Tuesday: Young Beamer grilled by feisty 70-year-old woman
FIGURED I’D SHARE A FUNNY MOMENT FROM LAST NIGHT’S monthly Roanoke Valley Sports Club meeting, where Virginia Tech assistant coach Shane Beamer was the guest speaker. After an entertaining speech in which he gave a nice overview of personnel and the upcoming season, Beamer opened it up for questions.
Sitting near the front of the room, 70-year-old Tech fan Carol McGuire-Bishop pounced.
“Are you trying to find some good O-linemen?” she said point-blank.
“Well,” Shane said with a smile. “We don’t try to find BAD ones, I can say that.”
McGuire-Bishop is a longtime Tech football season ticket holder from Clifton Forge — hometown of Bryan Stinesping — and noted that “Stinespring won’t ever answer my questions.” She kept after Shane, grilling him about missed blocks and questionable special teams play. The late Mike Wallace would have been proud.
“You’re on a roll,” Shane said at one point. “I’m not going to stop you.”
“The only thing I want,” McGuire-Bishop said, “is the same thing your daddy wants.”
“What’s that?” Shane said.
“A national championship.”
Shane jokingly invited her to today’s 8 a.m. coaches staff meeting.
Shane handled it all great, of course, and managed to answer all the questions while keeping things light. Later, when I tweeted that he’d done a superb job while being “grilled” by a 70-year-old woman, Shane (@CoachSBeamer) tweeted: “‘Grilled’ is being nice. I think she referred to our ‘dismal’ O-Line and ‘bad’ special teams. Tough crowd!”
-Somebody asked Shane if there were any restrictions on recruiting current Penn State players, and he said there were not. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said. “It’s a free-for-all at Penn State.”
-Shane can sympathize with current PSU coach Bill O’Brien. They were on staff together at Georgia Tech in 2000, when Shane was a grad assistant.
-Shane said several current PSU players had reached out to Tech but he couldn’t say where that would lead.
-Somebody asked Shane whether he calls Frank “Coach” or “Dad” when they’re on the sidelines. “Neither, if I can help it.” Said he just looks at Frank and starts talking, hoping that his father will realize he’s addressing him. If Frank doesn’t appear to notice, Shane just moves closer until he does. Said it would be awkward if he called him “Coach” or “Dad,” but in situations where he must call him something, he’ll call him “Coach Beamer.” “He’s called me a bunch of things besides Shane, I can tell you that,” Shane quipped.
-Shane mentioned that the Hokies have several good walk-on punters and kickers who were offered scholarships at other schools. When he gets asked why they’d choose to walk on at Tech rather than accept a scholly elsewhere, he jokes: “They saw us kick last year.” In other words, they know an opportunity when they see it.
LOCAL HEADLINES FOR TUESDAY: Seth Greenberg hired as ESPN college basketball analyst (good Berman blog post here)…Wake QB Tanner Price recruited colleges, not the other way around (story here)…New Lord Botetourt coach Jamie Harless likes what he sees in Daleville (story here)…Ricky Mast’s run in the MLB Fan Cave comes to an end (story here).
NATIONAL HEADLINES: Cubs trade Geovany Soto to Rangers…Cliff Lee reportedly on trading block as nonwaiver deadline to deal looms today…ESPN reports that PSU running back Silas Redd is leaning toward transferring to Southern Cal…Hope Solo stands by her ridiculous opinion that NBC announcers should be a mouthpiece for the U.S. team and never, ever, ever say anything critical about their play on the field (OK, I’m paraphrasing, but that’s the gist of it).
NAME THAT TUNE
I can make money open up a thrift store
I can make a living off a magazine
I can design an engine sixty-four
Miles to a gallon of gasoline
I can make new antibiotics
I can make computers survive aquatic conditions
I know how to run a business
And I can make you wanna buy a product
Movers, shakers and producers
Me and my friends understand the future
I see the strings that control the systems
I can do anything with no assistance
I can lead a nation with a microphone
With a microphone
With a microphone
I can split the atoms of a molecule
Of a molecule
Of a molecule
July 31, 2012 - 8:06 AM
Props to Shane for handling the “tough crowd” with the same grace as his father. It is somewhat apparent that he is being groomed to become a head coach some day. He did spent some seasons under Steve Spurrier, so I’m sure he have picked up a few tricks on how to handle the crowd, and to answer with the grace of a ballerina.
Hope Solo…what’s not to like? She’s a fox, she speaks her mind, and she doesn’t care. I do have to agree that it’s ridiculous to expect NBC, more specifically Brandi Chastin, to be the mouthpiece. That’s as ridiculous as some Tech fans expecting Kirk Herbstriet to be Virginia Tech’s mouthpiece.
That lion graphic up there…looks sad doesn’t it?
The song is Handlebars by the Flobots.
Jacob scores. Handlebars it is. A rare music video that makes you think a little.
Shane did handle the grilling well. Recently Jon Copper former Northside and UVA linebacker came to speak to the boys that play football in my Rec Club about sports nutrition and staying in shape. At the end when he opened it up for questions one little boy asked him how many times he beat Tech when at UVA. Jon quickly answered “Zero. The same number of National Championships Tech has” Of course the little boy being a VT fan had known the answer but it was a funny exchange. Sounds like coach Harless is off to a good start by banishing the parents from the practices at Botetourt. From what friends have told me parental interference has been a major problem there in recent years. Glad to see high school football practice start.
Oh, and I should have mentioned in national headlines: Orioles reliever Pedro Strop is the greatest “player to be named later” acquisition in the history of baseball, Amen.
Your water molecule looks very suspect. First, what are those unpaired electron thingys hovering near your nucleus? It appears that you have a 10 electron system, a clear violation of the octet rule and, as everyone knows, water is an 8 electron system. Second, it appears that there are only 6 protons an 6 neutrons in your nucleus, which would make that a carbon, not an oxygen! If one of my students at Tech drew that on my organic chemistry exam, they would get a zero! That famous Notre Dame chemistry professor, Knute Rockne, is probably rolling over in his grave!
Gotta love Shane Beamer. A great representative of Virginia Tech. I’d definitely like to have a beer with him and hear him share stories about “Coach Beamer”. Song is Handlebars by the Flobots?
Carol McGuire-Bishop was my 6th and 7th grade social studies teacher and the reason I started reading the daily newspaper.
She’s a fireball.
– Mason Adams
First time for everything. Blog crowd dropping molecule knowledge; I love it. I’ll be honest, as you probably guessed, I just googled “molecule.” I will defer to your expertise on this one, Mike.
One of my best friends has a sister about the same age as Ms. McGuire-Bishop. Ed’s sister is also a season ticket holder, ardent fan and very firey. If the two got together Shane wouldn’t have a chance.
But you have to admit she askes good questions.
Hope Solo is entitled to her opinion. My only question is why does anyone care what Hope tweets? Hope wants a former team member to be a shill. What could possibly be news worthy there? In her place, you would want Chastain to talk you up, too.
SG got what he always wanted. I think he will be terrific TV. He has found his niche.
Why am I not surprised that PSU players are looking to bail despite the show of unity by a few the other day?
If Hope Solo were in Chastain’s place, and knowing how outspoken that Hope seems to be… do you think she’d just blindly support everything that the US team was doing without speaking her mind when she saw problems?
Thank you, hokie24. I think that’s it EXACTLY.
How long will it take Greenberg and Bruce Pearl to complain about the NCAA on ESPN
What Hope should have really done was bash NBC for their tape delay everything coverage. In the days of DVR people really watch when they want to anyway. NBC is really behind the times. They should be showing everything live as much as possible. Takes some of the fun out of watching when you know hours before everthing that happened.
Shaun, my thinking is similar to yours, and it’s one reason I haven’t (don’t plan to) watched the Olympics.
It reminds me of the Winter Olympics when it was held in Tokyo a while back. It was jarring to see the games being broadcast at night (or day) due to the 14 hours time difference.
Twitter provided instant update as the events unfold, and not everyone can follow Twitter while they are working.
We’ve had this discussion before here…But Hope says she wants someone in the booth who will “help grow the sport.” Guess what, Hope? The best way to grow the sport is to treat it exactly like you would those sports that are already all grown up, like football, baseball and basketball — complete with criticism, praise, ups, downs and most of all, honesty. The pompom-waving, see-no-evil approach she favors grows nothing.
That’s also ridiculous, Aaron, when you think back to the last World Cup game Brandi Chastin played. She helped win the Cup with the final penalty kick in the shootout, and famously ripped her jersey off. How was Solo at the time? Brandi Chastin, along with Mia Hamm (man, she is something!), have helped made women soccer popular. Solo just loves attention and she wants people talking and looking at her. It’s down right narcissism.
Out of the mouths of babes?…well, not exactly. Anyway-earlier this month. “Shane, would you come speak to the Roanoke Valley spots Club on July 30?” “Sure. I really feel like I`m part of the family now so I`ll do it” “Great. While its light and warm we always get some seniors there so we start at 5:30. Like to get them home before they start to nod off” “Drinks and Dinner and maybe a few questions.” Questions?” “Yeah, you know. How`s it like working for Frank? How are his grandkids?. Some may be even knowledegable enough to ask you about the running back situation.” “Seniors huh? Maybe I`ll get Billy to toss me a few practice questions” “Good idea. See you on the 30th.” Later that night. “Shane, Come back”
Unfortunately, advancing age doesn’t always guarantee intelligence or maturity. Some people can still be every bit as childish and stupid at age 70 as they were at age 12. Here we would appear to have a prime example.
Someone needs to inform this dingbat that you don’t win 10 games for 8 consecutive seasons (a feat no other college program has been able to match) and win 4 BCS conference championships with “dismal” offensive lines and “bad” special teams.
Mrs.Mcguire-Bishop is a treasure here at Alleghany,You can bet you will not find a more loyal fan for VT and the Yankees than her.Great story,I love reading funny and postive stories about our local universities.Thanks
Speaking of the Olympics, sorry I was busy yesterday and missed the discussion but I’m glad NBC isn’t showing the men’s basketball on the primary networks. I read where some guy was complaining about how NBC should be showing all the games live on the main network feed. Um, no thank you. I don’t care to see them beating up on teams by 40 or 50 points. I would rather watch a swimmer from France beat the US by a split second than watch the basketball blowout.
That water molecule is accurate.
* Two of those electrons are from the hydrogen atoms.
* Since it’s a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional object, the missing neutrons and protons are likely on the opposite side – the side we can’t see.
* That molecule does not violate the octet rule. The L shell is the valence shell for the Oxygen atom and it has only eight electrons – two from the covalent bond with the Hydrogen atoms and six from the Oxygen atom.
* The Hydrogen atoms do not violate the duet rule since the K shell has, at most, two electrons – their own electron and one each from the oxygen atoms.
She sounds like a woman after my own heart!
Donald, nice! Your move, Mike. I have nothing to add to this debate.
You guys are on fire today.
Carol McGuire-Bishop ought to take Shane up on his invitation to the 8am coache’s meeting. She could ask more questions about Red Zone offense, or not wanting to score on every possession of the football, and a few other things about VT offense.
My two cents. water molecule? When I first looked at it I thought it was an Andy Warhol painting of Hope Solo.
This show the proper water molecule structure. As it is universally known, hydrogen is one of the most unstable element, and needs to share its electron with another element in order to be stable. This is where oxygen’s element comes in. As the chart will show, the hydrogen and oxygen “share” electrons and making a bond. It’s like being married, on one sense, where what’s his is hers and what’s hers is his kind of arrangement. Naturally, some elements will give up an electron or two to become stable and make another one stable, making the marriage analogy true to the form, what’s his is hers, and what’s hers is hers.
Just throwing my hat in the ring. I can’t wait to take chemistry soon! Chemistry have always held my fascination with how it’s made and how everything exist because of molecules and atoms.
What about the story about the Godfather at UVA? Why hasn’t the NCAA investigated them?
Peter,
The coaching staff at VT didn’t know they had a red zone offense.
Didn’t realize ESPN was so hard up for NCAA MBB commentators. Signing Greenberg who authored one of the great thin books of all time (“how to make the NCAA tournament dance annually”) and Bruce Pearl (It isn’t a lie until you catch me in it, uh, which you did).
Collectively, they bring little to the table, certifiable insanity aside….
I laughed, Ralph. Once again I guess we’ll find out if editors ever read this blog. Until then, comment stays!
A 70 year old gal from Clifton Forge with a hyphenated last name; I am skeptical. She had to be a planted spy.
Ralph I thought Hope’s hydrogen atoms were bigger than that!
And off the rails we go with the molecule chatter…Nonetheless, comment approved!!!
Glad I could help AM!
@Original Greg: At least he got the head right
“It’s like being married, on one sense, where what’s his is hers and what’s hers is his kind of arrangement.”
I thought the correct expression was, “what’s his is hers, and what’s hers is hers.”
Didn’t you see my next sentence?
O.G., Maybe if she pills off a Brandi moment, we`ll find out.
I dunno 24, but if you go through a divorce, she gets half and you negotiate on the rest……
Dangit! I did read it, but somehow missed that.
Hope Solo just tweeted that she wishes that the blog would make more positive comments about water molecules and that apparently the commenters know nothing about chemistry.
Gotta say, rarely have all the blog topics of the day been so masterfully interwoven in the comments section. Fun to be alive on days like this.
Sometime, I think, Hope Solo, as pretty as she is, is a few electrons short of a full atom.
And in a twist of irony, it was Hope Solo holding a water hose and watering a lawn. I’d say more than a few water molecules were flowing that day!
Trevor I’m not touching that one.
Hey guys, if you are interested in what’s happening with former Hokies players, head over to allsportsdiscussion.com
They have a couple blog posts about Corey Moore and Vegas Robinson. Good stuff.
Thanks Danram.Your comment is spot on. For the most part these are young men who go out and do the best they can week in and week out. Idiot fans should show more respect.Winning and loosing football games is not the end of the world. Only a small part of these young mens lives. Some of these fans need to get a life.
Hay, Danram, I think the “young ” lady was referring to the VT line coaching and recruiting or lack there of. “Old ” Beamer will hang onto coach Newsome even when his “coaching ” (?) takes the Hokies down.
I live in far southwest VA. I happened to be visiting in Roanoke area and saw the small blurb about the “grilling’ of the younger Beamer. Carol and I were in the same class at Radford. Sounds like she is no different at 70 than she was at 18 as far as sports are concerned. She is a dedicated fan.