THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 11, 1995 TAG: 9511110526
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer was about to go to bed Thursday night when he heard ESPN announce it would have an upcoming segment on the Hokies. ``I said, `Let's wait and see what they have to say,' '' Beamer said Friday.
He should have gone to bed.
Chris Fowler spent a couple minutes poking fun at the Hokies during Sportscenter's ``On Campus'' report.
``Virginia Tech is headed for a bowl game, but they won't get the big-time bid they deserve unless Miami loses or ties, forcing the Hokies into the mix as the Big East champ,'' Fowler said. ``Their problem: Virginia Tech is America's least glamorous big-time program.''
Fowler went on to chide Virginia Tech's full name - Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University - which he said would not fit on a bowl game's program. ESPN showed a map of Southwest Virginia as Fowler opined:
``In a quiz of Big East opposing players I guarantee half couldn't name Blacksburg, let alone find it on a map - or name coach Frank Beamer, for that matter.
``What's a Hokie, anyway? Not a castrated turkey, as one fan faxed me today. Hokie means ... nothing. It's the product of one student's imagination in 1896.
``Nobody, not even an expansion hockey team, has copied Tech's gaudy orange and maroon color scheme.''
Good night, coach.
``Who upset those guys?'' Beamer said. ``Someone evidently has.''
Last Saturday, Fowler's studio mate Lee Corso said having Virginia Tech in its game would be the Orange Bowl's ``worst nightmare'' because of the school's relative anonymity nationally. Two days before that, Craig James said Syracuse would beat the Hokies because its quarterback was better ``by far'' than Tech QB Jim Druckenmiller.
The Hokies have won seven in a row, will go to their third consecutive bowl game this year and could clinch at least a tie for the Big East title today against Temple.
``If you're not out front, nobody's nipping at your butt,'' Beamer said. ``At least they're talking about you. If you're doing poorly, they're not talking about you.''
Fowler undoubtedly has heard some biting reaction from Hokie fans. Matt Winston, who works in the university's public relations office, said he sent Fowler four or five e-mail messages Friday morning.
``I was dismayed at the tone of that segment,'' Winston said. ``I said `Chris, I think (Big East opponents) would know where Blacksburg was now, because we've beaten them.' ''
Tech, meanwhile, continues to get beat up. ILLUSTRATION: [Photo]
ESPN's Chris Fowler says Va. Tech is ``America's least glamourous
big-time program.''
by CNB