Recent Comments
Haha, Internet HIGH FIVE!
It's hard for me to look at that picture to know that it's coming to an end. There have been so many things on the back side that you guys have no idea about. We have gone through stuff that most would be like screw it, I'm out. but he stuck with it. Couldn't be more proud of him.
He's worked so hard this off season. He's come a long way to achieve his dream. And this season we (like I'm out there with him) are going hard and strong.
Regarding Marcus Davis, I never have really had a problem with his work ethic. I always thought he looked like he had difficulty adjusting to the nuance of the wide receiver position. Even last year when he was making plays, he looked like a great athlete playing wide receiver instead of a great wide receiver. His weaknesses (route running, using that jumping ability to snatch the ball at it's highest point, getting seperation) are nuances of the wide receiver position that come with repetition.
We have heard very little about Roberts, Davis, or Coles this week. Hopefully that means Coles is recovering and Roberts/Davis are performing as expected.
I won't comment on the no-huddle and pistol stuff until I watch it on the 18th. As I have stated, with Thomas at QB I would much prefer that they use last year's shotgun running offense with some minor adjustments (counter-read, speed option thrown in.) I love the no-huddle, but the pistol stuff only sells with me if there is 100% commitment to establishing the tailback veer dive. The sweeps and counters force the QB to turn his back to the line, which totally negates LT3's running ability. I want to see their concept live, and then we will discuss in a French on the Bench in greater detail.
I have to preface this with the fact that most of my family is from the Eastern Panhandle in WV, so they're all fans of the cousins. My parents both attended (and met) and Shepherd College (now university), and eventually relocated to Manassas. I was born and raised there, and I promise it's not that bad. My earliest memory of VT is sitting in my dad's office watching the '95 Sugar Bowl, but I wasn't really hooked until my cousin was accepted in '98 and we started talking frequently about Hokie football. After visiting, I fell in love instantly. The campus had so much character and the community was inviting. I honestly chose Tech for the overall experience, not football. I cried when Shayne hit that kick in Morgantown, and cried again when WVU upset us back in '03. Despite my girlfriend (now wife) being accepted at JMU, I applied to Tech's political science program early and never turned back. From living it up in an all-male Pritchard Hall and loving that magical '04 ACC season as a freshman to the Glennon years and Tyrod, Lane Stadium continues to hold some of my fondest college memories. Blacksburg is magnetic for me. After 4/16 when most people left campus, I chose in town for the week. Walking around campus, smelling the SWVA air and looking at the War Memorial were the most comforting things for me. I couldn't be more proud to be a Hokie.
I graduated in '08 with my BA in Poli Sci and am graduating in December with my M.Ed from GMU. I teach high school Social Studies six doors down from my wife who teaches English. I try to corrupt my students as much as possible and infuse VT culture into my classroom whenever possible. My wife and I are expecting our first on 9/1 (please don't be two days late) and I fully plan on making her as Hokie crazy as I am. Besides the Hokies, I'm a DC homer, so my pro sports fandom has been pretty miserable for the last 20 years. Hopefully between the #firstplacenats, RGIII, John Wall and Ovi, someone can deliver me from this cycle of mediocrity!
Anyway, I'm more often a peruser, sometimes commenter on TKP, but you're welcome to find more of my Hokie thoughts on twitter at @TheMizHTTR.
These are little TOO cartoonish. Put the gobble on there if we go away from the VT. From a distance, looks like arrows pointing backwards...
At least it's Austin Peay.
You ARE a Hokie! Anyone that says otherwise is ignorant and should be disregarded as such. There will always be room in the Hokie Nation regardless of your background. What matters is what is in your heart, don't let anyone tell you different.
I was a college football fan from as long back as I can remember. My early years in life were spent in a small town in Arkansas and Arkansas football was all there was. Before I was a junior in high school my family moved to Pittsburgh. It wasn't a big change, just the accents, my school that was 15x as big, the cold weather and such. I had been a Steeler fan since the early 70s so that wasn't a problem but I became a Pitt over Penn St fan. When it became time to apply to colleges my guidance counselor suggest Virginia Tech. I had never heard of it and all my dad could offer was that Bruce Smith went there. Many people at my high school went to VT so the counselor thought I should apply and give it a look since it was close to home, 6 hours, but not close enough for the parents to pop in, 6 hours. My final schools came down to Penn St, Syracuse and VT. I didn't like PSU very much. I drove to see Syracuse but on the way my car broke down and I didn't make it. The next week my father and I visited VT. It was a gorgeous day and that is all it took for me, I was a Hokie. There was no interwebs at the time so I didn't know the football history. My first year we were 6-5 and I went to every home game. I didn't care that we weren't that good, I just wanted to cheer for my own college football team. So even though I didn't know it at the time, I think I have been a Hokie fan since birth, it just wasn't official until 1990. And for all the people that didn't go to Virginia Tech, my wife went to George Washington, she is a Hokie. My mom went to UMD, she is a Hokie. If I ever have kids, who knows where they will go, but they will be Hokies. Being a Hokie is not about going to Virginia Tech.
I enjoy: my wife; wine; pilsners; bourbon; Hokies; Steelers; Italy; my dogs; whatever my wife tells me to enjoy
I became a Hokie when I moved into Oshag in 1997 for my first year at Tech. After that its all been Hokie fever. We have ups and downs as a Hokie Fan. The 1999 season culminating in the Sugar Bowl close loss to FSU, going through the early Stinespring years. Watching Bowl games and wanting to punch your TV screen for stupid calls. All in All its hard for me not to bleed Marroon and Orange all the time, even though I am stuck in this God for Awful state with people who only see two colors, Crimson and Navy and Orange.
My favorite things in no particular order. My Girlfriend, Hokie Football, Redskins Football, Nat's Baseball (yes been a fan since they made their way down here). Apple gear, Audio Production and the web.
Would be Excellent. Get at me if you need an audio engineer.
Josh Stanford continues to impress. In the pass skeleton drill, the freshman from Lithonia, Ga., ran a great route against cornerback Antone Exum and caught a bullet from Logan Thomas. Exum slipped on the play, and Stanford went 60 yards for a touchdown. From this perspective, Stanford and Kevin Asante, a redshirt freshman from Charlotte, N.C., have been the most impressive of the younger receivers.
via HokieSports.com
I don't think he's had a bad practice yet.
My two top VT moments:
1) I listened to the Druckenmiller comeback win over UVA on a small dirty radio in a camper in Craig County, VA. My dad took me hunting every year during Thanksgiving, but the weather was bad that day so we headed back to the camper. Nothing builds the drama like a great radio call, and the slow build of the Hokies getting back into the game when things seemed lost, culminating in Bill Roth's amazing call on the Jermaine Holmes TD and the Banks INT is something I will never forget. I wish TV folks figured out a way to run the radio feed through the TV. It is sooooo much better.
2) In the fall of 2001, I lived Johnson City, TN. I was working out at Johnson City Health and Fitness where I overheard a debate between a couple of guys about Tennessee and Virginia Tech (who would win head to head, better program, etc.) I was absolutely swarmed with Vols coverage growing up, and I swear if Peyton Manning had a pimple on his ass it was the lead news story. I chimed into the conversation, noting the Vols refusal to give up a home game for a one off in Bristol or a home and home, and of course I received a steady dose of the 1994 Gator Bowl result. We clearly were at an impasse in the debate, and we shook hands, agreeing that if the Hokies and the Vols played again, we would both go and the loser would eat their humble pie.
Well, despite living in Abingdon, Farmville, and several areas in NOVA since that day, I regard this chap as one of my best friends. To say he is obsessed with college sports in an understatement (he once broke up with a girlfriend over an Indiana U hoops losing streak and he dragged me 3 hours to watch Chris Leak play 2 weeks before he decommitted from the Vols). I sat in a row with him and 5 Vols fans in a Hokie section for the Chik Fil A Bowl win, and that has to be the most satisfying win I have had as a fan. He lives in Charlotte now, and despite being a diehard Vol, he has also attended the last couple of ACC championship games with me. Humble pie has one hell of an aftertaste.
Ha! I am not the best person to ask. I learned to block in a wing-t, where down and cut blocks are basic fundamentals. I liked the rule that they had for us in college: If a defensive player is engaged with a blocker, another blocker can't hit him below the waist. Guys usually don't get hurt by cut blocks unless they are engaged up high. If this rewording allows offensive players to high-low guys, then I am not okay with it, but otherwise, cut blocking should remain a part of football. Angle, drive, and cut blocking is how football should be played, and a little part of me dies when I see guys zone blocking standing almost straight up and never getting head position or an angle on anyone. (I am glaring at Greg Nosal when I say that.)
Josh Stanford ain't scared.
I can add myself to the non-alumni group of Hokie fans on this site, although I have a long and sometimes trying history with the program.
I was born and raised in Abingdon, VA. I didn't play any organized football until I was a freshman in high school, but as a kid I started paying attention to the NFL around 1985 (I was 7 years old.) Before Air Jordan's were in vogue, I had a pair of Walter Payton Kangaroos with velcro and the pockets. I watched The Drive (Browns Broncos) and the following Super Bowl (Giants vs Broncos) is the first I can remember watching. My favorite team initially was the Seattle Seahawks, because I liked their logo/helmet in the Sears catalog. That became a rooting interest in Steve Largent, and a desire to play football and be a wide receiver. As toys and cartoons waned, I started to pay attention to college football, and I can remember rooting for Penn State (my mom's family has a ton of Penn State roots), BYU, and Auburn.
Virginia Tech is absent from that picture. Part of the reason was that Tennessee dominated football coverage locally and something just turned me off about them. Perhaps I hated Andy Kelly. The other reason is that my family did not have cable, and I didn't see Virginia Tech play on television until 1990.
The Hokies were going through a dreadful period post Dooley, and by 1990, they were persona non-grata in Abingdon VA. I had followed the UVA run to the number 1 ranking with some interest because a team from Virginia was actually decent in football. That team (Shawn Moore, Terry Kirby, Herman Moore, Chris Slade) was loaded and even though they were UVA, they were fun to watch. I can vividly remember Scott Sisson's field goal at the buzzer to beat UVA, and then they went into a tailspin, which culminated in a Will Furrer-lead thumping in the Commonwealth Cup. I watched the game at my cousin's in Roanoke, stunned that the Hokies, "who sucked" in a 7th grader's lexicon, were kicking the crap out of a team that had been number 1. That caught my attention.
The fall of 1992 brought continued mediocrity for VT, and saw me play tackle football for the first time. I didn't even know where to put my pads, and I selected a horrible looking royal blue pair of cleats from the pile. For the next 3 months, I was hardly better than a tackling dummy as I took the beating of my life on the JV squad. By the end of the season, a switch clicked and I finally learned how to deal with the contact. The next season saw me make varsity and the Hokies win their first bowl of the Beamer era. I was hooked?
What hooked me? I loved the bully-mentality of the defense, and I loved the fact that most of the players were lightly recruited guys who came, worked their tail off, and got better. Entry into the Big East and success also allowed Hokie games to be on local TV. The Hokies went from losers to monsters, with Brandon Semones, Cornell Brown, JC Price, George Del Ricco, and Ken Oxendine becoming favorites. The deal was sealed when I went to a football team camp in Blacksburg and had Brian Edmonds as a part time coach. Most of his coaching was about the benefits of playing college football, mostly involving girls, but his friendly nature made me realize that the players were "mostly" good guys.
When college selection time came around, Virginia Tech was my second choice, with my eyes drawn to Bud Robertson's Civil War classes. But, I decided to give college football a try and decided to go to my dad's alma mater, Emory & Henry. I gave thought to giving up football and transfering to Blacksburg after my sophomore year, but I would have lost 18 credit hours, so I stayed put. During the offseason, I spent a ton of time in Blacksburg, mostly at my cousin Miguel's (he was on the tennis team and lived in an apartment above Gumby's) or coming up to watch my brother's band (Running With Scissors) play at TOTs, Champs, Woody's and the Waterstreet. My last VT home game was against Pitt in 1998, which was my off week during my first year in the two deep. My senior year of football was the magical Vick 99 run, and with so many of the games in primetime, we often played at Fullerton Field at 1:00PM and then caught the game after dinner.
After 99, I only watched games on TV as I finished school and bounced around before getting a grown-up job. I started going to the games at Duke (short drive, easy logistics), with the ChikFilA win over Tennessee being my first big game. Arkansas State last year was my first game at Lane Stadium since 1998. I hope to get back at least for one game this year, and I will be at the ACC Championship in Charlotte and the Cincy game.
all of my family went to unc, but my grandpa went to tech with help of the gi bill in the 40's and was on the golf team. i grew up on acc basketball and only knew about vt once they played fsu in the nc game. i took one visit to vt in high school and knew it would be where i would go to college. i am from north carolina and i was the first in my family to not go to unc since my grandpa, but when i visited every student at tech was wearing vt clothes, the campus was amazing and everyone was so welcoming and i loved it. my first season as a student was 2004, so yes i am spoiled with winning seasons but i am i die hard hokie. i have become an obnoxious hokie fan and love the school til the day i die.
Million Dollar Man stepping up!
Other news per the Hokies in house blogger: http://www.hokiesports.com/football/blog/20120811aab.html
"Josh Stanford continues to impress. In the pass skeleton drill, the freshman from Lithonia, Ga., ran a great route against cornerback Antone Exum and caught a bullet from Logan Thomas. Exum slipped on the play, and Stanford went 60 yards for a touchdown."
While Stanford's performance is a most welcome suprise, is anyone else gulping that the Hokies starting boundary corner is getting lit up like a Christmas tree by a freshman every practice?
Stanford and Kevin Asante are noted as the top freshmen receivers. Perhaps Caleb is headed to a redshirt? With his athleticism, I still wish Caleb would have considered playing safety. It is a huge need, and he could be spectacular.
David Wang rolled an ankle today. Matt Arkema took his reps. Arkema has a great high school film, but may still need to fill out a bit. He got whipped strength on strength against the Hokies ones in the spring.. I wouldn't be suprised if Via is having a quick crash course just in case tonight.
I told TKP the other night that I really liked the way Edmunds ran through some drills that were on video the other day. I know it isn't much to go on, but he looked more assertive than Coleman and Holmes. I still want him at linebacker (perhaps even the mike with Taylor and Tyler both graduating and Deon Clarke also having a good camp) but he has a Lee Suggs look to him running in those drills.
I believe it designates Shane as head coach in a circumstance where Frank is unable to lead the team. Billy Hite was formerly the associate head coach.
I got your Ancorman reference! Nice!
I don't know whats more embarrassing, playing a bad FCS team or these helmets.
Probably the helmets. Yuck. Guess Nike was busy with the NFL's "new" looks?
Born and raised in SwVa, a town by the name of Big Stone Gap, about 40 mins from TN line. When I was 12 years old my youth pastor was a man by the name of Mitch Semones, brother of LB Brandon Semones. While most everyone else in my town was sporting Volunteer orange, I was rockin Chicago Maroon with my orange. After the 99 season a lot of Hokie fans sprouted up around town and all of a sudden I was a "band wagoner". To this day I have to remind people that Maurice DeShazo was QB when I became a Hokie fan, not Mike Vick. Which is more times than not followed by a "Maurice who?"
I think you said it all.
Dude defines built...
meh ... not a big fan
rather go with this if we're doing something different.
http://gamedayr.com/wp-content/slideshow/2012/02/acc-nike-pro-combat-con...
We are looking forward to watching his improvement this year! Adjusting from playing QB is a difficult task (which is the same reason I don't like how the staff has a habit of moving kids to different positions so often.) I'd love to see him used more in the intermediate passing game, but he will need to be a little sharper than he was last year on those route (lants, 7-15 yard outs). Both he and Coles have the ability to be just as good as Boykin and Coale were last year, especially down the field.