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

Brent Bowden

As I start typing there's only about an hour and 45 minutes until the Hokies take on North Carolina in Lane Stadium.

A uniform update for those who care and haven't heard, it's orange tops with maroon bottoms tonight for Tech. Punter Brent Bowden, aka "Sunshine" will have his rendition of Enter Sandman blasting over the PA system when the team comes out.

Bowden is a real metalhead and an excellent guitarist. He also tends to kick the ball solidly. I'll post a video when it's available.

I've decided to delay my quick picks until tomorrow because, A. I've yet to do them and B. with a Tech game this close, my mental as well as my physical self have to focus.

Here's Sunshine with your standard metal riff lesson. Hammer on, hammer off. Play fast. Sounds kind of like Hokie football actually. Bowden also rocks guitar hero which is funny since most musicians I know don't excel at the game.

Uniform Thoughts

Word on the interweb is that Virginia Tech will sport orange uniforms for Thursday's home game against North Carolina on ESPN.

Thursday is the Hokies' "Orange Effect" game for which fans are encouraged to make the entire stadium orange. The team wore an orange top picture above for last year's narrow "Orange Effect" win over Georgia Tech.

These were the first and only all-orange uniforms I'm aware of from Tech's 1993 home loss against arch-rival Virginia.



After that loss, assistant coach Billy Hite said the Hokies would never wear orange uniforms again.

Here are some other notable orange looks.



Former Hokie Eddie Royal sometimes dons the Broncos orange alternates.



Syracuse has these all-orange throwback deals which are kind of awful really.






You may remember these Nike disasters from 2005. I think the Hokies' version looks a little better, but both poor choices.

I apologize for the poor sizing with these pictures. Tomorrow, it's quick picks and Hokie football.

It's Time for an Uprising

Hey you, closet pop/rock fan. I know what goes through your mind when you get into conversations about which bands you like and what your favorite genres are.

You like some kinds of "heavy" music but your soft spot is classic rock. Led Zeppelin, Guns N' Roses, ACDC, and The Beatles can fill out any playlist you create. You like some stuff on the radio from today's modern rock bands like the Foo Fighters, The Killers, and Green Day.

When it comes to heavy metal you feel repulsed by the mostly vulgar and angry lyrics. Justin Timberlake is a large part of your collection but you claim your sole interest is a result of his cheeky humor on SNL.

You don't know much about synthesizers but perceive them as a byproduct of the '80s that morphed into goth and glam bands.

Have you taken a minute to actively search for new music, though? You cocoon yourself into what you already know and what disc jockeys proclaim are the up-and-coming future stars of the music industry.

Let me help you out. Ever heard of Muse? The trio hails from England and is quickly growing in popularity in the US. I've not seen (or heard) much exposure for them but their time will come.

A blend of keyboards, synthesizers, lead guitars (no rhythm necessary due to pulsing bass distortion), and percussion create perhaps one of the most unique sounds available on the market.

Today's song of the day showcases Muse's truly one of a kind sound. "Uprising" is the first track (and single) off of their newest album entitled "The Resistance."

We've featured their music before but this is probably a more authentic representation of their style than "Stockholm Syndrome."

I encourage you to check out more of their collection as there are few aspects left to be desired for the pop/rock lover you not so outwardly express yourself as.

Brian vs. Justin - Week 7 CFB Predictions Tracker

Judgement week has come and gone and there honestly isn't much to say.

USC's offense easily seeped through the porous Irish defense, particularly in the third quarter, and ultimately put the game out of reach. I'm proud of the grit and fight in the Irish to almost tie it up on the last few plays of the game.

If only Michael Floyd had been healthy or Robby Parris hadn't been nearly decapitated by Taylor Mays... if only the secondary had kept their focus on containing USC's wideouts...

Regardless of the 'what ifs' the fact of the matter is a loss is a loss and, despite what the media tries to tell you, Charlie Weis' job is still safe (for now). A blowout (loss) would have led to his termination at the end of the year along with an outrageously large buyout. Since the Irish showed they could compete on nearly the same level with the Trojans, though, my instincts tell me Weis is safe...for now.

As for the Hokies, I won't go into any details but I am surprised Georgia Tech pulled out the victory last week. Hats off to Paul Johnson as he has shown that the traditional option-based offense is not dead in the modern era.

So what did those two losses mean for the friendly competition between my associate and I? The ultimate swing weekend turned into quite the swing as my poor showing evened up our season records at 10-3 apiece.

Cumulative point differentials are a lousy -101 for myself and a more respectable -50 for Justin.

With no other games picked differently through the close of the season Justin and I will find ourselves battling for the cumulative point differential tie-breaker. Of course, 'winning' this competition is about as meaningful as points in a Whose Line Is It Anyway show.

Virginia Tech has a bye this weekend so the only game I find myself interested in is ND vs. BC. One of the esteemed mutual friends of Stars and Slights, Cassie, is a BC alum so bragging rights are certainly at stake.

Domers often remark that this game means more to BC than it does to ND. While the statement is mostly true it ignores the fact that the Eagles have had ND's number the past six consecutive times the schools have met in the "Holy War."

I mentioned earlier that Charlie Weis' job is safe for now. If he wants some insurance he had best beat the Eagles this weekend.

BC has been a case of Jekyll and Hyde this season with moments of brilliance and others or utter disappointment. They've delivered and received blowouts and, with the Irish secondary reeling from another letdown, I suspect this could be a high scoring game.

In the end I think Clausen will be too much for the Eagles. Their poor pass rush will not be able to put enough pressure on him to force turnovers like they did last year at Chestnut Hill.

On Friday night the Irish and Eagles face-off on the ice at the JACC. Even though the hockey season is young this is a very important game in terms of selection for the NCAA tournament.

Go Irish, beat Eagles!

*Note - our thoughts and prayers go out to former BC linebacker Mark Herzlich who is battling the fiercest opponent of his life: cancer. While we don't cheer for the same athletic teams it's safe to say we cheer for the same medical teams. Go Mark, beat cancer!

College Football Quick Picks: Week 8

My season record currently stands at 25-20 after a 4-1 mark last week. It's an off-week for the Hokies so I've got a lot of football watching on my hands, starting with a Corning East-West game tomorrow night if I'm to believe Alan Brown.

There are quite a few match ups I'm interested in watching this weekend, including Notre Dame-Boston College which I'm sure we'll be hearing about from Brian. Of course I've already picked that game in our head-to-head match up.


Florida State @ North Carolina

The Thursday night game gives us ACC teams both in desperate need of a conference win. the Seminoles are 0-3 in ACC play and just 2-4 overall while Carolina is 0-2 in conference but a reasonable 4-2 overall. I've got a weird feeling about this one. Most people would go with Carolina at home, but I'm thinking FSU because Christian Ponder has put together a marvelous season. Ponder has 1781 yards and 9 touchdowns against just 1 interception.


Florida State Wins


No. 12 Georgia Tech @ Virginia

Georgia Tech goes for an ACC sweep of the Commonwealth. The Wahoos have rebounded from their 0-3 open to the season and actually lead the ACC Coastal division with a 2-0 record. Georgia Tech doesn't want any screw-ups following the upset over the Hokies last weekend. The folks in Blacksburg of course desperately need a loss by the Ramblin' Wreck. Will it happen?

Virginia Wins


South Florida @ No. 20 Pittsburgh

B.J. Daniels has been a solid fill-in for the injured Matt Grothe at USF, but Pitt has been solid all season long.

Pittsburgh Wins


No. 13 Penn State @ Michigan

Call me a naysayer but I still think Penn State is overrated. As long as Tate Forcier is healthy I think the Wolverines have a shot at home.

Michigan Wins


Wake Forest @ Navy

A rematch of last year's regular season and bowl game for these teams, this is an interesting game. Riley Skinner is playing well for Wake, but Ricky Dobbs runs Navy's offense very efficiently. I like both of my teams so this is a tough call.

Navy Wins

No. 8 TCU @ No. 16 BYU

I haven't heard much about this monumental clash of the mid-majors. BYU got schooled at home in their only loss to a bad Florida State team. TCU is playing strong.

TCU Wins