Every year I like to put down my holiday wish list for the upcoming year as it relates to Virginia Tech athletics. This year the list looks pretty similar to years’ past… I guess some things are just worth the wait:

A Peach Bowl Win: Even without the assistance of Stephan Virgil I still have a decent amount of confidence heading in to our New Years Eve bowl game against Tennessee (but nothing is certain). The game is significant - mainly because the ACC needs to show some power against the dominant SEC and to keep our 10-win season streak going, but I also want a win for those die-hard Hokie fans that may be returning to Atlanta for a third time in four months after seeing the team lose on their first two attempts. Stocking stuffer: Finishing the season with a top 10 ranking.

A trip to the NCAA Tournament: Sitting 10-1 things are looking favorable for the Hokie Bball team. Strangely though this is something I ask for every year and never seem to get. Perhaps the price is low enough this year and I have been an extra special Hokie so I’ll finally get it under the tree. On the horizon are two tough games for the team: a game against a one-loss Seton Hall squad that shares a common loss with VT (Temple) on January 3rd, and the ACC opener against UNC in Chapel Hill one week later. Stocking stuffer: Delaney winning the 2010 Bob Cousy Award.

October 2, 2010: The date that the Hokies take on Boise State at FedExField can’t come soon enough. To anyone who attended the USC FedEx Game several years back you know just how incredible it is to go to a game in Washington DC’s backyard with 90K+ Hokies (sure there will be a few fans from Boise State - but don’t count on them making much of a dent on third downs). Stocking stuffer: Is it too soon to start beating the BCS Championship drum? Pa ra pa pa pum.

The Last Good Condo at “Legends”: So this may be my “Daddy I want a Pony!” gift but there is only one condo left on the top floor of the soon-to-be-built-but-probably-never-will condo complex located in the shadows of Lane Stadium. It features a balcony, one bedroom, and is a much better location than “The Colosseum” project down 460. In a world where money is no object I would love to rain foamy Natty Light shotgun spray down 4 stories before a game with my friends on a balcony. However, if the gameday attitude of Platinum-Diamond-Encrusted-Cock status Hokie Alum are any indication of how your neighbors would be, expect to have the cops called perpetually and banging on the walls if you cheer loudly, or even stand up, at any point while living in the condo. Stocking stuffer: Returning to Hunter’s Ridge (Phase I) for a semester.

Biff’s picture has spread far and wide on food blogs as the first “in the wild” proof that Chipotle was serving breakfast burritos. I’m pleased to share that the breakfast experiment continues here months later.

I stopped by the IAD location (unfortunately during dinner hours) and found out a bit more about the newest breakfast delicatessen in the B Terminal and closest restaurant to the soon-to-be-opened Dulles AeroTrain stop.

The staff led on that starting in January the breakfast menu will be expanded to include Chicken along with the current breakfast meat options and an additional rice-based ingredient unique to breakfast will also be added. For now it seems like the response has been positive especially if they are thinking of expanding the menu further.

And no worries if you don’t plan to make it to Dulles anytime soon - the inclusion of the breakfast-specific menu is actually written in to the lease at the Dulles location. We knew Dulles required all restaurants to operate breakfast hours but now it sounds like they require breakfast items during those early morning hours (6AM to 10AM), even if Five Guys just cheats by throwing an egg on a double stack.

The next time I make a comment on the breakfast burrito I promise it will be after actually eating one…

The Hokies men’s basketball team got revenge on PSU tonight, avenging a “Big 10/ACC Challenge” loss back in 2007 which stuck out as one of the worst loses of the season, keeping the team out of the march tournament. I would also point out that the Hokies have beat two Big 10 opponents this year, something Duke should be envious of.

The Hokies have are 8-1 as they approach the in-conference schedule and the last 2/3rds of the season. Compared to previous seasons this is one of the best starts in recent memory for the team.

There is obviously much more basketball to play and the team will have to show up well against the stacked ACC to make it to the big dance, but one difference from years past is that the Hokies don’t have a tarnished early season resume and that should help push them in over the bubble if they can hang out with the rest of the conference and win against the weaker teams. And the team has been able to accomplish that for in-conference games since Greenberg took the team in to the tough ACC forest.

ACC opener: @UNC on 1/10/2010

Fight For Old DC is hosting a FBI kiddie porn sting operation Hokie Photoshop Contest and I know that the four many readers of DT can put up some good Hokie-related photoshop bits to suck compete for the top-prize.

Send any entries to me an I will send them on to the contest admin and post a copy in this blog entry. Entries are due by December 19th.

Entry 1 by D.G.

Entry 2 by J.P.

Entry 3 by B.G.

JMU went for some Virginia school bragging rights by throwing a flash mob rave Sunday night in the lobby of their East Campus Library to help burn off some exam stress. The mob appeared about 9:35 p.m. and within minutes the sound system was overrun by a DJ bringing on crowd surfing and stage diving from the second floor.

JMU used to be where Hokies went to hunt down and tag a slump buster but now I think they just could hang out and party with us if they wanted to.

The Hokies are heading back to Atlanta for the Chic-Fil-E Bowl on New Year’s Eve. Note that the “Peach” part of the bowl name has been officially dropped, but we all know it’s the fucking Peach Bowl.
The Peach bowl pairing (like almost all bowl games) is about making as much money as possible (and in the Peach bowl’s case following the contract defined rules of which conferences they can take … ACC and SEC) but that aside I can see a lot coming from the VT/Tenn game:

1. They have been trying to get VT/Tenn to play an invitational +1 game at Bristol Motor Speedway for years and this may bring it one step closer to reality.
2. VT is happier to return to Atlanta when the alternative is that partial-birth abortion of a city, Jacksonville. Despite losing two times already in Atlanta this year alone, going to the Gator Bowl would feel more like a punishment than anything. Besides it will be right for FSU and Bowden’s swan song to be at home in their home state of Florida.
3. The argument is that the SEC’s mediocre can beat up on the ACC’s best (see GT/UGA or Clemson/USC) but this will be a good chance to test that theory when the Hokies try to extend their 10-win season streak.
4. Tenn is rebuilding and taking on a great team like Virginia Tech who is coming off a BCS domination over Cinci last bowl season plays favorably for viewers outside of the teams’ fanbases. I’m sure Tennessee is excited for the chance to get their team back in the limelight, regardless of the outcome.
5. VT last played Georgia recently in the Peach bowl so a rematch might not be as profitable or exciting for fans - myself included - and I’d rather play Tennessee than LSU or one of the even “dumber” SEC schools.

Side note: I’m very disappointed that TCU will be playing Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl. I really wanted to see the David and Goliath thing play out against a major conference team like Florida. And apparently there was actual discussions of taking Virginia Tech OVER Cinci or Boise State for the last couple of bowl selections. As a Hokie fan I would have been very happy to see the BCS selection choose Virginia Tech over Boise State but I couldn’t straight-face call it fair.