Hokie fans will be in heaven
If you are a Hokie fan, a REAL Hokie fan, here’s something you can’t do without. And as Billy Mays used to say, “YOU CAN GET IT TODAY AT A BARGAIN PRICE IF YOU ACT NOW!!!”
Chris Colston, one of the biggest Hokie fans I know, has put together an unbelievable magazine, “Hokie Football Annual,” previewing the Virginia Tech 2010 football season. Copies are currently available on line or, better yet, you can save the mailing and stop by one of our two offices and pick up a copy for just $19.95 plus tax. We have offices at 1633 West Main Street in Salem, right next to Auto Zone, and at 302 West Main Street in Christiansburg, which is the old Domino’s building.
Chris Colston holds a promotion poster for his "Hokie Football Annual" which can be purchased at the Salem Times-Register office on Main Street. Photo by Brian Hoffman
This is a quality item. Colston grew up in a sports family, his dad is local high school radio legend Jim (Colston) Carroll, and Chris has always been a big Hokie fan. He broke into this business with our company as a writer for the New Castle Record, and he quickly moved up the ladder.
When Chris was working here we received the “Hokie Huddler” newspaper, which was all about Tech sports, and Chris couldn’t read it fast enough. When a position there opened he applied, was hired, and from 1985 to 1996 Chris was the editor of the Hokie Huddler. It was a dream job for a guy who bleeds maroon and orange and grew up making scrapbooks of Tech sports as a kid.
But Colston went on to bigger things, taking a job with “Baseball Weekly.” His career blossomed in the past 13 years as he went on to cover Major League Baseball, NFL football, and NBA basketball for USA TODAY and its company publication, “Sports Weekly.” That gives you some idea about his qualifications.
To make a long story short, Chris was the victim of a poor economy and a declining print newspaper industry, and he was laid off last year. He got a nice severance package, but he isn’t one to sit around. Although he moved to the D.C. area to work for the big time papers, he never lost touch with his first love, Virginia Tech sports. So, it’s only logical he would return to his roots for his next project, “Hokie Football Annual.”
“I needed a job and I thought about what I would like as a fan,” he said. “People will go out and buy Lindy’s (football preview magazine) and spend nine or 10 bucks and get four or five pages about the Hokies. I said, why not do a magazine that’s 100 percent about Tech football?”
And so it is. Chris had the need, the want-to, and the time to make it happen.
“I had lots of time, that wasn’t a problem,” he said as he dropped off copies of his first edition at our office last week. “I’ve basically done it myself. I had a little help from (”Play-by-Play” magazine contributor) Mike Ashley, and of course I had to work things out with Virginia Tech, but for the most part it’s been me.”
It’s been a passion of love. Colston, who has written four books about Virginia Tech football, wanted to put together something that real Hokie fans would treasure, and from his travels he knew the market was out there. This isn’t a media guide, but a book about Tech football.
“I wanted the first edition to really capture the voice of the Hokies,” he said. “I wanted it to be like two guys at a bar sitting around talkin’ Hokie football. I think it comes off like that.”
The book includes 112 pages of Virginia Tech football, with no advertisements. It recaps last season, extensively, and previews this season like no other publication you’ll find. It’s full of beautiful pictures, which he obtained from long-time Tech photographer and friend Dave Knachel, and it’s full of observations and anecdotes about the Tech players, coaches, and program. Having worked there, and having worked with coach Frank Beamer on his books, Chris was able to get through all the necessary doors to do a bang-up job.
“I’m fortunate enough to have access to the coaches, players, and athletic department that most people don’t have,” said Colston. “I would think the Hokie fans would love it. It’s like nothing they’ve seen. This is ALL about the Hokies.”
As I see it, for twice the price of Lindy’s Football Preview you’re getting over 20 times the information on Virginia Tech football, and that’s a deal. I’ve been paging through the Hokie Football Annual daily and am duly impressed with the job Chris has done. And, with expectations high for the Hokies, he’s striking while the iron is hot. I can’t imagine any Virginia Tech football fan not wanting to have one of these magazines.
Stop by our office and page through it and you’ll want to buy one, remembering we’re not running a library here. I recall one former high school soccer coach who used to come to the office every week, pick up the papers covering his rival teams, and read them in the front office. Then he’d put them back and leave. We won’t be having that, but one look at “Hokie Football Annual” and I’m sure you’ll think that 20 bucks is a bargain price for this publication.
And if you don’t have time to stop by you can pay a little more by ordering it at www.chriscolston.com or www.hokieannual.com.
And once you read it, you’ll be the guy at the bar who knows more about Hokie football than anyone else.
Unless, that is, Chris Colston is at the bar.
HELP NEEDED
Former Salem High football coach Willis White is asking his old players to help a member of the Spartan football family.
Mike Prater, a former football player for Coach White, has a son, Dylan, who is battling a rare brain tumor and is receiving treatment at UVA Medical Center. White is asking all former players and coaches to consider making a financial contribution of any size to help offset the large medical costs the family is incurring. Neither Mike nor his wife is able to work during the seven weeks that Dylan will receive his treatment.
Make checks payable to Dylan Prater Benevolent Fund. Donations can be dropped off at Hollywood Hair and Nails in the Mill Lane Shopping Center (behind Movie Starz next to nTelos). Ask for Wendy Trail.
If you have any questions please call Larry Wills at 540-389-5800 or Email willsx3@aol.com
