Sabre Edge Features 
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Sabre Edge Features
Monday afternoon, immediately following a press conference with Virginia coach Mike London, I got into a discussion with a local sportswriter who suggested "Virginia won't bring 10,000 people to this game." He was, of course, referring to Virginia's Chick-fil-A Bowl matchup with Auburn on December 31st. My response was, "Are you kidding? It's Atlanta, UVa will bring 20,000."
The Redskins led the Philadelphia Eagles 20-14 on Dec. 7 in a late-season game. What made this contest different, though, was that the public address announcer on the loudspeaker kept calling specific fans names in the stadium. A small group of UVa football players, who had driven up from Charlottesville for the game, were sitting in the crowd. They thought it odd, but how often did they get a chance to see a professional football game? Bill Dudley told me this story as I interviewed him for my documentary, Wahoowa: The History of Virginia Cavalier Football.
The Virginia men's basketball team takes the court again Tuesday night when George Mason visits the John Paul Jones Arena. The Hoos hope to remain undefeated at home, which includes the most recent 86-53 win against Longwood. During that victory, an interesting post combination logged minutes for the Cavaliers. Can that post duo provide some versatility going forward?
Virginia toppled 14th-ranked Michigan in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, 70-58. The Cavaliers won the game with stellar defense and a dominating performance by senior forward Mike Scott, who put in 18 points to go with 11 rebounds. Joe Harris also led the Cavs with 18 points, seven rebounds and four steals.
This photo documentary features 78 photos from that exciting win. Enjoy.
The Virginia men's basketball team picked up a big win the Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Tuesday night, downing Michigan 70-58 in Charlottesville. One of the main reasons for the victory proved to be UVa's continued efforts on the defensive end of the floor where the Cavaliers have been outstanding so far during a 6-1 start to the season.
This weekend, the Hoos played Virginia Tech. Also this weekend, almost immediately after the end of the game against Virginia Tech, I got sick. Really sick. Like, turn-out-the-lights, leave-me-alone-in-my-bed, I-am-dead-to-the-world sick. As far as I know, the two are not connected. As far as I know.
You know it's a bad afternoon when a football game brings back memories of Frankie Vallie's "My Eyes Adored You." All day the Hoos were "so close and yet so far" from making it a game. In the end Coastal Division Champion Virginia Tech delivered in the key moments of the game and Virginia only got close. Let's take a closer look at the regular season finale in Greg's Game Report.
The UVa football team used a David vs. Goliath motivator to take down Florida State in Tallahassee for the first time. That's not surprising. For most of the 2011 season, the Hoos had been riding a nobody-believes-in-us mindset. The Cavaliers invested in that underdog mentality to rally from a last-place division finish 2010 to a chance at the Coastal Division title in the final week. They needed much more than that on the regular season's final Saturday.
This weekend's showdown between Virginia and Virginia Tech has a lot on the line for the in-state rivals. The winner claims the ACC's Coastal Division title and earns a spot in the ACC Championship Game against Clemson. What can the Cavaliers do to upend the Hokies for the first time in seven seasons and earn their first spot in the title game? The Virginia Tech Watch List looks at a couple of items for the big game.
It's one thing to dislike a rival, but when fans (and players) start using the word "hate" you wonder how it got this bad. Why do these two programs dislike each other so much? It's as if the two factions have been trained to vilify the other, but don't know why. And whether it's an intentional cover-up, or just lost details over the passage of time, one event in the football feud between the schools has become a little hazy - but it's the reason why the animosity all began.
In many ways, the 2011 Cavaliers have become streak-busters. They stopped the three-game losing skid against Duke. They erased an 0-8 record in Tallahassee against Florida State. They snapped a 13-game November losing streak and have won all three games this month. They ended a two-year winless streak in ACC road games. Well, there's one more streak on the table this week. Rest assured, Virginia wants to end this one too. UVa faces rival Virginia Tech on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. when it will try to break a seven-game losing streak against the Hokies.
I am the least technologically savvy athlete out there. I never run with my iPod. A running watch? I didn't own one until well into my first year at UVa. Then this fall my coach broke the news to me: I needed to get a heart rate monitor and wear it for every single run. Don't forget, I'm the girl who didn't even own a running watch throughout high school. The thought of having to strap a device onto my chest every day and having my runs tracked via satellite was more high maintenance than I ever expected to be.
Last week I noted that the Cavaliers proved they could defeat a decent team when not playing their best. Saturday against FSU, Virginia proved it could take down a very, very good football team, on the road when not playing its best. I've seen many Virginia games in Doak and I've always sensed a level of intimidation every time I've watched the Cavaliers play in Tallahassee. The thing that was evident to me Saturday was this Virginia team had no fear and was not intimidated. To the contrary, the Hoos came into to the game and matched Florida State's intensity and frankly, was the more physical team. The Cavaliers played like a team about to play for divisional championship game.
While the differences between a collegiate baseball experience and a professional career appear most obviously in different sounding bats, aged men with classic facial hair (most notably Brian Wilson's beard), and constant media exposure, the most trying adjustments for a player in transition occur behind the scenes.
Think about this: how often do you celebrate a win not once, but twice? And think about this: celebrating the win twice would not have been a bit of fun unless the team got to celebrate it a third time. But celebrate a third time, the Hoos did, and arguably even a fourth time after the kneel-down ... but at that point, the Hoos almost were too spent to celebrate again! Fortunately, now that we have had time to rest, we get to go back and break it all down in this week's 10 Things.
Virginia assured itself of no less than a winning season by defeating Duke, 31-21, on November 12th. The Cavaliers won their seventh game of the season and continued to keep alive their hopes for winning the ACC Coastal Division.
Perry Jones scored on a leap into the endzone to help secure the victory. 60 photos help tell the story. Enjoy!
In The Sunday Sampler article after the Indiana game, I took a closer look at a pair of late-half drives that led to Virginia touchdowns in that 34-31 win. With another last-gasp drive playing a key role in the exciting 14-13 win against Florida State, it makes sense this week to take a closer look at the Cavaliers' game-winning touchdown march in Tallahassee.
Defensively, the Virginia men's basketball team has opened the season with a stingy attitude. Very stingy. Drexel became the latest team to stumble against the curmudgeonly Cavaliers on Saturday afternoon in the Paradise Jam Tournament in the Virgin Islands. Virginia allowed just 25.9% shooting for the game and smothered the Dragons from beginning to end in a 49-35 victory.
There's something about November tournament openers away from Charlottesville that doesn't suit the Virginia men's basketball team. For the third straight season, after all, the Cavaliers dropped the first tourney game away from home. Texas Christian became the latest team to topple the Hoos in this format as it squeezed out a 57-55 win Friday in the Paradise Jam.
When replaying the Florida State-Miami film, one thing jumped out immediately. Speed. Players on both teams were flying all over the place from the opening kickoff. For the Seminoles, that speed was especially evident on defense where the front four get up field quickly and the linebackers cover ground better than any group the Hoos have seen this season. The receivers on offense can get downfield in a flash too. Let's take a closer look at this week's matchup in the Florida State Watch List.
On national television on a Thursday night in late October, Virginia surprised a lot of viewers with a 28-21 win at Miami. It was just the second victory ever in the state of Florida for the program. Can that build some confidence for the Hoos as they travel to Florida State? The Cavaliers are 0-8 all-time in Tallahassee.
As the 2011 season as progressed we have seen the Cavaliers do things that championship teams do. The Hoos are 2-0 in November, won games when they were the decided underdog, won on the road against good teams and bad, and responded to tough losses with victories. They have stepped up at critical times defensively, responded with scoring drives when needed and put teams away with the running game late. Duke is certainly not the caliber of opponent Virginia will face in its final two regular season games, but Saturday the Cavaliers proved they could win against a decent team when not playing their best. That's something else quality teams do. Let's look at it more closely in Greg's Game Report.
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