Your guide to breaking news, recruiting updates and important offers from TechSideline.com!
 
   Welcome to TSLMail #58 - Friday, December 20, 2002    
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   Christmas Shopping at TechLocker.com

Last Minute for Christmas Shopping? Time is Running Out!

There's only one more day to purchase gifts at TechLocker.com in time for Christmas Eve delivery!

Here are the details on TechLocker.com's remaining Holiday shipping -- note that the times for UPS Ground and UPS Second Day have already passed, and UPS Next Day is now your only option for getting it there by Christmas Eve.

  • UPS Next Day - Orders must be placed by NOON ET on Saturday, December 21 for Christmas Eve delivery. 

WE WILL NOT SHIP orders received after 12 noon on December 23, through January 1. Shipping resumes on January 2. However, orders may still be placed during this time.

Have Your Gift Shipped Straight to the Lucky Hokie Recipient!

Note also that if you want your gift shipped directly to the recipient, we can handle that, too. Just enter your information and credit card info in the Billing Areas when ordering, and the gift recipient's information in the Shipping Areas. We'll process the order and ship it right to them. We don't require you to email us separately, or give us a  phone call, like some online retailers do.

To get started shopping, just click this link: TechLocker.com.

   Tech Sports News

This Week in Recruiting
by Will Stewart, TechSideline.com

All of the attention this week in recruiting has centered around Rover target James Griffin, who has canceled a scheduled visit to West Virginia and has told us he will have a signing party at his house Saturday.

Sources in the Tech camp feel very, very good about VT's chances with Griffin, but at the same time, Griffin has been telling recruiting services, including TechSideline.com, that LSU is very much on his mind.

For our latest TSL Extra update on Griffin, please click here.

Also this week, the Hokies took a hit when Lake Taylor's Terrell Golden committed to Penn State instead of Virginia Tech. Golden had narrowed his choices down to PSU and VT. He visited Virginia Tech last weekend and wasted no time after his return committing to the Nittany Lions. Golden was arguably Tech's top wide receiver target, particularly after Fontel Mines verbaled to Virginia.

In other news, longshot OL Joel Holler (Lancaster, PA) also picked Penn State, and Texas quarterback Bill Foran reportedly eliminated the Hokies from consideration.

To keep up with VT recruiting, subscribe to the TSL Extra, and we'll carry you through to signing day in early February. Also, click here to give the TSL Extra as a gift!

TSL Releases New Top 40

The other news in recruiting is the release of the latest TechSideline.com Top 40 for the State (Commonwealth, for you nitpickers) of Virginia. This is TSL's Postseason ranking. Here's a look at the Top 10:

TSL Ranking of the Top 40 Prospects for 2003 in Virginia
Version 004, December 2002
(RT Rank = Roanoke Times rank; from Doughty's 8/30/02 preseason rankings)

TSL
Rank

Prev.
Rank

Player

Pos.

Ht.

Wt.

High School
(Hometown)

Schools of Interest (O = Offer)

1

3

Xavier Adibi

LB

6'3"

200

Phoebus (Hampton)

VT (O), UGA, MD (O), NCSU, UT (O)

2

1

Vince Hall

LB

6'1"

235

Western Branch (Chesapeake)

VT (O), UT (O), PSU (O), MD (O), UNC (O), Clem, FSU, SCar (O)

3

4

Phillip Brown

CB

5'11"

190

Phoebus (Hampton)

VT (O), UVA (O), MD (O), NCSU (O), UT (O), WVU (O), CLEM (O)

4

2

Chris Ellis

DE

6'4"

230

Bethel (Hampton)

VT (O), UVA (O), MD (O), UNC (O), Pitt (O), WVU (O), IND (O)

5

12

Terrell Golden

ATH

6'3"

200

Lake Taylor (Norfolk)

PSU Commit

6

8

Chase Anastasio

CB/S

6'1"

180

Robinson (Fairfax)

UVA (O), VT (O), Stan (O), ND, PSU

7

10

Duane Brown

JATH

6'5"

250

Hermitage (Richmond)

VT Commit

8

6

John Kinzer

TE

6'4"

235

Robinson (Fairfax)

VT Commit

9

5

Matt Welsh

OL

6'5"

275

Centreville (Clifton)

VT Commit

10

7

Shannon Lane

WR

6'0"

180

Salem (Va Beach)

UVA Commit

You can see that the top four are the same, but there has been some shuffling, with Xavier Adibi taking over the top spot from Vince Hall. Terrell Golden cracked the top 10, shooting up from #12 to #5, and Duane Brown rose three spots.

The Hokies have a very good shot at signing the top four players in the state as ranked by TechSideline.com. The Roanoke Times and Rivals.com also rank those four players as the top four, albeit in different order (the RT has them ranked Adibi-Ellis-Hall-Brown, while Rivals has Brown-Ellis-Adibi-Hall).

We have updated our recruiting page with the new Top 40. To see all 40 players, click here.

Shop for Sports Equipment at Sports N' More

Please support TechSideline.com by shopping with our sponsor Sports N’ More this Holiday Season.

Sports N' More is the online Virginia sports equipment store that supplies athletes world wide with the sports equipment they need. Sports N' More has almost every type of equipment for every major sport and most minor ones, from football to horseshoes! They also provide footwear, uniforms, embroidered apparel, training aids, flag football belts, and accessories for all sports.

Please show your support of TechSideline.com by shopping at Sports N' More’s online store for great gift ideas this holiday season. Safe and secure online shopping is guaranteed and backed with their 100% satisfaction warranty.

We're Through the Woods on Our Server Problems

As many of you noticed, we experienced some problems with the performance of the TechSideline.com web site in November and early December. The site was placed on a new server in November, and instead of going faster, it went slower ... a lot slower.

Our site hosts and admins worked and worked for weeks to find the problem, and about ten days ago, they finally had a "Eureka!" moment and flipped the magical switch that fixed our problems. We're happy to report that nearly two weeks later, the TechSideline.com web site is smokin' hot, running faster than it has ever run before.

Throughout the bad period, we received some comments on the message boards, but for the most part, everyone was very patient, and we thank you for it.

The improvements are just in time for the heavy-duty recruiting season. We will continue to work to make sure that we are able to keep up and running and keep you up to date as Signing Day 2003 (Feb. 5th) approaches.

-- Will Stewart

   TechSideline.com Updates From the Past Week


Beerman's Bowl Picks, Part 1
by Ben Shapiro, 12/17/02, 1:40 pm
B-B-B-BOWLING! It's the undercard, ladies and gentlemen. The lesser bowls that mean so much to so few. But here at Beerman Inc. we love all of our children equally, even if we wish a few of them would pick better friends and find a way to actually earn money.
in Voice of the Fan

Hokie Hotline Notes
by Joel Kelly, 12/17/02, 12:45 am
'Twas the week before Christmas and all through Hokie Nation ... not a creature was stirring ... except for the Hokie Football team getting ready for San Francisco!
in Hotline Notes

 
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