Looking at the big picture
Sewell sets eye on bowl bid in aftermath of wrist injury
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
March 23, 2007

Uncertain of his future as a football player in December, Jameel Sewell admits he was scared to death.

The same quarterback that had been chased around the field by 300-pound linemen as a rookie was given a dose of reality on Dec. 22.

That’s the day that Sewell, who set every freshman quarterback record at UVa last year, had surgery on his left wrist.

“It was terrible for me the first two weeks,” Sewell recounted on Wednesday after his successful return to the practice field. “I don’t think I moved out of bed. The pain was really bad in my wrist. I had to come back [to Charlottesville] to the emergency room a couple of times to have it looked at.”

The pain eventually subsided. The fear, well, that will take some time as doubt lingers about his long-term health.

“I am still afraid right now,” Sewell said, “but they are doing everything in their power to help me to make sure it is not even going to get to that point.”

Sewell has had time to get adjusted to the injury.

In fact, Virginia coach Al Groh said he was aware of the injury last August. Groh, however, would not use it as an excuse for Sewell’s erratic play, most of which came outside of Scott Stadium.

“A lot of players get hurt on a lot of teams,” Groh said. “We played against some players who were playing at less than 100 percent. Sometimes it helped us so it works both ways.

“A lot of times when people talk about injuries they forget that the other team has some

injuries too. It is what it is. It’s part of that mental toughness that a team has to have. I think that gets jeopardized by making a big deal out of it.”

Sewell, who passed for 1,342 yards and rushed for another 200, said he would not use the injury as a crutch.

“I try not to use it as an excuse,” he said. “It wasn’t bothering me.”

While mentally challenging, the injury didn’t appear to bother Sewell on Wednesday. He threw crisp passes before sitting out numerous drills and even hauled in passes from fellow quarterbacks without grimacing.

“It feels pretty good, just a little sore,” Sewell said. “It would be no different than if you pulled a hamstring and sat out some. You know you would be a little sore when you came back. So, its kind of what I expected.

“It’s OK and I’ll be able to work through it being a little sore.”

Since Sewell is the only quarterback in spring practice that has thrown a pass in a college game and prized recruit Peter Lalich does not arrive until August, the signal-caller knows he will be asked to deliver.

That’s fine, he said.

Sewell knew that as he watched almost every bowl game with his dad. Game after game, the fire burned brighter to help return Virginia to that platform.

“Just watching, my dad said, ‘You can’t go on like this. You gotta be playing.’ It was real tough,” Sewell recounted. “I got a call from one of my teammates who said, ‘We have some stepping up to do.’

“We plan on getting somewhere big time this year, making it happen.”

 

London's defense looking pretty good
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com | 978-7251
March 23, 2007

One of the best recruiting jobs that Al Groh did in February was keeping defensive coordinator Mike London as part of Virginia’s program.

This columnist was almost convinced that London was gone. He was the lead candidate for the head coaching job at Old Dominion University’s start-up Division I-AA program. Somehow, Groh convinced him to stay.

Oh, the possibilities

UVa fans should be fired up about the possibilities with London directing Groh’s 3-4 defense for a second straight year. He made incredible strides with last year’s defense, which finished No. 17 nationally in total defense, 15th in pass defense, 22nd in scoring defense and No. 41 in rush defense.

With 10 starters returning to that defense and a lot more depth than last season, things are looking up for Virginia’s 3-4, which Groh described as a hybrid of the two different 3-4 styles of play used by the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Guys like defensive end Chris Long were on the field for 715 plays, linebacker Jon Copper for 785, linebacker Antonio Appleby for 732, defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald for 655, defensive back Chris Cook for 648. We could go on, but you get the picture.

Depth a plus

Long, who should be a candidate for just about every possible national defensive award this season, will be one of several Wahoos to benefit from the extra depth provided by an entire freshman class redshirted last season.

“Coach is going to have to pry me off the field because I love to play every play,” Long said. “But if I do get tired, we have depth. Sean Gottschalk is very good and Alex Field (both defensive ends) is coming along great. We’ve got guys who can back us up at all positions. I think we’re as deep, if not deeper, as I’ve seen us.”

Veterans by the end

That could provide some major dividends for a battle-tested group of players that made huge strides over the course of last season when many of them started out without much experience but became seasoned veterans by the end of the campaign.

“That really gives us a good foundation,” Groh said of all the returning experience on the defensive side of the ball. “What we were able to get started last year was to be able to play defense the way I wanted our defense to look like.

“Those guys got a magnified amount of experience based on what I just said about most of them playing the whole season and taking every snap of every game. So, they have a tremendous amount of plays in one season’s time that should put them ahead of the curve, yet we still have guys with promise,who can make plays, coming up (from the redshirted class) to give us some depth,” Groh said.

The defense began to look like what Groh envisioned partly because of recruiting and partly because of London’s ability to get things done. Throughout the first few years of Groh’s era here, most of the team’s total success was via the offense, on the arm of Matt Schaub, the hands of Billy McMullen, the legs of Alvin Pearman, Wali Lundy and Marques Hagans, to name a few.

While this year’s offense should be interesting, if Virginia is to contend for the ACC’s Coastal Division title it will be because of defense. If London has his way, the Cavaliers’ will be a top-10 defense in every statistical phase of the game.

That’s where the depth factor comes in. No matter how good Long and Fitzgerald and some of the other players are, they can’t be as efficient in the fourth quarter as one would hope without getting some kind of breather along the way.

Now, they can because of all the depth that is beginning to build in the program.

The fact that 10 starters return in addition to several reserve players who gained experience last season, should allow London to maneuver his squad even better than a year ago when it became a much more aggressive group that featured a lot more unpredictability because of its movement. That could be expanded even more this fall because of the experience factor.

“As much as they played last season, many of them were first time players, such as Fitzgerald, Jon Copper, Nate Collins, Allen Billyk,” Groh said. “The game has become so diversified offensively, you have to defensively make adjustments to the formations or else you get out-leveraged or out-numbered at certain spots and that puts the onus on the linebackers.”

If Virginia has an abundance of one thing, it’s linebackers. All four starters return, including Copper, Appleby, Clint Sintim and Jermaine Dias. There’s a bunch more that were red-shirted last season or simply missed the year for other reasons including Olu Hall, John Bivens, Daniel Childress, Aaron Clark, Darnell Carter, Denzel Burrell, Darren Childs, Bernie McKeever, and John-Kevin Dolce.

“That’s the advantage of having four of them (starting in the 3-4) is that you have a little more flexibility to make adjustments to spreads and open formations,” said Groh. “So, we’re going to try to test them out on that stuff early in spring practice and go from there.”

The 2007 defense could be something to remember, perhaps the best since some of Rick Lantz’s best defenses of the 1990s. That could be something to cheer about.


 

UVa in midst of important ACC stretch
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
March 23, 2007

The days of a double-elimination tournament are gone in ACC baseball.

After using the format for 33 years, the respective coaches in the league elected earlier this year to adopt a round-robin format that guarantees every team three games at the postseason event.

Getting into the event, however, remains a season-long struggle as only eight of the 12 teams in the conference advance.

Virginia (20-4, 3-3 ACC) might have a better inkling on its fate in four weeks. By that point, ironically, the Cavaliers will have completed play against the five league opponents that join UVa in the Coastal Division.

“That is kind of unique, but I felt coming into this season that the month of March was going to be important,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said. “Every game is important but the month of March is critical because we play three ACC weekends on the road.

“We have handled ourselves pretty well so far this month and the team that does the job over the next four or five weeks is going to be the one that has a chance to win the Coastal Division.”

Miami (14-10, 2-4) would love to play its way back into that mix this weekend against Virginia at Davenport Field.

The Hurricanes, boasting an earned run average and a batting average that ranks in the bottom half of the ACC, have been forced to play catch-up after being swept two weeks ago at North Carolina and dropping the series finale last weekend to Maryland.

The pieces are certainly in place.

“You don’t go to Omaha [for the College World Series] one year and have the majority of your players back and not be a good team,” O’Connor said. “We know no matter what Miami has done thus far this year that they are capable of playing great baseball this weekend.

“We need to come at them with our best.”

So far this season, sophomore Jacob Thompson has been the Cavaliers’ “best” on the mound. The right-hander, who starts tonight, is 5-0 and sports a 1.98 ERA, which ranks fourth in the league among pitchers that have tossed at least 35 innings.

“[Thompson] has definitely grown on all of us,” Virginia second baseman David Adams said. “First of all, I don’t think we appreciated what he had last year. His numbers were outstanding. This year, he has gotten so much better.

“He is stronger, his velocity is better and his off-speed stuff is nastier. He is going to be a great prospect in the future and I am glad to have him on our staff.”

While Virginia will complete its weekend rotation with Matt Packer on Saturday and Sean Doolittle on Sunday, Adams said the team is motivated by reflecting on their four losses.

“We know we are better than the teams that we lost to so far,” Adams said. “We had the one loss at North Carolina where we should have made it a closer ball game. We had a couple of simple mistakes.

“And then at Wake we went in there thinking we were going to win all three games and you can’t have that mentality against an ACC opponent. It is tough losing any ball game, especially the ones you know you should win.”

 

Ex-Cav Byars thrives in new role
Derrick Byars has found a happy home in the SEC after his situation didn't work out at UVa.
By Ed Miller
Landmark News Service

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Virginia's coaches told Derrick Byars they had one scholarship left, providing a pressure-filled ultimatum for an 18-year-old, even one who was a high school All-American.

Byars considered the offer. The Cavaliers had made an appearance, albeit a brief one, in the top five of the polls the previous year. Their leading scorer, Roger Mason Jr., was leaving early for the NBA. Virginia's academic reputation, an important consideration for Byars, was as strong as any public university in the country.

"I saw a lot of positives with that," Byars said. "Why not?"

Byars canceled a scheduled visit to Vanderbilt, a school from his home state of Tennessee that was also pursuing him hard.

Five years later, Byars, the reigning Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, sat in a locker room at Continental Airlines Arena. He was wearing Vanderbilt black and gold and preparing to lead the Commodores into tonight's NCAA East Region semifinal against Georgetown.

How Byars got from Virginia, where he finished his career as a bench player, to Vanderbilt, where he blossomed into one of the best players in the country, is a tale of timing and coincidence, of a vision clouded on one campus and realized on another.

"I believe that hard work will get you where you need to be," Byars said. "I did that there. I can't say what transpired down there. I'm happy to be in the situation I am now."

Byars averages 17 points and five rebounds. He scored 27 points in Vanderbilt's double-overtime upset of Washington State last Saturday, matching his output in a first-round win over George Washington.

The Washington State game went just as he'd pictured it, Byars said afterward. He believes in the power of visualization. The night before games, he lies in bed, picturing the plays he will make the next day.

"I learned that from something Kobe Bryant said at a seminar," Byars said. "You have to see it before you can do it."

Byars saw himself succeeding at Virginia, and former coach Pete Gillen did, too. He started the first five games of his career, and 16 of 31 games as a freshman. He scored in double figures 10 times and averaged 6.5 points.

Byars showed even more promise the following year, averaging 13.6 over the first 10 games. Once conference play began, though, his playing time, confidence and scoring average all plummeted. He averaged 4.6 points over the final 21 games.

While declining to get too specific, Byars said in several different ways that he and Gillen had "different views." Byars felt his performance in practice merited more playing time. Gillen didn't agree.

By season's end, Byars was languishing on the bench.

Frustrated by the situation and wanting to move closer to home, Byars says the decision to transfer was easy.

He contacted Vanderbilt. Coach Kevin Stallings was eager to not let Byars get away a second time. There was one problem, however: The Commodores didn't have any scholarships.

Byars figured he needed to explore other options, so he visited Mississippi. The transfer papers arrived the same day Vanderbilt called with the news that one of its players, reserve guard Adam Payton, was transferring to William and Mary, opening up a scholarship.

Byars visited Vanderbilt the next day.

"Some things happened that we weren't expecting to happen, quite honestly," Stallings said.

Byars thanked Payton, whom he has never met, after the win over Washington State last Sunday.

It worked out well for them both. Payton led William and Mary in scoring this year and has said he has no regrets about transferring.

"Derek's one of the best players in the country," teammate Dan Cage said. "We're biased here, but we've seen him do things that very few players in college basketball have been able to do. He hits big shots, he's versatile, he can go inside/outside, and he's our best defender."

Byars watched Virginia in the NCAA tournament and said he was happy for former teammates J.R. Reynolds and Jason Cain, though sad to see their careers end in the second round.

As for his own career, it's extended at least one more week into March. At long last, just the way he pictured it.
 

Leitao remains optimistic about returning inside players
Signee Scott expected to have role
By Doug Doughty

At various stages of his coaching career, when faced with the timing of Virginia’s second-round NCAA loss to Tennessee, coach Dave Leitao would have headed to the national junior-college tournament in Hutchinson, Kan.

Despite the limitations of his four returning post players, Leitao said he will be staying closer to home this year.

In explaining his decision not to go to Hutchinson, Leitao said there were situations closer to home that warranted his full attention.

Leitao didn’t mention the name, Patrick Patterson, either publicly or privately Tuesday in a news conference wrapping up the 2006-2007 season. But Patterson, a highly regarded 6-foot-8 post player from Huntington, W.Va., is never far from the Cavaliers’ thoughts.

Most services consider Virginia a longshot in a Patterson recruiting campaign that includes Florida, Duke and Kentucky, but the Cavaliers apparently have received enough encouragement from the Patterson family to maintain their pursuit.

Besides, the Cavaliers currently have 14 scholarships allocated for the 2007-2008, one over the NCAA limit. That doesn’t include walk-on Calvin Baker, a double-figure scorer and Colonial Athletic Association freshman of the year for William and Mary in 2005-2006.

At one point, maybe the Cavaliers thought there was a good chance that Sean Singletary might pass up his final season of eligibility, but that’s highly unlikely.

If Patterson wanted to come, Leitao no doubt would find a scholarship for him, but it wouldn’t be worth the effort for a project.

The Cavaliers have enough run-of-the-mill post players already.—rising seniors Tunji Soroye and Ryan Pettinella, junior Lauris Mikalauskas and sophomore Jerome Meyinsse.

Mikalauskas’ 3.7-point scoring average was the highest in the group.

“When you talk about our two years here and the lack of an [inside] option, it becomes a consistent issue,” Leitao said.

“I believe that [signee] Mike Scott is somebody that can fill that role. He’s versatile enough to play on the perimeter and the interior, but I think he’ll give us more of a post presence than we’ve had, so long as he continues to develop.”

At 6-foot-8 and 230 pounds, Jamil Tucker has post player’s size and he was 21-of-43 on 3-pointers this year as a freshman. However, he was only 11-of-30 from inside the arc.

If he could develop a back-to-the-basket game, Tucker could become a force.

“I don’t think he’ll ever be a traditional option like that,” Leitao said. “What we’ve tried to do offensively has allowed him to play the way he plays and still to be effective. I’m not going to try and change him from what he is. I’m going to try to develop in the low block a little bit but I’m not going to do that at the expense of his perimeter game.”

Nobody could be more frustrating that Soroye, a 6-foot-11, 245-pounder who had two points and three rebounds in 21 minutes Sunday in a 77-74 loss to Tennessee.

“I can see him getting more solid and comfortable, but I don’t anticipate him going from a two- or three-point scorer to a 12-point scorer,” Leitao said. “To get him better, first of all, is to get him more consistent at what he does well.

“Especially on defense, I think we can get him better as a rebounder. I think we can get him better as an anchor. It’s a big challenge and we have only a short period of time.

“Big guys are different anyway. If he’s going to reach his peak, especially offensively [and] if he continues to play after college, it might not be until he’s 26, 27, 28 years old.”

If there is a Virginia player at a crossroads, it is 6-5 rising junior Mamadi Diane, who, for the second year in a row, hit a wall offensively in the final month of the season. Diane missed all four of his field-goal attempts, all from 3-point range, although his defensive work on Tennessee’s Chris Lofton did not go unnoticed.

Lofton was 4-for-16 from the field. Diane had drawn Albany’s high-scoring Jamar Wilson in the first round.

“I don’t think it was just this weekend,” Leitao said. “I think it’s happened throughout the course of the year. To say earlier in the year that he’d go 0-for-4 from the field and still played 33 minutes, I don’t think he would have had that luxury. He has that because he’s evolved into a trusted defender.

“As I was just telling Mom I have to assume now that the veterans get ‘it.’ If they’ve got this guy ranting and raving at them and yelling and screaming and they’re still trying to figure it out and find their way, then that’s not good for us and not good for them.

“I think [Diane] has the ability to be productive at the offensive end but the best thing you can say is, it’s not just about that any more; it’s about his overall game. I think that speaks volumes about how he’s getting better and learning what’s important.”

Cavaliers face off against Johns Hopkins
Virginia will travel to Baltimore to try and extend nation's longest winning streak after victory over Towson
Carlos Valle, Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

The Virginia men's lacrosse team is seeking to improve upon its six-game winning streak this weekend as it travels to Baltimore, Md. to take on Johns Hopkins University.

The Cavaliers (6-1) come into the game with the nation's longest winning streak of six games, most recently beating Towson (2-2) at Klöckner Stadium.

The Blue Jays (4-1), however, are no strangers to success. Johns Hopkins beat Princeton in double overtime earlier this month and is coming off of a convincing 17-9 win at Syracuse, bringing its win streak to four.

Junior co-captain Ben Rubeor will aim to continue his strong performance as he posted career numbers last weekend against Towson. Rubeor scored a career-high seven goals against Towson and has stepped up to become a team leader this year after the Cavaliers lost five seniors last season. He is only the eighth player in school history to score more than 50 goals after two seasons and needs just eight points to become the 38th 100-point scorer in the history of the program.

This weekend will be a showcase of arguably two of the most talented squads in the country, and the game is likely to come down to the wire. Hopkins is known for its large and unruly crowds and Virginia will look to prove it has enough mental toughness to overcome this distraction.

"When you are playing a team with as much talent as Hopkins has, it's going to come down to the mental aspect more so than necessarily the physical," Rubeor said.

This weekend will also be a bit of a homecoming for Rubeor, who is from the Baltimore area. Rubeor's high school teammate, freshman Michael Kimmel, plays midfield for the Blue Jays, and there are at least 10 players on the team Rubeor faced during his high school career.

The Cavaliers will have to contain freshman Steven Boyle, who notched a career-high four goals in Hopkins' win against Syracuse. Boyle is the Blue Jays' leading scorer this season with 12 goals and has the potential to ignite the offense. On the other side of the ball, Virginia, led by Rubeor and senior midfielder Drew Thompson, will look to get the best of the Blue Jays' defense.

"There are going to be a key couple of match-ups Saturday that we are going to want to look at, and they have a good goalie so we have to work on shooting good shots and taking the right shots" Thompson said.

Hopkins' goalie, senior Jesse Schwartzman, posted a season-high 17 saves against Syracuse last week and in doing so, became the eighth goalie in Hopkins history to amass 400 career saves -- he has 401 to his credit.

Virginia coach Dom Starsia understands the importance of Saturday's game but does not want the game to distract the team from the rest of its season.

"It's still only the month of March and we need to prepare for this game much like we have for others and much like we are going to have to for games coming up" Starsia said. "For all of us, going to play at Johns Hopkins is one of the reasons why you come to the University of Virginia: to play teams like this."
 

Virginia hosts Hurricanes at Davenport
After road trip, Cavaliers return to Charlottesville to play tough Miami squad in ACC showdown
JP Stroman, Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

The Virginia baseball team is finally gearing up for a homestand, hosting its first ACC series at Davenport Field against Miami this weekend.

"Home is huge," sophomore starting pitcher Andrew Carraway said. "The atmosphere here is awesome. We've been at Wake and at UNC and those were tough places to play. The fans are awesome here and will really give us a lift."

Miami is coming off an excellent year during which it reached the College World Series. But this year has been trying for the Hurricanes, which graduated many players last year. The young team is having trouble competing in the competitive ACC: the Hurricanes currently stand at 14-10 (2-4 ACC) and fell out of the latest ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll.

Miami ranks a middling eighth in the conference with a .290 batting average and seventh in pitching with a 4.12 earned run average. Despite its struggles, Miami is still a dangerous team. Its leading hitter, sophomore first baseman Yonder Alonso, boasts a .373 batting average and a .500 on-base percentage with six home runs and 27 runs batted in. Other key contributors in the lineup include freshman third baseman Mark Sobolewski, who is hitting .343, and sophomore first baseman Dennis Raben, who has belted four home runs already this season.

Miami's pitching staff is led by redshirt sophomore starter Jason Santana, who boasts a 4-0 record and 1.42 ERA. The Hurricanes, however, also have a dependable relief pitcher in redshirt freshman David Gutierrez. The reliever is 1-0 this season with a 0.66 ERA in 10 appearances.

Beyond hitting and pitching, Miami is also capable of doing little things to win ballgames, such as base-running.

"They run the bases very well," Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said. "They've got a lot of stolen bases, so we've got to keep them off the bases as much as possible. If we come out and play like we did [last] weekend, we'll be in good shape and we'll have a chance to win each game."

One way for Virginia to keep Hurricane runners off the base paths is to continue its strong relief pitching. Cavalier relievers have been finding success of late, compiling an overall 1.34 ERA. The bullpen is led by senior closer Casey Lambert, who holds a 1.80 ERA and has notched four saves. Virginia is also swinging the bat well, with three regulars in the starting lineup with on-base percentages over .500, led by sophomore infielder Greg Miclat's .526.

Virginia, however, has been hampered by a few injuries. Miclat is battling a hurt shoulder and will share time with junior Sean Doolittle at first base, playing first only when Doolittle pitches and handling designated hitter duties when he doesn't. Sophomore infielder Jeremy Farrell, who has posted a .514 on-base percentage and twelve RBIs thus far this season, is still hampered by an arm injury. He is believed to still be weeks away from a return.

The showdown with the Hurricanes will be the perfect test for Virginia to demonstrate their resilience in spite of the injuries. The game will not only show how the Cavaliers fare against a solid opponent, but also how deep coach O'Connor's bench goes.

 

Rubeor overcomes all odds
Virginia junior leads nation, Cavaliers with 26 goals so far this season
Megan McDonald, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor

While watching junior Ben Rubeor score a career-high seven goals Saturday against Towson, someone in the press box remarked how different the Virginia men's lacrosse team would be without its star attackman. Yet after a car accident three years ago, doctors thought it was not only likely, but probable, that Rubeor would never play collegiate lacrosse, much less be the Cavaliers' leading scorer.

"I've been blessed with a different perspective," Rubeor said. "The period where there was doubt as to whether I would play again has definitely carried over into how I appreciate each day for what it is."

Rubeor committed to play for Virginia at the end of his junior year. The team had just secured the 2003 NCAA National Championship and Virginia coach Dom Starsia and Ben Rubeor's father, Bob Rubeor, had been teammates at Brown.

"I'd have to say that my main reason for choosing Virginia was coach Starsia" Ben Rubeor said. "I was looking for a coach that had the big picture in perspective. Besides that, the school kind of sells itself."

Later that same summer, Rubeor's plans changed when he sustained major injuries in the car accident. Fortunately, his injuries were not life threatening but substantial blood loss required him to spend nearly a week in shock trauma. He also suffered a severe compound fracture of his arm with both bones protruding through the skin. Though he was initially expected to make a full recovery, the arm became infected and Rubeor's lacrosse future became jeopardized.

"Immediately after the accident [lacrosse] wasn't the first thought to cross my mind," Rubeor said. "But once I came out of that first surgery, I started really thinking about my future and it was actually Starsia who made contact first."

Even though doctors were pessimistic about Rubeor's athletic future, Starsia and the University of Virginia promised to honor their commitment. Looking back, Starsia remembers trying to be optimistic, but believing deep-down that Rubeor would not play his senior year in high school and thought it was unlikely he would be ready to take the field as a freshman.

"Once these young men make a commitment to us, we have an obligation to stand by ours," Starsia said. "I knew that Ben would bring a lot to the University of Virginia no matter what and so there was no question that we were going to stand by him."

To his astonishment, as well as his family's, his high school coaches', and Starsia's, the following winter doctors gave Rubeor the go-ahead to play lacrosse his senior year. By the close of that season, he had tallied 43 goals and two assists for Loyola High School and was named All-MIAA and All-Met. In retrospect, that season was a sign of things to come.

Indeed, Virginia's gamble on Rubeor has certainly paid off. His freshman year, he stepped into the starting line-up right away and scored the second most goals of any freshman in the ACC. In his second year, he became the only sophomore on the All-ACC team and had already earned a reputation as one of the most dangerous offensive players in the nation. This season Rubeor is one of the team's captains and, in the season opener against Drexel, became the 38th player in school history to surpass the 100 career-points mark.

Additionally, this year Rubeor has stepped up and filled the leadership shoes Matt Ward wore last season.

"Certain guys get here and they just do it right from the first day," Starsia said. "He's not yappering all the time like some guys, but when he does speak people listen, and that's the best leadership of all."

 

Who's the king of spring?
Kevin Zdancewicz, Cavalier Daily Columnist

With the men's basketball successful season now complete and the focus shifting almost exclusively to spring sports, there is no clear answer as to which sport is king of the season. There doesn't necessarily need to be a single major sport at a particular time, but if we can be real for a second, there's no doubt that in each season one sport trumps the others. Football dominates the fall and men's basketball rules the winter, but without a true revenue sport in the spring, the decision comes down to baseball and men's lacrosse.

The previous sentence is written with apologies to the other spring sports, especially the No. 2 men's tennis team which stands at 13-4 and the defending ACC champion women's lacrosse team, which is 7-1 this season (as of yesterday) and ranked in the top five nationally. I am not trying to drive students away from these other spring sports, but it would be difficult to argue they receive as much fan attention as baseball and men's lacrosse.

Student (and overall) interest in Virginia baseball has been steadily rising since the completion of the new ballpark in 2002 and the team's three straight NCAA Tournament appearances. Men's lacrosse has built and maintained a great following thanks to its historically strong program and its recent success (three national championships in the past eight years).

Another major reason these two sports have the right to duke it out for supremacy is that unlike football in recent years and the mediocre winter sports.

Men's lacrosse is coming off of an incredible 17-0 national championship season. The team currently is ranked No. 6 in the country and has won six straight games, including ones against No. 11 Syracuse and No. 8 Princeton.

The baseball team (19-4) is currently ranked No. 5 after an impressive series win at North Carolina over the weekend. The 2006 campaign was a success that saw the Hoos take third place in the ACC regular season and receive the opportunity to host a regional in the NCAA Tournament. They also completed a three-game sweep against No. 2 Clemson and a 2-1 series win against No. 1 North Carolina last year. So far this season, Virginia has compiled a 20-4 record, knocked off No. 1 UNC twice and climbed to No. 5 in the national rankings.

So which sport holds the edge in terms of becoming the focus of the spring season? In addition to the success on the field, each sport definitely has star power. Baseball is led by pitcher/first baseman junior Sean Doolittle, the reigning ACC player of the year and an all-American, sophomore shortstop Greg Miclat (leading the team in hitting at .446) and senior closer Casey Lambert, the all-time Virginia leader in saves.

The lacrosse team sports junior attack-man Ben Rubeor (who leads the nation with 26 goals, 7 of which came in a game against Towson) and senior goalie Kip Turner (all-time U.Va. leader in goals allowed average).

Game play is one of the most important deciding factors in this discussion and is one of the only areas where the two sports differ from a fan's perspective. Lacrosse is fast-paced, with action moving up and down the field frantically and goals (usually) being scored frequently. Baseball, on the other hand, is played at a much slower pace. There is more starting and stopping between pitches and plays, and the action is much more deliberate.

The contrasting game paces directly correlate to the fan atmosphere of each sport. Because lacrosse games are so fast-paced, it's harder to take your eye off of the action even for a second without the risk of missing a goal or a great play. Many students prefer the frenetic rate, comparable to basketball or hockey, at which the majority of lacrosse games (a.k.a. those without Princeton involved) are played.

To the contrary, baseball games have a more laid-back feel in the stands. Much like soccer matches, and to some extent football games (with the downtime in between plays), taking in a game at Davenport Field can be a much more social event. Though fans can definitely get into the action, the slower pace of baseball can support a less attentive demeanor from spectators as well. Some argue that without as much action baseball games are boring, but one cannot overlook the sense of suspense that builds throughout the game when exciting plays occur and the game reaches its final innings.

The two sports are pretty even in terms of team success and star power. As such, there is no definitive way to distinguish the sports from a general sports fan's perspective. Rather, it really comes down to whether you like baseball or lacrosse more than the other or whether you prefer a more intense or laid-back atmosphere derived from game pace.

So whether you decide to spend most of your time at Davenport or Klöckner (or Boar's Head), the important thing is to keep up the support for the Hoos into the spring season.

 

Trade pins hopes on Vick
By Daniel Shirley
TELEGRAPH STAFF WRITER

For years, we've heard how talented a player Matt Schaub is and how good an NFL quarterback he is going to be.

It looks like we're going to finally find out if that's true. But the bad part is we'll find it out as he wears a Houston Texans uniform. After three years of teasing us with Schaub as Michael Vick's backup, the Atlanta Falcons dealt the former University of Virginia standout to the Texans on Wednesday.

In doing so, the Falcons have sealed their fate to Vick. Of course, Schaub was never going to beat out Vick for the Falcons' starting job (Vick's contract is too large for that to happen), but now the hope of a large group of Falcons fans is gone.

There are many Atlanta fans who couldn't wait for the next time Vick took too many chances and got hurt again. And there were many more who hoped and prayed that the rumors of Vick eventually being traded were true.

If one of those things happened, those fans would finally get their wish: Schaub as the Falcons' starting quarterback. Now those dreams are dashed.

In trading Schaub, the Falcons have ended the brewing quarterback controversy, and that's probably a good thing for both of the quarterbacks. Vick can relax and not have to worry about Schaub or listen to fans constantly calling for Schaub to play. And Schaub finally will get the chance to show the talents he displayed as he lit up the ACC while playing for the Cavaliers.

Still, while making a trade was the right thing to do, the Falcons traded the wrong quarterback.

Granted, Vick's struggles are not all his own fault. He has played for an awful offensive coordinator in Greg Knapp the past few years, and Vick's receivers have made Edward Scissorhands look like a viable option. But Vick is never going to be a top-notch, championship quarterback.

He is what he is: a superb talent who can throw a football a mile and make jaw-dropping athletic moves. But he's never going to be an accurate passer or a team leader, and those are the two keys to being a winning quarterback in the NFL.

Think about all the quarterbacks who rank above Vick in the NFL: Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Steve McNair, Donovan McNabb, Carson Palmer, Ben Roethlisberger, you get the point. None of those players are close to being the athlete Vick is, but they are all successful quarterbacks because they are either accurate or they make the other players on their team better or even better yet, both.

Vince Young is probably as close athletically to Vick as a player can be in the NFL, but Young has proven in a short time to be a much better leader than Vick. And once Young learns the NFL game a little better, he's going to really take off.

Sadly, we've all been waiting for that kind of maturation from Vick, but it hasn't happened, and it's probably not going to.


 

Vick: Bottle was for jewelry
Associate Press
Daily Press

Michael Vick said Thursday that the water bottle seized two months ago by authorities at Miami International Airport was a jewelry box. Vick came under scrutiny in January after police said the seized water bottle smelled of marijuana and had a secret compartment, but lab tests found no evidence of drugs. Speaking publicly for the first time since the incident, the Atlanta quarterback said the bottle was a hiding place for earrings and jewelry.

"I have had that bottle for years, for a long time," Vick told reporters gathered for the Falcons' announcement about the trade of Matt Schaub, Vick's backup.

"If you had seen the bottle, you would have never known there was any jewelry in there," he said. "I have had things stolen out of hotels. But I had never checked it through the airport."

Atlanta swapped firstround picks with Houston and acquired second-round picks in the next two drafts by dealing Schaub to the Texans. The Falcons now have the eighth overall pick in this year's draft.
 

Vick's water bottle claim disputed by police
Falcons QB says he had jewelry in compartment
By STEVE WYCHE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/23/07

Flowery Branch — In his first public comments on the subject, Falcons quarterback Michael Vick said Thursday the hidden compartment in a water bottle he tried to take through Miami airport security contained jewelry. His account was disputed by the police department that investigated the Jan. 17 incident.

"I had earrings in it, and I had jewelry in it," Vick said of the 20-ounce Aquafina bottle, which was red-flagged at the security checkpoint because liquid containers of that size can't be carried through. "They took the bottle. I don't know what they did with the bottle. I guess they were trying to, I don't want to say frame me, but at the same time look at what I had to go through."

"That's the first we've heard of that," Detective Nelda Fonticella, spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade Police Department, said when asked if Vick was carrying jewelry in the bottle. "If he has any kind of problem with the way things were handled, then he needs to talk to internal affairs."

There is no mention of jewelry in the police report, the statements provided by both security agents involved, in the Florida state attorney's case memo or any of the other related documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Attempts to reach Vick to ask about the police response to his comments were unsuccessful.

The Jan. 17 incident at Miami International Airport created a storm of criticism around Vick, the Falcons star and the NFL's highest paid player.

Vick was flying from Miami to Atlanta when airport security screeners stopped him for trying to carry the water bottle through the checkpoint. Initially reluctant to surrender the bottle, Vick threw it in a garbage can, according to authorities. It was retrieved by a suspicious security agent and the hidden compartment was discovered. Police were called and reported a "dark particulate" and odor of marijuana. Five days later the state attorney's office said it would not charge Vick because no drugs were found.

In a Thursday news conference, Vick denied he had been carrying anything illegal.

"Nobody came out and said there were earrings inside the bottle, jewelry in the bottle. I was cordial. I gave the bottle to the [Transportation Security Agency lady and said, 'If you want to keep it you can keep it.' The only reason I went through all that was because there was water at the top of [the bottle]. It was a stash box for my jewelry. That's what I told everybody but that wasn't written.

"Everything else was written about the smell and all that. I sat in the airport for another hour and 30 minutes, so if there was something they thought was wrong then they could have come and got me and we could have handled the situation accordingly right on the spot."

Vick's account Thursday of the Falcons' reaction to the incident contradicted previous versions.

Vick said new Falcons head coach Bobby Petrino "brushed it off" when the water bottle incident was discussed the next day.

But Falcons president and general manager Rich McKay, who was at that meeting, described it at the time as "stressful," saying: "I met with Michael this morning, the coach did, we clearly expressed our displeasure, had a pretty frank discussion about it."

Vick did not say there was jewelry in the bottle until Thursday. McKay, who addressed the incident the next day, never said there was jewelry in the hidden compartment.

In fact, McKay said Thursday he has never spoken to Vick about the contents of the bottle.

Vick didn't say what happened to the jewelry in the bottle.

The Metro-Dade Crime Lab tested the particulate and reported "no drug found." Asked for a copy of the airport surveillance video of the incident under the state's public records law, the Miami-Dade Police Department said its copy of the video had been destroyed. TSA would not release its copy of the video, citing national security concerns.

Though Vick spoke Thursday of not having his side of the bottle story told, he refused multiple interview requests by the AJC over the past two months, including as recently as last week.

"There really wasn't anything I could say," Vick said. "When it first happened, nobody waited for the results to come back. Everybody just said this, wrote that. 'He's a thug. He does this. He does that. He's not right. He shouldn't be in Atlanta.'

"How do you think that made me feel? That was tough on me. That was tough on my family and friends because we knew those accusations weren't right. I said to myself, why even say anything. At the time people were not going to believe me. I just wanted to wait for the results to come back and let the smoke clear and get my head together and enjoy my offseason. It's over. I was cleared, and I was happy about that.

"I'm not stupid. I'm not crazy. I would never do anything like that."

The incident drew further scrutiny to Vick, who last season threw for a career-high 20 touchdowns and set a rushing record for quarterbacks but failed to get the Falcons to the playoffs for the second straight season. He had drawn unwanted attention two months earlier when he made an obscene gesture to fans after a November loss at the Georgia Dome. The NFL slapped Vick with a $20,000 fine.

Vick said he laughed at television comics' jokes about the bottle incident. The support he received, especially from Petrino, helped him get through some of the backlash, he said.

"It's funny because that was the first day I had to meet him and I had to go through that with him," said Vick, who was catching a flight to meet Petrino when the incident occurred. "He brushed it off. He talked about my family and football and what he thought I needed to do. That was uplifting for me because he didn't harp about what I was going through."

Vick also said the public reaction has been far more positive than negative.

"It has me under the microscope a little bit more, even though I was cleared of everything," Vick said. "People treat me the same way. It's almost like people love me even more. They embrace me even more because I went through a situation where I didn't do anything wrong."

Staff writer D. Orlando Ledbetter contributed to this article.