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Close bond among Tech family will help everyone get through recent tragedy
The 
Roth Report
Roth Report
April 26, 2007
By Bill Roth The original plan for this column was to review Virginia Tech's recently concluded spring football practice. Grab a few quotes from head coach Frank Beamer and his coordinators, throw in a few lines from key players, and make a few observations about the highly anticipated 2007 football season at Tech. The horrific events of the last week on our campus, and the subsequent outpouring of emotion and love from throughout the country and world changed all of that. Changed anyone whose heart bleeds orange and maroon. Certainly it changed the way we look at our campus and ourselves and athletics and our relationships. It's brought Hokies more closer together than ever. Sitting in the stands at Cassell Coliseum to hear Nikki Giovanni's poem was one of the most emotional and powerful moments any of us has experienced. In the days following our campus tragedy, walking across the Drillfield, the Hokie energy and love was unmistakably palpable. The outpouring of concern and sympathy from around the sports world has been simply amazing. The Washington Nationals wore Tech ball caps during their game with Atlanta. Members of the Kentucky and Ohio State football teams wore VT logos on their helmets during their spring football games. Penn State students wore orange and maroon to their spring game, and PSU's band played Tech Triumph. Even a guy like the Chicago White Sox's Mark Buehrle wore a Tech cap on the greatest night of his professional life after he threw a no-hitter against the Texas Rangers last week. From NASCAR to the PGA to Arena Football, teams and athletes have paid tributes to Tech and the Hokie Nation, and boy, did we need it. It was remarkable. We're taken aback from the show of support from schools which are supposedly our biggest rivals and humbled by the donations offered by dozens of others. After that horrific, tear-filled week, it's impossible to digest the news and understand one's own emotions. Trying to make sense of what happened becomes an impossible task and coming up with the right words to describe your grief or your own feelings is just as difficult. Having lost count, I'd suggest I did about 15 major interviews last week and before each one, I mentioned - almost as a pre-interview disclaimer - that this event, this tragedy, chokes one's vocabulary. What do you say? What is that distasteful combination of anger, fear, grief, and shock that becomes just so overwhelming that it's difficult to find the appropriate words? Well, in this instance, the Tech students showed the way. Last week, we saw the Hokie spirit and an incredible group of young people who rose up and displayed remarkable poise and pride during these very difficult days. Tech students were thoughtful and classy during a barrage of media interviews. They stood and cheered for university president Dr. Charles Steger and were poised and articulate when many would be emotional and understandably hysterical for the press. We have a lot of terrific young people on this campus who will go on to be leaders in this country, no doubt. They showed us how to come together and display their pride and love for this school and showed the world through the actions and words what being a Hokie is all about. Last summer, I was visiting with friends in Richmond discussing this topic: what makes Hokie fans so amazingly dedicated and loyal to their school? What is it about Tech and the Hokies that brings them so close together and creates this special bond that is specifically unique to this school? There were a few theories discussed. But the conclusion we reached - and accepted as fact - is simply Virginia Tech has a collective spirit that is unique to Hokies. The strength of the spirit was tested last week and Hokies came together like never before. In Cassell, on the Drillfield for the candlelight vigil, and every day since last Monday, the nation and the world have seen that collective spirit first hand. We'll see it even more so on Saturday, September 1st when the Hokies play East Carolina in football in Blacksburg. Selfishly though, I'll be thinking of Brian Bluhm when Tech takes the field that day. Because we know he would've been there jumping up and down and cheering like crazy. And the MV's won't sound quite the same without "Stack." There's a big hole in our hearts for all these Hokies. A hole that will last forever. Hokie sports teams rise to occasion
Several Tech sports teams put together remarkable performances over the weekend to lift the Tech spirit on campus. Tech's golf team tied for the ACC Championship, which was a remarkable accomplishment. There were six ACC teams ranked ahead of Tech in the national rankings, and yet the Hokies came from five strokes back to take the lead heading into the final hole. Georgia Tech birdied No. 18 to create a tie and thus the two schools will share the ACC title. The Tech women's track and field team had won the ACC indoor title in February and was favored to win the outdoor title last weekend at College Park, Md. Coach Dave Cianelli's team competed with tremendous courage and captured the title. The Hokies were actually in second place entering the final day of competition, but set six school records, recorded four individual championships, and four other all-ACC performances to overtake Miami for the title. And judging by the success of the softball team, the Hokies' spring success isn't over yet either. And now to football ...
Quarterback Sean Glennon (offense) and defensive end Orion Martin (defense) were named MVP's of Tech's shortened spring practice. Although the Hokies missed out on a few practices and the spring game, the coaches clearly liked what they saw out of Glennon. "The biggest thing we saw from Sean this spring was his confidence level," quarterbacks coach Mike O'Cain said. "He played with a lot of confidence, and he is very sure of himself and in control. He has all those intangibles that you want to see out of your quarterback. He never got rattled." Unlike previous springs, the Tech quarterback was 'live' this spring. No yellow jersey, no two-hand touch. Glennon got belted like anyone else out there. "I don't know that I've ever done that with a quarterback before because you want to prevent injury," O'Cain said. "But we did this (went live) for Sean because his biggest weakness has been his ability to play outside the pocket. He makes his biggest mistakes when he begins to scramble. He'll make a poor throw or a poor decision. He never had to be a ball carrier before, to pull it down and run. So we put him in those situations over and over this spring because that's not something you can really coach. We had to create those situations and Sean handled it very, very well." Tech's offensive line also showed great improvement this spring and Glennon had more time to throw than he did last year in scrimmages and games. "He was really good," O'Cain said. "I think he threw one interception all spring and that was during a pass-skeleton drill." It would've been nice to see Glennon in two more scrimmages, but the coaches feel like he made big strides this spring. "We had 11 practices. We missed two scrimmages, including the spring game, but I feel Sean took a huge step forward this spring mentally, physically, and emotionally," O'Cain said. Back-up Ike Whitaker also took a positive step this spring. "Ike made a tremendous improvement this spring," O'Cain said. "He has a better feel for what we're doing. He's not where he needs to be, but he made a vast improvement over last year." Whitaker's biggest issue is his throwing consistency. "He was erratic throwing the ball the first two or three practices," O'Cain said. "Then, he had five or six practices where he was really good. Then the last two, he went back to being wild." It's that inconsistency that's keeping Whitaker off the field. "He needs to work on his pocket presence," O'Cain said. "He gets too antsy. He needs to drop back, set his feet, and throw the ball. We'll work on this more in August." The summary here is that both kids seemed to make big improvements since December and have worked hard to make themselves better quarterbacks. That improvement should continue in August. The Voice's Mailbag
Bill,
The events of Monday, 4/16/07, at Virginia Tech will reverberate through the years. One disturbed and angry person lashed out at his fellow students as individuals as well as the university as a whole. It was, as Governor Tim Kaine called it, "the darkest day in the history of Virginia Tech." And yet even on that first day, despite the best attempts to snuff it out, the flame within the heroic students in the rooms where this horrid massacre occurred still flickered as they rose to defend their fallen classmates. As the day went on and into the second day, the students came together, banking the fires to keep them alive until, in the still of the evening candlelight vigil on the Drillfield on Tuesday night, the Hokie Nation let the world know that the spirit inside each of us fortunate enough to have been associated with this great university can never be quenched. Though the next weeks and months will be difficult, I am confident that the strength we find in each other's arms will enable us to move forward toward new heights and dreams. While each of us is an important star in the sky, together we are the great galaxy that was evident on the Drillfield. We stand proudly as the crowd did with the simple words that say it best - We Are Hokies! Kevin Stapleford, 1988 graduate of Virginia Tech. Kevin,
Thanks for the kind remarks.
I am sure this has been a difficult week at VT. We just came back from a weekend at PSU and I thought I'd share some of the things I saw as a tribute to VT. I always enjoy being at PSU. It is like a fairy tale world, kind of like a little kid at Disney World for me. This is why college football is so superior to any other sport because things can be done that just do not exist anywhere else in terms of size and spirit. There were 71,000 at the game and I would guess that over half had on VT shirts. The entire Blue Band was dressed in Orange shirts, and there were a number of students who painted themselves orange with VTECH spelled out. Gerald Cadogan, our starting left tackle replacing Levi Brown, gave a speech before the game that among other things said instead of the usual 'WE ARE Penn State', he said today, 'We Are United, Today, We Are all Hokies.' A moment of silence was observed, After Cadogan, the cheerleaders lead a cheer, "Let's go - Hokies." They played the Hokie fight song and I think the alma mater, but not sure. There were a few more things that happened, but needless to say, it was a very emotional atmosphere for a practice football game. You could not buy a VT shirt anywhere in town. A truck pulled up with some new VT/PSU orange shirts and people mobbed the truck before he could get in the store. The PSU students sure sent a great message of support. Good luck getting back to normal at VT. Paul, Pittsburgh. Paul,
Thanks for sharing. The Penn State students and administration were remarkable in their support of Virginia Tech last week. I can tell you that there are plenty of Hokies who will be pulling for PSU this fall.
My 12-year-old son started playing the trumpet this year at middle school. He is an avid Hokie fan like me (Class of 84), and loves hearing the Hokie fight song. Where can I find a copy of the music so he can learn to play it on his trumpet? Do they carry it in the local music stores in Blacksburg? Thanks for your help. Brian, Summerfield, N.C. Brian,
You can download the sheet music to Tech Triumph, at www.music.vt.edu. Other scores available there, too. Enjoy!
I read where you once refused to be interviewed on the Don Imus show. Is this true and when and why did this occur? And if so, what is your take on what happened with Imus? Steven, Raleigh. Steven,
Yeah, it's true. Back in 1994, the day before a Thursday night game between Tech and WVU, a producer from that show called to set up an interview to preview the game. That's not an uncommon request for sports stations and Mike Burnop and I do interviews like this frequently. However, I was informed by a good friend who worked at WFAN in New York that this was going to be an 'ambush' interview in which Imus was going to insult both schools, their fan bases, and the players on both teams. It was going to be 'Imus-style humor' at the expense of Virginia Tech and WVU. It was going to be pretty dirty and nasty, as I was informed, so I called and cancelled the interview.
What are the future chances of a football game between Virginia Tech and Iowa? We have already seen the Big Ten- ACC basketball match-up and that ended up being a close one. Do you think that is in the works or at least a possibility? Phillip, Midlothian. Phillip,
As of now, there are no games scheduled between those schools. You can see the Hokies' future schedules here: http://www.hokiesports.com/football/futureschedule.html.
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By Bill Roth The original plan for this column was to review Virginia Tech's recently concluded spring football practice. Grab a few quotes from head coach Frank Beamer and his coordinators, throw in a few lines from key players, and make a few observations about the highly anticipated 2007 football season at Tech. The horrific events of the last week on our campus, and the subsequent outpouring of emotion and love from throughout the country and world changed all of that. Changed anyone whose heart bleeds orange and maroon. Certainly it changed the way we look at our campus and ourselves and athletics and our relationships. It's brought Hokies more closer together than ever. Sitting in the stands at Cassell Coliseum to hear Nikki Giovanni's poem was one of the most emotional and powerful moments any of us has experienced. In the days following our campus tragedy, walking across the Drillfield, the Hokie energy and love was unmistakably palpable. The outpouring of concern and sympathy from around the sports world has been simply amazing. The Washington Nationals wore Tech ball caps during their game with Atlanta. Members of the Kentucky and Ohio State football teams wore VT logos on their helmets during their spring football games. Penn State students wore orange and maroon to their spring game, and PSU's band played Tech Triumph. Even a guy like the Chicago White Sox's Mark Buehrle wore a Tech cap on the greatest night of his professional life after he threw a no-hitter against the Texas Rangers last week. From NASCAR to the PGA to Arena Football, teams and athletes have paid tributes to Tech and the Hokie Nation, and boy, did we need it. It was remarkable. We're taken aback from the show of support from schools which are supposedly our biggest rivals and humbled by the donations offered by dozens of others. After that horrific, tear-filled week, it's impossible to digest the news and understand one's own emotions. Trying to make sense of what happened becomes an impossible task and coming up with the right words to describe your grief or your own feelings is just as difficult. Having lost count, I'd suggest I did about 15 major interviews last week and before each one, I mentioned - almost as a pre-interview disclaimer - that this event, this tragedy, chokes one's vocabulary. What do you say? What is that distasteful combination of anger, fear, grief, and shock that becomes just so overwhelming that it's difficult to find the appropriate words? Well, in this instance, the Tech students showed the way. Last week, we saw the Hokie spirit and an incredible group of young people who rose up and displayed remarkable poise and pride during these very difficult days. Tech students were thoughtful and classy during a barrage of media interviews. They stood and cheered for university president Dr. Charles Steger and were poised and articulate when many would be emotional and understandably hysterical for the press. We have a lot of terrific young people on this campus who will go on to be leaders in this country, no doubt. They showed us how to come together and display their pride and love for this school and showed the world through the actions and words what being a Hokie is all about. Last summer, I was visiting with friends in Richmond discussing this topic: what makes Hokie fans so amazingly dedicated and loyal to their school? What is it about Tech and the Hokies that brings them so close together and creates this special bond that is specifically unique to this school? There were a few theories discussed. But the conclusion we reached - and accepted as fact - is simply Virginia Tech has a collective spirit that is unique to Hokies. The strength of the spirit was tested last week and Hokies came together like never before. In Cassell, on the Drillfield for the candlelight vigil, and every day since last Monday, the nation and the world have seen that collective spirit first hand. We'll see it even more so on Saturday, September 1st when the Hokies play East Carolina in football in Blacksburg. Selfishly though, I'll be thinking of Brian Bluhm when Tech takes the field that day. Because we know he would've been there jumping up and down and cheering like crazy. And the MV's won't sound quite the same without "Stack." There's a big hole in our hearts for all these Hokies. A hole that will last forever. Hokie sports teams rise to occasion
Several Tech sports teams put together remarkable performances over the weekend to lift the Tech spirit on campus. Tech's golf team tied for the ACC Championship, which was a remarkable accomplishment. There were six ACC teams ranked ahead of Tech in the national rankings, and yet the Hokies came from five strokes back to take the lead heading into the final hole. Georgia Tech birdied No. 18 to create a tie and thus the two schools will share the ACC title. The Tech women's track and field team had won the ACC indoor title in February and was favored to win the outdoor title last weekend at College Park, Md. Coach Dave Cianelli's team competed with tremendous courage and captured the title. The Hokies were actually in second place entering the final day of competition, but set six school records, recorded four individual championships, and four other all-ACC performances to overtake Miami for the title. And judging by the success of the softball team, the Hokies' spring success isn't over yet either. And now to football ...
Quarterback Sean Glennon (offense) and defensive end Orion Martin (defense) were named MVP's of Tech's shortened spring practice. Although the Hokies missed out on a few practices and the spring game, the coaches clearly liked what they saw out of Glennon. "The biggest thing we saw from Sean this spring was his confidence level," quarterbacks coach Mike O'Cain said. "He played with a lot of confidence, and he is very sure of himself and in control. He has all those intangibles that you want to see out of your quarterback. He never got rattled." Unlike previous springs, the Tech quarterback was 'live' this spring. No yellow jersey, no two-hand touch. Glennon got belted like anyone else out there. "I don't know that I've ever done that with a quarterback before because you want to prevent injury," O'Cain said. "But we did this (went live) for Sean because his biggest weakness has been his ability to play outside the pocket. He makes his biggest mistakes when he begins to scramble. He'll make a poor throw or a poor decision. He never had to be a ball carrier before, to pull it down and run. So we put him in those situations over and over this spring because that's not something you can really coach. We had to create those situations and Sean handled it very, very well." Tech's offensive line also showed great improvement this spring and Glennon had more time to throw than he did last year in scrimmages and games. "He was really good," O'Cain said. "I think he threw one interception all spring and that was during a pass-skeleton drill." It would've been nice to see Glennon in two more scrimmages, but the coaches feel like he made big strides this spring. "We had 11 practices. We missed two scrimmages, including the spring game, but I feel Sean took a huge step forward this spring mentally, physically, and emotionally," O'Cain said. Back-up Ike Whitaker also took a positive step this spring. "Ike made a tremendous improvement this spring," O'Cain said. "He has a better feel for what we're doing. He's not where he needs to be, but he made a vast improvement over last year." Whitaker's biggest issue is his throwing consistency. "He was erratic throwing the ball the first two or three practices," O'Cain said. "Then, he had five or six practices where he was really good. Then the last two, he went back to being wild." It's that inconsistency that's keeping Whitaker off the field. "He needs to work on his pocket presence," O'Cain said. "He gets too antsy. He needs to drop back, set his feet, and throw the ball. We'll work on this more in August." The summary here is that both kids seemed to make big improvements since December and have worked hard to make themselves better quarterbacks. That improvement should continue in August. The Voice's Mailbag
Bill,
The events of Monday, 4/16/07, at Virginia Tech will reverberate through the years. One disturbed and angry person lashed out at his fellow students as individuals as well as the university as a whole. It was, as Governor Tim Kaine called it, "the darkest day in the history of Virginia Tech." And yet even on that first day, despite the best attempts to snuff it out, the flame within the heroic students in the rooms where this horrid massacre occurred still flickered as they rose to defend their fallen classmates. As the day went on and into the second day, the students came together, banking the fires to keep them alive until, in the still of the evening candlelight vigil on the Drillfield on Tuesday night, the Hokie Nation let the world know that the spirit inside each of us fortunate enough to have been associated with this great university can never be quenched. Though the next weeks and months will be difficult, I am confident that the strength we find in each other's arms will enable us to move forward toward new heights and dreams. While each of us is an important star in the sky, together we are the great galaxy that was evident on the Drillfield. We stand proudly as the crowd did with the simple words that say it best - We Are Hokies! Kevin Stapleford, 1988 graduate of Virginia Tech. Kevin,
Thanks for the kind remarks.
I am sure this has been a difficult week at VT. We just came back from a weekend at PSU and I thought I'd share some of the things I saw as a tribute to VT. I always enjoy being at PSU. It is like a fairy tale world, kind of like a little kid at Disney World for me. This is why college football is so superior to any other sport because things can be done that just do not exist anywhere else in terms of size and spirit. There were 71,000 at the game and I would guess that over half had on VT shirts. The entire Blue Band was dressed in Orange shirts, and there were a number of students who painted themselves orange with VTECH spelled out. Gerald Cadogan, our starting left tackle replacing Levi Brown, gave a speech before the game that among other things said instead of the usual 'WE ARE Penn State', he said today, 'We Are United, Today, We Are all Hokies.' A moment of silence was observed, After Cadogan, the cheerleaders lead a cheer, "Let's go - Hokies." They played the Hokie fight song and I think the alma mater, but not sure. There were a few more things that happened, but needless to say, it was a very emotional atmosphere for a practice football game. You could not buy a VT shirt anywhere in town. A truck pulled up with some new VT/PSU orange shirts and people mobbed the truck before he could get in the store. The PSU students sure sent a great message of support. Good luck getting back to normal at VT. Paul, Pittsburgh. Paul,
Thanks for sharing. The Penn State students and administration were remarkable in their support of Virginia Tech last week. I can tell you that there are plenty of Hokies who will be pulling for PSU this fall.
My 12-year-old son started playing the trumpet this year at middle school. He is an avid Hokie fan like me (Class of 84), and loves hearing the Hokie fight song. Where can I find a copy of the music so he can learn to play it on his trumpet? Do they carry it in the local music stores in Blacksburg? Thanks for your help. Brian, Summerfield, N.C. Brian,
You can download the sheet music to Tech Triumph, at www.music.vt.edu. Other scores available there, too. Enjoy!
I read where you once refused to be interviewed on the Don Imus show. Is this true and when and why did this occur? And if so, what is your take on what happened with Imus? Steven, Raleigh. Steven,
Yeah, it's true. Back in 1994, the day before a Thursday night game between Tech and WVU, a producer from that show called to set up an interview to preview the game. That's not an uncommon request for sports stations and Mike Burnop and I do interviews like this frequently. However, I was informed by a good friend who worked at WFAN in New York that this was going to be an 'ambush' interview in which Imus was going to insult both schools, their fan bases, and the players on both teams. It was going to be 'Imus-style humor' at the expense of Virginia Tech and WVU. It was going to be pretty dirty and nasty, as I was informed, so I called and cancelled the interview.
What are the future chances of a football game between Virginia Tech and Iowa? We have already seen the Big Ten- ACC basketball match-up and that ended up being a close one. Do you think that is in the works or at least a possibility? Phillip, Midlothian. Phillip,
As of now, there are no games scheduled between those schools. You can see the Hokies' future schedules here: http://www.hokiesports.com/football/futureschedule.html.
