The Nats were just swept by their AL neighbor rivals, the Baltimore Orioles. But they didn’t just lose 3 straight, they lost them in tremendous fashion. Going up 5-0 in game one, up 6-0 in game two, and 3-0 in game three only to lose all three games by one run.

This was likely the end of any wildcard hopes for the Nats, who back when Tyler Clippard was 8-0, looked like a dark horse to make the post season. What will be interesting is to see how the team rebounds from what surely was the 3 most painful loses of the year. The reaction to such a series includes not only the players but also the management. Will Adam Dunn get a contract extension? Will the team ship any players off? Will Strasburg continue to get 95 pitches every 5 days? Will Livan Hernandez start day laboring at 23 hours at a time?

With Stephen Strasburg still garnishing national attention every time he has a bowel movement there can still be a silver lining to remaining 2010 season for the Nats. And I am not talking about him joining the NL all-star team, but rather hope comes in the form of the NL Rookie of The Year award. The Nationals look like they will send only the requisite one player to this year’s all-star game and may not crack above .500 before October, but even with that reality - anyone can be rookie of the year with a stellar performance despite the team’s shortcomings. However as of late the weak Nats bats on Strasburgs starts (many coming with no runs at all) and terrible fielding of the Nationals infield has really hurt Strasburg (most recently a bases loaded error in Atlanta) and become his biggest threat.

With large media draw and an excited crowd each time Strasburg pitches, fans can continue cheering for something relevant with regards to the Nats. I am sure the Nats will enjoy playing spoiler to teams like the Mets toward the end of the year as well. In previous years the Nats have gone 382,893-2 in September against the Mets. Team manager said he would do anything to prevent this at a press conference, holding up a crudely drawn picture of Carlos Beltran with tank treads for legs.

So even if cheering for the Nats has become just about the same as cheering for Teddy in the Presidents race, remember that the Strasburg Show is still in its first season and September 29 is knit beanie night.

So we already know that USC had to vacate it’s 2004 Orange Bowl Championship game win because of NCAA rules violations and that was the year that Virginia Tech opened up against USC at FedEx field. So then if that USC team didn’t really “exist” then just how different would have our 2004 season have been?

1. First of all we would have turned the FedEx home opener in to a shit slinging barn burner. With no team to compete against for 60 minutes there wouldn’t have been a need for any keys at all, just start chanting “stick it in” from your own 20 and start setting records.

2. With an 11-1 record the Hokies would have played in the National Championship game. Losing to only NC State on what would go down as one of Brandon Pace’s only bad games, the Hokies may have squeaked by to play Oklahoma in the National Championship and we all know OU only loses the big games so by that logic the Hokies would be crowned national champions.

3. An outpouring of pride in the Commonwealth of Virginia resulting from the Hokies first National Championship would motivate the young voters of the state, turning the state for the democrats in the 2004 presidential election thus causing a run off in which John Kerry would be elected the 44th President of the United States.

4. With Dick Cheney out of the White House, Halliburton would have far less power and would not secure Off-Shore Drilling subcontracts in the Gulf of Mexico. You guessed it, crisis avoided, the gulf is safe and the world is at peace and everyone is a Hokies fan.

So now that we know what happens when you erase USC from the 2004 season we can all look back wishing that the world knew then what it knows now. The 2004 Hokie National Championship team and creation of 100% clean renewable energy were so close to being a reality, mankind just wasn’t ready for Utopia.

The merging of two beautiful things is taking longer than expected - so I guess we can’t be all that upset that Chipotle is a number of months behind on opening their main street location in downtown Blacksburg. No one asked God to speed things up when he created man in His own image, right?

Over a year after news broke of the big C coming to Bburg the interior work now begins on the site that once held Joe’s Barber shop. Delays brought on by a harsh winter and unexpected building modifications and flooring problems appear to be over as workers are ready to assemble the familiar steel and wood eating spaces where eventually up to 42 hokies will be able to enjoy their burritos. There is also going to be a back patio with additional seating.

As for now the target open date is August, before students pour back on to campus with fully charged Hokie Passports, tons of food swiped from their parents pantry, and bitchin’ new flavors of ice tea vodka.

And Chipotle better get things wrapped up in time for the football season. That cock of a burrito joint, Qdoba Mexican Grill said its heading in to Blacksburg soon as well. I need Chipotle to get in there and crank out the bliss, the campus has suffered long enough with the likes of Extreme Pita, A&W, Philly City and Moe’s.