I have been very disappointed with the lack of hockey coverage in The Roanoke Times.

We have many local hockey teams and hockey events that have received no coverage. Many of the local colleges including Virginia Tech play at the Roanoke Civic Center.

Despite no coverage from The Roanoke Times, the Hokies have been attracting several thousand fans to their games. Also the recent Guns & Hoses charity hockey game was attended by about 4,500 fans and raised nearly $20,000 for the MDA.

Hockey is still a growing sport in the region even though we are temporarily without a minor league hockey team in the Roanoke Valley. Please remember that many of your readers are fans of more than just football.

Shaun Thompson

Roanoke

Roanoke's Guns & Hoses showdown rocks

Our family attends the annual Guns & Hoses hockey game each year. It is a very enjoyable event and a great family outing at a time of year when outdoor activity is limited.

This year it was very well attended -- as a matter of fact, it was the largest crowd in the seven-year history of the game. A great deal of money was raised for the local chapter of MDA.

These police officers and firemen give their time and effort (not to mention at a cost of a lot of aches and pains) each year to raise money for a very needy cause. How sad that on Sunday morning when we checked the newspaper, our local newspaper, the one we count on to cover local events, there was not one word about the game.

Too bad you did not feel that this was a positive event worthy of coverage. Shame on you for not covering this wonderful event. Thanks from our family to the police officers and firemen who took part. We appreciate everything you do for this community and we are so proud of you!

Marie Lovell

Roanoke

Hokies can't compete with big-time programs

In reference to a letter questioning the opinion of Steve Clayman (Hokie hater jealous of Tech's success, Jan. 23), Does Mr. Clayman hate Virginia Tech's success?

Maybe he just lets the record speak for itself.

Here's some of the record:

n They have an 8-43 record against top-10 opponents.

n They have a pitiful bowl record (8-9) under Frank Beamer.

n They have only one significant bowl win -- the 1995 Sugar Bowl vs. Texas.

n They have a 1-13 record versus Bobby Bowden-coached Florida State teams.

They can't handle big games. They choke. Beamer Ball is an absolute joke!

They pad their nonconference schedule with even weaker teams. But it seems to work. When you move up in the polls with a mediocre game against ECU and beat an unranked team in the bowl and land in the top 10, anything can happen. Remember '99?

National title appearance. Please!

Lee Corso watches them in preseason practice and says they are a top-five team. Just by watching them beat up on each other!

Pollsters made Corso "God" and put VT in the top five. Three polls that year -- AP, USA Today and the computer rankings. Where was one of the computer polls located? Why it was on the VT campus, run by a computer engineering graduate student.

He publicly stated he'd leave Tech at No. 2 even if they lost the last game of the year against Miami.

If the "Chokie Hokies" play in the title game, I suspect someone will have to help them in the polls. If they fail to blow out a powder puff like JMU and only win by a point or two instead, don't worry. Just call Lee Corso. Surely he knows people who make up the polls. And don't forget the computer man.

Robert Ward

Fincastle

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