Wahoowa!!! Wahoowa!!! No, I'm not at all a University of Virginia graduate, but I do support the success of all collegiate sports programs in this commonwealth. And yesterday, Thomas Jefferson's spot claimed a 5th men's lacrosse national championship by defeating the University of Maryland in Baltimore's M&T Stadium. The storied UVA program is back on top after it began the preseason ranked #1, tumbling in the rankings, and playing its best at the end of the season to win the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship and then go on to be the best in the country. Great job Cavaliers; and I'm sure this time the taste of victory is not as sweet as it was the other four titles.
Around this time last year, the men's and the women's lacrosse teams were sitting at home after both had early exits out of their respective national tournaments. Interestingly enough, both teams were as good or maybe even better than this year; but it glaringly evident that they were attempting to play through some circumstances that even the greatest athletes couldn't manage. Although with some of us it doesn't seem like it, sports is just a piece of life and not actually life. Sometimes, life is a young romantic relationship between college kids that can turn sour in an instant. Life can turn a near perfect athletic season into a nightmare of candlelight vigils, police investigations, and nosy reporters. It can split families, teams, schools, and communities in many pieces. And it can leave a memory that is extremely difficult to erase.
What couldn't be swiped from memory was the murder of Yeardley Love, UVA women's lacrosse player, allegedly by her former boyfriend George Huguely, UVA men's lacrosse player. The women's squad dealt with the death of a teammate and for most of them a friend. The men's club struggled with the leader on a should-have-been championship team being stuck with a murder case. Both teams had to suffer being national headlines for things that had absolutely nothing to do with the awesome talent they possessed. Along with that, many critics called for them to cancel the remainder of their seasons in "respect" of the situation at hand. Both squads refused, however, and attempted to play through the pain. They both garnished lackluster results while the cloud over Charlottesville loomed.
There are no words to describe the pain of losing a teammate to death or 25 years-plus in prison. And if you have not been through that situation, it's challenging to fully grasp the magnitude of the occurrence. We're not talking about a season-ending or even a career-ending injury. It's death and jail--one you won't come back from and the other you won't come back anywhere near the same, if you do come back at all. With that said I recognize the sadness and the heavy hearts that continue to dwell within the UVA lacrosse program. But I would like to congratulate those young men for not only winning a national championship, but for winning it under a year long scrutiny that had little to do with the actual sport. One thing that makes a great athlete is to be able to shelve life's traumatic issues for a couple hours and perform with the best effort possible. With my limited wisdom of the team, I can assure that not one of the coaches or players did not think of Love or Huguely when they were winning, losing, and practicing the sport they love. Those students showed tremendous courage when they could've folded up, put out a poor effort, and blamed it on such a tragedy; and they would have been justified in doing so. However, they were able to reason that in team competetion people, no matter how devastating, will fall; and the goal remains to be achieved. And with all they could muster, they achieved the goal.
Congratulations University of Virginia Men's Lacrosse Team- 2011 National Champions
Rest In Peace Yeardley Love
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