Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Long Live Vinny


He nearly took the J-E-T-S to the Super Bowl a few years back, and now Vinny the Jet is back in the New York Green. The Jets announced Tuesday that starter Chad Pennington is likely out for the season after suffering a torn rotator cuff in Sunday's loss to Jacksonville. Shortly after, we learned the organization had singed former starter Vinny Testaverde, who could be the Jets' new starter in a couple of weeks. Third-stringer Brooks Bollinger will get the nod this week as Testaverde works his way back into playing shape while also learning offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdingers' playbook. Jay Fiedler, the No. 2 guy on the depth chart who Gang Green signed as a free agent this past off-season to back up Pennington, also was knocked out of Sunday's game with the Jags. Testaverde played with the J-E-T-S from 1998-2003 and threw for 11,720 yards and 76 scores. "For those of you who don’t know, my name’s Vinny Testaverde,” the New York native jokingly said at a press gathering Tuesday. Testaverde likely will be the starter beginning in week five and remain in that role until Fiedler returns or until the J-E-T-S can trade for a starting QB, which now seems unlikely. The Jets talked swap with the Titans for backup Billy Volek and with the Redskins about Patrick Ramsey. Neither team was willing to ship their backups to the Meadowlands.

Wasps get their stingers handed to them

I took my wife, Tina, and my daughter, Gracie, Saturday to watch some football at Fullerton Field, the home of my alma mater, Emory & Henry College. We knew going in this game would be ugly. The Wasps held the seventh-ranked Washington and Jefferson Presidents to just seven points for most of the first quarter, a huge improvement over last year's game between the two NCAA Division III squads.

However, shortly after we grabbed some hot dogs and parked ourselves in our seats, the Presidents began to unload on the winless Wasps. The second quarter looked like a practice session for W&J. Presidents coach Mike Sirianni was quoted in Sunday's Bristol Herald Courier as saying, "We always throw the ball well, but we have to get better running the ball, so we made an emphasis on the run in the second half." In other words, the Presidents used the second half to practice their running game against the hapless Wasps.

Before halftime, Tina, Gracie and I were throwing corn to the ducks at the duck pond. The final was 50-0. By the time the game was over, we were at the mall food court.

The guys on the Emory & Henry team, however, should not hang their heads. No way. This E&H team, which has enjoyed a great deal of success over the past 20 or so years, will bounce back. New coach Don Montgomery will make it so as he recruits players who will work into his game plan. Sirianni, a veteran coach, said so himself. "Don’t worry about Emory," he said. "Don Montgomery is one of the best defensive coaches in the country, so if his kids listen to him, they’ll be fine."

No Hokie choke
I didn't see it, but I heard Lee Corso said Saturday morning on ESPN's Game Day show that Virginia Tech's football team was overrated. Corso said this from the traveling studio set that happened to be on the Tech campus in Blacksburg that day. I can't get too upset with Corso because I, a long-time Hokie fan, said the same thing to some friends last week, just days before the Hokies wrecked Georgia Tech, 51-7, at Lane Stadium. Before, we certainly had reason to doubt, particularly the Tech offense, which seemed to struggle the week before against a weak Ohio University team and in the season opener at North Carolina State. But now it looks as if the Fighting Gobblers are beginning to strut their stuff. The rest of the schedule could be a lock – even the November game at home against Miami – if Tech continues to play the way it did Saturday. But look out for the Mountaineers Saturday in Morgantown. Remember 2003?

Herd
ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd has been touting the Hokies since the summer. Several times a week, after he praises USC as the best team in the land by far, Cowherd proclaims Virginia Tech is No. 2. The national polls are starting to catch up with ESPN's newest and brightest radio star. Each of the big three polls released Sunday night – including the new Harris Poll – has Tech at No. 3, skipping ahead of LSU which had played only a game to that point.

Another reason for Hokie fans to love Cowherd: He may be the only ESPN personality who doesn’t pronounce Virginia Tech as "Vah Tech."

See you back here in January?
I was skimming through the Virginia Tech football Web site Monday and saw the national championship trophy made an appearance for the Tech vs. Wreck game in Blacksburg Saturday. Let's hope it books a return visit in early January.

Yuck a Duck
Have you seen uglier football uniforms than Oregon's? I've heard people say that for the past few years, but I really didn't notice that much until I saw a game photo of the Ducks' on the New York Times Web last week. The only thing worse is watching Bosie State in its blue rags playing on its blue carpet. Yuck! By the way, the story was about Oregon's luxurious, two-story locker room, which features three plasma big-screen TVs and Internet ports in each locker. Check it out here: New York Times Sports

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