I have been a U.Va. fan for as long as I have followed sports. There were some successful years during that stretch, but also a number of letdowns and demoralizing losses. Like any true fan, during games, I act like a moody pregnant woman on a roller coaster of emotions. I'll go from fired up and cheering, to turning on the team and smacking the seat in front of me, back to jumping up and down in the course of five minutes.
Lately, however, I have been a lot more negative about the Hoos. I still want them to win, but I have found myself, for example, agreeing with refs at JPJ more and blaming players for being out of position or playing out of control.
The reason I think I am being a bit more negative about U.Va. athletics lately is a string of events in the new year that makes Britney Spears' January look like a glimpse of heaven. The first month of 2008 might go down as one of the worst in Virginia sports history (and it's not even over yet).
The most glaring event of this dismal month was obviously the Gator Bowl loss to Texas Tech. Just like the ride back to my hotel and much of the rest of the night, I still don't really want to talk about it. There's not much that needs to be said -- you know what happened and are still probably trying to figure out how it did.
It's not that we lost; it's the way it went down. With about four minutes remaining in the game, Virginia fans were reveling in the fact that the Hoos could seemingly run out the clock to victory. The only bad things at this point were that the sun had dipped below the wall of the stadium and left the U.Va. side of the stadium in freezing shade, and a drunk frat boy spilled his drink on my girlfriend. I didn't really let either of those things bother me because of the game, but the whole sun setting and leaving Virginia in darkness couldn't have been a more ominous sign of the way those last few minutes would play out.
Then a couple of weeks later, news broke that four players were not enrolled in classes for this semester, apparently because of academic issues. Among them were starting quarterback Jameel Sewell and starting cornerback Chris Cook and as a result, they will not be able to practice in the spring. Further, according to The Daily Progress, it has been reported that these players are not expected to return in the fall. While nothing is definite, it appears likely the Peter Lalich era will begin out of necessity and the J-Sew chapter ended with that Gator Bowl debacle.
On top of that, the team also lost defensive coordinator Mike London, who is now the head coach at Richmond. Chances are you've noticed him on the Cavalier sideline, running around, jumping up and down and even chest-bumping players as they came off the field. The program will certainly miss the leader of a top-25 defense who also recruits well and really fires up the team. London's departure marks the fourth time a member of Groh's staff has left to become a head coach. Funny how you don't see teams clamoring for Mike Groh, though, isn't it?
Something that hasn't been very humorous is the men's basketball start to 2008. It began with a loss to Xavier that would have been more defensible had it not been by 38 points. That was followed up by an 87-65 loss at Duke that was never really close. The icing on the cake was a 1-point loss to rival Virginia Tech at home. If you can't get up for that game and take the opportunity to right the ship by beating a weaker opponent, I don't know what to tell you.
The struggles this year are not about the team's heart though. For a team that professes a devotion to defense, that facet of the game has been incredibly porous the last few games. I was amazed at how easily Virginia Tech drove the lane for easy buckets and set up great looks at perimeter shots.
When I watch other teams play on TV, it's astounding to see how much space they create in their offensive sets. Compared to the Hoos, you would think that the courts in other arenas are 10 feet wider on each side. For whatever reason, U.Va. creates a hell of a logjam in the frontcourt that rarely resembles a functioning offense.
While Virginia men's basketball and football may be a little bit closer to Britney and Jamie Lynn than anyone would like to admit, comparing the entire Wahoo athletic department to the Spears clan might be a little much.
Women's basketball is currently 14-5, has won eight of its last nine games and nearly upset No. 4 Maryland playing the powerhouse tough for much of the game. Men's tennis is currently ranked No. 1 overall in the nation and the two perennial powerhouse swim and dive teams (the men qualify as an ACC dynasty) are both doing well in the new year. The 13-3 wrestling team already set the record for dual wins in a season and has flirted with a top-25 ranking in January.
So in the big picture, it's probably unfair to lump these teams in with the revenue sports since the state of the whole program is not as bad as Brit and J.L., er, football and basketball would have you believe. The men's basketball team beat Boston College this past Saturday in probably their best overall game of the season. Hopefully that is metaphorically the Wahoos' first step in rehab and we can all put this bad month behind us.
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