A Golf Clap and a Groan

For the first time in several games, the Hoos gave an effort worthy of at least a golf clap. Yes, in the midst of a nine-game losing streak, Virginia fans are in the business of looking for moral victories. Saturday's hard-fought 74-68 loss to ACC regular season co-champion Maryland qualifies. Keep in mind, Sylven Landesburg missed the game after being suspended for the remainder of the season. In addition, Mike Scott played only 15 minutes and tallied just two points. So, with that type of storyline, conventional wisdom suggests the game should have been a blow out. However, the short-handed Hoos competed, played hard, and even when facing a 14-point deficit, failed to fold. The Cavs posted a gutsy performance and a handful of unlikely heroes stepped up and played well

• Jerome Meyinsse posted a near-perfect senior night and capped off what has been a very nice season from the senior center. It could easily be argued Meyinnse is the only player on this year's squad who has exceeded expectations. Sammy Zeglinski has certainly shown progress but has faded as of late. On the other hand, Meyinsse has continued to improve throughout the season - hitting his stride down the stretch. He went out in style on Saturday and led UVa in scoring with 17 points. Even with the loss, if nothing else, you have to at least feel good for a guy who has worked hard both on the court and in the classroom.
  
• Speaking Zeglinski, he and Jeff Jones finally showed up. Zeglinski shot 50% from beyond the arc and tallied 14 points while Jones was a blistering 4-6 from downtown en route to a 16-point outing. Mutsapha Farrakhan chipped in 8 points and Will Sherrill added a solid contribution off the bench with 9 points. Interesting to see all of these guys step up with Mike Scott having an off night and Landesburg out for the year. Wonder how much their inconsistency is due to having Landesburg carrying so much of the focus offensively? Michael Jordan succeeded only when the Bulls surrounded him with guys who could contribute and knew their role within the system. It's clear these guys have yet to truly figure out how they fit in (night after night) to an offense that runs through Landesburg nor has the group been able to develop any sort of consistent chemistry.
• Coach Tony Bennett picked a fine time to garner his first career technical foul. With just over 38 seconds remaining and UVa down by one, Bennett slammed his jacket on the floor in protest of a tough blocking call. Replays showed Meyinsse did lean/slide slightly to the right as Maryland's Sean Mosley barreled into him. However, with time winding down on the shot clock, Mosley lowered his head and went to the hoop with little regard for anyone or anything in his way - a player control foul certainly was not out of the question. No doubt it was a tough call (especially after Gary Williams had just finished getting in the ear of the officials regarding a previous charge called on star Greivis Vasquez) though Bennett's technical proved a back-breaker.
  
• Speaking of Greivis Vasquez, did anyone else notice his first name appears to be a combination of his father's name Gregorio and his mother's name, Ivis? Hoo knew.
• So, an already bizarre season just got a little weirder Saturday morning with the announcement of Landesburg's season-ending suspension. Early reports are that Landesburg wasn't going to class which only further adds fuel to the "leaving for the pros" fire. Skipping class seems to fit the M.O. of a guy who has checked out and started looking ahead to next season - why go to class when you won't be there next year? What's the point? Regardless of what might eventually happen, the one thing that is clear right now is Bennett's commitment to doing things according to the established rules. It is obvious Bennett is establishing a new culture, and in light of the various suspensions throughout the year, it appears he runs a tighter ship than his predecessor.
  
• Props to the announced crowd of 13,431 who showed up to catch the Hoos' last home game of the season. Virginia fans have certainly earned a reputation for being a bit fair-weathered (a fair assessment in some cases) though Saturday's showing was extremely strong in light of the circumstances (an eight-game losing streak to be exact). Juxtapose that against the game two days earlier in Chestnut Hill when less than 4,000 people showed up to catch Boston College host the Cavs. The two teams have extremely similar records and both are struggling, yet Virginia's fan support proves miles ahead. Maybe UVa fans are looking beyond this season and buying into Bennett's efforts to rebuild the program for long-term success.
  

On the court, this season has been underwhelming to say the least, yet the one thing that has not been lacking is drama. Various story lines have run throughout, and it's scary to think what might happen next. Remember to keep your hands inside the ride at all times because the roller coaster that is Virginia basketball is not ready to return to the station and shut down for the year.
Continue reading this post...

Wishful Thinking

Yesterday's argument was that a win against Boston College could help provide a shred of hope, and from a statistical standpoint (especially in conference), a victory over the Eagles would help tell the story of progress. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and that includes changing perspective in order to find or even manufacture a silver lining. Unfortunately, the lowered expectations and new focus were not met with different results. Last night the Hoos dropped their eighth straight contest - a 68-55 loss to BC. Once again the Hoos fell behind early and never recovered - talking about this squad is really starting to sound like a broken record. It's the same stuff night in and night out.

• Welcome back Mike Scott. After getting blanked the last two games, Scott finally showed up and nearly posted a double double. Sylven Landesburg also returned to action and notched 13 points as well. Jerome Meyinsse, as he has done all season, played beyond expectations and chipped in 12 points. So, those three accounted for 70% of Virginia's 55 total points. That's not enough offensive distribution to be competitive. Sammy Zeglinksi missed every shot he took, ended the night with a goose egg and has all but disappeared. Same goes for Jeff Jones. Mustapha Farrakhan notched 8 points, and normally that would be a respectable contribution, but when nobody else shows up, it's far too little.
• Houston, we have a problem. Losing eight straight is no small feat and there is no doubt something has gone terribly wrong with this squad. Blame it on lack of overall talent, chemistry problems, fatigue, transition to a new system, or whatever else you want to identify, but regardless of the causes, it's getting ridiculous. The wheels have fallen off and now the Cavs can't even manage to dig deep and find enough pride to be competitive against (let alone beat) another ACC bottom feeder.
• Chalk this season up as a loss in the name of change - at least, that's what Hoos fans hope to be saying 2-3 years from now if and when the program has once again become competitive. At this point, Virginia is staring at the real possibility of finishing the season on a 10-game losing streak, which will make it difficult to discern much of anything from this season. Finding true signs of lasting progress, wholesale change, or the building of a foundation for success still remains a big question mark.
• This summer is shaping up to be just as full of intrigue as last summer. Questions abound regarding freshman Tristan Spurlock, and the recent commitment from Billy Baron only adds fuel to the fire. Six commits with only five available scholarships means something has got to give - will Spurlock transfer, is Landesburg bolting for the NBA, or are all of the recent lineup changes not our of sheer desperation, but instead, Bennett's way of having everyone tryout/audition for their scholarship. Hoo knows, but at this point, it appears there are just as many questions after Bennett's first year as there were last summer when he was entering his first year in C'ville. Ideally things should start (even if in only small ways) to be coming together instead of becoming more unsettled.....again, maybe you have to deconstruct this thing and build it back up in order to accomplish real change.
  

Oh the life of a Virginia hoops fan......are we having fun yet? Continue reading this post...

What Virginia Tech Has ... You Don't Want

In recent years, as Virginia basketball struggled through more than one 4-12 ACC season and only one winning ACC season since 2001, it was a common refrain amongst Hoo Nation that Virginia Basketball doesn't need to be great; it should simply strive for what for what Virginia Tech has. 

It was not necessarily a surprising plea, as it was hard to watch Virginia falter as its arch-rival maintained a surprising level of respectability.  Despite predictions that Tech would wilt in a superior basketball conference, Seth Greenberg's charges have almost always been respectable, only once really bad.  Since joining the ACC in 2004, Tech was 38-42 in ACC play entering this season, and finished no worse than 7-9 in every season but one.  During that same span, the Cavaliers were 31-49, and three times were 5-11 or worse. 

But while I applaud the job Seth Greenberg has done in Blacksburg, you don't want what he's selling.  While Tech has overall been better than Virginia since joining the ACC, the two schools are nonetheless even on the only measure that really matters -- postseason success.  Despite always being respectable, Tech has been to the NCAA Tournament only once as an ACC member.  That was in 2007, when a senior-laden team earned a No. 5 seed, defeated Illinois 54-52 in a first round game that set back offensive basketball fifty years, and then politely folded to mid-major S. Illinois, 63-48.  That same season, however, Virginia also made its only trip to the Dance since Tech's arrival in the ACC.  The Hoos were a No. 4 seed, overwhelmed a supposed upset-special Albany squad, 84-57, and bowed out to a good Tennessee team, 77-74, in a Round 2 game whose outcome likely would have been different if J.R. Reynolds was not injured in the midst of a lights-out performance.  So despite the six-game disaprity in ACC records, its the Cavaliers who have the more impressive NCAA resume during that same span, a 1-1 record that could easily have been better, not a 1-1 record that could easily have been worse. 

Would you prefer 7-9 instead of 4-12?  Of course you would.  But let's not excuse respectable for acceptable.  Respectable is nice, and avoids your program being the butt of bad Washington Post jokes, but it is not the foundation upon which basketball programs survive, at least here at Virginia.  Just ask Jeff Jones, whose teams hovered around .500 in ACC play throughout his career but was canned after a disastrous 3-13 season in 1997-98.  No, you want what Pete Gillen and Dave Leitao tried (unsuccessfully) to build, and what Tony Bennett looks well on his way to establishing -- a national program with an occasional chance at greatness.

Perhaps they'll tolerate seasons of good but not great, interchangeable 7-9 and 9-7 ACC records, and life on the NCAA bubble but more likely headed to the NIT, down in Blacksburg.  But that's never been good enough in Charlottesville, and I hope I never see the day that it is.  Thankfully, I don't think that's what Tony Bennett has in mind either. 
    Continue reading this post...

Transforming Before Our Eyes

The win itself isn't necessarily significant.  Virginia won its ACC opener on the road last season too (an 88-84 OT win at Georgia Tech). But its the way they won 70-62 against N.C. State that, while not necessarily portending great things this season (that's still very unlikely), does give the Cavalier faithful some hope that the program is again moving in the right direction.     

• In just 13 games, Tony Bennett has gotten this group to do what Dave Leitao couldn't - play rock solid halfcourt defense.  The Cavaliers closed down driving lanes, fought gamely for post position, and outrebounded the Wolfpack despite playing with four guards most of the second half.
• Playing small (something Leitao tried at times last season) only works if everyone boxes out and all five players hit the glass.  The stats say N.C. State had eight offensive rebounds, but I didn't see many that were caused by a missed box out or a guard waiting for someone else to get the board, two things that plagued the Hoos frequently last season.  Virginia outrebounded the Pack 36-30 for the game.
• On the offensive side of the ball, the Hoos were rarely spectacular, but very efficient.  JP Sports flashed a graphic that Virginia had gone from 242nd last season to top 10 in least turnovers committed so far this season.  That looked like it might be the product of a soft preseason schedule after the Cavs committed eight in the first half and then another on the first possession of the second half.  But they only had one more the rest of the way.  Amazing what a few more possessions ending in shots can do for a team that still struggles at times offensively.
• It took him a year (two if you count his medical redshirt season) for Sammy Zieglinski to understand that he simply can't finish around the rim at his size in the ACC.  His drive and kickout for a Jeff Jones' three cut the Wolfpack lead to one at 53-52 with 4 1/2 minutes left.  Last season, Zieglinski throws something up at the rim on that play.  Saturday, he took four shots, two were threes, both of which he made.  That's how Zieglinski (generously listed at 6-0) needs to play to be successful in this league.
• Speaking of Jones, it took him two years to figure out his role at this level.  Jones has trouble creating his own shot, and still disappears for stretches.  But if he catches in space, Jones is a deadly shooter.
• Mike Scott spent a little too much time around the perimeter for my liking in the first half.  But he went inside when it mattered most in the second half.  His drive and dish to Landesberg gave Virginia a 54-53 lead it would never relinquish.  Then, his turnaround from the right block stretched the lead to 58-53.  On the defensive end, Scott also fought off Tracy Smith in the post with no possibility of help (surrounded by nothing but guards).  Simply put, Scott doesn't complete that effort last season. 
• Its easy to single out Landesberg, but people will do it anyway.  He was the best player on the court in the second half.  But he should have been.  Landesberg is capable of going both right and left, but teams have picked up that, like most players, he isn't nearly as strong going to his off hand (he's almost unstoppable going right).  But his runner going left to make it 60-55 (after N.C. State briefly broke out of an offensive funk with two points) was a dagger in the heart of the Pack.
• I close with one final observation.  Its often said that college basketball teams adopt the personality of its head coach.  In contrast to Leitao, who was often erratic and frenetic on the sideline, Bennett is the picture of cool.  The team followed his lead.  Throughout Virginia's second half run, the players (bench included) rarely overreacted - a few fist pumps here and there, but no jumping up and down.  They looked methodical - just like their coach, and just like the win.  I like it.         

    Continue reading this post...

Thank God for Hoops Season

Amidst what appears to be another meh football campaign, buzz has been building all fall for the start of hoops season, which for true junkies starts Friday with the beginning of practice.  The buzz surrounding Virginia, of course, begins and ends with new coach Tony Bennett, the latest coaching savior brought over from a major conference school (albeit a lower tier school in said conference) to bring the Hoos back to the level they were in the 80s and early 90s under Terry Holland and, for a time, Jeff Jones. 

This is nothing new, of course.  The same buzz surrounded the fast-talking Pete Gillen and "we're going to play the right way" Calhoun-disciple Dave Leitao.  Anyone that tells you the buzz is any greater this time around is lying (and anyone that tells you that they're glad Virginia at least didn't go the mid-major route again is an idiot, since Gillen and Leitao came via the Big East from Providence and DePaul respectively).  Still, that hasn't stopped the Fourth Estate from the obligatory renewed optimism and different feel pieces in advance of the season.

We've also seen a number of pieces praising Bennett's superior recruiting efforts, here and here for example.  But let's not shortchange his predecessors, although it was popular to do so while they were here.  Leitao brought in, just last season, consensus top-25 prospect Sylven Landesberg, top-100 center Jon Brandenburg, and another highly-sought after big man (just ask UConn fans in particular) Assane Sene.  Before that, Leitao landed a highly-praised 2007 class, highlighted by top-100 guard Jeff Jones and in-state get Mike Scott.  Leitao also lined up top-100 SF Tristan Spurlock before he left.

My point is not relitigate the decision to fire Leitao (a decision I agreed with), or to caution against crowning Bennett as a crackerjack recruiter just yet based on getting LOIs from five kids, only two of which are top-100 players (but let's keep it in perspective, OK?).   

No, the point is that the cupboard is not exactly bare in Charlottesville.  So its possible, and maybe even likely, that Bennett will be able to avoid the obligatory rebuilding year that Gillen experienced in 1998-99, when he famously held open tryouts in his first season to fill out the roster (remember Raleigh "the Bartender" Harbour) and went 14-16, or that Leitao experienced in 2005-06, when he only had seven scholarship players and went 15-15.  Instead, Bennett should be able to skip right ahead to the second-year surge (like when Gillen finished 19-12 and just missed the tourney, or Leitao went 21-11 and didn't).  Both were based, in larger part for Leitao, on inheirited players (Leitao inheirited Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds from Gillen, just as Gillen benefitted from Jones-recruits Chris Williams and Adam Hall).  Even more than Gillen or Leitao, Bennett will benefit from the recruiting fruits of his predecessor.  He'll have five returning starters, including an all-ACC performer in Landesberg, a double-double machine in Mike Scott, and number of potentially emerging talents in SG Jeff Jones, PG Sammy Zieglinski, and C Assane Sene.  The only "meaningful" loss from last year's roster is Mamadi Diane, who averaged all of six points per game and was puzzlingly pulled in and out of the lineup by Leitao, and he should be easly replaced in the rotation by Spurlock. 

So if he can coach, and he won in Pullman, WA, a dumptruck of a college basketball town, so you know he can coach, things should get interesting, and exciting, real fast this season.  I'm reserving judgment on whether Bennett is the right fit long term (remember that Gillen and Leitao also spiked early in their careers, but couldn't continue the momentum).  But you should feel free to ignore early season prodictions of gloom for Virginia, like here for example, and those that are likely to come in the near future from the national media.  The Hoos will be good, and should contend for an NCAA bid this season.  Just remember that you heard it here first. 

And then, like I said, thank God for hoops season.   Continue reading this post...

The Case FOR Al Groh

As you can probably guess, we're not huge fans of Al Groh around here, or at the very least, aren't fans of keeping someone around who clearly isn't your guy.  But here at the 7even Win Society, we're always interested in looking at the other side of any issue.  And on this front, the case FOR Al Groh is a little stronger than you might think.  Not that we'd keep him, mind you, but some things to think about:

(1) The Man Can Coach: The occasional complete head-scratcher aside, no one doubts Coach Groh's ability to coach the game, especially on the defensive side of the ball.  His recent adjustments to the Cavaliers' offense only reinforces those credentials.

He's won ACC Coach of the Year twice, in 2002 and 2007.  And the results, over the course of a decade, have been solid.  After an initial 5-7 season, Groh led the Cavs to four straight bowl game appearances.  No one questioned at that time whether the program was headed in the right direction, only (like under Welsh) whether it could make the leap to the next level.  Meanwhile, people were stealing assistants left and right.  Bill Musgrave went to the NFL to be an OC in 2003.  Ron Prince picked up the offensive without missing a beat.  Then he went to Kansas State in 2006.  Al Golden left for Temple in 2005.  All were solid lieutenants, but its hard to attribute too much of the Cavs' success to those men.  Musgrave is now coaching quarterbacks, not calling plays. Prince is back in C'ville coaching special teams.  Golden has yet to break .500 at Temple. 

No, the constant has been Groh.  Nonetheless, in 2007, si.com called Groh the worst coach in college football.  By the end of the season, si.com was eating those words, admitting that "there's no question he's gotten every ounce out of that team," and revisited his preseason column by stating "I ended up going with Groh, and obviously he's the one who's most proven it wrong."  Whether you like him or not, most people would agree that he gets everything out of the kids he's coaching. 

But this is college, not the NFL.  If the players aren't good enough, that's his fault, right?  Well...

(2) You say He Can't Recruit, But There Are A Bunch of Former Hoos in the NFL Who Suggest Otherwise: As Doug Doughty noted a few years back, you might be surprised how Virginia players have fared at the next level compared to Virginia Tech, which is generally viewed as having outrecruited the Hoos for years now.  Its no longer true that Virginia has more NFL players on active rosters than the Hokies, but the spread is only two (25 to 23).  A skeptic might point out (and be right) that some of the current Virginia alums playing in the NFL were recruited by George Welsh, but let's remember that the same charge - he can't recruit - was often leveled against him. 

What about elite talent, you might ask?  Well, if you are asking that question, you clearly haven't been paying attention to the last few drafts.  Having a Hoo picked in the first round has almost become an annual rite.  Eugene Monroe (right) is just the latest example (No. 8 to the Jags in 2009).  In 2008, two Cavs went in the first round -- Chris Long at No. 2 to the Rams and Branden Albert at No. 15 to the Chiefs.  D'Brickashaw Ferguson went No. 4 to the Jets in 2006, and Heath Miller just snuck into the first round at No. 30 to the Steelers in 2005. 

Add to that a handful of players who have been picked in the later rounds but have stuck as starters (OT Brad Butler, OG Elton Brown, and DE Chris Canty) and a few others that had the talent to do so (LBs Ahmad Brooks and Darryl Blackstock come to mind), and you've got a solid stable of talent.  It should also be noted that of Virginia's 2009 draft class, all four players who were drafted made NFL rosters, and a fifth - WR Kevin Ogletree - made the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent. 

(3) He Has Been the Victim of Circumstance At the Most Important Position on the Field: After the 2006 graduation of QB Marques Hagans, who led to the Hoos to consecutive bowl games as a starter, Virginia turned to Christian Olsen, a once-heralded recruit who had transferred from Notre Dame, but he quickly flopped.  By Week 4, the Hoos had turned to a true freshman named Jameel Sewell, who showed flashes of brilliance.  But with a rookie signal-caller leading the way, Virginia predictably finished 5-7, and did not make a bowl for the first time in five years.   

With a year under his belt, and stalwart defense led by Chris Long on the other side of the ball, Sewell helped lead a revival in 2007.  The Cavs, picked by many to be no better than a middle of the pack team in the ACC, was in contention for the ACC crown throughout the season, and was 9-2 heading into a season finale showdown with Virginia Tech and a trip to the ACC Championship game on the line.  The matter was in doubt into the fourth quarter when Sewell left the game temporarily with an injury.  The Hoos would not score again.  However, UVA still earned a berth in a New Year's Day Bowl -- the Gator against Texas Tech -- for the first time since 1994.

Things looked secure at the QB spot in 2008, with Sewell returning as a two-year starter, and highly-touted Peter Lalich, who had played as a true freshman, backing him up.  But Sewell was declared academically ineligible, and Lalich, amidst myriad allegations of wrongdoing, was eventually dismissed from the team and decided to transfer to Oregon State.  That left Virginia with third-stringer Marc Verica at QB, and a pair of embarrasing (but predictable) losses at Connecticut and at Duke.  Nonetheless, the Cavs rallied for four straight wins in October, including a pair of wins against ranked opponents North Carolina and Georgia Tech.  Needing only one more win to secure an unlikely bowl berth, the Cavs fell short in OT against Miami, and then lost its last three, including a game effort at Blacksburg in a 17-14 loss that saw converted CB Vic Hall almost Wildcat the Hoos to victory against a superior opponent. 

We, of course, don't know how Virginia would have done with more stability at the QB position in 2006 and 2008.  We're just saying its a little too easy to pin the failures of those seasons on Groh when he was playing short-handed at the most important position on the field. 

(4) We're Not Sure Virginia Could Do Any Better:  When the Hoos went searching for a replacement for George Welsh after the 2000 season, let's remember that it wasn't an easy search.  It won't be any easier this time around.  Is Virginia going to drop its academic standards for recruits?  Unlikely.  Does it still have to fight tooth and nail for in-state recruits with Virginia Tech, who has dominated the state recruiting-wise for years?  Yes, until Frank Beamer calls it quits.  Does it also have to contend with previously sleeping giants to the south (Butch Davis at North Carolina) and west (Lane Kiffin at Tennessee) for recruits?  Yep.  Is the Virginia fan base going to start travelling better, thus ensuring better bowl berths?  I'll let you answer that one.   

Yes, we'd all like to think that Virginia should do better.  But I'm not sure there's much evidence supporting those aspirations.  And all of the above considerations will be on any prospective coach's mind before he signs on the dotted line. 

And I'll leave you with this.  Its said that those who do not learn from the lessons of history are bound to repeat them.  Once upon a time, Virginia had to replace an iconic coach who had built a major program from the ground up.  It turned to one of its own to fill the void.  That coach led the Hoos to the postseason in four of his first five, and five of his first seven, seasons.  After the wheels came off in two of his last three seasons, Virginia fired that coach.  His name was Jeff Jones.

I issue that reminder not to say that the decision to fire Jones was a mistake, or that it would be a mistake to do the same to Groh.  Virginia had reasons beyond performance to part ways with Jones, just as it has reasons beyond performance to fire Groh.  But Jones was also known as a guy who got every ounce out of his players, but couldn't recruit.  Yet people forget that towards the end of his tenure, he brought Courtney Alexander to UVA (only to see him transfer to Fresno State before heading to the NBA) and was in the process of bringing a badly needed big man on campus until Melvin Whitaker decided a pick-up basketball game was important enough to slash someone in the face.  So like Groh, he has in part been the victim of circumstance, and the results he has achieved are eerily similar to Groh's.

So when people say to fire Al Groh, remember that after firing Jones, it has taken we hope only ten years to get it right after him.  People thought the program was in the wilderness under Jones too, but his results (five NCAA tournaments in eight years) look awfully good next to the men who replaced him (Gillen 1 in 7, and Leitao 1 in 4).  So if you think Virginia football is in the wilderness now (five bowl trips in eight seasons), let's just say you may not have seen anything yet.  Maybe, just maybe, you don't want to find out.    Continue reading this post...

An Open Letter to Craig Littlepage

Dear Mr. Littlepage:

For the last two weeks, Al Groh has been the subject of fans' criticism, scorn, and boos. Sometime in the next few months (or if unsubstantiated rumors are to be believed the next week), you'll begin the search for a new football coach, and the heat will be on you.   

To be sure, Virginia fans have unreasonable expectations. When a George Welsh-led football program won at least seven games from 1987-99, Virginia fans often complained that he couldn't get the program over the hump to being great, and cited his contemporaries (Georgia Tech's Co Nat'l Championship team in 1990, Mack Brown's 1997 UNC team that went 11-1, and Frank Beamer's pair of 11-1 squads in 1999 and 2000) as evidence that it should have been possible. Similarly, Virginia fans didn't fully appreciate its own Jeff Jones, who brought his team to the NCAA Tournament in his first five seasons, including an improbable run to the Elite Eight in 1995 behind one marginal NBA player (Junior Burrough) and a guard who got the absolute maxium out of his limited physical ability (Harold Deane). Since being shown the door here, Jones has made the Dance twice at former doormat American, while Virginia was either sitting at home or hosting CBI games.

But its been a tough couple of years, and that can humble a fan base.  They've lost to teams that don't belong on the same field or court as the University of Virginia. William & Mary is the most recent example, but its been too common in recent years: Liberty (Hoops '08), Wyoming (Football '07), Western Michigan (Football '06), Fordham (Hoops '05). They've been embarrassed by teams they should always be able to compete with, especially at home. A post-renovation low graced the confines of Scott Stadium Saturday because everyone else that thought about attending cringed at what they might see. Perhaps they had flashbacks to a pair of whippings by Xavier (the last two season in Hoops), a 35-point gridiron loss in 2008 at Connecticut, who just started a I-A program this decade, or a 25-point thrashing at the hands of a Dave Wannstedt-led Pittsburgh squad in 2007. And they've gotten their brains beat in by Virginia Tech. We'd like to beat Virginia Tech more than once a decade in football, and we'd like to beat their brains in in everything else.

In the meantime, we're happy you've built an Athletic Department that competes for the Director's Cup. We congratulate the ACC Champions in Tennis, Cross-Country, Swimming & Diving, Track & Field, and Baseball. We applaud the fact that our lacrosse and soccer teams regularly compete for NCAA titles. And we think its great that you've revitalized some programs (field hockey) and built others from the ground up (rowing). But tennis and field hockey don't fill the stands, attract alumni donations, and generate money so all your others sports can compete on a national level.

Football and men's basketball do.  And fair or not, you won't be judged on building Stanford-East; you'll be judged on the successes and failures of the University's most visible programs.  And the blame for their present failures ultimately lies at the feet of the guy picking the men to run those programs.  You whiffed on your first big hire (Dave Leitao in 2005). The returns on Tony Bennett, the man you picked to replace him, have been good so far, but you'll have to deliver on your next hire if you want to avoid repeats of the sparse crowd you saw against TCU on Saturday.  We won't pretend to know for certain who the best man for the job is, although I'm sure we'll have our opinions.  But its on you to get it right.  Otherwise, there's plenty of room on that hot seat once Coach Groh vacates it.   

Signed,

The Scribes of the 7even Win Society

P.S. - if you do bring us the next George Welsh or Jeff Jones, we reserve the right to raise our expectations again.  Sorry, comes with the territory.      Continue reading this post...