Last week's contest: UVa Fan Haiku!

We asked you to submit haikus that capture the essence of being a UVa fan, and we got a bunch of entries. Many of you figured out that "Carolina Sucks" has five syllables. Aren't y'all clever? But it's UNC week, so what do you expect?

Here are some of the runners-up...

Carolina sucks
They're the suckiest suck, but
at least they're not Duke
(Hampton Nager - 3 U Circle)

Football, Basketball
Keep us more stressed than we'd like
Go Non-Revenues!!
(Brian Leung - The UVa Fool)

This game should be ours
Damn! We let it slip away
But always...Go Hoos!
(John Anderson - VetHoo)

One week, Let's go Hoos!
Next week, fire everyone!
Life of a Hoo fan
(Marc Porow - Super Sized Hoo)

Let's discuss the band!
Or perhaps the shirts and ties!
Uh....people....the GAME?
(Richard Rogers - 1995hoo)

Oh, My Orange, Blue
With a Stout and Proud "Wahoo!"
I Hail None But You
(Christopher Haddad - haddahoo)

Old Hoos wearing orange
Not as many ties today
Still drink bourbon, though
(David Ferretti - cwvhoo)

Seminoles are down
Carolina is going
Hokies begin to shiver
(Larry Keith - HooDad 3x)

Yet another score
Rise and sing the Good Old Song
Arm in arm we sway
(Bill Doss - chili beans)

Starting five-and-oh
We end the year eight and four.
Same Hoos, diff'rent year.
(Richard Rogers - 1995hoo)

October sun sinks
As do 'Noles, Heels and Hokies
Jacksonville beckons
(Gordon Barnes - zeropointzero)

Ties or orange T's
3-4 or 4-3 defense
Can't we get along?
(Marc Porow - Super Sized Hoo)

Orange and blue glasses
Give the world a brighter hue
Dear old U-V-A
(Josh Arbaugh - FontanaHoo)

5 foot 8... maybe
Best in ACC... for sure
Great QB... hell yeah!
(Andrew Van - Homer L Ferguson)

Hagans runs, passes
Brooks blitzes and Parham stuffs
UNC still sucks
(Bob Baskin - HooWa)

And the winner, with a series of connected haikus, is Christina Stegner (5ftHoo). She gets a free month of SabreEdge for this entry...

Why I love the Hoos
There are so many reasons
Here are just a few

Get up on game day
Wearing orange head to toe
Pumped up for the game

Section 104
Sit in the front row with friends
In Scott Stadium

Drive twelve hours straight
Sleep on top of an RV
In Kalamazoo

Being at the games
Both at Scott and far away
Cheering Wah-hoo-wah

Games under the lights
Beating undefeated teams
Like the Seminoles

Time's down to zero
Twenty six to twenty one
Thousands rush the field

Cheering win or lose
Hoos are my favorite team
Lets go U-V-A!

Thanks to everyone who entered. As long as we're on a poetry kick, let's try this week's contest: UVa Fan Limericks!

Write limericks that reflect some aspect of being a UVa fan. Nothing dirty, please. In other words, the opening line can't be, "There once was a Tar Heel sucking..." Winner will be chosen based on creativity and cleverness.

Please send your entry (or entries) to [email protected] with the header: SabreMail Contest. Thanks, and good luck!

Football recruiting...

Virginia did everything it could to impress wide receiver Chris Bell , but it wasn't enough to gain a commitment from the 4-star recruit. Bell committed to Penn State on Monday.

But the weekend was a success for the program, as a number of recruits were on hand to witness the win over Florida State. Among those prospects were Meadowbrook OLB/DE John Graves, Fork Union WR Jacoby Ford, Phoebus WR/CB Brent Vinson and Vance (Charlotte, N.C.) DB Rico Bell.

Graves more than likely will decide between Virginia and Virginia Tech, with UVa having the edge right now. Ford, who graduated from Cardinal Newman HS in West Palm Beach, Florida, before heading to FUMA, is seeing his stock rise by the minute. Virginia was the first to offer Ford, who will get a visit from Al Groh on Monday. Give the edge to Virginia Tech and Tennessee for Vinson, but the 6-1, 185-pound rising star now says he will take an official visit to Virginia. Bell has set an official visit to UVa for November 18th. Tennessee, Boston College and N.C. State are other schools in the mix.

The commitments at Scott Stadium on Saturday included DT Asa Chapman and DE Sean Gottschalk. Gottschalk told our own Greg Waters that "this is why I chose Virginia."

Commitment update...

Almondo Sewell is having an outstanding year for Trenton Central HS (Trenton, N.J.). The 6-2, 238-pound Sewell estimates that he has over 20 tackles for loss this season. He has helped TCHS go 4-2 and get in contention for its first playoff appearance in nine years.

Sewell says his speed has improved significantly this year. He was hand-timed at 4.49 in the 40 at the beginning of the season. He plays an inside linebacker position in coach Larry Parker's 3-4 defense, something that is sure to help him once he gets to Virginia.

Basketball recruiting...

Ben C. Rain (Mobile, AL) power forward Johnnie Lett had a good visit to Virginia but is not ready to make a decision just yet. In fact, the 6-8, 220-pound prospect says it is "likely" he will wait until the spring to make his decision. If he does wait, UVa may have moved on by then.

Hargrave Military Academy standout small forward Tyler Smith and Brewster Academy small forward Will Harris are among the prospects UVa is recruiting for the final spot in the 2006 recruiting class.

Yes, it's our favorite little video football game, and it's back and better than ever. The Kroger "Pro Challenge" now has different playing levels and more prizes. You know how to play, right? You have two minutes to score as many touchdowns as you can while calling and running the plays. You start at the high school level, then try to advance to the college level. If you make it to the pros, you can enter a sweepstakes drawing. First prize is $1,000 cash! Second prize is $250!

For playing at any level, you enter a random drawing for a $50 gift card once per week. Steve Spagnolo was last week's winner. Way to go, Steve.

Kroger Food and Drug also is a great place to shop and save money. Just click here to find the Kroger location nearest to you and check out all the weekly specials online. Then simply head over to the store and pick out the items on sale. Cha-ching!

Subject: Crow
Posted by: Hooz4Me on Sun Oct 16 2005 9:49:42 PM

Marques Hagans turned at least one doubter into a believer by beating FSU.

Message: Not on this board, but in conversations with other fans I've recently been a grumbler and a Hagans non-believer. I parroted the criticisms of his being too short to find receivers hidden by bigger linemen. I speculated that his speed was not particularly effective against top-tier teams possessing equal quickness. I wondered about his decision-making, and I advised we might have been better off promoting one of the taller, younger QBs to starter and using Hagans as we did when Matt Schaub was around. Gutsy and competitive as is, I claimed we could never win a truly big game with him as our starting quarterback.

Sunday morning, I bypassed my usual bacon and eggs and ate a hearty helping of crow. I've got to tell you, it was absolutely delicious. When I'm wrong, I'm very, very wrong.

Thread of the Week

Subject: Marcus Hamilton's excellent night vs FSU, rest of secondary and UNC
Posted by: DC Hoo on Thu Oct 20 2005 10:54:40 AM
Message: I've enjoyed rewatching the FSU game and wanted to look at Hamilton's play vs the Noles. I'm in the tank big time for Hamilton and think he's playing the best of any corner in the ACC. He's certainly the best UVA corner since Ronde in '94.

Against FSU, Hamilton drew the receiver on the wide side of the field with limited safety help. He did a great job in shutting down his side of the field in coverage. Just as impressive was Hamilton's run defense.

By my account, Weatherford threw to Hamilton's side 9 times on Saturday. He went 5/9 for 74yards and a pick in those attempts. Two of those completions were to safety valves in the short flat while Hamilton was sitting more back in zone coverage. A third completion for 22 yards was in a zone coverage shaded more inside of Hamilton and in front of the safeties. There was only pass for 28 yard where Hamilton got beat badly in man coverage. that was the jump ball to FSU's giant receiver where Hamilton never turned around to see the ball. All in all, an excellent game in pass coverage.

Marcus Hamilton shares the ACC lead with four INTs.

In run support, MH came up fast with a few key tackles. He led the team in tackles despite having few tackling opportunities due to completed passes. He had one great stop for a loss and should have another when he made the initial hit behind the line but couldn't bring the runner down. Was still a negative play as Hamilton slowed the ball carrier enough for Parham and the line to stream the play out(fsu lost even more yardage as the runner went backward after Hamilton's initial hit).

FSU didn't go after Hamilton but they really went after Mike Brown. Brown had a learning experience as Willie Reid really worked him over. On FSU's first drive, they repeatedly attacked Brown with great success. Brown was never beat badly but it was constantly in a poor position to make a play on the ball or was a few steps behind on a crossing pattern. Hopefully it was a good learning experience for Brown as Reid will be one of the better receivers he faces for a while.

UVA really dropped the safeties back in coverage. The longest pass play was 28 yards which came late in the game(against Hamilton on that jump ball). But all in all, the coverage by the secondary didn't really break down. Think about last year when it seemed that receivers would roam free on a broken play. I think the zone coverage is still a bit loose with some big seams that FSU took advantage of. But hopefully those will tighten as the secondary matures. The safeties didn't make any bad mistakes on pass coverage...but they did make 2 poor plays on the TDs that cost us. Franklin got caught up outside on the TD run and everyone looked bad on the TD catch and run.

UNC will be another test. Many of FSU's passes were dinks to the TE/RB and short inside tosses. That's where teams are attacking the defense and that won't change. UNC has the speed at receiver to attack the short zones effectively. I don't think that UNC can win the game unless they make big plays in their passing game. Baker leads the ACC in picks and i think the secondary will get 1 or 2 on Saturday.

I'd guess that Baker focuses on attacking Mike Brown, the zone between the LB and the safeties and underneath crossing routes. FSU had no success and in fact threw pics when they went deep. If the secondary can prevent UNC from having success with the deep ball, UVA should win again. And Hamilton continue his march to first team All-ACC.

To read the entire thread, please click the link below.

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Notice to Sabre Edge subscribers from UVa Bookstores

The UVA Bookstores/Sabre Edge Discount Cards are ready for pick up! Sabre Edge members will need to come to the UVA Bookstore atop the Central Grounds Parking Garage and go to the Customer Service Desk (located at the front of the store to your right as you walk in). Your card will be there and you can start saving on great products throughout the Bookstore and TJ's Locker.

If you aren't going to be in town in the near future, remember to use your online discount.

Enjoy your savings! We are excited to be a part of TheSabre.com community.

You want your picture posted on TheSabre.com? Then please check out our Wahoowa! section, especially the areas for Fan Photos and V-Sabres Worldwide.

We're happy to post your tailgate pics and your vacation photos (as long as the V-Sabres logo is visible). Please send them to [email protected]. Mike also is taking pics of fans during games and has a new Fan(s) of the Week every week.

Sabre articles from the past week

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