It all started innocently enough: Three fourth-year sportswriters traveling to Chapel Hill for our last Virginia basketball game in the Dean Dome. Matt Trogdon, who is always happy to be traveling south, stumbled upon the collection of ACC fight songs that were available on his phone, and uttered the words that almost made me swerve off the road:
"Man, I love the Carolina fight song."
Fight songs are like mascots -- they should be celebrated and adored when they're yours and reviled and ridiculed when they belong to your rivals. I pointed this out to Matt, rather loudly. His defense went right to my orange-and-blue heart: It's hard to get psyched about your fight song when it's sung to the funeral-dirge pace of Auld Lang Syne. Game, set, match, Trogdon and his Carolina-chirping phone.
Lo and behold, a few weeks later a member of the Pep Band gave me hope. As it turns out, we do have a fight song, and a damn good one at that. Remember the song the Pep Band used to play when the basketball team came out after halftime? The one that ended with three rounds of "Go Wa-Hoos!"? That's it! The Cav Song! An honest-to-goodness, toe-tapping, fist-pumping fight song. Talk about the injection of energy that Virginia fans need to become Cavalier Crazies. Why does no one know about it?
Take the time to educate yourself. The pep band's official Web site [http://www.student.virginia.edu/~pepband/] has an MP3 version of the song that's easily downloadable. The words are a little old fashioned, but they are free of anything that might invite a cringe-worthy homophobic response. And though they seem to be forgotten to all but a select few members of the University community, Pep Band Director Scott Hayes passed them on to me:
"Come and sing dear old Virginia's song
and make the blue ridge roar.
All the world yields honor to her name
who knew her deeds of yore.
And make each heart a flowing bowl
to pour our pledges strong.
As down the ages still will roll
Virginia's triumph song.
So, through the years like Cavaliers
we'll SHOUT Virginia's name.
It e'er shall be on land and sea
the sign of might and fame."
If you ask me, this is one Virginia tradition that deserves a comeback. The Hoops band started to play a new arrangement of The Cav Song at basketball games late this season, right about the time Virginia pulled out a few wins to save Pete Gillen's job. Coincidence? I think not.
Next winter, the Hoo Crew would do well to learn the words and get the crowd involved -
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