Bluefield_Rules

At least the nightmare is over and we don't have to continue to see: 1) Lowe taking the mound in an Atlanta uniform 2) our young bull-pen of three, get overworked because no one else is capable 3) stupid base-running mistakes 4) horrible fielding 5) watching great pitches go by, while swing at stuff a 12-yr. old knows not to Atlanta has a lot of talented youth, it's time to close the book on the older guys. We need to revamp the bull-pen and get the three-headed monster some help. They clearly ran out of gas weeks ago. The starting rotation needs to be overhauled starting with getting rid of Lowe and asking Hudson to take a pay-cut. And most glaringly, find a hitting-coach and guys that actually can hit at the major league level.

Lowe is going tonight, so there's another loss. I believe the Cards win tonight and tie the wild card heading to the last day.

What's the solution to Atlanta's poor, poor hitting in recent years? Does another new batting coach solve the issue or is it simply the players? Regardless, the Braves haven't had a clutch hit it seems since August. And are about to lose another one...

I would personally prefer Bluefield to play more Virginia teams such as Pulaski County, C'burg, Floyd County, Giles, etc. before playing WV teams such as PikeView, Westside, Summers County, etc. Any of the Virginia teams I mentioned would give Beaver a better game 9 out of 10 times, if not 10 out of 10, each year. I think traveling to Charlotte each year, as the schedule is now with two of those teams, is a little too much travel. However, in the long run it's more beneficial to play those teams and lose than blowout PV.

The last I heard it's highly unlikely that Jurrjens will be back this season. Regardless, with the wild card lead at 1 1/2 games and the remaining schedule for both the Braves and Cards it's about time to put a fork in the Bravos. Atlanta plays horribly in Washington and I'm not sure they could beat the Phillies bench-players.

The calendar flips to September and the Braves take a nose dive. This has been the case for nearly a decade now, whether in the closing weeks of the regular season or the playoffs. If Atlanta does hold-on to the wild card, and that's a big if, can they actually win a playoff game?

Personally, I'd like to secure UConn, if they can behave themselves, to further strengthen what is now the undisputed best basketball conference in America. If we must take Rutgers to land UConn then I can live with that; someone will have to finish last. Like most others, I would prefer not to get into bed with Notre Dame. There isn't a more overrated school in America.

Unless something unforeseen occurs it appears that Syracuse and Pitt are ACC bound. Rumors around this 'net late this afternoon now saying that Texas and Notre Dame are strong candidates to join the league very soon. I'll believe ND when I see it, but Texas has to make a move with the Big 12(10) falling apart. Adding Syracuse and Pitt from a basketball standpoint is huge for the conference and as such I'm very much in favor of the move. I'm just glad the conference is doing what's necessary to ensure its future.

Whenever that win comes it'll be a milestone few have achieved.

As was pointed out, Bluefield put the second team offense in for the first offensive series of the second half and second team defense on the next series in which Graham scored their second TD. As previously stated also, many of Bluefield's starters are underclassmen themselves with many of the second team kids being as young or younger. From what I witnessed, the second team unit just isn't mature enough at this point to play against another team's varsity unit for any extended period of time without risking potential injury. WV needs to institute the running clock rule that Virginia has during the second half of lopsided games. If that had been in place last night I believe the starters would have been pulled permanently long before they were. In closing, I'll say that I hope Graham is able to turn their program around. While I have enjoyed the last three Beaver/Graham games, I must admit that lopsided nature of those games have taken some of the shine off of the rivalry. I recall about 5-6 years ago when Graham folks proclaimed the tide was turning in the series and now they're upset about Bluefield leaving their starters in too long. Beaver/Graham shouldn't be about that type of thing. It should be about hard-hitting, high-intensity, nail-bitters where the crowd isn't leaving at halftime (rain or shine) because the game is a rout. Good fortune to Graham moving forward.

Agreed. If the kid keeps his head on straight and continues working to get better. He has instincts that you cannot teach to go along with toughness and athletic ability. And he's built like a mack truck. I also like the fact he's no longer playing defense because Leggett will be the workhorse this season and with CJ Manns out for the next several weeks even more so.

The game could be exciting, but will likely be one of the most underwhelming games in the series based on fundamentals, talent, etc. Hopefully the Beavers act like they want to be on the field, which wasn't the case in Pulaski last Friday.

You guys have one of your best recruiting classes ever. Now all you need is a coach to coach them.

Sorry, but you guys have football and that's all many Hokies care about anyway.

More like 1. Carolina . . . 2. Dook. . . . . . . . . . . . Who cares? ;)

I was notified today that I won the lottery for Final Four tickets, so I'll be in New Orleans in April to see the Heels cut down the nets....:D

Attended the scrimmage last night, left at halftime. I realize how young and inexperienced Beaver is, but for the most part the team seemed timid and played without any sort-of enthusiasm/emotion. I didn't see any thing that even resembled leadership on the field, which is very important with a young team. They looked better last week against a much better C'burg team. I know they will improve throughout the season as most Simon-coached teams do, but a lot of improvement will be needed to finish with a winning record in 2011 because of the schedule. If Bluefield can just make the playoffs it should be considered a successful season.

Miami or not, I'm surprised. The magnitude in-terms of people involved (players, coaches, and AD personnel), the number of years it took place without word getting out before now, the amount of benefits, and the various forms of benefits. I read the article yesterday morning and just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, it did. Two words, death penalty. If ever a program deserves such a harsh punishment it's this is the one for their blatant disrespect of NCAA guidelines.

Beaver has a lot of work to do. The positive is that I saw improvement from the first set of twenty plays, in which C'burg scored three touchdowns. During the next 20 they didn't score and they only scored once in the timed 12-minute quarter. Bluefield's defense became significantly more aggressive after the first 20 plays. The tackling must improve as they allowed too many yards after first contact. The pass defense in the secondary is very weak right now, but the pass rush is solid. Something to keep in mind, however, is that C'burg's QB is very athletic and has a heck of an arm; he's committed to VT. I doubt they'll face a more talented QB the entire season. Offensively, Leggett is a beast; easily Bluefield's best offensive player. During the 60+ yard run he had to set up the TD he broke several tackles and demonstrated a nice spin move to free himself from a group of potential gang-tacklers. If he stays healthy he'll easily be a 1,000 yard back. CJ Manns did fine running the ball, showed more at the end of the scrimmage than the beginning. The freshman tailback, #38, reminded me a lot of Leggett. He isn't afraid to run someone over despite his youth. He and Leggett could potentially form one of the better back tandems Bluefield has had since Amaker and Tynes. I didn't think Edwards looked as confident as he did last year in passing situations; he forced some throws. Although, he did take several hard hits and had his bell rung at least twice. He finished the scrimmage with his pads off and a bag of ice on the back of his neck. The OL did a respectable job, better than I felt they would at least. I'll be interested to see how they fare against Pulaski County next Friday night; I'll be there as well.

Our bullpen is three-deep right now, and has been all season. Getting Moylan will be of benefit, but O'Flaherty, Venters, and Kimbrel have been ridden hard all season. Can they hold-up? And our starters haven't exactly been setting the world on fire since the all-star break. I'll be happy with another playoff appearance for experience purposes and more building for the bright future.

So folks, what does Atlanta do with the trade deadline nearing? Philly and San Fran landed high-impact players in the past week. If the Braves want to compete this year they will have to make a move for a productive, everyday player. However, they aren't willing to part with Teheran, Delgado, Vizcaino, or Minor. The first three I absolutely do not want to see traded, especially Teheran. Minor, however, I believe he's worth sacrificing to strengthen the team this year. Regardless, I'm not sure they will be able to acquire anyone who would be able to add enough for them to take down Philly and now even San Fran in a playoff series.

You should already get plenty of laughs watching the athletic teams at UVa.

Baddour stepping down has ZERO to do with anything related to the football issues. Numerous donors have been calling for Baddour's head since he botched the basketball hire after Guthridge stepped down more than a decade ago. His contract expires in less than a year and after yesterday's fiasco with Davis went down the people calling for his head went from simply calling to all out screaming.

Only two losses in last 10 games and Scott Proctor gave up the go-ahead/winning run in each...

It'll be interesting to see if the Braves pull the trigger on a right-handed bat in the coming weeks. Rumors are swirling they're looking hard to find an outfielder with some speed on the bases.