The Hokies Not Invited to a Boston Tea Party and Dale Jr’s Economy Joke

  The Drive:
        Virginia Tech sure wasn’t invited to that Boston Tea Party. What struck me about this one was not the struggles of a still developing offense, but the fact that the defense tried to win this one on their own. Two picks for six and five turnovers usually equate to a win, but in this case—not so fast!  What I noticed were the playmakers in the Hokies secondary jumping routes all over the place in a desperate attempt to score again. Eventually, when you gamble that much, you pay the price—and it happened a couple of times as BC piled up scores in the first half.  The other issue is special teams—and the Hokies breakdown in punt coverage which cost them six points. At Tuesday’s presser Coach Beamer explained that they know how to correct the problem. Well, yea…Coach is the guru in this area. You have to know it’s killing him to have these breakdowns, but that’s what you get when you have a young team. Which brings me to the offense. Coach made it clear he didn’t think it was a Tyrod issue. I’ll agree that it’s an offensive unit issue that might not get better with that group of puppies at wide receiver. Maybe the only short term fix is to go back to the tight ends. That group appeared to be the most consistent pass catchers throughout the fall and maybe they need to go that way again. I know, I’m no coach, but I play one on TV! What a job.  As a Gator, I can tell you we will know plenty after the trip to Tallahassee. That place tends to illuminate the negatives and the positives. Notice I said illuminate, when I really should have blurted “expose”. OK, now I just did.

  The Fairway:
      Martinsville races never cease to bring about talkable moments. The stuff of watercooler legend. This year’s entry, for your enjoyment or disgust—-is Dale Jr’s one liner on the economy. Actually, both Greg Biffle and Dale Jr. along with Jeff Burton and Jimmie Johnson all discussed the possible economic impact on the sport of NASCAR with some pretty impressive clarity. But it was only when Dale Jr. turned funny man that the room erupted.
      Keep in mind this was at a Friday press conference, in front of a microphone with dozens listening—so I am in no way betraying anybody’s confidence here. Anyway, Dale Jr. says—-a guy told him a good one about the economy. He says the economy these days is worse than a divorce, because he’s lost half of everything and he’s still got his wife. Well, the room busted up and Dale was quick to point out he was just passing on somebody else’s joke. That’s Junior, and that’s another NASCAR watercooler story for years to come. Enough said.

The Green:
      The Playoff Professor—If you haven’t caught his act, you need to tune in to Friday Football.Com The Highlight Show! Scott Leamon has done a bang up job explaining the VHSL Playoff picture week to week, so if you’ve got questions—-he’ll be glad to help. He’s the only reporter I know that spends his free time crunching playoff scenario numbers. You can email him at . He’s getting plenty of emails each week and he tries to answer them with his on-air presentations in our show. Again—The show airs 11:15 to 11:45 on Friday nights.

The Jar: The Phillies are in the Series…The Phillies are in the Series…The Phillies are in the Series…
        Talk to you all next week..after we get back..from Tally.