As a Hokie fan, your participation in Tech's game against George Washington on Tuesday night went one of three ways:

1. You didn't watch the game or listen to it on the radio
   
2. You watched the game on TV, and maybe you had the radio turned on
   
3. You were there
   

Option #3 was definitely the best way to watch this game. I had the good luck to be third row, center court in an unusually jam-packed students' section for the game. If you watched it on TV, the cameras didn't really do the attendance justice, because the lateness of the tipoff (9:30 p.m.) nearly emptied out the paying/alumni side of the Cassell, which is the side the cameras showed.

The students, on the other hand, showed up in force, packing their side of the Coliseum to the rafters and rocking the house with the type of energy that has been missing this year (and most of last year). I watched my tape of the game, and the TV broadcast did not reflect the intensity and sheer noise that the student crowd generated, trust me. Maybe we should play GW every home game....

By now, you know that Tech's Ace Custis hit a buzzer-beater to down GW 45-43, in a game that was as physical and as intense a game as I've seen in a looonnnng time. The Tech/GW rivalry is shaping up to be the best rivalry in Tech basketball, harking back in its intensity to the days of Tech/Memphis State and Tech/Louisville in the '80s.

And when I make that statement, that's high praise indeed. Check out my game report on my Basketball Page.

National signing day came and went with no surprises. Yubrenal Isabelle did not sign with Virginia Tech, and Tyrone Robertson did, as The Roanoke Times reported he would yesterday. I'm pleased with this recruiting class - not ecstatic, but (with the addition of Robertson late) definitely pleased. I've got some thoughts about recruiting that I'll share with you early next week in a new My Opinion piece that I'm planning.

There, I've promised it. Now I have to do it. Until then, for the complete list of signees, check out the official Virginia Tech Football Page.

Like the Hokie football team, Bill Roth is on a roll these last two years. For the second year in a row, Bill was selected as the Sportscaster of the Year in the state of Virginia.

Like we didn't already know that the man is good. Bill's calls of the Jermaine Holmes touchdown and the Antonio Banks touchdown in the 1995 Virginia game are now legendary. They alone are reason to pop your copy of the 1995 Champs tape (the Virginia Tech football highlight video) in the VCR and watch it again. His exuberance during those calls brings chills to my spine every time I hear it, and I've heard it a lot.

Along those lines, the only bummer about actually being at the GW game last night was that I didn't get to hear Bill's call of Ace's last-second shot. I would pay money to hear what he said.

Congrats to Bill, who is a great announcer and a credit to Virginia Tech. Drop the man a line at [email protected] and congratulate him!

I've received a few emails lately asking what the latest is on the Edmonds/Crawford case, and after some searching, I've uncovered the following article from yesterday on The Roanoke Times web site:

• Woman Wants Tech Players' Lawsuit Dropped

Before you get excited by what sounds like good news, she doesn't want the lawsuit against them dropped - she wants their lawsuit against her dropped.

I'll try to stay on top of this stuff, but sometimes it's hard to track, because they don't always put it in the Sports section of the paper. For a guy like me, who just reads the Sports, funnies, and Business sections, in that order, some stuff slips by me if it doesn't appear in one of those sections.

Let's beat this tired, dead horse called "low basketball attendance" a little more...

Riddle me this: who are Tech's three biggest home games this year? GW, Temple, and nationally-ranked Xavier, of course.

Now answer me this: when are those games scheduled?

• GW: Tuesday, Feb. 4th at 9:30 p.m.
  
• Temple: Tuesday, Feb. 18th at 9:30 p.m.
  
• Xavier: Sunday, Mar. 2nd at 2:00 p.m.
  

The Tuesday games at 9:30 are attendance-killers, because the fans from Roanoke don't make the trip, and the paying/alumni side is more concerned about getting a good night's sleep than coming to the game (for the most part, anyway - thanks to you folks who braved last night's heavy fog and late start to see the Hokies play).

But what about the Xavier game? That looks like a good time, right? Wrong. I was told last night by a student that Spring Break starts on Saturday, March 1st. Blacksburg will be, shall we say, devoid of student presence that week.

That loud bang you just heard was the sound of the Virginia Tech schedule-makers shooting themselves in the foot.

The Xavier game is just unfortunate timing (and heck, who though they would be ranked this year? Good, yes, but not ranked). The GW and Temple games are obviously scheduled for TV.

The almighty dollar wins again.

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