Dear Old U.Va.

Big City Classic – Virginia vs. North Carolina

Saturday, April 10 2010 by Tim

Note: This post is just a random stream of consciousness while I’m up here. Sorry for the randomness, I’ll clean it up a bit after the game.

I’m not sure what to think about this game with Carolina. Last year, I was confident we would destroy them… and we ended up coming dangerously close to losing. This year I think it’s going to be a really close game… but will I be wrong again?

Virginia is on the field practicing now. No sign of North Carolina. The game clock reads 55 minutes left, so they might just be taking their time – there’s plenty of it left. Watching the ‘Hoos take some practice shots has me a little nervous about being anywhere near the field when the Brattons are shooting. A ricochet could go anywhere. I don’t know how lax goalies do it.

Carolina has now been out there shooting for the last 15 minutes or so. A little difficult to tell anything by the drills they’re running, but they look like they’re ready. As an aside, why does it seem there are SO many more Carolina people in the press box than Virginia?

They’re showing a feature on the Brattons in the stadium right now. Pretty entertaining.

I am watching the third quarter from the press box after spending the first half on the field. Very different up here.

What’s up with Carolina players getting hurt. I know we’re playing more aggressively this year on defense, this just seems a little odd. Third player on the ground for them right now. Bitter still hasn’t come back in the game. The Tar Heels have to be running out of offensive players at this rate…

So we won. 7-5. The game was way too close for my tastes and it just seemed way too much like the Maryland game that I suffered through last weekend.

Now for some random thoughts that came to me while I was sitting in the press box watching the Delaware/Hofstra match:

It has been exactly 6 years since Carolina beat the Cavaliers. April 10th, 2004. Cavalier fans may not remember that loss, because it came during the forgettable post-championship season in which Virginia only went 5-7.

Have to think that the Tar Heel fans are happy with the hiring of Breschi at this point, right? He’s an alum and he has them on the cusp of greatness.

Virginia has almost doubled up Carolina in the all-time series – 46-24. That doesn’t surprise me, but it’s nice to see.

The Syracuse fans I’ve run into so far don’t seem too interested in cheering for us – closer to cheering against us. Most of them seem ambivalent about North Carolina. If we’re in a close game at the end, and the crowd is a factor at all, that could work against us.