Blog Banter: Deserving Support

There's been a lot written in the news and said on message boards and blogs regarding bowl game ticket sales and the support (or lack thereof) of UVa fans with regard to heading to the bowl or purchasing tickets through the athletic department.

I'd like to weigh in and say that this team deserves the support of the UVa fan contingent, regardless of where the seats are located, the love fest shown to Virginia Tech on Nov. 24, or any other matter that seems to be more of an excuse than a reason for not supporting this year's team. If you cannot afford to go to the bowl game, or have conflicts that make it impossible to attend, that's understandable. But some of the excuses that are being thrown out have nothing to do with what the football team deserves in terms of your support.

Seriously, think about where your loyalties lie. Is making a point to the UVa Athletics Department, for whatever reason, more important than supporting of one of the hardest working teams in recent memory? It's not like the Virginia coaches or players had anything to do with the festivities dedicated to the Hokies in November. And the ticket office really has no control over where bowl games decide to place fans. But, I have to admit the Gator Bowl has done a good job of positioning seats that aren't relegated to the end zone. It's a lot better than what Virginia fans were given for previous Peach and Continental Tire Bowls.

This is a New Year's Day bowl game. Virginia football deserves better.

Read the full blog entry here!

Mike Ingalls
TheSabre.com

This Week In Recruiting
By Chris Horne

Football recruiting ...

Today is the first day of a recruiting dead period. For those who don't know what a dead period means, here is the official definition from the NCAA:

"[It is] not permissible [for coaches] to make in-person recruiting contacts or evaluations on- or off-campus or permit official or unofficial visits."

Coaches can stay in contact with recruits by phone - they are allowed to phone each recruit once per week - but that is about it. This dead period lasts through Jan. 3, with another taking place from Jan. 7-10. The next dead period comes around the time of National Signing Day, with the time in between being the true final stretch of 2008 class recruiting.

Prospects may make official visits on the weekends of Jan. 4-6 and Jan. 11-13, but look for the 18th to be Virginia's big recruiting weekend. A number of commitments will be in town on official visits, and the staff is trying to get in some top prospects as well. Easton (PA) CB Jarred Holley and South Lakes (Reston, VA) WR A.J. Price are also expected to visit that weekend.

After landing commitments from 6-6, 310-pound Fork Union OL Austin Pasztor and 6-3, 240-pound Highland Springs TE Rod Wheeler last week, Virginia now has 16 verbal commitments in total for the 2008 recruiting class. Look for the staff to take about 3 or 4 more recruits in this class.

At this point, only two of Virginia's current targets seem like possibilities to make commitments this month. Eleanor Roosevelt (Greenbelt, MD) S Okechuckwu Okoroha and South Lakes WR A.J. Price could have decisions, though both could wait until January. Stay tuned for the latest on both prospects this week.

Also stay tuned this week for more on Virginia's previous commitments, including today's article on 6-7, 280-pound offensive lineman Corey Lewis. Lewis, a standout out of East Stroudsburg South in Pennsylvania, enjoyed a very good senior season. As a result, he earned scholarship offers from Illinois and Penn State and was considering making official visits to each program. I checked in with the talented prospect this weekend, so stay tuned later today for the latest.

While the primary focus of the Virginia staff is on 2008 prospects, a number of 2009 class offers have gone out. This week, we'll focus on Deep Run (Glen Allen, VA) DE Jake Snyder and Stone Bridge (Ashburn, VA) DE Zach Thompson. Virginia offered both juniors recently, so we'll check in for reaction.

Chris Horne, our resident recruiting expert, provides updates throughout the week for Edge subscribers about UVa's commitments and recruiting targets in football and men's basketball. To sign up for an Edge subscription, please check out the Sabre Edge Sign Up and Information Page. If you're already on board as an Edge subscriber, click the links below to catch up on recruiting.

Sabre Edge recruiting updates from the past week ...

Fork Union OL Commits to Hoos
University of Virginia head coach Al Groh decided to extend an official scholarship offer yesterday to Fork Union Military Academy offensive lineman Austin Pasztor, who didn't take long to accept. UVa now has its 15th verbal commitment - the fourth projected to play on the offensive line - for the 2008 recruiting class.

Highland Springs Standout Commits to Virginia
In what has been a down year in recruiting the state of Virginia, the University of Virginia staff was able today to do something it has not been able to do under Al Groh's tenure...it has landed a commitment from Highland Springs High School. Al Groh and company received the good news about an hour or so ago.

Checking in with Ugo Uzodinma
Dunbar (Washington, D.C.) defensive end Ugo Uzodinma verbally committed to Virginia in late October, choosing UVa over Illinois after visiting each school in September. Is the 6-5, 245-pound standout now reconsidering his pledge to Virginia in favor of an opportunity to enroll at Illinois next month?

Postseason Q&A: TE/DE Colter Phillips
Georgetown Prep (Darnestown, MD) tight end/defensive end recruit Colter Phillips is the latest subject of "Q&A." The 6-6, 235-pound Virginia commit discusses his senior season, Virginia's season, his primary recruiter and his future at the University of Virginia.

More recent recruiting updates on The Sabre ...

• Is UVa in Contention for Hale?
• UVa Coach Has In-Home with Wheeler
• The Latest on Jarred Holley
• Class of '09: Hermitage Features Two Top Athletes
• Interest Increasing in Western Branch Junior QB
• Lewis to Stay with UVa

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Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

• Krzysik, Sauerbrunn Named First Team NSCAA All-Americans: The National Soccer Coaches Association of America named two Cavaliers as first-team selections on its All-America team. Senior defender Becky Sauerbrunn and junior defender Nikki Krzysik were honored, as Virginia had two first-team All-Americans in the same season for the second time in history.
• Thompson Earns Preseason NCBWA All-America Honors: Virginia's Jacob Thompson has been named to the eighth annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association 2008 Preseason All-America Team. The honor marks the second preseason distinction for Thompson, who earlier joined teammate David Adams on the watch list for the Brooks Wallace Award.
• Virginia Softball Names 2008 Captains: Virginia softball coach Eileen Schmidt has announced that senior Whitney Holstun and fifth-year senior Meghan O'Leary will serve as team captains for the 2008 season.
• Hurley Named to Short Course World Championship Team: Virginia swimmer Ryan Hurley was one of 26 of the nation's top swimmers selected to represent Team USA at the 2008 FINA Short Course World Championships April 9-13 in Manchester, England. Hurley will compete in the 200 breaststroke at the Short Course World Championships.
• Starting Time Changes For Virginia's Game At Xavier: The Virginia men's basketball team's game at Xavier on Jan. 3 is now scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. Eastern time. The game was originally scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. The Virginia-Xavier game will be televised by CSTV.

For more Hoo news or to read full releases, check out Virginiasports.com.

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Issue No. 272 - Dec. 18, 2006

Leitao's Ejection A Hot Topic

Coach Dave Leitao was ejected after receiving two technical fouls at the four minute mark of the first half.

The Virginia men's basketball team improved to 6-1 on the season by defeating Hampton on Saturday afternoon at the John Paul Jones Arena, where the Hoos are still undefeated. Of course, one thing seems to have dominated the conversation about the game: Dave Leitao's ejection.

In some ways, all the discussion makes sense. After all, Leitao became the first UVa coach to be ejected from a game since Terry Holland, who was dismissed on Jan. 14, 1976 against Virginia Tech in a 91-69 loss. But it was also the first ejection of Leitao's career and he wasn't too thrilled about it afterward.

"Before I talk about the game, I just want to apologize to the University for getting kicked out of the game and my actions that led to it," Leitao said after the game. "Even though I'm demonstrative and I try to challenge everybody, it's not to leave my players without some level of leadership. That's not why I came here and that's not what I'm about. So, to President Casteen, Craig Littlepage, my boss, and everybody included, I apologize."

Those words may ring hollow with some people, but they seemed genuine to me. Normally, Leitao is in command of the room as soon as he walks in for this postgame press conferences. He opens with some points and is direct with his assessments. This time, he started the conference with the above apology and he seemed somewhat shaken about the whole ordeal. He took several sips from a water bottle and was a little bit fidgety while talking about it. When he started to talk about the game, he was back to his usual composed self.

To me, that's a sign that Leitao truly didn't mean to get ejected or draw so much attention.

Still, the debate on the message board has continued. Did he mean to do it? Why would he do something like that? Why did Duke Edsall cause so much trouble and why does he officiate? Should Virginia fans still be upset? All the conversation is valid because people are curious and want to talk about it. That's what makes a topic hot after all.

Coming Soon

The Sabre has you covered when it comes to Hoo news. Here are a few of the articles to expect on the site in the coming days:

• Courtside Checkup The men's basketball team is on a break for exams. The Sabre's newest feature takes the temperature of the team.
• Gator Bowl preparation The Sabre will get you ready for the Gator Bowl and opponent Texas Tech.
• Roundtables The Sabre has assembled some media members who cover Virginia for roundtable discussions on football and basketball.

In Case You Missed It ...

Sabre articles since the last SabreMail

Photo Gallery: Virginia 76, Longwood 57
The Virginia basketball team closed out the pre-exam portion of its schedule with a 76-57 victory against Longwood. Sean Singletary (21 points, 8 assists), Adrian Joseph (13 points, 10 rebounds), and Mike Scott (9 points, 11 rebounds) all put up impressive statistics in the win while Mamadi Diane and Will Harris were among other key contributors. Check out this photo gallery for images from the contest with the Lancers.

The Hawk's Nest: Bowl Preparation
The Virginia Cavaliers have accepted a bowl bid to play in the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl on Jan. 1 against Texas Tech. The Cavs will have more time than usual to prepare for this game as opposed to preparing for a regular season game. The fact that Texas Tech has a very powerful offense that is averaging more than 400 yards passing a game means that the Cavs will be more than happy to receive extra weeks to prepare.

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