Virginia Tech Football: Coach Frank Beamer’s 3 Best Teams

 During his notable college football coaching career at Virginia Tech, Frank Beamer made a point of scheduling contenders early in the season.

But through the 2015 opener versus Ohio State, overall the Hokies were 0-5 against ranked FBS teams in Week 1 since 2004. The Hokies were 0-9 all-time against No. 1 ranked teams. Beamer got credit from some quarters for pushing the envelope, like Soda Popinski taking on Tyson. Critics wonder why they never win those high-profile games.

The fact that the Hokies were usually overmatched just gave the team something to grow on, leading up to bowl time. That kind of preparation always threatened to launch Beamer’s young men into a contending season. Except for the Michael Vick years, the prepping never panned out.

Now that Beamer has retired, what might it take for succeeding Tech coaches to match some of his finest teams? There is a lot of quality football in VT’s recent past. Here are briefings from three of Coach Beamer’s best:

#3 The 2007 team was blasted by second-ranked LSU early in the year, 48-7. They recovered to go 11-3 (7-1 ACC), as QBs Sean Glennon and Tyrod Taylor combined for 17 passing TDs. Receiver Eddie Royal, who would go on to a successful pro career, caught four of those scores. After losing to Matt Ryan and Boston College, they reeled off five straight wins to end the year, then fell to Kansas 24-21 in the Orange Bowl. The Hokies’ emotional season was underlined by the April campus shootings in Blacksburg.

#2 He had highlights that are still amazing to watch, like the 210-yard rushing effort from behind center against Boston College. Unfortunately, injuries to sophomore quarterback Michael Vick hindered the Hokies in 2000. The team still finished 11-1 overall, only falling to the Miami Hurricanes. Vick saw the signal and moved on to the NFL. The season’s other standout, running back Lee Suggs, began his quest to set the record for most consecutive games scoring a touchdown (57).

#1 In 1999, freshman Vick led the Hokies through their finest campaign. Their undefeated regular season came to a head in early November, with a thrilling last-minute field goal victory at rival West Virginia. By this time, Coach Beamer had helmed Va. Tech for thirteen years. Everything (almost) came together perfectly, as Tech made it to the title game against powerhouse Florida State. Future pros Chris Weinke(QB), Peter Warrick (WR), and Sebastian Janikowski (K) put a late surge on Va. Tech, winning 46-29.

College Team Mascots: The Silly, the Profane, and the Caricature

 

William Shakespeare asked, “What’s in a name?” The King James Bible declares, “A good name is better than precious ointment.” W.C. Fields said, “It ain’t what they

call you, it’s what you answer to.”

help us create some more

In the world of sports, names mean plenty.  They conjure rivalries and the spirit of competition. Names serve to identify you, setting you either with or against other fans. The teams and fanatics want to take on the mascot’s persona, because it is their representative in a battle.

Speaking of battles, many universities like to call themselves versions of soldiers, including Knights, Vikings, Spartans, and Trojans. Pirates and Marauders belong in this category. The Illinois College Blueboys and Lady Blues got their nicknames from the blue Union soldier uniforms worn during the Civil War.
Naming school teams after members of the animal kingdom is always popular. Felines, canines, ocean creatures, and birds of prey are wild and supposedly ferocious. Costumed insect and spider mascots with deadly real-life counterparts dance on college sidelines year-round.

Then there are localized nicknames, like the Miami Hurricanes, the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, UNLV’s Runnin’ Rebels, and UNC’s Tarheels. Columbia College in California calls themselves the Claim Jumpers. Wichita State’s Shocker is a cousin to the many schools holding up the Aggie mascot, short for agricultural, which evokes visions of a farmer in overalls hooping it up.

But these are all rational names, either concerned with representing the region or with presenting a fierce attitude. Some colleges take it further.

The Silly. The Artichokes of Scottsdale, Arizona were obviously named tongue-in-cheek. Same goes for the Nads of the Rhode Island School of Design. UC Santa Cruz’s Banana Slugs and Delaware’s Blue Hens make most fans laugh the first time they hear of them, which was partly the goal. And have you ever heard of a Gorlok? Webster University of the SLIAC’s rep has the paws of a cheetah, the horns of a buffalo, and the face of a Saint Bernard dog. Virginia Tech’s Hokie might be the most famous head-scratcher of a college nickname… if it isn’t the Maryland Terrapin.

The Profane. This group starts with the Duke Blue Devils, DePaul Blue Demons, St. Louis Billikens, and Arizona State Sun Devils. There are DustDevils, Red Devils, Sea Devils, Golden and Red and regular (green?) Dragons, Titans, Devilettes, and plain ol’ Devils. Few believe the Bible in our time, but most believe in the devil. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be this popular with the schools. The Wake Forest Demon Deacon seems to represent some kind of crazed, possessed religious fanatic. Probably it’s a good thing that there are Saints, Preachers, Friars, Fighting Christians, and Samsons to balance things a little.

The Caricature. Notre Dame Fightin’ Irish never gets mentioned in these conversations, but the Irishman is as much a stereotype as Native American mascots. St. John’s switched from the “Redmen” and Marquette did the same with “Warriors” some years ago. 

In 2012, North Dakota was forced by the NCAA to abandon the Fightin’ Sioux name. But there are still the Florida State Seminoles, existing under the controversy radar. Most polled Native Americans don’t seem too wound up about it. Which leaves one question: Do any descendants of the Aztecs hold a grudge against San Diego State?

Change the NBA's Washington Wizards back to the Bullets!

Three reasons to permanently switch the "Washington Wizards" back to the "Washington Bullets":

 buy us some time

The switch was based on a false piety in the first place. Reportedly, team owner Abe Pollin was convicted to change the mascot back when a friend was shot and murdered, after pondering the issue for a few years prior. This switch was not really based on any hard correlation between a city's behavior and its sports team representative. Rather, it was about perception, and the decision was rightfully mocked by area journalists. But it is hard to respect the argument that "Bullets" glorifies violence, when the D.C. area still sits on the race-baiting "Redskins" nickname for their pro football team. Not to mention, "Wizards" invokes connotations with the Ku Klux Klan, according to some observers. Teammates Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton marred the spiritual veil when they got busted with firearms in the locker room And, finally, on retro/throwback nights, the Wizards become the Bullets temporarily anyway!

When the team was still the Bullets, at least they had some success. They won the NBA title, the franchise's only one, in 1978. Since the renaming in 1997, there has not been much sunshine for the hometown fanatics. All they have had is a line of sensational locker room tales and on-court futility. Even majority owner Ted Leonsis was once quoted as admitting that making the Washington basketball team a viable performer was as important as dealing with the name issue. Because, expert crybaby victims, I mean "social justice warriors" aside, professional sports are about business. That's why "professional" is in the phrase.

Wizards are known to be gay pedophiles, while bullets are merely dangerous projectiles. Well... perhaps there are some similarities there. But, a bullet has no control over where its owner has fired it. A wizard, a warlock, or a witch has a conscience, at least in theory... Our nation's capital can be said to have an abundance of both bullets and wizards. The Washington area residents see and know of their share of guns, even if the murder rate has fluctuated up and down over the years. Meanwhile, Washington politicians and bigwig shakers gather around pentagrams and idols, worship devils, and approve of baby sacrifices (abortions), same as real wizards do. Any small study of witches will reveal that they believe molesting and killing small children gives them some power. However, bullets are more honest than wizards and baby molesters. At least there's no misrepresentation with bullets. They don't know how to lie and mask themselves like stinkin' women and men. Bullets just get all up in you (oops, did it again). The way a quality sports team should.