This is the last sports column that I will write for The Cavalier Daily.
It took a lot of thinking to decide what would go into this column. It's probably supposed to be deeply reflective, full of reminiscence and thank-yous, as the past three years of column-writing have been made possible by finding interesting stories and working with great people. Off the bat, thank you to any editor who has had anything to do with getting my articles and columns from desktop to newspaper racks since I joined the sports staff back in August 2006.
But as for what to write about for this piece ... I think it's as important to write about the bright future of Virginia sports as it is to look toward the past. While I was fortunate enough to have a venue to share my thoughts about many Cavaliers teams these last few years, I'm optimistic that the next columnists will write about the continuing ability of Virginia teams to accomplish great feats.
Students and alumni alike are often concerned with so-called "revenue sports," but the true success for the Virginia athletics department is its diversity of accomplished programs. This has been the case for many years, since before my time at Virginia, and will continue down the road. For one, the only national championships brought home to Charlottesville during my four years came thanks to the men's soccer and men's tennis teams, both of whom found the ultimate success this past fall. These two programs are at the top of their respective sports in 2010 and will be for years to come, so long as support continues to grow throughout the University and community.
Moreover, Virginia accomplished an incredibly rare feat this academic year by having five teams reach the No. 1 ranking in their respective sports. In addition to the championship soccer and tennis teams, the men's lacrosse, baseball and rowing programs found the top of the rankings this year, and all three will pursue national titles in the next month. The 2009-10 school year has already been by far the most successful for the athletic department since current fourth-year students arrived at the University, and I'm very appreciative for that. Still, I'll be surprised if another trophy isn't added to the case by summer.
Even more important than the success of many teams this year is the foundation built for success in years to come, both figuratively and literally. For the former, programs such as women's basketball and women's lacrosse are slowly but surely gaining national recognition for continuing successes by longtime Virginia coaches - coach Debbie Ryan's hoops squad has made three consecutive NCAA Tournaments while coach Julie Myers' lacrosse team has appeared in the top five since every year since 2006. Even with all of these landmarks though, my favorite story in four years covering Virginia sports deals with the current additions to Davenport Field.
In an ongoing game of tag between Virginia baseball fans and the athletic department, Davenport has grown by about 1,600 seats during the past month. That's a simply astounding number, and continued growth combined with recent renovations to locker rooms will finally allow Virginia to host regional and super-regional rounds of the College World Series. The baseball program reached Omaha last year and is on a course to dominate this year and in the future. Therefore, it seems only necessary that the Cavaliers have the ability to host postseason games. As a big proponent of Virginia baseball, I hope that you will continue attending games and helping make this possibility a reality.
As for the revenue sports, I only got to see one NCAA Tournament appearance for the Cavaliers' men's basketball team while at Virginia, but I know that won't be the same for the next crop of University students. Coach Tony Bennett is rebuilding the program by doing things the right way, and if he finds players that buy into his system and pay attention to the "student" part of being student-athletes, the team will find great success sooner rather than later. Similarly, the Cavaliers' football program will find new direction with new coach Mike London. Though Virginia has only played in one bowl game since 2006 and has not defeated Virginia Tech during that span, the new man in charge has great energy, a fresh take on recruiting and a commitment to achievement on and off the field that will set a new precedent for being a Virginia football player. I look forward to traveling with fellow alumni when London leads the Cavaliers to a bowl game in the near future.
So now that I've already surpassed my line limit, here come the thank-yous: To the athletes and coaches at Virginia, thank you for your hard work and dedication to the University and for giving me something to write about. To those who have read my column in the past, and especially to those readers of this column, thank you. (In other words, thanks Mom and Dad ... and you.) Thanks for giving me a chance to share my thoughts about a number of issues in the sports world and for occasionally sharing your feedback with me. Go Hoos.
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