Am I ready for some football?

Well, no, not really. I have a broken elbow. My right ankle is kind of sore. Frankly, I'm getting up there in years and I'm not sure my body can take the pounding anymore.

Oh, am I ready to watch some football? Hell, yeah. And that's one of the cool things about Al Groh's operation at UVa. Unlike Coach Welsh, who preferred a closed shop on the practice field, Groh opens practices for media and fans during training camp. Not all of the practices, mind you. Just seven, all in the next eight days. But it gives ordinary folks like us a chance to check out the players, witness the drills and get a better sense of how Groh and his staff prepare the team.

So if you can make it to any of them, I'd encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity to watch a practice or two on the lower practice field behind the McCue Center. Training camp begins today and the open practices are listed below.

Friday, Aug. 5 - 6:15 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 6 - 5:15 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 7 - 2:45 p.m.
Monday, Aug. 8 - 6:15 p.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 9 - 11:15 a.m.
Saturday, Aug. 13 - 8:45 a.m. and 6:45 p.m.

If you can't make it, I'll be there with some of our other writers. We'll be posting Cavalier Camp reports and blogs with news, observations, analysis and random musings for Sabre Edge subscribers. That's in addition to our "State of the Program" series examining the past, present and future of the Groh era in Virginia football.

So if you're ready for some football, please consider signing up for Sabre Edge.

Thanks, and I'll see you at practice!

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No big news on the recruiting front, thank goodness. Our recruiting guru, Chris Horne, is on his honeymoon and has better things to do (we hope!) than call recruits right now. With luck, they will wait to announce their commitments until he returns to work Aug. 10. Of course, if anything big happens, we'll be on top of it.

In the meantime, we'll substitute his normal weekly recruiting roundup with a Post of the Week in his honor...

Subject: News Flash
Posted by: wahoobill on Fri Jul 29 2005 6:04:33 PM
Message: Dateline Charlottesville, Va.... July, 2005 ....

The Sabre, an unofficial fan site for UVA athletics, was down for five hours yesterday due to an unprecedented surge in site visits on Friday. Officials at The Sabre hope to be operational sometime tomorrow afternoon.

Representatives of the National Internet Council in Washington, DC, noted the surge as well, but said that the entire Internet was not in any danger of failing thanks to emergency procedures that had been put in place earlier.

Apparently the overwhelming storm was triggered by a post from The Sabre employee Chris Horne, who announced the commitment from his fiance today. Many Virginia fans were caught by surprise, since according to sources familiar with the situation most assumed that Horne was going to have great difficulty landing even one commitment, much less a highly regarded one.

"Chris is a great guy, but let's face it, he has some issues," said The Sabre executive Mike Ingalls. "The character thing has been something that we've been talking to Chris about, so I guess he was able to satisfy her concerns on that front. Good for him," Ingalls continued.

Virginia football expert JHoo apparently was not so surprised. "I had heard from inside sources for some time that the fiance's mother really liked Chris for some time, but given his track record with 'Moms' in his professional life, I think that all Virginia fans had to be concerned."

Several experts explained the surprise commitment citing that Horne's fiance had not attended any of the spring camps for prospects. "This was one of those in-person evaluations, and you just can't criticize the 'eyeball' test," according to Sabre executive John Galinsky.

Surprisingly, many of the posts that deluged The Sabre message boards focused criticism on Horne's fiance. Several persons questioned Horne's taking someone with only one offer, as a sign that he has dropped back to his "B" list.

Mikeysurf, a Virginia football gadfly, responded to that criticism with "She is a little bit under the radar, but those who know her and have seen her in person say that she is a high 4 star who has a chance to make 5 star as the fall continues." He refused to give more details, stating that he hasn't yet "seen any film on her yet. But you have to trust Horne on his in-person evaluations."

There appeared to be a wide spectrum of opinions on the Horne announcement. Immediately prior to the site crash, another prominent Sabre poster, Homer L Fergusson, drew fire for his comment "There are plenty of girls in the Penninsula District, and it just really makes me sick that they are once again closed out of Charlottesville."

Ravenhoo and Oraclehoo, so-called "insiders" of the Virginia sports teams, weighed in with reports that the commitment lead to "high fives and dancing in the halls in the McCue center, once the commitment was faxed in."

For his part, although he has refused to comment at length about the matter, Horne responded by saying that he identified this prospect early, and was "on her" from her sophomore year, so she knew that's where she wanted to go. "It was one of those things, where both parties had the right chemistry."

Horne's fiance did not respond immediately to calls from the media, but a family spokesperson said "We're glad that it's over. She's looking forward to it." In response to a question about how the fiance made the decision, the spokesperson said, "She took a visit, and when she came back she rated it 10 out of 10," and that the overall impression was "astronomical."

The news extended to other internet sports sites as well. One competitor, TCB007 reported on his site that "Tech was interested, but backed off," refusing to provide any other details. "Besides, everyone knows that Tech invented marriage, so it just wasn't that big of a big deal." According to reports, Tech feels good about its marriage prospects for this year as well.

The news drew some interesting comments from rival coaches at Virginia Tech and Virginia. "Some girls are Virginia girls, and some girls are Tech girls," Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer said. Al Groh, Virginia head coach, praised Horne's finance's "versatility. She's another one of those girls who could play several positions. So we'll just let nature take its course, but she can clearly help Chris in a lot of ways." Groh continued "when she's ready, we're ready," in terms of whether she might see the field this year.

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New feature on TheSabre.com: FanWatch

This week we introduced a new feature we hope you'll enjoy. It's called "FanWatch," and the idea is to put the spotlight on the folks who support the Cavaliers and make TheSabre.com such a swell website. Once or twice a month, you'll be able to learn a little more about certain posters and maybe recognize the guy in the next section screaming his head off for the 'Hoos. Our FanWatch guinea pig is Bruce Milam, aka Bruhoo, a UVa alum, a respected poster, a huge fan and, most importantly, a tailgating legend.

Every month, Sabre Edge provides you with exclusive articles, columns, special features, interviews and recruiting news, including daily recruiting updates. There's even a special message board just for subscribers. And to top it off, you get 10 percent off all of your online purchases through TheSabreShop.com during your subscription.

All of the great Sabre Edge content can be yours for the price of $5.99 per month or $59.99 per year. Try it for a month and cancel if you like. But we think you'll get hooked on the Edge and find out for yourself why the most knowledgeable Cavalier fans are Edge subscribers.

If you're a true Wahoo, then the Sabre Edge is right for you. Check it out!