Crutchfield is the place to shop for all your electronic needs, providing everything from home theatre equipment to the latest car audio gear. If you are in the market for any of the products and services offered by Crutchfield, please give them FIRST SHOT at your business. We want to let them know that their sponsorship of our publication and community is a sound business decision.  

The success of their sponsorship is directly proportional to your willingness to actively patronize them. Sponsorships are a critical component of our business and their success will permit us to continually improve our services to you, our community. Thanks for all your continual and active support of TheSabre.com and stay tuned for more information on Crutchfield in the weeks to come!

Again, thanks for supporting the sponsors of TheSabre.com! And if you patron any of our sponsors, please send us an email and let us know. Feedback to our sponsors is extremely important to their long-term commitment to our site.

Chris Johnson, a 6-5, 275-pound defensive lineman for Charlottesville High School, has committed to the University of Virginia football program.

Johnson was also considering Virginia Tech and Maryland, but felt the time was right to make his decision.

For more on Johnson, with quotes, please refer to the Sabre Edge recruiting updates page.

Weekend Visitors By Chris Horne

The following players will be visiting the University of Virginia this weekend for the game versus NC State.

Keenan Carter - 6-2, 345 DT - Fork Union Military Academy
Committed to UVa

Carter, who did not qualify academically after signing with Virginia in February 2002, went to Fork Union in hopes of qualifying for fall 2003. Despite ballooning to close to 400 pounds over the summer of 2002, Carter has the desire, tenacity, and talent to become an immediate contributor for Virginia in 2003. He currently weighs 343 pounds and plays nose tackle, tight end, and fullback for Fork Union.

Robert Armstrong - 6-3, 305 DL/OL - Fork Union Military Academy
Committed to UVa

Like Carter, Armstrong went to Fork Union for the 2002-2003 year in hopes of qualifying for Virginia in fall of 2003. According to the Roanoke Times, he has earned a qualifying SAT score. Armstrong was relatively underrated before entering FUMA, where he has earned a reputation as a very good player with a great work ethic. He will contribute immediately for Virginia in 2003.

Fontel Mines - 6-5, 200 WR - Hermitage HS (Richmond, VA)
Virginia, Virginia Tech

As a senior on an undefeated (9-0) Hermitage Panther squad, Mines has made 30 receptions for 620 yards and seven touchdowns through nine regular season games. His statistics would be much better if not for the fact that Hermitage has been blowing out opponents early and running the football for the remainder of each game. Mines, who compares favorably to Billy McMullen, is a smooth player who contains his emotions out on the field. He will decide before Christmas between Virginia and Virginia Tech. Right now he is a slight lean to the Cavaliers because of proximity to home, academics, and the Cavalier's potent passing attack.

Duane Brown - 6-5 250 TE/DE - Hermitage HS (Richmond, VA)
Virginia Tech, Virginia

A teammate of Fontel Mines, Brown suffered a lower leg injury early on in his senior season, which forced him to the sideline for most of the year. He hopes to return for the final regular season game tomorrow night versus Douglas Freeman. Brown impressed the UVa coaches during the summer 2002 camp, where the staff was impressed with his ability on both offense and defense. Brown was thought to be leaning towards Virginia Tech for quite a while, however Virginia has narrowed the gap. He will make his decision by Christmas as well.

Virginia Football falls to Penn State

Virginia dropped their fourth contest of the season when they fell to Penn State last Saturday, 35-14. The Hoos finally put in a good first half, especially one defense, but were unable to get much going in the second half. The Cavaliers, trailing by only three, fumbled on their first drive of the second half, leading to a Penn State touchdown. It was all downhill from there, as the Nittany Lions took over the game and scored 25 unanswered points.

Virginia has three games remaining, and may have a shot at getting to a bowl game if they win only one of them. For more on Virginia's loss to Penn State, please see PSU Game News and Notes.

Virginia Football set to play N.C. State this weekend

The Hoos look to get back to their winning ways when they face the Wolfpack of N.C. State tomorrow. The Wolfpack are also coming off two straight losses, so both teams should be hungry and fighting for a win. Both are tied for third in the ACC, so this game has a lot of meaning in terms of post-season destination and bragging rights in the conference.

Game time is scheduled for noon. and will be televised by the Jefferson Pilot/ACC Sports Network. Check your local listings for details.

If you cannot view the game, tune in to WINA (AM 1070) or WWWV (FM 97.5) if you're local to Charlottesville or the surrounding areas. For out of state listeners, please tune in to the live Internet broadcast.

For pregame articles, post game articles, weather information, stats and game notes and depth chart, please see N.C. State Game News and Notes.

Virginia Basketball wins first exhibition game of the season

The Cavalier hoops team defeated the Big Apple Basketball team last Sunday, 84-60. Several Cavaliers sat out the game for various reasons, including Jason Clark, Keith Jenifer, Jermaine Harper, Devon Smith and Derrick Byars.

While two walk-ons had to participate, the Hoos looked good, often passing the ball more frequently than in any other time under Coach Pete Gillen. While it was just an exhibition, the Cavs played with a lot of desire.

Travis Watson was by far the player of the game, grabbing a team high 17 rebounds, and putting in 32 points on 14 of 22 shooting. Many of Watson's points came from the small forward position, where he knocked down several long-range jumpers, including three of six from beyond the arc.

For more on the exhibition, please refer to the Schedule and News page.

Virginia Basketball to play exhibition this Sunday

The Hoos take the court for their second exhibition game of the season against the One World All-Stars this Sunday in University Hall. The game is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. It will not be televised. Tickets for the event are $5.00. Gates will open one hour prior to the contest. There are no reserved parking spaces for this game, so you can park anywhere around University Hall unless otherwise directed.

For post game articles and stats after the game, please refer to the Schedule and News page.

Jermaine Harper suspended indefinitely

Sophomore guard Jermaine Harper has been suspended indefinitely from the UVa basketball program for a violation of team rules. Harper will not be allowed to participate in games or practice until the suspension is lifted.

Virginia names new Compliance Director

David Storm, an administrator in the athletics department at American University since 1995 with primary responsibilities in the area of compliance, has been named director of compliance at the University of Virginia.

After a long, hard look at how the Sabre Newsletter was set up, we decided to change our format and release information in a more timely fashion, rather than once per month. We also noticed the need to provide more recruiting information, as well as set up subscriber-only message boards - a request we often received from our long-time supporters.

This new subscription area is called Sabre Edge, and provides a ton of information, including weekly articles, interviews, columns and special features as well as weekly recruiting updates. Since Sabre Edge's release at the end of October, our resident recruiting analyst Chris Horne has provided six recruiting updates exclusive to our subscribers.

If you're interested in signing up, but are afraid of a one-year commitment, we have monthly and quarterly options at a reasonable rate. Please see the link below for details. See you on the Edge!

Sabre Edge

Are you already a Sabre Newsletter subscriber?

Apologies to our current Sabre Newsletter subscribers for not getting more information about the change to our new format, the Sabre Edge. We had planned to send out a mass email release to you the day of the change, but server difficulties prevented us from doing that.

Most of our current Sabre Newsletter subscribers saw our press release on the home page and message boards of TheSabre.com, but for those who did not, please refer to the Sabre Edge Press Release. This release should give you everything you need to know about the transition.

For those who wish not to wade through the entire release, here's some basic need to know information about your account:

If you have an active Sabre Newsletter subscription, you do not need to do anything special to access your Sabre Edge account. Your SN information will work fine. Just go to the home page of TheSabre.com, locate any LOG IN link to Sabre Edge, and then fill in your Sabre Newsletter email address and password for that account. You should then have access to Sabre Edge.

When trying to post on the Edge message boards, please read the instructions carefully. When you post for the first time, please be sure to type the username you normally use for the free message boards, and not your email address.

If you have difficulty with any this, please send an email to [email protected] and I will assist you.

Basketball schedule updated

The UVa men's basketball schedule has been updated on TheSabre.com to reflect all scheduled game times and television broadcasts.