Virginia Tech vs. Miami, November 17, 2007

First, there’s one last note to add to last week’s Florida State game. When we got home, Sage received an email from her mom saying that Ashley had seen me on TV, around the 8-minute mark of the 2^nd Quarter. Neither Sage nor I thought this was possible, but we went to the Tivo to see. Unfortunately Tivo decided NOT to tape the game, even though I had set it up that morning. (This new DirecTV Tivo has some issues, which I won’t get in to now. But let me say: it is NOT user error.) Thankfully ESPNU replayed the game the next day and I was able to get a tape. The image below is the person Ashley was referring to. (Sorry for the grainy photo…taking a picture of a paused TV program isn’t the best quality.)

So, is this me? There are some arguments to be made both ways.

Arguments for:

• The face and body shape fits my rotund figure.
• I hold drinks EXACTLY like that when standing up, with the cup against my chest.
• I almost always wear my maroon #5 jersey to games, as well as a baseball cap.
  

Arguments against:

• This person obviously is sitting in the 2^nd row. Our seats are in row Z.
• The Florida St. game was the Orange Effect game, and I did not wear my maroon #5 jersey to this game.
• Also, since this was a "cold-weather game" (anything below 50 applies), instead of a ball cap I wore my VT tuque.

So obviously it’s not me. But considering this flashed across the screen for about 0.7 seconds, I’m not surprised Ashley thought it was me, and if we ever needed an eye-witness for a crime, I would put Ashley at the top of the list.

Now, on to the Miami game. This would be the last home game of the season, and the last game in Lane for the Seniors. Before the game, there seemed to be a strange vibe, as people didn’t seem as pumped as they have been in the past for a Miami game. The reason was obvious: The game was meaningless in almost every definition of the word. VT’s game against Virginia next week would decide the winner of the ACC Coastal Division, regardless of how the Hokies fared against the Canes. Miami was at 5-5 and looking dead in the water after getting beat 48-0 by Virginia (the same Virginia that lost to Wyoming the first week of the season) in their last game ever in the Orange Bowl. No one thought this would be a tough game, and everyone seemed to be looking ahead to the big Commonwealth Showdown.

It was supposed to be as cold this week as it was last week, and I didn’t want to grille food just to have it turn ice-cold before I could eat it, so we went with the cold chicken and potato salad for our tailgate. We also added some onion dip, as well as Canadian Beer. (I wanted my beer to be as far away from Miami as possible.)

Here's Coach Beamer surveying the players before the game. For a good 30 minutes, while the teams warm up, Beamer stands in the middle of the field, all alone, just watching the players. Being head football coach must be either the loneliest job in the world, or the easiest. I'm not sure which.










Since it was senior day, all the seniors on the team get to come out individually, greeted by their families. Here are 2 of the ones we'll miss the most: Eddie Royal (#4) and Xavier Adibi (#11).



Sebastian the Ibis tries to get the Miami fans riled up. As far as mascots go, I kind of have a love-hate relationship with Sebastian. He's completely obnoxious, but he's also an ibis. I mean, how can you hate an ibis?

Final score: Hokies 44, Miami 14. The Canes got to within 6 points in the 3rd quarter, but truthfully the game wasn't ever in doubt.

Even though the home schedule is complete, the games don’t get any bigger moving forward. This Saturday the Hokies travel to Charlottesville to take on Virginia, in arguably the biggest game ever played between the two schools. VT is ranked 8^th, UVa ranked 16^th, and it’s the best combined ranking ever between the two schools. Never have the two schools met when both teams had at least 9 wins. Oh, and one other small note: The winner of this game plays Boston College for the ACC Championship on December 1 in Jacksonville. So, I guess you’d say there’s a little bit to play for this Saturday.