Rector John Wynne chairs the 19-person Special Committee on the Nomination of a President, which met yesterday for the first time. Photo by: Iram Shaikh

The Special Committee on the Nomination of a President met for the first time yesterday to discuss the upcoming search for President John T. Casteen, III’s replacement.
The Board of Visitors manual dictates that no fewer than five people should be on the committee, and the current search committee consists of nine members of the Board of Visitors, two former rectors, the chair of the faculty senate, five professors and two students.
Rector John Wynne said the original five was too narrow and that the current 19-person committee is “broader than any single discipline or interest,” allowing for more diverse opinions and viewpoints.
As outlined yesterday, the search will consist of five stages: process design and staffing, input and information gathering, profile and qualification development, recruitment and selection. Wynne said the process design will be finished before early October, while input gathering started a week ago.
Also present at the meeting was Bill Funk of R. William Funk & Associates, who is serving as a consultant to the committee. Funk has initiated the recruitment process, though the committee will not begin to review candidates until it has established a list of qualifications.
Funk and his firm were chosen because of their experience in the southeast, success in institutions in the Association of American Universities and extensive networking, said Leonard Sandridge, executive vice president and chief operating officer.
A Web site about the presidential search also has been created for the general community and potential candidates, Sandridge said. At the Web site, accessible via the University’s homepage, people can learn more about opportunities for involvement and offer commentary.
“Every effort has been made to gather information from all aspects of the University,” Sandridge said, adding that the committee has received a tremendous amount of input.
Faculty Senate Chair Ann Hamric said she has begun obtaining input from senators, former senators and professors about the presidential search, and plans to report her findings to the committee Sept. 1.
Student Council President John Nelson and Engineering Graduate student Jen Warner, meanwhile, the student representatives to the committee, also will collect input through a student advisory group of 21 other students. This group includes members from large-scale organizations around Grounds, including the Honor Committee, the University Judiciary Committee, resident staff, class councils, Greek organizations, graduate programs and minority student organizations. Nelson and Warner will meet with the group for the first time today.
The search is “generating more excitement and interest nationally of any I’ve seen in the past five years,” Funk said, adding that of the 300 presidential searches he has worked on, this is the most important.
Board member Austin Ligon expressed a similar sentiment, noting that as a “prototypical model of what a public university should be,” the University’s search is important to many institutions because “the rest of the world looks to us to see how do we achieve the success that we achieve.”
Wynne said the presidential search is a “wonderful opportunity to set the stage for the next elevation of the institution,” and “the most important thing we do for our University.”
The committee will begin holding public forums today from 10 a.m. to noon in the Newcomb Hall Ballroom and 3:30 to 5:30 in the Zehmer Hall auditorium.

Virginia gubernatorial candidates recently visited the University, meeting with University community members to discuss the economy, higher education and transportation issues.
Democratic contender Creigh Deeds outlined his plans for the commonwealth at a Sunday rally, discussing his desire to revamp the transportation system and restore Virginians’ confidence in the economy.
“No. 1 is to restore confidence in the economy and create jobs necessary to drive economic growth in the commonwealth for the present and the future,” said Deeds, who stopped in Charlottesville for a rally with University students as part of his campaign.
The economy is also a priority for Deeds’ opponent, Republican contender Bob McDonnell, who visited the University and held a roundtable discussion about textbook and higher education costs Aug. 17 with students and faculty members.
“We’re focusing on new jobs and more opportunities for every region of the commonwealth,” McDonnell press secretary Crystal Cameron said, noting that McDonnell believes strongly in small business outreach and easing the tax burden on Virginia residents.
Deeds said he plans to build the commonwealth’s economy on alternative energy, specifically solutions like wind and solar power. With an improved economy behind him, Deeds hopes to update the state’s transportation systems and provide greater opportunities for Virginia students.
“Transportation is an issue that has to be dealt with,” Deeds said. “I’m confident I can get that done the first year I’m governor.”
McDonnell has a multi-prong, comprehensive transportation plan, which Cameron said Deeds lacks.
“We’ve got to get Virginia moving again,” Cameron said.
Students at the Deeds rally said they appreciated that candidates visited Grounds to campaign and reach out to students.
“Even though the timing was kind of dicey with Convocation going on, it was refreshing to have candidates reaching out to the students by making themselves accessible and going to a place where students actually are,” University Democrats President Megan Durkee said.
Durkee said she believes that because the incoming governor will affect higher education and public universities, this election holds greater importance for college-aged students.
“It’s really important to note how the campaigns are bringing to light the importance of the governor’s position for students,” Durkee said. “This is a huge election, especially for college students in Virginia.”

The University again ranked second among public universities for 2010 in U.S. News & World Report’s annual survey of the nation’s colleges.
The University has been ranked as either the first or second public university since 1992 and has been among the top 25 universities overall since 1988. In the 2010 rankings, the University dropped from 23rd to 24th in the overall rankings, tying with the University of California at Los Angeles.
The rankings give a snapshot of where schools stand in relation to each other, based on available data, said Robert Morse, director of data research at U.S. News & World Report.
“[They] don’t measure all the complexities of a place like [the] University of Virginia or Georgetown or Harvard but they’re accurate in the sense of using the data that we have in the rankings,” Morse said.
The change in ranking was small, Leonard Sandridge, executive vice president and chief operating officer, stated in an e-mail, adding that “the change was so minor that it is hard to attribute it to any one thing.”
Morse agreed that the change in ranking was not very significant. “The rankings are fairly stable,” he said. “They’re usually small changes, but the changes themselves aren’t that important.”
The rankings are based on a number of weighted factors, Morse said. Academic reputation is the most important factor, followed by graduation retention and faculty resources. Admission data, financial resources and alumni giving data also are important, though given less weight.
The University was ranked 11th in graduation and retention, 35th in faculty resources, 29th in selectivity and 35th in alumni giving, Morse said. In academic reputation, calculated through peer assessment, the University had one of the highest scores, with 4.3 out of 5.
In financial resources, however, the University came in 64th, Morse said.
“Historically, we have achieved higher rankings than our financial resources would suggest to be possible,” Sandridge noted. “The budget cuts of recent years have not helped that situation.”
University President John T. Casteen, III added that the commonwealth has consistently prioritized other items instead of education for the past twenty years.
“Again this year, these [subscores] emphasize how very far behind Virginia is in its support for its public colleges and universities — support that is now very probably the lowest in the country,” he stated in a press release.
He also noted that the University’s ranking has helped to attract students, adding that it “underscores the quality of work done by faculty and staff members here.”
Sandridge similarly credited the University’s high ranking to the hard work of the faculty and staff.
“Our intent is to do the best we can to provide an educational experience that is second to none and let the rankings take care of themselves,” he stated.

The University Art Museum will reopen Sep. 12 after a summer of renovations, which include improved lighting and high ceilings. Photo by: Iram Shaikh

The University Art Museum is scheduled to reopen for the public Sept. 12, after completing $2 million in renovations this summer.
“The additions to the museum will help satisfy the need to improve access to University collections and will make it possible to conduct classes in the galleries,” said Elizabeth Turner, vice provost for the arts.
Renovations included improved lighting which, Turner said, is very important in classical spaces to highlight the art. The museum now flaunts ceiling lights up to 22 feet high.
The new print room also boasts newly-installed floating ceilings and sophisticated diffused lighting, museum director Bruce Boucher said.
Also in the works is a remodeling project to convert an unused area into a terrace overlooking Carr’s Hill, as well as a new object study gallery, registration room and storage and meeting space, Boucher said.
The renovations modernize the old museum, while respecting its 1935 designing by Edmund S. Campbell, he noted.
An emphasis on accessibility to students is evidenced by the new object study room, which will hold a cross-section of about 12,000 objects and provide a learning space for research and classes.
The most significant change, however, is the new climate control system, Boucher said. Before this development, crowds at the museum could cause temperature spikes, which had the potential to negatively impact the art.
The positive effects of this upgrade already can be seen in the acquisition of “Painting of Thomas Jefferson” by artist Rembrandt Peale, which requires a climate-controlled room and is on loan from the New York Historical Society.
The painting will be “the star of the show”, said Turner, referring to the Academical Village exhibit, one of three shows currently scheduled. Other pieces in the show include original drawings of the University, paintings of the first Board of Visitors and stories about the workers who built the school’s most historical buildings.
Visitors also will see a 15-minute short film about the Rotunda, featuring photographs taken of the Lawn in the past set to music composed by Judith Shatin of the music department.
The museum is not simply limited to showcasing the University’s history, however, as officials are now in talks with the Italian government to acquire a work from that country, Turner said.
“The renovation is not the end of the story, it is only the beginning in our quest to be a new model for a teaching museum,” Turner said.

Violations of the Standards of Conduct, commonly referred to as a “VSOC,” are now part of the past, Resident Life Co-Chair Adam Reitelbach said.
A VSOC signified a breach of the 12 Standards of Conduct, which are applicable to all University students. Examples of breaches include physical and sexual assault and any violation of federal, state or local laws. After filling out a VSOC form, resident advisers in the past forwarded the information to a senior resident adviser, who then dealt with the student individually.
Reitelbach said the Office of Resident Life is simply revising the procedure through which resident advisers deal with alcohol violations by underage students, citing due process as one reason for the change.
“The [University Judiciary Committee] is the only one charged by the University to deal with violations of the Standards of Conduct, which is what the VSOC [was] for,” Reitelbach said.
Other than the elimination of VSOCs, Reitelbach noted that the process through which RAs report underage students who consume alcohol in University housing will not change.
“It’s really the same thing that RAs have been doing.” Reitelbach said. “We’re really just not handing out pieces of paper called VSOCs.”
Meanwhile, the University Judiciary Committee will continue dealing with alcohol violations as it always has, UJC Chair Michael Chapman said.
“[The Office of Resident Life] chooses to have their own system of keeping track of alcohol violations, and when they see a pattern they can bring those cases to us,” he said, adding that “[the changes] won’t pose any problems for us.”
When students are found guilty of alcohol violations, the punishment is decided by a UJC trial panel, Chapman noted.
“There are instances where you can end up with a variety of sanctions like doing community services, oral or written admissions, and taking an alcohol class with the Center for Alcohol and Substance Education … It’s really up to the trial panel as they have full discretion.”
Reitelbach noted that the revision will not eliminate alcohol consumption of underage students all together.
“Some students will still choose to disobey policy, but we’re taking the educational approach,” Reitelbach said.
—compiled by Jane Ma

Q: Have you ever been hypnotized? If so, what does it feel like?
A: I have been, not in a performance venue, but I have been hypnotized. It’s a feeling of attachment. There’s something called self-hypnosis, which I’ve done a lot. It’s kind of a feeling of dreamy detachment. I get very relaxed and fade out from my surroundings. It’s really physically relaxing and there’s a nice gentle feeling … a daydream with tremendous physical relaxation.

Q: Can anyone be hypnotized?
A: A lot of people are much harder than others. It depends on their desire. What we do during the show is a very deep form of hypnosis. From my experience, which is pretty vast, it really depends on the hypnotist more than anyone else… Still, it doesn’t mean you can hypnotize everybody … Some people say, “Well, I remember everything, I wasn’t hypnotized.” … But if you still remember [the experience], that doesn’t mean you weren’t hypnotized. In one sense, hypnosis is just when you put a suggestion into someone’s subconscious … when you just bypass their analytical mind[s].

Q: After doing hypnosis shows for so long, can you tell which people will be good hypnosis subjects?
A: I’ve had people up there doing standing backflips … or splits. I’ve had people become so emotionally charged up and just making fun of me. It’s the person, their energy level and how much the audience kind of likes them or identifies with them.

Q: How many years have you performed at U.Va.?
A: Many, many, many. I really don’t know. It’s kind of a tradition. I used to do the alumni events also.

Q: What keeps you coming back?
A: Of all the university shows I do, this is the most special one. I don’t know if it’s the crowd or the tradition … U.Va. is just the biggest and the best … It’s a really special event for me because the crowd is so huge. I look out into a sea of people and the energy is incredible.

Q: Thousands of students turn out for your show each year. What do you think draws them in and keeps them excited about your visits year after year?
A: It’s not just a matter of hypnotizing people telling people to do this or do that. After 20 or 30 minutes, if there’s not some level of creativity there, they lose interest. You always have people who are so interesting that people can’t help but watch them … It’s the energy of the crowd.

Q: What’s the funniest thing someone has ever done at one of your shows?
A: My show is silly, goofy, crazy, intense and hopefully very creative … I do remember some very interesting characters. One guy from several years ago — he was a student — he was so incredibly creative. He just took over the show. He just took the microphone. He was just telling people to leave the Amphitheater and telling people I was this evil creature, and then I would say something, and he would start saying all these nice things about me. I think he later went into advertising. He had such an amazing imagination.

Q: How does one get into the field of professional hypnosis?
A: I would think just through therapy. If they are a psychologist or a therapist, they may want to they study it [and] they learn from some mentor. As you get into higher levels of training, there are groups that provide different methodologies.

Q: When and why did you start hypnotizing people?
A: I started hypnotizing people when I was in grad school. I was a psych major and I worked with a psych professor who hypnotized people … primarily as a way to help people quit smoking. He mentored me… [and] I started doing a show when I was in school as an offset of that.

Q: In what other ways do you use or recommend the use of hypnosis, other than for entertainment?
A: There are people that do hypnosis for a multitude of problems. I’m not saying it’s always the best methodology. It depends on what the problem is; they use it for a lot of things memory retrieval; they can use it to relax people. It’s a tool. You use it with many forms of therapy. Some people use it [in] their practice a lot. It depends on the therapist.

—conducted and compiled by Stephanie Waties

If there’s one thing I didn’t like about summer, it was Michael Jackson dying. If there’s another thing I didn’t like about it, it was my psychotic, over-anxious mother, who couldn’t seem to deal with the fact that we were living in the same house. She was literally hovering over me as I typed this, bemoaning my imminent departure for college and unleashing a steady stream of slushy eye discharge onto my favorite shirt.
But I told her to go make me a sandwich and suddenly I am alone and free to tackle the daunting struggles of column writing — such as how to spell ‘imminent’ or whether there is a ‘t’ in sandwich. The struggles may be daunting, and I may be duly daunted by said struggles that are daunting, but I will nevertheless attempt to cease my struggling in the realm of daunt, and carry on in the least struggly and daunty manner possible, even if Lady Stroodel Struggle and Sir Diddly Daunt themselves …
Wow. Please forgive me. You must understand that procrastination and mild stupidity are natural side effects of three months spent watching ridiculous amounts of mind-numbingly similar baseball highlights on ESPN’s SportsCenter and Michael Jackson death coverage on every other channel. Such was the nature of a truly wacky summer, one during which good old-fashioned Americans were compelled to put down their long-cherished hot dogs, hamburgers and semi-automatic weapons so that they could engage in civil fist fights about deeply political issues like health care reform and Michael Vick — that is, unless the president was present at such gatherings, in which case Republicans, in a gesture of bipartisan respect, did bring their weapons. Now let us take a moment to put aside our anxiety about the coming school year and reflect back on the highlights of a crazy Mets/Phillies game — I mean summer.
June 18-24: South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, weary from months of fishing trips and golf outings, decides to take a well-deserved vacation to South America, a place so far away that he is sure no one will recognize him as he gets his funk on at wild beach parties and has sex with women so out-of-their-mind drunk that they agree to have sex with Mark Sanford. He is perfectly confident that no one back home will worry about their inability to get in touch with him because he wisely told them he’d be hiking the Appalachian Trail, which everyone knows is a total dead zone when you have T-Mobile. After his scheme is somehow foiled, Sanford is forced to face some tough questions about the excursion, one being why he chose to abandon his wife and children on Father’s Day. “Which would you rather be doin’, you dumb piece of horse manure?” he (may as well have) responded. “A 500-piece puzzle with yer kids or a big-breasted Argentinean girl with no standards?” Sanford’s integrity was subsequently questioned.
June 25: Michael Jackson, another prominent public figure who has faced criticism for questionable sexual decisions, takes pity on Sanford and decides the best way to help lessen the controversy surrounding the governor is to be the cause of one himself. Millions of men around the world are confused to find that the news media quickly turns a blind eye on the death of Farrah Fawcett, a beautiful, charismatic blonde actress, and instead places the focus on the passing of a strange man with a children’s fantasy playground. Several NASA space shuttles are forced to prematurely return home because all of Earth’s satellites must cut off communication with spacecraft in favor of taking live aerial photos of Michael Jackson’s California estate for every media outlet in existence, even ones in remote countries like Uzbekistan and Canada.
July 16: Henry Louis Gates, Jr., a prominent black Harvard professor, is arrested — possibly for being black. A firestorm of controversy erupts after Sergeant James Crowley arrests Gates for disorderly conduct, resulting in accusations of racism against Crowley, as well as insinuations concerning the continual prevalence of racism in the country as a whole. Crowley defends himself by (kind of) saying, “Look, I did what any other white American would have done in my place. I mean, he was yelling in some kind of African tribal speak, which I’m just not used to encountering here in suburban Massachusetts. What was I supposed to do?” All harsh feelings are cast aside, however, when the two men join President Obama in the backyard of the White House and slam back several cases of Pabst Blue Ribbon, proving once again that beer, particularly PBR, is the most cost-effective solution to political problems.
July 28: Brett Favre officially calls it quits when — after months of speculation about whether he would return to the NFL for his 39th season — he tells Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress: “At this point, I don’t feel comfortable leaving my children and grandchildren behind. Also, I’ve lost most of the feeling in my right arm due to old age.”
Aug. 13: Much to the chagrin of dogs everywhere, Michael Vick returns to the public limelight by signing a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles. Vick re-assures skeptical Eagles fans of his true character with (somewhat) stating, “I may have just been released from prison, but I assure you all that I am still a thug at heart.”
Aug. something: Town hall meetings across the country, initially intended to be a practical way for Americans to share their views about health care reform, backfire completely when emotions run too high and gun battles break out intermittently, causing multiple injuries and the summoning of emergency health care to the forums. Help typically does not arrive, however, because many town hall participants claim it would cost too much.
August 19: Brett Favre annoys everyone by changing his fickle mind again, this time declaring he is ready to suit up for the Vikings. He is immediately put into practice with the team, which is dismayed to find that the new quarterback no longer possesses the strength to throw a ball further than seven yards. He will start for the team regardless, because he is, after all, Brett Favre.
Yes, it was a truly wild summer. Here’s to hoping this first semester here in the Land of Wahoo is no less wacky — and that Brett Favre suffers a career-ending injury.
Nick’s column runs biweekly Tuesdays. He can be reached at n.eilerson@cavalierdaily.com.

From left: Michelle Vittese, Paige Selenski and Tara Puffenberger represented the United States in the Junior World Cup. Courtesy Virginia Sports

The women’s field hockey Junior World Cup this month was the largest international field hockey event ever held in the United States — and some Cavaliers saw playing time.
Sophomore midfielders Paige Selenski and Michelle Vittese, along with freshman midfielder Tara Puffenberger, were among the competitors — all of whom were younger than 21 — selected to represent the United States. Rounding out Virginia’s participation in the World Cup, which was held in Boston, Mass., was sophomore Inga Stöckel, representing Germany.
“It’s an honor,” Selenski said. “I get to represent my country, and we get to play against teams we have never played against before.”
For Puffenberger, making the team had been a lifelong ambition. “It has been my goal since I was a little kid, just to get on the national team.”
To be hand-picked for the national team, one had to stand out from more than 100 girls, who were selected from the National Futures Championship and USA Field Hockey High Performance Centers.
“It’s the highest accomplishment you can make as an [under-21] athlete,” Vittese said.
The Junior World Cup consisted of 16 teams from around the world competing for 13 days from Aug. 3 to Aug. 16. The United States began the tournament with a 3-1 victory against Belarus the first day of competition and ended with a 2-8 loss against China to finish 3-4 and eighth overall. The Netherlands and Argentina competed in the final, with the Netherlands prevailing, 3-0, while Korea defeated England 2-1 to take third place. Although the United States did not win a medal, the team — Cavaliers included — gained invaluable international experience against some of the best young players in the world.
While in Boston, the team was kept on a relatively strict regimen to make the experience similar to other elite international events.
“We didn’t have a lot of free time,” Vittese said. “They tried to make similar to what the national team athletes do at the Olympics.”
At the same time, the players were able to squeeze in some shopping, Vittese said. Stöckel, a native of Germany, also did a little sightseeing during a bus tour of Boston and went whale watching.
The competitors were not the only ones to do a little traveling, however, as the rest of the Virginia field hockey team made the trip north to Boston to cheer on their teammates both on the U.S. and German team, which finished sixth.
“It’s great to have a support system there,” Selenski said.
Demonstrating the ACC’s talent in field hockey was the percentage of players on the U.S. team coming from ACC schools. Of the 18 girls on the national team, 11 will compete in the ACC this season. Three Maryland players and three North Carolina players joined the three Virginia athletes on the U.S. team.
Although she is a freshman and enters a lineup already loaded with talent, Puffenberger could have a big impact because of her international experience gained this summer.
“It is quite simply a great accomplishment,” Virginia coach Michele Madison said. “All … of them have put in a lot of time and sweat. They play year-round to build their game.”

I suppose you could call me an unexpected Michael Vick fan.
It is so easy to root against Vick. He has so much going against him. You probably know most of it: He walked into the league with a sense of entitlement, secured the biggest contract in the NFL and spoiled his incredible gifts with arrogance and poor decisions. And then there are those terrible dogfighting crimes that landed him in federal prison for almost two years.
Fans of Virginia football are practically conditioned to hate him. He is a large reason the Virginia Tech football program is so prominent today. It could be argued that Vick is probably the third most influential person in Hokie football history, behind Frank Beamer and defensive coordinator Bud Foster.
Now that he is wearing a Philadelphia jersey, fans of any other team in the NFC East have an additional reason to root against him.
Well, I am a hardcore Redskins fan. I am also a big-time Wahoo despite spending my freshman year as a Tech student. So Vick should be the scourge of my football fandom — but he is not.
The reasons I root for Vick to succeed run deeper than team rivalries. They run even deeper than the animals who lost their lives because of the Vick-funded dogfighting ring. They are about redemption, forgiveness and triumph of the human spirit. He now has an opportunity to make up for his animal cruelty and make sure the dogs killed in the Bad Newz Kennels ring did not die in vain.
If Vick returns to stability and prominence, he will have a chance to shine a light on some incredible organizations that promote the humane treatment of animals. He also will have the opportunity to work with society’s youth who might face the temptation of pitting animals against each other.
And then, maybe, he will end up saving more animals’ lives than he destroyed.
“I am making conscious efforts within the community, working with the Humane Society, and hopefully I can do that locally and continue with my disciplined efforts in bringing awareness to animal cruelty and dogfighting in the inner cities and our communities,” Vick said Aug. 14 in his first press conference after signing with the Eagles.
“I figure if I can help more animals than I hurt, then I am contributing, I am doing my part,” he added.
It is possible he just said these things to quiet the animal rights advocates, but other parts of the press conference convinced me that he means it.
Vick expressed his pain and remorse in some of what I believe are the most genuine statements I have ever heard from a celebrity. He talked about how he had two years to sit in a prison with little to think about except how badly he screwed up. He knows how naive and stupid he’s been.
“There was a point in my life when — before I was convicted or before the allegations even came out — when I knew it was wrong and I felt that it was wrong,” Vick said. “Just when I was trying to turn the corner and it was too late. But everything happens for a reason, and there is a reason I was sent to Kansas and a reason I was convicted. I was conscious of the fact that it was wrong and, to this day, I have to deal with that shame and embarrassment.”
He will not grow beyond that naïveté overnight, but as long as he models his life after good influences — such as his unofficial mentor Tony Dungy, one of the greatest men involved in the NFL the past quarter century — he will get there eventually. If he continues to excise his past demons and focus on improving his life, he absolutely has the means to become a better person.
I believe Vick committed monstrous acts but I do not believe he is a monster. If and when Vick rises from the ashes, it will be a reminder to everyone that, no matter how badly you’ve screwed up your life, and no matter how many people are rooting against you, there is always room in this world for people who want to correct their mistakes. Nobody deserves to be the villain forever.

Boy, is it good to be back in Charlottesville. I saw the lights on at Scott Stadium a few nights ago and started thinking about how great it is to welcome back college football …
But wait. This column is about baseball. Yes, that’s right. In the midst of preseason football hype, with opening day in less than two weeks, a new spread offense, new coaches, and all that, I want to talk baseball.
I am sure you have read — and will continue to read — dozens of articles about the Virginia football team as we head into the season, but I doubt you’ve recently read anything about the baseball program here at Virginia. Lest any of us forget, the Cavaliers advanced to Omaha this summer, marking Virginia’s first appearance at the College World Series in school history. The Cavaliers finished No. 5 in the country after an impressive run to the eight-team World Series.
This is a very, very big deal. As an avid baseball fan, I wish that the College World Series received even a quarter of the national spotlight given to the Elite Eight round in the NCAA Basketball tournament. If it did, millions more people would know just how good Virginia baseball was last year and, what’s more, how good it will be this coming season.
The reason I am so excited about this subject is because of an outrageous statistic: Virginia will return 26 of the 32 players from last season’s roster that finished third in the nation in win-loss percentage. In fact, only four members of last season’s roster were seniors, two of whom were drafted — pitchers Andrew Carraway and Robert Poutier, who combined for a 12-2 record with 125 strikeouts in 127.2 innings. Two Cavaliers, pitchers Matt Packer, who led the NCAA in ERA in 2008, and Jeff Lorick, who held a 2-1 record in seven starts in 2009, signed pro contracts after being drafted as juniors.
Otherwise, the rest of the Virginia pitching staff returns along with an offense that finished second in the ACC with 507 runs in 65 games. Virginia also led the ACC with 119 stolen bases — good for the 11th highest total in the country ­— and was sixth in the nation in hits with 767. One more statistic for good measure: The Cavaliers also won the ACC batting crown with a .327 average.
Sorry for an overwhelming amount of numbers, but I think they hammer home my point: Virginia will be even better this year, with all those players returning with an Omaha experience under their belts. Other than getting back a few token players who were injured and missed time last season, the Cavaliers also welcome a stellar freshman class to the program, including pitcher Branden Kline, a sixth-round pick of the Red Sox who decided to come to Virginia instead of turning pro. Four other members of the incoming freshman class also chose college rather than the minors after the draft, including shortstop Reed Gragnani, another Red Sox selection.
The loss of the four seniors from last year — especially Carraway, a co-captain and rock-steady starting pitcher — will hurt, but the freshmen seem to be talented enough to compete right away, judging by the fact that MLB teams thought highly of them.
So, continue to read up on Virginia football because that season is right around the corner. But, if you find that you need something to look forward to, remember that spring will bring baseball — and Virginia baseball is as good as college baseball gets.