Nike; Virginia Tech Unveil New Football Uniforms

So the day arrived. This morning in a rather large-scale production on campus featuring head football coach Frank Beamer, former Tech greats Antonio Freeman and Bruce Smith, along with the Voice of the Hokies Bill Roth and a giant Nike army vehicle, unveiled the uniforms Tech will wear this weekend as part of Nike's "Pro Combat" promotion.

The uniforms will be auctioned off starting tomorrow to raise money for Herma's Readers, Frank Beamer's charity encouraging reading for kids grades K-3. He started to honor his late mother who was a schoolteacher in the Commonwealth.

Quarterback Tyrod Taylor and linebacker Cody Grimm modeled the new kits in front of a crowd of students likely wondering what all the hoopla was about.

The best part is probably the white helmet, which is a nice modernized version of some of Tech's older helmets. The obsessive compulsive in me wishes they'd made the middle stripes symmetrical though.





Not surprisingly, the Nike cleats are also super cool looking. Inside they have the school motto, "Ut Prosim" which means "That I May Serve" along with the Hokie Stone pattern seen on the gloves posted the other day.



While they may look a little too new age for some, I'd vote in favor of them over the current stupid Nike uniforms (which we thankfully never wear). Good news is, it sounds like Nike is on board with making our throwback threads our permanent jersey's next season.

Also, these new Nike threads are not just strange looking, they're incredibly high-tech. Through some super technological advances, these pro combat unis barely hold water or sweat, so a soaking wet jersey weighs less than the current ones do dry.

Thanks a bunch science!

Weekend Recap

So my picks absolutely tanked. 2-3 for the weekend and Georgia Tech should have lost too if not for Riley Skinner taking a sack at the end of regulation to take Wake out of field goal range.

Also, this won't come as a shock to anyone but Penn State sucks. Play a real non-conference schedule Joe Pa you fossil and maybe you won't lose to average Big Ten teams like Iowa and Ohio State (though the Buckeyes are in fact the conference's best while Iowa is a sham).

The Irish did not have a good day yesterday against the Naval Academy (one of my favorite non-Hokie teams). ND gave a valiant effort late, but it just wasn't quite enough to overcome the Midshipmen.

Brian made a partial post that appeared it was going to rail on Charlie Weis, but I took it down for now. I'm quite certain we'll get Brian's full thoughts in the coming week.

And now the most important part of my post, it would appear the Hokies will be wearing white helmets next weekend when they thump Maryland if you take a look at this new merchandise.

College Football Quick Picks: Week 10

After a perfect 5-0 effort last week, my season mark now sits at 30-20. With another nice effort this weekend I think we'll be in good shape the rest of the way.

On a side note, next weekend Nike is doing yet another football uniform promotion. About 10 schools will wear new Nike gear the weekend of the 14th.

The Virginia Tech ones will be unveiled this week to join schools like Texas, Ohio State and Florida State that have already made their versions public. The FSU ones are my favorite so far sporting those sweet gloves and some really classy lookin' black helmets.



I'm both fearful and eager to see what Phil Knight has cooked up for the Techmen this time.

Time for the picks. I'm going to do them just like last week to try and keep things moving in a positive direction. It's sort of a weak slate of games but there are a few good ones including the battle for the Victory Bell in Chapel Hill. This is Duke's year finally*!


No. 3 Alabama defeats No. 9 LSU

No. 8 Oregon defeats Stanford

No. 11 Penn State defeats No. 16 Ohio State

Duke defeats North Carolina

No. 10 Georgia Tech defeats Wake Forest


* = Maybe



Here are the Tech gloves for loyal reader Bobby West. I'll post the actual uniform when it's revealed Monday.

Dolphins Take Bite Out of Orange

Not that this really matters because it was an exhibition game but I couldn't resist sharing the news for those of you who hadn't heard.

Syracuse lost to Le Moyne in men's basketball tonight. It's never good to lose a game to an opponent from a lesser division in collegiate sport but the Orange couldn't withstand the mighty Dolphins from across town in Syracuse, NY.

Le Moyne is a tiny Jesuit college founded in 1946. Syracuse made its first NIT appearance that same year.

The case for parity in collegiate athletics becomes stronger yet.

World Series

I've been pretty quiet on the Yankees run to this point. Now the World Series heads back to the Bronx where the Yankees will face the Phillies up three games to two.



This ESPN.com poll pretty much sums up the series to this point. Chase Utley (I voted for him) and Cliff Lee have been dominant, while Johnny Damon changed the series on one play.

Whether you're a fan of these teams or not, there has been some great baseball and Wednesday's game should pull out all the stops.

Brian vs. Justin - Week 9 CFB Predictions Tracker

For the first time in what seems like an eternity Notre Dame finally put away a team in the first half.

Jimmy Clausen continued to pad his Heisman candidacy stats by completing 22 of 27 passes for 268 yards and two TDs.

Golden Tate also showed why he's worthy of the sought after trophy with an unbelievable Hail Mary grab from Clausen at the end of the first half to give the Irish a 30-7 lead. Prior to that outstanding snag he bounced off of two Washington State defenders, leaving them confused and in his rearview mirror as he coasted to a TD run out of the Wildcat formation.

All in all there were only a few negatives to glean from the game: Ben Turk's 11 yard punt, Nick Tausch's blocked extra point attempt, Dayne Crist's injury, and the lack of ND campus shots as this marked the first in a series of neutral site "home" games for the Irish.

The same cannot be said for the Hokies, who suffered their third loss of the year with a crushing last-second home defeat to the North Carolina Tar Heels who recorded their first ACC victory of the season.

To be fair, the Tar Heels have turned into a talented program under the direction of Butch Davis. Had it not been for the unfortunate Ryan Williams fumble, however, the Hokies would have walked away with an Orange Effect victory. Williams is a tremendous back and I can't help but feel sorry for the guy who has elevated himself while filling in seamlessly for the injured Darren Evans.

Neither Justin nor I correctly picked the outcome of the Hokies' game but, as previously mentioned, we're left playing for pride and point totals as our records and remaining picks are identical.

We both sit at 12-4 for the year but have varying degrees of point differential accuracy. Justin is -50 while I am -93 with only nine regular season games left between the two teams (including the ACC championship).

In related news, prognosticators are projecting a Gator Bowl matchup between the Fighting Irish and the Hokies. If that theory comes to fruition my fiancee claims that "Stars and Slights would explode!" Personally, I would love to meet up against the Hokies in a bowl game especially since the two schools have never played against one another.

As long as both teams keep winning we very well might see that explosion.

Go Hokies, Go Irish!

College Football Quick Picks: Week 9

After the Hokies lost last night I'm pretty despondent with regards to college football. I'm just going to make lazy hasty picks with no explanation whatsoever. I'm just really bummed that Hokie football seems to be repeating the same story over and over again every season.

On a bright note, I took great pleasure in realizing if you google image search for Bryan Stinespring, The picture of Brian and I on the right comes up on the first page. At least someone with a sense of play-calling flow pops up on there.

My picks this week are as follows:

Auburn defeats No. 25 Ole Miss

No. 1 Florida defeats Georgia

Duke defeats Virginia

No. 3 Texas defeats No. 14 Oklahoma State

No. 10 Oregon defeats No. 5 USC