Not only has he not won a single major since his marital fiasco, he has not won a single official golf tournament in the last 28 months.  We are talking about the golfer that once had a span of seven golf tournaments when he never lost. Yes, seven first-place finishes in seven golf tournaments. We are talking about the golfer that once had a 2008 year in which he never once finished outside of the top five. I think it is safe to say that this golfer is owed a little more respect than for announcers to say he is “back” after one great nine at Augusta, or “back” after a first place finish in a field of twenty at the Chevron World Challenge!

Sure, Tiger Woods played a great second nine on Saturday at Pebble Beach in last year’s U.S. Open, but he is not back. In fact, Tiger is far from back. Tiger has not even been “around” since he choked away the 2009 PGA championship at Hazeltine.

With one great nine at Augusta, are we supposed to believe that the man that finished 18 over in 2010, after shooting an average total of 9 under each of the four previous years in the Bridgestone Invitational is all of a sudden back? This is the equivalent of Michael Jordan dropping 20 points in one game for the Washington Wizards. Was he “back”? NO!

Let me tell you when Tiger Woods is officially back. When he wins six consecutive tournaments, when he completes a Tiger slam and wins four straight majors, or maybe when he goes 6 months without finishing outside the top 10. But one round, or one nine-hole score means nothing. For goodness sakes, one major means nothing. Tiger Woods may win another major, maybe he won’t, but just because we want one of the greatest legends in golf to bring us the magic that he has brought us so many times, does not mean it is right to take the shortcut and say that he is back.

You know what the years 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009 all had in common? They all had the same scoring average champion. In 2004 Tiger Woods finished 3^rd in the battle for lowest scoring average and in 2008 he only played 6 tournaments. But, do you know where Tiger Woods would have finished had he had enough rounds to qualify in 2010? 110^th. That followed up by him not playing nearly enough rounds to qualify in 2011 means Tiger is far from the top.

Let’s hope Tiger’s magic returns, but hitting five or six good shots does not qualify Tiger Woods as “back”. Jim Nantz and Dan Hicks can say whatever they want to bring in hundreds millions of dollars of TV revenue, but when Tiger Woods is truly “back” we won’t need to be told.

What transpired during the second half was something that Cavalier fans had not yet seen from this 2011-2012 squad. To go along with a stellar second-half defensive performance, where Clemson was held to 34.5% from the field, the Cavaliers exploded offensively. Sophomore Joe Harris and Senior Mike Scott lead the charge as Virginia knocked down 8 of its first 9 shots in the half, including 4 for 4 from downtown.

Virginia increased its lead to double digits on a Joe Harris three-pointer with 6:56 to go and held on to move to 18-3 and 5-2 in the ACC. Virginia coach Tony Bennett was impressed by Clemson’s half court sets, but they were not enough to stop Joe Harris and Mike Scott who combined for 42 of Virginia’s 65 points as the Tigers fell to 11-10 and 3-4 in ACC play.

The main concern for Bennett following the game was turnovers. The Cavaliers turned it over 11 times compared to only 4 turnovers for the visiting Tigers. Bennett explained after the game that Jontel Evans’ 5 turnovers including 3 offensive fouls did not help, and that he would put some time in with Evans to work on decision making.

The Cavaliers once again won a game in which they shot over 40% from the field and actually ended the game shooting an impressive 55.8%. Although Tony Bennett did not address the lack of a bench, it is clearly something that is on the minds of Cavalier fans. Bennett is effectively using a 6-man rotation, something that often presents mid-game problems. Jontel Evans was forced to leave the game in foul trouble and Akil Mitchell appeared to limp off the court with an ankle injury, yet the Cavaliers were able to hold on. The wily veteran, guard Sammy Zeglinski continued to struggle from the field at home, shooting 2-8 and 1-7 from behind the arc.

With two upcoming games against Florida State and North Carolina, we will see if the Cavaliers are able to survive with Assane Sene out and without a third scorer behind Harris and Scott. Virginia travels to Florida State this Saturday to take on the Seminoles at 1:00ET.

Virginia (16-7, 4-5 ACC) came off a disappointing loss to Georgia Tech last Wednesday, but really bounced back and displayed the effort they showed against Boston College and Virginia Tech earlier this season. Florida State had just evened out their conference record when they bested NC State last Friday, 67-64.

The first half ended with both teams neck and neck — largely due to the Seminoles’ freshman forward Kristi Mokube making a buzzer-beater jumper off of an offensive rebound — and the Cavaliers in the lead 26-25. Virginia, however, totaled more rebounds and steals and also had six fast breaks, giving the team the best opportunity to own the net.  Florida State’s performance (12-11, 4-5 ACC) undermined Virginia’s performance in the field during the first half, shooting 52 percent on 12-of-23  and outscoring the Cavs in the paint.

“I thought we executed great early, especially when they went to the zone,” coach Joanne Boyle said. “We struggled in the first half down the stretch, but we came back out in the second half and made some adjustments,” she added. “I felt like we were getting a little stagnant, so we went from our zone offense into our man. We were trying to screen the zone, and attack a little bit more.”

Senior guard Ariana Moorer was the top-scorer at the game, posting 15 points, and kept her stamina throughout the entire game. She scored the first goal of the game and contributed one of the team’s two three-pointers in the last six minutes of the game. Several times in the course of the game — including when Moorer made the three-pointer — the Cavaliers held off during their plays and drove through to last ticks on the shot clock to put the ball in the basket.

Ariana Moorer commented on the strategy the team attempted during these final seconds. “When the shot clock is going down, we just look to penetrate,” she said. “We want the ball in either my hands or Lexie [Gerson's] hands or one of the guard’s hands. We look for a ball screen from the post and try to get to the basket,” she added.

Moorer had a lot of help on the court, particularly from junior guard Lexie Gerson and sophomore guard Ataira Franklin who displayed good numbers across the boards. Gerson finished off with 13 points, five assists and five steals and Franklin was close behind with her 11 points, a game-high six steals and five rebounds.
Lexie Gerson has stepped up her game since the absence of junior guard China Crosby due to an ACL injury. She and the other players, however, still try to carry on her tactics as they play the remaining games of the season without her.

“Losing China [Crosby] was a really big deal,” Gerson said. “We play for China every game. We play with our number on our shoes. She’s my right-hand man. She’s always present, even if she’s not with us on the court.”

The defensive effort was strong, and it had to be in order to hold Florida’s Cierra Bravard down to 12 points and four rebounds. The 6-foot-4 senior forward posted nine rebounds and 22 total points against Virginia just last season. Although they ran into some fouls en route to keeping her away from the basket, the Cavaliers got deflections and forced the Seminoles into their zone early in the game.
Overall, Florida State put on sloppy handling of the ball by missing passes and throwing the ball out of bounds, which helped Virginia bounce back and take advantage of their missed opportunities.

4,840 fans came out to support the Cavaliers at John Paul Jones Arena yesterday and they were very satisfied with the effort the team displayed on the court, resulting in a wave as the final minutes approached. The game was also televised by ESPNU and ESPN3, providing viewers with a live look at the women in action.

Virginia has emerged two spots up and now ranks sixth in the ACC, pushing Florida State down to the eighth position. The seven games remaining in the regular season will prove important to the Cavaliers, both in terms of ACC standings and post-season play.

That said, coach Boyle does not believe there will be any dramatic changes in the quality of play or strategy in the coming weeks. “I think we’re going approach it the way we approach every other game,” she said. “Every game is important but we’re just going to come out, play Virginia basketball, and hopefully in the end, it will be a good result,” she added, emphasizing the players contribute to every game seriously.

Virginia hopes to continue improving its record, and it’s standing in the ACC, as the team heads down to North Carolina this weekend to take on UNC and NC State.

Paving the way to a women’s victory was Charlotte Clark (100 backstroke and 100 butterfly) and freestyler Meredith Cavalier (50 free and 100 free) each won two individual events.

On the men’s side, Sophomore Jan Daniec (500 freestyle, 1000 freestyle), sophomore breaststroker Taylor Grey (100 breast and 200 breast), earned two individual titles a piece for the swim team. Senior

Senior diver Briggy Imbriglia won both the 1-meter and 3-meter with challenging and stunning dives.  Imbriglia took the 3- meter with a score of 341. 90 and took the 1-meter with a 348.90.

In three freestyle events the Cavaleirs went 1-2-3.  Jan Daniec led the victory in the 1000 free with a time of 9:16:80 and the 500 free with the time of 4:29:31.  Nathan Vredeveld was second in the 1000 free, followed by Serge Gould.  Parker camp placed second in the 500 freestyle followed by Jonathan Buerge.

The Virginia women went 1-2 in the 200-medley relay. Charlotte Clarke, Kelly Flynn, Meredith Cavalier, and Emily Lloyd won the race in 1:42:74, and Jane Munro, Erika Stewart, Ellen Williamson, and Dana Nessler earned second place.

Coach Bernandino was very impressed with teams performance stating. “  We had some nice results and performances that will help us as a coaching staff make decisions when it comes time to select our ACC travel squad.”

Fortunately for Tony Bennett, Mike Scott still suits up for the Cavaliers.

Scott led all scorers with 18 points on a night where he scorched the nets, going 7-for-11 from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 from the stripe, and Virginia (16-3, 3-2 ACC) ran away late to put away the Eagles (7-13, 2-4 ACC) 66-49. It was the tenth time this season Bennett’s squad and the infamous “pack-line” defense has held an opponent to 50 points or less, and the third in as many games, all against ACC opponents.

Sophomore Akil Mitchell and freshman Darion “Dunkasaurus” Atkins combined for 16 points and eight rebounds to replace the injured Sene, and, along with Scott, helped hold BC’s post tandem of 7-foot center Dennis Clifford and forward Ryan Anderson to 8-for-19 from the floor. Senior point guard Jontel Evans provided ten points and six assists of his own, and sophomore swingman Joe Harris drilled two key three-pointers, despite battling a fever that left him unable to practice Wednesday and unsure if he would suit up, according to Bennett.

The Eagles held their last lead of the game at the 9:30 mark of the first half, when Clifford scored to put Boston College up 15-14. Virginia led 31-23 at half, but BC clawed back into the game and tied it at 44 with just over ten minutes to play. At that point, the Cavaliers ripped off a 22-5 run to close the game, punctuated with 44 seconds remaining by a massive throwdown by Mitchell from a Malcolm Brogdon assist.

Three observations about the game:

Players keep stepping up. Atkins and Mitchell have already been discussed, as has Harris’s playing sick. Another guy who came to play was freshman Malcolm Brogdon. Brogdon may have scored only six points in his 32 minutes on the floor, but one of those baskets was a key starter of the end-game run, and he contributed seven rebounds, three assists, and contributed on defense with his length. If Virginia’s bench keeps making timely contributions like that, especially with a stellar recruiting class lined up for next season, the transfers of KT Harrell and James Johnson might hurt just a little less.

He’s back! Senior guard Sammy Zeglinski had a stretch to forget, nailing just two treys in the last three games, which included scoreless performances against both Duke and Virginia Tech. Eight points is not much for a scoring guard, but his two threes really electrified the crowd at John Paul Jones Arena. Which brings me to…

The fans love this team. At times last year, Virginia fans, especially the student section, seemed a tad lackluster. Sure, they showed up for the Duke game on national television. But in general, as with football games, it was largely a social event, and students would start filing out before the final whistle, especially if things weren’t going so well. This year, things are different. The student section was rocking last night, and the fans seem to be really biting the Virginia sports bug this year. Many casual fans sometimes fail to realize that fan support is a cycle: obviously, fans want to cheer more when their team is winning and playing well. But it works the other way as well. A dedicated fan base can spur a team on to bigger and better things, and that seems to be what Virginia has this season.

Virginia (15-3, 2-2 ACC), which was without starting senior center Assane Sene who will miss six weeks with a fractured right ankle, struggled to put up points in all fashions Sunday. Virginia missed 13 of 14 three-point attempts including all six in the second half, shot 6-of-13 from the line in the second half, and shot just 32% from the field for the game.

“It was just one of those nights when the ball wasn’t going down for us, but we are going to bounce back and regardless of the off shooting night, we are going to shoot the ball with confidence against Boston College,” junior guard Jontel Evans said.  “We didn’t hit shots,” he added. “Our defense was good so maybe if we had hit some of those shots we could have come out victorious. They hit some tough shots. Our defense was there. They just hit a lot of tough shots. It was not being able to make shots on the offensive end that hurt us.”

Virginia was able to keep pace despite anemic accuracy by holding the Hokies to their lowest scoring output of the season in the win. It was Virginia Tech’s timely scoring that ultimately propelled them past Virginia to earn their first conference win after starting 0-4 in ACC play.

With 26 seconds remaining and the Hokies clinging to a one point lead, Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg was forced to call a second timeout of the possession as the shot clock ticked down to eleven. Out of the huddle, sophomore guard Jarell Eddie found redshirt senior guard Dorenzo Hudson for the dagger three pointer as the shot clock wound down to make it a two possession lead for the Hokies, 47-43.

“Hudson made the plays and showed his experience and he was the difference down the stretch,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said.

Virginia had one final chance with a single second remaining to even the score and force overtime. After freshman guard Robert Brown missed the front end of a one-and-one, Harris side-armed a full-court pass to Scott, which tailed off his hands and out of bounds to seal the loss. The Cavaliers had just six turnovers but also only notched two assists on the night.

Scott was aggressive early as he scored eight of the first fifteen points for Virginia. He led the Cavaliers in the first half with eight points and four rebounds on 3-of-7 shooting, but Virginia Tech clamped down on Scott in the second half. After the break, Scott attempted just two field goals as the Hokies collapsed the defense and double-teamed him in the paint, daring him to trust his teammates to make jumpers.

“They really sandwiched him in the lane,” Bennett said. “We have to keep going to him but he is really drawing a ton of attention and when that happens, it’s hard for him to shoot over a double team.”

After taking their largest lead of the night at 13-10 early in the first half off a free throw by freshman guard Malcolm Brogdon, Virginia failed to score for over four and a half minutes and went into the break trailing 23-19 as they shot just 25% from the field in the half.

Junior guard Erick Green opened the second half by drilling his first of two triples to extend the Hokie lead to seven. Green finished with a game-high fifteen points on 5-of-11 shooting, scoring 12 points in the second half.

With Virginia struggling mightily in their half-court sets, junior guard Jontel Evans looked to turn defense into easy baskets. After converting the hoop and the harm on a foul by Green to bring the Cavaliers within five, Evans picked the pocket of freshman forward Dorian Finney-Smith and appeared to have an open lane to the basket. Instead of turning on the jets, Evans coasted to the basket, giving a Hokie defender enough time to alter the shot and force the miss. The rebound ricocheted off a trailing Harris and off the head of an out-of-bounds Evans to send possession back to Virginia Tech with the score remaining 26-21.

The Cavaliers made their run several minutes later, reeling off eight straight points to erase a 32-25 deficit. With a sold out crowd of 14,021 rising to their feet to energize a frustrated Virginia squad—which was once again in the midst of a scoring drought of over three and a half minutes—Harris ignited the crowd by collecting a miss by Zeglinski and converting a lay-up. Evans followed that up by making good on a fast-break, this time stripping the ball from freshman guard Marquis Rankin. Virginia took its first lead since it was 17-16 as Brogdon, Harris and Evans made 4-of-6 from the line as Virginia stormed back to take a 33-32 lead with 10:09 to play.

The teams traded baskets until the Hokies wrested control of the game on a pair of questionable calls. First, Zeglinski tried to hold his ground in the paint but was called for the block as Hudson barreled over him. On the Hokies next possession, Harris was whistled for a block on Green when it appeared that Green eluded the contact by jumping to the side. Virginia Tech made 3-of-4 from the line to take a 42-41 lead with 1:51 to play, leading to Hudson’s devastating deep ball which effectively sealed the loss for Virginia

“You have to treat each game as a separate entity,” Bennett said. “When you’re playing well, you always want to keep it going. This is a tough loss, but it’s always what you do after that loss.”

Virginia will try to get back on Thursday as they host Boston College (11-8, 2-3 ACC)

Courtesy of Virginia Sports

Despite a close loss to No.11 Miami Thursday, the Virginia women’s basketball team took the court against unranked conference opponent Boston College at John Paul Jones Arena Saturday and secured a 69-58 win. Boston College (5-13, 0-5 ACC) also comes off its fifth-straight loss in conference play to Florida State at home Thursday, 68-59. Virginia (15-4, 3-4 ACC) was ranked No. 22 in scoring defense before this game, allowing only an average of 52.8 points per game and was right behind Duke’s 52.5 average in the conference.

Sophomore guard Ataira Franklin scored a team-high 21 points last night, followed by three other double-digit scorers.  Junior guard Lexie Gerson, senior forward Chelsea Shine and Junior forward Telia McCall recorded 13, 12 and 11 points, respectively. Franklin put a great effort into the game and was the only player on the court to play all 40 minutes of the game. She recorded five assists and shot 6-for-16 from the field.

Lexie Gerson finished off the night with eight rebounds and five assists in 35 minutes of play. Virginia coach Joanne Boyle and the rest of the team were very pleased with her performance. “She is contributing in a lot of places for us and is having a great year. The one great thing about Lexie is that she’s a great anticipator,” Boyle said. Ataira Franklin also commented on her teammate’s hard work, “Lexie takes her role so seriously, and when she gets in her zone she is great for us as far as rebounding and steals.” Gerson made six steals in the game, which improved her season total to 70.

The Eagles’ sophomore guard Shayra Brown scored a game-high 25 points as well as a team-high six rebounds. She shot 10-for-11 on field goal attempts to contribute to the team’s 49 percent shooting from the field. Last night’s performance replaced her previous career-high of 19 points against Farleigh-Dickinson in Nov. 2011 and her ACC game-high of 10 points against NC State in 2010.

Virginia failed to record any three-pointers during the first half (0-of-5) and in the second half they shot only 25 percent, as opposed to Boston College’s 35 percent shooting from behind the arc.  Franklin, however, felt very positive about the two three-pointers she made in the game. “I feel like I always have a moment like that in the game. It’s just emotional. That was a game they felt they needed to win,” she said. “Both teams were playing competitive. Both teams wanted it. We just really needed this game,” she added, relieved that the team secured a win against Boston College so that it can improve its standing within the conference.

Although the Cavaliers had a rough start, the second half featured their strong effort to gain and secure the lead. “We were down on the boards the entire game and we really clawed back in the second half and we did a really good job at the free throw line,” Coach Boyle said. The Cavaliers managed to make 20-of-25 free throws attempts.

A total of 3,161 fans were in attendance at the game and the enthusiasm they expressed did not wane throughout the course of the game, it only led to uproars of excitement upon high points such as Franklin’s three-pointers and Telia McCall’s free throws close to the end of the game.

Franklin believed the reason the team struggled early on in the game was due largely to the performance of the defense. “I think our major focus was on defense. Once we picked it up on defense, everyone was able to get into a flow offensively.”

Four of Virginia’s six losses this season were by differences of less than 10 points. The ‘Hoos sit behind three tied teams (Georgia Tech, NC State and Florida State) in the ACC and are tied with Virginia Tech in its conference record. Boston College, however, is dead last out of the 12 teams in the conference, which will not change after this game. They have lost six straight games to their ACC rivals, although they did put up a fight against the Cavaliers out on the court yesterday.

Virginia leads the all-time series against the Eagles 9-2 and now holds a 5-1 record in Charlottesville.

The Virginia women’s basketball team continues with conference play on the road this Wednesday, Jan. 25 against Georgia Tech and at home next Sunday, Jan. 29 against Florida State.

Why go?

Since arriving in Charlottesville following the 2007-2008 season, head coach Tony Bennett has been no stranger to transfers.  Following Bennett’s first year at the helm of the program, three players opted to jump ship: G/F Tristan Spurlock transferred to UCF, G Jeff Jones took his talents to Rider, and G Sylven Landesburg mistakenly declared for the NBA draft.  All three of these players had previously committed to play under former coach Dave Leito, so their decisions to leave the program are pretty understandable.  Bennett brought a new face, a new scheme, and a new emphasis on defense that not all guys buy into.  Simply put, Bennett is the type of coach that has a “type,” and those who don’t fit it often find themselves on the outside looking in.

But the transfer trend that has plagued Virginia over the last few years doesn’t just stop at the three Leito commits.  Of Bennett’s highly-touted first recruiting class – dubbed by some “Bennett’s Six Shooters” – four are no longer enrolled at the University: G Billy Baron now plays for his father at Rhode Island, F Will Regan transferred to the University of Buffalo at year’s end, and now Johnson and Harrell have bolted halfway through the season.  The question that everyone is asking is why?

The answer? Playing time.

Baron, as many will remember, got off to a hot start in Charlottesville, scoring 33 points in his first two games before seeing his minutes fall off in December.  Frustrated and unsure of how he would stack up against ACC-caliber talent, Baron chose to transfer midseason.

Regan, on the other hand, only averaged 6.6 MPG in the 2010-2011 season and never scored more than seven points in a game.  While he was certainly invested in the team on the bench, he, like Baron, wasn’t sure if he had the ability to compete at the ACC level and wanted to play closer to home.

James Johnson, the highest ranked of Bennett’s six recruits in the 2010 class, redshirted last year on his own accord and was predicted by many to be a huge part of Virginia’s success this year.  But to anyone that’s ever seen a basketball game, Johnson looked confused out there.  Honestly, the guy was setting picks for people that weren’t even there and looked sluggish on the defensive end.  After notching a decent number of minutes in the first few games of this year’s campaign, Johnson rarely found himself on the court as the season.  According to his father, James prefers to get up and down the court at a higher pace than Bennett’s slowed-down offense, which is why he’s now playing for coach Steve Fisher at San Diego State.

The departure of KT Harrell, however, is far more puzzling than the others.  Arguably a better player than fellow sophomore Joe Harris at times (i.e., the UNC game last year), Harrell began the 2011-2012 season as a starter until losing the gig to fifth-year senior G Sammy Zeglinski in late November.  Nonetheless, KT held onto a spot in Bennett’s patented eight-man rotation, often being the first man off the bench and still averaging 18.9 MPG at the time of his withdrawal.  In my opinion, KT’s decision to leave had more to do with his realization that the future may be unkind to him.  With Malcolm Brogdon establishing himself as a viable option for immediate playing time and big-time recruit F/G Justin Anderson coming to Charlottesville next season, Harrell likely envisioned a scenario where his minutes would continue to drop-off.  I still think that KT could have been great at Virginia with a little bit of confidence and aggressiveness, but now he’ll be looking to start anew elsewhere (rumors are Auburn).

Immediate Impact

With only nine scholarship players active on the roster following the Harrell-Johnson transfers, coach Tony Bennett and staff took immediate action to solve the situation.  They did so in two ways:

The first move was to “burn the shirt” of freshman G Paul Jesperson, the 2011 Wisconsin High-School Player of the Year who had originally planned on spending this season watching from the sidelines and growing physically.  Without Harrell, however, the Cavaliers were without any real depth at the 2/3 position aside from Brogdon off the bench, so Bennett and Jesperson made the collective decision to allow Paul to play.  Jesperson has since appeared in Virginia’s last six games, averaging 2.5 PPG and 0.3 APG.  Those numbers may seem low to some, but keep in mind that this was a guy who was forced into action after having the mindset that he wouldn’t see the floor until next year.  The important part is not the statistics, but that Jesperson has been able to get a few minutes under his belt and get accustomed to playing on a bigger stage, against better talent, at a time when his team will need him.

Bennett and company also made another move to combat the hole left by Harrell in particular: they allowed 2012 commit G Teven Jones to enroll at Virginia for the spring semester.  Jones, a 2011 graduate from Kannapolis, NC, had been spending a prep year and Fishburne Military Academy when the staff, helped by Fishburne Coach Ed Huckaby, approached him about enrolling early.  Already in Charlottesville, Jones will use the remainder of the 2011-2012 season as a redshirt year, allowed to practice with the team, travel to away games, and get started at earning his degree.  The move allows Jones to have a leg up on the offensive and defensive schemes run by Bennett and puts him in a better position to see considerable minutes next year with the departure of Zeglinski.

Future Impact

Assessing the impact that these transfers will have on the future of the program is harder to do because, at this point, everything is mere speculation.  Sources close to the program, however, continue to report that the departures could affect how the staff handles recruiting the classes of 2013 and 2014.

The prospect that the conversation is centering around is 2013 F Brandan Stith, son of Wahoo great Bryant Stith and brother of 2014 Virginia-commit G B.J. Stith.  Prior to the December transfers, the Virginia coach staff had already offered Brandan Stith a spot on the UVa squad, but with one caveat: he had to do a prep year elsewhere.  At that time, the numbers, both in terms of players already on the roster at the forward position and scholarships available in the 2013 class, didn’t really work out.  But now things are different.  With two more scholarships ready to give, Bennett now has the ability to offer the older Stith a spot for 2013, something that Brandan has been reported to have coveted.  Bennett, however, still believes that Brandan could benefit more from a year of actual playing action as opposed to a redshirt year, so nothing is set in stone.  We’ll just have to wait and see.

Watching the Hoos play last year’s national champions with my dad on New Year’s Eve was an interesting way to begin the end to the craziest football season that I could have imagined. That night, I learned that Frank Rocco, father of our own quarterback, played college ball with my dad and was two years older. I’m not sure if Rocco was around for the 1982 National Championship season that my dad got to participate in, but I would be surprised if he didn’t take pride in that win. He was a part of the university, and will forever be a member of the team, just like my dad.

Not only did I set out on a journey of my own as a first year at UVA, but I also got to watch and cheer for a winning UVA team. I will always remember storming the field after the Georgia Tech game and singing the Good Old Song in old dorms after the nail-biting win over Florida State. But this season I also had to watch a devastating end to a great career. My dad and Michael Rocco’s dad played for Joe Paterno at Pennsylvania State University. I don’t know enough to comment on the charges or current situation of the coaching staff, but I can say a few things. First, and most importantly, my family and I grieve every day for the children involved in the scandal. My thoughts and prayers are with their families, and if they cannot forget what happened to them, I pray they are made stronger and wiser people because of it.

As a football-loving daughter of a national champion and an intelligent granddaughter of a Penn State Professor, it should be more than obvious that I applied to Penn State and believable that I had overwhelming intentions of attending. Even though I’m at UVA now, and love it more than I imagined possible, I don’t regret my almost decision of going to Penn State. I know there were riots, and that the legendary football coach is gone and that the media is all over campus, but those things don’t change my opinion of the university. It is still a fantastic school and the recent events do not change its academic prestige. Penn State has the #1 student-run philanthropy, is ranked #1 by corporate recruiters and offers over 160 majors.

The loss to Auburn was only the beginning of the end to this season for me because I also got to watch Penn State play the University of Houston in the Ticket City Bowl the following Monday with my dad. It started out bad, and didn’t get much better. It ended up 30-14 Houston and I would list the lop-sided stats, but I don’t think they are important. It looks like Penn State is going to get an entirely new coaching staff, so the players should pick themselves up, dust off, meet their new coaches and start to prepare for next season.

In addition to being frustrated with Penn State’s level of play this season, I was also frustrated and angry with the amount of people who fell for the media’s trap. A large amount of people were ill-informed and thought the charges were against Paterno. I also saw horrific comments on Facebook, about how people enjoyed watching the fall of a legend and thought the shame and humiliation were rightfully projected onto the university and the football program. I still do not comprehend how the actions of one person, and lack of action of a few, that hurt innocent children should negatively affect the University or football team. Most people say it is for justice. But why would discrediting my dad’s blood, sweat and tears be justice for children he never met? I think Joe Paterno would agree that a coach does not make a team. It’s the efforts, successes and failures of the players that make a team. This scandal does not change the glory and honor Penn State football players and alumni deserve.

To wrap up what I’m trying to say, the words of the media and the opinions of the masses will never change how I feel. I still love Penn State, and I hope every other Lion will heal and be able to say the same thing. I hope I can find understanding from my fellow Wahoos.

And most importantly, I’m still proud of you, Dad, for being an All-American in high school, for attending Penn State on a full ride scholarship, for getting your degree, for finding a job and for providing for our family and me, so that I can attend UVA.

I’m proud of you, Grandpa, for receiving your degree from Penn State even though you struggled early on, for raising a beautiful family, for earning your PhD and continuing on to have a long teaching career at Penn State. I still remember sitting in on one of your lectures so many years ago.

And thank you, Penn State, for all you have provided my family. The opportunities and scholarship will forever be appreciated.

We are and Wahoowa!