Saturdays have gotten much more complicated for me.
For quite literally my entire life, every Saturday in the fall has been filled with the pomp and circumstance of game day, either at Scott Stadium or huddled around our TV if the Orange and Blue was on the road. I was born Nov. 14, 1987, the day of one of the biggest comebacks in Virginia football history. When the 1988 season started, at nine months old, my parents took me with them to every home game. My greatest sports high came when little Marques Hagans ran circles around — and lofted bombs over — those hated Seminoles.
But this year, no mas.
For years, the powers that be have treated fans like my parents as if they were below even the most basic consideration. No, they didn’t give thousands of dollars a year to the Virginia Athletics Foundation, and no, they didn’t pony up my college fund to get a luxury box. But they’ve had their seats for almost 25 years. When my parents started coming to games, the tiny gaggle of fans at the stadium sang the “Good Ol’ Song” when we got first downs on our own.
Then this year, someone in Bryant Hall cooked up yet another scheme to squeeze more money out of the most faithful fans. For my parents to even have a chance of holding those same seats, they would have to make a certain minimum donation to the VAF, on top of another hike in ticket prices. All of that wouldn’t even guarantee them seats in the same section (and this isn’t 50-yard line; try corner of the end zone).
We wonder why Virginia Tech kicks our butt every year. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that their administration has made sure every team stepping into Lane Stadium has to deal with almost 70,000 of the loudest, most rabid fans in college football. They don’t ignore and abuse the fans who, and this may be a novel concept to Virginia fans, actually cheer.
But as if that weren’t enough, here come the discipline problems. Thank you, Jameel and Chris for deciding to not go to class, Mike for stealing stereo equipment, J’Courtney for committing credit card fraud, and Will and Dave for stealing drinks from local bars. You’re truly an example for the thousands of kids who look up to Virginia football players and revere them as gods, kids like my cousins, my neighbors and once upon a time, me.
When Al Groh first got here, a long, long eight years ago, he emphasized getting players who were three things: smart, tough and focused. The team on the field in 2007 certainly was tough, as anyone who watched our six nail-biting wins can attest. But on the counts of smart and focused, the off-season speaks for itself.
While the vehement, vitriolic criticisms of Groh have swirled around the last few years, I’ve bitten my tongue. I never called for his head when he went 5-7; bad seasons happen to good teams. I’ve tried to accept the empty sound bites the man is uniquely able to concoct during any interaction with the media. But it’s just gotten to be too much.
Through my life as a Wahoo, I’ve learned to accept certain things about football, the foremost being that we’re going to lose to Tech more times than we aren’t. For the 15 years I’ve been able to form cogent sentences about football, I’ve justified the losses by pointing out that our academic standards are higher, that our recruits have to put more emphasis on “student” than on “athlete.” This is the University of Virginia, one of the most prestigious public institutions of higher learning in the country, home to one of the nation’s oldest honor codes.
And Al Groh has thrown that out the window. Since the end of the 2007 season, 10 players have either been left the team because of academic issues or have been arrested by local police. Day by day, Groh’s program is leaving a dark stain on the integrity of our school. Al Groh is looking more like Al Davis, squandering our moral superiority to the Techs and Florida States of the world to “just win, baby.”
But what’s worse, schools like Wake Forest have proved that success on the field and integrity in the classroom aren’t mutually exclusive. Wake has the smallest alumni base of any Football Bowl Subdivision team, and yet it has more ACC titles than we do. Just two years ago, with a freshman quarterback and without the services of their best running back, the Demon Deacons went 11-2 and won the conference championship.
Jim Grobe and his staff down in Winston-Salem did it by not trying to recruit toe-to-toe with the big boys. They drew up a system that required a specific kind of player, then picked up the smart players bigger schools had overlooked, hand-picking the ones who fit their system. (Grobe doesn’t allow his linemen to report to camp at more than 300 pounds, since his offense requires them to pull and trap.) Imagine: an innovative offense, and smart players that make it work. Must be nice.
There are certainly still members of this football program who are getting their job done in both the athletic and academic arenas. They understand their role as student-athletes, and as role models, and perform both admirably. It’s unfortunate that their efforts and accomplishments are overshadowed by the bad apples surrounding them.
I’m still going to go to games, don’t get me wrong — my love of Virginia runs too deep to allow myself to stay away come Saturday. Carolina blue will still make me sick to my stomach, and I will never, ever stop hating Tech. But until Groh, or Craig Littlepage, or even the vendors who charge $4.00 for a bottle of water, show they care about the real fans and about restoring the academic integrity that makes this school great, I won’t spend a single minute in sorrow after another all-too-frequent loss.
Read More
Boyden and Tufts reunite, chasing titles alongside each other
By Michael Liebermann | 3 hours agoA permanent mutual affection exists between Boyden and his former program.
Virginia faces goalie conundrum heading into Final Four
By Michael Liebermann | YesterdayThe situation represents a turnaround for Tiffany’s squad.
Connor Shellenberger, an unforgettable shot, and a wave of unbidden tears
By Michael Liebermann | YesterdayAn incredible game-winner triggered a rush of emotion
