Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 30, 1995 TAG: 9511300053
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
At that moment, they were so-so. According to ESPN and everything he'd read in the paper, Miami, which tied Tech for the Big East Conference championship, was in the way of Tech's bowl happiness.
Because the Florida university could snag a larger chunk of the bowl-watching audience, pigskin pundits believed Miami would be the Big East's representative in a major bowl. Tech would go to a smaller bowl, they said, the Gator, perhaps.
"I thought, 'What can I do?'" Dingledine said. He reached over, picked up the phone, and called the Sugar Bowl.
"I told them Tech should be considered for the bowl, and it shouldn't just be the biggest TV market," said Dingledine, who's majoring in public administration.
In other homes, on other couches, Tech students and alumni had the same idea.
"We've been getting faxes and letters and phone calls," said a receptionist at the Nokie Sugar Bowl offices in New Orleans.
All from Hokie fans.
The letters and faxes go on the desk of Troy Mathieu, the Sugar Bowl's executive director, she said. He's not taking phone calls himself, though - he's too busy.
The Pick Tech campaign may be rendered moot soon, however.
It's rumored that Miami, awaiting NCAA sanctions that could ban the Hurricanes from a bowl this year or next, could self-impose sanctions and take itself out of the bowl picture.
The university's president denied considering such action late Wednesday. But if Miami made that choice, it would clear the way for the Sugar Bowl or Orange Bowl to choose Tech as the Big East's bowl representative.
The Sugar Bowl will be played Dec. 31 in New Orleans; the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1 in Miami. Most bids will be announced Sunday.
by CNB