Virginia Tech Hokies' final home practice before game against Vanderbilt

When on earth did this happen?

I was speaking with the PR staff and told them I needed to double check the press availability memo – I wasn’t sure if I had seen the phrase “photography is permitted during certain periods.”

I was really excited, but also shocked. No one could remember that photos were allowed at a practice right before a team broke camp and headed to the other team’s location. No one could even remember if Frank Beamer had such a thing.

Now, the photos you are about to see are snapshots of practice and close-ups of the action during the match. The media will never get to see the rigorous preparations that go into the match, and frankly, this publication will not print anything that would even hint at planned activities. We take “Gobbler Country” seriously around here. We have no interest in giving the opponent an advantage or any ideas.

It was hot!

“Biloxi BluesI often recall the scene when Eugene Jerome gets off the train at Army boot camp in Mississippi, when the weather is relentless, windless, hot, and the sky is completely devoid of clouds to block the sunlight. (Eugene Jerome is a kid from Brighton Beach, New York, and while it’s certainly hot on the Long Island coast, it’s not nearly as hot as Biloxi, Mississippi.).

“It’s hot! Africa is hot! Tazan can’t live in a place this hot!”“

Even at the Beamer Barn it wasn’t as hot as the driving range, which is notorious for having no air conditioning whatsoever.

To give you an idea of how bright it was outside, I played around with the aperture and ISO to get a shot that was between the outside and inside fields while staying as level as possible. To give you an idea of how bright it was, on this windless day (a rarity in Blacksburg), the brightness was about the same as an Easy Bake Oven.

Tail drills are important for man-to-man coverage

Indoors and outdoors, the team split into squads and players ran what they called “smooth, tight drills.” Coaches went over patterns, footwork, techniques they wanted to emphasize, making sure players didn’t get too cold in the heat and get cramped.