Sports - A Thank You to VT

I would just like to take this time to do something that I rarely do - thank the Virginia Tech Hokies. They started off the college football weekend in such a magnificent way that it has me hopeful that the Mountaineers can continue the momentum tonight into a blissful three days of football. Who knows, maybe Indiana can beat Iowa and ease my concern about the Hawkeyes ruining a national championship game. For now I am satisfied with the Tarheels exposing the soon to be not ranked #13 Hokies. I also want take the time to thank the Hokies for bolting the Big East. Sure, I was upset about the three traitors leaving the Mountaineers and the other remaining Big East programs in a tight spot, but it hasn't turned out too bad. The Mountaineers have two BCS bowl wins in the short time since those three teams left the conference and Louisville has another. The teams the Big East brought on (USF, Cincy, Louisville) have all taken turns in the top 10 and shown potential. They still cannot be considered as strong of programs as Miami, VT, and BC, but they have been relatively close in performance in the years since the succession. The Big East has its haters that love to come out whenever it struggles, but the conference has performed well in the BCS bowl games and is still relatively strong. Despite much talk about the conference being down this year, it has one team contending for a national championship and two others that are inside the top 20. Meanwhile the ACC, despite having 50% more teams, has the same number of teams ranked in the top 25, none of which are in the top 10. VT could easily fall out of the top 25 after the loss to NC. On the flip side, in basketball the Big East shed perennial dogs and picked up Louisville, Marquette, and Cincinnati (also DePaul and USF who took the place of VT in fighting for last). The Big East now regularly competes for the honors of best conference in the land, something the ACC would always attempt to claim. The Mountaineers are preseason #9 and expected to be one of the best in the Big East this year. So, I suppose the state of the Mountaineers and the Big East since the departure of those infamous teams has never been better in many ways. So, thank you and good riddance. Does the Mountaineers success get the Hokies out of the DeHavenator dog house? Hardly. There they shall always remain.