Dear Readers:

We're really on a roll here with the TSL Extra. This is yet another issue that I like a lot, a collection of eight articles on various topics, just the tonic needed for Alderson's famous Dead Zone of sports, the summer months.

Back in issue #12, a great cover photo of KJ shaking hands with the crowd after last year's WVU game inspired me to write an article called "The Future," that analyzed Tech's football team in the coming years. In much the same vein, this year's cover photo led me to write a couple of articles with Lane Stadium expansion as the theme.

"The Corners Are Full" is an introspective piece that recalls what it was like when Lane Stadium wasn't jammed full for every game, as it has been for three straight years now. This month's "Inside the Numbers #1" feature examines football ticket revenue since Tech's bowl run started in 1993, and you'll be amazed at how much more money the Hokies make off of a typical home game than they did back in 1993.

I had planned to write a third Lane Stadium-related article, a humorous look back at the predictions I made for stadium expansion when I wrote an article back in 1997. But then the Chronicle of Higher Education released their yearly gender equity study, including oodles of financial data, and that led me to bump the last Lane Stadium article for an Inside the Numbers article called "The Boom in Tech Athletics" that details the rapid rise of athletic revenue (and expenses) at Virginia Tech.

And then there's my favorite article from this month, "The Ten Most Influential Players in the Beamer Bowl Era." If you read just one article from this issue, this is the one. In ranking the players from #10 to #1, I include little known facts and interesting perspectives on some of your favorite Hokie players from the nine-year bowl run. It's a must-read that may change the way you view some of Frank Beamer's best players. Read it, and give me your opinion.

To round out the issue, we've got an interesting article from Jim Alderson that breaks down Frank Beamer's record against every Big East coach he has clashed with, plus a quirky little "Inside TSL" that tells you the stories behind every one of the TSLX's 20 covers. And as part of our new initiative to include more recruiting profiles, we have articles from new writer Chris Horne about TSL's #1- and #3-ranked players in the state, linebacker Vince Hall (Western Branch, Chesapeake) and cornerback Phillip Brown (Phoebus, Hampton).

I think you'll like this issue as much as I do. Kick back and shed the June doldrums with some great Hokie reading.

Enjoy issue #20.

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