Author: wes-mcelroy

Last Monday night, while out at a local establishment, a woman approached me to tell me she "can’t stand the Monday Night Football announcers and after 20 years of watching I would rather watch the game with the volume down because these men would have Howard Cosell spinning in his grave."

Ma’am, sorry, but some things will never be the same again. 

Gas won’t go back to $1 a gallon, milk won’t get delivered to your doorstep, and Monday Night Football isn’t the weekly "can’t miss" event that it once was back when Cosell, "Dandy" Don Meredith and Frank Gifford graced the first weekday night with their presence.

With TV football commentators like Charlottesville resident Howie Long all over the networks, Monday Night Football’s stardom has long faded.

Monday Night Football is just really another football game, a night cap on our great weekly football date.

For decades, Monday Night Football wasn’t just a game. It was an experience. Dashing were the looks of Gifford, and dumbfounding though it was at times, Cosell and Meredith proved opposites do attract.

Things change. 

Gas went to $3. Milk is at your corner gas station and the other networks have upped the ante on their football broadcasts at the same time that Monday primetime options no longer fear the once big, bad football game.

Monday nights used to have star power. Gifford was Hollywood looks. Cosell was potential controversy every time he opened his mouth. The stars now align everywhere as other networks have countered with the likes of Howie Long and Terry Bradshaw. NBC laid out a straight flush of former Monday Nighters Al Michaels and John Madden along with Tiki Barber, Jerome Bettis and Bob Costas for its Football Night in America on Sunday.

Cosell proved opinions create sparks. Football Night in America’s former commentator, Dennis Miller, failed, and now former ESPNer turned MSNBC host Keith Olbermann is trying his best to succeed. If people want the MNF of old, Football Night in America, which juiced up its average Sunday night viewership to 17.7 million last year, might be as close as they’re going to get.

ESPN, which now controls MNF, jettisoned Joe Theisman after only one year and brought in former quarterback Ron Jaworski for his football expertise to the booth of Mike Tirico and Tony Kornheiser. Tirico calls the play by play. "Jaws" is the X AND O guy. Kornheiser is chock full of opinions and flare, causing entertainment critics to strongly accuse ESPN of trying to re-create a Cosellian-like presence in the booth.

Kornheiser isn’t Cosell. (It didn’t hurt my argument that he did a Howard impersonation on opening night.) And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Monday Night used to be what it used to be and doesn’t have to be again. These days, MNF stands out only because it stands alone.

The common denominator of NBC, CBS and ESPN is the fact that they carry football. Football carries football. The show is the game. Announcers like Madden will forever split the field—some like his jovial presence and some only hear a man who spews the obvious. Has any one football fan stopped watching his team because he didn’t like the announcer?  

MNF has other things to worry about. After years of losing the ratings game to "Ally McBeal" and "Everybody Loves Raymond," football now tangles with ratings dominator "CSI Miami," Emmy-nominated "Two and Half Men," and last year’s popular hit, "Heroes."

The MNF booth, no matter who’s in it, receives the most criticism when it’s compared to what it once was. Like long-winded announcers, the critics are wasting their breath.

Wes McElroy hosts "The Final Round" on ESPN AM840. Monday-Friday, 4pm-6pm.

A couple of life’s rules that I learned to be true while growing up:

—The only thing in life that is certain is death and taxes.

—Life moves fast even though it ticks away at the same momentum every day.

—You can fool some of the people sometime but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.

—You can buy fame but you can’t buy respect. (And don’t try buying love or it results in 90 days in the slammer with a hefty fine.)

—Finally, as a sports fan, you can’t force feed me what I don’t need. Case in point: the FedEx Cup, which winds up this weekend at the Tour Championship in Atlanta.

The PGA thought we, the American sports fan, needed a golf playoff, which concludes their inaugural year this weekend. 

Truthfully, Commissioner Tim Finchem became sick of sinking ratings following the PGA Championship and poorly attended events that conflicted with college football on Saturday and the NFL on Sunday.

Before the golf diehards decide they want to beat me with their 9 irons, let’s go back six weeks to when a kind female reader, and fan of this column and the Tour de France, wrote to inform me: “This is a small town with small-minded people. Your attitude towards the Tour is staggering in arrogance.”

No, ma’am, it was just the facts. The same holds true with the FedEx Cup. The fact is we don’t need it. Tiger Woods doesn’t even need it. Three weeks ago, he decided to babysit during the inaugural round at The Barclays. Ernie Els took his kids “Back To School shopping” instead of driving the Duetsche Bank Championship and Phil Mickelson felt he paid his dues by winning the Bank and a day later declined an invite to the BMW Championship and took a vacation at his home in San Diego.

Enough is enough: After winning the Deutsche Bank Championship, Phil Mickelson opted out of playing in the BMW Championship so he could spend some time at home.

In fact, Big Phil did what I did last weekend—watched football!

Imagine the Dallas Cowboys winning on wild card weekend, and then Wade Phillips announcing they were going to pass on the divisional round to spend more time with their kids.

Tiger, who raises TV ratings an average of 37 percent on the final day of a golf tournament, couldn’t even save this Labor Day event. So what if Mickelson withstood the late charge of Woods at the Duetsche Bank? The storyline took a backseat because the sports world was still in shock over Appalachian State’s upset over Michigan two days earlier.

American sports fans may not always be cultured but they’re certainly not dummies. They don’t need 33 bowls or four preseason NFL games. Generations that used to listen to 162 baseball games on the radio transformed long ago into a mainstream audience that catches the October playoffs because it’s baseball and every game is absolutely important.

Football rules the fall and owns the weekends. It is the reigning king.

I’m not knocking golf. On multiple occasions, I’ve written of my admiration for the men who play it (for the simple reason that my own golf game is so miserable). It’s a phenomenal sport that doesn’t need a playoff or to force anything down our throats.

We don’t need a final four in a sport that already gives us a fabulous four during the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship.

Wes McElroy hosts “The Final Round” on ESPN AM840. Monday- Friday 4pm-6pm.

In the blink of an eye, a season could have changed. Hopes could have been dashed and promises could have gone out the window.

Fortunately, "hope and promise" just limped to the sideline with a deep knee bruise.
A startling revelation occurred three Saturday nights ago at Fed Ex Field when Washington quarterback Jason Campbell writhed in pain. We realized how much stock the Redskins have invested in their young signal caller.

When Jason Campbell was sidelined with a deep knee bruise this preseason, Redskins fans realized that a lot of hopes are riding on him.

It’s hard to believe after only seven games and 110 completions in his short pro career, but Campbell, the former 25th overall draft selection, is the primary growth fund in the Skins stock market. The alternatives for an offense in its second year under coordinator Al Saunders, aren’t pretty. Sure, back-up Todd Collins knows the Al Saunders offensive experiment, but that’s not saying a whole lot. And in those seconds when Campbell lay crushed on the field, the idea of another year with Mark Brunnel under center seemed like a worse concept than four more under George W. Bush.

The Redskins, who give out draft picks like Halloween candy, have made some smart moves lately. They traded an undisclosed pick to the New York Jets for disgruntled guard Pete Kendall to shore up an unsteady hole at left guard left after the departure of Derrick Dockery in the spring. The acquisition of linebacker London Fletcher is a nice piece of the puzzle. Adam Archuleta was jettisoned from a nauseating secondary and the team ushered in sixth overall pick LaRon Landry. Rather than overpaying for a hot shot free agent, Washington welcomed back Fred Smoot, who knows the Gregg Williams defensive system, having played for the Redskins in 2004 before leaving for Minnesota.

So the season opens this Sunday against Miami with the sense that the Redskins have clotted last year’s wounds. But what the Redskins will be in ’07 is still a mystery. When was the last time this team or anything in the organization made sense? When was the last time the Skins came off an off-season more balanced than flashy?

Still, in a division where Philadelphia is one more Donovan McNabb injury away from the end of a great run in the division, Dallas is just as unproven with Tony Romo, and the wheels are beginning to fall off the New York Giants car before it leaves the garage, is it that hard to comprehend the Redskins making a run at their first division crown in eight years? (Trust me, no mind-altering substances were digested while writing this.) After all, who’d have thought two years ago that respectable football publications would be picking the New Orleans Saints as their preseason 2007 NFC Champions?

Reality check: How different, really, are the ’07 Burgundy and Gold from a year ago? Another preseason has gone by with no reason to believe in Saunders’ 700-page book of offensive thrills. Campbell’s hopeful preseason of progression was incomplete and Clinton Portis has taken as many snaps as you.

The Redskins could be good.

They could be bad.

It couldn’t get any uglier than last year.

So as the season kicks off this Sunday, the Redskins can be best summed up in those faithful Shakespeare words, "To be or not to be: that is the question."

Stone Cold C-VILLE NFL Predictions:

NFL MVP: Drew Brees, New Orleans

AFC Championship: New England over Baltimore

NFC Championship: New Orleans over Philadelphia

Super Bowl: New England over New Orleans

Wes McElroy hosts "The Final Round" on ESPN AM840. Monday-Friday, 4pm-6pm.

Never will I utter the words "talking heads" again. Nor will I knock sports TV anchors for just being pretty people with pea-sized brains who can read a prompter.

The big easy: Legendary NFL coach turned seasoned sportscaster John Madden makes being in front of the camera seem like a cinch.

Two weeks ago a nice lady named Christine from Comcast’s "Washington Post Live" called about having me on their TV show:

Her: Look forward to having you on next week to talk about the Cavaliers upcoming football season.

Me: Great, be happy to do it.   

Her: Ever do live TV before?…(without waiting for an answer). Well, Russ Thaler is a terrific guy, it will be a great show, see you next week….click.

Then it hit me like Jose Offerman cracking a Minor League catcher in the head with a bat. …Live?

Sure, I do live radio every day but this is a beast of a different breed. People can see me. What if I mess up? What if I sweat? What should I wear? What happens if a light bulb explodes on the set and ignites my hair?

Uncontrollable sweating and panic sets in.

Live? She didn’t say anything about live. That’s when my producer, Kevin, piped in, "Uh, the name of the show is ‘Washington Post LIVE.’" (Writer’s note: Kevin was a good producer. If you would like to apply for his position, my e-mail is below.)

After calming myself down with a wet towel and four consecutive shots of Jack Daniels, it dawns on me that some of my closest friends are TV sports anchors. Their advice can only be warranted. I know sports and they know TV and sports.

Some of their e-mails follow:

Kris Budden of ABC 16 instantly demanded: "Makeup! Lots of makeup (still don’t know if I should feel insulted over this) and wear a solid suit because pinstripes don’t show up on television and did I mention makeup?"

Chuck Wade at NBC 29: "Everybody will be wearing blue or gray on the set. Wear that sweet brown pinstripe suit and you need to wear cover up…keep the shine down on your face."  Chuck obviously forgot what I look like, as sometimes my hair tends to appear as if the Exxon Valdez had its second spill all over it.

Dave "Yogi Berra" Strumph at CBS 19 gave me some useful advice: "Look at the panel and the host 80 percent of the time and the camera 10 percent of the time."  Where to look the other 10 percent still remains a mystery.

So here I sit a week later in the Green Room. Makeup done by Donna, the Comcast makeup lady, who added some positive reinforcement by declaring my skin was terrific for a 28-year-old, so nervous that Pepto Bismol would upset my stomach, and beginning to sweat so obnoxiously I believe the pinstripes in my suit are running together.

And then the dreaded voice of the loudspeaker: "Wes McElroy to the studio!"

The segment is 12 minutes long but it feels like two. The host is all class and the panel sticks to the topic that I know—Virginia football. My voice doesn’t crack like I’m 13. Nothing I say sounded stupid or can get me sued in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Mike Wise of The Washington Post even offers a handshake at the end of the segment and it is official: I’ve survived my live TV debut.

For the record, though, there is no other medium that I love more then writing. Not radio, not TV. Just a laptop, a couple of thoughts…and some cover up.

Hey, what can I say? It makes me feel pretty.

Wes McElroy hosts "The Final Round" on ESPN AM840. M-F 4pm-6pm.

Tight-end Heath Miller is a UVA sports icon, but even though he’s performed well in the NFL for the Pittsburgh Steelrs, he’s yet to become a well-known name. Will that change this year

1. The Super Bowl will definitely be played on February 3, 2008, in Glendale, Arizona… ( O.K., O.K., now we get down to business.)

2. The New York Jets will win more than nine games.

3. Dante Stallworth has a better statistical year in New England than Randy Moss.

4. The Redskins return to the top 10 in defense.

5. Philip Rivers improves under Norv Turner.

6. Vince Young does the same under Jeff Fisher.

7. The Arizona Cardinals will battle it out with San Francisco for the NFC West.

8. The Giants realize they miss Tiki Barber by the time Week 2 rolls around.

9. There’s a better chance of seeing the Easter Bunny than "Pacman" Jones by Week 14.

10. Ken Wishenhunt wins NFC Coach of the Year.

11. The Packers make the playoffs.

12. ….in Brett Farve’s final year.

13. Terrell Owens causes a disturbance in Dallas before Week 4.

14. Heath Miller catches nine touchdowns this year and becomes a well-known NFL threat.

15. Unfortunately, his team, the Steelers, miss the playoffs.

16. New Orleans wins the NFC South.

17. Chargers’ Shawne Merriam will record over 20 sacks.

18. The Falcons regret trading Matt Schaub by the 3rd Quarter of Week 1.

19. The Texans with Schaub and Ahman Green will improve upon their 28th-ranked offense of last season.

19. Week 14 Indianapolis at Baltimore will be the best regular season game of the year.

20. Tiki Barber will start a media vs. active player controversy with something he says on NBC Sunday Night in America.

21. The Eagles will wear blue and yellow jerseys in Week 3.

22. At least one team will bring Jeff George in for a workout this season.

23. No one goes 16-0 this season.

24. No one goes 0-16 this season.

25. The Giants finish at the bottom of the NFC East (it’s O.K. to exhale, Redskins fans).

26. Tom Coughlin is canned by Week 17.

27. Devin Hester has two kickoff returns before Week 6.

28. Jacksonville starts off 4-0 and still does not make the playoffs.

29. "Bill Cowher to wherever" rumors will begin by Week 10.

30. "Pete Carroll to wherever" rumors begin by Week 15.

31. Calvin Johnson wins NFC Rookie of the Year.

32. Ron Jaworski will be a magnificent addition to Monday Night Football.

33. Brady Quinn starts at least four games for Cleveland.

34. Travis Henry rushes for over 1,300 yards in Denver.

35. Brian Westbrook does not play in all 16 games for Philadelphia.

36. The Lions improve to average but for some reason continue to employ Matt Millen.

37. The Colts will not repeat nor will the Bears return to the Super Bowl.

38. The Buccaneers need three quarter backs to get through the season.

39. Peyton Manning appears in six different commercials during your Sunday football watching.

40. Patriots vs. Saints in Super Bowl XLII.

Wes McElroy hosts "The Final Round" Monday- Friday. 4pm-6pm on ESPN AM840.

Two seasons ago, the nation prepared for Reggie Bush to make his Heisman run. Last August, Brady Quinn was the golden boy on the preseason magazines.

This upcoming season, Virginia Tech braces itself to become "America’s Team" for more reasons than just a stellar returning defense and a top 10 place in a few polls. The Hokie football team, over the next few months, will play partly for 32 students that just melted into the crowd of 66,000 at Lane Stadium last season. Ironically, it’s those unnoticed faces that now inspire these men.

This year, each Virginia Tech football player and coach wears a patch bearing the memorial logo, and a team wristband that features the words "Beamerball" (after Head Coach Frank Beamer), "United" and "32."

On Media Day they were innundated with questions about the aftermath of the tragic shootings that occurred four short months ago. Virginia Tech prepares for its opener against East Carolina on September 1 with not just heavy football expectations, but also the responsibility of playing for their community.

"We don’t really feel any pressure," said cornerback Brandon Flowers. "For the kids that passed, [many] say we are the healing process. We’re just going to give it all we have. That’s the least we can do for the community, Virginia Tech and the nation."

"The least we can do…."

The memories from that day still loom over this community. It’s hard not to let your mind wander when driving past West Ambler Johnston or gazing down on a temporary memorial for the students and professors taken that unforgettable day. Yet there is also a lasting impression of community strength personified in the football program. "We know the Hokie fans and the Hokie nation [will] just come looking at us as more of a healing factor for everybody, so we just have to put that on our shoulders," said linebacker Xavier Adibi. "We’ve got a chance to do something special."

This team knows that its school’s tragedy will be a focal storyline as their season begins. Each player and coach proudly dons a stitched patch bearing the memorial logo, and a team wristband that features the words "Beamerball," "United" and "32."

They practice under a flag hanging from the coach’s camera tower with the memorial logo on it. They play with part of that day lodged in the backs of their minds.

"There’s probably going to be a lot of pressure for us to perform and do it at a high level," added defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach Bud Foster. "Tomorrow’s not guaranteed. If there’s any lesson from [April 16], that’s one thing. As bad as it was, you just never know what tomorrow brings, so live each day the best you can. Every time we step on the football field, we’re not just representing Virginia Tech football but we’re going to represent this university and the Virginia Tech family and I think we have to do that the right way."

Comparisons to the 2001 New York Yankees after 9/11 and last year’s post-Katrina New Orleans Saints have already been drawn, as some media members have deemed this group "America’s Team." 

"I can see how that mirrors 9/11, having another national tragedy like this," said defensive tackle Carlton Powell.

Are the Hokies ready to be "America’s Team"? "I don’t mind taking on any extra responsibility," says Powell. "Shoot, if we’re going from Virginia Tech to America’s Team that’s great right there!"

In a few weeks, Virginia Tech will begin the year ranked No. 9 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. They already rank much higher in America’s Poll.

Wes McElroy hosts "The Final Round" Monday-Friday. 4pm-6pm on ESPN AM840.

At Pinehurst golf course, you can imagine being, if not actually be, Payne Stewart as he drilled a nearly impossible putt on the 18th in the 1999 U.S. Open

Gazing out upon perfectly cut green grass and trees that look like they were painted by the late Bill "Happy Trees" Ross, it dawns on me that I’m in more deep than a corrupt NBA referee with the Mafia.

Here I stand, 2pm on a Tuesday in late July, a driver in my hand, and I’m staring down Pinehurst No. 8. Today will be golf’s version of Beauty and the Beast.

This gorgeous North Carolina course, whose sister course No. 2 has hosted Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, and Payne Stewart‘s memorable putt on the 18th in the 1999 U.S. Open now has golf’s version of Fred Sanford on it.

I am a terrible golfer. A good day for me is one par, five bogeys, a dozen lost balls and a few newly invented curse words. My golfing expertise belongs on a Pinehurst golf course like Michael Vick belongs in a Milk Bone commercial.  

If not for the generosity of my friend Jerry and his buddy Brian, there would be a better chance of me playing quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles than staring into yonder on a 321-yard first-hole, Par 4 at Pinehurst.

Yet this is the exact reason my "never broke 100 on any golf course in America" game accepted this invitation. IT’S PINEHURST!!!!

Who gets to play Pinehurst on a Tuesday afternoon when the rest of the working stiffs in America (no offense!) have to work?

PINEHURST No. 8… $220 a round for what Pinehurst.com describes as "dips and swales around the greens, sloping greens and false fronts." Dips? Swales? False fronts? I’ve no clue what a swale is but when it comes down to it, I’m playing it and you’re not!

This is why people play golf. It’s the only sport that you can play as if with the pros. Ever get a chance to shag flies at Fenway?  Maybe go deep versus Santana Moss at Fed Ex?

Golf is the sport the fans can play.  We’ve all had our glory shots and miserable moments. Play golf and you get the rounds that were fine, the ones that might have been fine and the ones where you keep the scorecard slapped on the refrigerator like a 6-year-old bringing home his first "A."

Golfers get golfers. Those who have never played a round don’t know what it’s like to see a near "hole in one" and watch it lip out at the last possible second. (Yes, amazingly, that was me at Spring Creek in Gordonsville, 5th hole… Next time you’re there, picture a grown man crying at the tee box.) Golf is where you—Joe from Palmyra or Chuck from Charlottesville—can cloak yourself in the "thrill of victory and the agony of defeat."

So it comes down to this. Put up or shut up time. First hole. First shot of what will be 102.
Knees slightly bent, slow on the back swing, and…200 yards straight down the fairway and we are underway.

Today, I’m golfing Pinehurst No. 8.

Wes McElroy hosts "The Final Round" on ESPN AM840. Monday-Friday 4pm-6pm.

Chapter 1: Suspended Adam Jones. Chapter 2: Suspended Tank Johnson. Chapter 3: Watched Michael Vick be indicted by a federal Grand Jury.  Chapter 4: Vomited. Chapter 5: Bought stock in Pepto Bismol.

Last Friday, somewhere in this crazy world Roger Goodell should have been smiling. The NFL commissioner should have felt like a principal on the first day of school as he watched rookies and veterans report for training camp.

Instead, the expression on Goodell’s face arose from the image of Michael Vick making his first appearance in a federal court the previous day.

There was one of the poster boys of Goodell’s $1 billion product starting his journey through the judicial system because of his indictment by a federal grand jury on multiple charges related to an alleged dog-fighting ring in Virginia.

Goodell wishes today that we were pondering whether the Redskins would rise out of the basement on the arm of Jason Campbell or whether the Patriots would just dominate the league on the field the way they did in free agency.

Goodell wants people filling his training camp with jerseys and big foamy No. 1 fingers (not that finger, you sicko), but instead he has PETA and enraged Atlanta Falcons season-ticket holders with dogs at the gates.

The $1 billion question: Will Michael Vick wear Falcons red and black in ’08 or correctional facility fluorescent orange?

Goodell groans as the dominant preseason question in sports bars remains: Will Vick wear Falcons red and black in ’08 or correctional facility fluorescent orange?

All this has been just one of the stories of Roger Goodell’s summer.  His June and July were dog days (no pun intended), as he had to sit down "Pacman Jones" for the upcoming year, and then Tank Johnson for half, and finally fold a developmental league in NFL Europa.

Goodell, who is different in many ways from his predecessor Paul Tagliabue, does share a belief that no one player is bigger than the league.

Sadly, just when the commish thought he was turning the corner to a season where the fans and media talked actual football, the Feds come a-knocking for Vick.

"While it is for the criminal justice system to determine your guilt or innocence, it is my responsibility as commissioner of the National Football League to determine whether your conduct, even if not criminal, nonetheless violated league policies, including the Personal Conduct Policy," Goodell said in a letter to the quarterback produced by ESPN.com.

Only a few months after the truth was revealed about the Duke lacrosse scandal, which gave many in the media red faces for jumping the gun and landed a former district attorney in the unemployment line for jumping the law, Goodell, while still in a dilemma, has acted swiftly and intelligently.

Like him or not, this is America and Vick is innocent until proven guilty.  This case will not be decided on a radio sports talk show, newspaper column or even a football field. It will be decided in a federal courtroom.

Unfortunately, the Falcons don’t have the luxury of time. With or without Vick, the first day of camp had to start. Now first-year head coach Bobby Petrino must look to an average-at-best Joey Harrington as Vick’s replacement.

Goodell and the NFL still are left with numerous dilemmas, none of which involve a pigskin or a punt but rather penalty flags off the field.

Wes McElroy hosts "The Final Round" Monday-Friday 4pm-6pm on ESPN AM840.

Does this team have a starting quarterback?

“So we would have hoped, particularly with him being at the top of the chart, that he could have thrown 300 or 400 passes in the spring. That’s probably not going to be the case but that’s the reality of it.”—Al Groh, prior to spring practice on his quarterback, Jameel Sewell.

Another quarterback question mark?
UGGHH!!!!!!!!

Jameel Sewell helped Virginia fans limp out of a forgettable 2006 season with a proverbial “Wait until next year!” smile on their face.

The Jameel Sewell-watch continues after a wrist injury prevented him from participating fully in spring practice, casting some doubt on whether he can surpass last year’s promising season.

Sewell showed promise as he tossed 1,342 yards and five touchdowns while rushing for an additional four.

Unfortunately, surgery to repair a wrist injury on his throwing hand left him without the full spring practice learning experience. The absence leaves many, including Groh, to wonder whether this young quarterback is yet another enigma of this team.

Who will emerge as an offensive weapon?

This team has an offensive cast with more hyped names than Ocean’s Thirteen.

Sewell, Cedric Peerman, (Keith Payne—suspended indefinitely by Groh for academics), Raynard Horne, Tom Santi and Jon Stupar.  The question is who will emerge?

Who will step up at wide receiver?

Enough already?

First, Sewell’s operation squashes his spring practice. 

Next, lead receiver Kevin Ogletree’s season ends during the spring when his leg gave out on him marking the third time since the 2003 season the Cavaliers will be without their leading returning receiver. Ogletree finished third in the ACC last season with 52 catches for 582 yards and four TDs.

Now we hear rumblings that projected starting cornerback Mike Brown sustained a serious leg injury in off-season seven-on-seven activities. Has the injury bug already doomed this squad before they’ve even take the practice turf?

Which Groh has more pressure to improve?

National college football publications have easily slipped Al Groh into the category of “Coaches on the Hot Seat” after last year’s dismal 5-7 season.

SI.com’s Stewart Mandell took it one step lower, naming him the Worst Coach in College Football.

Needless to say, Virginia needs a successful season like Nicole Richie needs a sandwich.
If the team is to improve, it will rely on the younger Groh, Mike Groh (offensive coordinator), to upgrade a unit that was just awful last year. Virginia was ranked 100 or higher in each offensive category.

Mike Groh will have a much better hand to play this year as the deck holds an experienced offensive line led by Branden Albert, depth at running back, and hopefully, a veteran Sewell.
“The most important thing is the experience of these linemen and the confidence that they gained last year,” said Al Groh at spring practice.

Wahoos eagerly wonder just how much more aggressive Mike London’s defense will be. In order to keep it at high octane, Mike Groh’s unit needs to do its part.

Can this team win on the road?

Groh’s Virginia teams are 10-24 on the road, including a 7-17 traveling ACC mark.

At Wyoming, at NC State, at North Carolina and at Miami, seeing will be believing.

Wes McElroy hosts “The Final Round” on ESPN AM840. M-F 4pm-6pm.

Sing along with the Simon & Garfunkel melody: Where have you gone La-ance A-armstrong? Your spo-ort turns its lonely eyes to you. Woo woo woo. What’s that you say, Mrs. Robinson? LiveStrong has retired and gone away? Hey hey hey.

Isn’t it amazing that the Tour de France used to be a staple of the summer? At this point in the summer, our focus used to be tens of thousands of miles away wondering if the “Texas Phenom” could make it four in a row? Five in a row? Six? Then, incredibly, seven?

But today, as the race reaches its third week, we’re more inclined to care about French fries than the French athletic tour de force. Has any other athlete more directly turned us on to a sport and then so quickly turned us off to the same sport simply by leaving it?

Tour de what? Are silly cyclists still pedaling the Alps now that Lance is gone? That’s news to us

Seven years made Armstrong a household name. Whether by his cycling or his cancer fighting—we all knew the guy and the story. His rides made us bigger fans every year. Millions of us bought those yellow “LiveStrong” bracelets and decided to dust off our bikes one month each year only to realize how fat and out of shape we really were.

But just two years after his retirement, we, including yours truly, have turned off the sport of cycling quicker than Lance once whipped through the Champs-Elysées.

In a similar way, Tiger Woods brought an entirely new generation to his sport when he arrived on the golf scene in 1996 and promptly won the 1997 Masters. And when he doesn’t play, the PGA feels the pain. TV ratings for the U.S. Open fell dramatically when Tiger failed to make the cut in 2006 and went up 37 percent when he did play in the final round this year.

But would we really stop watching the Masters if Tiger left? Would we shut off our connection with baseball if A-Rod retired? Will we do something productive with our fall Sunday afternoons after Brett Farve hangs it up?

Of course not. But did you watch any of the Tour de France this year? Me neither.
And, sadly, Armstrong’s departure has stripped American sports fans of another thing—true patriotism. For seven years, Armstrong made us cheer not only for him, but for ourselves. Not since the Miracle on Ice has the country so rallied together, and yet, I bet you can’t name one American in the race this year.

Koo-koo-ka-choo, Mr. Armstrong, you’re missed by more than just your sport.

Wes McElroy hosts “The Final Round” on ESPN AM 840. M-F 4-6pm.