Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 16, 1995 TAG: 9511170054
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
UVa ``just wasn't for me, I guess,'' said the Maryland native. "They seemed to me more like a white-collar school, and I'm too blue-collar to go there. They wouldn't have me, I'm sure.''
Beamer makes biting remark
No matter what the Bowl Alliance or ESPN says, Tech coach Frank Beamer offers no apologies for his streaking Hokies.
``A good friend told me one time that it's just humanly impossible for someone to bite you in the butt if you're not out front,'' Beamer said. ``We feel like we're out front, and if someone at ESPN wants to take a chunk out of our butt, that's OK. No matter what, we feel good about ourselves. I'm proud of the way this team plays.''
Winning changes tune
A long winning streak takes the heat off a head coach. Just ask Frank Beamer.
On the Tech coach's radio show a couple of weeks ago, a caller named Johnny from Roanoke, mocking the popular TV beer commercial, greeted Beamer with the words: ``Frank, I lovvvvve youuuuu maaan.''
Reacting quickly, Beamer chuckled, then retorted: ``That's OK, Johnny, but you can't have my Bud Light.''
Beamer duly noted there were no such endorsements when Tech was 0-2.
``They [the callers] were throwing the Bud Lights at me then,'' he said, laughing.
Hokie hits
Tech's five defensive touchdowns this season are the most since the school started keeping such records in 1950. The previous high was four, in 1967 and '68. ... Tech has three interception returns for scores, its most since 1968 when it had four. ... Before senior J.C. Price's 19-yard pickoff for a score against Temple on Saturday, the last Tech defensive tackle to score on an interception was Sammy Bria in 1970 against Villanova. ... Tech's defense and special teams have combined for 14 touchdowns in the past 25 games. During that span, Tech has returned six fumbles, four interceptions, two blocked punts, one punt and one blocked field-goal attempt for scores. ... The Hokies have won the past eight games in which their defense has scored. ...
LOOKING BACK
Following is an excerpt from the new book, 'Hoos 'N' Hokies, by Roanoke Times sportswriter Doug Doughty and Roland Lazenby. For information on orders, call 1-800-935-7799.
THE 1970 GAME
At [a Charlottesville Quarterback Club] luncheon two days before the game, then-UVa coach George Blackburn reported somebody had broken into the Cavaliers' locker room the previous night. Nothing was taken, but when Blackburn entered the locker room the next morning, he was greeted by two turkeys perched atop a pair of shoulder pads.
There were turkey droppings all over the floor, a story since verified by former assistant athletic director Jim West. ``You [Blackburn] did it yourself,'' charged Virginia Tech athletic director Frank Moseley in mock dismay. ``You'd do anything to win that football game. That should get your team psyched up.''
The Hokies, who had gone 4-0-1 in the last five weeks of the 1969 season, were the home team and were expected to win by 30 points; however, Tech ticket manager Tom McNeer was concerned about the turnout. Tickets were going for $7, the highest price ever charged for a football game in Virginia, and as this was the opening game, some students had not yet returned to school.
A crowd of 23,000 watched the Cavaliers hold Tech to 201 yards and hand the Hokies their first shutout loss, 7-0, since 1962.
by CNB