Last Call For Hokie Tracks

This is the last edition of Hokie Tracks for the foreseeable future. Players report Monday, practice begins Tuesday. There will be actual football things to cover (yay!), and more substantive posts focussed on the upcoming season. I liked talking about non-Tech football things during the offseason, I think some of you might have too, if you're one of those people and a story, picture, whatever, catches your eye, share a link to it in the forum to get a discussion going.

This might be an actual copy of the Frankinator's to-do as two of the first three items involve special teams. What stood out to me was Beamer's praise of sophomore Ryan Malleck.

"I think Malleck is the (most complete) guy right now," Beamer said. "Martin has certainly got some toughness to him. Dunn could become that. He could certainly become a threat as a receiver. Now, if he improves his blocking, he could get there. (Duan) Perez-Means and Redman, they've got some opportunities there, too. I think Malleck is kind of the one that's the most complete right now."

Beamer Co. burned Malleck's redshirt last season, but he played just 40 snaps at tight end. In the media guide he's listed third the depth chart. Maybe that's the guy they're hoping steps up and wins the starting job.

Shane was a guest speaker at the Roanoke Valley Sports Club and he got the third-degree from an old lady. My favorite part of the conversation.

Sitting near the front of the room, 70-year-old Tech fan Carol McGuire-Bishop pounced.

"Are you trying to find some good O-linemen?" she said point-blank.

"Well," Shane said with a smile. "We don't try to find BAD ones, I can say that."

Love it.

Teel doesn't believe the Big East will be in the Orange Bowl opponent pool, and Teel usually knows these things because he's talking to the right people. A guarantee to play the Big East Champion each year would be a disaster, more often than not it'll be a lower quality opponent that's bumped and bruised. But what if there's a year where Boise State runs the table, they could be the most attractive opponent. However, it's probably not worth the risk of being stuck with another undefeated Big East champ, Boise is the only team in the conference that the national media is infatuated with. ESPN will pay $80 million each per year for the Rose Bowl and Champions Bowl, if the Orange Bowl wants to approach that number it'll have to deliver top-tier opponents. I think it will. The flexibility of an opponent pool is a good thing. The teams with the best records won't necessarily be the highest ratings draw.

Eight Penn State players have transfered, and two incoming recruits will sign with different schools. Silas Redd (RB) is the biggest name to leave the program. As schools across the country begin to open camp, will the transfers end at 8, or is PSU still at risk of losing more of their roster?

Just this for no real reason really.