Your town...your teams...your opinions. "The Best Seat In The House" - where Charlottesville gathers to talk sports. For 2 hours every single weeknight: 6-8 p.m. on News Radio 1070, WINA.
WINA Sports Director Jay James takes you behind the score and inside the issues and stories that affect you. Cavaliers, Hokies, Redskins, local teams…they’re all fair game.
Heavy-hitting guests like UVA coaches, best-selling author John Feinstein, and television commentators Jay Bilas and Michael Wilbon stop by on a regular basis.
It’s fast-paced, dynamic, and interactive. And your phone calls are always welcome at (434) 977-1070 or 1-800-688-9462. You can e-mail the program at jj@wina.com
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Knicks guard Jeremy Lin has taken the sports world by storm, the Harvard product has scored
136 points in his first six starts, a new NBA record. Lin added to his whirlwind story with this dagger at the buzzer last night vs. the Raptors:
In less than two weeks at Davenport Field the sound of cracking bats and cheering fans will reverberate through the air and fans decked out in blue and orange will fill the stadium to watch the University of Virginia baseball team.
Virginia is coming off of the best season in school history with a trip to the College World Series but this year's team is a young team. On the roster are 11 freshmen and only five seniors.
Senior second baseman Keith Werman sat down with Hannah Wagner to give the Best Seat in the House a preview of the upcoming Virginia baseball season.
Werman gave predictions for the upcoming season and discussed Virginia's third place preseason ranking in the Costal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
"There's going to be a lot of great surprises and a lot of great things happening with this team and we'll show them where we belong throughout the season," said Werman.
Werman also talked about this young team's strengths, weaknesses and his hopes for the upcoming season.
"I try to be consistent and try to push my teammates to do the best they can everyday," said Werman when asked about his goals for the season.
The Cavalier baseball team starts out the 2012 season at a three day tournament in Myrtle Beach starting on February 17. They will face off against ACC opponent Boston College, Coastal Carolina, and instate competition James Madison in the Caravelle Resort Tournament.
Starting on February 21, the team has a nine game stretch at home. The home opener will be against William and Mary on Tuesday February 21 at 3pm at Davenport Field.
This play pretty much sums up the Wizards 2011-2012 campaign.
The Wizards did beat the Raptors 111-108 in Overtime last night, improving to 5-20 on the season. If only they could play the Raptors or Bobcats every night. (The Wizards have two wins over Toronto and Charlotte, and one win over Oklahoma City.)
Following last night's thrilling conclusion to Super Bowl XLVI, I hopped on Twitter (you can follow me @Leon_WINA) to see what the latest reaction was from the various reporters, talk show hosts, athletes, etc that I follow. Almost immediately I came across this gem of wisdom from Redskins WR/KR/PR Brandon Banks, enjoy:
This is exactly what is wrong with the Redskins and D.C. sports in a nutshell. Yes, Mr. Banks you are correct you did beat the now World Champion Giants twice this season, but you only had 3 wins against the rest of the league, finished 5-11 and missing the playoffs for the fourth straight season. The fact that he found some sort of pride in tweeting this is reprehensible. This is a franchise that has been so woeful over the past two decades that it has only four playoff appearances since winning Super Bowl XXVI.
Dan Steinberg of The Washington Posts' DC Sports Bog pointed out via Twitter yesterday that "Well, the Skins now have more wins over Super Bowl champs than any other team over the last decade". This stat should be maddening for Redskins fans, players, and front-office executives. This team has played quality teams well, and came out victorious at times, but it lacks consistency. It means nothing to beat the Giants twice in a season when you also lose to the Bills, Panthers, and Vikings, and what about that stretch where the team lost six straight games this season and eight out of nine.
106.7 The Fan DC host Holden Kushner of The Mike Wise Show with Holden Kushner tweeted "If you are a fan/player of any team bragging about a regular season win (or 2) over the Giants, you are a dumbass." I agree with a lot of what Holden says and this one is no different, you are dumbass if you think those two regular season wins over the Giants amount to anything right now. Today I looked back at Banks' Twitter timeline to see many Redskins fans tweeting their support for Banks and his comments via Twitter last night, is 5-11 acceptable to these people? This is exactly what's wrong with D.C. sports the lack of accountability, you shouldn't rest on your weak laurels of beating the Giants twice, seeing Eli hoist the Lombardi trophy for the second time in his career should fuel you and motivate you to get your team to that same level, not just say be glad that you beat a team that won the championship, the transitive property is great in math but doesn't mean anything in sports.
(Brandon Banks appeared on The Mike Wise Show with Holden Kusher today, here is the audio. Here is Steinberg's post on the interview in today's DC Sports Bog. Also as many of you know I'm not a Tim Tebow fan, but I will say #15 had it right last night when he tweeted this reaction to the Giants victory.)
Overall last night, I thought many of the Super Bowl ads were lacking, but here is my favorite from last night:
What's not to love about that ad? In America we're resilient, we've always bounced back, its what we do. I love Chrysler's "Imported from Detroit" slogan, and if it gets more cars back on the assembly line in the Motor City and more Americans back to work, I love it even more. Here are a couple more spots I particularly liked last night:
What's not to like about this spot either? (aside from the quality of Bud Light beer)
I also love the plug to help rescue dogs at the end of the spot, thumbs up Bud Light.
What were your favorite spots, leave us a comment on our Facebook page.
It was certainly an ugly game at the Leon County Civic Center for Tony Bennett's team, however we did see some progress as far as the program is concerned. Virginia's margin for error has been so small over Coach Bennett's first two seasons here in Hooville. Saturday showed us that the margin may be widening to a certain degree. With 20 turnovers, (7 committed by Mike Scott) and a late 13 point deficit, Virginia still found itself with a chance to win a game on the road in the ACC against a hot Seminole team that had won 6 straight ACC games. The turnovers were clearly the difference, because so many of them were unforced, especially from 5th year senior and player of the year candidate Mike Scott. Coach Bennett reflected on them afterwards with Ted Jeffries of the Virginia Sports Network: " We have to take care of the ball, it doesn't matter how good the defense is we have to play with more soundness…" Florida State did a great job of doing what most teams will do the rest of the season, doubling down on Mike Scott and preventing him from a clear path to pass out of the double team. This is something Mike is going to have to improve at in order to create the type of ball movement that will prevent those double teams from being so effective. When Virginia gets great rhythm out of their offense from Mike Scott touching the basketball first and finding shooters, the offense runs and is effective. But there were too many instances Saturday when Scott didn't touch the ball during an offensive possession. In spite of the turnovers, Virginia got 16 points from Scott and Harris, who continue to be their go to players offensively. However the need for a third scorer still remains.
The Hoos may have found something though, in the midst of the frustration against the Noles. Jontel Evans took over the game late with huge buckets as Virginia was mounting a late 14-0 run to take the lead in the second half. He began to penetrate well against a fast, long, and athletic FSU defense. No one could stay in front of Evans down the stretch. He was in straight "attack mode". His penetration opened things up for Harris and allowed the Cavaliers to play at a faster pace in the half court. The type of aggression Virginia showed down the stretch against FSU is exactly what they need moving forward in ACC play. Evans was the trigger, and others followed as Brogdon began attacking the basket. Virginia at times this year has settled for jump shots because of their confidence in their ability to hit from behind the arc. Virginia shot 40% from 3 in the second half because they were more aggressive in attacking the heart of the Seminole defense. Jontel Evans has to play this way the remainder of the season, if he can consistently give them 8-10 points off of his penetration or his defense, Virginia becomes a far more "balanced" team. Now they just have to figure out who is the third member of "the big three", is it Brogdon, is it Zeglinski, is it Akil Mitchell?( who didn't attempt a field goal Saturday) Harris and Scott need help, and Zeglinski was 2-7 from the field and may be having some issues with his confidence. We all saw him pass up an open three that would have tied the game late. So the answer may be having him split time with Jontel at the point and moving Brogdon into the starting lineup to make Virginia bigger on the perimeter. However, with Tony Bennett's current formula, the Cavaliers are still 18-4, 5-3 in the conference in a great position to make a run, because as has often been demonstrated this year, the man know's what he's doing. We'll see what the Hoos do when they host Wake Forest Wednesday night, our coverage begins at 7pm on WINA.
3) What are the top Super Bowl moments of all-time?
I will try my hand at the latter and since sadly I have not been alive for all 45 previous Super Bowls, we'll look at the top five from my lifetime.
5) Scott Norwood misses wide right
In the early 90s the Buffalo Bills were always the proverbial bridesmaid but never the bride.
Jim Kelly was one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time: 35,467 career passing yards, 237 career touchdown passes, first ballot Hall of Fame inductee in 2002, but in my opinion the most impressive stat is he led the Buffalo Bills to four consecutive Super Bowl appearances from 1990-1993. The Bills were downright dominant, winning 49 regular season games from 1990-1993, but in each trip to the game's grandest state Western New York's football team returned to "The City of Good Neighbors" empty handed. This game holds special significance for me because it was the first Super Bowl I remember as a child, I was 6-years old and remember actually being able to understand parts of the game and everything dad was pointing out to me and how cool I thought it was. The Bills took over at the own 10-yard line down 20-19 with 2:16 remaining, Kelly led his troops to the Giants 29-yard line setting up a Scott Norwood 47-yard field goal with eight seconds left, creating my first Super Bowl memory and starting a four-year pain Bills fans would know all too well:
4) "The Tackle" - Mike Jones stops Kevin Dyson at the one-yard line
This was one of the greatest and most frustrating Super Bowl games for me. January 30, 2000 Central Virginia was firmly in the midst of the "Blizzard of 2000", as the power flickered on and off several times that day and night due to trains on the power lines, I begged and pleaded for the power to stay on for the duration of the game....mother nature had other plans. If my memory serves me correctly we lost power three sustained times during the course of the games, forcing me to my handy yellow battery-operated radio that I first started listening to sports radio that first brought into the world of sports radio that previous summer. The power did come back in time for me to witness Steve McNair march the Titans downfield on a drive starting at their on 12-yard line with 1:48 left in the game down 23-16 with a chance to the game to the first overtime in Super Bowl history. McNair led Tennessee down the St. Louis 10-yard line with just six seconds remaining and the rest is history....
3) Roethlisberger to Holmes
I'm not a "Pittsburgh guy", in-fact I despise most things Pittsburgh (its not you Pittsburgh, its your sports teams "fans"), so I guess its only fitting that my fiancee and future father-in-law are big Steeler fans. My own personal bias aside, this was a fantastic game. The Steelers took a 17-7 lead into halftime thanks to James Harrison's 100-yard interception return for a touchdown, the longest play in Super Bowl history. In the second half a Jeff Reed field goal would push the Steelers to a 20-7 lead before a furious Cardinals comeback. Kurt Warner's jumpball to Larry Fitzgerald would bring Arizona closer at 20-14 with 7:33 remaining in the game. On the ensuing possession Steelers center Justin Hartwick was called for holding in the end zone on a third and 10, resulting in a safety for the Cardinals and bringing the score to 20-16. Arizona would get the ball on their own 36-yard line after the free kick and two plays later Kurt Warner hooked up with Larry Fitzgerald once again, this time on a 64-yard touchdown pass to give the Cardinals their first lead at 23-20. Pittsburgh started the next drive on their own 22-yard line with 2:37 left in the contest, and Big Ben would add yet another chapter to his book of late-game heroics. Roethlisberger would connect with Santonio Holmes, the game's eventual MVP and third Steeler WR to be named Super Bowl MVP, four times for 73-yards on this drive capping it off with this six-yard connection to Holmes to put the Steelers ahead for good 27-23:
2) Adam Vinatieri's FG as time expires defeats St. Louis
Super Bowl XXVI was originally scheduled for January 27th, but league pushed back the game to February 3rd as the NFL had to postponed a week of games as America and the world were shocked by the horrific events of September 11th, 2001. The St. Louis Rams were the defending Super Bowl champions and came into the game a two-touchdown favorite over the upstart Patriots led by second-year QB Tom Brady. Brady took the reigns for New England in Week 2 when Patriots QB Drew Bledsoe was suffering internal bleeding from a hit by New York Jets LB Mo Lewis. Brady made his first career start for the 0-2 Patriots the following week leading the Patriots to a 44-13 blowout win over the Colts in Foxboro. Brady would lead the New England to an 11-5 regular season (11-3 record as a starter), first AFC East title since 1997, and New England's third Super Bowl in franchise history. The underdog Patriots got out to a 17-3 lead before Kurt Warner's 2-yard touchdown run 9:31 remaining in the game cut the lead to 17-10. (Two plays earlier Warner fumble on a fourth and goal QB sneak was recovered by Tebucky Jones and returned 97-yards for a touchdown before being called back due to a holding penalty on New England LB Willie McGinest) Later in the quarter Warner would connect with WR Ricky Proehl on a 26-yard touchdown strike to tie the game up at 17-17 with 1:30 remaining. Tom Brady would lead New England downfield with no timeouts connecting five passes to three different Patriots receivers to set up Adam Vinatieri with a 48-yard field goal and a dynasty was born.
1) "The Helmet Catch"
There are certain moments in sports that actually overshadow the championship moment: "The Miracle On Ice" 1980 USA Olympic hockey team defeating the Soviet Union 4-3 on February 22nd, 1980 at Lake Placid is the moment etched in time, but many fans forget the Americans actually won the gold two days later by defeating Finland 4-2. Game 6 of the 1986 World Series is forever immortalized by Mookie Wilson slow-roller going through Bill Buckner's legs and Ray Knight scoring give the Mets a 6-5 win. What is often forgotten in Buckner's mishap is Bob Stanley's wild pitch earlier in Wilson's at-bat allowed Kevin Mitchell to score from third to tie the game or that the Mets actually won the World Series two days later with an 8-5 win over the Red Sox. This game reminds me of those instances and for good reason; The Patriots were a machine steam-rolling their way to a 16-0 regular season and trying to match the 1972 Miami Dolphins as the only unvanquished team in NFL history. The Giants came in having not won a playoff game in seven years and with "the other Manning" in the often criticized Eli Manning under center. The Giants became the NFL's road warriors winning road playoff games in Tampa Bay and Dallas before defeating Bret Favre in his final game as a Packer on the hallowed frozen tundra on Lambeau Field. The Patriots took a 7-3 lead into the 4th quarter before Manning connected with seldom used WR David Tyree on a 5-yard touchdown pass, Tyree's first catch of the season, to push New York ahead 10-7 with 11:05 left in the game. New England would regain the lead on a Tom Brady 6-yard touchdown pass to Randy Moss with 2:42 remaining to put the Patriots up 14-10. The Giants would start the next possession on their own 17-yard line with 2:39 remaining and all three timeouts to use. New York was faced with a crucial third and five at their own 44-yard line with 1:15 left, Manning managed to somehow elude Adalius Thomas, Jarvis Green, and Richard Seymour before connecting on a miraculous 32-yard pass play to David Tyree who made a leaping one-hand catch over Rodney Harrison, pinning the football to his helmet on the way down. Manning would later connect with WR Plaxico Burress on a 12-yard "SluGo" route to put the Giants ahead for good at 17-14 with 35 seconds left in the game, but it was Tyree's tremendous grab that was the game's signature moment.
So there you have it, my top five favorite Super Bowl moments of all-time, what are your's? Leave your comments below or send a Tweet to @Leon_WINA
I'm trying to make more of a effort to post here more frequently (and not just "Leon's Locks of the Week", which has only the Super Bowl left anyway) so a couple of times a week I will share with you videos from sports or pop culture that I'm big on at the moment.
I know Charlottesville doesn't have a throng of NBA fans, there may be a few broken-hearted longtime Bullets/Wizards fans, transplanted fans (Knicks, Celtics, etc) and the ever present bandwagon fan. (you know the guy that likes the Lakers, Cowboys, and Yankees) However if you aren't a fan of the NBA now is a great time to get acquainted with the game, and I present to you Exhibit A: Blake Griffin.
Here is Blake putting on a show last night vs. the Lakers:
I also came across this gem this morning everybody's favorite Washington Capitals season ticket holder and host of Wheel of Fortune, Pat Sajak admits to hosting the show while drunk:
Throughout the course of my life, I've been called an "old soul" on several occasions and quite frankly I like it. I love vanilla ice cream, if I have the time I'll watch several hours of "All In The Family", "Happy Days", and "The Andy Griffith Show", so I guess it should be to no one's surprise I love classic uniforms.
I know in today's recruiting game uniforms do play a role in where a prospective student-athlete goes to school. (just ask Oregon) However, it really pains me to see schools lose a bit of their "identity" when wearing special uniforms or trendy uniforms. I remember when I was in high school Duke basketball started to wear their black jerseys and while they weren't the most offensive thing in the world to the eyes, black is not one of Duke's official school colors. (one of their official fight songs is called "Blue and White")
Now it seems nearly every school has a black uniform, or now the rapidly growing in popularity gray uniform and the question I have to ask is why? We already know the recruiting effect with different uniforms, but here is also another rather obvious answer, money. If a team has ten different jerseys they can wear then that's ten different jerseys they can sell. (we all know that one person that has every jersey, hat, etc that their favorite team wears)
I have to ask the question "is this worth it?" I look a schools with classic football uniforms: Nebraska, Penn State, Alabama, etc. These are all major college programs with large fan and alumni bases waiting to spend their hard-earned money of their team's apparel. If these school wanted to they could make black, gray, or whatever colored uniform and profit from them, but they don't. I have to believe a major part of that decision making process is tradition. When Penn State takes the field with those iconic navy blue football jerseys and white helmets, most sports fans could just casually walk past a television and automatically know what team is playing. Today Nike has unveiled their "Hyper Elite Platinum Uniforms" and looking at these and you would be hard-pressed at first site to know which team is on the floor. Where is gray in any of these schools official color combinations? Call me old-fashioned but I'll take classic and timeless over these uniforms linked below.
The Washington Wizards are terrible, there is other way to say it. Washington's NBA team is 1-12 on the year and not showing any signs of improvement. The Wizards appear to have tuned head coach Flip Saunders out, lack veteran leadership and proven scorers. Wizards center JaVale McGee, now in his 4th NBA season, has shown the ability to deliver highlight reel worthy dunks and finished 2nd to the Clippers Blake Griffin in last year's dunk contest. Yesterday Washington faced Houston in an afternoon contest at Verizon Center and the 1-11 (now 1-12) Wizards were trailing 64-58 in the 3rd quarter when McGree threw down this jam (video below).
I find this sort of me-first play very inappropriate, given the time and score. This is a team that has trouble doing the fundamentals: shooting, rebounding, setting screens, etc; why not just safely jam it in and get back to play defense? These type of plays are fun to watch and are very exciting, but how about McGee and company worry about winning games before making ESPN's Top 10?
UVa Executive Associate AD Jon Oliver and football coach Mike London will join the show tonight to recap the 2011 Virginia football season, you can email your questions to jj@wina.com. We'll also cover college football and preview tomorrow'sACC basketball opener for Virginia vs. Miami. Join us tonight at 6 p.m. on News Radio 1070 WINA or ESPN Radio 1450 WVAX, online at WINA.com, and on your smartphone via the TuneIn Radio app.
My father always used to tell me "son, there are two things in this world, reasons, and results", couldn't be more true when it comes to discussing the Virginia Football Team.There are reasons why the Hoos were unsuccessful against Auburn.One of the big questions has been how much blame should be placed on special teams.Mike London stepped up in the post game and said "I'm the Head Coach, I'm responsible for us to play well in all three phases".On the Best Seat In The House last night, when Doug Doughty and Jerry Ratcliffe, the Sports Reporters joined us, we got into that subject when a caller asked if we should change special teams coaches.Doug Doughty replied: "I thought the special teams were good last year, and the same guy who was coaching them then is coaching them now".Jerry Ratcliffe chimed in: "I don't know that Virginia needs to make changes, but there are some issues to address".
Both have the right take on it, Anthony Poindexter is part of a cumulative effort when it comes to special teams.It involves Coach London and other members of the staff, AP has the title.Virginia's problems on special teams have multiple causes.Execution is a big problem, on the fake field goal attempt, FB Max Millien fell down, which pretty much wrecked the play.True freshman Dominique Terrell is still learning the ropes as a college punt returner, and his decision making is suspect.Virginia has tried other options like another true freshman in Darius Jennings, and the sure handed Chase Minnifield who was injured against Auburn.Virginia may also want to consider less fakes and a more traditional punting style once they either upgrade talent, and/or get better execution.Anthony Poindexter is definitely a competitor and doesn't run from the criticism. We interviewed him about the special teams after the Southern Miss loss, when they converted a fake punt from their own red zone.Anthony's response was "It's on me, I got caught with my pants down so to speak, but great play by the punter."
The other big reason for Virginia's other issues in the bowl game, especially defensively is the lack of depth defensively.There was a huge drop off when Chase Minnifield and Steve Greer were unable to go at critical positions in Reid's scheme, corner and middle linebacker.In the Virginia Tech game, and the Auburn game, we got a glimpse at what Mike London has to deal with.This is completely a REBUILDING process, Virginia is still trying to accumulate players that can help turn the ship around.Virginia still lacks speed, and a pass rush, the team only had 19 sacks total for the season.Once you get past Virginia's starters defensively, there's a drop off.Mike London will depend heavily on players who have redshirted defensively next year, the team is also losing both of its safeties in Corey Mosely and Rodney McCloud.So when you play teams like Auburn and VA Tech, we all get to see that Virginia has been coached up, and Mike London has really done a fantastic job getting the most out of what he inherited. Now, the real work begins, managing fan expectations and still accumulating talent, in this great window of opportunity by appearing in bowl viewed by over eight million people.Mike London is recruiting this week selling kids on helping them win games like that.
One big thing for Virginia is that they have found a quarterback, a position they have had no consistency at since Marques Hagans left in 2005.Which is one of the major reasons Virginia had three straight losing seasons from 2008-2010.Michael Rocco has finished strong and gives the very much improved Virginia offense a chance to be really good next year under Bill Lazor.Mike London and Jon Oliver discuss all of this, live in studio, tomorrow night at 6pm on the Best Seat In The House, you can email questions to jj@wina.com.
Tonight we talk with Mike London, UVA Head Football Coach at 6:07 on the Best Seat In The House. Then we'll catch up with former Auburn quarterback and color radio analyst Stan White on the Tigers. One day away from the Chik-Fil-A Bowl. Our coverage Saturday night begins at 5pm live from Cheeseburger in Paradise in Seminole Square where we will be giving away ACC Men's Basketball Tickets. Listen live online anytime at wina.com.
We talk to Jerry Ratcliffe and Doug Doughty, the Sports Reporters on what Virginia's chances look like when you start to break down the matchups with Auburn. Tonight at 6, on WINA and live online at wina.com. Email the show at any time,jj@wina.com.
Tonight we talk with ACC Legend and all time sack leader Chris Slade, to break down Virginia vs Auburn, and Joanne Boyle, Women's Basketball Coach at the University of Virginia. Live at six, and live online at wina.com.
If you're a Cavalier fan, the recent defections from the program are far easier to take knowing that they involved two players who were barely getting any minutes. It is also easier to accept given that the Cavaliers are ranked for the first time in 4 years, and 10-1 on the season with a 5th year Senior in Mike Scott who has garnered back to back ACC Player of the Week honors. Quite frankly, Mike Scott is where this all begins.
As Tony Bennett described on his Coach's Show last night, the nature of kids today is that they want instant gratification. When Tony Bennett recruited the "six shooters" as Whitey Reid of the Daily Progress deemed them, they were most certainly told they would have the opportunity to come in and "play right away". That is an important distinction, they were not promised playing time, they were told that they would have an opportunity. Well, I'm sure Will Regan didn't expect Mike Scott to still be around this year, so the post rotation had Mike Scott, Akil Mitchell, Assane Senne, a then James Johnson, and a more athletic Darion Atkins all to contend with. But with no Mike Scott, there are far more minutes to go around. Well let's look at the perimeter play. Sammy Zeglinsky is also a 5th year guy who is taking all of the minutes KT Harrell would get, or split with Malcolm Brogdon. Sammy is a guy that also was not expected to be here this long. So Virginia is certainly benefiting from their seniors, but Tony brought in all of those players thinking he would need to fill those two players' very huge roles on the team.
Well, with them here, you have a bit of a log jam, that frankly KT Harrell and James Johnson were also not willing to wait for. The game of basketball is so diverse, with so many choices, that players can go anywhere and get that instant playing time. The only problem is, to be a good ACC player, you need to develop in the system. Straight out of high school, Billy Baron, Will Regan, KT Harrell, and James Johnson were not ready to play in this league, but Joe Harris and Akil Mitchell were. Both have improved from last year. While KT, got significant minutes last year, we have not seen any improvement offensively or athletically. Look at Joe Harris's progress, the guy is dunking on people as well as hitting threes. Tony Bennett has a system based on developing players who have a skill set and making them productive by their third and fourth years. However, most kids don't want to wait that long. Look at it, Tony's two best players are 5th year seniors. Experience pays dividends in the ACC when you are not Duke or Carolina with a train of Mcdonald's All Americans just waiting to play for you. So four of six guys leaving could alarm you at first, but as Cory Alexander said on the Best Seat in the House last night, "nothing against those guys, but they weren't ACC players". Doesn't mean Tony couldn't have developed them into ACC players, but they were not willing to wait. Look how much better Assane Senne and Mike Scott are from their second to their fourth years. Everything is a process. However, Tony has now recruited some guys that can come in and make an impact, like Darion Atkins, and Malcolm Brogdon, and most certainly next year with one of the top players in the nation in Justin Anderson. So Virginia will be fine, and the team continues to play well, in a year with great opportunity in a down ACC. The program is in better position to go out and get more talent with only six returning scholarship players next year, and four guys coming in. If Virginia can make some noise in the ACC and NCAA tourney with his 5th year seniors, these guys leaving may open the door for guys that can come in
I found myself watching the tv in total dissapointment last night when I saw the highlights of the bench clearing brawl between Cincinnati and Xavier's mens basketball teams. It was absolutely tragic. Some might use adjectives like stupid, pathetic, rediculous, I don't, because I see a deeper problem. I think John Kincade, ESPN radio host on our sister station ESPN Radio 1450 put it best today on his program when he described the difference between the Xavier players postgame, and Robert Griffin the III the Heisman Trophy winner and what he said after winning the Heisman. You may think the two situations are totally unrelated, but I beg to differ.
John was making the point about the difference Robert Griffin's father made in his life. After winning the Heisman RG3 said "My Dad has been my coach my whole life, I know he's proud of me". Well when you listened or watched the post game comments of the Xavier players after a brawl with Cincinatti you heard, "this is a gangsta locker room, where we're from, if you do something to us you can't just expect us to not do something back." This whole culture of super testosterone and arrogance in sports is causing our kids to miss the point. If you take that same attitude in life, it can land you in prison, because someone said something to you and you reacted the wrong way. The fact that those kids thought it was okay to say something like that is tragic. I would be willing to bet, that the young man who said that came from a single parent home. You see fathers teach young men how to be MEN. How it's okay to walk away, and control your anger, and discipline yourself, and what's really important in life. By no means does that mean you can't make it or be responsible coming from a single parent home, I did, so I know first hand that kids can grow up and be responsible citizens. But too many of our young people who play athletics, who come from lower socio-economic areas are growing up with this arrongance, this sense of entitlement, this sense of get-back for lack of a better term. All the while, they are the ones who are really losing. That's why I appreciate coaches like Mike London, and Frank Beamer, who can be fathers to guys who need one. Despite all the money and the ticket sales, at the end of the day, isn't this supposed to be about educating and building better citizens? Our professional athletes share some of the blame as well, we give them $250 Million dollar contracts, not because they deserve it or need it, just because in their pride they feel like they have to be the highest paid player in their sport or at their position. If this is the value that our young people keep taking from sports, what kind of world will we have when they are running things? Thankfully Cincinnati's Head Coach Mick Cronin stepped up and aknowledged how wrong that brawl was, saying "we're not even sure who should be on the team; these kids need to realize that it is a priviledge to be here". Hard to get kids to see that, when we glorify them in the recruiting process and when they get to school, humility is needed so badly in college sports, and if we don't get it, we are going to keep losing kids to the wrong influences in life.
So you've seen the big push from the University of Virginia to sell out it's allotment of tickets to the Chik-Fil-A Bowl. The stark reality is that the bowl commissioners around the country are watching. Virginia has a diverse alumni base that is influential and affluent, and in theory is very attractive to bowl committees. However Virginia is battling the perception of "fans that don't travel well". In 1998, the last time Virginia was in the Peach Bowl, everything was fine, Virginia had several future NFL players on the team, the fan base was enthused, and all was well. Then the last decade happened, and while there was success in bowls, attendance began to decline as interest waned in the program, with inconsistency on the field, and the reseating policy that angered many Virginia fans.
Now there is a new challenge, the fan base loves Mike London. The players are going to class, showing class, and treating our community and the people in it with dignity and respect. In Mike London's second year on the job he is the ACC Coach of the year, and the team became the first to ever beat Miami and FSU on the road in the same season. So there are plenty of things to get excited about, but how will Virginia fans respond? Gary Stokan, the President of the Chik-Fil-A bowl said "I expect to hear from Craig Littlepage that Virginia has sold out its allotment, we have no tickets left, the only ones remaining are with Virginia and Auburn." He went on to say that the bowl has had 14 consecutive sell outs. So the stakes are high for Mike London's program. National TV, 8 million viewers, in the heart of the south. The only thing that could derail it, would be Virginia not being able to put 18,000 buts in the seats. The fact is that if Virginia doesn't sell the remaining 4,000 and change to get to 18, it makes Mike London's job that much harder if Virginia were to find itself in a similar position in the future. This is the Virginia fans' opportunity to really get behind the program. You may think its propoganda, but its the truth, a non sell out means Virginia starts to be perceived negatively and passed over when it comes to future bowl games, because remember, it is all about the dollar, not how good the teams are. If the Chik-Fil-A Bowl thought Georgia Tech would've brought more people, they'd have selected them, even though Virginia beat them, (they would not agree with that, but that's my opinion). Gary Stokan told us at the press conference that they have a wonderful relationship with Virginia Tech, and they would have selected them if they were available, and we know the Hokies would easily sell the thing out. So yes, its expensive, and yes its new years eve. Now its time to see just how much support is really out there for Mike London and the Cavaliers, because selling this game out is far more important than most people realize. So will Virgnia fans answer the call? I believe so, the total is over 13,000 now, but this is the first step to catching Va Tech, Virginia has to build a fan culture that can match theirs, which will take time, but Dec. 31 in Atlanta could be a big first step.
38-0. To the program that has now beaten you 8 straight times, it was a cold dose of reality dealt to the Cavaliers on Saturday. Virginia Tech reminded everyone that they are a national title contender and that they are still the class of the ACC. What's frustrating for Virginia fans is that since they helped VA Tech get into the ACC, Virginia has not beaten the Hokies. Tech was clearly the more talented football team. Virginia still doesn't have playmakers like Marcus Davis, who caught 4 passes for 106 yards and a TD. They don't have guys like Jarrett Boykin and Danny Coale, and they certainly don't have a player the caliber of David Wilson, who is the best player in the ACC. However, as the gap between the program remains, it is closing. Tech brought it's best effort into Scott Stadium because Mike London and the Cavaliers had gotten their attention by being the only team to ever beat FSU and Miami on the road in the same season. It was like the big brother reminding the improving little brother who the top dog still is. But Virginia is still ahead of schedule, eight wins in the second year of the program blew through anyone's pre season expectations. Virginia has solidified its quarterback situation, and Coach London can use this game to continue to bring young men to the program selling them on the direction the program is going. So it is important that Cavalier fans don't let the short term sting rob you of the overall appreciation of the picture. Coach London will catch Va Tech eventually, but he needs more bullets in the gun before he can do that. It was not a fair fight on Saturday, Va Tech is still supremely more talented than Virginia. Remember, football programs turn corners like battle ships, slow and wide. In year two, Virginia is in a great position. Tonight we'll discuss it on the Best Seat in the House with your calls, at 800-688-9462.
A lot of Virginia fans are excited about the potential of a birth in the ACC Championship game for the first time in program history. Standing in the way, the true nemesis, a team Virginia hasn't beat in 7 seasons, and twice in the last 13 years. For the first time in four years, the game truly matters. This time people are more amped because Virginia is the first team to beat Miami and FSU on the road in a season. However, hold your horses. The game is not a foregone conclusion. Some have been critical of Tech's non conference schedule, and the fact that the only team with significant street cred that they played, Clemson, beat them 23-3. That would be a very dangerous mindset, Tech is that good to be number 5 in the BCS. They are the defending ACC Champs and they have won 4 out of 7 ACC titles since joining the league. Dave Glenn, our ACC expert picked them because with their multiple ten win seasons and big game experience that gives them the edge. However, Virginia has been slaying the giants all season long, and they can win, but only if they realize just how good this Tech team is. Virginia has done great things, but to be the man, you have to beat the man, and Tech is the ACC's top dogg. Staying humble, and playing hungry has been the answer for Virginia, the chip on their shoulder looking for respect has driven them all season long. They need that "edge" Saturday against the Hokies, because Virginia has Coach Beamer's attention and they will be ready to rain on Virginia's Parade. Humility and focus is the answer for Virginia, it will take their best game to take down the champs, and I think they have what it takes to get it done, we'll see what happens-our coverage on WINA starts at 1pm live from Scott Stadium. Tonight on the Best Seat in the House VT Coach Frank Beamer joins us to talk about the matchup, along with Virginia Football Historian Kevin Edds, live tonight at six on WINA and ESPN Radio 1450 WVAX and wina.com.
Your town...your teams...your opinions. "The Best Seat In The House" - where Charlottesville gathers to talk sports. For 2 hours every single weeknight: 6-8 p.m. on News Radio 1070, WINA. 
