Carter's Call for October 6, 2011 - WSET.com - ABC13

The Hokies laid an egg in their ACC opener last weekend, losing to a strong Clemson team 23-3. It was just a 10-3 game at the half, but Tech's offense produced no points the final 30 minutes as Clemson left Lane Stadium with a 20-point win. I was thinking when was the last time the Hokies suffered such a lopsided loss at home, a Saturday night game against Miami came to mind. Sure enough, I looked it up. It was November 5th, 2005 and I remember that night well. Tech came into the game unbeaten at 8-and-0 but the Hurricanes blew out the Hokies 27-7.

Tech would love to return the favor this Saturday night, the Hokies can't afford to start the season 0-and-2 in the ACC.

UVa escaped a real scare against Idaho but won in overtime to go to 3-and-2. That's a big victory, now the Cavs need to win three of their remaining seven ACC games to qualify for a bowl game. The Cavs are off this weekend, but host Georgia Tech and N.C. State the next two weeks.

The Georgia Tech game will feature Al Groh's return to Charlottesville, Groh now the Yellow Jackets' defensive coordinator after nine years as Virginia's head coach.

The Liberty Flames enter Big South Conference play 2-and-3 overall. 2-and-3 means nothing now, this is the Flames' second chance.

If the preseason favorites can win the conference title, they'll earn the automatic berth to the NCAA playoffs. Liberty has never advanced to the postseason; they start on the road at Gardner-Webb this Saturday.

The baseball playoffs are off to a great start, three of the four series are going to fifth-and-deciding games. The Tigers and Yankees play in New York, the Diamondbacks and Brewers in Milwaukee and the Cardinals and Phillies in Philadelphia.

With baseball in the headlines, I can't help but think about Lynchburg's "Mr. Baseball" Calvin Falwell who passed away back on August 20. We're all indebted to Calvin for keeping pro baseball in the Hill City. I miss his big, warm smile when you'd see him at the ballpark. He'll never be forgotten at the park that bears his name, Calvin Falwell Field.

I don't get to as many movies as I'd like to these days but I did catch "Moneyball" last weekend, the baseball movie about Oakland A's GM Billy Beane. Faced with a tight budget, Beane reinvents his team by outsmarting the richer ball clubs. I thought Brad Pitt did a solid job portraying Beane. If you're a baseball fan, I think you'll really enjoy this movie and even if you're not, it's entertaining enough to keep you interested for a couple of hours.

While we're talking baseball, the inaugural Jim Bibby Golf Classic is Friday, October 14 at Colonial Hills Golf Course in Forest.

We lost our good friend Bibby last year, the former major league pitcher and longtime Lynchburg Baseball pitching coach.

Proceeds from the golf classic will benefit two of Bibby's favorite organizations, the YMCA and Children's Miracle Network. You can still sign up to play, either as an individual or part of a team.

With all the big games and playoffs going on, it's a great time to be a sports fan. But isn't it always!