Wooderson, played by the incomparable Matthew McConaughey, said in the film "Dazed and Confused:" "Let me tell you this, the older you do get the more rules they're gonna try to get you to follow. You just gotta keep livin' man, L-I-V-I-N."
Ask the members of the Virginia softball team, and they would tell you the heart and soul of their successes, and their failures, come from the spirit of that quotation. Go to any softball game, and the one thing that will stand out the most is the incessant cheering, screaming and fun that the Cavaliers display -- whether Virginia is losing, winning or warming up.
"I think we are one of the tightest teams on Grounds," junior infielder Sara Larquier, the team leader in hits, RBIs and doubles, said. "If you're not having fun, then it takes a lot away from the sport. We don't have a reason to be serious and quiet on the field. We all laugh at ourselves and at each other."
It is this close-knit personality and fun-loving approach to the game that separates the Virginia softball team from the competition. An important part of the Cavaliers' strategy is to translate that up-beat attitude onto the field, keeping the spirits of the team members high in a game where failure is inherently woven into its make-up.
"Softball is a game of failure," freshman first baseman and pitcher Whitney Holstun, a raising star, said. "You hit one of three times in a game, and that's great. So you have to be able to count on your team and have them pick you up when you are not doing your best. You just have to keep your spirits up."
One of the ways the Cavaliers do just that is through cheers, individual handshakes and an emphasis on cohesiveness as a team.
It is impossible to understate the sheer number of handshakes, routines and cheers that take place on the field and in the dugout for Virginia. Every inning, and sometimes after an out, each infielder meets at the pitching circle and does a specific, individual handshake with every other infielder. The outfielder's do a long distance meeting, too. This takes about a half a minute, and unlike celebrations in other sports (cough, cough Terrell Owens, J.J. Redick, Antoine Walker cough, cough), they have a team-oriented purpose.
"When you come to that circle, you laugh at your handshakes, and it's an inside thing with the team," Larquier said. "Almost everybody has a different handshake with everybody on the team. It's one thing that keeps the communication going on the field."
These handshakes range from traditional high-fives to complex routines involving inside jokes to just about anything that can be thought of underneath the sun. One of senior captain and star catcher Jenn Wynn's favorite involves the dance move "heel-toe" that Holstun taught her.
"I have one with Whitney, the 'heel-toe,'" Wynn said. "She can dance, and she's teaching me it, so we had to bring it on to the field. It's all things to keep you loose."
Virginia will do these handshakes, cheers and rhythm beats at any cost, and at any time. Over the Spring Break trip to Hawaii, a particular incident reflected that. The Cavaliers were using baseballs to bang on their dugout to pick up a rhythm for a cheer, which the umpires would not allow them to do, quoting the rule book that disallows the use of equipment for any intention other than the manufacturer's intention. So the Cavaliers started using their hands. The umpires outlawed that, too. But the Cavaliers one-upped them, bringing a drum into the dugout so they could bang out their rhythms and cheers.
"It's a part of us," Holstun said. "We're going to do it no matter what. We will do it, even if there's a rule against it."
The Cavaliers' resolve to keep their spirits high and attitudes bright translates onto the field. As a team that has its fair share of ups and downs (Virginia's overall record is under .500, yet they are third in the ACC with a 7-6 record), one constant for the Cavaliers is their unbridled enthusiasm and care for one another. That constant up-beat attitude helps the Cavaliers on their best and worst of days.
"Our energy definitely transfers onto the field and how we play," Wynn said. "When we're up, it's definitely a better game."
The high energy level and fun handshakes ensure a better game for the Cavaliers, or as Wooderson would say, a better way of L-I-V-I-N.
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