Wednesday: Who survives in MLB? Memories of Lee Corso Lightning Night
WANT TO STEP BACK FROM FOOTBALL JUST A MOMENT and appreciate what’s going on in the baseball pennant races. Oakland and Baltimore both posted shutouts last night to maintain their hold on the AL wildcard spots. The AL wildcard standings look like this:
Baltimore 71 57 -
Oakland 71 57 -
Tampa Bay 70 59 1.5
Detroit 69 59 2.0
LA Angels 67 62 4.5
(Division leaders: Yankees, White Sox, Rangers)
And here’s the NL wildcard picture:
Atlanta 74 56 -
St. Louis 71 58 -
Pittsburgh 69 60 2.0
LA Dodgers 69 61 2.5
Arizona 64 66 7.5
(Division leaders: Nationals, Reds, Giants)
Remember that there are two wildcards from each league this year playing a one-game playoff. Do you see the teams in the lead now staying there through the end of the season? If not, who do you think overtakes them?
SEEKING SHELTER: Virginia Tech has a better, more detailed evacuation plan in place for Lane Stadium than it did in the “Lee Corso Car” game against Georgia Tech in 2000. (story here). I was in my first year at the paper and was covering a Pulaski Rangers game at Calfee Park that night; it didn’t rain a drop there, if you can believe that. Anybody who was at that 2000 Tech game remember what it was like trying to get out of Lane?
LINE IT UP: Hokies remain a 7.5-point favorite over the Jackets. I kind of like Boston College getting 2 at home against Miami, as the Eagles take the first step toward reclaiming their status as “O-line U.”
ROCCO IN THE MIDDLE: First-year Richmond coach Danny Rocco will face his nephew Michael on Saturday. Also, his daughter, Amy, attends UVa. “The plot thickens,” he says. Story here.
MAKING THEIR PITCH: Virginia Beach economic development officials reveal a $330 million arena-building plan to try to draw an NBA or NHL team. Story here.
WEDNESDAY HEADLINES: Texas A&M-Louisiana Tech game on Thursday postponed by Hurricane Isaac’s approach…Stewart jokes about Bristol helmet-throwing incident, says he expects no further drama with Kenseth (story here)…Former Duke ace and current Blue Jays farmhand Marcus Stroman suspended 50 games for positive test…Redskins release Cooley…Wallace reports to Steelers camp…Michigan RB Toussaint pleads guilty to drunken driving…Ex-UVa pitcher Tyler Wilson shines vs. Salem, but Sox get the 1-0 win (recap here)…Pulaski County and Carroll County file a second appeal to try to keep Franklin County out of the River Ridge District (story here).
IDENTIFY THE MOVIE
“Are you in some kind of trouble with the police?”
“Some things are much better left unsaid.”
“Like what?”
“Well, you know… sometimes when you blow your nose into a tissue and you put it in your purse, then a little while later you have to reach in there for your lipstick or something, and your hand gushes into it, and it goes all over…”
“Okay, okay, you’re right, you’re right. Some things are better left unsaid.”
NAME THAT TUNE
Jan lays down and wrestles in her sleep
Moonlight spills on comic books
And superstars in magazines
An old friend calls and tells us where to meet
Her plane takes off from Baltimore
And touches down on Bourbon Street
August 29, 2012 - 8:26 AM
I’m surprised to see Pulaski County as one of the schools pushing against Franklin County. Pulaski and Franklin County used to be together in the Roanoke Valley District when I was in high school.
Nice pennant races this year but the second wild card takes a little drama away from the division races. If anybody fades I expect it to be Oakland but then again how did they get there anyway? Some people may be upset by the helmet throwing but at least it shows Tony cares about winning and we didn’t have to sit through another bland interview while a driver 101 sponsors and throws out some cliches. Hate the VHSL realignment for the Three Rivers schools. Hardly seems fair to play a school 3x your size as the case is with a few of the schools in 3 Rivers.
I was at the VT vs GT game in 2000 when the lightning came. I was with a group of about 15 of my friends all sitting together in the East Stands. When everyone started leaving their seats to find shelter, it seemed like everyone stopped when they got up under the concrete and didn’t keep going so that the stands could empty out. My friends and I were stuck out at our seats in the rain for about 3 hours. It wasn’t so bad though… there are worse places to be than being a college student stuck in the student section in the rain, and all of the girls dressed for warmer weather!!
The part that did stink though was that when we returned to our apartment after the game, we came home to a flooded apartment. The drain in the yard in front of our place had clogged, and flooded our ground-floor apartment. We had about 3 inches of water standing throughout the place.
I’m not sure I understand what PCHS and Carroll County’s position are. I get the distance cost, especially with the gas price continuing to climb, but their arguments about the enrollment number have me confused. Are they trying to say that Franklin County is too big to compete with the others?
I also think that the VHSL is not doing anybody any favor by constantly redistricting the playoffs and all that just because they are playing XBOX fantasy football instead of looking at things logically, logistically, and with an ounce of common sense.
I was covering the Corso Lightning Game for my old paper. Total debacle. The walk down to field level (stairs; no elevator) was atrocious, especially toward the bottom where the water level was rising. I was afraid my crappy little car would get stuck in the muddy media lot across the street. Fortunately, I was all good. And traffic sucked.
Not an awesome night.
I was at the VT-GT game. My wife and I sat in the stands, a river rushing by us. I was not going to cram under the stadium, took my chances and figured the light poles were pretty good lightning rods and would hit those before me.
The issue to me is the size of FCHS. The VHSL director, Ken Tilley, has made a mockery of state championships. I think the Roanoke Valley schools should just form their own alignment and leave VHSL.
Go Hokies
It was a hot August night… My two older sons and I were working a concession table under the west stands close to the elevators to the (old) club seats and press box. The table, run by a Scouting Venture crew, was along the wall outside a restroom and we had our backs to the wall. When the storm hit, people started to pour into the concourse and stopped at the edge of the pavement, where the cover ended and the drenching rain was falling. People packed tighter and tighter, which with the already high humidity and warm temperature, made it quite stuffy. We gave a bottle of water to one or two people who were showing signs of stress and used one of the tables as a place for someone to lie down until the rescue squad could fight its way through the crowd to check him out.
Since we were protected from the crush by the tables, we all just stayed put until the crowd really thinned out — there wasn’t much point in heading to cars, since we would just be sitting in lots of traffic. We chatted with a friend who was running one of the golf cart shuttles to take people to various parking lots and she said she was doing donuts in the mud.
I don’t remember if the crew got much out of that concession event, since we weren’t “open” long enough to do a lot of sales. My sons and I finally headed out, slogging through soggy ground to whatever grass parking area we had been assigned to as concession workers. Luckily I had an Isuzu Rodeo at that time, so I put it in 4-wheel drive and we were able to escape to firm ground and got in the line of traffic on Southgate and head for home.
Song: Primative Radio Gods-Not sure of title, something like “Phone booth in Baltimore”
The AL East remains competitive, but the Yankees’ injuries will keep them only a game or two ahead. If the O’s continue their hot streak, they may take over first. The White Sox and Detroit will battle until the last week for the AL Central. The Rangers will win the AL West without difficulty. The AL Wild Card will be Oakland vs. 2nd place in the East (either NY or Balt.).
The NL will shake out with the Braves taking the East, Ciny in the Central and SF in the West. I was high on the Nats but the latest slide is a bit ominous. I think they make the Wild Card, but the Braves will catch them for 1st place. The other WC team will be the Dodgers.
My spouse and I were at the game the night Lee Corso’s car got struck by lightening. Out of all the cars to get struck it was Lee Corso’s. I remember hearing the lightening hit the car. When it was time to leave, wow,what a mess. The irony in all of this is my spouse and our children were headed to the Atlanta area the next day to move there. We were leaving Virginia to move to Georgia. Now we watch the VT vs.GT games in the decrepit, old Bobby Dodd stadium. Never a dull moment. GT’s fans make sure of that.. All the way turnt up and Lose yourself baby.
As a parent of a PCHS student-athlete I do understand their reluctance to add FCHS to the district. If my kid has to play a mid week game at either Hidden Valley or Cave Spring, I have to leave work about 2 hours early to account for travel. Now that there is added construction on 81, I may need to leave earlier.
I do know that the principal has made it clear that this is primarily a travel concern and not a problem with size. I have read some that say that Pulaski is worried about playing FCHS but the school leadership has stated many times that they have no problem playing FCHS in football and basketball, it is the other smaller sports and their travel costs that concern them.
People have lots of misconceptions about lightning strikes and how they kill you. Lightning can kill you even if it strikes 15 or 20 feet away from you. Even farther if the ground is wet. Absolutely take cover under a stadium or some structure. Never be near poles or trees. If you have no shelter you are better off in the middle of a wide open field than to be near a pole or tree. Sitting in the stadium or expecting a pole to be a lightning rod might just get you a Darwin award. Not sports related but people don’t know the danger they are in with these storms.
What district did Fleming end up in? I think it’s a larger school than Carroll county and certainly has historically been more of a rival to the other teams. Any idea why Fleming was not included in the River District?
Franklin county does present a problem since they are nearly twice the size of a Carroll county and significantly larger than any nearby schools. Oddly, this seemed to be less of a problem back when Franklin County didn’t have a successful football team.
If any of the blog crowd here likes to play cornhole, there is a group playing indoors tonight at Colonial Downs in Vinton at 7pm. All skill levels welcome. It’s $5 to play with 100% payout, meaning all money collected for the tournament pays back out to the winning teams. We will play a doubles tournament, double elimination. We will blind-draw for teammates, so you don’t have to bring a partner to play. All ACO pro boards and pro bags are provided, and Colonial Downs provides adult beverage specials to cornhole players.
I’d love to find one of the t-shirts that were printed after that 2000 VT vs GT game where it had the Corso quote, “I don’t know what a Hokie is… but I know God is one of them!”
That was a wild night in Blacksburg for sure. My wife and I were there for the game in the east stands, watching to the west as the storm gathered strength and moved toward the stadium. My wife kept asking me, “do you think we should try to go back to the car?” Me being such an optimist I just kept telling her nah, the storm will probably just goe around us and we’ll get to see the game, and the whole time the clouds just kept getting darker and much closer. We stayed put right up until the first lightning crack close to the stadium and we went under the seats to “let the storm pass”. Jam packed under the seats was one hot, sticky and unpleasant place to be and once you were in there you couldn’t go to the ramps to exit the stadium or back up the ramps to go back to your seats, not that I would have anyway. My refusal to high-tail it to the car when the wife asked provided her with one of those unforgettable “I told you so!” moments they never let you forget.
There was a very active weather pattern that week. I was working Blacksburg HS games in those days, and Friday was the opener hosting Giles. The stadium was full, as it always is for that game, and a sudden lightning storm erupted just before kickoff that resulted in the game being postponed until Sat. After the admissions had been paid. An AD’s nightmare, as there were many who wanted their money back (nope). Then, the following week at the Akron @ VT game, it was another uncomfortably humid day, and Jim Weaver came on the PA to announce an approaching storm and the available shelters. Though nothing came of it, I don’t recall this happening at Lane since.
The atmosphere in Lane the night of the GT game was as electric as it has ever and may ever be. Before the storm. This was the season opener on national TV and the first VT game after the National Championship, when MV wowed the world. Expectations were off the scale. I still have chills when I remember that the Back Judge had his hand in the air for the opening kickoff…as the first bolt struck behind the press box.
I don’t even remember when that game was played (I don’t think I was following Tech that closely back then as I do now), and I sure as heck don’t even remember where I was at that time!
I too was at the game that night. Who can forget the kicker lining up and signalling he was ready to kick and then it was like the world changed.
I was on the West Side, which only has the 1 exit gate for each section still. I was with my wife to be (who, since then, has just not become a CFB fan). When they called the game leaving was a mess because nobody from under the stands was leaving (not sure if they just didn’t know the game had been cancelled or what). We ended up exiting onto the field with others and people were losing shoes in the muck that had become the VT sideline. What a mess!
Aaron,
Where is the fearless forecasters link?
Bob (and others): Fearless Forecasters link is here.
Definitely try the cornhole thing hokie24 mentioned, guys. Good times, good folks and affordable brews. Went last week to interview the gang, got humbled in the tourney (as expected) but had a blast; I’ll be back there in a civilian role someday very soon.
We had an easy time getting out in 2000. Went right out on the field when it started raining, one of the first ones out. Our seats were front row, right at one of the gates down to the field. Headed straight home, because I knew there wouldn’t be a game after the initial rain blast, and had no idea what everybody was dealing with, in terms of not being able to get out, until the next day.
Now we know why Stroman was so good at Duke.
In this mess that is the VHSL, there really isn’t an easy answer to things. Some of these counties that have just one high school are going to be huge, and they’re going to be a long, long way from similar size schools. Even the close by schools are going to be a long ways off when you have just one situated within a county.
It sounds silly, but I’d take schools like Franklin County (and Pulaski is a fine one to bitch, they were monster in the area in AA for a long time – too big to be AA – but too far away from other AAA schools) and split them into Franklin A and Franklin B – just divide the school into two ‘teams’ if they need to drop down. That solution is no weirder than what happens now come playoff time, where 1-9 teams make the football playoffs.
I remember being at church that night and someone had commented that maybe the Lord didn’t care too much about that football game being played on Sunday and He made that very clear to the folks at the stadium.
“…(and Pulaski is a fine one to bitch, they were monster in the area in AA for a long time – too big to be AA – but too far away from other AAA schools)…”
That was my thought too. Pulaski was a AAA state champion in football when Shayne Graham was there. Not too many years after that, they dropped to AA and were beasts there.
Aaron, you may want to pass a message to the web master to add a link to fearless forecaster from the sport’s page. The only thing I see is the varsity forecaster, and that’s it. Nothing about the Fearless Forecasting.
Regarding the VHSL–travel is an issue for the schools on the edge of the district, such as PCHS and CCHS. Size is a major issue for schools like Cave Spring, which was already the smallest in the Rivwr Ridge. FCHS Is 2.5 times the size of CSHS. The problem is thatthe district construct was retained to maintain “traditional rivalries,” but FCHS really isn’t a traditional rival of the RRD schools any more.
William Fleming is in the new Blue Ridge. I havn’t heard the same complaints out of the Blue Ridge teams even though Fleming at around 1500 enrollment is alot bigger than some of the other schools. Of course all the outlying schools like Rockbridge and Alleghany play at Northside already so if they travel there then travel to Fleming is only one more mile.
Pulaski had no problem with making the trip to Franklin County in their hayday when they were winning everything and running over everyone….now that FC is the AAA class of the area they all of a sudden dont want to make the trip…give me a break! where do you suggest FC go play? Richmond? Northern VA? Then who has travel issues?
Can’t imagine Pulaski’s concern would be competing with the Eagles, back in the days of the old RVD the Cougars owned the series between the two teams. Has to be the money/travel thing for the smaller sports. Though I”ll never forget the night in Rocky Mt. that Pulaski lost it’s first ever game to Franklin County….Joel Hicks had the grand daddy of all meltdowns on the sideline that night. Couldn’t believe his Cougars had lost to the lowly Eagles….as a FC fan it was fun to watch.
And completely off subject but here goes…Barry, maybe you should have told those good folks at church that they should never pretend to know the mind of the Allmighty…whether the subject is football or anything else. They are the kind of people that give religion a black eye IMHO. Besides, if he had objections to playing on Sunday I’d say he would have torn the NFL a new ars by now, don’t ya think?
Where are all the baseball fans? AMac, what’s up witht he blog crowd? I can understand all the Corso stories, this is a Hokie heavy group at times, but nobody else taking a stab at baseball predictions? Also, no guesses at all on the movie (I admit that I have no clue)and only a half-assed attempt by me at the song. What gives? Everybody busy at work? Vacation? I am I trying to start something? Maybe. I’m just tired of picking on Barry, as, apparently, everyone else is.
I am happy to be the voice of truth on this message board and always thankful when my comments are not deleted by the powers that be. It is important that the Hokie fans see the entire picture when focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of their beloved team. They just aint got it this year folks.
Huntersdad — good point about the NFL but college football has become an even greater idol than pro football in the American psyche. Notice how little play of college football that we have on Sundays, and it is not just because the NFL plays on Sundays. Moderation is good in all things. VT worships football and it must be kept in check and perspective and the Almighty knows just how to do that, personally and corporately.
Was at the 2000 game. Peolple did jam the concourses and slow down the evacuation but that was because there was no place to go and also because everybody at the time thought it would be temporary and the game would resume. What I remember most was parking in the fields toward the research park and they were so muddy cars got stuck everywhere and blocked the exits. We were at the back of the lot and thought we were going to have to spend the night there (seriously) and then someone in a truck pulled our cut the metal posts that keep cars off the bike paths and we exited that way. Never forget that.
To CoCo’s point I agree 100%, the VHSL has been a joke for years and has made a sham of “state championships” and “playoffs”.