In sports, as in life, points are usually good things and more of them are even better. More points in soccer: good. More points in football: good. More points on the "how hot is s/he on a scale of one to 10" question: very good. (Note: please ignore points on your license, which represent a glaring weakness in my argument.)
Recently, however, scientists have discovered a rare new species of point lurking in the wild around Klöckner, Davenport Field and The Park. This is not a nice point. In its natural habitat, the nasty little bugger has been known to camouflage itself during the spring and fall, hibernating and gaining strength until it emerges with the rest of its hive in the winter to feast on unsuspecting Virginia sports fans. This species is not native to Charlottesville, and rumor has it the first few were brought to this area by a pirate company known as the Krewe of Hoo. I'm talking, of course, about the Sabre Point.
First, a bit of clarification: Although they exist under the same kingdom, phylum, class, order, family and genus (who else still has that stuck in his head from middle school?), the Sabre Point is different from its cousin, the Men's Basketball Attendance Point. While the latter is based on how many games you attend at the John Paul Jones Arena, the Sabre Point has a wider range and is far sneakier.
The Sabre Point is not new. Since its inception, the Hoo Crew has been toying with ways of equalizing attendance during the winter season (to benefit women's basketball). This has been done by giving Sabre Points to Hoo Crew members who go to other games during the winter -- points that can then be used to get a better entrance time for the main event (men's basketball).
After this year's squad took its last bow in Columbus, however, the Hoo Crew juiced up the old Sabre Point until its biceps began to make Barry Bonds' look normal. Now, Hoo Crew members can scan their Orange Passport cards and receive a handful of Sabre Points for attending spring sports (a departure from the winter-only format).
I'll be the first to admit that the Crew has good intentions: anything that can get our spring athletes more home field support is fine in my book. The problem came with the recent announcement that these end-of-the-year incentive points will be used to determine basketball seating next season
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