A Kinder, Gentler Bunch of Hokies?

In what appears to be a classic case of not being able to see the forest from the trees, Virginia Tech players say the "Thug Life" tag associated with the program is simply not justified. "The perception seems to be like we're kind of the Raiders of the NFL, kind of dirty or whatever," senior center Danny McGrath says. "Is Virginia Tech a thuggish team? I don't think it's true." Hmmmm ... there were those incidents at West Virginia in 2005, when Marcus Vick flipped off the crowd and bumped into a Mountaineer assistant. How about the 143 penalty yards in a 27-22 loss to Florida State in the ACC title game? Raideresqe behavior if we've ever seen it. And Vick's stomping on the back of the left leg of Louisville's Elvis Dumervil. What was that? Well, those days are history ladies and gentlemen! So says coach Frank Beamer, above, who plans to inform players of stricter consequences for stepping out of line. "I think everybody knows how Virginia Tech wants to do it," he said. "We want to play hard and aggressive, but do it the right way ... fair and square. We're going to get it right."