October 2007 - Posts
If the Maryland game last weekend was going to tell Virginia a lot about itself (and I believe it did), then the Virginia Tech/Boston College game tonight is going to tell the nation a lot about both teams, and tell Virginia more about its future chances at the ACC Championship Game.
Boston College has a lot of nay-sayers around them. They haven't really played anyone good yet this season (in some cases, like Notre Dame, its not Boston College's fault their opponents are so terrible). But the fact remains, they're #2 in the country and the national championship is theirs for the taking. They've got the lead in the Atlantic Division of the ACC and control their own destiny in the league and in the country. So much is at stake.
Virginia Tech has struggled on offense all season long (and now we don't even know who will start tonight - the injured Tyrod Taylor or the much embattled Sean Glennon). But their defense and special teams, as usual, are sound. VT is a half game behind UVA right now (only because they had their bye week last week while Chris Long was planting poor Napolean Dynamite into the turf) in the Coastal Division, but similarly controls its own fate in the Division.
A game of two top-ten teams? national thursday night spotlight. game on!
P.S. I heard a rumor today (uncomfirmed) that VT is 16-2 all-time on thursday night home games. The 2nd half of the rumor is that twice, its been Boston College that's knocked them off during that streak.
It's months like these that make me happy I endured some of those down months.
First, I'll admit that I was wrong. Maryland didn't squeak by, the surprising Cavaliers did. An 18-17 win over border rival Maryland leaves the 'Hoos at 7-1 (4-0) sitting alone atop the Coastal Division standings in the ACC. Wow.
We've had two scrimmages recently in men's lacrosse and, not surprisingly, they drew a lot of interest from the fans. The verdict? This team is good. Are there holes? Yes (the X seems a big one) but this might be one of the best teams we've had in a long long time (which is tough considering we've got 3 national championships in the past 9 seasons). Oh, and Brattons? Yeah, they're as advertised.
Somdev Devaarman was honored at the last home football game along with his teammates. They all had a stellar year last year, but this kid is a star. And guess what? He's back to defend his national title. The team seems to have upgraded itself from what was already a terrific team (semi-finals of the team tournament I believe). They might just be #1 the entire season.
And finally basketball, which starts its season with an exhibition game in 11 days and begins the real season in 18 days. What a month it has been. In late September, Leitao and Co. landed a big commitment from 4-star, 6'6", 195lb shooting guard Sylven Landesberg (over offers from Kentucky, Texas, St. Johns and Georgia Tech among others). They followed that up about a week ago by filling an area of desperate need with 4-star, 6'11", 225lb center John Brandenburg (over offers from Florida, Missouri, Wisconsin and Stanford among others). Then today, they sealed that hole in the center off very tightly with the addition of relative newcomer Assane Sene. Sene is a 7'0", 230lb center who has only been in the country for a year. That might account for him only being a 3-star recruit, so I have a feeling that he might move up the charts a bit as his senior season progresses.
What a month, eh?
Now if we can just land Elliott Williams to start off November (the 5-star shooting guard from Memphis announces his decision on Friday, November 2nd) this might just be a year to remember too!
Watching the College Gameday special on ESPN today that featured Chris, I'm reminded of how much we're going to miss that kid.
He's a perfect representative for The University.
Kind of hard to accept that we're watching his last 6 games (assuming we go bowling) as a 'Hoo. Didn't he just sign with us last spring?
Could the Maryland game be the most telling game of the season thus far?
I think it could. I see 3 potential scenarios playing out:
- UVA Wins Close Game - That would be a VERY solid road win. And it would fit with our MO. Would make me feel more confident about Wake and Miami
- UVA Loses Close Game - This just depends a lot on the play in the game... did we beat ourselves? Or did UMD beat us?
- UVA Loses By 10+ - We were frauds.
I guess by about 11pm Saturday night, we'll know the answer.
My prediction? Maryland squeaks by 24-20 when our 4th quarter heroics finally fall short.
I hope I'm wrong!
I don't know if that's the right term for this scenario, but...
I've often been told that the more you worry about certain things or freak out about them (generally the future of them), instead of just living in the present, the more likely you are to be doomed to have those worries come true.
I'm really starting to believe that. I really am...
I've long searched for a quote that I could use to explain my stance on religion and agnosticism.
I tend to read a lot of Thomas Jefferson quotes on various subjects - he's oft-quoted and, well, I live in Mr. Jefferon's Country. I had run across a few that I liked in the past, this one in particular:
Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because, if there be one, he must approve the homage of reason rather than of blind-folded fear.
-- Thomas Jefferson, to Peter Carr, 10 Aug. 1787.
But none had ever really explained what I wanted to explain. Then today, I ran across one that comes much closer. I'll preserve it here so I can always find it.
To talk of immaterial existences is to talk of nothings. To say that the human soul, angels, god, are immaterial, is to say they are nothings, or that there is no god, no angels, no soul. I cannot reason otherwise ... without plunging into the fathomless abyss of dreams and phantasms. I am satisfied, and sufficiently occupied with the things which are, without tormenting or troubling myself about those which may indeed be, but of which I have no evidence.
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Adams, August 15, 1820
I think that just about sums it up. Feel free to comment if you have any thoughts.
Note: These quotes were found from Positive Atheism's Big List of Thomas Jefferson Quotations.
In case it hadn't dawned on you, the reader, most people associate my music tastes with one band - Nine Inch Nails (or should I say one man - Trent Reznor).
My tastes are actually a lot more eclectic than that. Given the opportunity to list my favorite bands/musicians of all time, I would likely rattle off some combination of Nine Inch Nails, David Bowie, The Beatles, The Eagles, Tupac Shakur, Morphine and many others. You might notice that half of that list is defunct bands. What a shame...
Anyway, my tastes in music actually go a lot further than that even. I was "a musician" (term used in the lightest sense possible) for seven years. It was all through school, but I did it because I enjoyed it, not because I had to or because I needed the credits or anything. Playing music and listening to music became a focal point in my life by the time I graduated from high school.
I list Pachelbel's Canon in D as one of my favorite works of all time by any musician and many of the movements of Orff's Carmina Burana give me chills every time I hear them. I've also got a thing for big band music (Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller anyone?), a little swing (generally as it blends into big band music) and some classic jazz (who doesn't like Louis Armstrong, honestly?). Most of this comes from my exposure to the music through band classes and the people who were in band classes with me (I'll credit my high school girlfriend with getting me into big band music, though my jazz band class and my grandmother were also pretty big reasons).
I spend most of my days now listening to "pop" music - whether its the music being piped into Scott Stadium or JPJ, on the local radio station we usually listen to at the office, or on one of the hundred XM radio channels I get in my car. Sometimes I'll put a new(ish) album on my computer to listen to at work (I always listen to full albums when I can - I really don't like bouncing around through single songs). Currently it's Kanye West's new album Graduation.
I don't have a problem with this situation. I have enough music sources that I can find something that isn't terrible (I turn the station very quickly whenever the oddly critically-acclaimed Umbrella comes on). But it does make me long for some of the other things I used to enjoy.
More recently I've been having extended conversations with a rather musically-inclined friend of mine and it's lead me to be even more desirous of "the old days" of my music exposure. I've spent a lot more time listening to classical music lately. I had forgotten just how much I enjoyed it and how soothing it can be. I've pulled out a few old albums I hadn't listened to in a long time and gave them a spin. It's been a nice trip down memory lane and its actually reinvigorated me and gotten me more motivated in other parts of my life.
I have to give a shout-out to that friend (she knows who she is) for that help. Now if she could just get me to bring my saxophone back from storage and start playing that again...
It's been nearly 45 days since my last post. I keep swearing I'm not going to do that. And yet... I keep doing it. Only well.
My company finally released our software two Fridays ago and we've now moved onto another project that, at the moment, is a lot less grueling. We'll see how long that lasts!
In the meantime, a lot of things have been happening that I wanted to blog about.
- I was in London when the Hoos lost to Wyoming in seriously disappointing fashion. I couldn't get the game on TV and didn't even check the score until the next day at an internet cafe. What a disappointment. Seriously, not even a touchdown? But that's ok, because...
- We've gone on a 4 game winning streak, including 3 games against ACC Coastal Division foes since that game. While they certainly haven't been pretty wins the whole time (see Duke game and UNC 2nd through 4th quarters), we've come out victorious. Especially promising is that...
- We won very convincingly over Pittsburgh. We thrashed them in the first 13 minutes of the game and added another 17 points after that just for good measure. That was the type of game I've been looking forward to seeing us play. It was also nice that...
- We played a game not at noon! The Pittsburgh game was 7pm and was an absolutely gorgeous day in the Hook. We've got another couple weeks of reprieve from noon games as well - MTSU (albeit an away game) is also at 7pm and the UConn game is set for 3:30pm.
- Coach Leitao landed a great commitment from 4-star shooting guard Sylven Landesberg (Holy Cross, Queens, NY). Now we just need a big man or two and we're set!
- The lacrosse team has been practicing this fall with members of what may be the greatest recruiting class in collegiate lacrosse history. The Bratton twins are in the mix for starting (as everyone expected) and the other members of that stellar class are seeing some good practice time. There's a scrimmage this weekend in VA Beach and another one next weekend in Charlottesville. Hopefully I'll be able to hit the one in town next weekend and get a feel for the team. I can't wait for the season to start.
- Michael Vick pleaded guilty to some variety of charges and is now awaiting sentencing. I believe that's in December. In the interim, however, he managed to fail a drug test. Seriously, when you're under Federal investigation, just stay off the drugs for a few weeks. How hard can it be?!?
I think that's all for now. I'm sure there's more but if there is, I'll just write another post (I know you're excited to hear that).
As a side note: I have discontinued my season preview as, obviously, the season is well underway. Sorry to the two of you who were actually reading it.