Former Virginia Tech athletic director Dave Braine was honored Friday night as an inductee into school’s sports Hall of Fame.

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To many Tech fans and alumni who live in the D.C. area, this surely rings as significant and appropriate for a variety of reasons but none more so than the following:

He didn’t fire football coach Frank Beamer after a 2-8-1 season in 1992 that followed a string of lackluster campaigns.

The following season, the Hokies began a streak of 19 consecutive bowl games and counting, all with none other than Frank Beamer as the ringleader.

Here’s a good read about Braine, per Doug Doughty of the Roanoke Times, “It has been said that Braine advised Beamer to make changes on his staff, "but that's not true," said Braine, who was nominated for the hall by Beamer. Frank and I had one discussion," Braine said. "I came back from the president's office, where Dr. [James] McComas had asked me, 'Mr. A.D., do we need to make a change in the football office?' I said, 'No sir, our coach is fine.'

"I'd spent the whole year watching film with him and knowing what he told the coaches. I was completely sold on Frank Beamer. That wasn't the question. The question was, what other changes we needed in order to be successful and he didn't have enough money." http://bit.ly/Q5RjAj