GMan

Once Tazewell (or anybody else for that matter) wins on the road at any of the four I listed...then that team will be on top of the SWD. Winning at home is only "keeping up" with the Joneses...

[ QUOTE ] took some time to read but im done i guess the thing i learned most from that is you like your beer and shrimp. but sounded like a great trip to new orleans none the same btw: did that Aub person make you move from your seats? [/ QUOTE ] No, he couldn't because they were OUR tickets that we had bought from the school. The screw up was with the company that printed/provided the tickets.

We (me, my girl, one of her friends, and one of my friends) left Bluefield at 4 AM on New Year's Eve in order to get to NOLA, check in at the hotel, eat dinner, and head to B-Street to ring in the New Year. We decided that we would all take turns driving and I volunteered to drive first...I figured I'd get my shift in take a nap, eat lunch, then pop open the first beer. My "shift" didn't end until we had reached the other side of Tuscaloosa at lunch time. We stopped for lunch, gas, and of course...beer. The rest of the drive passed rather quickly (about 4 more hours) as did the number of beers consumed. The I-10 bridge across Lake Ponchatrain is one long mother, BTW...5.3 miles to be exact. However, the Lake Ponchatrain Causeway is the longest bridge in the world...22.3 miles. We pulled into the NOLA city limits about 4 PM...a mere 12 hours after we started. It took another 45 minutes to an hour to get to our hotel through the Friday afternoon traffic. We finally got to our hotel, the New Orleans Marriott on Canal St., same hotel the team was staying in. Nice place...two towers, one of which is 41 floors with a restaurant on top. We had rooms the 22nd and 32nd floors...both overlooking the Mississippi River but the 32nd floor also overlooked the French Quarter and the eastern half of New Orleans. One note...its not pronounced New Or-leens, you must pronounce it either New Aw-lins or New Aw-lee-ins. After getting in the rooms and cleaning up a bit, we all headed to the French Quarter in search of food (and beer). Decatur St. is loaded with restaurants and they are ALL good! We decided to give Bubba Gumps Shrimp Co. a try since the line wasn't that long. I highly recommend the "Bucket of Boat Trash" with an Abita Amber Ale. Abita is a local brewery down there...good stuff! After dinner, we headed over to B-St. and took the "tour" with the crowd. We ended up at a bar called the Famous Door. They had a couple of bands, a house MC, a DJ while the bands were on break, and of course, beer...a two-for-one special, no less! Actually, it wasn't that much of a special at $5.25 per...one thing about NOLA, beer doesn't come cheap! The MC was great...dude needs to have his own TV show! He warned all the guys that not all the women in NOLA were actually women. He said "If they've got one of these," pointing to his Adam's Apple, "then they've got one of these" as he pointed towards his crotch. In other words, buyer beware! After hanging out in the bar for a couple of hours, we headed back out onto B-St. to "enjoy" the crowd and festivities which included bead throwing for the balconies above...those things can be dangerous, well not the beads, but the hoards of people going for the beads...watch out for flying elbows! Got a couple of pics of some VT football players tossing beads from the balcony above one of the local "gentlemen's" clubs. As the evening drew closer to midnight, we headed down to Jackson Square to see the ball drop on top of Jax Brewery (not really a brewery but it used to be...now its a "mall"...what a waste). Midnight came, the New Year arrived, the fireworks went off from a barge in the river but you couldn't see them due to the fog. Since I had been up since 3 AM, I decided to head back to the hotel and crash. After sleeping in a bit, we all decided to head back down to the French Quarter for lunch, shopping, bowl games, and beer (among other adult beverages). I picked where we were having lunch on this day...the Crescent City Brew Pub. That's right, a bar/restaurant that brews its own beer!!! Upon walking in to the CCBP, we noticed the FSU-WVU game was on at the bar so we set up camp in there. Our waitress brought the menus, and I quickly decided I was having a Shrimp Po-boy Sandwich and the CCBP 5-beer sampler (a half pilsner glass of each of the five beers that they brew). Lunch was great, the beer was better (I highly recommended the Red Stallion and the Tomahawk IPA if you are ever in the neighborhood), and the bartender was an [censored]. He was a frickin' LSU fan and switched the only TV in the bar to the LSU-Iowa game and wouldn't let us change it to the FSU-WVU during commercials. So we decided to leave, the girls wanted to shop, specifically looking for the Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville store. I knew where it was and the Margaritaville Restaurant and Bar were not far away. After about 20 minutes in the store, I "aimlessly" took them further down the street, knowing that I had my sites set on the Margaritaville bar. Lo and behold, there it was! I excitedly said "we've got to go in and have a drink"...I thought this might meet some resistance but I'll be danged, they were as eager to go in as I was. Once again, we set up camp at the bar and ordered a round of margaritas. Excellent choice, two TVs, one with the FSU-WVU game (Yeah! FSU is winning) and the other had the LSU-Iowa game. Drink rounds two, three, and four came and went with one member of our party dropping out on each round. I finished round four and order one more...there was still time left in the LSU-Iowa game and it looked like it was getting very interesting. Sure enough, Iowa scores on the last play to beat LSU (should have gone back to the CCBP and rubbed it in the bartenders face), I finished my drink, took a bathroom break, then the girls decided to drag our sloppy butts shopping. Word of warning...one of the margaritas on the menu clearly states: FOR PROFESSIONALS ONLY. If you are a "light weight"...DON'T ORDER ONE! Three was plenty for me then I backed off to the Desdamona's. The one really cool thing about NOLA, you can carry a drink with you EVERYWHERE you go! They also have "walk-up" adult beverage stands conveniently located on the streets, so you are likely to never have and empty glass in your hand. Anyway, the rest of that afternoon was spent walking around, visiting all types of little shops, and seeing some of the sights of the French Quarter. That evening, after we went back to the hotel and cleaned up (some of us had to sober up a bit too ), we met my friends parents at the Palace Cafe for dinner. Sounds "ritzy" doesn't it? It is!!! I've never had so many people "waiting" on me at dinner...one to seat you, one to take your drink order, one to remove the glasses of those that didn't order drinks, one to go over the menu, one to take your order, one to remove salad forks if you didn't order salad, one to bring the appetizers, one to fill up your water glass...I guess you get the picture. And none of these duties were perfomed by the same person, it was crazy! My friend had eaten their before and told me it was the best meal he had ever had. Well, I've had people say that before so I was a bit skeptical. I ordered the Shrimp Tschefuncte with rice...it seemed "safe" since I can eat shrimp just about anyway you can prepare them. All I can say about the meal is WOW!!! My friend wasn't lying about it being the best ever!!! I also sampled some of his crawdads that he didn't like (what???) and ate about half the tuna "steak" that my girl had ordered. YUMMALICIOUS!!! After dinner, we decided to head over to the casino to take our chance with Lady Luck! My friend had a tough time at the BlackJack table, I only lost about $10, and my girl won about $9 in the nickel slot machines. Yet another long day had come and gone, it was time to crash. So back to the hotel we went. Next day, we headed out to the French Quarter again for more shopping with the girls. After a couple of hours, we were getting hungry so we dropped in to a little bar/restaurant on B-St...The 5 O'clock Grille. Once again, it was a Shrimp Po-boy Sandwich and an Abita Amber Ale for me. We ate, drank, and watched the early NFL game. Then we headed for the Riverwalk...more shopping for the girls, more adult beverage stands for the guys. Checking our watches, we realized it was almost time for the Pep Rally down at the Nokia FanFest Tent. When we got there the place was already packed with Auburn fans and Hokie fans. Auburn got the stage first...their band played, their cheerleaders cheered, and their fans chanted "War Eagle". Of course, the Hokie fans drowned out most of this with the "Let's Go Hokies" chant. That really seemed to upset some of the folks from Auburn, so when VT got the stage, they attempted to do the same with "War Eagle" and "It's great to be an Auburn Tiger" but it was to no avail, most left the pep rally shortly thereafter. Question...does every school in the SEC do that stupid "It's great to be a..." cheer...I know Florida started it years ago...can't anybody be original??? Bill Roth was the Master of Ceremonies for the VT portion of the pep rally with "guest speakers" that included our wonderful AD, Jim Weasel, um, I mean Weaver, the University President, the Gov. of VA, Coach Beamer, and Bryan Randall. The band played, the fans cheered...the HOKIE NATION was fired up!!! After the pep rally, we headed back over to B-St. and went back to the Famous Door where we enjoyed the band, a different MC, the DJ, and many drunk women on stage dancing. Needing a Metallica fix and knowing the Hokie Nation that was in attendance would appreciate it, I asked the DJ to play Enter Sandman. He looked at me like "what the hell?"...this place had been playing 80s music most of the night. So, reluctantly, he asked the crowd if there were any Metallica fans out there and the crowd roared! He said "OK, by request..." and Sandman started blaring. THE PLACE WENT NUTS!!! I was almost arrested for inciting a riot at the bar! Checking our watches, we realized we had to go back to the hotel and get cleaned up if we were going to make our dinner reservations (9:30 PM) at Delmonico (one of Emeril Lagasse's restaurants...you know, "Kick it up a notch" and "BAMM!"). We headed out to the restaurant thinking it was only a couple of blocks away. We got to Emeril's and they didn't have reservations for us. So they called the other restaurant and they had our table waiting for us. After a quick cab ride, we finally found the right place. I had been looking forward to this and I was not disappointed...the grilled Salmon was phenominal!!! So was the Mahi Mahi!!! We didn't finish with dinner until about 11:30, another long day and with tomorrow being game day, it was once again time to crash! Monday, January 3rd...IT'S GAMEDAY!!! WOOOOO!!! I woke up with a sinus infection, decided to stay in bed until lunch. The girls went in search of Cafe du Monde and beignets. My buddy went to breakfast with his dad. They all made it back to the hotel before lunch. We decided to head back down to Decatur St. for lunch...this time at Landry's. Once again, PoBoy Shrimp Sandwich and an Abita Amber Ale with 1/2 doz. Oysters on the half shell. After lunch it was back to the shops for "last minute" souvenirs for folks back home. We made it back to the hotel by mid-afternoon for a little "in-room" tailgating. Around 4:30, headed for the lobby to see the team off to the Superdome where we followed shortly thereafter. Our hotel was about a mile away from the Superdome but with the crowd that was walking the trip didn't take that long. After a wait in line to get in, we made our way to our seats...40 yard line, lower level, high enough to see over the sidelines but low enough to feel like part of the action (if you could from 50 yards away...that place isn't built for watching a football game). The only problem with the seats was they were in the middle of the Auburn section. While we were sitting there before the game, an "official" with Auburn University's AD/Ticket office came to us (the three rows of Hokies stuck in a cesspool of Auburn orange) and asked us how we got those tickets. Every one sitting there ordered through the VT ticket office. He was not happy that VT fans had gotten what he called "some of his best seats" and said he was going to make some phone calls to find out how this happened. I know these had to be "good" seats since most of the AU fans sitting near us looked to be "big time" donors to the school. Have I mentioned that the AU fans are the biggest bunch of arrogant jerks I've ever met? That had attitudes coming out their butts! Every one that I met and/or talked to never once said anything good about VT, VT's football team, or the ACC. In their eyes, they were much better than VT in every way...their "holier than thou" attitude really started to rub me the wrong way after about the second day down there. Anyhow, you all know how the game turned out. VT had their chances but AU's defense was just too good. They were easily the second best team in the nation but if they had played USC they would have gotten beat by them almost as bad as OU did. After the game, I decided to call it a night since I was a bit depressed over the outcome plus we were leaving at 6 AM the next morning. Woke up at 5 AM on Tuesday morning, got a shower, packed, checked out, loaded up the vehicle and pulled out at 6:30 AM. I did manage to sneak over to the corner market and pick up several sixes of Abita Amber Ale and Abita Turbo Dog to bring home! Got lots of pictures...will try to get some posted when I have a chance...

[ QUOTE ] i herd the reff's made some pretty bad calls [/ QUOTE ] I'm sure JuiceDawg would have mentioned that since he is a neutral party...however, since he didn't, I would have to take your comment with a grain of salt...

[ QUOTE ] If we win tomorrow against Richlands I will say that Tazewell wins the district outright without problems. The momentum will build and the rollin stones and ballin boulders will start the rumble and roll. ------------------ Smell ya lata... [/ QUOTE ] Maybe, maybe not. If T-town wins at Richlands, they will only be "on pace" with Carroll Co...

[ QUOTE ] you cant exclude richlands from anything. in all honesty their talent is probably just as good if not better than most of the teams in the district. [/ QUOTE ] They've already lost one at home...excluded...

"We must protect this house!" Any team that wins on the road at either Tazewell, Grundy, Graham, or Carroll Co. will win the SWD regular season...Richlands is excluded from this prediction. Whoever gets a district road victory will definitely have the upper hand over everyone else...

[ QUOTE ] So your telling me lucas stone wont make it to d-1 he's had offers to virginia tech,pittsburgh and harvard i think it was As for rusty ive herd that he is going to be a walk on at marshall next year [/ QUOTE ] OK, I forgot about Stone...he has the potential to kick at the next level.

I just checked the radio, either it wasn't broadcast or its over.

[ QUOTE ] So by that logic, there are no members of the 2004 Class AA State Champions Bluefield Beavers that are capable of playing D-1 football? [/ QUOTE ] To be honest...no. [ QUOTE ] They have to come from Charleston or Wheeling or another more populated area? [/ QUOTE ] To be honest...no. However, since 'more populated' areas have 'more people' (duh), the better chance of finding D-1 level talent. [ QUOTE ] You don't think Coeburn or any of the other athletes from a state championship team could play for WVU? Or VT for that matter, which is a little more than an hour or so up the road? [/ QUOTE ] To be honest...no. Coeburn (and a few others from our area) could make the squad at Marshall, yes, a D-1 school but face it, a step below the "big boys", but I doubt he would see much playing time at that level without other mitigating circumstances... TRUE D-1 talent is a RARITY in our part of the world. Look at the number of kids that play high school football then look at the number of kids that actually PLAY at the D-1 level. D-1 coaches will not waste much time looking in our area to fill their rosters when they can go to the bigger cities and load up on better talent...its sad but TRUE and a lot of you don't like facing the TRUTH...

Saw in the BDT is was PPD until 1/31...

More details later...

"SUGAR BOWL"-ING, THAT IS! Heading to the NOLA...THE BIG EASY!!! Bourbon Street...here I come!!! LET'S GO HOKIES!!!! See you all next year...in '05!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

[ QUOTE ] Are you sure he's done "extremely well"??? I haven't noticed his name in any of the boxscores so he must not be doing that great... [/ QUOTE ] Upon further review, he has scored a few points for Graham but hasn't been a "major player" yet...

[ QUOTE ] Does anyone know if graham has a good team this year. [/ QUOTE ] Not really. [ QUOTE ] i know that they had someone from tazewell transfer there. and he has done extremely well. [/ QUOTE ] Are you sure he's done "extremely well"??? I haven't noticed his name in any of the boxscores so he must not be doing that great...

Congrats!!! I had a decent day...but you had an awesome day! 170+ points is the highest anyone scored all season! In hindsight, I could have made a couple of changes in my lineup but instead of losing by 50+, I would have only lost by 30+. In the words of the Gov. of Cali..."I'll be back..."

Yep, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everybody!!!

If any of you have the complete schedules/scores for any of these teams, send them to me and I'll add them to the "team page" on the website. I remember that 1980 Grundy team...they were pretty good. How did the '79 and '81 teams finish? Graham had one of their best teams ever in '81 and I remember Grundy playing them VERY tough at Mitchell Stadium.

This Admin thing is pretty fun! Everything is updated to this point...

Here are a couple of vids.... Macho Video 1 Macho Video 2

I like the Madden game...you can do a lot besides "play games" with it. And for $29...its a steal!!

has reached the Championship game... BeaverBlitz vs. SWVAF.com I must "brag" on myself this week...I made three moves during the week after looking at the weather forecasts and seeing who I had on my roster. I dropped the Giants and the Dolphins defenses and picked up Buffalo...they allowed 17 pts., had 3 sacks, 2 INTs., 2 fumble recoveries, 2 TDs, and a blocked kick. Earned 26.00 points. I dropped Lee Suggs and picked up Larry Johnson...he rushed for 151 yards and 2 TDs. Earned 19.55 points. I dropped Byron Leftwich and picked up Billy Volek...he had 492 yards passing and 4 TDs and rushed for 1 TD. Earned 35.89 points. Over 81 points by these three pick-ups...if I hadn't have made these moves I would have lost in the Semis...

[ QUOTE ] I have been playing ESPN 2k5 this year...I like it better than Madden...you guys tried it? only $19 to... [/ QUOTE ] Too bad this is the last year for it...EA Sports now has exclusive rights with the NFL...Madden will be the one and only for several years to come...

[ QUOTE ] theres always the good ole PS2 and Madden 2005. [/ QUOTE ] PRAISE THE LORD...AMEN!!!

you should! This is what its ALL about... LET'S GO...HOKIES!!!! LET'S GO...HOKIES!!!! LET'S GO...HOKIES!!!!