billcarstensen

also remember that the point of the old system (flawed as it has become) got the 99% of athletes who are NOT going to make the big time an EDUCATION that served them by increasing income for the rest of their lives*. The current system is nothing but a get rich quick scheme that leads them to believe they can live like that the rest of their lives. Enough NFL or MLB players (just examples, pick your own sport) end up broke after the riches stop, and they are far older and supposedly wiser than these kids. NO, I never fault the kids. They are still young enough to be easily led, and in these ways I describe they are being led down a bad path Yes, the kids might be influenced to skip school and just play for a few years as their coaches might do. This post might be about coaches as role models, but they are contracted employees of universities not 24/7 free agents. We can all rant on about the system, but the original point of it was to improve kids lives, in many cases kids whose athletic skills could get them in post-secondary education with a free ride that could never have been afforded by their families. That was noble. This is certainly not. As a long time Professor at VT, I feel this loss greatly. Rules could make this better for certain: - LIMIT TRANSFERS and reinstate sitting out to go to school instead of play for starters after a second transfer, - STRICTLY ENFORCE PAYMENT CAPS to players at a level in the neighborhood of salaries for new graduates ($50,000??) - DEATH PENALTIES - no exceptions - to schools that cheat. Hiring the enforcement staff would cost a lot less than the millions being spent unwisely now. Some data to consider: *Social Security Administration (SSA) – Lifetime Earnings Estimates tracking real earnings over decades: Men with a bachelor’s degree earn ≈ $900,000 more over their lifetimes than high school graduates. Women with a bachelor’s degree earn ≈ $630,000 more than high school graduates. (a different problem we still need to work on)

that was never the deal. Anyone could transfer, it just meant a year off the field/court etc. which could be used to progress as a student in a new place where the transfer might lose a few credits that need to be made up. No one was ever forced to stay anywhere that I have heard of.

6' 5" magic and our two existing 6' 3' and new 6' 4" short? Height matters but so does play. Kilah was 6' 1" and we just got a very athletic 6' 2" from UT. If we can get another Liz it would be fantastic, but we have to live in the real world where Liz-s are extremely rare and do the best we can. Only the USC-e and UCLAs and UCONNs are likely to see those players.

The presence of the portal doesn't just "allow" transferring easily, it thoroughly encourages it. Why not try a new place while you still have eligibility left? Kilah Freelon played us at home in March 2025 and liked the atmosphere. A plus for us. Carys and Mackie had important roles here, but hey, why not? Plusses for someone else, BUT HUGE NEGATIVES FOR THE EDUCATION PART OF STUDENT/ATHLETE.

The problem with everyone's boards is that everyone posts with some cute nickname instead of themselves. C'mon all - want to talk the talk then post the walk. My name is Bill Carstensen and I own it. I would never post something that I didn't believe in and was proud to put out there. Maybe get the "___ hokie" people using their actual names and we could have an honest discussion on these boards. As for Carleigh, we all know (as I have posted many times in the last 2 years) that VTWBB would not be within 2 years of where we are now without Carleigh's love of VT that kept most of Kenny's players with experience at home!! For the record I hate the out of control $$ part of college sports today as much as anyone, but until somebody figures out how to reward players equitably in the big coach and staff salary era, we are where we are.

She did indeed assure us that the fall off after Brooks left was minimized. We are still in her debt for rallying all the new kids on that team to stay here and play forward. We owe her a lot lot that.

Come on back students - we have a great core of fans but need you too. Vacation is over. Please return to see the Hokies!!

I would have to give Suffren top billing in making the layup at the end of a speed drive to the rim.

For several years I paid $100 each for reserved area season tickets - now they are $160. That is a pretty healthy increase.

And those who see sports as more important than life donate a lot of money for them and expect a lot. A stupid reaction that is very unfair to the kids who play, but inexplicable? No. A better life is to enjoy sports for what they are - GAMES - not agonize over them.

I was able to hear it from vacation in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco!!

When 75-80% of teams in all college sports have NO CHANCE to succeed, the money for the other 20-25% will dry up with the loss of fans, and sanity will again reign. Might take a while though I fear. We are in rich get richer trend nowadays and it is sad that being an athlete for the sake of playing a good game, connecting with your teammates, being loyal to your school and working hard is not enough. Dynasties are death to competition and sports. The pro leagues learned that 50-100 years ago. You'd think that collegiate centers of learning might catch on quicker.

Griping is doing none of us including the team any good. We Hokie fans are not the committee and never will be. So, help the team PROVE THEM WRONG WITH SOLID PLAY THROUGH THE WBIT at home!!! Show up in the Cassell and make it all it can be as a home court advantage. ** Edited by billcarstensen at 3/17/2025, 8:58:22 AM

Do we really have to hate on the AD that brought us the coach that brought us the program that brought us Liz and the others on a day to honor Liz, and on a day the team beat a really good opponent in front of a full house? C'mon guys.

Usually I catch that before posting, but we take help where we can get it.

When the media picked us 12th, I was sure that they had set a bar for us that we could clear, before seeing any game action. After five ACC games having played four teams picked higher than 12 (all but WFU), it appears that our coaching staff and our Hokie team unity (the reason so many of them are here after the loss of leadership last spring) will clear it easily. Still a work in progress, but a lot of fun. (aside: Techsideline needs to add "Hokie" to the spell checker - it gets used a lot and my old fingers like the 'l' better than the k at times!)

Last summer a lot was made of conditioning of our young team so they could play a new style of Bball than we fans were used to of late. Liking it!!. This is the second straight game in which the Hokies came on at the end, making the other team look slow and out of sync. The Jackets were clearly gassed in the last OT, but we were tough and still had a lot in the tank. Way to PREPARE coach Duffy and players!!

On Extra you get the local "talent" and VT has a lot of that with our Sports Marketing and Analytics degree (thanks Bill R.) . We get Giovanni Heater who is very good on media!

If you watched coach Fortner's post game she talked about learning from the loss they suffered last night. Think that works since we have won twice on the road after the debacle with FSU at home!!

About to move up just as Iowa did after playing us. We are not that far off with more experience.

After her first entry to the game she went to the locker room and came back with a back brace on. She did go back in though after a little bit.

It is a coaching gem to see a team grow as opposed to just individual improvement (happily we see a lot of that too). CMD and staff are masters at that. But don't forget that after the "big change" at the end of last season we KEPT 6 members of our team at home. That is pretty much unheard of under those conditions. Credit Carleigh for spearheading that as a sophomore (redshirt freshman in BB) last spring and all the others who followed in. We had a good cohesive group to begin and it has just gotten better!

Boone is close enough for her to be pre-enrollment Hokie like Liz was! Liz and her family attended most every game the year before she enrolled as a freshman (Liz did live a little closer, but only about 20 minutes.)

many times before. A great coach (even a good one) never tries to pull the spotlight off her/his team.

and the coach never sees the end of the first half from her banishment to the locker room. (this lost the previous message about Baylor losing in the next round and 11 getting 6 points and fouling out... sorry it did make sense initally) ** Edited by billcarstensen at 3/24/2024, 11:02:22 PM

Her quickness is a big deal, so bulk up and stay quick. BUT, remember she is likely 17?

At the Kenny Brooks Show when Carleigh visited for her radio spot, Kenny made it official: "Everybody Loves Carleigh."

No coach should attempt to take the spotlight off his/her team. ** Edited by billcarstensen at 9/9/2023, 10:45:19 PM