Stanford 40, Virginia Tech 12: Why Am I Still Angry?
by furrer4heisman on Jan 4, 2011 1:24 PM EST
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PrintI thought I'd feel better this morning, but I don't. I'm still fuming over Virginia Tech's performance in last night's Orange Bowl loss to Stanford.
Usually I'm not this way. Usually I've let things go by the next morning. The LSU loss in 2007 was accepted the next morning because the Tigers were really good and it was obvious we weren't as talented as they were. Same with Alabama last season.
Boise State earlier this year? Sure I was devastated after the game, but I was over it the next morning. JMU? Hell, I was over it while watching the replay of the game. But not this one and I can't figure out why.
Virginia Tech go dominated by a better team in a game that really doesn't count for much. There's only one bowl game that really counts and the rest are glorified exhibitions. So why am I so mad over a glorified exhibition?
Probably because of the way we played. Stanford brought its A-game and I felt like we left ours on South Beach. I felt like my Hokie Club dues were used to pay for a nice little Miami vacation for our players despite the "business trip" mantra from the coaching staff.
So why should I be mad at all? Maybe I should just listen to Willy Mac:
I got tired of living my life vicariously through a bunch of over-hyped kids because of the color shirt they wear. [...] You wanna know why they don't catch passes or block people? THEY DON'T GIVE A SHIT. Most of them don't. They're getting a free ride in pussyville and they're worshiped like gods. As much as you care, they don't.
So maybe I take this a little too seriously. Maybe I shouldn't let the athletic performance of 20 year-olds have this profound an effect on my mood. I mean, these are kids. Obviously, I'm not as sophisticated as people who care this much about pro teams because the players that effect my mood aren't getting paid and can get into bars without fake IDs.
So maybe I need to just let this go. It was a glorified exhibition played by kids against a team that at the end of the day was much better (and played much better) than we were.
Did that help you at all? Because for some reason it didn't help me. I'm still angry. I don't want to be, but I am.
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Attitudes like that
are why I hate our own fanbase sometimes.
A bullhorn, a bottle of whiskey and a dream. Gobbler Country | Twitter | Facebook
by furrer4heisman on Jan 4, 2011 1:36 PM EST up reply actions
I think this is unfair. Am I disappointed in our O-Line? Absolutely.
Should they have spent more time prepping and less talking about their beards? Totally.
Do I think that’s Stiney? No.
I think it’s Newsome. If any coach is a scapegoat here it’s got to be him, and I don’t like scapegoating coaches anymore. It’s on the kids.
Fight For Old D.C. Administrator (www.ffodc.com)
Love my Hokies, Caps, Redskins, Wizards and Nats.
It's the effort that stings.
Or the apparent lack of it. I can handle and deal with a loss when we get straight up beat, but when it seems like a good chunk of the players were just happy to be there and not putting their effort into the game, that sits with me a while longer. Lose but play hard, fine, that I can deal with.. Lose and just look like you’re standing around on the field lolly gagging with your thumb up your @$$ watching the other team run by you. There’s a problem.
The other team's kids sure gave a shit.
There’s the frustrating part, for anybody rooting for VT.
I wonder if the ACC Championship Game steals thunder from the Orange Bowl. A bowl game after a conference title game has to feel even more like an exhibition than a bowl game would anyway. ACC teams are losing to Big Ten, Pac-10 teams that didn’t play in title games.
Same argument would apply to SEC teams going onto the BCS title game, but nobody could mistake the national championship game for an exhibition.
I am proud to be a Kennesaw State Fighting Owl. -- Vince Dooley
by Jason Kirk on Jan 4, 2011 1:43 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
That's a helluva point
It might explain some of Oklahoma’s struggles in the Fiesta Bowl (other than the beat down of an overwhelmed UConn team). The conference title is a much bigger deal to most programs than any bowl that isn’t the BCSCG.
A bullhorn, a bottle of whiskey and a dream. Gobbler Country | Twitter | Facebook
by furrer4heisman on Jan 4, 2011 1:49 PM EST up reply actions
I second that...
I really had a bad feeling that the team would fold up ala Orange Bowl 2007. That year, after VT lost to BC, the mantra was finishing strong and getting back to the ACC title game. They got there. Then, they got to replay BC, and get revenge. I believe that team invested everything in the ACCCG that year, and had nothing left for the OB. Everybody wanted to talk about how they didn’t prepare for Kansas. I think they COULDN’T prepare for Kansas because in their heads, the mission was accomplished.
Now, in 2008, they got back to the Orange Bowl and redeemed themselves, because why? Because that was the mission. Get to the Orange Bowl and finish it this time. (Also, playing Cincy didn’t hurt either.)
Same thing this year as 2007. All you heard all season was, “win the ACC, win the ACC, win the ACC”. They did, and I think mentally, they were done after that.
And for that, I blame the coaches. I don’t want to fire anybody, but any layperson could have seen that the Hokies were not prepared last night, and then did not adjust throughout the game.
I understand being angry still after this one. Part of it is pride, and knowing that once again on the big stage, the Hokies showed us who they are. The Chokies. I love them, and always will; but they are who they are. It makes me throw up in my mouth a little thinking about how big this win would have been in regards to elevating the program status in the national spotlight, and most importantly, recruiting. Last night was a major recruiting fail. major.
by Leonard Thompson on Jan 4, 2011 2:44 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
WOW!
Ending up in the Top 10 for the year when all was said and done wasn’t enough motivation? You really believe these players are satisfied JUST to win the championship of one of the nation’s weaker conferences and that winning the bragging rights that come with a final Top 10 ranking did nothing for them? That’s hard to believe, and if true, then something clearly is amiss. I think the bottom line is that those kids did the best they could but just didn’t belong on the same field with Stanford (and likely wouldn’t have been but for the ridiculous BCS bowl alignment rules). Did any of you really think that VT could compete with that team? Really?
“Did any of you really think that VT could compete with that team? Really?”
While I don’t agree with the “it has everything to do with motivation” argument, yes, we COULD compete at our best. Were you watching the first half…?
So yes, really.
by The Lampshade on Jan 4, 2011 5:13 PM EST up reply actions
It's okay to care...to a point. Then it starts getting silly.
It’s fine to be disappointed with this loss. I’m disappointed, especially when I think about the fact that a relatively small number of key losses are starting to overshadow the enormity of what Frank Beamer has accomplished the last 24 years. BUT…I really am getting disgusted by the temper tantrums sprouting up everywhere today from the VT fan base. “Fire Beamer!” “Our players are never prepared!” “We’ll never get to the next level until (insert random advice here)!”….
What. The Fuck. Ever.
It’s amazing how when a team enjoys a big win or a string of successes, everyone wants to ride along to the party, talking smack and strutting around like THEY PERSONALLY had something to do with it- but when things go wrong, everyone wants to jump out of the car and start assigning blame. I mean, how about if they plays start saying “We lost because our fans sucked”?
If you are someone so emotionally vested in the success and failure of game-playing kids WHO DON’T EVEN KNOW WHO THE HELL YOU ARE are doing that you can’t separate that from the truly important ups and downs in your own life, then perhaps you should reevaluate your life.
....Wait, what?
I’m a little confused, seeing as the reactions of the bloggers and fans on Gobbler Country (and most other popular VT blogs) have been very composed, honest, and mature. You know what gets me “disgusted”? Self-righteous “fans” who go around telling strangers on the internet how much more mature and emotionally together they are than the rest of a fan base because they “don’t care [as much]”.
Do you seriously believe that the editors and commenters here are so delusionally wrapped up in false hopes about a college football teams that they’re letting it ruin their real lives? Give me a break dude.
The majority of fans feel good when their team wins. Then there’s that obnoxious minority that feels good when their team loses because it gives them a chance to broadcast their supposed righteousness to the world.
by The Lampshade on Jan 4, 2011 4:52 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
if you read
BL’s follow up comments below, I dont think he was trying to come off as self righteous at all.
A bullhorn, a bottle of whiskey and a dream. Gobbler Country | Twitter | Facebook
by furrer4heisman on Jan 4, 2011 5:06 PM EST up reply actions
If you are someone so emotionally vested in the success and failure of game-playing kids WHO DON’T EVEN KNOW WHO THE HELL YOU ARE are doing that you can’t separate that from the truly important ups and downs in your own life, then perhaps you should reevaluate your life.
I don’t know why that comment bothers me so much. Tough one to get my hands around.
No, Tyrod Taylor isn’t going to pay my mortgage and Rock Carmichael has no impact in my job security…
But give me a break. Fans are passionate. I know if Tech goes 7-6 or 12-1, the real life struggles in my own life won’t change. But I enjoy watching and rooting in sports. It’s that passion that helps provide at least some sort of distraction as my home value drops another 20% or while I watch my wife get laid off at work.
Yes, some fans take things too far, but don’t trivialize the whole concept of fans caring about a team with, “you should be more worried about your own life.”
Trust me… I do worry about my own life. But I can spare some nugget of my life to passionately care what my team does each season.
Hear, Hear...
Right on dude. To be a Hokie fan you have to separate what’s important and what’s not. The way VT plays, if you didn’t, the Cardio center at the local hospital would be full of VT fans.
by Leonard Thompson on Jan 4, 2011 2:48 PM EST up reply actions
Yup...and a few years ago I was one of them
Well, my heart attack didn’t come after a Hokie game…but it did put VT football into perspective for me.
I'm not saying you shouldn't care...
And I’m not saying I’m not disappointed. I’m saying that a lot of VT’s fans have completely lost perspective.
Absolutely...
I blame the program for part of that loss of perspective. Every year, we are told that the pieces are in place for a title run. And that empty trophy case!! Great horny toads! Please remove the trophy case. Fill it with gummy bears, anything!
The thing is, as fans we need to step back and look at the big picture, especially in the Spring when everything is sunshine and buttercups and realize this program is good for an ACC title every now and then, and 10 wins. VT has a great staff, and Beamer has a life long pass in my book because of what he did for the program in the mid 90’s. But this coaching crew and the recruits that VT gets are not going to get a title.
There is a reason that Florida, Texas, USC, Auburn, and Alabama are in the hunt year end and year out. That’s where the players go. That’s where the pockets are deep enough to retain good coaches. VT is good, but not that good. Everybody just needs to get their head around that, and all will be easier deal with.
by Leonard Thompson on Jan 4, 2011 3:38 PM EST up reply actions
AGREED!
I am nothing more than an ambivalent, passive observer of VT football, but I never cease to be amazed and bemused by the gut-wrenching overreaction of the fans. The sooner the “fans” accept that the talent level is simply not there (and hasn’t been in a long, long time) to compete with the big boys, the better off you will all be.
VT is supposed to be, first and foremost, an educational institution. It is situated in a state never known for its football prowess or overabundance of HS football talent.
However, you could do much worse. You have a coach and coaching staff who are “old school,” which is a PLUS in my book. Beamer has proven he’s not scared to play anyone, even at the risk of having an extra high-profile “L” on the record. He is loyal, not all about the money and a class act. In this day and age when college football (and coaching) more closely resembles mercenaries and prostitutes, you are lucky to have such a program that consistently produces winning seasons.
If you want to play with the big boys, things will have to change, but be careful what you ask for. As an “outsider,” I think you have a lot to be proud of.
Down Season
The thing that bothers me about this season is that we all got fooled into thinking we were poised for a title run, and then when that died, after a few conference wins, we still convinced ourselves that we were a great team that could play with anyone if given another chance. I think, looking back, we should have been much more conscious of the severity of the defensive holes. It just never felt like a great VT defense that we could rely on. Some games were better than others but it just never felt right. Also, we could see for much of the season that Tyrod was forced to make big plays on his own because the O-line was not reliable.
Normally, we have a stellar defense that is so good that we just wonder if the offense will be just good enough to take us where we want to go. This season, we got a better offense but simply did not have a special defense to make the total package deadly. We should have been more honest about this team when setting our bowl expectations. I think the warning signs were there.
No doubt...
we desperately missed Cody Grimm and Jason Worlids this year.
by Leonard Thompson on Jan 4, 2011 5:37 PM EST up reply actions
No dishonor for VT yesterday
I’ve heard Oregon fans talk about what the Stanford defense did to Cal and Oregon State in November and they say they were damn lucky to get Stanford AT HOME early in the season, before Vic Fangio’s defense had completely come together. I may be wrong, but I think you lost last night to a team that on any given night would have a very good chance of beating anybody: Oregon, Auburn, TCU, Wisconsin, OSU, Alabama, anybody. Sure, the VT run defense was definitely having an off year, the injuries at linebacker absolutely killed you, and Beamer did get out-coached, but you’ve got some special cornerbacks and TT was something else. You played for a half with what may right now be the best team in the country, and with a couple of breaks going differently it could have been a game to the end, even with Stanford’s dominance in the trenches. Heads up high, Hokies, and I expect to see TT getting a rematch with Luck some Sunday in a few years. Wouldn’t be surprised if he came out on top.
Let's Look at the Positives!!
1. VT won 11 games and went undefeated in the ACC for the first time EVER!
2. Only 4 starters lost on each side of the Ball.
3. Replacements for each starter are at least moderately experienced and all look to be stars (except TE…). Many replacements started in some games this year.
4. B. Rivers and B. Taylor should both start at linebacker neat year.
5. Defensive Front 7 and offensive line will have 2-3 deep depth.
6. If Nic Acree plays up to his potential, VT will have a Sequoia Tree at NT, instantly making the linebackers and run defense that much better.
7. Schedule is cake next year, and VT should easily win 10 games (possibly 12-13). It is so easy, I am worried that it will be a strong argument as to keep VT out of an upper-tier bowl. (ECU is toughest out of conference game!)
by Chazz Micheal Michealzz on Jan 5, 2011 1:17 PM EST reply actions
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