Niche Hokies Mailbag: The Sports Journalism Edition

23 Comments

1. 

   LXNTN_HOKIE March 17, 2025 at 3:03 PM

   Awesome Bitter report. I've enjoyed your insights since the Roanoke Times days.
2. 

   Aero81Hokie March 14, 2025 at 11:48 PM

   Great article! Two of my favorite sportswriters are Teel and Bitter! I have followed you both for a long time (and it doesn’t hurt that I lived in Hampton Roads for 34 years). What I really enjoy are your joint endeavors or reports from joint road trips. I think I remember a few times when you said things like you and Teel were driving to a place or having dinner and discussing some really interesting topics. I would have loved to hav been a fly on the wall during those discussions. Curious though. How competitive are things with different writers? I get the impression you and David support each other pretty openly.
3. 

   hokie0611 March 14, 2025 at 11:41 AM

   Thanks for answering my question
4. 

   rdodge March 14, 2025 at 11:21 AM

   This is one of the most enjoyable "off season" articles I remember reading on TSL, or any Hokie focused site for that matter, in quite sometime. Thanks for the great work.
5. 

   HokieYankee March 14, 2025 at 10:32 AM

   This is great. I never paid much attention to the journalism side of things during my "youth" but I subscribed to the Athletic, then followed Andy to TSL. Between the YT videos, articles and message boards, I feel like I have a much better idea of what's going on...right???? :-D
6. 

   Walkin` Willie March 14, 2025 at 9:55 AM

   My wife turned me on to Boston and I like it much better than New York and I love New York. I understand why it is way up on Andy's road trip list. Folks can drink Sam Adams in a bar across the street from Sam's grave - no other city can give one that experience ?. Yeah, the food and history are over the top.
   1. 

      RustyHokie94 March 14, 2025 at 12:35 PM

      I've had the same beer at the same bar!
7. 

   middletennhokie March 14, 2025 at 9:54 AM

   Great article Andy, thanks! Shoutout to 75hoke...Would also be interested in where you would place Lane / Blacksburg in the rankings, we know TOTS is a favorite.
8. 

   Hokie67 March 14, 2025 at 8:53 AM

   The Dinosaur - best 'cue ever. Great atmosphere. I still order their Slathering Sauce for my 'cue sauce. As for the Dome - only place I ever got Beer thrown on me. Beats the stuff that I've had to deal with in Morgantown!.
9. 

   TailgatingTime March 13, 2025 at 11:10 PM

   Great stuff.
10. 

    vtsam March 13, 2025 at 10:50 PM

    Excellent Andy. Thank you and while I’m very much a fan, I appreciate the honesty. Too bad we can’t get that from Washington.
11. 

    govt86 March 13, 2025 at 9:33 PM

    My wife went to Syracuse for grad school, and the 81 trip is "just two exits" and hellish. But the Dinosaur is so good. Even as a student though, she didn't like the attitude of fans against opponents there. She went for Library and Information Science. Just like newspapers, libraries also have lost resources. The reference librarians' role as a guide to information has eroded just like a reporter's in journalism. You can find information to support any view out there now, but who ya gonna believe? Well, I believe in Andy, and my wife :-) Thanks for the insights and the rankings!
12. 

    rickbattle March 13, 2025 at 9:31 PM

    Excellent read Andy. Your insight is enlightening and fun. Glad you are at TSL.
13. 

    sonsofsat March 13, 2025 at 8:32 PM

    Great stuff, Andy!
14. 

    lazarus1 March 13, 2025 at 4:41 PM

    Andy, you are the best! Period.
15. 

    TomTurkey March 13, 2025 at 4:29 PM

    Good stuff and thanks for sharing. You do pretty well with your off the cuff opinions and insights on the podcasts, also; especially the memory exercises. I really like your chemistry with CC. You complement [that word! ?] each other very well; ying yan at times and solid reinforcement at others. Makes for a solid and rounded discussion/debate.
16. 

    75hoke March 13, 2025 at 3:19 PM

    Andy, if you weren’t covering Tech locally, where would you rank visiting Lane Stadium in the rankings above, given difficult access and limited hotel availability?
    1. 

       Hokie2Architect March 13, 2025 at 4:41 PM

       this is a GREAT question!
    2. 

       Andy Bitter March 14, 2025 at 9:26 PM

       Probably low on the list. Lane is a great atmosphere and downtown Blacksburg's fun (if you can get into a bar), but the travel pain would be pretty high, especially if you're coming from a place where you have to fly. Blacksburg being more central geographically to the league helps, since you can drive from about half the schools. But the airport/hotel situation is not ideal.
17. 

    HokieMac March 13, 2025 at 2:41 PM

    Andy, congrats on a fun column, and insightful too!
18. 

    kpileski March 13, 2025 at 2:39 PM

    Great article. I especially love the electrical panel next to the interview backdrop in the very top picture. Come on VT, we're better than that. Also, always enjoy a good "Game Ovah" quote.
19. 

    TimeMachineHokie March 13, 2025 at 1:56 PM

    Everyone in that press box looks miserable.
20. 

    RustyHokie94 March 13, 2025 at 1:16 PM

    Great column! I'd like to see one "where are they now" paragraph in every mailbag, or maybe in the offseason bags. I'd like to keep up with former players (NFL, etc) but it's hard to figure out where they are playing now (non NBA, for example) or where they ended up in their careers (coaching or other). Where is Keve Aluma playing or Justyn Mutts? Who is that GM guy that was a Hokie? What is Bruce Arians doing now or someone like Antonio Freeman or Danny Coale? Thanks for what you do, Andy! Also, he caught the ball.