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U.VA. NOTES
Jan 14, 2003

LET THE HYPE BEGIN: In Sports Illustrated's recent article about the Fiesta Bowl, the magazine dropped in its preseason top 10 for 2003. Virginia was 10th, three spots behind archrival Virginia Tech.

U.Va. finished 9-5 in 2002 after crushing West Virginia 48-22 in the Dec. 28 Continental Tire Bowl in Charlotte, N.C.

Of the 22 players who started on offense or defense against WVU, 18 have eligibility left, including quarterback Matt Schaub and tailback Wali Lundy. Schaub was the ACC player of the year in 2002, and Lundy was named MVP of the Tire Bowl after scoring four touchdowns.

Also due back for Cavaliers coach Al Groh are punter Tom Hagan and kicker Connor Hughes, both true freshmen in 2002.

Lundy, a true freshman who totaled 239 all-purpose yards against the Mountaineers, was named to SI's "all-bowl team," along with such notables as Southern Cal quarterback Carson Palmer (the Heisman Trophy winner), Michigan tailback Chris Perry (a graduate of Fork Union Military Academy), Miami tight end Kellen Winslow, Maryland linebacker E.J. Henderson and Ohio State safety Mike Doss.

The Sporting News singled out Lundy's effort as the best individual performance in a bowl this season. The magazine also listed U.Va. and Tech among the 13 teams it believes have the best chance of playing in next season's national-title game, the Sugar Bowl.

INJURY REPORT: About 45 minutes before tipoff Saturday, center Nick Vander Laan, who's started six games for U.Va. this season, was walking around University Hall in street clothes, with an ice pack on his neck. The 6-10, 255-pound junior later suited up and went through warmups, but he didn't play in U.Va.'s 79-72 win over North Carolina.

Virginia's Pete Gillen called it a "coach's decision" not to play Vander Laan.

Another of Gillen's post players, 6-11 senior Jason Rogers, strained a ligament in his knee in practice last week and watched the UNC game in street clothes. Rogers, a seldom-used reserve, isn't expected to miss much time, but his status for Virginia's next game is uncertain. U.Va. (1-1, 10-3) plays tomorrow night at top-ranked Duke (2-0, 11-0).

OL' MAN WATSON: Matt Doherty is only about halfway through his third season as North Carolina's coach, but he's already seen enough of U.Va.'s Travis Watson. Imagine how the ACC coaches who were in the league in 1999-2000 feel. Watson is a four-year starter.

"I joked with him before the game," Doherty said Saturday at U-Hall, "I think he's like 38 years old, the guy's been in the league so long. He came back and said, 'No, (former UNC guard) Ed Cota was the oldest guy to play in the league.'"

Watson, who turns 22 in March, totaled 18 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots in 37 minutes Saturday. The 6-8, 255-pound senior is 6-1 vs. the Tar Heels.

BACK TO THE NFL?: The Arizona Republic reported Saturday that Cardinals coach Dave McGinnis, who's looking for a new offensive coordinator, spent most of Friday interviewing Bill Musgrave. McGinnis planned to interview other candidates as well, the newspaper said.

Musgrave, 35, recently completed his second season as U.Va.'s offensive coordinator. He previously held that position with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Carolina Panthers and played quarterback in the NFL for San Francisco and Denver.

Musgrave, a Colorado native who starred at quarterback for the University of Oregon, recently turned down an offer to become offensive coordinator at UCLA.

GOOD TO GO: U.Va. football recruit Keenan Carter received a qualifying score on the standardized test he took last month, John Shuman said yesterday. Shuman, Fork Union's postgraduate coach, said he expects the NCAA Clearinghouse to declare Carter eligible to play at Virginia in 2003.

Carter, a 6-2, 330-pound nose tackle, signed with U.Va. last winter but didn't meet NCAA eligibility requirements. He's a graduate of Potomac High in Dumfries.

ALL OR NOTHING: Every other year, U.Va. plays host to three of the most storied programs in men's lacrosse: Syracuse, Princeton and Johns Hopkins. This isn't one of those years. Virginia visits Syracuse on March 1, Princeton on March 8 and Hopkins on March 22.

The Cavaliers' regular-season home games are against Drexel (Feb. 22), Towson (March 16), Maryland (March 29), North Carolina (April 5), Penn State (April 26) and Denver (April 28). Also, U.Va. meets Notre Dame on March 11 in Alexandria.

Virginia fans can get their first look at the 2003 team Feb. 1 when it scrimmages Navy in Charlottesville. - Jeff White

 

Sore about W.Va. skit? Look at it with humor
The Virginian-Pilot
© January 7, 2003

Well, here goes.
One more cup of ink dedicated to the dust-up between the Virginias -- that would be the University of Virginia and West Virginia University -- over a politically incorrect half-time performance by U.Va.'s Pep Band.

I wouldn't weigh in, except that I appear to be the only person who actually watched the band at the Tire Bowl in Charlotte a little over a week ago.

Everyone condemning the show -- or apologizing for it -- seems to preface his or her remarks with ``I didn't see it, but . . .''

Well, I did.

And after seeing the show and listening to the uproar over it, I have just three words for the wounded West Virginia fans: Let it go.

If you don't want any ribbing about mountainy people, you ought to rethink your mascot. Your Mountaineer, with his beard and buckskins, and his flintlock rifle, bears more than a little resemblance to -- dare I say it? -- Jed Clampett.

Frankly, with a mascot like that, you're asking for trouble.

For the record, this wasn't some wanton half-time entertainment. There was no vulgarity, no nudity, no lewd behavior. It was an almost inaudible parody of the TV show ``The Bachelor,'' with one of the female hopefuls dressed in overalls with her hair in pigtails, do-si-do-ing on the 50-yard line.

But in the politically correct climate we find ourselves today, even this is apparently off limits.

Am I the only one who finds that climate a bit chilling?

This was nothing more than a silly, sophomoric show put on by a goofy college band, at a time when most of the stadium seats were empty because fans were lining up for hot dogs.

Only the most sedentary spectators, those wrapped tightly in their blankets and too lazy to move their derrieres from their plastic seats, saw it.

People like me.

But no sooner had the pep band taken the field than I knew there would be trouble.

``They've done it now,'' I told my daughter, who was seated next to me in the end zone. ``West Virginians may have a beautiful state and a fine university. But if there's one thing they don't have, it's a sense of humor.''

I found this out the hard way.

Last summer I penned what I thought was a mildly amusing column about how a cheesy motel is truly an art form. How the sheets had to be perfectly moist, the towels transparent and the desk clerk an uncomprehending foreigner to complete the effect. How just one fluffy towel, one clean sheet or a single mint on a pillow could spoil it.

The inspiration for the column came from a memorable night spent in a horrid motel, which happened to be in West Virginia, but might have been anywhere.

In the course of the column I mentioned West Virginia exactly twice.

What followed was a fire-storm of angry letters and calls from irate natives of the Mountain State convinced that I'd taken a cheap shot.

``We are not all dirty,'' one screamed into my ear.

I was flabbergasted.

And I am confident that had I identified the motel as being in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island or Delaware there would have been no similar reaction from readers from those states.

But some West Virginians seem to be always on the defensive, alert to all insults -- real or imagined.

This is a pity.

As someone who hails from New Jersey -- land of turnpikes and toxic waste, mobsters and manicotti, big hair and bowling shirts, the most maligned state in the union -- I can offer West Virginians a little advice.

Cultivate a sense of humor about your state. Please.

Here's an idea: Forgive the pep band for its silly prank, and the rest of America will try to forgive you for returning Robert C. Byrd to the U.S. Senate every six years.