Tech Sideline’s Content and Podcast Plans

Virginia Tech
It’s a key moment in Virginia Tech Athletics. (Jon Fleming)

As the coronavirus situation continues to unfold and all Virginia Tech sporting events are canceled for the foreseeable future, here’s our update on our content plans for Tech Sideline.

First of all, there will be no podcasts this week. Chris, Malcolm and I are in Blacksburg, but host Evan Hughes has returned to Richmond for the time being to make decisions about the rest of the semester. With all sporting events being canceled, students like Evan in the Sports Media and Analytics program are hit particularly hard, as their “living laboratory” of athletic events has ceased to exist for the time being.

We hope to resume podcasting next week and will get together and decide towards the end of the week how to proceed on that front.

In the meantime, please check out our TSL Podcast archives. In particular, you might want to check out TSL Podcast Episode 54, with special guest Jeff Holland, from November 2018. All that needs to be said about that episode is that it’s the only TSL Podcast to ever be recorded with beer. It’s definitely different, offbeat, and an entertaining listen.

For our written content, we will shift gears towards retrospective pieces, analysis pieces and the like. In other words, the content we excel at. With baseball writer Cory Van Dyke being freed up from his responsibilities covering baseball, we are assigning him to “where are they now?” interviews with former athletes, which are always popular. For some past examples to keep you entertained and whet your appetite, click here and click here.

We will continue communicating with Virginia Tech Athletic Department personnel in the hopes of obtaining interviews, but as of the end of last week, things were more than a little frantic in the department, as you can imagine.

We invite everyone to the message boards to share information and stories with fellow Hokies as we get through this crisis. In difficult times, the boards serve as a great gathering place and source of camaraderie. We do not, at this point, envision starting a new message board devoted to the coronavirus situation, as we did back in 2001 for the 9-11 attacks. For the time being, feel free to discuss the situation on our existing boards.

However, keep partisan politics out of the discussions. Even before this situation unfolded, the complaints about “politics on the boards” were ramping up and driving people away. We feel that political discussions are unnecessarily divisive on a sports message board. We are currently handing out automatic two-day bans for posters who introduce politics into the discussions, with longer, escalating bans for repeat offenders.

Please use this as a time to come together and support each other, not to criticize and divide.

If your livelihood and finances are not threatened by this situation, we ask that you keep your subscriptions going through the spring and summer, but we understand that everyone has to make their own decisions based on their personal situation.

Lastly, do you have any ideas for content, or any comments or requests? Please leave them in the comments below, and thanks as always for reading, subscribing, and hanging out on the boards.

18 Responses You are logged in as Test

  1. I would suggest doing an analysis on newer coaches in the ACC. Such as BC’s new coach Jeff Hafley – he was sharp during the coach version of the National Title game and Geoff Collins down in Atlanta. The readers are quite aware of staples of our division such as Narduzzi and Cutliffe.

    1. Pender has had a quality role as utility man for A’s .

      Also maybe catchup w/Cam Phillips now that XFL shutdown. All those types of articles I enjoy, particularly ones that have connects to athletics or h s teaching/coaching

    2. I’d like to see one on Zabian Dowdell, Coleman Collins, and Jamon Gordon.

      George DelRicco and Ken Brown for football

  2. Article idea: “What Could’ve Been”. Pick a great Tech team from the past and, based on a handful of plays/decisions/outcomes, predict what could’ve been. One obvious example would be if Matt Ryan had been sacked. What dominoes would’ve fallen next? Could be fun, could be torture. Certainly would be interesting.

  3. Article idea: How the lack of spring practice is going to affect college football in general, and the Hokies in particular.

  4. Will,
    A couple of potential discussion topics:
    1. Will the hardships imposed by the current health crisis impact the economic viability of some conferences? Some schools? If so which ones?
    2. Comcast is the five hundred pound cable provider in Lynchburg, and possibly other areas, and as yet does not carry the ACC Network. I understand that it’s purely a $ matter and neither Comcast nor the ACC will give in. Are other major areas experiencing this same issue, and will it be resolved before football season?

    1. Flattery will get you everywhere. Honestly, It was a good one. I could feel the fun coming through the speakers.

  5. Will, if I can get some time towards the end of the week or weekend, I’ve been thinking of doing an “autopsy” of sorts on the basketball program

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