So you sat around for almost two weeks, breathlessly awaiting the arrival of "http://www.hokiecentral.com," and what did you get? You got http://128.173.247.208/ instead!

I think it's obvious that my www.hokiecentral.com domain name is still lost in cyberspace, growing cobwebs as it waits for a ponderous, slow-moving, beauracratic organization known as InterNIC to move it from its current location to my new web hosting service. Until then, just tell people that you had a blast reading the new "www.hokiecentral.com!"

By the way, did I spell beauracratic right in that previous paragraph? It's a little late and I'm a little punchy.

So what's new at this web site, anyway? You've probably noticed the new navigation buttons in the left margin of each page. They make the pages a little slower to load, but I think they look pretty snazzy, so they're here to stay.

You've also probably noticed the not-so-subtle lack of VT graphics on the new web site, as per the direction of the Department of University Relations and the Licensing Department, although - harrumph! - I've noticed that they still exist on every other unofficial Hokie web site you can name off the top of your head. Between the two of us, one of us is feeling picked on, and I'm betting it ain't you.

Darn, and I promised myself I wasn't going to complain publicly...

I did my best to come up with some reasonable substitutes in a short time period, and as time goes on, I'll be adding more graphics to the site to beef it up. I also promised sound clips, and they'll arrive in due time, as well.

Another new item is a list of members, which currently stands at 70+ and is growing every day. To see the list, click on this Membership List link, or go to the Membership Page, which also contains a link to the list. I'll update the list regularly as new memberships are received.

Last, and most certainly not least, if you're wondering what took so long, it was primarily the setup of the message board. I finally found a helping hand in "Grassy Knoll," the webmaster of the excellent Eye of the Hurricanes football web site.

Grassy hosts about 20 message boards on his server, and when he contacted me and offered help with setting up a new board, I jumped on it. Grassy took care of the CGI scripting necessary to make the board a password protected board. We did it last weekend, and I dogged him with endless requests and questions until we got it right. He was a real trooper, as they say, so email him at [email protected] and tell him thanks for his help.

So far, I've issued over 110 passwords, so you can imagine that I spent a few hours emailing people, one by one, with their new passwords. So have fun, people!

The site is fresh, so it might contain a few wrong turns and dead links, but hang in there, I'll get them worked out. But enough about the trials and tribulations of the new web site! Let's throw in one news item to kick the new site off!

You'd have to be Helen Keller (deaf, dumb, and blind) to not know by now that draft analyst Mel Kiper likes Jim Druckenmiller. He's been saying for weeks that Druck is the best QB available in the draft, and of course, he's right about that. He's been saying all along that Druck is a possible top-ten pick.

But until a day or two ago, Kiper wasn't being specific about where Druck would probably go. He finally named some teams a few days ago, and here's what he thinks:

He thinks that the first possibility is Atlanta, with the #11 pick. I've got to tell you that I would be very unhappy if everybody's favorite Hokie QB wound up on that team. Remember, this is the same organization that was stupid enough to write paychecks to fine citizens like Jerry Glanville, Deion Sanders, Jeff George, and Andre Rison. I have no desire to see Druck go to the "Raiders of the South," as I like to call them. Sorry, Atlanta fans, but that's the way I feel.

If the Falcons pass on Druck, the next possibility, according to Kiper, is the Miami Dolphins and the #15 pick. Oh, boy. I've been a Dolphins fan as long as I've been a Hokie fan, and that's a long time. We've discussed the possibility of Jimmy D. going to the Dolphins before, and I think that would be the perfect situation. Druck would get to sit and learn for 1-3 years while Dan Marino wound down his career. I think Druck is a Super Bowl-caliber quarterback, and we already know that Jimmy Johnson is a Super Bowl-caliber coach. That would be an awesome combination.

If the Dolphins pass on Druck, then Kiper thinks he would be taken by the San Francisco 49ers with the #26 pick. I don't think I need to tell you what a great organization the 49ers are (despite the fact that they, too, have written paychecks to Neon Deion. Hey, everybody makes mistakes). To be drafted by the 49ers is a great break, because they're winners, and they treat their players well.

In any event, I'm glad the draft is finally coming up this weekend, because the suspense is killing me!

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