ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, November 8, 1996 TAG: 9611080049
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: JACK BOGACZYK
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
Virginia Tech's football program was stunned by the number of grand jury indictments that further decimated its football roster Wednesday.
The Hokies, however, aren't in a league of their own.
It's been a trying season for the Big East Football Conference. On the same day eight Tech players were suspended or kicked off the team following charges stemming from two summer incidents, the bigger national headlines belonged to Boston College, where 13 players linked to a gambling probe were suspended from embattled coach Dan Henning's program.
It hasn't exactly been a great week for Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese. A day before the suspensions at Tech and BC, Tranghese and others - in a story in USA Today - addressed publicly what had been whispers for some time. The subject was an appropriate and timely one - the viability of and future course of Temple's football program.
Tranghese would like to forget about such subjects this weekend, when he gets married in Providence, R.I. Undoubtedly, they will be topics for discussion at the next league meetings - as will other somewhat sordid subjects.
There were crowd control problems at West Virginia during and after the Mountaineers' stunning loss to Miami, where the Hurricanes' program continues to battle more than an image problem. Rutgers, Temple and Pitt - with a ridiculously tough non-league schedule now and in the future - are struggling to win, much less attain respectability.
That trio has combined for two Division I-A victories outside the Big East this season, and both are over Mid-American Conference schools near the bottom of that league's standings. Even the league's best teams haven't flirted much with the top 15 in the rankings this season.
``Clearly, we're concerned about these incidents,'' said Tom McElroy, a Big East associate commissioner. ``There's an awareness of what goes on among our schools, and there is a mechanism where our [athletic] directors are kept up to speed.
``In a year where we don't have any highly ranked teams, then you have these unfortunate incidents in a 10-day span, there is concern about the image. We don't shrug off what's happened. We don't have our head in the sand.
``Do we have an image problem? I don't think so. You don't see anybody tying this all together. These are separate incidents. You don't see anybody saying the Big East is a league of thugs, a league of hoodlums. We know we don't have a renegade school in Blacksburg, just as we know we don't have a renegade school in Boston.''
McElroy said the Big East is comforted by the aggressive manner in which its school administrators and coaches have dealt with the recent problems. ``At Virginia Tech, for instance, the public position taken on what's happened, from [President] Paul Torgersen on down, has been to clean it up,'' McElroy said. ``You can't ask more than that.''
Tech coach Frank Beamer and the university deserve praise for sending a message - again, and loudly this time - that too many of their players obviously haven't heard. A student-athlete represents more than himself. There is more to life than winning a football game.
This season, 14 Hokies have been suspended or left school because of legal difficulties. Counting Saturday night's visit by East Carolina, those 14 will have been absent for 21 games. Factor in injuries to several prominent players, and the Hokies' coaching staff should get credit for holding together a bowl-bound team.
With the long-anticipated indictments public, the Hokies would like to think their troubles are behind them. That's up to the players. Ditto at BC.
Beamer, his bosses and their Big East brethren are hoping for something different than what Tranghese will experience next week. They hope what's next isn't just a short honeymoon.
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