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Sometimes, you're just outclassed. I knew going into this tournament that the Hokies had a good chance to defeat the foot-in-mouth, looking-beyond-the-first-round Wisconsin Badgers, but I didn't think we had much of a chance against Florida. Darn, right again.

Florida is a seriously talented ball club. They did everything well that Wisconsin did well, and more. They shot better and their guard play was better than Wisconsin's, and that spelled doom for the Hokies.  Tech got another great performance from Amy Wetzel (24 points on 10-14 shooting), but there was little help from her teammates.

Tech never really did get on track in this one. You could see glimmers of what made this team great this year, but at the same time, some key elements were missing. Specifically, the Hokies didn't shoot well, and guard Lisa Witherspoon, definitely one of the key players on this team, got in foul trouble early and had to sit (but I've got to tell you, Bonnie Henrickson and Bobby Hussey differ on one point - Bonnie let Lisa get three first-half fouls before she sat her down, not just two).

So a great 22-10 season comes to an end, and I don't really want to dwell on this game anymore. I do want to congratulate the women's team on what they've accomplished, and I also want to add that this is one fan who is now securely on the bandwagon. If I can carve a little time out of my busy schedule, and if Mrs. HokieCentral can stand me going to see yet more Hokie sporting events, I'll be in attendance at a few women's games next year. I have enjoyed watching the team, I like their style of play, and they're too good to not go see them play. I urge you to do the same.

Congratulations again, Hokies!

After promising it for two and a half months, the Members Only web site has finally been launched! If you're a 1998 member - in other words, if you submitted your membership form on-line after I introduced the new membership concept on December 29^th, 1997 and then you mailed in your payment later - then check your email "In" box for a message from me that tells you where the Members Only web site is located and how you can get into it (it's username/password protected).

If you haven't received the email from me, then contact me at [email protected]. There are about five of you whose email addresses no longer work, and my attempts to send you the access information have been unsuccessful, so get in touch with me and send me your updated email address.

The unveiling of the Members Only web site, and some discussion about it that occurred on the message board, has led a few 1997 members to email me and ask for access to the Members Only web site. The short version of my answer is that 1997 members don't get access to the Members Only web site, because it wasn't part of the 1997 membership benefits.

That doesn’t mean that access isn't available to 1997 members, and there are some issues that I need to resolve where 1997 members are concerned. Read the next item for some thoughts and ideas on 1997 members and the Members Only web site.

Now that I have introduced the Members Only web site, I have some 1997 members who aren't happy. Let me tell you what they've been saying and give you my thoughts about it.

Last year's 1997 membership benefits were merchandise and an email newsletter. As the year went on, I eventually quit emailing the newsletter and simply posted it on a private web address. I emailed the web address to the 1997 members, and they went there to read the newsletters (with no password access required).

First of all, I haven't posted any newsletters lately, not since mid-November, so I'll be sure to get back to doing that, since I promised it as a membership benefit. I'll continue doing the newsletter through the end of 1998, and that will fulfill my obligation to all 1997 members.

But still, some 1997 members aren't happy with that, particularly the people who signed up in late 1997 (November/December). They say, understandably so, "Geez, Will, if I had known that you were going to introduce a Members Only web site, I would have waited a month or two and then signed up in 1998, instead of 1997."

I can understand why you might feel that way, but you have to realize that I didn't even dream up the Members Only web site as a 1998 benefit until very late in 1997. 1997 members, go back and check your newsletters, and you'll see that when I talked about my plans for 1998, I never once mentioned a Members Only web site. I don't think I even thought up the concept until mid/late December.

So, I'm sorry if you feel that you got somewhat shafted by the surprise benefit of a Members Only web site being offered in 1998, but even I didn't know it was coming until 1998 was almost here.

Several 1997 members think that access to the Members Only web site should be made retroactive to 1997 members, but that's not possible. 1997 membership benefits were merchandise and the newsletter, and once I start doing the newsletter again, then my obligation to the 1997 members will be fulfilled, as it was written and offered last year.

More importantly, opening up an additional web site has doubled my web hosting fees, and the 1997 member pricing structure didn't include supporting a whole new web site. The 1998 membership pricing structure does, and that's why it is a 1998 membership benefit only.

As a compromise for unhappy 1997 members, though, I'm prepared to offer an upgrade. Read on for more information.

When you buy a software program, and then the program is upgraded, you are usually offered a less-expensive upgrade to the new version. I'm going to take a similar approach to the Members Only web site where 1997 members are concerned.

For $15, I'm offering 1997 members a chance to upgrade their membership and gain access to the Members Only area. Once I receive your check, I'll issue you a username and password to the Members Only web site, which will be good for a year.

Be warned that the $15 upgrade will not be credited to your 1998 membership, if you choose to renew. You'll have to pay the full 1998 membership fee, like everyone else. It would be a nightmare for me to track and pro-rate any $15 upgrades that I receive, so I just have to take this approach to it.

So, 1997 members, you've got a judgment call to make. You've got two options:

• Do nothing. You'll still be able to read newsletters on-line, at the address I gave you last year, until the end of 1998, regardless of when your 1997 membership expires. I'll begin posting them again soon.  If you renew your membership to 1998 status, then you'll get the 1998 merchandise and access to the Members Only web site for a year from that point on.

• Pay for the $15 upgrade. I'll issue you username/password access to the Members Only area for a year. You'll still be classified as a 1997 member, and to become a 1998 member, you'll have to pay a full 1998 membership fee, whenever (and if) you decide to do so.   You can even wait until 1999 to renew if you want to, because your access to the Members Only area will last a year.

Whether option 2 makes sense for you is an individual decision for each 1997 member to make. You may just want to wait until you renew to a 1998 membership, instead of paying $15 for access to the Members Only area for a year.

For directions on how to upgrade, watch this site, and I'll post an on-line form for you to submit. Please don’t send me an upgrade payment yet! I'm going to handle 1997 upgrades the same way I handle 1998 memberships, so it will take a little time to set up.

I hope this plan of action satisfies everyone. I can't offer any other options, so please don't ask. I have spent a lot of time thinking about this issue (a brief thank you goes out to Baltimore Hokie, a late-1997 member, for bringing it up and discussing it reasonably with me), and I feel that this is a good solution.

It's not perfect, and the only reason I'm having this difficulty is because I changed the membership format. This problem will only occur once, so please bear with me as I get through the difficult transition created by such a big change in the membership model.

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