There are certain sports moments you never forget.
I'll never forget how three years ago, I was sitting in a room at the Doubletree Hotel on Route 29. I lay on the bed, watching Marques Hagans fumble on the one yard line in the Cavs' loss to Colorado State. I also remember feeling a bizarre and never quite repeated combination of anxiousness, nervousness, sadness and giddiness, all of which were as unforgettable as the fumble. I remember sitting there, knowing the next day I would move into Dabney 120 and begin my collegiate career.
I also remember being very miffed, exclaiming, "Why did the athletic department have a home game on the night before move-in day? Who is our AD, Bud Selig?" My powers of observance and sarcasm even then had me well prepared for a career as a sports columnist, launched three years too late with the column you have before you now.
The next day at our dorm barbeque, a fellow Dabneyite with both his ears pierced and a white T-shirt two sizes too small walked up to me and said, "How about that game last night?" This conversation has since turned into three years of friendship, a beloved Halo tag team, Beach Week and a trip to FedEx Field where we both rocked out to Bruce Springsteen in the greatest concert I have ever seen.
This was my first intersection of sports and life at U.Va. Sports have the power to make things stand out in a totally unique way -- big or small. Whether it's going on a road trip to watch the Hoos, a miraculous intramural softball comeback or a Connor Hughes field goal to send your best friend from Wake Forest back to Winston-Salem with a loss, the moments when the line between sports and life get blurry are often the most special.
With football set to kick off shortly, I am absolutely ecstatic I have the chance with this column to be a part of all of those unforgettable moments and stories of the coming semester. I feel honored and privileged to be able to be one of the people you turn to for sports information, entertainment and analysis. But more than anything, I feel those same emotions I felt three years ago and haven't really felt since. With the awesome power that is my own Cav Daily sports column, it's impossible not to. Here are some emotional examples:
Anxious: To break open a new copy of Madden. I didn't have time with my summer internship, so I'm stoked to use the new and improved Eli Manning.
Nervous: That the Knicks will be horrible again. Seriously, I can't take another bad season. More on this and the NBA as the season approaches.
Sadness: No more seats with former Cav Daily columnist and close friend Joe Lemire, or the rest of the old Hoocrew gang with whom I have sat courtside for three years. At least Gillen got fired. If Pete can't call dumb timeouts anymore, I won't hear the sound of silence, when in the past I would have heard Joe yelling "AND THAT'S ANOTHER PETE GILLEN ..." to which the Hoocrew responded "TIMEOUT." Just writing this hurts inside.
Giddiness: Too many to count, but here goes: Two new coaches (Leitao, Larry Brown), NFL (enough said), hockey is back (sort of), bocce on the Lawn, the Schaub Cup (more on this later too), and an entire season of IM sports, ending a career that can best be described as "Tony Massenburg-like." And most importantly, writing this column.
In short, there are certain sporting moments you never forget. Let's find out what this year's will be.
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