IT'S THAT time of year again. As students are finally getting settled into life back at the University, we are now faced with what may very well be one of the biggest events of the semester. In just one day, the University of Virginia football team will play in its home opener, as the team begins its quest for an ACC Championship.
Now, as much fun as it may be for us as fans to go to the game, cheer on the team and watch U.Va. light it up against the much weaker UNC team, there is one crucial fact that people here are starting to understand. The University has finally taken its place among the stronger teams in the NCAA, and this may be one of the biggest years in Virginia football history.
That being said, when a college football team becomes big news, that team begins to create benefits for the school. An increase in donations from alumni, as well as revenue from TV and higher attendance provide major boosts to the University in many areas outside of purely the athletic arena. As such, we as students all stand to benefit from a stronger U.Va. football team.
So, as students who stand to benefit from a stronger team, we as fans have a duty to do what we can to help that team be the best it can be. This means going to more games, creating as much noise as possible when the other team's on offense and, yes, shedding our outdated tradition of just dressing up for games so that we can create Head Coach Al Groh's vision of the "sea of orange."
The idea of the sea of orange has created a surprisingly high level of controversy at the University, as some people insist on clinging to the University's old tradition, seemingly simply because it's a tradition. Attending and cheering, they try to claim, are enough to show the necessary support for our team, without dressing up in orange.
However, this argument simply does not seem to hold true. Last year, amid a drastic increase in the number of fans attending games who just wore orange, the team amassed a 5-1 home record, including the team's first victory since 1998 over Virginia Tech, and a loss to Florida State that was much closer than anyone had predicted. Yes, the argument can be made that last year's higher attendance rates, as well as the great improvement in the quality of our players, may have had a larger effect than the sea of orange. However, the one man who would truly know, Coach Groh himself, believes those facts alone cannot explain the improvement. The sea of orange helped to create a "very strong connection between the team and the fans," Coach Groh claims, "which helped to set a mood" for the players to help them through the games.
Also, as Coach Groh points out, the sea of orange helps to show the team that their games are something special, instead of just another social event. It helps the fans connect that "this is a football Saturday" when they take the special action of dressing in orange, and in Coach Groh's words, "helps them recognize that going to a football game is different from going to a play."
Finally, the sea of orange also helps the team on the road. At last year's Continental Tire Bowl or this year's season opener at Temple, who couldn't help but notice that an overwhelmingly large percentage of the fans were in orange? This lets the players know their fans are there -- they can expect to be supported, and it gets the players pumped up for the games. Following the age-old theory that 90 percent of sport is mental, it would appear that this attitude helped the team shut down the best wide receiver in the nation in last year's Tire Bowl and allowed Virginia to play its season opener this year as though it was at home, even though it was in Philadelphia.
All this being said, there are some who will likely still insist on sticking with a tradition that dates back to the "boys only" days of the University, in which football games were merely gatherings of upper-class boys coming to show social etiquette. For those who absolutely insist on continuing to dress up, Coach Groh has some advice. "I never said don't dress up," he points out, "just dress in orange." Anyone who goes to the University Bookstore can easily find nice orange dress shirts, orange bow ties, orange neckties and any orange dressing up apparel imaginable. That way, you can still appease the side of you that wants to dress up for the games, while at the same time helping your team by becoming part of the sea of orange.
As U.Va. heads into the world of the elite football schools, please do understand how the team helps you, and how you should help it back. Go to the games, enjoy yourselves, cheer as loud as you can and, most importantly of all, listen to the coach: Dress in orange. Enjoy your weekend, and I hope to see you all at the game.
Sam Leven's column appears Fridays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at sleven@cavalierdaily.com.
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