You know everything's going according to plan for Virginia Tech when all you want to watch anything other than the Hokies play basketball. Fishing shows, NBC sitcoms, your neighbor's vacation videos, they all seem like a better alternative to Seth Greenberg's squad. It's not pretty and sometimes it will even cure insomnia, right now it's working for the Hokies.
Let's see what the braves souls who watched Tech take down the Hoos have to say about Saturday's slugfest.
Virginia Tech 61, Virginia 55
Mainstream Media
Forget bubble, think bubbly (Aaron McFarling)
"It's not always easy to watch. A game pitting the top two scoring defenses in the ACC began with Tech shooting an airball and UVa missing a dunk, and it didn't get much prettier from there. The halftime score looked like a Pac-10 football tally. Neither team shot 40 percent from the floor overall."
Few trips to free-throw line for Delaney (Darryl Slater)
"Early in the second half of last night’s game between Virginia Tech and Virginia, the Hokies’ point guard, junior Malcolm Delaney, looked toward official Jeff Clark during a break in the action. Delaney appeared baffled, frustrated even, that he wasn’t getting calls."
Commonwealth Clunker (Kyle Tucker)
"With a 61-55 win over Virginia, Virginia Tech improved to 20-4 overall, 7-3 in the ACC. The fastest team to 20 wins in school history will try to take sole possession of second place in the league Tuesday when the Hokies host Wake Forest (18-5, 8-3). Win that one, and a Sunday trip to Duke (21-4, 9-2) awaits ... with a chance to seize the ACC lead. Crazy, huh?"
Bloggers
Virginia Tech Outlasts Virginia with 61-55 Win (VT Fan)
"In front of a "Black Out" crowd in Cassell Coliseum, the Hokies went to work trying to defeat the UVA Cavaliers for the second time this season. The game, simply, was at Virginia Tech’s pace. It was sloppy. It was ugly. At times, it was tough to watch. However, that’s where the Hokies excel. When Tech can sit back, play defense and find quality possessions down the stretch, they will beat you more times than not. The Cavaliers found this out for the second time this season on Saturday night, losing to the Hokies 61-55."
Just Like Football! Hokies Use Late Run to Sweep UVA (Fight for Old DC)
"The second half was much like the first, as neither team led by four points until the final minute. The Wahoos had a three-point advantage after Mike Scott's dunk put UVA up 51-48 with a little over two minutes remaining. Then, it was time for Jeff Allen to take over. Allen took the ball on the next possession, drove to the basket and banked the shot in, while being fouled. Allen made the subsequent free throw to tie the game at 51."
Hokies Beat Hoos Down the Stretch, Again (Tech Sideline)
"It was Jeff Allen's play down the stretch that propelled the Hokies to the big win. He scored six straight points in a 37 second span that took Virginia Tech from a three-point deficit to a three-point lead."
Hokies 61, uva 55 (Tech Hoops)
"This game was ugly. Actually, ugly is putting it nicely. Fugly is more like it. If you don’t know what "fugly" means, look it up at urbandictionary.com, then come back here for a recap of the carnage that set the game of basketball back about 100 years. Like, back when they actually used peach baskets as the hoops."
Around the ACC
Busy, Busy (The A-Line)
"While I tend to not pay a lot of attention to the build-up of recruiting, trusting Frank & co to keep doing what has worked pretty darn well in the past, it is hard to log onto the interwebs on so-called Signing Day and not get caught up in the hoopla. I do, however, find much glee in reading message boards, the loonier the better."
Virginia Tech Recruiting 2010 - The Breakdown (Tech SuperFans)
"It looks like the Hokies got the type of athletes on the offensive and defensive lines that suit their schemes while also adding depth at a variety of other positions. It's missing a landmark QB, which hopefully Tech will be pursuing this year. But the Class of 2010 seems to have stocked the cupboard with a very solid group of high-potential players along with a few genuine superstars."
ACC Preseason Hype vs. On Field Excellence (From The Rumble Seat)
"Ultimately, only one team has performed as well as expected season-season and that was Virginia Tech. The Hokies average predicted finish was 1.2 place in the Coastal and they finished around 1.4 place on average. They are a little overrated but no Media Days event has ever strayed from picking them to finish 1st or 2nd and the Hokies have yet to finish outside of those constraints (Duke is the only similar track record of predictability and that's not a compliment)."
What It Takes to be Consistently Successful in College Football (Tomahawk Nation)
"I am in the camp of thought that in this day and age of college football there are 2 critical factors into having a consistently successful program, (1) a leadership group that understands what it takes to run a football program and (2) a substantial amount of income. I understand that there are other smaller factors that play into a team’s success or lack thereof (i.e. location, competition and academic standards). I will attempt to show that in this day and age of football it in near impossible to succeed on a consistent basis without both of those factors."
Juan Dixon Tests Positive For Steroids (Testudo Times)
"Maybe Juan was fearful that his career was slipping away and that this was his only hope of continuing to play basketball. I guess we'll never know for sure. But Juan was always a guy you wanted to see succeed - overcoming the death of both of his parents to AIDS, succeeding in high school, and then working hard over his career at Maryland to become the best player in College Basketball his senior year."
BC Beats BU 4-3 in 58th Beanpot Championship (BC Interruption)
Brian takes time from waiting an hour for a table at Mrs. Brian's restaurant choice on Valentine's Day: "I know New York Rangers fans are already salivating over the thought of you playing at the next level, Chris, but ... please stay? How 'bout another year? Kreider has really come on strong of late. Kreider went into the winter break and the World Juniors with just 2 goals in his young BC career. The goal tonight marked Kreider's 5th goal in as many games, bringing his season total to 7."
Golf Notes of Interest--Clemson Related (Shakin The Southland)
"Clemson has a nice golf tradition that keeps on building. Clemson currently has three Tour players who are very capable of securing a victory any given week. There are also a host of Tigers on the Nationwide and Hooters/eGolf tours who are potential future stars. We cannot promise the frequency of golf updates but do want everyone to realize that there is a nice crop of young players constantly moving through CU."
Operation Purge Fowler (Yet Another...)
"But if, after five years and with a 5-star backcourt, the Pack still misses the NCAA tournament, the only logical choice is to move in another direction. And with the way Lowe's hiring went down in '06, there is NO WAY Lee Fowler should be allowed to conduct it."
Flutie could be key benefactor in O'Bannon case (Eagle in Atlanta)
"I don't think this will change the nature of paying current student athletes. Hopefully it will be resolved with some clear guidelines for future use. These kids put a lot on the line and deserve to share in some of the wealth they generate."