A sportswriter's journey of faith
By Eric Kolenich | January 16, 2008Let's face it. It's easy to not like Al Groh. He lacks the charisma of Lou Holtz and on-the-field excitement of Urban Meyer.
Let's face it. It's easy to not like Al Groh. He lacks the charisma of Lou Holtz and on-the-field excitement of Urban Meyer.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Texas Tech kicker Alex Trlica's fourth-quarter field goal sailed through the uprights to complete the Red Raiders' stunning 31-28 comeback victory against the Cavaliers Jan.
After a deflating loss to Syracuse on Wednesday, the Virginia men's basketball team will look to get back on track tonight as it hosts the Longwood Lancers at 7 p.m.
Following a tough 75-45 loss to national powerhouse Connecticut Wednesday, the players on the Virginia women's basketball team dive into final exams like every other University student. The final exam period is a time during which no athletic teams play games; however, that does not mean practices are not a priority.
For the Virginia wrestling team the holiday break offers a chance to relax both academically and on the mat.
For the Virginia men's and women's swimming and diving teams, exam week provides more of a break than Winter Break.
Virginia senior Chris Long was awarded the 2007 Ted Hendricks award for the best defensive end in the nation yesterday.
Virginia will meet Texas Tech in the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl Jan. 1 in Jacksonville, Fla. in a game that features a tale of two teams that have won in drastically different ways this season. The Cavaliers (9-3, 6-2 ACC) have won most of their games this year with a gritty defense that has given up only 18.8 points per game, 13th in the nation.
Though many U.Va. students have heard of the triathlon -- either because it is an Olympic sport or because of the well-known Ironman race -- many do not know the University is home to its own triathlon club.
With classes officially ending tomorrow, students face the last obstacle between them and Winter Break: final examinations.
With 1:30 left in regulation and Syracuse up one on Virginia's home floor, the Orange left it to their star freshmen Donte' Greene and Jonny Flynn to come through.
Arms crossed, Dave Leitao stands at midcourt. In his tucked-in white polo shirt he looks exactly like one of the giant pillars holding up the front of John Paul Jones Arena, and he shows about as much emotion. Leitao is single-handedly running the basketball team's daily practice in the bowels of an awkwardly empty building that magnifies every shout, grunt and hard foul as a dozen giants in matching Nikes try to kill each other. On the "Blue Team" there are the big names (Singletary, Diane, Joseph) and a couple new bright spots in the Cavalier lineup (freshman guard Jeff Jones and freshman forward Mike Scott). The "Orange Team" is made up of the spoilers: Sammy Zeglinski, Jamil Tucker, Andy Burns, Jerome Meyinsse and Mustapha Farrakhan.
When David Wyant makes a call, people listen. As a member of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, the University graduate helps make legislative decisions that affect every citizen in the county. Wyant is special, though.
After picking apart Northwestern's 1-3-1 zone last Tuesday in a 94-52 win, the Virginia men's basketball team faces Syracuse and its trademark 2-3 defense tonight in the Cavaliers' stiffest home test of the season thus far. Virginia (6-1) has seen success this year largely from its ability to hit the three; the team is shooting almost 44 percent from beyond the arc and is tied for seventh nationally in 3-point field goals converted per game (10.57). With the multitude of perimeter weapons the Cavaliers offer, Virginia's offense is well-suited to match the zone from Syracuse (5-2) that challenges its opponents to hit the open jumper. "We're going to face a lot of zone," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said.
The Virginia women's basketball team faces one of its toughest tests of the season as it heads to Hartford, Conn., to take on second-ranked Connecticut tonight at 7 p.m. The Cavaliers will try to avenge last season's lopsided loss to the Huskies, a 96-60 blowout in John Paul Jones Arena. "We talked about [last season's matchup] a little bit," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said.
When the Cavaliers said good-bye to J.R. Reynolds last year, they lost more than their second-leading scorer at 18.3 points per game.
The cornerstone of Virginia wrestling this season seems to be the Keystone State. Twelve of the 31 wrestlers on Virginia coach Steve Garland's roster wrestled their prep careers in Pennsylvania, which is one of the top prep and collegiate wrestling states in the country.
This past weekend, three BCS-conference championship games were held, as the winners of the Big 12, SEC and ACC titles were determined in a one-game playoff.
No. 18 West Virginia ended the Virginia men's soccer team's quest to make the NCAA College Cup for the second year running by defeating the Cavaliers 1-0 in the second round of NCAA tournament play last week. Making its 27th-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, Virginia now holds the record for the longest active streak in the nation.
The Virginia wrestling team continued its climb into the elite of collegiate wrestling yesterday with several dominant individual performances in the Nittany Lion Open, reflecting the team's recent success.