The Freeman-Victorius Framing Shop has served a variety of patrons through the years from University graduates to Muhammad Ali. Photo by Angela Wu.

Along with job applications and final exams, graduating University students have on their minds this coming May a single piece of paper: their dipolomas.

“To me, a diploma means that despite all the ups and downs you’ve had in your college life, it’s all been worthwhile,” fourth-year College student Christine Piccora said. “It means that you’ve made it.”
Receiving one’s diploma is only part of the graduation process, however; the other is getting that degree framed.

At the Freeman-Victorius Framing Shop, located on the Corner between The White Spot and Qdoba, framing diplomas is a part of the daily routine.

“As far as degree framing goes,” shop owner Richard Freeman said, “we’ve probably framed more degrees than anybody in the country.”

Although the majority of Freeman-Victorius patrons are University graduates, students from colleges across the country visit the store for framing services, Freeman said, noting that he has seen patrons from universities in New York, Florida and California.

The business was founded in the 1920s in London, England by Paul Victorius as a rare books and print shop. Victorius moved the business to Charlottesville in 1938 to live closer to his sister and brother-in-law, who was a professor at the University at the time. The University now owns some of Victorius’s book collections, notably collection of works by Charles Darwin.

Freeman said Victorius expanded the store into a frame shop after moving to Charlottesville in the 1930s to help frame degrees for graduating students. Then in 1968, Freeman, who owned an art gallery in Richmond, took control of the store after Victorius took notice of the shop and asked him to move to Charlottesville to help run it. After taking the reins of the Freeman-Victorius store, Freeman for a while combined his loves of art and framing and featured some artists in small exhibits in the store.

“I showed an artist whose name was Carlo Pelliccia, who was an Italian architect and head of the [Architecture] School,” Freeman said. “The store was so packed [that] you couldn’t get into it.”

Now, Freeman said the shop focuses on such things as selling prints, restoring artwork, and of course, framing.

“We did most of that framing for … the maps in the Rotunda,” Freeman said, adding that he also has framed images and documents for every University president — including President John T. Casteen, III — since he has been here, as well as paintings for Monticello.

One day, Freeman said he received a call from boxer Muhammad Ali to frame, in “shadowbox” or thick box frame, a prized belt buckle from one of his championships.

“He said, ‘Do you know who it is?’ and I knew exactly who it is after I heard him talk … It was Muhammad Ali,” Freeman said. “He said, ‘I’ve got a championship belt buckle, and I want you to frame it in a shadow box.’”

Although the shop attracts big-name clients, students themselves come to the shop because on graduation day, it can frame most diplomas in one hour, depending on if the frame was previously ordered or if the diploma will be put in a standard, prepared frame. On graduation day, the Freemans noted that they usually frame about 100 degrees or diplomas. During the week following graduation, they continue to frame large numbers of diplomas.

“It takes real serious planning,” Freeman said, noting that the shop used to frame some degrees in 30 minutes but expanded the time frame through the years to one hour.

Some patrons get their degrees framed immediately, but others wait to get their diplomas framed months or years after they leave Grounds.

“We get them all the time,” said Brigitte Freeman, who is Richard’s wife. “Not everyone frames them right away.”

Framing is an art form, the Freemans said, and is designed to help make what is inside the frame, be it a degree or a piece artwork, stand out.

“You want to enhance the picture, you don’t want the frame to … take over,” Brigitte said.

Although the Freemans have experienced many a graduation day, they still look forward to each one, as well as the business that comes with it.

“We get excited because it’s a big day for everybody,” Freeman said. “It’s like launching a ship to go to sea.”

This year’s Class Giving Campaign, a mass fundraising effort targeted at the class of 2010, has seen 50 percent participation with $122,000 total raised, according to campaign chair and former Student Council President Matt Schrimper.

The campaign initially set a goal of 60 percent participation. As the campaign comes to a close, Schrimper said current turnout and donation numbers are improving still.

“Class giving has been going very, very well,” Schrimper said, adding that the campaign is “part of an effort to help people realize what their gifts can do.”

Mary Elizabeth Luzar, an associate director of the Alumni Association and adviser to the Fourth Year Trustees said a popular amount to give this year has been $20.10, which some students have opted to split among multiple organizations. Fourth-year students can give to a variety of on-Grounds programs, including majors, athletic teams and contracted independent organizations. But this was not always the case.

“Since the early ‘80s until late ‘90s, each class would pick a [single] project to give to,” she said.

It was a graduating fourth-year class during the late 1990s that began the tradition of allowing students to choose which initiatives to fund.

“A lot of schools do have giving campaigns [in which] they give to one initiative,” she explained. “We’re trying to highlight the fact that students can give to whatever they want.”

The Fourth Year Trustees have embarked on many promotional efforts for the campaign, Luzar said, such as introducing a “robust” new website and awarding donors with class of 2010 Minerva pins, funded by the Senior Vice President of Development and Public Affairs. This also is the first year the campaign has used YouTube videos to promote its efforts, she added.

One video, demonstrating the apparent ease of filling a donor pledge card, ends with the campaign’s tagline: “Make your gift matter to what matters to you most.”

Although the main purpose of the campaign is to educate students about the impact of giving, Luzar said she hopes this also will instill a tradition of giving with new alumni and allow them to help create a similar, enriching University environment for future classes.

During the past seven to eight years, Luzar said 56 to 63 percent of fourth-year students donated to their class campaigns before graduating.

—Jane Ma contributed to this article

Junior pitcher Robert Morey started against Duke in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament last season and pitched in three NCAA Tournament games. He boasts a 6-2 record this year. Photo by Toby Loewenstein.

There is a baseball that will forever live in infamy in Virginia athletics.

Shipped all the way to the Irvine Regional in California to face collegiate baseball’s equivalent to the ‘Group of Death’ in the World Cup, the 2009 Virginia baseball team began its run to Omaha and the College World Series against San Diego State — also known as Stephen Strasburg and Co.

On the first pitch he saw from eventual No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 Major League Baseball draft, Phil Gosselin got a hold of one of Strasburg’s signature high-90 mph heat fastballs and ripped it over the left-center field wall. It was shown on all the highlight reels on SportsCenter and certainly jumpstarted the Cavaliers’ memorable postseason. And as Strasburg builds his legacy in the pros, so, too, will Gosselin’s long ball.

But although there was a home run ball that electrified Virginia’s dugout that day, there also was a starting pitcher who quietly squelched the team’s first opponent in the NCAA Tournament, tossing six shutout innings and allowing only five hits and three walks while striking out nine.

His name is Robert Morey.

But before the junior right-hander left his imprint on Virginia’s historic season, there was a time when the Cavalier rotation was highly unstable. Then-freshman Danny Hultzen and senior Andrew Carraway were staples from day one, but coach Brian O’Connor could not find a consistent Sunday starter until nearly two months into the season.

Will Roberts began the season as the No. 3 man but struggled to last more than four innings. O’Connor temporarily turned to the reliable Tyler Wilson out of the pen to start on the mound against Maryland April 5, and the right-hander responded with an effective outing, logging five innings of six-hit, two-run baseball to earn the win. The following weekend, Virginia traveled to Atlanta to face No. 8 Georgia Tech. A rain delay in the series opener pushed the remaining 6.2 innings to Saturday, and Wilson started the continuance of the game. With Hultzen done for the weekend and Carraway slated to start the back end of the doubleheader Saturday, O’Connor needed someone other than Wilson to step up Sunday.

“I didn’t even know until the end of the second game that I was gonna get the start,” Morey said. “Coach O’Connor told me to just go out there, told me to not hold anything back, to just make my pitches.”

Then known as a pitcher whose stuff was as good as anybody else’s but simply couldn’t find the plate, it seemed like only a matter of time until Morey would get his opportunity.

“I just wasn’t consistent,” he said. “I would have a couple good outings and then I’d fall apart in the next one.”

Perhaps the beneficiary of wild stratospheric conditions, Morey thrived during his first career start April 12, logging 5.2 innings and allowing only two earned runs on three hits and a walk.

One month and 11 days later, Morey was starting in a pivotal ACC semifinal against Duke. Less than a week after that, he was lined up against Strasburg — that is, San Diego State.

“Facing a guy like [Strasburg], you just have to just focus on you and your opponent,” Morey said. “I can’t beat him head-to-head — he has to face my lineup, I have to face his lineup.”

And that’s all she wrote.

Indeed, in hindsight, it seems inevitable that the 29th round draft pick out of high school was going to toe the rubber and finish the 2009 season with a 3.33 ERA and a College World Series start to his belt. Morey, who said he has “played just about every sport under the sun” and almost opted to play lacrosse in college, is regarded as one of the best athletes on the team. His athleticism became readily apparent to his teammates during the fall of his freshman season, when he out-dueled Wilson during the team’s most grueling strength and conditioning program, The Iron Cavalier Challenge. The victory was no anomaly — Morey again was crowned Iron Cav Champion prior to this season. Geared up in army attire, the team — divided between position players and pitchers for the competition — grinded out seven days of wall jumps and sits, bow and toes and bar hangs, among other workouts. The competition culminates in an obstacle course — which included additional obstacles from the skies in the form of slush and mud this year — after which the winner is crowned.

“Iron Cav is fun — it’s very competitive,” Wilson said, adding that he was glad to best Morey before the 2008-09 season. “Rob is an animal.”

Most importantly, Morey’s ability to carry a bucket of baseballs above his head for an extended, unknown-to-the-public period of time translates to success on the diamond. The junior said he models his game off of “The Freak,” Tim Lincecum, a two-time Cy Young Award winner for the San Fransisco Giants, and Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies.

“I try to use that as best I can on the mound,” Morey said. “It helps with my endurance throughout the game, also fielding balls.”

Indeed, Morey’s endurance has improved as the 2009-10 season has progressed. He tossed a four-hitter through seven innings for a win against Boston College March 20. And since his poor five-inning performance against then-No. 2 Georgia Tech, during which he allowed seven earned runs on eight hits and two walks, he has reached the seven-inning plateau in both starts against Virginia Tech and Maryland, limiting both teams to only two runs. He now boasts a 6-2 record and a 3.98 ERA.

“I felt really good today,” Morey said following the Tech game. “I feel like I’m in a good spot physically and mentally and I feel like from here on out that’s who you’re gonna see.”

The No. 2 starter’s prediction has proved prescient thus far. And as the postseason approaches, talk of a return to O’Connor’s home town is abound.

Asked if his team would have made the CWS without Morey as a starter a year ago, O’Connor simply looked aghast.

“No — no, no doubt,” he said. “No way do we. There’s no question.”

It seems to go without saying that should the legend of Virginia baseball continue to grow this year, there’s no question Robert Morey will be there every step of the way.

Senior midfieler Brittany Kalkstein ranks fourth in NCAA history with 277 draw controls, which is seven shy of the record. She also boasts the second most points for Virginia with 54. Photo by Robert Parrish.

After exiting the ACC Tournament in the semifinal round last weekend, the No. 4 Virginia women’s lacrosse team looks to rebound against reigning NCAA champion No. 2 Northwestern tomorrow evening in the squad’s first-ever trip to Evanston, Ill.

Although the two teams have faced each other only nine times since 1987, the Cavaliers and the Wildcats share a storied history. The two programs have met twice in the NCAA Finals during the past five years. Northwestern edged the Cavaliers in both matchups by a mere three goals in 2005 and two goals in 2007. Last season, the Virginia squad nearly avenged the narrow losses in the NCAA finals and almost ended the Wildcats’ perfect season, but ultimately fell short 10-11 at home.

This season, the Cavaliers (13-4, 4-1 ACC) are ready to earn their first win against Northwestern since 2004 and further solidify themselves as one of the top women’s lacrosse programs in the nation. This matchup also may have postseason implications because its result could affect what seed Virginia receives in the NCAA Tournament, which is slated to begin May 15.

“I think any time you play a top-ranked team, you’re excited about it,” Virginia coach Julie Myers said. “Northwestern has definitely had the better of the matchups in the last few years, so it makes it a little bit more exciting. The fact that they’re national champions, the fact that they’ve gotten a couple of those games off of us only adds incentive.”

Garnering a win and exacting revenge, however, could prove to be a tall task for the talented Virginia squad. Northwestern has won five straight NCAA Championships and is poised to make a run at its sixth this season. The Wildcats boast a 13-1 record this season and have won 59 out of their last 60 games at Lakeside Field.

Furthermore, the Northwestern attack leads the NCAA in offensive production, averaging an impressive 16.71 goals per game and an average margin of victory of 8.14 scores. During the team’s most recent outing against Vanderbilt last Saturday, the Wildcats tallied 27 goals to earn their regular season conference crown. Senior midfielders Katrina Dowd and Danielle Spencer led the way offensively to increase their season totals to 51 goals and 43 goals, respectively. Overall, Dowd ranks third in the nation in goals per game with an average of nearly four scores per contest.

Myers, however, remains hopeful that the team can close out their regular season with a win. The Cavaliers will need to make relatively few mistakes against Northwestern, she said, and will need to rectify the problems that they displayed against Maryland last Friday in the conference tournament.

The Cavaliers only successfully cleared 1-of-6 attempts during the second half and 6-of-13 throughout the whole game in the 10-6 loss. The Virginia squad also turned the ball over twice as many times as its opponent, leading to fast break scoring opportunities for the Terrapins.

If the Cavaliers can perform better in transition and regain the balanced attack they produced prior to last Friday’s loss, the team believes it can earn its ninth win in 10 games and ride this momentum into the NCAA Tournament.

“I consider Northwestern the most competitive team outside of the ACC,” junior defender Marghi Walters said. “Beating them would really solidify our place in NCAA Division I lacrosse and also solidify how well we’ve been doing this year. They are the best team in the country, so if we can beat them, then obviously it would show how good of a team we really are going into postseason.”

Senior midfielder Brittany Kalkstein will play an integral role in the matchup against Northwestern. The team captain — and scoring leader — netted eight goals in the conference tournament in addition to gathering eight draw controls. Kalkstein ranks second in the nation in draw controls and currently is seven draw controls away from tying the NCAA all-time record.

Following Friday’s matchup, Kalkstein and the rest of the Cavaliers will wait and see who they will face in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament and start preparing to bring the NCAA Championship back to Charlottesville for the first time since 2004.

It’s been a few months since I’ve written a column for this newspaper. But during its last week of publication for my last semester of college, I couldn’t pass up an offer to have my ugly mug appear on these pages once more.

So what do I do with my last column in this paper? A sentimental approach would be to thank everyone who has been involved with my time at The Cavalier Daily, go on about my favorite moments as a student reporter and tearfully share my thoughts about what The Cavalier Daily means to me.

I’m not sentimental.

Instead, I’d like to share some extra tidbits — some scattered opinions and thoughts about the state of Virginia athletics.

Why? Because I’ve seen columnists do it before and thought it was cool. And I consider myself to be very cool.

So here goes:

This past weekend was a great weekend for Virginia athletics — three ACC championships, giving the Cavaliers a school-record seven on the year, and a historic relay race victory at the Penn Relays. But let’s not take it for more than it is.

The women’s rowing team and men’s tennis team wins are great accomplishments but expected. It would have been much more newsworthy if these teams didn’t win.

The ACC title in men’s lacrosse is the biggest win of the three, both in terms of the sport and the difficulty. The team won its first conference championship since 2006 — when Duke didn’t even participate — and snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Blue Devils in the process.

On the other hand, there are four teams in ACC men’s lacrosse, meaning it takes two victories to win the championship. When every team gets an automatic bid to the semifinals, winning the “whole thing” just doesn’t seem quite as “whole.”

The Penn relay is probably the coolest achievement: the 4-by-800-meter team took a win for the first time since 1943.

But for all the achievements this weekend, and for the four No. 1 teams that the Cavaliers have boasted this spring, if Virginia doesn’t get a national championship out of it, the spring season will have been a disappointment.

Plus, every time a spring sport does well, the contrast of those sports to the revenue sports’ struggles always springs to mind. It’s not fair to the hard-working spring athletes, but it’s just the way it is.

After four years, I am beginning to understand what Athletic Director Craig Littlepage means when he talks about a coach being a good “fit” for U.Va.

Mike London, Tony Bennett, Brian Boland, Brian O’Connor, Steve Garland, Michele Madison, Eileen Schmidt, Jason Vigilante, Lee Maes, Bowen Sargent and Kim Lewellen are all Littlepage hires.

I haven’t met Maes, Sargent or Lewellen, but the rest bear striking similarities. They are all energetic, passionately competitive coaches, yet down-to-earth, easygoing, and media-friendly types outside of competition.

The only counterexample that comes to mind for Littlepage hires is Dave Leitao, who is currently out of a job.

Hmmmm.

The day after Al Groh was fired, he sent an e-mail to the media in which he said there was a problem with collaboration during his time as the head football coach. He told me the same thing later in a phone interview. Although he didn’t explicitly elaborate, it seemed clear that he was referring to the collaboration of the administration with Groh’s vision of how a program should be run.

Would anybody else like to know just what in the heck that means? The only instances I can point to where Groh and the athletic department differed were: when Peter Lalich was kicked off the team the week after Groh had started him; and when nearly all of Groh’s assistant coaches were fired after the 2008 season. But each of these examples came when the football program was already headed for disaster.

I would love to separately sit down Groh and Littlepage and hear exactly what their differences are in terms of how to run an elite college football program. Of course, that won’t happen. Just wishful thinking.

One year ago, I wrote a column comparing Virginia to Virginia Tech, and in the end — considering the performance, personnel, and atmosphere surrounding the athletics programs only — I wrote that I would rather be a Hokie. In particular, I stuck a knife into Wahoos when I lamented that, at a football game, “all it takes to distract your average Wahoo is a girl in a sundress.”

Never have I received more feedback about a column — both positive and negative — than after that one.

Do I retract what I said back then? Nope.

But I think I might revise it in time. Although I believe it’s safe to say that next year won’t be a whole lot better than this one for Virginia fans in football and men’s basketball, I do believe that Bennett and London have the revenue sports moving in the right direction. And Virginia reaching new heights in non-revenue sports doesn’t entirely make up for the money-makers, but it helps cushion the blow.

What is most encouraging, though, I think, is the improvement in the fan base, and the ‘Hoo Crew in particular.

Students behind the basket are distracting opponent free throws with spinning wheels and other gadgets. Hype sheets are simpler and contain actually useful information — there was a time when the Hoo Crew listed Sean Singletary’s nickname as “Triple-Double Singletary,” when a triple-double is one of the few statistical landmarks that Singletary actually never reached.

Never have I been more impressed with the ‘Hoo Crew, though, than when students trudged through feet of snow to cheer on the men’s basketball team against Wake Forest Feb. 6. The student section was packed, and even with sparse attendance in general seating, the arena was as loud as it was all season.

I still say Tech fans have the edge in terms of their diehard nature. But then again, a winning team produces those kinds of fans — I’ll be interested to make a renewed fan comparison if the Hoos’ revenue sports teams reach Tech’s level for a couple years in a row.

That’s a big if.

In closing, I hope you’ve gotten something out of my columns and stories over the years, even if it was just a convenient area of scratch paper to brainstorm for the crossword puzzle.

Thanks for reading. It’s been fun.

The No. 1 Virginia baseball team matched a season-high seven-game win streak yesterday night with a 10-5 victory against Georgetown at Davenport Field.

After trailing 1-0 entering the bottom half of the second inning, the Cavaliers (36-9) scored 10 straight runs through the fifth inning, with two or more runs coming in each frame. Junior left fielder Phil Gosselin led the way for Virginia with his third-career four-hit game. He stroked a two-RBI double during the fourth as part of a three-RBI night.

Freshman first baseman Reed Gragnani and junior right fielder Dave Coleman each had two hits for the Cavaliers, who posted 13 on the game. Sophomore pitcher Justin Thompson earned the win after tossing 3.1 innings of two-hit baseball in relief of freshman Whit Mayberry, who only lasted 1.2 innings and surrendered three hits, two walks and a run.

The Hoyas (19-22) tacked on three runs during the top of the seventh when sophomore Will Roberts gave up a three-run home run to junior infielder Sean Lamont.

Roberts rebounded, however, and completed the victory along with redshirt freshman Chad O’Connor with three innings of solid relief.

Virginia now will head to Durham, N.C. to take on Duke for a three-game series this weekend.

—compiled by Andrew Seidman

I’m not usually a big fan of writing sports columns in list form, but lists are fun and — more important — fast to finish. Thus, with my creative juices running even lower than usual, and a dual desire to enjoy some gorgeous spring weather and watch plenty of White Sox baseball games — I mean, study for finals — I’m making a list and spell-checking it twice. Even if, like me, you face a work-saturated summer in some dank, daunting, D.C. office, fear not! For those ‘Hoos near the nation’s capital — or planning a visit — during the summer, I present the five summer sports experiences you shouldn’t miss. Without further ado — and with apologies to Andy Samberg — here’s how to avoid three sport-less months “at Kinko’s straight flippin’ copies.”

1. If you’re one of the precious few — hello, parents — who read all of my columns, you know that I’ve shamelessly plugged for the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs on numerous occasions. Add another one to the list, but the bottom line is that this year’s NHL playoffs have all the makings of one of the best ever. While the Washington Capitals fell to the upstart Montreal Canadiens in a heartbreaking Game 7 loss last night, my Chicago Blackhawks are still alive, kicking and looking to challenge the title hopes of historical powerhouses like Detroit and Montreal. Some of hockey’s most heated rivalries — Flyers-Penguins and Blackhawks-Red Wings are just two — figure to feature prominently in later playoff rounds. And although Washington’s raucous Verizon Center will no longer have the chance to host the Stanley Cup Finals this summer, you still have no excuse not to catch the high-octane hockey action on Versus. By next year — when the Caps finally win it all — you’ll be a bona fide hockey fan rocking the red with the rest of the Washington faithful — and that’s definitely a good thing. Until then, here’s hoping Patrick Kane and the ‘Hawks can bring Lord Stanley’s Cup to the Windy City for the first time since 1961.

2. If hockey isn’t your thing, or if you find yourself wanting for more sports action after the playoffs have come and gone, look no further than a Washington Nationals baseball game at new Nationals Park. The Nats play in the NL East and will draw plenty of talented opponents this summer, including World Series front-runners like the Philadelphia Phillies. The Nationals themselves are more than worth watching, however. At 11-10, Washington is defying preseason predictions of another underwhelming season while outperforming teams like the Braves — who boast a significantly higher payroll. With a brand spanking new stadium and a plethora of affordable seats available for most matchups, a Nationals game provides the perfect opportunity to enjoy some excellent baseball, catch some rays and cheer on Cavalier alum and Nats All-Star third baseman Ryan Zimmerman — who is certainly capable of going yard in any given game. It’s also only a matter of time until Nats ace-in-waiting, Stephen Strasburg — and his 99 mph fastball — gets the call to the big leagues, and his highly anticipated debut is something even a casual baseball fan won’t want to miss.

3. Although the Baltimore Orioles — like the Nationals — have been unfortunately anchored to the bottom of their division’s standings for much of the last decade, there are still plenty of reasons why a game at beautiful Camden Yards is worth your while. Sure, the Nationals play some tough teams, but the Orioles reside in the ridiculously talented AL East — a division which, depending on who you ask, features three World Series favorites in the Yankees, Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays. The Os sit at a league-low 4-16 record, but Baltimore’s talented corps of youngsters — including catcher Matt Wieters and starting pitcher Brian Matusz — are sure to improve by leaps and bounds during the coming months and give their top-tier divisional rivals a run for their money. Nationals Park may be newer and closer to downtown D.C., but it is Camden Yards — with its innovative, retro ballpark design featuring a beautiful view of downtown Baltimore — that ranks among the top three of the dozen or more MLB parks I have visited in my life. I understand if you don’t want to challenge the consecutive games record of Orioles legend Cal Ripkin, Jr. by attending 2,632 straight games, but surely you can make time for at least one game or series this summer — the “Iron Man” would approve.

4. Let’s change gears from “America’s pastime” to the so-called “game they play in heaven” — soccer. For avid fans of international soccer, American Major League Soccer will struggle to match the passion, flair and prestige of Barcelona or Inter Milan on the pitch — or its zealous fan atmosphere. Nevertheless, a D.C. United match at RFK Stadium represents the cream of the crop in terms of U.S. soccer. From the droves of domestic stars who work with the team — including Freddy Adu and ex-Virginia coach Bruce Arena — to the well-documented antics of the La Barra Brava cheering section, seeing a D.C. United game certainly rivals watching an English Premier League match on ESPN. Speaking of soccer and SportsCenter, ESPN also will cover the 2010 FIFA World Cup live from South Africa. Tune in starting June 11 to be treated to the most electric soccer atmosphere the game has to offer. With group foes Algeria, Slovenia and England all standing in America’s way, only time will tell whether the injury-hampered U.S. squad can spring an upset and prove to international doubters it belongs with the big boys of the beautiful game.

5. Of course, I could never let all this soccer talk distract me from the “real” football of the NFL. Last but certainly not least, the Washington Redskins will hold summer training camp this summer in Ashburn, Va., a suburb about 45 minutes outside D.C. The ‘Skins have already made plenty of headlines this offseason by acquiring quarterback Donovan McNabb from the division rival Philadelphia Eagles and reportedly showing significant interest in reuniting McNabb with his long-time target, the always controversial Terrell Owens. Along with new coach Mike Shanahan and new additions to the team courtesy of last week’s NFL Draft, it will be undeniably compelling theater to see how the ‘Skins shape up in preparation for their week one opener against the Dallas Cowboys. The Redskins’ summer camp practices and preseason games are open to fans and are a great opportunity to get player autographs and behind-the-scenes looks at the team. There is no substitute for the start of the NFL regular season, but you could do much worse for getting your Washington football fix this summer.

No matter what your summer plans — sports-related or otherwise — thanks for reading and have a happy and healthy end to the semester. Best of luck to all of the Cavalier spring sports as they look to conclude their seasons on a winning note. And go White Sox!

Springfest offers University students music food, and games all in one huge festival — for free. The University Programs Council has been throwing Springfest for the past few years, and it has consistently hosted notable musicians like Ben Folds, OK Go and Sara Bareilles. This year’s event also promises to be musically entertaining with guests Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Pompadour and The Hill and Wood. Apart from this selection of live bands, Springfest will amuse participants with other activities like the Vermonster Challenge, a graffiti wall, a caricature artist and a tie-dye station. Oh, and don’t forget the infamous Gusburger eating competition, an event of both epic proportions and portions.

Springfest 2010 is similar to previous installments, but one major change will be quite noticeable. UPC decided to move the venue from Nameless Field to the Amphitheater. PKG Concerts Director Ben Schildkraut said this translocation will result in a more intimate environment for enjoying live music. Perhaps Nameless has finally passed its prime as the overused, multipurpose field, and UPC is moving on to bigger and better sites for their events. Part of the reason for using the Amphitheater also may be related to the expected attendance, which is estimated to be more than 3,000. This number includes students and the general public, which also will be admitted at no cost.

Springfest is an idealistic free concert — and the closest thing University students will get to Woodstock. Your opinion of this event, however, depends on the kind of music that you enjoy, and it is certainly difficult to please the entire student body when it comes to music selection. UPC successfully polled the student body earlier this year to determine the top three potential musical guests for Springfest. Unfortunately, students won’t get to see their input come to fruition since none of the choices could be secured as performers. UPC went back to drawing board and developed plan B. They eventually settled on Robert Randolph and the Family Band, a group that combines soul, gospel, funk and rock in an eclectic mix. Robert Randolph will display his prodigious skills with the pedal steel guitar, which can only be described as a table-oriented doubled-necked guitar that is played with foot pedals and fingers — a very unusual and cool instrument. And although I can appreciate how this music blends genres and sounds, it does not seem entirely suitable for a college spring festival. The headlining band is sure to be entertaining, energetic and fun, but I think I speak for many students when I say I wish UPC had done more to schedule one of the choices from the poll last semester.

Even if Robert Randolph is not your cup of tea, there will be plenty of other musical incentives to attend Springfest. I had the privilege to talk with members of the student band Pompadour, which describes itself as power pop with indie and folk influence. As the winner of UPC’s Battle of the Bands competition, the four-piece band will open for Robert Randolph and the Family Band. Pompadou’s music is more than just an opening act, however. The vocals of fourth-year College student Jessie Love nicely accentuates the instrumental music, particularly when listening to the contrast of Love’s angelic notes against fourth-year College student Jeff Doyle’s harsher tones.

Pompadour frequently tears up the stage at local venues like the Tea Bazaar or the Outback Lounge, and the band seemed enthusiastic yet anxious about playing in front of so many people and opening for such a reputable band. This also is the first time that the group will perform for its peers, which led to concerns about whether students would identify with Pompadour’s music. As fourth-year Engineering student Kaitlyn Howling, who drums for the band, jokingly remarked, “The worst thing when you’re up on stage is to look out at a blank [faced] audience.” But I don’t think they’ll have much to worry about. If Pompadour’s success thus far is any indication, most students will be keen on the original sound and style.

So if you have missed out on previous Springfests, this is your official warning to mark your calendars for May 1. There is no reason to pass up a free concert, and there will certainly be enough variety of activities, music and food to fit the needs of anyone and everyone.

As illuminated by February’s e-book pricing battle between Amazon.com and book publisher Macmillan, the future of the book industry is moving away from traditional brick-and-mortar stores and into Internet-based sellers. This may seem fairly obvious — today, nearly everything is going digital — however, it is interesting to note that contemporary writers are likewise entering the online realm.

There are a plethora of online writing groups, ranging from general help forums to closed websites dedicated especially to, say, young adult romance novelists. Although these online forums represent a grassroots movement to connect with other like-minded writers around the world, publishers today are taking the idea a step further.

Enter HarperCollin’s authonomy, which describes itself as a “brand new community site for writers, readers and publishers.” The concept is simple: Members post their novels to be critiqued and rated by other members. Also lurking on the site are HarperCollins editors who evaluate the top five books — as voted by the authonomy community — every month. Once in a blue moon, they offer a lucky authonomy member a book contract.

Some propose that authonomy was motivated in part by the marketing success of the yearly Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award — ABNA, for short — which “discovers” and publishes the debut book of a first-time author every year. ABNA has just recently released the list of 100 semifinalists, which will be judged by publisher Penguin Books.

ABNA is a great marketing tool, especially considering that the number of people who identify themselves as aspiring writers is growing exponentially. With the advent of the Internet, anyone can “publish” and share their work with the world, thus marking a strange shift in demographics. Today’s “readers” are not content to merely enjoy the works of the published authors. They’re the aspiring writers of tomorrow.

Most ABC television shows, especially the comedies, are hit or miss. Series like ABC’s recent creation Modern Family have gumption that viewers fall in love with; the characters are original and flawed to the necessary comic extent, and the circumstances parody reality. Then there are the failures. The station’s attempt to create the series Cavemen in 2007, based off of the Geico commercials, was a catastrophe. The show was canceled within a month. When ABC added Scrubs to its weekly repertoire, the show’s ratings took a nosedive, and it, too, has now been canceled.

It is too soon to predict accurately which category ABC’s latest comedy series Romantically Challenged will fall into. Chances are that it will be the latter.

The show premiered April 19, an indication that ABC has little faith in its quality because it was not saved for the fall lineup. The plot follows four single friends and their dating challenges. Alyssa Milano stars as Rebecca Thomas, a lawyer recently divorced after 15 years of marriage. During the pilot episode, she goes on her first date since the split, and though it ends in shambles, she finds that she is ready to move on from her past heartbreak.

The show is not characteristically “bad.” The actors do a decent job with the roles they’re given. The main problem is that from this view, the series lacks any depth. There is not anything special about the characters that has not been seen in dozens of other shows before. The outlook for the plot seems trite. How many successful or failed dates can you watch before it becomes old?

The narrow scope of “looking for love” is what will ultimately break the show. True, past successes have revolved around friends playing the dating game, such as Friends. But the Friends altogether lovable cast with great chemistry also dealt with issues in the workplace and the outside world. Romantically Challenged gives no indication of reaching the same depth. It also lacks the witty writing necessary to mock human nature as shows like Seinfeld have.

As much as I wanted to give the show a chance, I simply could not do it. The conversations were awkwardly forced, the jokes dull and flat. To put it simply, it just tried too hard.

ABC also is taking some risks by not posting the show for online viewing. Any viewers unable to watch it regularly on cable may choose to forgo it entirely if they cannot catch up with online episodes. Consequently, it may lose out on a potential fan base, in addition to commercial funding.

I am not saying the new series is a complete bust, but the writers need to invigorate the show with down-to-Earth situations and the insightful humor that makes popular comedies like Modern Family worth watching. Otherwise, it will be a miracle if Romantically Challenged lasts longer than a summer fling.