Marty Gordon
The high school football season has flown by, and sports writers are watching as the final push for a postseason berth is underway.
Radford, Auburn and Blacksburg are locks with Christiansburg and Eastern Montgomery still in the hunt.
In looking at the report card, both Radford and Blacksburg should be given A’s. Auburn is a B-minus, while both Christiansburg and Eastern Montgomery slide in with D-pluses.
Blacksburg could easily be the favorite to bring home another state championship this season with Radford being one of the top teams in region play.
But of course, anything goes when it comes to the playoffs as Blacksburg proved three years ago when they took a 5-5 mark into the postseason and brought home a state crown.
I look for Auburn to make some noise in the regionals before the dust settles, while East Montgomery and Christiansburg must use the final stretch as momentum for next season.
Other news
I keep being asked what is up with the Hokies? Well, simply put: the coaching change from a few years ago has caught up with them.
Typically, when a new coach takes over, you see some lean years. The cupboard was not empty when Justin Fuente got to town, so for the first few years, the Hokies continued its winning ways.
Now, it’s Fuente’s era, and his recruits are young and need a little more playing time under their belts. Be patient Hokie fans. It will get better.
Speaking of college football: Here are my top five: Alabama, Notre Dame, Clemson, LSU and Oklahoma.
Of course, Alabama and LSU face off Saturday night, so the list will be different next week. I expect Oklahoma to move back into the top four.
I don’t how to take the recent fines handed down by the NCAA for fans storming the field at LSU. There really is no way the school and security can stop more than 30,000 people from running onto the field. It’s simply part of the game’s tradition.
College basketball is preparing to start with a black cloud over its head. The recent bribery investigation by the FBI will never allow the game to be the same again.
But I want everyone to remember college basketball is about money, so why would we not expect something like this to happen.
It’s a money game where every school is trying to push ahead of the other. It’s up to the schools to shut down this problem and bring it back down to earth where it belongs.
I’m afraid it could be too late for that. Nevertheless, let the games begin.
Sometimes we have to pause in sports to remember those that have made life special. This week one of those individuals, Rod Layman, passed away at the age of 83.
He ran track at Blacksburg High School, but I will remember him as the longtime president of the Hokie Club in Pulaski County.
He loved to talk anything Hokies and was proud to say he attended 26 Virginia Tech bowl games. Layman also taught at Virginia Tech before venturing full-time into the law field, and even served twice on the VT Board of Visitors.
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