From an Edge boarder* today:

We, as fans, as a University, have sacrificed a lot and this is what we have…to show for it….

We have said we wanted a nationally prominent football program. We built a stadium and paid the coaches. We gave up being a top graduation-rate institution. Our off-the-field problems have become more commonplace. And we have jettisoned everything that was somewhat unique about U.Va. — coats and ties, the Pep Band, signs…so that we can look just like any other university out there. We don’t want to be elite, we want to be “me too”.

So what do we have? We’re an afterthought at best, a punch-line at worst and, dare I say it, a disgrace.

I know most of the kids on the team are good kids and deserve our support. I also think Al is probably a decent guy and does want what’s best for the players. I am not so demanding that I expect MNCs every year or ACC championships, but is it too much to ask to be competitive?

I thought we could compete with Harvard Sunday through Friday and the Oklahomas and USCs of the world on Saturday. We’ve got neither.

Normally, I’m not a big fan of the “what am I getting for my tickets?” kind of talk. But, this is a deeper point worth considering. It’s not the costs of the seats or the gas or the time spent. There’s a good amount of positives (seeing old friends, tailgating, the promising seasons, the banter on the ride down, etc.) that make it worth while. The concern is about the things we’ve given up as Hoos for a top flight football program. We’ve give up a lot, and in return we’ve received three mid-level bowl wins and what appears to be a perpetual cycle of alternating decent and subpar seasons while we wait for the next Chris Long or Matt Schaub to save us.

I’d like to see some more return on that investment soon. As I said earlier, I haven’t given up on this season. But there needs to be a big rethink by somebody to get this program consistently to where we were told it would be by now.

*subscription-only message board link that will expire

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 14th, 2008 at 10:51 pm and is filed under ACC Football, Football, UVa Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.