The Hokies Tackle the Title in Tampa-Town, and Why Coal Isn’t All Bad

  The Drive:
        Back to back ACC Champs? Not sure how many of us would have wagered it, but I, for one, voted the Hokies the Division winner at the ACC kickoff meetings held in Georgia back at the end of July. I must admit I had Florida State defeating them in the title game. I didn’t see Boston College coming at all. I did have Georgia Tech 2nd to the Hokies. My experience covering Paul Johnson’s teams from Georgia Southern when I worked in Augusta, Georgia, and later Chattanooga, Tennessee…was enough for me to see the obvious. It’s been a crazy year in the ACC, but the Hokies and the rest of the conference will have a gaggle of chances to prove the conference’s worth in the Bowl Bonanza that will follow. More on the Cincinnati Bowl matchup as we get closer.

  The Fairway:
        The trip to Tampa was both enjoyable and bittersweet for me. My Mom still lives there as does my sister, but we lost Dad in March of 2007, just two weeks after I covered the ACC Basketball tournament in Tampa. Just doing work associated with the ACC and being there brought back lots of memories. I did get to see Mom and my sister, albeit briefly, and we used our Media General flagship broadcast facility, WFLA-TV to do our work. That’s quite an operation. I took Chris Whitley into downtown Tampa and let him experience Ybor City. It’s to Tampa what 6th street is to Austin, Texas. He liked the Bay views and the 75 degree temperatures. Chris is a native of the 757 and although he doesn’t talk about it much, he seems to miss the beach. I interned at WFLA way back when (the call letters were different!!!) and spent summers in Tampa while at the University of Florida. I even took a summer session at USF, so I know my way around down there. My brother and sister are both graduates of USF in Tampa.

  The Green: 
      The High School football season is in the books, and our end of the year banquet is coming up on the 18th at Hidden Valley Country Club. I look forward to it every year. It’s a pretty slick production but more importantly if gives us a chance to honor those that we’ve had so much fun covering. I just finished going over the Brookville game tape,  which I’ve heard and read about, but haven’t seen because I was in Tampa, of course..covering the Hokies. That game was insane. That was the Frazier-Ali of HS Football finals. Floyd County hung tough against a speedy Gretna squad, and Amherst Co may have fallen victim to Mother Nature more than anything else. The snow might have looked pretty, but it clearly affected the Lancers speed and cutting ability. You can’t tell me anybody short of the Redskins could shut out Amherst County. Not gonna happen.       

  The Jar:
      My Alma Mater, The Florida Gators, played their way into the title tilt again. I don’t need to explain how much that means, and I can’t help but think we’ve already won the National title by beating Alabama. Maybe that’s “conference centric” of me, but I suppose I’ll get my answer soon enough. Can anybody stop the Sooners offense? Can the Sooners stop anybody? My guess is not really, and not really.
      But we’ve got plenty of time to talk title, for now…it’s all about the big guy in the red suit. He’s coming, and he knows if you’ve been naughty or nice….so for goodness sake—don’t be so quick to stick with the ole’ “you’ve get a stocking full of coal if you are bad” line. I grew up in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania. The coal region, eastern anthracite. If you grew up in one of those places—Berwick, Mount Carmel, Tamaqua, Pottsville, Lehighton, Pine Grove, Jim Thorpe, Wilkes-Barre, North Schuylkill—then you are a coal cracker. That region survived for decades because of coal and little else. Some mines are still functioning up there, although they are dwindling. Coal has never had a bad connotation for me. It meant heat, and livelihood, and it’s demise meant the opposite….a depressed area. Santa needs to rethink the stocking full of coal. Maybe just rocks, like Charlie Brown’s Halloween.
      I got a rock.