New Years Day Bowl Games on the 1st & 2nd

From BCO pix

A few good games, but the fewest on New Year's Day ever ... I think. Sorta weird. On the first the 2 BCS games are big as is the Cotton on the 2nd. bammer should kick Utah's ass but you never know, worth keeping an Eye on. Just remember when you see all these shitty fox talking heads who only know NFL football that in a couple of years ESPN will do these games. It is pretty damn awful.

From BCO pix

The rest of the games will Thursday or Friday.

I had better get this out before I add to my picking woes (mispick for the MD game while the Okie St doesn't look good.) Thank goodness the terps won. I figured they were a team in disarray (and appeared so on D) but the O showed up and dominated.


The Next Games and Picks

Thursday 1/1
Outback Bowl
11am ESPN Souf Kakalaki (+4) vs Iowa
The Ole Ball Coach got dem cocks into Jan 1^st bowl game, no small feat even in a down $EC. Iowa, 1 great player, the rest are average at best. Shonn Greene, not Knowshon Moreno will be the best back Kakalaki will see all year. Will be a grinder type game.

Capital One Bowl
1:00 abc (15) ugga (-7.5) vs (18) Michigan St
ugga preseason no. 1 and completely overrated, will destroy the Spartans. Sure the last time the dawgs hit the field, they were tuned to over 400 yards rushing by GiT and now they face the great Javon Ringer. More of the same? No. GiT has 4 options every play, MSU has 1.

Gator Bowl
1:00 CBS Nebraska (+2.5) vs Klempson
The Huskers have shown very solid improvement throughout the season, as have preseason top 10 Klempson ... well ever since Tommy Bowden quit. This should be a pretty high scoring entertaining game.

The Rose Bowl Game Presented by the Gubment Bailout Bank
4:30 abc (8) State Penn (+9) vs (5) Southern Cal
The Trojans bestest D ever is well ... a mirage. They have feasted on crap offenses all year. All they very good, even great? Yes, but they are not the end all be all. State Penn will be the best O and D they have seen all year, along with being properly motivated. Southern Cal’s motivation on the other hand that is in question. BCO doesn’t like to pick against Carroll in big games.

From BCO pix

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From BCO pix

FeDex Orange Bowl
8:30 Fox (12) the Nati (-2.5) vs (19) VT
Matchups, mature vs young squads, injuries, academic casualties, and offensive ineptitude all point to the Nati. Being really hungry for the win points to the Hokies. A hard fought game, but another close hokie bowl game loss, full of woulda, shoulda, coulda beens. We’ll hear all about them on the postgame fo sure.

Friday 1/2

Cotton Bowl
2:00 Fox (25) Ole Miss vs (7) Tejas Tech (-4)
Remember when this use to be a BIG bowl ... well soon enough Jerra Jones will bring back it’s glory in the new Cowboys Stadium. This a great matchup and the BCO is glad he has this day off. Great D vs Great O, the 2 best conferences, will be drinking early on Friday folks.

Autozone Liberty Bowl
5:00 ESPN neKtucky vs ECU (-3)
Hot, Cold, Hot ... can ECU take care of another BCS conference foe? neKtucky isn’t as good as west by God nor VT. This would be a nice feather in Skip’s cap.

From BCO pix

From BCO pix

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From BCO pix

Allstate Sugga Bowl
8:00 Fox (6) Utah vs (4) bammer (-9.5)
Utah isn’t Hawaii, but they aren’t Boise State either, the last 2 non BCS conference schools to play in the Big Show. They too have been there before when Urban was the coach. The Utes will find that bammer is no P.I.T.T. and Nick Satan is no Walt Harris.

The BCS Warmup Games

From BCO pix

The College football holiday season draws to a close, but most of the good bowl games are still on the docket. The Holiday Bowl on Tuesday and the Peach ... err Chick-Fil-A bowl on Wednesday are the 2 I am looking most forward to. Get your popcorn ready, I think T.O. might have some readily available.

Stupid injury to NCState's Russell Wilson cost me a Straight up and spread win. NCState covers and likely wins outright if he did not get hurt. Nother ACC bowl loss, should be an asterisk beside this one. Gotta feel for the Glennon family, looks like Mike will pull a Sean and backup an athletic playmaker for much of his career.

So far this bowl season on the Blog ...

Straight up (7-7)
Against the Spread (4-10)

AWFUL. I suck at the bowl picks, much, much better at the regular season. Fuck, I am the ARod of college football pick 'em, great in the regular season, dreadful in the post season. Cept I am not sleeping with some fitty year old rode hard put away wet pop singer.

From BCO pix

The Next Games and Picks

Tuesday 12/30

Roady's Hu-went-to-this Bowl?
4:300 ESPN Maryland vs Nevada (-2)
26 Terp fans and 52 Wolfpack fans will see this dog of a game. The Terp's DC left town a few seconds after their loss to B.C. for KState and this below avg O isn't going to keep up with the Nevada. Another ACC black mark. Will the fridge be shown the Freezer?

From BCO pix

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From BCO pix

Pacific Bailout Holiday Bowl
8:00 ESPN (13) Okie St vs (17) Oregon (+2.5) Incredible O vs Incredible O (when healthy.) No D vs No D. A man's game fo sho. Oregon is pretty damn tough to beat when Chip Kelly the OC gets 2 weeks to game plan your weaknesses. In a mild upset take the Ducks.

Tejas Bowl
8:00 NFL net West Directional Michigan vs Rice (-3)
No one will watch it, take the sorta Home team.


Wednesday 12/31

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl
noon ESPN Houston vs Air Force (+3.5)
Wouldn't be right to pick the non Armed Forces team, even though I think Houston tunes up the Falcons.

Sun Bowl
2:00 CBS Oregon St vs (20) P.I.T.T. (+2.5)
A good un and the BCO is going against the norm he sets for himself ... never pick a Wanny or Zooker led team to win a big game. Just to piss me off another Big East team will win. Couple of good running backs in this game, watch it.

GayLord ... he said Gay, HeHe Music City Bowl
3:30 ESPN (24) B.C. (-3.5) vs Vandy
Home game for Vandy, but the talent and overall coaching advantage go to the Iggles. Will they be down since they wanted the Orange badly but ended in the ACC's 5th bowl. Not wanting it and Vandy being jacked at Home is the only way I see a b.c. loss. They are due, 9 bowl game wins in a row.

Nosight Bowl
6:00 NFL net Kansas vs Minnesota (+9)
Another game no one will watch. KU got their lucky year last year now, their D sucks and O has slipped some. Minny is a Big1+10 team ... means they suck too. KU wins but Minny makes it relatively close.

From BCO pix

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From BCO pix

Peach Bowl
7:30 ESPN LSU vs (14) GiT (-4)
A nice, nice matchup for the ACC. If GiT can win this one, that's another feather in their and the conferences cap. LSU's D has sucked since Pelini left, being tuned a few times this year. Even with a month to prepare for the option, I think they get tuned again. Paul Johnson will have something for LSU to chew on and his team is healthy. LSU's O needs a qb, any qb to step up.

BCO Plays with his Wii

From BCO pix

If I post less in the coming days, it's 1 of 2 things ... writing the Maryland and VT season reviews for southernpigskin and the wii.

From BCO pix

Got the Mario Kart for Wii for Christmas and it's pretty fun.

From BCO pix

From BCO pix

Then today got the WiiFit for the wife and Shaun White's Roadtrip (using the wiifit board as snowboard subsititute.) That game is pretty damn cool and somewhat of a workout.

From BCO pix

The Wii fit says my BMI is 26.2 (not good, actually overweight) and that my wii age is 43. I am 35. My wife, mother of 2 is 23.something (average) and is only 4 years older than her actual age. Stupid game, BCO has a fat lil Mii running around. 6'3" 215 and it looks like Butterbean.

From BCO pix

Does it make the BCO a perv (or more of a perv) if he decides to use the Wii Fit Female trainer? She's sorta bangin'

From BCO pix

Orange Bowl Ramblings

From BCO pix

Lack of Respect

Well the ACC gets no respect from the media, fans and likely players. Why, well the last BCS game won by an ACC team was f$u's win over Tech in 00 Sugar Bowl. That ... sucks. The last nationally feared and respected team was the f$u team that lost to OU the following year. Since then, also rans, upstarts and has beens. Sure VT had a couple of good teams, the 04 and 07 teams but when push came to shove the statement win that they needed in the bowl game did not happen.

Nati

From BCO pix

The Bearcats won't run a bunch, but they are spread passing team and will look to find holes in the zones/man coverages. Will be interesting to see how Foster plays all these short, spread em out passes.

On D, Natie starts 10 seniors and 1 junior on D vs 5 freshman on O by the Hokies. Ruh-roh. The bearcat D is fairly small but they play fast and make plays, expect some blitzes to confuse Tyrod and poor adjustments by Stiney to counter them.

VT's prep

Much has been made by all the days off last year and practing a lot of youngs. Well, you know, a lot of teams do that, so I don't fault the coaches too much. However, 1-3 in bowls isn't much better than 1-4. Kansas wanted it more last year and watching their players vs the Hokies, I saw a lot of pros ... on the losing side. It's a good sign that the team is taking it seriously and don't want to be disrepected and losing all the time, but will it be enough? I sorta doubt the Bearcats are just happy to be there.

The D

From BCO pix

Bud Foster came out last week and pretty much said, take last year's bowl loss (and prep) and toss it to someone else. His guys got the job done, pretty much spotting Kansas 14 points. The D gave up 10 true points, some 30 under their average. Even without Warren and Worilds, he'll have his D on track and playing well. Can he overcome the Stiney effect?

The O

No comment, other than I have a lack of faith that they'll do much. Their only hope is getting the power running game going.

The end result

A close hard fought loss, which will keep the league and VT on perennial overlooked list heading into 2009. The team will be more motivated and look it vs last year but the yute on O, stiney as the OC and the injuries on D will likely be too much to overcome.

Nati 24
VT 21

The BCO didn't want to make this pick and maybe I don't have any faith in the team but I need to be showed. The VT fans have spoken as well, only 4700 of the 17k tickets were bought from the Athletic Department. UC sold at least 13k of theirs. Don't believe this shit from AD Jim Weaver about Hokie fans buying cheaper seats in Miami. While some of that may be happening, the Nati contingent will be much larger than the Hokie one, who are tired of watching crappy offense in a losing bowl.

From BCO pix

If karma is anything, since they employed current Neer coach and player, Bobby Thuggins for 17 years, the Hokies will win. Sadly, the BCO doesn't believe in karma. Either way, this is how these cats party in the nati. ouch.

From BCO pix

Better Games, Better Picks?

From BCO pix

To be honest .... I haven't watched a full game yet, though I did watch 3/4ths of the BSU vs TCU game. Most of the games have looked like the pic above. Ugggh.

14 years since Lou and the Irish got jobbed for the National Title by dadgumit and Irish won a bowl game vs aTm, they got off the snide and done won another. 30 Million dollar contracts just don't get what they use to ... unless your name is Carl Pavano.

Anyway, the games are picking up, only Northern Illinois vs La Tech looks like complete and utter crap. Meinke, Alamo and the PapaJohns games, the BCO will keep particularly interest in.

From BCO pix

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From BCO pix

So far .... I suck. Hell, even Frank Beamer has a better bowl record than I do.

Straight up 2-6
Against the Spread 2-6

The Games and Picks

Saturday 12/27

Meineke Car Care Bowl
1:00 ESPN west by God virginyee (+1.5) vs UNC
The blue bloods vs the cousins, talk about a cultural clash. Pat White's last game and year since Coach Stewey did a good job for the neers. The BCO still laughs at that silly hire. Butch Davis has done a good job in Carolina but Hakeem Nicks isn't the equal of Pat White.

Champs Sports Bowl
4:30 ESPN Wiskey vs f$u (-3)
Classic size vs speed matchup. b1+10 sucks, the noles are battle tested and should be able handle this team but how many times since lil weinke left have fans said that. Dadgumit's teams can lay an egg vs absolute shit teams anytime, anyplace. BCO forsees some cornhole and beers in the backyard this day while watching the game.

Emarald Bowl
8:00 ESPN da U vs Cal (-9)
Some things don't change no matter the coach (unless you are Dennis Erickson, who could have given 2 shits,) no matter the players ... 5 canes are suspended for the game including the starting qb. If the players find Haight Ashbury in San Fran, expect the number to triple. If the game were on the East Coast, I might be swayed to pick da U. Instead the game is a bus trip away for Cal, you would think that would help.

Sunday 12/28

Independence Bowl
8:15 ESPN Northern Illinois vs La Tech (PK)
Ummmmm .... I got nothing.

Monday 12/29

PapaJohns.com Bowl
3:00 ESPN North Carolina State (+4.5) vs RUTSgers
2 of the hottest teams not named Florida or Oklahoma. Pretty damn crazy huh! State and RUTSgers were left for dead midway thru the season. Their records were 2-6 and 1-5 respectively. State won their last 4 and RUTSgers won their last 6 to close out the season. Their records may look like ass as a whole but over the last month +, these teams are solid.

Valero Alamo Bowl
8:00 (21) Mizzou (-10.5) vs (23) Northwestern
BCO has a soft spot for Mizzou, they are damn fun to watch. 4 or 5 wide every time they have the ball. Northwestern had a pretty good season, cept Michigan St and Ohio St waxed them (did have State Penn on the sched) ... so this team looks like a paper tiger. Mizzou will hang 40+ on them and they'll get mid 20's.

Note: Straight up pics are in color, spread have the points behind em.

Merry Christmas Readers

I hope everyone has a great Christmas.

I wish these were my trees.

From BCO pix

BCO Implores You to Vote

2008 Cheerleader Showdown at Coed.com, Vote for the Hottest.

From BCO pix

CLICK HERE and do you civic duty.

AD NO STEAL ... I hope.

Ruh Roh, stupid youngens.

From BCO pix

{love the fro}

A.D. Vassallo and former player Chris Tucker were charged with Shoplifting. Story here.

Vassallo, the Hokies' leading scorer, and Tucker were arrested by Trooper G.A. Syres at 1:54 a.m. Thursday at a Stop-in Food Stores convenience store in Christiansburg, police said.

Nothing good happens that late at nite ... that's why the BCO recommends being out that late, living it up.

Both have been charged with petit larceny shoplifting, a misdemeanor involving an item worth less than $200. The item was a 12-pack of Dr Pepper soda, police said. The trooper was in the store at the time of the incident, police said.

A 12 pack sweet .... oh shit, it was of soda ... weak.

"I've talked to the state trooper involved, and the end result [will be] everything's going to turn out fine for both these young men," Turk (Vassallo's lawye) said.

friends of the program will take of this and grease the skids.

Seriously is this the most trouble bb players can get into nowadays in the burg? Pretty stupid if they actually stole that ... I mean what the hell, they didn't have 3 damn dollars?

Virtual Christmas Bowl Games

The game on Tuesday should be AWESOME, TCU and Boise State the 2 best non BCS programs over the last decade. Should be a thriller. The other 2 are absolute garbage.

From BCO pix

I hope they show Ian Johnson's hottie wife, Chrissy Popadics Johnson. After scorin on a statue of liberty for a 2 pt conversion to beat OU then proposing to likely the hottest woman in Boise, ID just moments later is like a male fairy tale ... til about month 4 of marriage. Then Ian got beat down worse than any game he has played.

Awful start to the bowl season for the BCO so far, luckily there are 29 other games to get me back on track.
Straight up 2-3
Against the Spread 2-3

The Games and Picks

Tuesday 12/23
S.D. County Gubment Bailout Poinsettia Bowl
8:00 ESPN (9) Boise State (+3) vs (11) TCU
A rematch of an early season game is sure to sell tix like hotcakes. That traveling Demon Deacon fanbase is sure to impress the DC area. A good fit for Navy but due to a couple of things the ACC could not get NCState or Maryland into this slot, that's a shame. This is an ok game and WF who was upset earlier by Navy should hammer down this time but you never know. Of the first 5 games this and the Pioneer on the only ones that interest me.

Wednesday 12/24
Sheraton Hawaii Bowl
8:00 ESPN Hawaii (+2) vs Notre Dame
Are you kidding me, this sad sack ND team that doesn't deserve a bowl of Cheerios gets to play in Hawaii at Christmas. What a joke. Those lily white boys from Souf Bend better be careful of those Samoan gangsters masquerading as Rainbows.

Friday 12/26
Motor City Shutdown Bowl
7:30 ESPN Fla Atlantic vs Central Michigan (-6.5)
Another Snorefest, has been limit reaching program of the Big East vs a solid C-USA squad. Nothing about this game interests me, cept to see the Big Eas lose. This is a defacto home game for the bulls, but I am picking against them anyway for no damn reason.

Note: Straight up pics are in color, spread have the points behind em.


Other Notes

From BCO pix

Mens BB finally gets off the snide and picks up a nice outta conference win, after losing closely in the other 4 chances. JT Thompson made a huge difference in team energy and hustle plays, 10 rebs is nice for a 6'6" guy. This team is flawed and won't make the big dance but they'll be oh so close again. sigh.

No News on recruits or how the team looks this week for the Orange Bowl practice.

Bad Break in the Mustard n Ketchup Nawlins bowl, this youtube link is not for the squeamish.

Up to 4 Hokies out for the Orange Bowl

Nick Marshman, Brett Warren, Jahre Cheeseman and Jason Worilds (possibly.)

From BCO pix

OG Nick Marshman out due to grades. Way to man up your senior year, bet he didn't miss a turn at the buffet line. Jaymes Brooks will start in his place, a preview of next year's starter at OG. Due to our shitty O and never able to put in the scrubs against the sister of the poor, Brooks had 4 snaps all season. SOLID!!! ugggh.

From BCO pix

LB Brett Warren has an injured knee injury (rumored to be an ACL tear.) That sucks, because this was his year to sign and he did and Brett doesn't get the icing on the cake. Barquell Rivers will start in his place, who hasn't played that much but along with Jake Johnson look to be the guy next year. Since the Nati passes a lot don't be surprised if Bud does some cool stuff on D subbing Rivers out for Cam Martin, having both the whips in there.

From BCO pix

RB/FB Jahre Cheeseman has notified the staff that he will transfer. In my opinion he never got a fair chance, being in Billy Hite's doghouse last season while Brandon Ore skipped summer workouts and came in fat and sorry. What the hell did Cheese do to be in the doghouse while Ore got a free pass. This year he got hurt and just did not get healthy enough to make a legit push for the starting job. With Hite up Kenny Lewis Jr's arse, Evans the starter and Ryan Williams the young stud, his shot was over. Is Ogelsby next after the 09 season?

From BCO pix

DE Jason Worilds has a bum shoulder, that has popped out numerous times this season and each of the last 3 games I believe. As a sophomore the future is bright and if he has to shut it down, it is certainly understandable. His loss may be the biggest. If he does not play Nekos Brown will start, leaving depth razor thin. Bruce Taylor could get a lot of reps.

Also, Kam Chancellor put his papers in to the NFL to see where he could get drafted. The BCO expects him back as he had issues playing the FS position after a very, very good season at Rover last year, but you never know.

The Week Before Christmas Bowls

In other words, if you are playing this weekend, your team likely doesn't deserve a bowl and all of 10 people are watching. The last time I saw so many shitty bowls, I was watching 2 Girls 1 Cup. Oh well, 34 bowl games and 68 teams later the college football season will be over. Enjoy the ones you can.

From BCO pix

Borat certainly enjoys the shitty bowls and the morally liberal college coeds that go with them, BCO would guess the Souf Florida vs Memphis game would have the most of the latter.

Getting them in a lil late, just 45 mins before the first kickoff ..

The Games and Picks

Saturday

EagleBank Bowl
11 am ESPN Wake Forest (-3) vs Navy
A rematch of an early season game is sure to sell tix like hotcakes. That traveling Demon Deacon fanbase is sure to impress the DC area. A good fit for Navy but due to a couple of things the ACC could not get NCState or Maryland into this slot, that's a shame. This is an ok game and WF who was upset earlier by Navy should hammer down this time but you never know. Of the first 5 games this and the Pioneer on the only ones that interest me.

New Mexico Bowl
2:30 ESPN Colorado St vs Fresno St (-2.5)
Nappy time with the kids or this game? Seriously are the bowls really making money off these matchups? If so I am in the wrong bidness. The handlebar mustache is the pick because .... well because.

MagicJack St. Petersburg Bowl
4:30 ESPN2 Memphis (+12.5) vs Souf Florida
Another Snorefest, has been limit reaching program of the Big East vs a solid C-USA squad. Nothing about this game interests me, cept to see the Big Eas lose. This is a defacto home game for the bulls, but I am picking against them anyway for no damn reason.

Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl
8:00 ESPN (16)bYu (+3) vs Arizona
This is a pretty decent early matchup, the D of the wildcats vs the O of the fighting Mormons. This game goes man up vs da boys and the ravens, but luckily that game is broadcast on the NFL network so it's not a complete ass kicker ratings wise. Let's see how good this O can do vs BCS level talent. A complete damn waste sending mormons to Vegas for anything. Not helping the economy much there.


Sunday

R+L Carriers Nawlins Bowl
8:15 ESPN Southern Miss (+4) vs Troy
Sweet, this game is the perfect matchup for ESPN again as it heads up vs NBC's Sunday Night Football, The Golden Iggles and the other Trojans vs Carolina Panthers and the NY Gmen. The BCO is a college guy thru and thru but even I will be tuned into the NFC defacto first place game.


Straight up pics are in color, spread have the points behind em.

Odds n Ends

SouthernPigskin column
Click Here, a nice, too nice, but I don't think they want me being my normal ass self. Maryland and VT will come next week.

Beer Myffs
Cool blog about the 12 Most Common Beer Myths, post HERE.

Here are a couple of the Myths ...

Myth #6: Beer should be served ice-cold for best flavor

This is an unfortunate myth perpetuated by the major commercial breweries - especially for their lite beers. The fact is, flavor typically diminishes when beer is served ice-cold. It may make for a thirst-quenching, refreshing beverage, but often bears little resemblance to traditional beer. Several beers are, in fact, best served much closer to room temperature or slightly cool and are considered undrinkable when icy cold - such as Guinness and many of the traditional English ales.

Myth #12: Beer kills brain cells

Possibly the most damning of all beer myths, and we’re happy to explode this for you. An Australian study has determined that beer is not responsible for killing brain cells as was once thought.

Random Thoughts

• VT fans are speaking with their checkbooks and angry message board posts ... is Frank listening?
• Quick, someone name a player who is as talented but picks up stupid fouls as quick as Jeff Allen?
• Is happy Beer Advocate's latest mag had Bear Republic's Hop Rod Rye the 17th best beer in the world, even if it is 16 spots too low.
• The BCO is effing AWFUL at Guitar Hero ... gimmee a gun and let me shoot stuff.
• The Wii Fit will say the BCO is fat ... that thing is but one chip away from being Skynet

Yahoo Bowl Pickem Time

BCO friend, reader and ex Barringer Hall roommate, has setup a league on Yahoo.

Click HERE to play

Group ID#: 34009
Password: gumbys

If no Yahoo ID you will have to make one.

Happy Picking, like Matt Leinart.

From BCO pix

STUCK!

From BCO pix

Dumped

As most of you know hot shot quarterback Kevin Newsome from Chesapeake decided on State Penn tonite over VT. Sucks on a number of levels, first his background and second a swing and a miss by the coaching staff on quarterbacks this year in a year when that is unacceptable.

Let's see Newsome is from a Hokie Hotbed school, Western Branch, recently of Vince Hall fame. His first H.S. coach, Lew Johnston is a big time Hokie supporter and was in the Hokies pocket for this one. Kevin grew up a HOKIE fan and up til about 11 months ago thought he was destined to be a Hokie. So what happened? BCO does not know for sure, but I will put a couple things I know on the table. Kevin is good friends with VT O hating qb Tajh Boyd. KN sees the offensive output of the 2 teams, bout 140 yrds/game and 94 spots in total O, don't think State Penn didn't ram that down his throat. I would have. He is all but promised the starting gig in year 2 after he backs up current starter for his Senior season.

KN was Strike 3 for VT this year trying to fill a needy qb slot.

The first 2 strikes:
Tajh Boyd from another VT stronghold, Phoebus H.S. He and his pops openly joke about the Hokie O. Look for him to land in Columbus.

Bryn Renner. His dad and coach at West Springfield is an ex Hokie player. 3 things killed this, his grandfather passed away, he lived in Montgomery county, mins away from Lane. He is an awesome baseball talent and wants to play for a good hardball program. Frank Beamer canceled Coach Renner's punting camp and there has been some bad blood since. He is UNC bound, even though UNC has 4 top flight qb's who will be r-so and below.

Recap, VT strkes out with 2 qb's from known VT hotbeds and another who is the son of an ex-Hokie. Fucking GREAT.

To be fair, KN needs work, lots work, much more than the other 2, but he is a great athlete. He is not the end all be all ... yet. He would have been redshirted, unless injury forced him to play if he chose Tech. He enrolls in January, that will help him.


Then there 2

The spring Hokie qb depth chart
1. Tyrod Taylor Jr
2. JuJu Clayton r-Fr

Ok, first things first Tyrod is going to get hurt, likely once a game and the backup, JuJu will have to get hot quick and come in and play. This is a given.

JuJu had 1 major D1 offer last season ... VT. For a late offer he seems to be a lil better than most would have thought. No, he his not the next Russell Wilson, but he could be serviceable.

Let's just say any injury from these 2 and the team is fucked. Here is the thing, if the coaching staff puts these guys, namely JuJu in the pansy yellow jerseys this spring, then how will they know how good he is? If they don't and he gets hurt? Ugghhh.

In a year or 2, this could be as catastrophic as the Offensive line situation of the past 3 years or the Defensive Line/linebacker problems in 2002-2004.


Others

Greg Boone
We all know about Booooone. An M&M shy of 300 and our starting Sr TE. Sure he was a very good H.S. qb at Oscar Smith (VT would have done better not to get him, more later.) Thing is he can only pass deep and run straight up. At best he is gimmick, wild turkey guy. If you think the offense looks shit now, imagine with just Boone at qb.

Marcus Davis
An awesome, awesome athlete that should be our Plaxico Burress, sans the self inflicted street cred wound. Big, fast, powerful and his H.S. qb due to injury to his team's no. 1 guy. First issue, MD had shoulder surgery on his throwing shoulder early in the fall. Will it affect him? If it does not, he still needs lots and lots of work on his footwork and throwing motion. At best is 2 years away, which we may need. Helluva athlete, could be a spread qb with time and damn good one.

Antone Exum
First he needs to verbal to VT, State Penn is the leader but everyone I have heard from says he is a db and not a qb, so he's out.


2010?

Philip Sims, the senior to be qb at Oscar Smith. The kid is sick, better than TT in h.s. sick. top 10, maybe 5 nationally quarterback. VT has less than zero shot with him unless something crazy happens.

backstory time,

VT promised Greg Boone a fair shot at playing qb for tech. After a couple months behind Glennon, Holt and Ike Whitaker, he was quickly shown the TE door if he wanted to play anytime soon. He took it. To be fair he wasn't ready mentally to play qb in college and was way behind the others. He can truck through a brick wall and throw it 70 yards, but he isn't a D1 qb. Well that did not sit well with fans of the Oscar Smith program, trust me, I have talked to quite a few. The OSHS coach says there is no bad blood about it, but I don't believe it. OSHS produces the most Major D1 talent in the 757 the last 4 years. VT has gotten 0 players since. Coach Morgan being a New York guy, could give a rat's ass about pleasing the state schools.

VT's O, the boone part of the equation, the fact that OSHS is sending 2 studs to uva in August, all adds up to another really fucking good qb from the commonwealth not going to tech. Don't forget EJ Manual, from Va Beach who is currently at f$u. That will be 5 Elite 11 qb's in 3 years that will have burned the home state college program. You know the program that wins 10 games every year, goes to multiple BCS games and bores people to death playing shit football on the offensive side of the ball. Here is the kicker ... the BCO doesn't blame them at all. If I were a hotshot qb, I wouldn't pick this O either.

So Beamer, about keeping the staff together due to recruiting ... how is that working out for you?

If VT doesn't a qb this year, this is going to sting for at least one year, maybe 2. I am sure they are working hard, they worked hard for Newsome but it's too little too late. VT will likely have to go outta state to get a qb in 2010 and they need 2 of them, which means they will only get 1.

I need a beer.

From BCO pix

Born to Run

Born to Run as in Springsteen not Frank's offensive philosophy. The BCO vegged out and watched the Boss, from 2003.

From BCO pix

Have never seen Bruce play live, but now I feel my concert life will not be complete if I have not. I am sure Tricky Dick, Dirt and Lampe would go with me.

All of 'The Rising' songs were great and the Barcelona crowd went crazy for Badlands, it was 'Enter Sandman' crazy. Ramrod was pretty damn cool too.


Related note, I use to work with the nephew of Clarence Clemons, saxophonist of the E Street Band at Tech (VT Catering.) Bill is now a doctor and I only a mere blogger.

Tomorrow back on the college football musings, but here or for Southernpigskin?

Rip, Rip, Rippin' Away

A lil trashing of the Hokie offense, but on another blog. Only click if you dislike the VT offense. It's not that scathing, not as bad as it could have been.

This topic is almost ready for the glue factory ... at least this year.

From BCO pix

Beer Makes the BCO a Jolly Good Fellow Again ... Again

The BCO is looking forward to tasting a few brews in the next couple of weeks.

Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA

From BCO pix

Sierra Nevada is making a change!! An addition to their year round lineup, it's been 28 years since the last time they did that. The BCO was 7! True pioneers of the craft brew industry.
Link

Contrary to popular belief Torpedo Ale is not a different version of Celebration. The confusion stems from the device itself. The Hop Torpedo is a cylindrical stainless steel vessel that was developed to harness the essential oils and resins in hops, without extracting bitterness. Essentially, it is a new way of dry-hopping that extracts all of the oily resin without the residual bitterness of the traditional method.

The Specs:

Torpedo is in a grey area, somewhere between an IPA and a Double IPA…We are calling it Extra IPA…
7.4% ABV - IBU’s in the high 70’s to 80’s

Bittering hops: with Magnum
Finishing hops: Magnum, Crystal, Chinook.
Torpedo: Magnum, Chinook, Citra

BCO loves him some Sierra Nevada products, Celebration Ale and Pale Ale are money, so this should be right up there.

Surly Coffee Bender

From BCO pix

BCO's boy, Dirt is traveling to the Twin Cities of Minnesota to help those fools count votes and bring the BCO back some beer he can't get in the 757. Namely, Surly brews, especially the Furious IPA. Surly cans their beers in 16oz man cans. Tasty. The lil box with a styrofoam insert to slide in 12 beers is gonna come in hand for Dirt.

A beer from Surly that is new that the BCO hopes is making the trip is the Coffee Bender.
Link

Surly Brewing got label approval this week for Coffee Bender, a spin-off of its popular brown ale that introduces a coffee kick. The beer is steeped, 20 gallons at a time, for 24 hours (per BA) in cold-pressed coffee. The cold-pressing more or less takes away some of the acidity and bite out of it, making the flavor a little more subtle.

The Specs:
5.1% ABV, 45 IBU

Beer Traveling!

From BCO pix

On Dirt's way to his flight he bumped into a guy who had a cooler set up that makes me jealous. Seems we have a project on our hands, since Ole Dirt likes to travel a bit.


Sad News, Beamish Plant to be Closed by Heineken
Link

From BCO pix

Bastiges ... Beamish is easily the best dry Irish Stout. Smokes Guinness. BCO is unsure if the brand is going away or just the plant that has been around for 2 centuries. Either way it sucks.

The word is out that the historic Beamish and Crawford factory, which has been producing Beamish Irish Stout for over two centuries, will be shut down. Surely it was this drastic economic downturn that finally took down the brewery that had survived fire, governmental changes and war? Nope, just a standard buy-out procedure from the new owners, Dutch giant Heineken International.

Big Corporate Beer companies are the devil, no matter the country.

To leave you on a good note ... Cheers!

From BCO pix

Champions Again ... a Ramble

What a weird year. Young and crappy on O til the last couple of games, young and mediocre on D til about game 6 then, like gang busters the DT's did their job and everyone got better. The holiday season known as college football is almost over, but luckily for VT their last game is in an enviable, if overlooked BCS game.

From BCO pix

Before I ramble on, I would like to thank all 5 bc fans and all 5k Hokie fans for showing up in Tampa. The other 15k must have been bored. The economic times, the distance, one week's notice all figured in the poor attendance. The BCO thinks the utter up and down (mostly down) of the Hokie Offense kept folks away. Seriously, who really wants to drop all that cash and see VT lay a stinker like they did to doook or Miami? Will that affect Orange Bowl attendance as well. Probably.


Oh, the Holt slap was pretty funny, as a hoo message boarder said, somewhere Ernest Wilford is smiling. Wrong, but funny.

From BCO pix

On Southern Pigskin and on the sched pickem I picked bc, having thought they were a bad matchup for Tech. bc has looked more league champion this season as a whole than VT, but certainly not on Saturday. Bud and the D owned Davis and the bc O. Hell, even if Crane where there I am not sure they score much more. Granted that 1 Td that Macho saved late in the 1st half was a game changer. VT will have to lean on Bud one more time this year, if Frank wants to hit 10 wins for the 5th year in a row. Yes, the pic of these iggle wiminz was from last year but still, as anyone who has been to beantown, there are hotties there.

Beamer took the air outta the ball vs bc in the ACCG very late in the 3rd qtr. The Hokies could have rolled up 400 yards if they had needed too. Pretty damn shocking how VT gashed the eagle D, at times. Half of their All ACC fat ass combo, Ron Brace only played a lil and ineffectively and that helped. The OL while not dominant was pretty damn good. How in the hell do they look like ass vs Western Kentucky?

Basically bc could not play from behind when down more than 1 score. Abandon the run and pass into the multiple looks Bud gave bc and Davis. bc loses a lot on D next year but their O should be outstanding Davis can progress, might take a couple weeks after this mindjob.

Not sure why the ACC even has a booth for instant replay, Moe-Rons work it. One of the fumbles by Evans was clearly not a fumble. Have they been drinking with me? Speaking of drunk dipshits, how does Paul Maguire have a job? First he was on the shittiest NFL announcing team ever, ESPN's Sunday Night NFL with Joey T and Mike Patrick, then he got bounced to the Camera crane/truck for college games. To 1-down his complete joke of a career he ended up on a pirate ship in Tampa dressed as a gay Jack Sparrow.

Listening to the after game radio show and then reading newspaper colums after, one think we have learned, Frank Beamer and Bud Foster have heard the complaints of the team not being focused enough for the Bowl games. They stressed they were going to fix that and come in serious. Bout effing time. You know what the reward for a great season of football should be for football players? All the free poon they can get from coeds, not bullshitting around on jet skis 3 days before the bowl game.

More listening and Jim Weaver the most personable AD anywhere says that the Orange Bowl has good tickets for VT and that fans should buy through the school. Hmm, for years now everyone has known unless the game is a sellout, one can buy better tix for cheaper on the street at almost any bowl game. Pretty curious to see if the Orange Bowl actually did send better tix to VT and Cincy or if Weaver is blowing smoke up our asses. 2 to 1 on the latter.

Stiney IS NOT GOING ANYWHERE, nor are any of his O staff. Don't believe me, read it here.

ON WHAT HE ATTRIBUTES HIS PROGRAM’S LASTING SUCCESS TO: “I think keeping the coaching staff together, because I think that affects recruiting. Because when you’re going back in the same schools and building relationships, they know who you and how you are and how you treat their kids and so-forth, you’ve got a better chance of recruiting the next time. There’s no question you’ve got to have players to do what we do. I think in the ballgame, when you’ve got to make a decision in about three seconds, the more times that staff has been together and talked about it and been through it before, the better chance you’ve got of getting the decision right. I think we’re a very efficient staff. Our meetings don’t last long, because we know what we need to get done and how we need to do it … so I would say it all goes right back to keeping the coaching staff together.”

Another Tidbit found here.

After Saturday's game, Tech running backs coach Billy Hite was asked about rumors he may retire at the end of this season.

He put those rumors to rest in a hurry by stating he planned to return and wasn't ready for retirement. Hite, 57, has coached Tech's running backs for 31 seasons.

"Why would I want to do that?" said Hite regarding retirement.

Frank does need a bestest friend.

Hokie Guru, this I am sure does not make you happy. Prepare for more shitty offense and more of the same excuses next year. I will start, "the OL lost 2 starters from the previous season, they need time to jell and the wideouts are still young."

Season Awards

O PoY - Darren Evans

From BCO pix

Sure he is flawed, that makes him a perfect guy for our O. 1k yards as freshman behind a spotty O with lil to no passing threats to even fool the Defense. The kid got it done. Need to work on speed and his hands a bit, but like the ACCCG he was Tech's best player on O for the season.

D PoY - Macho Harris

From BCO pix

Tough call, as this was more a unit domination than a few good players dominating. Sturd, Worlids, Grimm and Orion have a say in this as well. Macho is better than he was last season and he was pretty good then. He isn't BFlowers but then again no Hokie DB has ever been that good. Interceptions, a few timely sticks and about half the mental breakdowns from last year. As the photo shows, Macho and Frank have a special bond.

CoY - Bud Foster

From BCO pix

Bud gets it not for being the DC, but for being the linebackers coach, very, very little dropoff from Vince Hall and Xavier Adibi. Amazing. Pay the man his JACK!

4 Favorite Moments of the Weekend

1. VT beating bc by their season's largest margin of victory
2. Pittsburgh beating Dallas late on Sunday and catching Wade do his best Beamer face
3. VT beating Navy in basketball in front of 28 fans at the Verizon
4. BCO winning his fantasy football quarterfinal matchup

Other Notes
I forgot to mention yesterday, Congrats to the ECU Pirates for winning C-USA's title game. Now hopefully for them they can keep Skip.

USA Today Link to how the coaches voted in the final poll ... here. Ole sly Frank, voting VT 23rd and Cincy 11th. Wants to be the underdog.

algroan had to fire his sorry arse son, Mike as the hoo OC. BCO hopes they don't get anyone good. By the way their O is comparable to VT's over the last few years.

Gotta SP.com to write, a post for HG on firebryanstinespring and then some Hokie BB to watch.