Spring is finally here. Unlike those who think that tree blossoms or warm weather or the appearance of sundresses herald the season of rebirth, I've spent the last four years attached to a different sign of spring: helmets and shoulder pads. While the rest of the world is thinking bunnies and bouquets, any self-respecting Virginia fan should be observing the rites of spring: lacrosse and spring football.
If you didn't follow the men's lacrosse team in their 9-8 nailbiter win at Townson on Sunday, you missed witnessing the first athletic rebirth of the year. Down 5-2 at the half and mired in their longest losing streak in 17 years, the Cavaliers seemed to suddenly remember that they, the defending national champions, had a lot more to offer the game than poor shots and lame ground balls. So they rattled off five goals in the third quarter, one for each of this season's losses and one for good measure, and then kept right on fighting through overtime. Moments like that make it easy to forget that it's still too cold for flip-flops.
With the Cavaliers and the Charlottesville weather warming up in the same week, this Saturday's rematch of the national title game, Johns Hopkins-Virginia, has the potential to bring lacrosse excitement to an all out boil. Go to the game and see for yourself. Watch Virginia midfielder Kyle Dixon drop a shoulder on a Blue Jay attacker and tell me it isn't better than spring cleaning.
Lacrosse is a part of the athletic landscape every spring, and although the crashing bodies and swift sticks might drown out the birds' chirping, I have yet to find a better cure for the post-Spring Break blues and the pre-graduation jitters.
Football has a distinctly fall attitude, but really, can you ever have too much of a good thing? There will always be a special place in my heart, and hopefully in your schedules, for the open practices and exhibitions of the spring football season.
Spring football is truly an act of healing and rejuvenation, throwing off the dark cloud of another disappointing basketball season and emerging into the promise of Groh's next go at football dominance.
This season might not have the mystery of Groh's first, or even the prestige of his first full recruiting class, but it certainly has all the promise we Wahoos could hope for.
There are four practice sessions open to the public, so take the opportunity to mosey on over to U-Hall and watch sophomore fullback Jason Snelling, now cleared to play and hoping to join Wali Lundy at the top of the list of ACC backs. See how D'Brickashaw Ferguson throws around the extra 25 pounds he's put on in the offseason. Find out whether Notre Dame transfer Chris Olson will bring the luck of the Irish to Matt Schaub's old job and, my own personal mission, whether Marquis Weeks can still be a standout senior at safety. I'm rooting for that guy.
Wondering what we'll get from sophomore punter Noah Greenbaum? With Tom Hagan leaving the team to focus on baseball, Greenbaum is the only Cavalier with collegiate experience. The best place to catch him will be the Football Festival and Spring Game on April 17. If a preview of next year's gridiron goodies isn't enough to put a spring in your step, there's always the festival's moon bounce.
So as you unearth your shorts and polo shirts from underneath your winter sweaters, don't pack away too much of your orange and blue. The seasons are beautiful in Virginia, and when it comes to sports, we're looking at a lovely spring.
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