Virginia Week. And all I want is some ham.

It's Virginia week. Meaning it's our first match up with another BCS Conference. Sorry to disappoint, but no--Hofstra is NOT a BCS team. Neither are those pudding pushers from Temple (okay, last Cosby reference, I swear). Anyway, with those games already in the record books, I guess I can be more candid than I would be in the days leading up to playing an opponent. Playing UVa will be the first real test for our program. Temple and Hofstra were not high caliber teams (though Temple is showing that it's one of the better teams in the MAC).

UVa always had an NFL-sized offensive line, and it's no wonder why two guys were drafted off their front five last year. Not to mention tight end Tom Santi who was taken by the Colts. This year their starting left tackle Eugene Monroe is something like number five on Kiper's Big Board. But if you've read this blog you know how I generally feel about those ESPN prognosticators. But he is a native of Plainfield, New Jersey--played high school ball with my boy, Dan Davis.
And regardless of Monroe's five stars coming out of high school and the millions of accolades bestowed upon him, the "eye-in-the-sky" don't lie. Eugene Monroe is legit.

UVa has a storied program and a lot of tradition in football excellence, and this year is no exception. Don't be fooled by the show that USC put on in week one. USC has superior athletic beings, and Pete Carroll has the easiest job in college football.

Ever asked Pete Carroll what his defensive scheme is? At USC they play "thiscat-thatcat" defense. Let me break down this complicated schematic for you---you take the 11 best defensive-minded athletes in the country, put them in white and crimson, and tell them to go cover "This Cat over here and That Cat over there." Real defense is when you take a bunch of mediocre athletes, instill a sense of unquestionable pride and sacrifice, and turn them loose on opposing teams. (Thanks, Todd Orlando and Hank Hughes.) But again, I digress. Back to UVa.

Their starting QB won't travel because he doesn't want to be a distraction, in order to help his team win. So their starter wont travel, so that he can help them win? This sort of logic only found south of the Mason-Dixon, folks.

But really, don't let this country-fried thinking fool you. This team will come to play, and Friday night at the 'Rent it's gonna be a grudge-match slug-fest. The fans will certainly get their money's worth.

So the only thing that might make this Blog worth reading is that I can perhaps offer some perspective on college football otherwise not available. (Well, that, and I am getting graded on this for class--who says the American Education system is failing? C'mon, it came down to this class or advanced water-ballooning.)

Virginia week practice was only slightly different than past weeks; I think Coach Edsall is becoming more aware of the grind that a 15-week college football season can take on his players, and is scripting practice accordingly. I say 15 weeks, because don't let anyone fool you--the "bye week" is a complete myth, or at least in Storrs it is. For that one week it's like training camp has been reopened (click here for my thoughts on that).

All in all, Virginia is a tough opponent with great recruits and great players. Should be a great test to see the direction of our team this season.

Some final thoughts:

I gotta say I absolutely adore the Connecticut Football Fans. You really are some of the best in the country. I'm just begging you, PLEASE, stay 'til the end of the game. We DO notice that on the field (or at least I'm too ADHD not to). You are probably the best part of my experience here in CT. I mean, what do they have to experience in Virginia that's better than in Connecticut?
Virginia Ham, Virginia Coalition, and "Virginia is for Lovers"? Bullcrap. I love Connecticut. We have the Whalers (well, we used to), UConn Football, and fall-foliage tours. Take THAT rednecks!

Please download the following songs: "Rescue Me," by The Alarm; "Mrs. Washington," by Gigolo Aunts; and "The Best You Ever Had," by Hot Rod Circuit. Enjoy.

Prayers to Alex Lamags on a speedy recovery. If you ever wanted to know what it felt like to laugh and have your shoulder pop out, just ask 'Mags, but don't tell him I sent you.

Congrats to Darius Butler on having a beautiful baby girl, "Maya." Consensus on the team is that she is already taller than Larry Taylor and Robert "Reggie" McClain.

Justice Will Be Served

It's two days removed from the Temple game, and I think since everyone is offering their perspective on what happened last year, the media campaign that Temple ran, and this year's game played in a monsoon, it's time for an actual player to explain what happened.

Let me start by saying that last year, the referees got the call RIGHT. There was a referee not 5 yards from the play in question. Even though video replay shows that he got his foot in bounds, he clearly did not have control of the ball as he exited through the end zone. But like the face that launched a thousand ships, this was the play that launched a stupid media campaign (complete with billboards, poor quality YouTube videos, and Jello Pudding Pops--here's lookin' at you, Temple's most famous graduate).

The slogan became "JUSTICE." As in, justice will be served, the wrongs will be righted, and somehow this one loss is the most egregious for a program that hasn't had a winning season since 1990. There were MAC officials making the decisions (not Big East bias here). And yet they put up a billboard in downtown Philadelphia, with the word JUSTICE set over UConn and Temple football helmets. They posted YouTube videos comparing the 2007 match up to Batman battling the Joker (read: THE NIGHT IS ALWAYS DARKEST BEFORE THE DAWN...JUSTICE IS COMING). These videos were produced by the Temple video crew. It's just incredibly disrespectful. If those clowns from Temple had lost to Penn State or USC in the same manner they wouldn't have said boo. For one, I'm sure if they had lost to Penn State and put up such a billboard the Governor would have made them take it down in a heartbeat. That, or Joe Pa would use his superpowers to burn Temple to the ground.

It's the same reason that when UConn beat Army in 2005, then head coach Bobby Ross issued an apology to all branches of the United States Military at home and abroad for the disgraceful loss. How was losing to UConn any different than the other 7 games Army lost that season?? Give me a break. But again, the similarities come from one thing: R-E-S-P-E-C-T. (Sorry, Aretha.) The national media hates UConn. I wouldn't have it any other way, but you know what? Take heed Temple; you lost to the eventual 2007 Big East Champs, who went undefeated at home. Don't start a media campaign; feel lucky to have taken the field with us. Bottom line: you lost, get over it.

Temple v. UConn 2008:
I never wondered what it would be like to play football underwater. Despite my lack of imagination I found out this past weekend. Don't let anybody tell you different--it was pouring out there. Even worse, warm-ups were completely dry; we only got our first taste of the rain when we ran out of the tunnel to take the field. The only redeeming quality was that the temperature outside was in the high 60s to low 70s, meaning that it was only barely tolerable.
But I gotta say I love playing in the rain. It tends to even the playing field for athletically limited and genetically disabled persons such as myself. (Have you seen the title of the blog? Yeah...)

The game: Sloppy. The defense: Tremendous.

But I need to say, get off of Tyler Lorenzen! The kid is doing his best, and you know what, it's tough playing quarterback. Add in rain and the pressure of blitzing linebackers and it's near impossible. Am I making excuses for the guy? No. He knows he can do better and he works hard--everyday--to get better.

I loved the look on the opposing fans faces when we won. It's some sort of sick justice (pun intended) when the students sitting behind you are yelling obscenities and assuring you that your mother is of questionable morals and then you go on to beat their team in overtime.

One Final Thought:

It is a pregame tradition of my mine to watch College Gameday before boarding the bus to go to the game. I put very little stock in what these "experts" have to say about the game, but it's a guilty pleasure. Everyone on ESPN picked Temple to win. Corso called for "an upset in front of an empty stadium--Temple wins." He was right about the empty stadium.

How can the folks from Bristol (only 45 minutes away) not be bigger fans of the big-time football happening in their big backyard?