Month: November 2009

Virginia Shows Heart in Comeback Loss Versus Penn State

Virginia’s Sammy Zeglinski’s stole the show for the last 5 minutes tonight, but his last-second shot fell just long, as the Hoos lost to Penn State 69-66. The JPJ was not even close to full (8,898), but the crowd came alive as Zeglinski scored 16 points in the last five minutes of the game.

Penn State was led by the gritty and gutty guard Talor Battle, who finished with a game-high 32 points and seemed to be literally on fire in the second half. Virginia coach Tony Bennett seemed to lose his temper mildly in the second half, as the refs has a series of bizarre calls late in the game. That being said, Bennett losing his temper does not resemble the firestorm of profanities levied by his predecessor. It’s more of a glare and a “gosh darn” type of reaction by Bennett.

The Hoos were six points up at the break, but Penn State began the second half with a barrage of three’s and went up as much as 11 points until the Hoos came back with excellent defense and Sammy took over the game.
 

Al Groh wasn’t the only member of the Cavaliers football coaching staff to get the boot. According to Media General News Service, all but two of his assistants were also fired over the weekend after a humiliating loss against in-state rival Virginia Tech. Happy Thanksgiving, Hoos.

UVA also fired offensive coordinator Gregg Brandon. He was fired a year ago as Bowling Green’s head football coach and and came in to replace Groh’s son Mike Groh as offensive coordinator. Also say goodbye to Ron Prince, special teams coordinator.

Offensive line coach Dave Borbely was also fired together with Wayne Lineburg, running backs coach; linebackers coach Bob Trott, defensive line coach Chad Wilt, and wide receivers coach Latrell Scott.

The two assitants who will remain with the Cavaliers are Anthony Poindexter and Bob Price.
 

ABODE is out today, my friends. That would be C-VILLE’s shelter supplement, which is a big part of my world and I hope well known to you too. It’s the last issue of a year in which we’ve continued expanding and deepening our coverage of green building and green living, so if you read this blog I think you’ll be interested.

Stuff to watch out for in the December issue: First of all, the cover story is Katherine Ludwig’s take on a post-industrial adaptive reuse project that architect Neal Deputy designed in the ’90s. It’s a building on 10th Street you’ve probably driven past many times: the Coca-Cola Bottling Works. Inside, though you’d never know from the street, are four extremely stylish loft-style apartments. Deputy is candid in the story about how he wasn’t really thinking about energy efficiency or green materials back when he worked on this (times have changed!), but an intelligent reuse of an existing building is inherently green. So is the pedestrian-friendly lifestyle that many of the occupants are able to adopt, given their fabulously central location.

As always, Better World Betty is an ABODE mainstay, and this time she offers wise words on holiday shindigs with a smaller footprint. We also have the lowdown on a new rehabilitation project at a house on Ridge Street, and always sustainably-minded advice from garden columnist Cathy Clary and kitchen columnist Lisa Reeder.

Hope you pick it up, comment, pass it around and then recycle it.

Has Tom Perriello’s political career already gone up in flames? There are still far too many undefined variables to call it 11 months in advance. This week’s cover story looks at the freshman Congressman’s first term and the likelihood of his re-election next year. Plus, read an exclusive Q&A with Perriello. Find them both right here, and don’t forget to leave comments!

UVA Associate Professor of Environmental Science Deborah Lawrence and Assistant Professor of Architecture John Quale have received Fulbright Fellowships to further their environmental research.

Lawrence, who was also named a Guggenheim Fellow and a Jefferson Science Fellow, will continue her research of “slash and burn” agriculture in Thailand at Chiang Mai University.

Quale, who created UVA’s "ecoMOD" project, will further the scope of his research to sustainable, affordable and prefabricated housing in Japan at the University of Tokyo.

To read more about Quale’s work, click here.

Groh’s Gone, Who’s Next?

When Virginia fired Dave Leitao in March, most Virginia fans thought that former Kentucky and current Minnesota Gophers coach Tubby Smith would be the new hoops coach at the UVA. Wrong! It ended up being a total surprise to almost everyone, myself included, as it was Washington State head coach Tony Bennett.

When George Welsh was every so slightly pushed off into retirement in 2000, after a 6-6 season, Al Groh was still in the midst of a play-off run as the head coach of the New York Jets. Many Virginia fans thought the new coach would be Florida State offensive coordinator extraordinaire, Mark Richt. Or, perhaps Penn State’s assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky. Wrong! Al Groh’s Jet’s team lost their three last games of the year, finished the regular season 9-7, and did not make the NFL playoffs. Groh has has a tenuous relationship with the Jets front office, as well as a tumultuous time with the press in the Big Apple. Groh knew the handwriting was on the wall, and he quit on his team after only one season.

Fast forward to November 29, 2009. This was the day Al Groh was fired as head coach of the Virginia Cavaliers. Now, where do we stand? Is this an attractive place for a young football genius to cut his teeth and break into the big-time? If I was an assistant at Oklahoma, USC, Florida, Texas, or Alabama, would I care to take chance on Virginia? Can someone come in here and create a winning program from the depths of depravity? I think it’s possible.

The Commonwealth of Virginia is in the top ten in college football producing high school talent in the nation. Sure, it’s behind California, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio in Division One football talent, but you could probably win a BCS game with just the talent from only the 757 and 703 area codes. Would UVA let them in here, and more importantly keep them in here; that’s the million dollar question?!!

Over the next few days, check back here to the HooYa! Blog for a detailed description of the intriguing challenges facing the new coaching staff at the University of Virginia, and a thorough explanation of all the options. Go Hoos!

What say you Wahoo fans? Does it get any worse than a down economy and a 3-9 team with no coach and no quarterback of the future?
 

It was no doubt a tense meeting when Al Groh and Craig Littlepage met this afternoon and the UVA Athletic Director did the only thing he could do after Groh’s miserable season and yesterday’s humiliating loss to Virginia Tech at home in Scott Stadium: He fired him, effective immediately.

"There is not a coach in the college game who has worked harder than Al Groh
in trying to build a football program. Football is his life and he
dedicated himself to the University and to our football team," Littlepage
said, in a news release from UVA Athletics. "We are grateful for his service and for his commitment to his players and his coaching staff."

The search for a new coach begins immediately—if it hasn’t been underway already.

Groh, whose record for the season is 3-9, released a statement late this afternoon.

"I have coached Hall of Fame players, worked alongside Hall of Fame coaches, and coached in two Super Bowls, but my time as the Head Coach of the Virginia Cavaliers has been my most memorable coaching experience. What I will remember the most are the players’ faces in the locker room after some of the great wins we had over legendary programs like Penn State, Florida State, and Miami; rivals North Carolina and Maryland; and in bowl games. I sincerely appreciate the efforts of all the coaches and players who have been a part of our program – I am indebted to you. I hope the players feel that one of their most positive college experiences was playing for Al Groh."

Relive the agonizing season, game by game, on C-VILLE’s Hoo Ya! blog by clicking here.

According to sources in the athletic department, as well as CBS-19 in Charlottesville, Al Groh is out as head football coach at the University of Virginia. An official announcement is expected from UVA either this afternoon or Monday.

Coach Groh has just finished the worst season (3-9) at UVA since going 2-9 in 1982.. The Hoos were hammered by their dreaded rival Virginia Tech Saturday 42-13 in front of at least 30,000 Hokies.

It is not known at this time if term "fired", or "resigned" will be used. I’ll have more information as soon as it becomes available.

Speculation about who might replace Groh is rampant, and the leading candidates appear to be: Mike London, Al Golden, Tommy Tuberville, Charlie Strong, Derek Dooley, Chris Peterson, and Jon Tenuta. My money is on Mike London. Go Hoos, and good luck Coach Groh…

Hello, earthlings. I hope today finds you well-stuffin’d. For your post-feast pleasure, some recent readings from around the world:

First, an account of local innovation in the field of wind turbines: a 90-degree turn in the orientation of the blades! I like imagining that wind-tunnel test that UVA brainiacs recently did on their new prototype. (I assume they were using more sophisticated instruments than this iPhone wind-measuring app.)

Here’s an analysis—clearly from a pro-business standpoint—of the land-use issues our new Virginia governor will confront. It’s a decent primer on the big talking points: stormwater regs, cash proffers, and Urban Development Areas (all of which are, of course, a big deal in Albemarle).

Rather gloomy updates on two big ongoing stories: Opponents of the Wilderness Wal-Mart, having failed to prevent the retailer from getting county approval for a big new store, regroup and ask, essentially, "What the hell do we do now?" And the big proposed NoVa power line, PATH, draws naysayers in force, but still gets the go-ahead for now from the State Corporation Commission.

In these parts, LEAP is set to become a big deal, and once again we’re officially green.

On now to national news. Ever wondered how Sesame Street handles global warming? It doesn’t. But it does try to teach kids to care for the planet, using Mrs. Obama as a guest star. Meanwhile, her husband’s climate change strategy gets defended by Grist’s David Roberts. (Apparently others are not so thrilled with the prez on this point.)

Guess what? Carbon offsets mean little. Are we surprised?

And finally, for dessert, a truly awesome find in an old LIFE magazine.

More links, folks? Post them below.

Virginia finished their torturous season today, with a loss to their bitter rival Virginia Tech. The loss will most certainly put the final nail in the coffin of 9 year head coach Al Groh. Groh read a fairly bizarre poem in the press room after the contest.

The Hokies were led by freshman tailback Ryan Williams who had 23 carries for 184 yards and 4 touchdowns. Tech receiver, Danny Coale had a tremendous effort today, and finished with 6 receptions for 135 yards.

Virginia did not have a receiver have more than 30 yards receiving today, and were led on the ground, not by a tailback, but by senior signal-caller Jameel Sewell. Sewell had 129 yards rushing on 17 carries. Jameel was 12-22 for 121 yards passing, and was sacked twice on the afternoon.

The Hoos finish the 2009 season bowl less, broken, and 3-9. Bring on hoops season.