New videoboard quite a sight at U.Va.
JERRY RATCLIFFE MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE
Published: August 23, 2009

The game-day experience just got bigger for Wahoo fans this fall at Scott Stadium and other University of Virginia athletic venues.

Part of a $2.4 million project that installed videoboards at Klockner Stadium (soccer, lacrosse) and Davenport Field (baseball) will be highlighted by a new jumbotron videoboard for football games at Scott beginning with the Sept. 5 season-opener against William and Mary.

U.Va.'s newest toy is three times the size of the old one, which was installed in 1998. This one also features two LED wings that will feed fans statistical game data throughout the contest in addition to out of town scores.

"They've been installing it for the last six weeks," said Jon Oliver, executive associate director of athletics. "I've been at the stadium on a few late-night test runs and watched the first dry run for 'Cavman' [a traditional animated presentation on HooVision] for the first game. I think fans will be pretty excited over this new board."

The tower that lodged the previous board remains, but it required some additional bracing to hold the larger new board. Sound system improvements also have been added.

"We hope this will add to the experience of attending games at Scott Stadium," Oliver said. "It's nice to have replays, see live action and keep up with the statistics, so this should enhance game days for fans. That's the reason we did this, to make sure that everybody could see what they wanted and have the information right there in front of them."

U.Va. did not shell out the money for the system, which was supplied in a contractual agreement with its marketing rights provider. The provider picked up the tab for all three boards.

Oliver said that when Virginia negotiated and agreed to its current contract with its marketing rights provider in 2007, the boards were part of the guarantee.

The new Scott Stadium big screen is not related to John Paul Jones Arena's videoboard.

"When we chose this [football] board there was a lot of discussion about should it be HD [high definition]," Oliver said. "A lot of people don't realize that true HD is very expensive, and we would have had to make the board much larger than what we will see this season just in order to get the proper number of pixels into that board to have HD. I don't think it would have been realistic."

The board also would have appeared unnatural in the Scott Stadium setting, Oliver said.

Oliver travels around to colleges around the nation to keep abreast of what others are doing to improve their athletic facilities and fan experiences Once he found what would be suitable for Scott Stadium and alerted U.Va.'s rights provider, the school's Board of Visitors was supportive.

"Among the places I visited was Texas, and that was probably the most impressive video board I've ever seen," Oliver said. "I knew we couldn't do something that large, but after studying what other people had done, we decided this was right for Virginia.

"When fans see this video board it will look like it's natural and that it belongs there."

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Jerry Ratcliffe is the sports editor of The Daily Progress of Charlottesville.

 

Veteran Trott leads linebackers
By Jay Jenkins
Published: August 23, 2009

Moments after taking the job as the linebackers coach at Virginia, Bob Trott was given the grim news.
“Oh, you lost three of four,” he was informed.
The eligibility for Antonio Appleby, Jon Copper and Clint Sintim, mainstays on the field, had expired.
It was a rude welcome back to college football for Trott, the linebackers coach with the Cleveland Browns last year.
Appleby, Copper and Sintim combined for 2,168 plays, 243 tackles and 12 unassisted sacks, staggering numbers to replace.
There was instantly a considerable amount of production needing to come from new inside linebackers Darren Childs and Steve Greer and on the outside from two veterans with limited experience, Aaron Clark and Denzel Burrell.
Thus far, Trott has been impressed with the improvements made by the starters and those trailing in the race for meaningful snaps.
“I think we have a pretty solid two deep right now,” he said. “We are just trying to build up some depth. From spring until now they have kept progressing and that is all you can really ask them to do.”
Trott also has the task of working with a number of freshmen that will be counted upon in later years since Burrell, Childs and Clark are entering their final seasons at Virginia.
It will take time, he warned.
“There is a learning curve in this defense, so the younger guys have their heads spinning a little bit,” said Trott, a native of Kannapolis, N.C. “We have some good freshmen coming in, but it will take them a little while to catch up with things.
“It’s tough being a freshman. You have football thrown at you and you are headed to a university. Their heads are spinning, but we have tried to give them the work and they have a foundation to be very good linebackers. We are pleased with that.”
With 33 years of experience under his belt as a coach, Trott would certainly know. He served, in fact, as the defensive coordinator earlier in his career at Arkansas, Baylor, Clemson, Duke and Louisiana Monroe.
Considering that his last job was working under former Browns coach Romeo Crennel, Trott’s return to the college ranks appeared unique.
“I am from North Carolina and I am from the ACC so it was like coming home for me,” said Trott, who graduated from UNC in 1976 and played for the Tar Heels as a safety. “I have enjoyed being back at the college level. I have always liked college football and I have bounced back and forth.”
Life in the NFL as an assistant coach, Trott pointed out, is not as glamorous as it may appear on television.
“You really trade one set of problems for another. The parking lots for the pro teams are a lot nicer than college,” he joked. “People ask me all the time which one I like better. It really depends where you are and who you are working with at any level.
“Pro football is not the utopia that some coaches think it is. It can be pretty bad too if you are in a bad situation.”
 

Conrath makes presence felt on line
By Whitey Reid
Published: August 23, 2009

When Virginia defensive end Matt Conrath lined up against USC last season in the first start of his college career, it would have been understandable if he felt like a 16-year-old at the DMV going for his learner’s permit.
After all, the Trojan program is essentially an NFL developmental outfit, Conrath hadn’t played a game since high school, and there were over 64,000 fans and a national television audience eyeballing the action.
But Conrath didn’t blink.
In the preceding year, he had butted heads with teammates Branden Albert and Eugene Monroe in practice. Both offensive linemen went on to be first-round NFL draft picks.
If Conrath could hold his own against those guys, how much tougher could USC’s guys be?
Well, the 6-foot-7, 270-pounder finished with a tackle, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry. However, Virginia lost the game, 52-7.
“It was definitely an experience,” Conrath recalled. “I definitely learned a lot from that game.”
Conrath has been putting the knowledge to use ever since. Last season, he started all 12 contests and finished fourth on the team in sacks (4) and third in tackles for losses (8).
Conrath, Virginia’s lone player from the state of Illinois, was named a second-team freshman All-America by CollegeFootballNews.com.
This season, Conrath is being counted on as one of the mainstays on the defensive line. It’s a challenge he’s anxious to meet.
The sophomore says one of his goals is to get to the quarterback more.
“Coach [Chad] Wilt has been working with us on our pass-rush moves,” said Conrath, who chose UVa over Vanderbilt, Stanford and Purdue. “Last year I was kind of inexperienced at rushing the quarterback and kind of did just whatever it took to get there.
“This year, I’m working more on my technique and getting the offensive linemen’s hands down.”
Fellow defensive lineman Nate Collins says Conrath has made huge strides.
“I think he’s grown a lot,” said the senior. “I think everyone on the D-line has. We’re taking more ownership.”
Conrath and Collins, along with fellow linemen Nick Jenkins, John-Kevin Dolce and Zane Parr, all have three years of playing together under their belt.
“We all know each other’s games and know how to help each other,” Collins said. “I think this is the first year that when we’re in practice, we don’t really need our coach to teach us. We can teach each other, which actually helps out a lot because when you’re out on the field, we’re communicating … I think this year we just know each other real well and are just meshing real well early.”
A refreshing thing about Conrath, who also has the potential to be a force on special teams — he used his length to block a field goal against Richmond — is that he seems more concerned with how the team bounces back from a 5-7 campaign than how his personal statistics add up.
“Throughout this offseason,” Conrath said, “we’ve really focused on redemption.”
 

Fighting for a spot
By Shane Mettlen smettlen@starexponent.com(540) 825-0771, ext. 127
Published: August 23, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE — When Terence Fells-Danzer hits the practice field at the University of Virginia, the former Culpeper County High School star thinks about making 2009 his breakout year.

Fells-Danzer came to U.Va. three years ago as a highly-touted recruit — the No. 7 inside linebacker in the country according to Rivals.com — but after redshirting in 2007 he played in just four games last year and appeared at linebacker just once, in a stunning loss to Duke.

“I’m putting in a lot more work to get better from day-to-day,” the Cavaliers sophomore said. “I’m getting a lot more reps in practice and it’s paying off.”

In a recent open practice Fells-Danzer saw the field quite a bit with the No. 2 defensive unit, but he was not listed on the Cavaliers preseason depth chart at either inside linebacker spot. That alone showed that he still had to prove himself.

Looking around the locker room, Fells-Danzer can see several faces that were familiar to him long before he arrived at U.Va.

There’s Quintin Hunter, the freshman from Orange County he used to chase during their high school days…and Corey Lillard, a freshman defensive back from Liberty who grew up just across the county line…and brothers Kyle and Connor McCartin, who helped rival Fauquier turn its program around.

Another former Culpeper Blue Devil, fullback Curt Orshoski, said that it’s easy for the players from the same area to pull for each other these days.

“There are a lot of guys from the area and a few things go back and forth,” Orshoski said. “The McCartins probably give it to us a little more because of the Fauquier-Culpeper dynamic, but it’s fun and we hope to see each other do well.”

With so many old rivals now teammates there’s bound to be some talk about the high school days and some good-natured ribbing to go along with it. But when those times come, Fells-Danzer usually stays quiet.

“I’m usually at the bottom of the pile when it comes to the jokes because everybody here beat us in high school,” he said. “But right now we can look back at it and laugh because we are on a totally different level and we are all on one team, here together.”

So now Fells-Danzer is working to prove himself and show he was worthy of the high school adulation and, more importantly, worthy of playing time this season.

“I got to start from scratch every year,” Fells-Danzer said. “It’s learning your plays in the playbook and making sure you are mentally prepared for whatever the game situations throw at you. I’m very comfortable because this is my job and if I do my job it just assures I can stick around longer and bless the program with what I do. I just want to help the team get better day-by-day. I’ll do what I can to contribute in any way, shape or form.”

And if all goes according to plan, he’ll continue to see more reps on the practice field and Virginia coach Al Groh will see fit to get him on the field during games. Even if he doesn’t get a lot of playing time this year, Fells-Danzer said extra practice time helps.

“That right there alone will help you build more confidence to even step on the field,” Fells-Danzer said. “Coach Groh wants to know that if he puts you out there you know what you’re doing and that goes to prove that if you are in your playbook everyday you will get the playing time you deserve.”
 

Aaron Clark ready for return to Virginia football
Rockbridge County High School graduate missed most of last season due to knee injury
By Ken Bosserman
Sports Writer

CHARLOTTESVILLE — It was five years ago when Aaron Clark committed to Virginia football in an elaborate ceremony in the commons area at Rockbridge County High School.

Under normal circumstances, Clark wouldn't have been at the Cavaliers' media press conference on Aug. 16, but rather at a job in his chosen field of either government or military service.

But a debilitating, season-ending knee injury in Virginia's first game last year against Southern California changed all that. Instead of being on the field as a linebacker, Clark spent the season along the sideline watching.

"It was a different experience," he recalled. "I had been playing contact football since I was 7. It was hard to deal with it at first, but the guys picked me up and reassured me I would play again."

Because the injury occurred so early in the campaign, Clark was given another year of eligibility, and he wants to make the most of it, picking up where he left off.

In last year's opener against the powerhouse Trojans, he had five tackles before the severe right knee injury put him out of commission early in the third quarter.

"When I heard it pop, and went down, I knew something big was up," the Staunton native said. "I was definitely not expecting anything good to come out of it."

As he expected, the prognosis wasn't good. The worst part of the knee injury was a torn ACL.

"It was a full tear," Clark said. "They took my hamstring and made a new ACL. The hardest thing in rehab was the hamstring. I had torn the MCL in my left knee when I was a sophomore in high school, so I had been in that mode before."

It took nearly a half-year of rehabilitation before Clark was released, and that came two days before the start of spring practice. Meanwhile, he continued to work on obtaining his undergraduate degree in government.

This season, Clark has a totally different outlook on the game.

"I'm a different player," he said. "From sitting out a season, I'm more thoughtful. I never looked at the game like I look at it now. That was the first time I had to watch from the sideline. But I believe things happen for a reason.

"It's fun to be out with these guys and forget about last year," he said. "I'm the most excited I've ever been, and also the most humble."

For his final year, Clark has been elected as one of Virginia's six captains.

"That's such an honor," he said. "It was a team vote."

Now, Clark can't wait to get back on the field.

"I want to do whatever is necessary to let our team win," he said. "We have a lot of playmakers, and I'm super excited to play with them. This year is all about us, and rebuilding our team."
 

White: Are You Ready For Some Volleyball?
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 08/22/2009
By Jeff White

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The commonwealth of Virginia is not known as a hotbed for volleyball. Then again, neither is Pennsylvania. Yet Penn State's Nittany Lions are two-time defending NCAA champions in women's volleyball.
"They recruit nationally," Lee Maes said last week in his McCue Center office. "That's why we believe we can get it done here, because we have some very attractive aspects of our university that will allow us to recruit the best players in the country."
Maes' second season in charge of the UVa women's program does not officially begin until Friday, at the Texas A&M Invitational. This afternoon, though, fans are invited to check out the team's second annual Blue vs. Orange scrimmage at Memorial Gymnasium. It starts at 3 o'clock, and there's no charge for admission.
The 'Hoos are coming off a season in which they went 9-11 in the ACC - that earned them ninth place in the league - and 17-15 overall. In voting among the conference's head coaches, UVa was picked to finish seventh in the ACC this year. The coaches named Virginia's Simone Asque, a second-year outside hitter, to the preseason all-ACC team.
"Our expectation is to be successful now," said Maes, who came to UVa from Nebraska, where he was an assistant coach in one of Division I's premier programs.
"Now, how do we define success? It's different for everyone. We know that the most important thing we had to do when we first got here was to [establish] the kind of culture we want: how we go about training in the gym, how we go about managing our team, then also being able to allow our players to be in an environment where they're going to trust, believe and buy in to what we're doing, and that takes time."
For now, Maes said, the team needs "to max out what we have, and for us to be able to win the ACC championship and give ourselves an opportunity to earn a postseason berth, we're going to have to be more skilled. We're going to have to be very proficient with our execution. We're going to have to demonstrate a higher volleyball IQ, and we have to be relentless in the effort we put in to make all those things happen."
The ACC is not considered one of the nation's top volleyball conferences. Even so, Maes said, many of UVa's rivals have players who are bigger and more athletic than those in his program.
"We know, in terms of our coaching staff's ability, that we're going to make them better volleyball players, and we're going to be a better team," said Maes, a Long Beach State graduate. "But at the same time, recruiting's always the difference-maker in terms of having a competitive advantage in regards to other teams that you're going to be competing against ... and the only way we're going to be competitive is to recruit the same level of athletes."
There's been progress on that front. UVa's first-year players -- Tobi Farrar, Rachel Gray and Jessica O'Shoney -- formed a recruiting class ranked No. 15 nationally by PrepVolleyball.com.
"So that's a great start, because now they're going to be certainly a foundation that we build upon," Maes said. "But at the same time our challenge is to be able to nurture and develop them to be able to mix well with the current players we already have. We know that it's going to be a two-, three-year process, but our expectation is to do everything we possibly can now and let the results take care of themselves."
Maes can't publicly discuss players until they sign letters of intent, but the group that has committed to enroll at Virginia next year "will be one of the top 10 recruiting classes in the country," he said. "Our 2010 class is phenomenal."
Ultimately, Maes said, his "vision quest is to compete for and win a national championship. We know that's a process. It starts with recruiting the top athletes that are going to allow us to compete at that level."
To better understand the challenges facing the program, Maes said, he and his assistants, Jill Kramer and Ted Wade, have spoken to alumni and current players about why they chose U.Va.
The coaches have learned that "volleyball primarily was an avenue for many of them to come to the University of Virginia as a student," Maes said. "Obviously, the [school's] academic reputation speaks for itself, but there wasn't a certain level of priority to the sport itself. We feel now that you don't have to compromise being a great student and a great athlete. We feel that you can do both without compromising the other."
Maes also wants to see the Cavaliers build a significant home-court advantage, and he believes they have the perfect venue to do so.
"We love Mem Gym," he said. "We love Mem Gym for its intimacy. It's a venue that allows fans to be actually part of the action. You're literally an arm's length away from the action, and you can have significant impact because of how loud it gets. It's just one of those places where, with the atmosphere and environment, it's an incredible place to be."
His message to fans: Come see for yourselves this season.
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