Sports Columns

Sports

Club teams deserve props too

By Ian Rappaport | October 3, 2012

NCAA Division I athletics are inarguably the highest level of college sports. An overwhelming majority of the best 18-22 year-old athletes in the United States compete in Division 1, creating the ultimate destination for aspiring young athletes to test their mettle against the best talent the nation has to offer. But when a high school prospect is only good enough for Division 2 or Division 3 and picks a D-1 school instead for its academics or other factors, the dream of being an elite athlete goes on life support.

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Sports

Not fit to be tied

By Zack Bartee | October 3, 2012

Entering Sunday with a 10-6 lead at Medinah Country Club, the United States was preparing to bring the Ryder Cup back to U.S.

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Sports

Change we can believe in

By Sean McGoey | October 1, 2012

First of all, let me be clear. I never wanted this to happen. I was the one defending Virginia quarterback Michael Rocco through all the chants and signs proclaiming “We Want Sims!” I consistently asserted that Rocco should remain the starter ahead of backup Phillip Sims even after consecutive games in which Rocco threw two interceptions and failed to reach 150 yards through the air. “He’s getting no help from the defense,” I said.

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Sports

The blame game

By Fritz Metzinger | October 1, 2012

In the aftermath of Virginia’s zany 44-38 loss against Louisiana Tech, coach Mike London was the spitting image of a man trying as hard as humanly possible to avoid the use of a four-letter word.

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Sports

The Blame Game

By Fritz Metzinger | September 30, 2012

In the aftermath of Virginia’s zany 44-38 defeat to Louisiana Tech, Coach Mike London was the spitting image of a man trying as hard as humanly possible to avoid the use of a four-letter word.

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Sports

October nears, playoff races heat up

By Zack Bartee | September 26, 2012

As the 2012 MLB regular season draws to a close and the hunt for October intensifies, both new and familiar faces are taking over the national spotlight.

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Sports

The ACC rises

By Sean McGoey | September 25, 2012

Week four of the college football season was an important one, as many teams began conference play. Gone for the most part were the tune-up games against depleted FCS squads.

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Sports

NFL stakes claim as television's juiciest drama

By Zack Bartee | September 19, 2012

Like all good television, the NFL has its fair share of action and drama. But after the past two weeks, pencil this season in to sweep the Daytime Emmy Awards for the most dramatic soap opera on television. Yes, we’ve been treated to phenomenal performances in the first two weeks.

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Sports

No sure wins for football

By Sean McGoey | September 18, 2012

Denial is the first stage of grief. Like many Virginia football fans, I have spent the last few days denying there was a college football game in Atlanta Saturday afternoon.

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Sports

Guilty until proven innocent

By Sean McGoey | September 10, 2012

“Ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat.” I am not a Latin scholar, and I doubt most of you are either, but we all know that phrase.

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Sports

There is no cheering in the press box

By Ben Baskin | September 10, 2012

Even if your only connection to sports journalism is through Twitter, chances are that you are well aware of that rule.

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Sports

The Ugly, Beautiful Truth

By Fritz Metzinger | September 8, 2012

Nobody got his money’s worth from this highly hyped Penn State showdown. What we got instead is far more valuable: a genuine human drama that reinforced everything we truly love about college football.

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Sports

The Gray

By Fritz Metzinger | September 2, 2012

Though the vast majority of the 50,081 fans who flocked to Scott Stadium donned orange for Virginia’s first home football game of the season, the color gray most defined the Cavaliers’ 43-19 win against Richmond Saturday.

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Sports

A strange loss

By Fritz Metzinger | August 30, 2012

The Wes Anderson-directed Moonrise Kingdom was my favorite film of the summer. As is characteristic of Anderson’s films, Moonrise Kingdom offered both a charming, quirky brand of humor and a thought-provoking central theme, all the while unapologetically embracing its weirdness. Once upon a time, college football was the Moonrise Kingdom of big-time American sports.

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Sports

Athletes aren’t the only ones who create turnovers

By Sean McGoey | August 29, 2012

As sports fans we form a bond, sometimes practically spiritual in nature, with a team or player. We build memories of that connection, that team’s achievements or that player’s incredible moments. Then the very next year many of those same players have departed. New faces replace the old, rendering the team fundamentally different from the team we remember.

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Sports

Star Treatment

By Zack Bartee | August 29, 2012

Dez Bryant’s 2012-13 rules for success: 1. Focus 100 percent on football. 2. No more “allegedly” assaulting mom. 3a. Stop doing stupid things. 3b. Grow up and stop being a distraction.