For the first time in six years, the Virginia men's basketball team finds itself in uncharted waters, the NCAA Tournament.
Top-of-the-line hotels. Free food. Open air and the excitement of new cities, new schools and new challenges each weekend. This is the life of your run-of-the-mill, everyday NCAA athlete at the University of Virginia -- a little nicer than the week-old pizza and lumpy mattresses most college students are used to. Some teams, such as the basketball and field hockey squads, are lucky to travel once or twice a week to play a game at another school before hurrying back to Charlottesville and repeating the same schedule. The football team, on the other hand, travels days before its game begins, with all its focus on one day and one game to prove its worth. But the pinnacle of sports travel -- the road trip -- is reserved for baseball and softball. Each weekend, the Cavalier baseball team plays three games against an ACC school. That means three different starting pitchers have to be ready to go -- sophomore Jacob Thompson, freshman Matt Packer and junior Sean Doolittle are expected to play this weekend against North Carolina -- and the lineup has to have enough energy to hit the base paths running all weekend. This schedule involves three times as much work and the potential for three times as much glory -- or three times as much sorrow.
If you are anything like me, then there is no chance that you are reading this column (unless you're reading online, for which I thank you for your dedication, dear reader). That's because you haven't left your bed and couldn't get a Cav Daily because you are skipping all of your classes (I'm actually going to one, Mom and Dad) in honor of the beginning of the NCAA Tournament.
Let's make one thing very clear right now. Tomorrow's men's NCAA Tournament game against Albany is the biggest sports event in the last four years for Virginia.
On a picture perfect day for baseball at Davenport field, the Virginia Cavaliers recorded the most lopsided victory in team history.
Remember Virginia's losses in Puerto Rico? Nope, not me. For the most part since December, fans have wiped those games clean from collective memory.
Last night, with a 23-6 win against Mount Saint Mary's, the sixth-ranked Virginia men's lacrosse team successfully broke the curse of the orange uniforms. The Cavaliers' (5-1-0) last outing in orange jerseys was in 2005 against Duke whenthe Blue Devils won 17-2.
The Virginia softball team, which entered March with a respectable 7-9 record, did not fare well during Spring Break, going 1-7. The Cavaliers (8-16) traveled to Jacksonville, Fla.
During the 30 minute delay to the game yesterday due to the late arrival of a referee, the tension in Klöckner stadium built in preparation for what was billed as a clash between two titans of women's lacrosse.
Basketball Virginia men's basketball coach Dave Leitao was named ACC Coach of the year after leading the Cavaliers to a 20-10 record in his second season at the helm.
The Virginia men's lacrosse team will look to extend its four-game winning streak tonight against Mount Saint Mary's. "This game's another day in which we have the opportunity to get a little bit better," Virginia coach Dom Starsia said.
After starting off the season with two huge wins, the No. 4 Virginia women's lacrosse team has not stopped rolling. With three wins over No.
TAMPA, Fla.
Remember sneaking around during breaks between periods in high school to catch a few minutes of an NCAA tourney game on television, and if you were lucky, seeing a last second buzzer beater?
Going into Spring Break last week, the Cavalier baseball team was rolling in success. They had gone 12-0 in their first (and longest) homestand of the year.
The Virginia football program added Wayne Lineburg to the coaching staff last week. Lineburg will serve as the new wide receivers coach, replacing John Garrett, who departed to the Dallas Cowboys to become their tight end coach after last season.
The Virginia women's golf team has come very far over the years, and in only four seasons, Coach Jan Mann and the current seniors have taken the program from its infancy to being a conference powerhouse.Mann, who has been with the No.
It has been a long season for the Virginia women's basketball team. The Cavaliers have been forced to deal with suspended players, close losses and sporadic injuries to some of the team's best interior players. Virginia will try to extend its season a little bit longer, however, as the Cavaliers head to Greensboro, N.C.
Despite having to play two matches in one day, the Cavaliers coasted to two wins last night, running their record on the season to 12-1.
When I think of all the inspirational sports movies out there -- and what sports movie isn't inspirational?
