Well on one hand we don’t have to worry about being America’s favorite bubble team but on the other I am not even sure if the NIT has interest in the 2012 Hokies. With the team’s well-fought loss to Duke last night the remaining long-shot chance at attending big dance was extinguished. Seth Greenberg, who would have a full head of hair had every Hokies team been given 2 additional points in every game, looked like he was more than ready to hang it up for the season after the game. However to my dismay he still remained “proud” of the team and said that its been a good run for the graduating seniors.

Sure, there were brief sparkles of excitement and a smile and a wink at Clemson in the ACC tournament but overall it was as forgettable of a season for the men’s basketball team as I can remember. The unfortunate thing is that the VT program, which looked poised to be a contender on an upward trend has stalled and become a dependable middle of the pack 20-win targeting team. Just like the football program and these “okay” 10-win seasons there needs to be a demand for MORE than where we are in VT hoops. Sure, its commendable that in the time that Tech has joined the ACC they didn’t slide down to a stain in the league and its great that Seth has had some good wins in his 10 years but the overall outcome of the team is not one to be proud of.  No recruit is going to pick Tech on the hopes that they make it to the ACC semifinals 3 times in a row and beat Duke once in a while to land an NIT #1 seed.

I love Seth Greenberg, he’s passionate, he’s fun to watch, he doesn’t piss me off with horrible decisions, heck - he’s got great looking daughters (although I think he kicked a lot of puppies growing up because his luck is downright awful in last second shots.) But Seth needs to avoid becoming another Beamer. Let’s not be content and rest on our laurels with an okay job. Michael Vick helped bring the football program from a budding prospect to an annual contender yet everyone in the football program’s coaching and administration staff still seems surprised when their key fits the lock to the powerhouse door. We SHOULD be kicking down the door screaming “DADDY’S HOME” and running through the house looking for our hot wife to bang out after watching 30 Rock on a 80″ plasma TV rather than what do now… looking around cautiously, carefully taking off our shoes to avoid tracking in dirt, and hoping not to disturb anyone who may be home with our humble ten-win seasons.

Seth Greenberg needs to take the approach that believes WE WILL BE BETTER THAN THIS. That’s nothing against the team, the unfortunate injuries, or heartbreaking loses we have seen in the past few years but borrowing a page from the Beamer playbook of “you should be content with this” threatens the progress of what Seth began a decade ago. I wish him luck next year and I look forward to what kind of crazy faces he can produce as the last second mayhem invariably continues. Everyone’s luck has to change at some point, but we also need to fight for more in every way possible as the alumni and fans of this team, and its time to convince at least one of our programs of that mentality.

As an additional plug, the Hokie Pokie Bus, which is in its 4th year of operations, travels to select Virginia Tech Hokies Football Games. With the 2012 football schedule now finalized we can already plan for a few keys games including:

• Georgia Tech (home opener) on Labor Day leaving from Vienna Metro at Noon
• Cincinnati (FedEx field game) on September 29 leaving from Vienna Metro and Ballston Common Mall at TBD
• Florida State (Thursday Night game) on November 8 leaving from Vienna Metro at Noon
• University of Virginia (rivalry season closer) on November 24 leaving from Vienna Metro at TBD

Plus more to be announced! Please check Hokie Pokie Bus often for updates.

Its finally here and what a way to start the season. Rather than dreading the Georgia Tech game for the first half of the year we can go ahead and get it out of the way right on day one. Its been a long time since we started the season against the Jackets … Lets hope there isn’t any lightning this go around. Other games of note are a treacherous little Clemson/Miami/FSU stretch - and each team is taking off an extra week to prepare for the Hokies believing it may be the only way to slow the team down. And then of course there’s the FedEx field game against Cincinnati has been planned for so long its almost not exciting anymore but the Hokie faithful will fill the place up and get loud I am sure.

Here is the entirety of the 2012 schedule:

If you want a copy of the schedule in a nice full-color format check this out.  … Hang it up at work and keep track of the season, be sure to put it somewhere everyone can see it!

The Academy Awards ceremony (The Oscars) is on Sunday, February 26, 2012. This was an email to a few friends but I’ll just leave this here: Coming in to the 2012 Oscars I have actually been able to see most of the films nominated so here are my official predictions:

1. Best Picture: The Artist
Why it will win: Hollywood is madly in love with itself, the film is set in Hollywood and presented a clever and well-edited (voiceless) tale that isnt too deep or depressing and it was ALL filmed in L.A. Remember Crash? Yes that turd would have never won if it was set in Chicago.
What I think should win: The Artist
Who was left off the list: Drive

2. Best Actor: George Clooney
Why it will win: this is straight politics. Clooney is one of the academy’s most reliable soldiers - always at events, never down talking the union or guild and he put on HIS best performance to date. However, Clooney may lose because Pitt is coming into the same exact situation and the career-achievement voting folks may syphon off votes like Ralph Nader and influence the race to give it to the more deserving Dujardin. Not to mention they know Clooney will keep making films regularly so they can get another shot at rewarding him
Who I think should win: Jean Dujardin (Artist). He had the most difficult role of the year and nailed it- problem is the man isn’t American (or at least pro American cinema) which, like his character in the movie, will hurt him.
Who was left out: Joseph Gordon Levitt (50/50)
Post Awards Redemption: I guess the Artist train was too strong to prevent the frenchy from taking the gold. Still Clooney seemed to be right in there.

3. Best Actress: Meryl Streep
Why she will win: this is by far the hardest call. I think steep wins out mainly because she has strong supporters and for all she has achieved- a third Oscar is warranted for best actress. 
Who should win: The cast of The Help- I say the cast because there were about 4 strong female leads in that film and though I do think one will land supporting actress it’s just a shame that there wasn’t a singular actress to take on the award. If they realize that they will give it to Viola Davis, who is nominated.

4. Best screenplay: Midnight in Paris (a movie about a screenwriter in Paris? Oh you said Woody Allen? Forget about it, Hugo)

5. Best Cinematography: Tree of Life (golf clap for a movie that should be called Best Cinematography).
Post Awards Redemption: I didn’t see Hugo but I need to now.

6. Best Director: it’s really The Artist versus the field. If artist doesn’t sweep the actor/picture/director awards it could easily go to any of the other films. I have my money on Artist.

7: Supporting Actor: what a pile of shit we have to choose from here. If Jonnah Hill wins he will be making Snow Dogs 3 in a matter of months. Whenever you just throw Kenneth Brannaughs worst work in 5 films in to a nomination because there is nothing better you might as well admit you are just getting people excited that the fat kid turned skinny may win. Apparently Sydow is the one who did the best in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close but no one saw that movie and as of late the best supporting award has turned in to the fan ballot of all-star games. Hill gets it.
Left off? The dog from The Artist (serious)
Post Awards Redemption: I forgot there were two men in their 80’s nominated… Hill had zero chance.

8. Best Supporting Actress: one of the ladies from The Help (chastain or spencer)

9. Best Music: The Artist likely wins this too but they want to reward Hugo and encourage NIN type influence on films so Dragon Tattoo are in the running

10. Best Editing: The Artist… Again.
Post Awards Redemption: Hugo… you ruined my night.

There you have it- thoughts, comments, reactions, rotten tomatoes? 

I feel good about these predictions but who knows, you can always get a Hellen Hunt curve ball every now and again

Thanks to FSU’s gaping hole in their 2012 football schedule after West Virginia left the Old Yeller that is the Big East conference for The PAC 10 The PAC 12 The PAC 38 MAC WAC SACC SCTV some other conference, the entire ACC is awaiting word on Florida State’s 12th scheduled opponent to release their respective football schedules. Why you ask? Well because if FSU can’t slate a team in week 2 when the West Virginia game HAD been planned then placing an out-of-conference game any later in the season may mess up the entire ACC conference play schedule and require some major movements for multiple teams. VT athletics has gone as far as changing the long standing Cincinnati FedEx Field game date to a TBD date and time. Come on FSU, hurry up and pick a team that will inevitably be your third loss in a row after climbing to #2 in the rankings thanks to merchandise sales from old white non-alumni buying school-branded truck balls and lawn jockeys.

2/23/12 EDIT: Now its Georgia Tech on the clock… still waiting ‘Wreck… make your call.

Imagine my distraught when I walked in to the B Terminal Chipotle bright-eyed and in hope of a nice fluffy egg-filled burrito with tasty herbed potatoes, chorizo and jalapeno salsa. I peered over the glass partition and had a panic attack when I saw this…

I had actually perfected the Chipotle breakfast burrito too - adding steak and guac to all the breakfast offerings. But as you can see, coffee aside, the Chipotle breakfast menu is now nonexistent.

Once my hyperventilating subdued (mainly because I knew I could STILL get a “regular” burrito) I asked through a cracked voice - “why, why did you end the breakfast?” and the way-too-cheery for 5:30am staff member said “no one really seemed to like it.”

I would love to sit down and have a conversation with those people, all of them, and after smacking each and every one of them in the face I am sure it wouldn’t make me feel any better because that wouldn’t bring back my beloved breakfast burrito.

So RIP Chipotle Breakfast - to those of us who were truly burrito blissed and lucky enough to experience it, we will always have our 6am memories. (stands up, walks away, turns off light, and closes door) “goodnight my sweet and spicy prince.”

Of what you ask? Well of being the main character in a storybook ending to the Hokies 2011-2012 season. In fact, the entire Hokie Nation was robbed on Tuesday Night when in the final moments of the 2012 Allstate Sugar Bowl, PAC1012 officials reversed a call that was originally ruled a Touchdown on the field.

Instead we get Michigan putting another notch in their chewed and raw bedpost.

There have been countless articles written on “the Coale Touchdown that Wasn’t” by now and if you explore college football message boards and the comment sections of articles about the game people continue to argue back and forth if it was actually a catch. Fans of other teams have flooded the conversation by refrencing a similar moment in their program’s history that will haunt them forever. Well, that National Championship trophy case in Merryman Athletic Center is still empty, but we apparently can now sit at the big boy’s table along side teams that have been royally screwed at a pivotal moment in an important game by a blown call. But what is beyond the argument of “whether it was a catch or not” isn’t really what should be at the center of the discussion because its the fact that there is SUCH a discussion that shows just how wrong the officials got the call.

Somewhere in the creation of instant replay we seemed to forget that the replay system was never intended to be the replacement for on-field calls. The system was given a purpose and a limited power to allow an official to reverse a ruling if and only if the video evidence convinces him beyond all doubt that the ruling was incorrect. Without such indisputable video evidence, the replay official must allow the ruling to stand. (See NCAA’s Rule Book if you don’t believe it). As someone who works pretty much every day in a legal field that requires the daunting level of proof of “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt” the fact that this call was reversed FAR exceeds the absurdity of verdicts from famous cases like OJ Simpson or Casey Anthony. For the original on-field call to be overturned it means that there basically had to be no-doubt-about-it, 0% I’m wrong, I’d bet my life on it kind of confidence in the video evidence. Well, we have all the video evidence and the controversy rages on - just proving just how much doubt there truly was.

Now, had the on-field call been initially incomplete I believe I would have actually accepted the outcome of the call and ultimately the game. I would have been angry for a bit, I would have still believed that Coale was deprived of a reward he so deserved after all he gave the Hokies this season (and four seasons prior). Understand that if the call was originally “incomplete” then the rule, per NCAA, would have forced the replay official to let the call stand because it was simply not possible to definitively know from the video if the instincts and eyes of that on-field official was right or wrong.

But why? Why was it that the official got not just the play but the RULE so wrong? Some conspiracy theorists speculate that it was because the Sugar Bowl Executive behind the game, who was grinning ear to ear and said he was “happy” Michigan was the victor, is in fact himself a Michigan graduate and “encouraged” the outcome one way or another. Looking back over the game its hard to argue against the bias calls that were made against the Hokies. Sure the Personal Foul Roughing the Kicker that swung back the momentum in the first half could have been called by any officiating crew… but when you juxtapose that with a pass interference call on an interception which was clearly a mutual battle for a ball (if not offensive interference) and that the crew whistled David Wilson down when his knee was 5 inches off the ground in a key running play that could have broken open for massive yardage - well then the final call really does raise some eyebrows. Add the fact that the first video review of the play was complete and the official ran back to the field ready to uphold the touchdown call but was then called back to have the (super rare) SECOND video review for further analysis of “possession.” And then add the cherry on top: knowledge that the Michigan-rooting Sugar Bowl Executive was sitting in the same room as the replay official and you have yourself a full-on tin foil hat wearing paranoia onset.

Enter then all the demons that come flying back based upon this bizarre ending to the Sugar Bowl - Tech’s inability to sell more tickets to the game, the ACC’s poor showing against other conferences, VT’s record in BCS bowls, Wilson’s decision to leave school for NFL draft, Beamer’s bowl results and its impact on boosters. ALL of those story lines come back now with that one single bad call (and albeit some other mistakes by the team in the game).

Don’t get me wrong, Michigan does not deserve to LOSE its Sugar Bowl trophy - THEY didn’t do anything (although neither did their offense by scoring a grand total of 184 yards) - but the way in which they won left no one inside of the Superdome truly content. We wanted the storybook ending and we we were robbed along with Danny Coale. That catch, if allowed to stand would be the rolling highlight of Tech montages for years to come, it would be played a 100k times on YouTube in a matter of days, it would be the sugar sweet ending that Virginia Tech fans never, ever, seem to enjoy. And so the familiar Hokie’s drum beat continues… 11-3… no BCS trophy, no hero on the shoulders of the team, no silencing the critics.

With the advent of HD televisions, Tivo, automatic call reviewing by officials (without the need for a challenge flag), and even over-confident broadcaster analysis it seems like now the goal of the instant replay and review is to find any possible way to show something DIDN’T happen - as in this case that WR Danny Coale didn’t have possession of a football that knocked the wind of out him when he smashed it to his chest. With that blatant mistake by the officials we turned a great story in to the children’s book that was printed by Buddy the Elf’s mean father - it just ends - and we walk off the field.

The contents of my bag. I swear one trip to NOLA all I brought was that little black iPhone thingy and a credit card.

Yes, in just a handful of days we will be watching the SECOND ACC team in a 2012 BCS Bowl game. There have been all kinds of jabs at including the Hokies in the game (be it slow ticket sales brought on by poor planning by VT Athletics and secondary markets, Tech’s abysmal showing in big games, and the fact that we lost badly to Clemson in the final game of the regular season) but in reality this game is what Frank Beamer always said Bowl Games were supposed to be: dessert. This is a game against a massively popular opponent we have never played which has little ramifications on either program (its not like our bowl stats can get any worse) and we will be making tons of money off it. Win-Win! Well… I hope its a Win.

I have heard so many different perspectives on this game that I have no idea what to expect - but I know I am excited. I am excited like I was before this season’s UVA/VT game… I just want this game to deliver. There have been some great break downs of the game and what to expect, my favorite being a thorough piece over at The Key Play.com, but one thing is certain and its that the booze will be flowing no matter what the outcome.

Geaux Hokies.

It almost brings an orage tear to your eye. That other school in Charlottesville made an attempt at a hype video also, but it looks more like Hokies trying to troll - its honestly painful to watch the awkwardness.

Okay, if you didn’t know any better you would have expected the sound of a record needle ripping across an LP just as ESPN revealed that the Hokies would be heading to New Orleans to take on the Michigan Wolverines in the BCS Sugar Bowl. Kirk Herbsteit pretty much summed it up in his backhanded compliment though - the Hokies may not be the most deserving resume to make it as a BCS at-large but the BCS is showing that its all about the money.

To anyone who may be a fan of Boise State Kansas State Baylor Oklahoma baby whining about a system that PICKED US, please let me point some things out:

1. VT isn’t going to turn down millions of dollars on principle - Beamer was probably just as surprised as everyone else when we ended up with the slot and of course we aren’t going to RSVP “no” to the party that provides the ultimate goal of all collegiate football programs (yes money).
2. There weren’t really a TON of picks outside of VT to chose from … once you factor in that Houston lost on Saturday and was then thrown out of the BCS mix and the fact that the SEC was precluded from sending a third team because of the 2-teams-per-conference rule you were left with VT, Boise State, Baylor, Oklahoma, and Kansas State… taking the four who weren’t invited to NOLA a bit further…
3. Once Boise State lost a single game all of their Cinderella glitter fell off. Honestly zero coverage existed for the team after the loss and though they may have fans that travel well its not like a Michigan/Boise State matchup will prove any more to a college football fan than two years of TCU/Boise proved. No one would care.
4. Baylor? BAYLOR? ARE YOU SERIOUSLY GOING TO TELL US BAYLOR SHOULD HAVE GONE INSTEAD OF VT?! No no no no. Great QB of course but more people will be watching the Heisman selection supporting Baylor than would be cheering for the Bears if they played against themselves in a nationally televised game (and you may have not even known that Baylor mascot was the Bears… I could have said Honey Badgers and you would have believed me).
5. Oklahoma…. okay sure, they are like us in that they got spanked in their conference championship and they DID win more impressive games but the Hokies didn’t lose to a sub-.500 team (Texas Tech) and well face it - people just don’t find the Big 12 sexy. Oklahoma can take its weirdo friend Kansas State and go to a dot com bowl.
6. The Hokies travel well, very well, and have shown it DIRECTLY to Sugar Bowl selection committees in the past with strong showings versus Auburn and Florida State.
7. New Orleans’ Superdome is also the home for the National Championship. You know that the SEC retard-fest will sell the city out of every hotel room, game ticket and truck balls (and amazingly lower the IQ of the state of Louisiana for a weekend) but what if your main goal was to make money for the game you are planning to host less than a week before the big show? Well you NEED to take Michigan, why not take a second rabid fanbase and stir up some controversy while you are at it?

Sure we lost two games, I would say we “lost to one team” since it sounds better. Sure we looks like a big bag of douche in the Champonship game. But maybe, just maybe there will be some COACHING adjustments for the Sugar Bowl and maybe since the Big 10 hasn’t seen the likes of Wilson and LT3 the game will go much more favorably for the Hokies. Also we are guaranteed to NOT have ACC refs, which is great news to anyone who was actually watching the game on Saturday. In the end I guess losing the game wasn’t all that bad after all since no Hokie would actually want to go back to that asshole Orange Bowl for the 47th time.

Even with the review they didn’t agree with 36,000 screaming Hokies

Afterthoughts: I guess I DO get to cross “A bowl game in 2012″ of my CHristmas Wishlist after all. Uncle Frank should take Seth Greenberg aside and give him pointers on how to get your team invited to the big game. On another note - I swear to christ you can’t hide from these whores - they pop up when you image search “BCS Sugar Bowl”. Here’s to a month of pregaming!