As the Hokies return to football practice, there is something different in
the air. The April 16th shootings are still fresh in many minds, and they'll be
talked about before, during, and after the season. But from a strictly-football
viewpoint, something else is different, too: Virginia Tech has been picked to
win its conference championship for the first time ever, dating back to their
entry into the Big East in 1991.
I'm sitting here writing this column, and the subject of the April 16th
tragedy is unavoidable. The focus of this column is going to be the Hokies as
preseason conference frontrunners, and my first inclination was to title the
piece, "Target on their backs, the Hokies start practice."