Though the loss to William & Mary will unfortunately encourage those students in Williamsburg who mistakenly believe University students care about our “rivalry” with them, it might also have a positive side, in that it will eliminate any lingering doubts about the need to find a new coach.
There were stronger forces at play Saturday, however, than horribly incompetent coaching. William & Mary is, of course, the first school the Wahoos have played since the ousting of the Virginia Pep Band that has a student-directed scramble-style band of its own, rather than a faculty-run marching band like the one the Pep Band was replaced with just six years ago. After earnest efforts on the part of the Pep Band to compromise with the Athletic Department were bluntly rejected last semester, it is quite clear that the Curse of the Pep Band has struck again, and that the ghost of Mr. Jefferson has given his support to the student self-governance embraced by his alma mater, but not by his University.
Daniel Colbert
CLAS ‘09
119th Cavalier Daily Executive Editor
So I didn’t notice this until it was posted on someone’s facebook, but the CMB isn’t entirely faculty run. Yes, the band director is faculty, as are the staff who get paid by UVA, but the CMB is technically run and operated by student leadership who take everything into their own hands. The curse may be a real coach, but didn’t Al Groh start coaching around the same time (give or take a year or two)?
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