DATE: Wednesday, November 26, 1997          TAG: 9711260566

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Column 

SOURCE: Bob Molinaro 

                                            LENGTH:   61 lines

U.VA.-TECH: GRUDGE GAME WITH NO NAME - HOW LAME

It's a football game without a name, not counting the unofficial one it sometimes goes by: Afterthought Bowl.

A name might help add some sizzle to the annual clambake between Virginia Tech and Virginia.

When Alabama and Auburn play, the event is called the Iron Bowl. The Egg Bowl brings together Ole Miss and Mississippi State. When Harvard meets Yale in the WASP version of the Super Bowl, they call it The Game. Boola boola.

Not only does Virginia Tech vs. Virginia have no name, the game doesn't even award the winner a doodad or gewgaw.

Washington and Washington State fight over the Apple Cup. The winner of the Tennessee-Kentucky game goes home with the Beer Barrel. Purdue and Indiana play for the Old Oaken Bucket. Duke and North Carolina for Victory Bells.

Tech and U.Va. play for what? The right to make a nebulous claim of a leg up on its rival in the recruiting wars? That's nice. But not so special.

What to call this game, then. Somebody in Virginia must have an old oaken bucket they're not using.

If no buckets, barrels or bells can be found, the game could be called the Peanut Bowl. To the winner goes a sack of goobers.

Virginia also is known for its hams. Maybe the game should be referred to as the Pig Roast, though PETA would probably have to sign off on that, an unlikely prospect.

As it stands now, Tech-U.Va. is a nameless, doodad-impoverished event that, every few years, must convince the casual commonwealth football fan of its relevance.

This seems to be one of those years.

Both teams are missing from the Associated Press' top 25. Though Tech, at 7-3, is enjoying a better season than U.Va., the Hokies' three losses have been to unranked opponents.

What's more, Frank Beamer's team is coming off one of its worst efforts of the season, a loss at Pittsburgh.

Tech's reputation has not been enhanced, either, by the constant media bashing of the Big East. The Hokies, at least, are bowl-bound. Nothing U.Va. might do against Tech is expected to propel the Cavaliers to postseason bliss.

One of the best things you can say for the Cavaliers is that three of their four defeats have come against teams currently ranked in the top 13.

By comparison, Tech has taken the low road to Saturday's game. But in the Hokies, the Cavaliers are facing a team that has beaten them three of the last four games, including two in a row at Scott Stadium.

Under the circumstances, the best of rivalries would be hurt. Tech vs. U.Va. is not the best of rivalries. It isn't UCLA vs. Southern Cal. Maybe it's more like Kansas-Kansas State.

The insouciance of Cavaliers fans has been well-documented and much lamented by bowl organizers saddled with unsold U.Va. tickets. But while Tech has more hardcore (not to mention ultra-sensitive) boosters, it's a fact that emotions for college football do not run high in the commonwealth.

This doesn't mean that the game isn't important to the players.

``If we beat Tech,'' U.Va. offensive tackle Doug Karczewski said, ``that's as good as winning a bowl game to me.''

That's the spirit. Anything to pump up this game, to justify playing it after Thanksgiving. So that one day, Virginia Tech vs. Virginia might be worthy of a snappy name. And a doodad to the winner.

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