Sabre Edge Features 
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Sabre Edge Features
With spring football practice just days away, Virginia still has plenty of questions to answer before next season. The incoming recruits, of course, are not part of spring practice. That won't matter, according to Rob Mahini, because they all should be redshirted anyway. Check out Rob's case for redshirting - and in turn, rebuilding - in this Edge feature.
Now I know exactly how all those folks in Mudville felt on that day with Casey at the Bat.
Not all endings are story-book. Every script isn't written in Hollywood. Fairy tales don't always conclude with happily ever after. At least not if you're a Virginia fan. Seemingly, it never ends the way it is supposed to.
As a Virginia women's basketball fan, you may remember the big games in University Hall. As a former player, everyone who has worn the Virginia blue and orange understands how neat it is that they can be associated with EVERYONE ELSE who has worn the Virginia blue and orange and played in University Hall. That makes the Last Ball in U-Hall a bit bittersweet as the games come to an end.
What does it take to become a legend? What needs to be on the résumé? What boxes need to be checked on the application? There is no certified standard, no written rule, no official bar that a player must pass to join the pantheon of players immortalized in history. Each player's candidacy for legendary status is unique. Each application must be considered on its own merits. Well, I hereby submit an application on behalf of Marques Hagans.
OK, now that both coordinators are gone along with the associate head coach, with perhaps other assistants to follow, what does that mean for Virginia football? Is the exodus a potential setback for the program, especially in recruiting? Is it an opportunity for re-evaluation? A chance to correct some organizational problems? Yes, yes and yes.
The effort was outstanding. The gameplan was sound. The play-calling was solid. And yet Virginia still lost today for the same reason it lost four other ACC games this season - it wasn't good enough. Ultimately, I think, that's how this team will be remembered. Not as major underachievers, but as a team that simply wasn't as good, for a variety of reasons, as many of us hoped or projected.
Back in 1983, Virginia Tech came to Charlottesville and handed Virginia a 48-0 whipping - still, even after today's debacle, the biggest rout in the rivalry's long history. It was the Hokies' fourth straight win in the series and, at the time, it probably seemed like the gap between the two programs was enormous, just as it looks right now. Yet the Cavaliers came back to beat Tech the next year and won six of the teams' next nine meetings.
So as Wahoo fans lick their wounds from a 52-14 loss, they can take some solace from the fact that fortunes are cyclical and things can turn around quickly when it comes to state bragging rights. But how much hope should they have? Does UVa have a realistic shot at regaining the upper hand any time in the next few years, or will the Hokies keep the Commonwealth Cup for the foreseeable future?
Some people say UVa caved in to media pressure by suspending Brad Butler for his now-infamous chop block of Boston College's Mathias Kiwanuka. Some insist it was strictly a public relations move. I call it doing the right thing.
Sure, the suspension was the right move from a PR standpoint. The football program - and the university, by extension - was taking a national beating. This helps restore UVa's public image. But to say it was all about image suggests that Butler's action wasn't really egregious, that it was just a typical football play that happened to be caught on tape, and that Cavalier officials were making a cynical decision based more on politics than principle. What nonsense.
The ball split the uprights and ended the first game at the newly renovated Scott Stadium. I could barely hear myself think over the BYU fans erupting in the neighboring visitors' section. After digesting the first wave of dejection and disbelief that hit me, I realized that I set myself up for this especially tough reaction to the overtime loss. I expected us to win.
Or, perhaps, I mismanaged my own expectations.
A year ago today, I wrote a column welcoming Virginia Tech to the ACC. In an otherwise cheerful hello to our new conference neighbors to the southwest, I helpfully pointed out that the Hokies would lose – often and badly – in nearly every sport during their first year in the league. For some reason, it wasn’t roundly appreciated.
Well, a year later, after examining the results of Year One and having received several ill-tempered e-mails from loyal Tech supporters, I must say, with all due respect, humility and graciousness: I was right.
International recruiting is important in college tennis. Just look at #1 Baylor, which has a starting lineup composed entirely of foreign players. Or look even closer to home at #2 Virginia, which became a legit national championship contender this year thanks in large part to the addition of Somdev Devvarman, the top junior player in India.
Devvarman, the ACC's Freshman of the Year, has produced an overall singles record of 37-6 and is just three wins shy of tying UVa's season record for victories. That he even made his way to Grounds is a testament to head coach Brian Boland's persistent recruiting. Devvarman flirted with turning professional before Boland sold him on college tennis, and college life, in Charlottesville.
Virginia didn't become a men's tennis powerhouse overnight. It only seems that way. The Cavaliers, who had never won an ACC championship in 50 years, have now captured the past two league titles. They are the #2 seed in the NCAA tournament, which begins Friday, and have a good shot at a national crown.
How did that happen? In truth, it took some time and a number of important events to turn a historically mediocre program into one of the nation's best. From facilities to coaches to players, UVa tennis has undergone dramatic upgrades in recent years. Now Brian Boland's program may be the athletic department's best example of its stated commitment to excellence.
Bummer. I have to miss the spring game to be best man at a friend's wedding next Saturday. Note to self: Ditch all friends who fail to schedule important life events around UVa sports.
That means this practice is my last chance to check out the Cavaliers before they reconvene in August. Better watch closely. Soak it all in, then spit out astute observations and insightful comments. Or just ramble like a lunatic. Forgive me. It's my final football fix for four months!
Virginia is spending 130 million dollars on a new basketball arena and may spend millions more on a new coach. The university recently spent 90 million bucks on Scott Stadium's expansion and has invested heavily in Al Groh's program.
Clearly UVa is striving to compete at the highest level in both major sports, but is that a realistic expectation? Fact is, few schools in the country excel in both. Many schools, either consciously or by circumstance, have decided to become either a football school or a basketball school. Must Virginia make that choice?
Now that Pete Gillen is gone, we can finally start discussing who might become Virginia's next men's basketball coach. Oh, we've been doing that for months already? Then let's talk about why this coaching search may be the most important in UVa history, and why Craig Littlepage has his work cut out for him.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Pete Gillen and Mike Krzyzewski had a ready explanation for Virginia's losing record this season - Jason Clark. If only Clark had remained eligible and Devin Smith had stayed healthy, Coach K said when asked about Gillen's likely dismissal, “they win 20 games, they go to the NCAAs and the point is moot.”
Was it really that simple?
Elton Brown, it's safe to say, won't go down as the most beloved athlete in UVa history. OK, not even close. In fact, I can't think of any Cavalier in any sport who has been the source of so much disappointment, frustration and even outright animosity among the Virginia fan base.
Let's admit it: A lot of fans don't like Elton Brown. Why is that? Is it justified, or is he a scapegoat for the team's failures? And how should fans treat the senior in his final home game tonight?
A peculiar phenomenon has occurred this season in Virginia basketball - fans rooting against their own team. Well, maybe not actively cheering for the Cavaliers to lose. But a significant percentage of fans are less than wholeheartedly supporting the Wahoos as they wind down the regular season, fearful that too much success will result in the retention of Pete Gillen as head coach.
I don't think I've seen anything quite like it, but what does it mean? Are they bad fans? Are they good fans? And do they really have anything to worry about?
First, the good news about Virginia's last two basketball games: Pete Gillen adjusted his strategy and made some shrewd moves. The Cavaliers played hard and smart. They didn't fold when they fell behind. They played decent defense. They made an effort on the boards. And, most importantly, they won.
Now the bad news: All of those things seem remarkable. That's how dismal things have gotten for the Wahoos this season. Any semblance of defense, of fortitude, of coaching prowess, now qualifies as something of a shock.
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