What college rowers do is ridiculous. Get up around 5 a.m. Be at the river by 5:45. Go through a grueling practice. Attend class all day. Study, do homework and go to bed by 10. It's not a normal experience for a college student. It's not even normal for a college student-athlete. (Only swimmers have comparable schedules.) That's why rowers often socialize only with other rowers. They don't stay up late enough to socialize with anyone else. Plus no one understands them.

I sure don't. In college, I often went to bed about the same time the sun was coming up - the same time rowers were waking up. They're nuts. Rowing isn't exactly a "fun" sport - it's exhausting and painful. They don't get much glory - media and fans generally ignore the sport. But the Cavalier crew members are a devoted bunch, not to mention extremely successful. Virginia has never finished lower than seventh in the nine-year history of the NCAA women's rowing championships, and the 'Hoos came in second last weekend in Rancho Cordova, Calif., matching their best result. Two seniors, Margaret Matia and Carolyn McMillan, were named first-team All-Americans.

So even if I don't understand them, I respect the heck out of them. I respect all the Cavalier women who have excelled in a tough sport over the years and competed at such a high level. I respect all the men who have rowed their hearts out despite receiving no scholarships and no NCAA support, thanks to Title IX. I also have great respect for Sauer, who has been UVa's only coach since women's crew gained varsity status in 1995. Before that, he used to coach the women's and men's club teams at Virginia.

Just don't expect me to get up at dawn and cheer. Good night, you wacky rowers. I mean good morning.

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Football recruiting...

Several in-state prospects could narrow their lists over the next month or so. Two players who definitely will whittle their lists include Liberty (Bealeton, VA) offensive lineman Alex Stadler and Oscar Smith (Chesapeake, VA) defensive end/outside linebacker Brian Whitmore.

The 6-6, 300-pound Stadler (pictured right) has narrowed his list of 25 written offers down to 15, but he is not saying any names right now. Stadler plans on making several unofficial visits later this month, including trips to Connecticut, Boston College, Michigan and Notre Dame. He hopes to narrow his list to 10 shortly after. In my opinion, UVa will make the cut to 10 and should be in good position to land an official visit.

Whitmore, who shows excellent speed at 6-4, 250 pounds, could get his list down in the next week or so, according to Oscar Smith coach Richard Morgan. Whitmore currently holds 18 offers and should get down to about 10 schools or so. UVa is probably in the middle of the pack right now.

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Landstown coach Chris Beatty plans on meeting with Percy Harvin and Damon McDaniel within the next few weeks to see if they want to narrow their lists as well. Both Harvin, who was named the #1 recruit in the country by Rivals.com, and McDaniel have impressive offer lists that include some of the top programs in the country. Stay tuned for updates on both in the coming weeks.

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Several UVa offers recently added to the database include: Robinson (Fairfax, VA) RB/DB Lucas Caparelli, Huguenot (Richmond, VA) TE Dedrick Epps, Snow Hill (Newark, MD) TB Ben Tate and Malvern Prep (Malvern, PA) WR/CB Trey Womack.

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When I was a UVa student many moons ago, it was a rinky-dink airport that I rarely used. But things are way different now. The terminal is beautiful, thanks to major architectural upgrades. The airport staff is friendly and efficient. And a bunch of airlines (Delta, United, US Airways and Northwest) offer convenient flights to such destinations as Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Orlando, Charlotte, Dallas, Detroit, Washington, Cincinnati, Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

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Post of the Week

Things are a little slow on the message boards these days, so any posts that start interesting discussions are welcome (and in this case, rewarded).

Subject: What would you rather have? Nat'l title in 1 mjr sport or success across all...
Posted by: dpc1994 on Sun May 29 2005 5:37:18 PM
Message: the other sports.

Johns Hopkins is only good in one sport. And, guess what, they don't much care.

Stanford, on the other hand, could not live with only being good in baseball and that's it.

Do we put all our eggs in one basket (say football or hoops) and leave the other sports to rot or do we diversify?

UVa excels in lacrosse, baseball, soccer, swimming, rowing, tennis, etc.

I like having moderate to exceptional success in many sports because the pressure on one team to succeed every single year would kill a school's reputation nationally - the perception would be that the program is going nowhere. I think that the reason some of us on the Board feel like we get picked on or dissed by the media (ESPN, certain writers, Wilbon, Kornheister) is because no one watches what's going on after we don't win the ACC in football or hoops. I get it, revenue sports. We're also a very easy target, like Duke, to pick on because we are perceived to be a school full of well-to-do suburban kids and we don't win big in football and basketball.

I don't expect Wilbon to understand what going to Virginia is really like. I happen to know that he's very close friends with Virginia alums, so maybe he, in particular, is overcompensating with the snide comments and insults to appear impartial. I mean, it's not like Northwestern is perfect except on the women's lacrosse field.

So, what will it be, guys and gals? Do we live and die with football and basketball or do we live with the non-revenue sports? For the purposes of this poll, let's skip the monetary aspect. We could be booty in both men's hoops and rock bottom in football and Virginia will still be Virginia - just not in the hearts and minds of the media.

This post started an excellent thread. To check out all the responses, please click the link below.

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