I am headed home from Southwest Virginia today, back to the Southern Outer Banks. I'm looking forward to getting back into my kayak.
One of the things that always amazed me about Virginia is how many Va. Tech fans are around.
Our Apple office in Reston used to be full of some rapid Va. Tech supporters.
I did a post earlier today on the Blacksburg Webvillages site and thought it might offer some relief to those who are tired of hearing the hype surround the Boston College and Va. Tech game.
As I explain in my post, as much as I am going to enjoy the BC-VT game, it is not "The Game."
I am pretty sure that everyone in Blacksburg today considers "The Game" to be the one that is taking place today with Boston College.
I've watched Va. Tech since 1987 and for a while I was pretty sure that Va. Tech's "The Game" would always be the one with UVa.
Then I became impressed with the rivalry between Va. Tech and West Virginia, but that unfortunately ended.
I couldn't help but think that the weekend when ECU was playing West Virginia and Virginia Tech was playing William and Mary that all parties would have benefited from a game swap.
As West Virginia disappeared from the schedule, Miami always seemed to be the pivotal game. Of course now Miami has faded some, and for the second year in a row Boston College is the one game that can really make a huge difference in the season.
I have long and strong ties with both Va. Tech and Southwest Virginia, but I have to admit that the four years that I spent in Boston made me something of fan of Boston teams.
The years I spent in college, 1967-71, were interesting years to say the least. The Red Sox had a great run, but perhaps the most exciting sporting event of my life also happened there in the fall of 1968.
I should have mentioned there really is only one "The Game" for me, and it is the one every November between Harvard and Yale. After graduating I went in some strange directions, but I will always remember one football game.
I was actually present at what is considered one of the top 100 games ever by ESPN. It actually led to the most famous Harvard Crimson headline, "Harvard beats Yale 29-29."
Somewhere in my stuff that I never throw away is my ticket stub just like the one in this picture.
Yale actually came into that game undefeated. It ended up being the game that redeemed Harvard's season.
Many might be unaware that the BD in today's Doonesbury comic strips was actually based on Brian Dowling the Yale quarterback in that year's The Game. Gary Trudeau is a Yale graduate, but the early version of his comic strip was a regular in the Harvard Crimson. The characters in the comic strip were real folks to us in 1967.
Harvard has seen some good years recently in football.
In 2004 not only did they have 10-0 season but they capped it with a 35-3 rout of Yale in The Game.
I always count it a good year when a minimum of three of the following teams are beaten, Dartmouth, Princeton, Brown, and Yale. Brown hardly had a football team in the days when I was in Cambridge. Dartmouth which was the Ivy league football power in those days seems to have fallen on hard times.
A season can alway be redeemed with a victory over Yale. That's the beauty of college football. There is always another great rivalry around the corner.
My career at Apple connected me to both to Va. Tech and back to Boston where I reported to a Boston based manager whose favorite football teams were the Patriots and BC.
I am planning on calling him today to let him know that I am torn between the two teams tonight. I would really like to see Va. Tech turn their season into a real winner, but I absolute love seeing Boston College being ranked number two.
I'll have lots of time to think about the potential winner since I have an almost six hour drive back to the Southern Outer Banks.
My drive is timed to get me there in plenty of time to get comfortable in front of my Sony TV.
I am always excited when a team other than one from the mid-west or Florida is highly ranked.
So as I call my former Apple boss to let him know that I am thinking about the Va. Tech-Boston college game, I'll tell him about my latest Applepeels where I detail my HP Vista laptop purchase on the eve of Apple shipping Leopard.
My post might cause as much pain as this hilarious Apple Product Cycle site.
