Aaron McFarling

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Whenever Will Stewart talks to Virginia Tech athletes or recruits, he offers one piece of advice.

Don't look at the message boards.

You've probably heard or read that tip before. Many coaches and players caution against entering those Internet chambers of fan opinion.

But considering Stewart is the general manager and managing editor of Techsideline.com, a Web site that includes several wildly popular message boards for Hokie fans, his advice carries a little more weight.

It's like a limo driver advising you to take a cab, or a columnist advising you not to read his columns (the only difference being you'd gladly heed the latter).

Stewart knows of what he speaks.

"A lot of people on there might say good things about you, but somebody may not," Stewart said. "Unless you've got a thick skin -- and some of these athletes do, they grow up pretty thick-skinned -- it's not good to read negative stuff about yourself."

Message boards are an outstanding resource for fans and, for the most part, are an excellent venue for civil discussion about all things football. But as the preseason gives way to actual competition this week, every praise and criticism will be amplified.

Which begs the question: Should players be reading this stuff?

The temptation is strong. Imagine if there were a site where people critiqued your job performance for better or worse on a regular basis. Wouldn't you be curious? Wouldn't you look?

Jesse Allen doesn't. The Tech fullback's father and uncle have combined for more than 8,000 posts on TSL -- helping turn Allen into something of a cyber cult hero -- but the player, while appreciative of the support, said he never reads it.

"I don't think I'd really like to be in there," Allen said. "People have got a lot of things to say, some of which doesn't really matter. Some of the things aren't true. I've had some cases where my dad would call me up and ask me about something. 'Oh, yeah? But it was on Techsideline.'

"I'm like, 'I don't know. I don't think so, man. I don't think that's right.' "

A player such as Allen, who walked on at Tech and eventually earned a scholarship through hard work, would rarely be a target for fans' venom. Head coaches, coordinators and quarterbacks take the brunt of the abuse when things go wrong.

Sean Glennon understands that. But the Hokies' new starting quarterback said he still reads the board occasionally "for entertainment."

"I try not to read it all the time, because a lot of the stuff on there can either blow your head up or shoot your confidence," Glennon said. "You can't take it too seriously."

Kris Wright has the same advice. He's the editor of Thesabre.com, the University of Virginia equivalent of TSL. He knows from prior experience as a UVa residence assistant that there are a lot of players like Glennon who read the boards.

That's a concern to UVa coach Al Groh, who doesn't forbid his players from reading it but would prefer they didn't.

"These are obviously young people," Groh said. "They might be big people, but they're young people, and in many cases, still with an evolving sense of self-esteem. When they hear or read negative things said about them, I'm sure it would impact them. It's just human nature. Just because a guy's an athlete doesn't mean that human nature doesn't take over."

It does. And during the nadir of Tech's 2003 collapse, one high-profile Hokie shot back at the critics.

The player -- who didn't identify himself then, so we won't now -- took out an account and posted a passionate defense of the team. It marked the first player posting Stewart had seen since launching the site in 1996.

There have been more since. Former defensive back Justin Hamilton, a highly respected player, posted on TSL after somebody questioned his motives for changing positions. Basketball standout Coleman Collins has chimed in on the hoops board a few times, identifying himself openly.

In March, after his arrest on alcohol-related charges, freshman quarterback Ike Whitaker chose TSL as his venue to apologize. His four-sentence statement, posted under the user name ikeqb3, were his first public comments on the matter.

"I knew I was in the wrong," Whitaker said this month. "I knew I couldn't apologize to everybody at one time, but I know a lot of people read that."

TSL has more than 21,000 registered users, but none of them should expect to see Whitaker post again.

The reason?

He says he's never on there.