sort of agreement on Sorsby's part to either continue in counseling, accept electronic monitoring of his devices, or some other concession regarding the League's ability to monitor for any improper activity (or all of the above). He and his Camp have taken the angle that his issues were related to mental health, and gambling certainly has high recidivism, yet it doesn't appear they acknowledged that in any substantial way.
If you take the example of Aaron Hernandez who had a "complicated" college career-- but he agreed to additional drug testing and contractual stipulations upon his entry to the league.
Taken as a whole, I suspect the application came across as abrupt and self-serving without much (or any) contrition.
And while, yes, part of the purpose of the Supplemental Draft is to avoid having to sit out a year, most of the prior examples have been related to academic ineligibility without the additional elements of gambling, repeated lying, and then suing the sports' governing body.
I think the lack of any admission of this by Sorsby reflected particularly poorly upon him.
I certainly think hubris was part of it but I think it's more to do with Soresby expecting the NFL to do as he wants. As the message said he applied late, gave weak arguments as to why, didn't address his legal issues with NCAA or the original criminal gambling issue. Soresby had an expectation that the NFL would simply do it.
I don't think if he was fully honest and contrite it would have meant NFL would open the supplemental but he definitely wouldn't have gotten the dress down. And to the NFLs point he hadn't learned anything and his immediate reaction was to pursue legal action against the league.
I think anyone looking at this situation objectively has to acknowledge a pretty extreme amount of hubris coming from the Sorsby camp
I was talking to a friend about this – and I think this is the piece that hasn't registered with me. From my perspective, it kind of seemed like every other party in this entire saga demonstrated a great deal of hubris, and the only reason that Sorsby caught backlash is because both fans and the power that be are not use to players acting this way.
Furthermore, I read this not as simply a message to Sorsby but to all of the potential future Brendan Sorsby's.
Meh if that was the goal then they should've just limited the response to 'gambling is a special time of crime that hurts our brand' - I think that would prevent gamblers more than this.
The message was: The NFL will not be used as a pathway to circumvent rules and escape punishment.
This is rich, because that historically has been the point of the supplemental draft.
While not stated politely, I think the major point of suggesting that filing this paperwork with 72 hours to spare and what sounds like nearly zero supplemental documentation was more than reasonable. Sorsby & Co. looked at this situation as simply announcing your intentions, filing some paperwork, and then scheduling some workouts. Long and short, they felt that this was a formality that Sorsby was entitled to when, in reality, the Supplemental Draft is completely voluntary and generally outside of normal operations
Fair. I get this.
while this could have been done in a much more congenial manner, in the real world when you are trying to peddle bullshit sometimes you are going to get called on it and that's what happened here.
Yea, I get this too. I like i realize that I tend to unwisely hold institutions to a higher standard than individuals. Like I would think the NFL would be above taking unnecessary shots. Guess not.
Goodell chose to personally admonish Sorsby because it was the easy/popular thing to do.
I think that sells the situation a bit short. I think there were several factors here that lead to the overall tone of the correspondence as well as the fact that it was almost certainly deliberately leaked by the NFL to the media.
I do agree that Goodell and the power brokers are extremely protective of the NFL Brand and that played a part here. But you need to look no further than the NBA to see that the dangers of gambling effecting gaming integrity are real. Having anything other than a Zero Tolerance policy is extremely dangerous and sets an awful precedent. Adam Silver has taken a significant toll in the media over the last year or so between the Gambling scandals in the NBA and the obvious Cap circumvention in the Leonard situation----Goodell was making it crystal clear he's not going to be that guy.
Furthermore, I read this not as simply a message to Sorsby but to all of the potential future Brendan Sorsby's. The message was: The NFL will not be used as a pathway to circumvent rules and escape punishment. And let's be honest, all of the efforts of the past 2.5 months on Sorsby's part have been largely just to do exactly that--keep playing football, keep making money, and move on like nothing happened. I will continue to grandstand that the current Lack of any Regulation in NIL and Eligibility in College Football is completely short-sighted and prepares College Athletes neither for life as Professional Athletes nor as Professionals in any other occupation and I see this saga as a clear reflection of that. Sure, you get a bag but once that bag is gone, where are you going next? The repeated uses of the words "accountability" and "responsibility" were not accidental.
Finally, I think anyone looking at this situation objectively has to acknowledge a pretty extreme amount of hubris coming from the Sorsby camp. While not stated politely, I think the major point of suggesting that filing this paperwork with 72 hours to spare and what sounds like nearly zero supplemental documentation was more than reasonable. Sorsby & Co. looked at this situation as simply announcing your intentions, filing some paperwork, and then scheduling some workouts. Long and short, they felt that this was a formality that Sorsby was entitled to when, in reality, the Supplemental Draft is completely voluntary and generally outside of normal operations. The NFL clearly took exception to that. Then you add in the agent comments attempting to throw Cincy under the bus a week or so ago and then the Lawyer yesterday stating that the CBA had been violated (when it clearly and absolutely hadn't)--whether directed by Sorsby or not, the people who are representing him make him appear both ungrateful and unrepentant.
My take: while this could have been done in a much more congenial manner, in the real world when you are trying to peddle bullshit sometimes you are going to get called on it and that's what happened here. Happens to many people everyday who don't have NIL deals so my sympathy is pretty limited.
No way that either fan base would have been okay hiring him as HC, right? They've got SEC money to hire way better candidates than a guy who went 16-24 at VT with easy schedules. Makes it very hard to fathom that. Like what would the AD at either school have seen that would make them go "hey we need some of that in our football program"?
That makes you hate the ravens?
You said it yourself, the two guys who instigated the fight were the ones who died. His two friends were charged with murder but were acquitted in a few hours of deliberation because it was ruled self defense - again because they were attacked by those two guys.
I get it; this isn't the behavior of a model citizen, but i think it's common for people to go "lol he murdered 2 guys and got to stay out of prison because he was a good football player - what a joke of a system" but that isn't really accurate
If you and your friends get attacked on the street in the night, should you lose your job because your friends attacked back in self defense? Again, I know i'm defending an unpopular guy who is no saint - honestly it's just a pet peeve of mine
That's a great article for VT, Pry, and Franklin.
Shows how the community is special. I like it.
I really hope this works out from a wins perspective.
SON OF THE SKIPPER
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1 week 5 days
# | USA's Alex Freeman, Son of Hokie Legend Antonio Freeman, Scores His First World Cup Goal Folding under pressure since forever.
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1 week 5 days
# | USA's Alex Freeman, Son of Hokie Legend Antonio Freeman, Scores His First World Cup Goal That is a long time to keep a napkin.
He and his associates where involved in a fight where two people died. He flipped on his buddies for a plea deal after he was found to be obstructing justice. It is true the people that died instigated the fight. Obstruction of justice is a pet peeve of mine.
Lot of guys catching Pompano in the first trough early in the morning here on Topsail. Maybe that will translate down around Masonboro.
Craig trip cancelled. Will try the North Fork of the Holston for some panfish in between summer rain.
SON OF THE SKIPPER
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1 week 5 days
# | USA's Alex Freeman, Son of Hokie Legend Antonio Freeman, Scores His First World Cup Goal Was at the Gator Bowl in '94. Tough loss. Bad loss in which Peyton Manning just whipped us. But we snagged front row tickets (I was a 12 year old) and Antonio tore it off and threw it in the stands. I just stared at it sitting next to me and picked it up with a napkin. Still have it.
I'm sure with a proper dental record review I could authenticate it!
"We have Franklin at home"
Removing the empty trophy case was a mistake.
Ok, maybe it wasn't.
But allowing the program to flounder to a point where the empty trophy case was viewed as laughable instead something to aspire to was a problem. The messaging for the past several years should have been about trying to get back to that level. You can acknowledge it's not likely any time soon without just simply setting lower goals.
I remember when Arkansas fans thought they were getting Franklin it would have been kinda funny to give them Pry instead
Has to be Arkansas or Kentucky, just looking at the list of schools with new coaches this year. My money is on Arkansas.
I think this reflects the changing nature of the post season. When it was only 2 or 4 potential participants every year, talking about competing for a national championship was just foolish. The number of actual potential teams was tiny.
The expanded playoff makes it plausible even if still a difficult goal. And for the last few years, us saying anything like that would have been laughable. With the momentum from the Franklin hire, things seem more optimistic
edit: to be clear, I mean in the recent context. When we were winning 10 games a year and consistently at the top of the conference, aiming for one of those 2 spots was realistic. Not so much the Fuente-Pry years. Obviously the Franklin years are TBD.
I know you've all been anxiously waiting for me to weigh in. Here goes.
He brings back Stick it In, he can do whatever else he wants.