Recent Comments
I was thinking about our AD and the size of VT. I'm going to go on a DC rant because he was right.
Overall, our AD has failed. We are too big to be this mediocre(being kind here) in athletics overall.
We get beat by smaller schools and far inferior, or what should be far inferior schools way too often and historically done so. There are way too many examples, but remember ECU beat us and gave us fits. Beamerball was our crown jewel exception for a small period of time and in the scheme of things was a moment and not a way of life for VT AD.
VT for the most part has "settled" for mediocrity its entire existence.
We had spurts in WBB, Softball, Baseball, some individuals in T& F, and now Wrestling.
Outside of that, C- at best as a whole.
For the Love of God, please Lord, Baby Jesus, PUH-LEASE...........PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, let JMFF be the next coming of VT Christ.
PLEASE!!!!!
Extra cold means the dogs need more fuel.
Athletics wants us fans to experience what our players do: having ice in their veins
Oh wait...that last happened in 2022.
On FB they reported a call they had with Paige at the checkpoint - she said the dogs were eating a lot and so she was going to go ahead and take her 24 and get the team fed up and rested.
When we played Zone this year (maybe 5 minutes in game time) our team sucked at it. It needs to be practiced more so we can actually switch to it every game and throw people off.
But we put in new bigger screens in Cassell this year. So what if we don't actually have hot water in the bathrooms.
I was talking about the play prior...it was a completely lackluster inbounds attempt in a late game situation with Wake knowing we only had 4 secs to shoot.
There's a reason why we lost so many games late this year and it wasn't because guys were doing "dumb things" or whatever CMY said...they weren't coached well enough or prepared.
On the 2nd attempt at least we tried to run some screen action with Lawal/Schutt but unfortunately Lawal got his elbow high and caught the defender clean...
WOW!!!!!!!!!!
I think calling it a fluke isn't giving the coaches and players credit (go back and looks the scores of the UNC and Duke games). The underlaying problem is the game has changed. CMY Is a system guy and his best teams/players are those that have been around it for 3-4 years (Aluma, Murphy, etc.). We had a decently talented team this year, but only 3 coaches. If we can keep the roster together (as many as possible, even Neo...yes, I know... it if he can get back to early season playing style) and get a full staff of coaches, add a few pieces (compliment for AH) this team could be dangerous. If not, expect more of the same and CMY will retire at the end of the season.
Dont forget this was after we had a to to avoid 5 seconds on the play prior. I do argue that the defender was inside lawals cylinder and was holding him prior to the elbow (which in the replay I was never even convinced made contact)
Do any of CMY teams get amped up? They hardly ever look like they are having fun out there.
Man I am at the point where I need the athletic department to show they actually care about basketball until I get emotionally invested again. The last time we made a tangible lasting investment into the sport was the Hahn Hurst facility that was built 18 years ago. At that time Cassell was already outdated and it's gotten even worse since.
That renovation plan has to go through. We need a modern facility to at least not have a reason players don't want to come here in recruiting. We can have all the money we want but at the end of the day we are talking about a facility that is at a minimum 30 years out of date, if not longer, and that alone will keep players and player families away.
Honestly, even if we fire CMY, we are going to struggle to bring in a quality coach with the facilities we have. Too much of an uphill battle to get involved with.
The real tomorrow is the friends we made along the way
Will someone do a Wake possession by possession breakdown because they got shoulders by our defenders nearly every possession. Our guys just let them go to the hoop like we had Hakeem Olajuwon and Manute Bol waiting there to clean up their mess.
Sorry but Mike is just clueless. This team is getting torched on ball D and be refuses to play zone to at least change the tempo and keep guards out of the paint. This teams D has regressed all year. They allow 53% 2 pt FG good for 217th. I'm not really sure anymore that Frazier would be the answer as he was supposed to be the defensive guru.
Either way, this program needs a reset and new energy
Bro- Mike Young no play zone even when your perimeter defenders are getting torched off the dribble. Dude is freaking clueless
Such a disappointment of a season. What infuriated me about the whole thing is that we showed we had the talent to compete with the top teams in the conference, and we screwed it all up repeatedly because we didn't have a strategy and it usually resulted in 2nd half let downs all season long. Its going to be very hard for me to pick up interest in the program again until we see some coaching changes.
The ACC Tournament run was one of the biggest flukes in VT sporting history, which in reality probably bought CMY at least 3 additional years on the job that he might not have deserved.
The team we have this year is the team we have always has under him. A team with good raw athleticism kneecapped by some of the weakest fundamentals and dumbest decision making you will ever see. The rate that his teams beat themselves is impressive with players that really don't improve year to year. In this era no lead has been safe and you spend most games wondering when the extra long stretch of a scoring drought spurred on by atrocious shot selection will occur.
The data and film cuts both ways - it's easier to know what your opponent wants to do. But your opponent knows more about what you want to do too.
It might be tired but it's reality. We pushed all our chips in on football, we don't have the resources right now to pay CMYs buyout and a new coach and the full NIL for basketball. We need football to start driving revenue again before those changes can be made.
I'm not convinced we get an invite
I think our chances died long before the UVA loss... like, a month before.
Whether yesterday or today, when we look back it will have happened.
Wednesday morning, March 11 at ~6:45 AM east coast/2:45 AM Alaska. GPS has most of the leading teams resting in Takotna checkpoint, but 1 has pushed past.
1. Riley Dyche running 16 dogs 331 miles in/644 to Nome
2. Jessie Holmes resting in Takotna with 16 dogs, 329 miles in/646 to Nome
3. Paige Drobny resting in Takotna with 14 dogs, 329 miles in/646 to Nome
4. Mille Porsild resting in Takotna with 16 dogs, 329 miles in/646 to Nome
5. Ryan Redington resting in Takotna with 16 dogs, 329 miles in/646 to Nome
6. Travis Beals resting in Takotna with 15 dogs, 329 miles in/646 to Nome
7. Michelle Phillips resting in Takotna with 14 dogs, 329 miles in/646 to Nome
8. Jessie Royer resting in Takotna with 15 dogs, 329 miles in/646 to Nome
9. Pete Kaiser resting in Takotna with 13 dogs, 329 miles in/646 to Nome
10. Wade Marrs running 13 dogs 324 miles in/651 to Nome
Rookie Sam Paperman is in the red lantern position, running 16 dogs 220 miles in/755 to Nome.
Screen shot of Paige's team having just arrived at Takotna. Team seemed to not be as excited and eager to go as some teams when they arrive at a checkpoint and don't want to stop. Some yipping and pulling, but not dogs jumping in their harnesses like they are saying, come on mom, let's go.
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First on-trail award goes to Jessie Holmes as the first musher to reach McGrath. From the Iditarod website:
"Veteran musher Jessie Holmes (bib # 7 ), of Brushkana, Alaska was the first musher to reach the McGrath checkpoint at 8:03 p.m. today with 16 dogs in harness, winning the Alaska Air Transit Spirit of Iditarod Award.
First presented in 2019 and given to the first musher to reach the McGrath checkpoint, this award is presented by Lead Dog partner, Alaska Air Transit. First introduced in 2019, this award honors the first musher to arrive at the McGrath Checkpoint. The McGrath community shares deep ties to the Iditarod, and the award reflects that connection, featuring beaver fur mushers mitts with Athabaskan beadwork on moose hide, handcrafted by Loretta Maillelle of McGrath, along with a beaver fur hat made by Rosalie Egrass of McGrath. The award was presented to Holmes by Jessica Beans-Vaeao, Charter Coordinator for Alaska Air Transit"
I will never fault somebody who makes that decision.
If you're not in the right headspace, don't risk it and definitely don't risk hurting the dogs.