Column: Title offered validation UVa fans may not have needed
I didn’t need the validation.
If you follow me on Twitter, or know me personally, you probably read that and think I'm completely full of it.
I recognize that over the years I have been uber-defensive of UVa basketball. I have jumped on members of the media, I have jumped on haters on Twitter, I have jumped on our own fans when they cross certain lines of criticism.
As bizarre as it sounds, the reason I tend to be overprotective of the program is the reason I didn’t need the validation.
The proof of the excellence is RIGHT THERE for anyone to see: There is this funny thing called a win/loss column. It explains how you stack up against the teams you have faced, which are also afforded the same opportunity to put a competitive team on the floor.
Over the last six seasons, UVa's record is 178-33. Do you know how absurd that is? The Hoos have won 85 percent of the games they've played over that period. In four of those last seasons, Virginia did not lose more than two league games with an 18-game schedule in the most storied conference in the country.
So yes, when the “but but but” brigade started cascading in from every direction, it pissed me off. First it was the schedule. Virginia’s league games were easier, they said. Then it was the “boring” and “bad for college basketball” narrative that seemed to be an easy way for average national college hoops writers to meet a deadline. Then, and probably most deservedly, the “they can’t/won’t win in March” thing.
I guess this is how it goes, right? You have success and the attention that comes along with it, you get the praise, but you also have your haters and detractors, especially in today’s clickbait-fueled world of sports.
But what drove me bonkers is the sheer fact that anyone that really knows basketball knew how special this was. They knew it all along.
(Warning: This is where, if you’re not a Virginia fan, you may want to stop reading. Continuing further from this point may induce vomiting.)
The product on the floor is, and has been, a thing of pure selfless beauty for nearly a decade. The kids that come through this program are outstanding human beings who come to Charlottesville knowing the system is a ridiculous amount of work and they will have to earn every second of playing time. (I implore anyone to try and find something a Tony Bennett kid has done to poorly represent this program). They practice a grueling system that if done religiously with unanimous buy-in can create a tangible competitive advantage whether playing in your building or anywhere on Earth. They essentially perfect their style of play and deliver it with relentless and selfless effort.
Coaches, former players, announcers, and trainers marvel at it. Really anyone who is able to eliminate bias, or media hype, or what they “like” and just view or know the game for THE GAME. Five players versus five players to see who can score more points. Virginia basketball does this as a collective team better than anyone in the country, and frankly I don’t even think it’s debatable. The Cavaliers do it without elite one-and-done or typically even two-and-done talent.
By the way, throughout this diatribe, I have barely referenced Bennett. For all that can be said about how bought in this team is year after year, how pure of a basketball product it is, there is an architect behind it all that is a patron saint of humbleness, humility, and class. Whether it’s winning the ultimate games or being on the losing end of the ultimate upset, he says the right thing and does the right thing in every circumstance. In an era of unprecedented scandal around college basketball, all of this excellence is delivered with relentless consistency while doing it the right way, within the rules, and representing the University with unparalleled class at every turn.
This is why I get after the media, I get after trolls, or I even get after our own fans from time to time.
This program is different.
It is what is RIGHT with sports.
If you don’t recognize it, you’ve let some sort bias or ignorance to reality form your opinion. Period.
I waited for the dust to settle to write this column following the National Championship and I am certain many reading this are wondering why on Earth I would talk about haters so much coming off of a title. Why am I not focusing on the epic journey that happened, the wild emotions of all-time classic games, what being in the building meant to someone as invested in this team as I am? You’ve read those stories from other people, though.
I suppose I wanted to articulate what I really feel—offer a little perspective—on how special this program is. I didn’t name a single player in this column, and only listed a single coach. Because it’s bigger than what happened this April and March. It’s sustained excellence done the right way and the easiest thing to root for I have and will ever experience in sports.
I didn’t need the validation.
But fellas: Thank you for it anyways. It sure was fun.
Wahoowa.
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