October 2008 Archives
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Palin Speech Packs Salem Football Stadium Governor Sarah Palin made three stops in Virginia, Monday, including one in Salem. Twenty thousand people packed the Salem Football Stadium in support of Palin, her running mate and their bid for the White House. Palin spoke on key issues that face her and Sen. John McCain on the Nov. 4 election. Taxes and "spreading the wealth" were among the top issues. She said spreading the wealth is nothing more than giving away what individuals deserve to keep for themselves. "And what [spreading the wealth] means, is government taking your hard earned money and doling it out however a politician seems fit. And Barack Obama calls this spreading the wealth and Joe Biden calls higher taxes patriotic," Palin said. Tech Women's Soccer Falls to No. 13 Boston College 2-1 The Virginia Tech women's soccer team took on their second ranked team this season in-conference, No. 13 Boston College. The first half was successful for the Hokies as they controlled the game and the scoreboard going into the half with a 1-0 advantage. It was not until the second half of that game that Boston College responded with two goals and secured a 2-1 win. After suffering this loss, Tech's record is now 9-6-2 for the season with 3-3-2 within the ACC. In the first half, Virginia Tech outshot Boston College 9-5 and scored a goal to lead the Eagles. Junior Emily Jukich scored off an assist from junior Julian Johnson 25 minutes in, which accounted for Johnson's seventh assist and Jukich's 13th goal of the season. Bruins Fall to Cougars: 5-3 Overall, 1-2 RRD Blacksburg High School kicked off a cold and rainy Friday night by having a special ribbon cutting ceremony to dedicate the new Bill Brown Stadium. Unfortunately for the Bruin faithful, that would be the end of their celebrating, as Pulaski extended its unbeaten record with a 41-20 win over Blacksburg. Coach Dave Crist stressed this week in practice how important it would be to contain the Cougar's explosive backfield. That task was clearly easier said than done, as Pulaski racked up 354 rushing yards for the game. The Bruins had some success containing star running back Nubain Peak, holding him to under 100 yards for the majority of the game until a late, fourth quarter 66-yard touchdown put him over the top with 157. Hokies Prepare For First ACC Trip To FSU
"When adversity comes guys come out and bounce back and they give it their all," junior Dorian Porch said. "And I think that's our focus right now is just getting back to playing our ball." High School Preview: Bruins to Host Undefeated Pulaski After dropping a tough road game last week to the Salem Spartans, coach Dave Crist and the Bruins are looking to rebound with a win this week against Pulaski County. Last week's 28-14 loss against the Spartans was anything but a failure, and for many reasons. Salem is a team that has made a habit of winning state titles the last decade, it has a great home field advantage, and the Bruins were without injured star quarterback Trey Gresh. Despite that, Crist was adamant that the Bruin's can take no satisfaction from a close loss. Planet Blacksburg Sponsors Dave Matthews Sideman Tim Reynolds Nov. 7; Tickets Available Planet Blacksburg is pleased to announce that it's bringing you a really big show. Dave Matthews sideman Tim Reynolds is coming to Blacksburg, Nov. 7 for an extraordinary show with his electric band TR3. Seating will be limited for this intimate show. Tickets are $20 days of show, or $15 in advance. Planet Blacksburg will sell advance tickets at a booth in Squires Student Center on the Virginia Tech campus at key times between now and the show.
To get your tickets ahead of their official release, please stop by our booth. Tickets will be available today, Wednesday, from 2-5 p.m. in Squires, and Thursday from 4-6 p.m. Commentary: As Leaves Turn Orange And Maroon, Virginia Tech Goes Green As students poured into Blacksburg this fall and settled back into the familiarity the town offers, a few changes were hard to miss. It may be less apparent to freshmen and sophomores who have had less time on the campus, but for upperclassmen there is no arguing the fact that Virginia Tech is going green. Although President Charles Steger has yet to sign on to a national college climate initiative, he has announced the development of Virginia Tech's own sustainability plan that will hopefully be in place by the end of this spring semester. While it will take time to convert to an entirely greener way of life, Tech has already taken a few steps in that direction. Movie Review: W. Oliver Stone has set out with a biopic about our most recent president. Instead of presenting an expected conspiracy theory surrounding George W. Bush's actions during his tenure, he instead gives us a character piece. This character study is a testament to his shortcomings and serves as an explanation for why our country is in its current state. Bush is played admirably by Josh Brolin (No Country For Old Men and American Gangster). Based on a script by Stanley Weiser (Wall Street), W. covers the highs and lows of Bush's life (mostly as flashbacks), beginning with his college days at Yale and continuing on to his discovering there were no WMD's. PBTV: Men's Basketball Sneak Peak
PBTV: Obama Rally Talk
Interview: Jenn Siess -Organizer, Founder of Joggin' for the Noggin' 5k Benefit Race Most seniors relish their evaporating days on campus by spending their remaining time soaking up all Blacksburg has to offer. Whether they're crowding the stands of Lane Stadium, hiking the Cascades, or lining the streets of downtown, students waste no time discovering new outlets of entertainment. Jenn Siess is not your typical senior. While many are busy tapping the snooze button of their alarms, Siess is up at the crack of dawn, darting around campus and the surrounding New River Valley. For more than 60 hours this semester alone, Siess has steadfastly planned and organized her second 5k benefit race. Bragging Rights: PB Staff Picks the Top 25 - Week 8 For those of you who took the advice last week and watched college football, you were treated to the best week of the season. Texas took down Oklahoma. Oklahoma State shut down Heisman hopeful Chase Daniel. Texas Tech was taken to the wire by Nebraska. There were more great games in one day than there have been all season. Luckily for us fans, this week should be just as exciting with all kinds of ranked match-ups and potential upsets looming. Ryan's Game of the Week: No. 18 North Carolina at Virginia Opinion: Virginia's Gifted Not So Grand "Our little Suzy is just so special..." How many eye-rolling moments have we all suffered when particularly proud parents begin boasting of their children's fine natural abilities? Most would say, probably too many. The average parent is certainly proud of his/her child's developments and personality, but gifted education programs in Virginia public schools boost that sentiment, singling out children for their above-average intellect and academic aptitude. Movie Review: Burn After Reading The Coen brothers, after stunning Hollywood with their Best Picture classic No Country For Old Men, follow up that 2007 film with this comic farce that is as much outrageous as it is unbelievable. Joel & Ethan decided to let loose a little with this one - think more The Big Lebowski or Intolerable Cruelty instead of Fargo or Blood Simple. The idea of crime and corruption is very evident but is presented in a much more humorous, yet sardonic, nature. At the film's beginning is Osborne Cox (Oscar nominee John Malkovich), an employee of the CIA. His extra-curricular activities, namely his drinking, is seen as a detriment to his work as an analyst. Instead of taking a demotion, Cox, being very short-tempered, storms out and quits his job. Much to the chagrin of his wife, Katie (Oscar winner Tilda Swinton), Osborne decides to become a writer and sets out to complete a memoir of his life as a CIA operative. Volleyball Road Trip - Round One: David. Round Two: Goliath In the two-night North Carolina series, the Hokie volleyball squad faced off against the UNC Tar Heels and the NC State Wolfpack. Unfortunately for the Hokies, they could not win both of these conference road games, losing to UNC Thursday night, but redeeming themselves Friday against NC State. The Tar Heels ended the Hokies' 11-match win streak, the best start since 1995. Bruins Run All Over Knights, Start District Play 1-0 (5-1 Overall) The Blacksburg Bruins opened up River Ridge District play Friday night, traveling to Roanoke for a match up against the Cave Spring Knights. The trip proved successful, as the Bruins rushed all over Bogle Field to capture a 28-14 win. In the first quarter the teams had one possession apiece and split possession time during the 12-minute frame. For the first six minutes of the quarter, it was the Bruins who worked a steady rushing attack for nearly 80-yards that ended in a Jon Jennings one-yard plow into the end zone. Bragging Rights: PB Staff Picks the Top 25 - Week 7 We are now officially in the heart of the college football season this week, with a pile of ranked and rivalry games taking place. With that and the upset bug becoming so prevalent, this week will be one of the best of the young season. Expect to be glued to your television all day Saturday, that is unless you would rather watch the MLB playoffs, of course. But that wouldn't make you much of a sports fan would it? David's Game of the Week: Clemson at No. 21 Wake Forest PBTV: Men's Soccer Topples Radford
PBTV: Weekly News Wrap-Up
Volleyball Downs Maryland And Boston College, Remains Undefeated In ACC Play If it wasn't one game, it was two. The Virginia Tech Lady Hokies continue their best start since 1995 and top not one, but two conference teams on the road, starting with University of Maryland. The Hokies came out strong against the Lady Terrapins, taking an early 3-0 point lead. Maryland began to match Tech point for point, until errors and blocks started to haunt the Lady Terps. PBTV: Western Kentucky Post-Game Recap
Third Eye Blind Gets Three Cheers Burruss Hall rocked Oct. 3, as Third Eye Blind helped kick off homecoming week. The voices of 3,000 fans filled the auditorium, enjoying the celebration. The concert opened with a spotlight solo by guitarist Tony Fredianelli; from there it only got better. The band continued with fan favorites including "Semi-Charmed Life." Fans sang along, danced around and swayed as the music blared and the lights created a vibrant atmosphere. New Stadium, Same Results; Bruins Get Another Big Win to Move to 4-1 As the clock ticked down to :00, the Blacksburg Bruins had successfully opened up the new Bill Brown stadium in the same way they closed the old one, with a win. This time, instead of an easy victory, the Bruins had to fight from behind to knock off the Northside Vikings by a score of 28-25. "All the wins you get are sweet, and all the losses you get hurt," said Bruin's coach Dave Crist of his team's comeback, "...but they trusted each other all year and they care about each other." Bragging Rights: PB Staff Picks the Top 25 - Week 6 Will it ever stop? Once again the week was full of upsets all over the scoreboard, with four top10 teams losing. The blame can only go to one place for this sudden deluge of upsets: Appalachian State. Since the Mountaineers beat then-No. 5 Michigan in Ann Arbor, college football has gone insane. Last year it seemed like no team wanted to be number two in the rankings. This year a flailing Oregon State dominated the number one team in the nation. Only time can tell how long this upset bug lasts, but we doubt it will end anytime soon. Ryan's Game of the Week: No. 5 Texas at Colorado Tech Receiver Ike Whitaker Suspended For Violation Of Team Policies BLACKSBURG, Va. - Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer announced Thursday that redshirt junior receiver Ike Whitaker has been suspended indefinitely from the football team due to violations of team policy. In making the announcement, Beamer said there would be no further comment on the situation. Bruins Prepare For Tough Battle Against Vikings The Blacksburg Bruins look to stop a hot Northside Vikings team this Friday at the new Bill Brown stadium in Blacksburg. The Bruins (3-1), coming off a tough loss to Lord Botetourt last Friday, hope to bounce back in their first game at their new stadium against a streaking Northside (3-3) team that has won three of its last four games. Blacksburg got off to an impressive start to the season, winning the first three games on its schedule before the match-up with the Lord Botetourt Cavaliers. However, the Cavaliers outscored the Bruins 10-0 in the fourth quarter to hand Blacksburg its first loss. |
Blown Coverage: Week 10 This week, we are going to look at college football in a state-by-state basis. Each state will be ranked according to how their respective teams are playing this year. There are a couple of rules to this analysis:
Therefore, the following states, despite having noteworthy teams, won’t be looked at:
PBTV: Florida State Recap
Opinion: Course "Request" - Why Bother? Each semester, in the weeks leading up to course request, students at Virginia Tech scrutinize the timetable of classes so that they can be the lucky one to win the perfect schedule for the upcoming term. This typically means no classes before noon, and definitely no 8 a.m.s; however, complete bragging rights for the perfect schedule are only achieved when one can successfully add "and no Friday classes, either!" Movie Review: High School Musical 3: Senior Year The original High School Musical became the most successful movie the Disney Channel ever produced with 7.7 million viewers in its premiere broadcast in May 2006. It went on to break DVD sales records with 1.2 million copies sold in its first six days of release. The show became an international phenomenon, winning an Emmy and inspiring a host of touring companies, ice skating shows, video games, merchandising, book series and even a reality show. The prize? A chance to appear in High School Musical 3: Senior Years's two-minute post-production video. Hokies Regain Top Conference Rank Saturday, Despite Loss Friday Night The Virginia Tech Hokies took to the court this past weekend against the Florida State Seminoles and second-place Miami Hurricanes in two of the few remaining home games of the regular season. With junior defender Betsy Horowitz out once again, freshman Kirsty Blue filled and helped take on a then-.444 Florida State squad, who started off the game with a point. Normally, the Hokies score first at Cassell, so this spelt doom from the get-go. As the first set went point-for-point until the very end, Taylor Parrish stepped up big as she recorded three of her 10 total kills in the first set alone. Opinion: F as in FAT Imagine a child is in gym class waiting to be picked for a team. His name is never called. Why? He's too fat and will drag the team down. Humiliating, right? Imagine how the child feels in the room. The media should be regulated on how they help promote fast-food advertising, more healthy alternatives should be added to fast-food chains and parents should accept the responsibility to control the diet and exercise patterns of their children on a daily basis, or risk raising children with lower life expectancies than their own. Child obesity remains a serious problem in America today. Simply put, child obesity stems from eating too much and exercising too little. According to a recent study, more than half of American children will be obese by 2010. This means more than half the children in America will have increased risks for heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. PBTV: George Allen Comes to Blacksburg
Opinion: Hell is for Liberals Only With the election closing in over the next few weeks, tensions are continually rising. There is a recent article being circulated by Daniel L. Akin, the President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary under the title of "Why Faithful Evangelicals Cannot Vote for Barack Obama." Although the title suggests that Akin would present an excerpt on why Catholics and Christians should not vote for Obama, instead he introduces another article to support his claim. The article is "Obama's Abortion Extremism" by Robert P. George, a McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. Blown Coverage: Week 9 This week, we are going to take a look at some interesting games outside of the top 25. West Virginia vs. Auburn: This game was circled at the beginning of the season as an amazing out of conference game between two teams in the mix for the national championship. Since then, Bill Stewart has ruined the WVU football program and shattered any credibility the Big East had. Tommy Tuberville is probably also on his way out, but a win in Morgantown might delay that. Auburn's defense will be able to shut down the Mountaineers now average offense, but the Tigers will struggle to score themselves. PBTV: Weekly News Wrap Up
Volleyball Splits Weekend Action, Suffers First Home Loss The Virginia Tech volleyball team took to the court Friday and Saturday nights against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and the Duke Blue Devils for two more ACC matches. The Hokies hosted Wake Forest Friday night in a match that reeled in 2,472 fans for the match that the Hokies took in four sets. "It was an incredible atmosphere and a great match," head coach Chris Riley said. "These are two tough teams that are pretty evenly-matched, but we came out on top because of this great crowd." PBTV: Late Night with the Hokies
PBTV: Obama Rally in Roanoke
PBTV: Senator Webb Stumps for Obama
PBTV: Boston College Preview
Blown Coverage: Week 8 Last week we looked at the mid major teams, this week we are going to take a look at the teams in BCS conferences that are in contention for the BCS championship.
Texas (6-0) Big 12 Chocolate Fest 2008
The goals for the Festival are to promote women's health and wellness and raise funds for the Free Clinic of the New River Valley. The NRV Free Clinic is committed to providing quality healthcare, dental care and on-site pharmacy and mental health referral services to adults who lack insurance and cannot afford to be treated. Approximately 60 percent of their patients are women. Hokie Women's Soccer Tops Lancers 2-0 The Virginia Tech Women's Soccer team netted two goals against the Longwood Lancers for its eighth win of the season, improving to 8-5-2. Tech women's soccer got off to a quick start, controlling the ball and keeping the Lancers on their heels defensively. Just three minutes in, junior Emily Jukich headed a ball off of a cross from sophomore Stephanie Hylton that hit the post and was saved by Marcia Biddle, Longwood's goalkeeper. Movie Review: Frozen River With the nation's economy taking a turn for the worse, along comes film that speaks to anyone who is or has been in a major financial bind. Frozen River is a harrowing tale of two women trying desperately to make ends meet in these trying times. In Courtney Hunt's directorial debut, Frozen centers upon two primary characters - Ray (Melissa Leo) and Lila (Misty Upham). Ray is a trailer-home mother of two children who has recently run into a huge financial obstacle. Her husband took off with money that was meant to buy a new double-wide. In his absence the burden falls upon Ray to make ends meet. She works part-time at the Yankee Dollar and with two other mouths to feed, the hours she pulls just don't cut it. Extreme Makeover: Campus Edition Whether it's the lack of commuter parking or the overcrowded dining halls, there are issues students have about Virginia Tech. But, instead of just complaining to your roommates every day, wouldn't you like to create change and have your voice heard? That's exactly what Virginia Tech's Student Government Association (SGA) is setting up to do. On Oct. 14 and 15, SGA will actively go out around campus and ask for the student body's feedback about the university through an event called Extreme Makeover: Campus Edition. Blown Coverage: Week 7 This week, we have the midseason Mid-Major report. ECU, Fresno State, and TCU looked good early, but they couldn't sustain their successes and played themselves out of contention. BCS refresher: the highest ranked champion of a non-BCS conference will receive an automatic berth if: 1. It is ranked in the top twelve, or 2. Ranked in the top sixteen and higher than another BCS Conference champion. Opinion: MADD As Hell And Can't Take It Anymore It's a good thing that activist groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), coupled with the threat of legal ramifications keep individuals out of their cars after consuming alcohol, right? Wrong. Every 39 minutes someone is killed by a drunk driver. The MADD website indicated that in 2007 alone nearly 13,000 people died in car accidents involving a driver with a blood alcohol content (BAC) above the .08 limit. That's more than 30 percent of all traffic related deaths. Invisible Children Premier Go At Lyric How far would you go? The Invisible Children film, Go, asked this of its viewers at the very end of the documentary. Approximately 60 students, parents, and Blacksburg residents gathered at McBryde Hall Wednesday night for an event premiering Go, a documentary about the people suffering in Northern Uganda. PBTV: Campaigning Tailgate
Hokie Runners Take First In Highland Duel The Hokies cross country team competed against Queen's University in Charlotte, North Carolina the Highland Duel, Friday Oct. 3, in non-scored meet. In the women's three-mile race Virginia Tech's Tasmin Fanning finished first with a time of 16:54. Following behind Fanning was Jessica Fanning at 17:40, Erin Reddan at 17:50, and Natalie Kretzer at 17:55 who took the second through fourth place finishes. Tech Football Wins Fifth Straight, Loses Lewis For The Season The Virginia Tech Hokies added another win to their record after beating the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 27-13 on Saturday. The Hokies did not find the easy win fans hoped for, however, and had to continue to play hard in the fourth quarter. "I think they're all going to be down to the fourth quarter... but with our football team it's try to get a little bit better each week," said coach Frank Beamer on the late-game wins. PBTV: Western Kentucky Quick Recap
Just in Case You Missed it...90210 Episode 6: "Model Behavior" aired Sept. 30, 2008 at 8pm on the CW Kelly, Brenda, Ryan and Principal Harry grill Adrianna and her mom about Adrianna's alleged drug use which she emphatically denies. Harry threatens expulsion if they confirm she is taking drugs and "mommy dearest" threatens to sue. In the midst of their discussion after Adrianna leaves, Dylan McCay calls Brenda and then talks to Kelly. Ryan finds out that Dylan is Sammy's father. Dylan is back in the states in Wyoming and wants Kelly and Sammy to join him. Kelly is torn but Ryan makes a romantic pitch for himself, saying, "Are you asking me to wait? Cuz I got nothin' but time and the distinct feeling that women like you don't come around very often." But Kelly doesn't want him to wait! Poor Ryan. As Ryan exits, he asks, "If Dylan wanted to talk to you, why was he calling Brenda?" Ouch!!! Kelly is suitably speechless. Homecoming Game Preview: VT vs. Western Kentucky (Video Included)
Sophomore Davon Morgan suffered a torn ACL during a kick return against the Cornhuskers. The non-contact injury happened as his foot got caught on the field while attempting a cut. Junior Dorian Porch will step into the role of rover for the rest of the season. Porch is a solid tackler and should maintain the standard set by Morgan. Blown Coverage: Week 6 I had a horrible week of picks last week. I'm sure a lot of other people did also, but 50% is just garbage. But rather than dwell on the past, I'll share some thoughts about the games this week before getting to the picks. • Nick Saban is way ahead of schedule in Tuscaloosa.• ESPN and FOX have Virginia Tech projected into the BCS. • The Big 12 will have a team in the National Championship. Oklahoma and Missouri are the front-runners with Texas and Texas Tech also in the conversation. Students To Host Black In America Forum In today's melting pot of races and cultures, a group's individual meaning can seem to get lost in the shuffle. Members of the Greek community will discuss exactly what it means to be "Black in America" on Oct. 6, 2008, at 7 p.m. in Colonial Hall in Squires Student Center. The event, presented by the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, will be a forum of students discussing the stigmas that come with being defined as "black." The list of speakers will be comprised of professors from Virginia Tech's African Studies department. Women's Soccer Heads to Clemson Thursday Night In last year's match-up between Virginia Tech and Clemson University, the Tigers were ahead 1-0 until Virginia Tech forward Marika Gray tied up the game with an assist by Emily Jukich in the last 53 seconds of regulation. After a scoreless double-overtime, the game ended in a 1-1 tie. Over the last four years, the Hokies have not won a single game against the Tigers. Thursday will mark the fifth meeting between the two teams. "I think we have a really good chance of winning this game," said Emily Jukich, junior forward and leading scorer for the Hokies. "Our coaches are going to put together a really good game plan. They know we're playing to win, not anything less than that." |
Planet Blacksburg's news team is back with a Halloween-themed newscast. Jenna Nichols reports on the ghosts of the Lyric Theatre, Abbey Hoekzema reports from the Obama rally in Roanoke, and of course the rest of the news team brings you all the latest from around Blacksburg and Virginia Tech.
The Women's Center at Virginia Tech is holding its chocolate fundraiser on Tuesday, Oct. 21 in the Old Dominion Ballroom at Squires Student Center from 3:00 p.m.-6:30 p.m. 
