[KaplanKrazies]

Should be writing my preview of VMI for the Tribe fans this week, and am hoping to get some help from you guys, IE stuff that doesn't show up on your athletic websites(position changes, transfers, injuries) Thanks!

[SuperJon]

You mean preview of Liberty? I don't think you gotta look at VMI again.

Just messin with ya.

[SuperJon]

Here's some stuff to actually use though:

I know you're going to focus on the transfers. Everyone does. Every single one of the guys that transferred in while Rocco was the coach are either: a) from Lynchburg, b) played for him at UVA, c) recruited by him but chose a different school for whatever reason, or d) a combination of two of the above.

Rashad Jennings - from here, played his high school games in our stadium, went to Pitt, came home.
Stevie Ray Lloyd - from here, went to Tech, was starting on special teams, wanted more playing time, left on good terms, came home.
Eddie Pinigis - from here, teammate with SRL in high school, went to UVA, played for Rocco, wanted more playing time, came home.
Marshal Ausberry - went to UVA, graduated, son of a pastor, getting his masters in education, took advantage of a rule, came here to play one more year and get playing time.
Kent Hicks - went to Tech, recruited by Rocco, wanted a second chance, came here.
Noah Greenbaum - Same as Ausberry. Went to UVA, played under Rocco, graduated, wanted a chance to play one more year so transferred to where he would see the field.
Ryan Best - Like Ausberry and Greenbaum, graduated from UVA, took advantage of the rule. His story of battling cancer and coming back and playing is simply amazing.

And the one that everyone focuses on:

Vince Redd - played for Coach Rocco at UVA, was dismissed from the team. He wanted to transfer here and, from what I understand, wasn't going to be allowed to because of his past. However, Coach Rocco stuck his head out for Vince and said that it was a one-time thing and put his name on the line and Dr. Falwell allowed Vince to transfer (if I got that part wrong, someone please correct me. That's the story I remember hearing). Since transferring, Vince has been a model student. He worked a year to get his grades up to get eligible, and is back on the field this fall. He is one of the most polite players we have on the team, and will stand around on the field signing autographs for every little kid that comes up to him and asks for one. He's the one everyone talks crap about and calls us "dirty" for having, but he's the one that epitomizes what Liberty is about.


That's our story with the transfers that the average fan doesn't look at. They don't look at the story behind each individual player, only that we have the transfers. They e-mail the newspaper writer whining about the transfers weeks before the game. They write crap on message boards. What they don't realize is that, once they find out the individual situations of each player, they would accept them to their team as well just like we did.

[PeterParker]

Kudos, SJ. Very nicely put.

Also, glad to hear about Vince. Sometimes losing something one values elicits a change in perspective for the betterment of that individual. Seems like a great guy...also the anecdote about Rocco is one of the reasons I'm sold on Rocco and the direction the team is moving in. If a guy is willing to abide by the code of conduct Rocco's laid out (which invariably encompasses the Way...although I still maintain that there are some minor things that LU could tweak policy-wise that wouldn't send the school spinning into an irretrievable left leaning/liberal trajectory and would allow LU to stop shooting itself in the foot when it comes to decent, law abiding recruits [see RA debacle in postmortem thread or Great Bridge recruit thread]), but I digress, then LU should be welcoming to all.

[SuperJon]

I'm a huge Vince fan, and it comes from off-the-field as much as on. Being classmates with these guys and talking to them as fellow students, it's absolutely impossible not to pull for them. That's why I can never understand the kids who don't care about Liberty sports but drive to other schools to watch them.

[PeterParker]

That's why I can never understand the kids who don't care about Liberty sports but drive to other schools to watch them.

This was the number one complaint we had back in the late 90's (01LUGrad can attest to it) along with the fact that you could find more other collegiate decor on our campus than our own. People had their first choice collegiate team, and then, oh yeah, Liberty. But, we also attended during the drought years in athletics for both marquee sports, although the track team was still holding the torch high.

[bigsmooth]

nice blurb on vince SJ. i hope to get to meet him. i loved him at UVA and having him here at LU is awesome.

[TDDance234]

After the home opener, he got down on his knees and talked to every one of those kids who wanted a signature or whatever from him. I became a HUGE Vince fan then. He could have easily just signed their t-shirts or pictures and walked away but the fact he got down on their level, gave every one of them whatever they wanted.

[KaplanKrazies]

I guess it was simply wishful thinking

[Sly Fox]

The only injury of significance is it appears Eddie Pinigis will be back starting at Left Tackle this Saturday.

[jcmanson]

Any word on Brock's arm yet?

[SuperJon]

The only injury of significance is it appears Eddie Pinigis will be back starting at Left Tackle this Saturday.

He's right tackle, unless him and Sene switched this year.

[Sly Fox]

I stand corrected.

[flameshaw]

I would tell the W&M crowd that we are not very good and not to expect much. Most of our first team on both sides of the ball are hurt and we just hope to stay on the field with you guys.