Sunday, December 23, 2007
Sports columnist Aaron McFarling: Sound bites of 2007
Aaron McFarling
Recent columns
Tragedy. Triumph. Comebacks. Collapses. Courage. Cowardice. Insight on pancakes and bass fishing titles ... and the definitive argument on whether or not a football is a toy.
Yes, there was a lot to talk about in area sports this year. Let's look back at some of the best quotes of 2007.
JANUARY
"We came in today and it was like emptiness. Everybody was there but nobody was saying anything. At that moment, everybody felt like, 'If they're so quiet, they know something's going to happen tonight.'"
-- Virginia Tech small forward A.D. Vasallo, on the atmosphere at Cameron Indoor Stadium before the Hokies' 69-67 upset win over Duke.
FEBRUARY
"He just put us on his back,"
-- Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg, on Zabian Dowdell's 33-point performance that led the Hokies to an upset at North Carolina.
"I set my goals really high, and I was living that for a while. I was doing it. I just didn't think at 22, that I would have to stop playing."
-- Roanoke soccer star Danny Karbassiyoon, forced to retire after a series of knee injuries.
MARCH
"A week ago we were brilliant. One week later, we're not so brilliant. Three weeks ago, we were brilliant. Four weeks ago, we were not so brilliant."
-- Tech basketball coach Seth Greenberg after a 75-74 loss to Clemson that cost the team a regular-season ACC title.
"I can't believe it's over. My career is over with. We lost the game."
-- Roanoke native and Virginia guard J.R. Reynolds, after scoring 26 points in a 77-74 loss to Tennessee in the second round of NCAA tournament.
"I'd like to be so lucky. They've got a guy with cornrows on this team, don't they?"
-- Newly hired Radford University basketball coach Brad Greenberg, when asked if he could find another Allen Iverson like he did when he was the Philadelphia 76ers' general manager.
APRIL
"I'm really, really upset that I'm sitting here talking to you in second. We didn't get it done. Without wrecking him, there's no way to get it done."
-- Jeff Gordon, after finishing runner-up to Jimmie Johnson in the April race at Martinsville.
"That was secondary, man. You know, you gotta realize that. Even on an emotional ending like that, it doesn't even compare to the importance of this day."
-- Virginia Tech shortstop Warren Schaeffer, after getting robbed of a potential game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth on April 20. The 11-9 loss to Miami, played in front of a record crowd of 3,132 at English Field, was the first game on the Tech campus after the April 16 shootings.
MAY
"Tough ballgame, huh?"
-- Ferrum baseball coach Abe Naff after his final game, a 6-5, 12-inning loss to Emory, in which the Panthers were two outs away from their first berth in the Division III World Series.
JUNE
"Everywhere I go, all around the world, people still support Mike Vick. So regardless of what I go through, people [are] gonna love me, man."
-- Falcons quarterback Michael Vick in a television interview.
AUGUST
"I want to be the New York Yankees of 9/11. I want to be the New Orleans Saints of Katrina. I want to be the factor that brings everyone together, where everybody's cheering and 4/16 didn't happen for the three or four hours that they're watching the Hokies play. I hope we really help the healing process."
-- Tech quarterback Sean Glennon, during preseason practice.
"I offer my deepest apologies to everybody out in there in the world who was affected by this whole situation. And if I'm more disappointed with myself than anything, it's because of all the young people, young kids that I've let down, who look at Michael Vick as a role model. And to have to go through this and put myself in this situation, you know, I hope that every young kid out there in the world watching this interview right now who's been following the case will use me as an example to using better judgment and making better decisions."
-- Michael Vick, after his guilty plea to federal dog-fighting charges.
SEPTEMBER
"Groh must go!"
-- Words painted on Beta Bridge on the UVa campus after the Cavaliers' 23-3 road loss to Wyoming in their football season opener.
"Their blurs are more blurry than most blurs."
-- Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer, sizing up how the LSU Tigers look on film.
"Just don't throw the syrup on me!"
-- LSU defensive end Glenn Dorsey, playfully responding to the uproar created when Tech's Sergio Render said he planned to pancake block him.
"We just got destroyed here tonight, but we played a great team. I'm not sure if [LSU] isn't the No. 1 football team in the country."
-- Beamer, after the Hokies' 48-7 loss to the Tigers.
"This morning was definitely a shock. I never thought I'd get the reins taken from me this early on."
-- Tech quarterback Sean Glennon, after losing his job to Tyrod Taylor following the LSU game.
OCTOBER
"There's got to be substantial awareness that the ball isn't a toy. It's not a toy. When somebody has the ball, he's carrying the aspirations and dreams of everybody in the organization."
-- UVa coach Al Groh on the Cavs' fumble issues against Connecticut.
"He's Mr. Martinsville."
-- Jeff Gordon, after Jimmie Johnson completed a season sweep Martinsville Speedway.
"Hell of a job. You're a hell of a player."
-- Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster to Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan, after Ryan threw two touchdowns in the final 2:11 to lead the Eagles to a 14-10 win in Blacksburg.
"We'll probably be the biggest underdog in the history of sports."
-- Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs before the game against the Patriots, which New England won 51-7.
NOVEMBER
"Bass fishing is not NCAA sanctioned!"
-- UVa fan Clyde Smith, aka "Clyde From Forest," arguing during UVa-Tech week that the Hokies have never won a national championship.
"It's rare that a team goes through a season without some bumps that it has to deal with. Ours just happened to materialize a little early and cause quite a few people to fall into their Chicken Little mode."
-- UVa coach Al Groh in November, after winning ACC coach of the year and signing a contract extension.
DECEMBER
"They've got great speed. They do everything well. It's tough to stop a team like that. I honestly thought we were going to win the ballgame. They just had too many athletes who made great plays."
-- Salem running back Harrison Hudson, after Amherst County's 48-35 victory in a battle of unbeatens in the Group AA Division 4 semifinals.
"I can finally admit it: that's what we wanted to do. We wanted to get back at them. They spoiled our national championship hopes and we wanted to take this game."
-- Tech receiver Eddie Royal, after Tech beat BC for the ACC championship.
"I was so grateful to be standing up there, because a few months ago, I didn't think I would be."
-- Tech quarterback Sean Glennon, on accepting the MVP award at the ACC championship game in Jacksonville.
