2012-2013 Cavalier of the Year

Last year there was just one intrepid soul that voted for Jarmere Jenkins.  That person can congratulate himself or herself for being into tennis before it was cool.  Jenkins's national championships - plural, as he earned both the team and doubles trophy and came within a hair of earning the singles trophy as well - were enough to sway this year's voting public into making him the FOV Cavalier of the Year.

Frankly, this award has turned out exactly as I'd hoped.  The winners have come from five different sports and only one is a traditional revenue sport; we have baseball (twice), men's soccer, women's soccer, men's basketball, and now, men's tennis.  Does it suck that our football team isn't ever good enough to produce stronger candidates?  Yeah, kinda.  But the one year they were pretty good, women's soccer still beat them out with a better player.  I'd like a better football team, but I can't help it that UVA is so dang exceptional at pumping out really good athletes everywhere else.

Jarmere Jenkins is as worthy a candidate as you'll ever see for the award, and for the record, yes, I voted for him too.  One vote, same as you.  I thought it was a shame Caroline Miller didn't earn more votes, as I figured her for the second-best choice, and we also really ought to give like a lifetime achievement award to Paige Selenski for being the first four-time nominee.  Of all the athletes I've ever nominated, Selenski has had probably the best UVA career.

But Jenkins, man: national champion.  You can't beat it.  Here are the voting totals for posterity:

Jarmere Jenkins: 81
Joe Harris: 30
Mike Papi: 19
Paige Selenski: 8
Steve Greer: 6
Caroline Miller: 5
Brittany Altomare, Melanie Mitchell, Luke Papendick: 1
Will Bates, Casey Bocklet, Scott McWilliams: 0

FOV Cavalier of the Year #9/#10

From Old Virginia celebrates its birthday in a unique way: by recognizing one of Virginia's student-athletes as the Cavalier of the Year. What are the criteria for the award? You decide; that's the beauty. I nominate the 12 athletes that I think have been the most outstanding during the latest season of UVA athletics, and provide a short summary of their accomplishments. You choose the winner in a poll that goes up after all 12 have had their moment in the spotlight. The full list of nominees is here.

Over the next few weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University this year. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; the point is to emphasize that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. The previous winners are Danny Hultzen (2009, 2011), Diego Restrepo (2010), and Mike Scott and Morgan Brian (2012); today's athlete's are Luke Papendick and Jarmere Jenkins.
Luke Papendick - Men's swimming - Back/Free/IM

Team accomplishments:

-- ACC champions
-- 27th at NCAA national meet

Personal accomplishments:

-- ACC Freshman of the Year
-- Honorable mention all-American
-- Won NCAA 200-yard backstroke consolation heat
-- Set school 200-yard backstroke record
-- ACC all-academic team

The nomination rule I go by, which I almost always follow, is to pick only one member of a team.  That's usually pretty hard for the swim team, because of the nature of the beast - every event is weighted the same, and there's no opportunity to defer to a teammate.  And we happen to have awesome swim teams, which you can't have without having a lot of awesome swimmers, so there's always a multitude of swimmers to choose from.  More often than not, a freestyler gets chosen, because there are more freestyle events and more chances for glory.

Set a school record as a freshman, though, and you're in.  Luke Papendick swims the backstroke and individual medley (IM), and he's got a promising career ahead as a star in each of them.  At the ACC meet, Papendick took 9th in the 200 IM, 5th in the 100 back, and 2nd in the 200 back.  That second-place swim was a school record, which lasted all of a couple weeks - until the NCAA meet, when Papendick broke it again with a 9th-place finish nationally.

That last swim earned him the honorable mention all-American honors, and cemented his FOY selection as well, if he hadn't locked it down already.  Papendick also received the team's Performance of the Year award.  Turns out it's not that hard after all to make the nomination choice.

Jarmere Jenkins - Men's tennis

Team accomplishments:

-- National champions
-- ACC champions
-- Undefeated

Personal accomplishments:

-- National doubles champion (with Mac Styslinger)
-- National singles runner-up
-- ITA National Senior Player of the Year
-- Ended season ranked #1 in singles, #2 in doubles
-- ITA indoor singles champion
-- NCAA Tournament MVP
-- All-ACC (obviously)
-- UVA Male Athlete of the Year

Is that enough for you?  Not only did Jarmere Jenkins walk away from Champaign, Illinois (the location of this year's tennis finals) with a big pile of trophies, he was really just a hair's breadth away from becoming tennis's fourth "Triple Crown" winner since 1977; that would be the team, singles, and doubles titles.  Jenkins won two of the three and reached the singles final before finally dropping a match in the tournament.

Even though he didn't quite pull off the feat, he's got more honors under his belt than pretty much any UVA athlete this year.  Despite the singles loss, Jenkins finished the year as basically the best player in collegiate tennis and won his team a national championship besides.  Hard to argue with the credentials.

FOV Cavalier of the Year: #3/#4

From Old Virginia celebrates its birthday in a unique way: by recognizing one of Virginia's student-athletes as the Cavalier of the Year. What are the criteria for the award? You decide; that's the beauty. I nominate the 12 athletes that I think have been the most outstanding during the latest season of UVA athletics, and provide a short summary of their accomplishments. You choose the winner in a poll that goes up after all 12 have had their moment in the spotlight. In fact, there are 13 this year, and the list of nominations is here.

Over the next few weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University this year. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; part of the point is to emphasize that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. The previous winners are Danny Hultzen (2009, 2011) and Diego Restrepo (2010); today's athlete's are Briggy Imbriglia and Jarmere Jenkins.  (And yes, tomorrow I'll have my outspoken-as-always opinion on the rather unwelcome change of leadership on Carr's Hill.)
Briggy Imbriglia - Men's diving

Team accomplishments:

-- ACC champions (15th title)
-- 15th at NCAA championships

Personal accomplishments:

-- School-record meet score of 376.50
-- NCAA Zone A champion (platform diving)
-- UVA's first-ever diving all-American with HM mention at NCAAs
-- Academic all-ACC (second selection)

We like to debate things like, "is so-and-so the best athlete since such-and-such?"  Fill in your own blanks.  This year that particular mad-lib was filled in with Mike Scott and Ralph Sampson.  That was because there aren't a whole lot of people willing to get in heated Internet debates about the swim team.

Even if there were, there'd be no need for the debate: UVA has never had a better diver than Francis Joseph "Briggy" Imbriglia.  And it's not even close.  The school record that he broke during the ACC championships was his own that he set a few weeks prior.  Historically, UVA's men's swim team has won its championships despite never getting any points from its divers; Imbriglia's 13 points at the ACC meet this year went a long way toward the narrow margin of victory.

He's also only the second UVA diver to compete in the NCAAs (the first in about 30 years) and the first to compete at the NCAAs in all three diving events - 1 meter, 3 meter, and platform.  Also first to win a zone (regional) championship etc. etc.  Point is, most everything Briggy Imbriglia does these days has never been done by a UVA athlete before, and he's no slouch on the academic side either.  It makes him one of the easiest choices I've ever had for a COTY nomination.

Jarmere Jenkins - Men's tennis - #1 singles

Team accomplishments:

-- ACC champions (6th consecutive year)
-- Reached NTI (indoor) national semifinals
-- Reached NCAA final

Personal accomplishments:

-- Three-time ACC Player of the Week
-- ITA singles all-American
-- USTA Futures doubles champion at Plantation Open (with Drew Courtney)
-- Winner of VNB Challenger Sportsmanship Award
-- 17-3 record at #1 singles

The men's tennis team is so damn good that it's practically automatic they have a representative.  And there are a lot of good choices.  Freshman Mitchell Frank, for example, was the ITA Rookie of the Year, and had the team's best record.

But I have a policy of only one per team, and the long list of quality possibilities means that the men's tennis nominee is a standout player every year.  Not only was Jenkins a team captain who played #1 singles almost the whole year, he took part in a lot of "extracurricular" tennis tournaments too.  For example, Jenkins (as well as women's tennis coach Mark Guilbeau) helped the US to victory in the 2011 Master'U BNP Paribas Championship, an intercollegiate international tennis tournament.  Jenkins is the first UVA player ever selected by USTA to participate.

Jenkins also plays on the USTA Futures Tour, where he and Drew Courtney took the doubles title at the Plantation Open, Jenkins's second doubles title on the tour.  And in the world of actual NCAA competition, Jenkins finished the year ranked #4 in the country, with his best win of the year coming against Duke's Henrique Cunha in a two-set sweep - Cunha was ranked #4 at the time and finished the year #5.  Every year there's a strong COTY entry from the tennis courts, and it's no different this time around.

game preview: Florida State

Date/Time: Saturday, October 2; 12:00

TV: ACC Network (formerly Raycom)/ESPN3 for those of us blacked out

History against the Seminoles: 2-13

Last matchup: FSU 33, UVA 0 - game vacated by FSU

Last week: UVA 48, VMI 7; FSU 31, WF 0

Line: Florida State by 7

Opposing blogs: Tomahawk Nation, Scalp 'Em

Injury report:

OUT

TE Jeremy Dollin
WR Bobby Smith
WR Tim Smith
WR Eric Thornton

DOUBTFUL - none

QUESTIONABLE - none

PROBABLE

OT Landon Bradley
WR Kris Burd
RB Raynard Horne
S Corey Mosley
S Brian Oden
LB LaRoy Reynolds
TE Joe Torchia

Uniform combination: blue jersey, white pants

Other useful stuff:
Q&A with Tomahawk Nation
Other half of the Q&A
FSU season preview

Things looked a lot different last time we saw this. Two old dudes roamed the sidelines in Bobby Bowden and Al Groh, and FSU was ranked in the top 5. In fact, the last time FSU came to Charlottesville not ranked in the top ten is probably never. Now Groh is gone, and so is Bowden (significantly decreasing FSU's dislikability factor), and for the first time, UVA fans aren't looking to next week's game with this one already written off as a loss.

There's also a lot of looking back, of course. "Florida State at Virginia" brings back pleasant memories of two of UVA's best upsets since the Welsh era began - heck, maybe the two best ever. It's a disappointing side effect of the expanded ACC that the opportunity to really relive 1995 and 2005 will now come up just once every five years, but that's the way it is. In 1995 I hadn't yet added orange to my maize-and-blue loyalties, but I do have pretty strong and exciting memories of an autumn evening in 2005 - which you would admit is impressive if you'd seen the roughly gallon-and-a-half of beer I'd imbibed through the afternoon. The date has special significance for UVA fans and Michigan fans alike, so combined with the Boston bar-hopping it's been the football Saturday by which all other football Saturdays are judged in my book. Can similar memories be made on Saturday?

HOW WE CAN WIN

- Christian Ponder isn't much of a deep thrower. His triceps are probably better than they were, but they're still not 100% and I still don't expect a lot of big bomb-type throws. Roughly 10 yards per completion against Wake - that's a fairly low number. Combine Ponder's wonky triceps with the likely absence of LT Andrew Datko, and FSU's likeliest course of action in the passing game is quick slants and dinking and dunking their way down the field. That means plenty of throws to possession receiver extraordinaire Bert Reed, Ponder's favorite target. Reed will probably match up with Chase Minnifield, but what I'd really like to see is Minnifield on Taiwan Easterling and the comparatively monstrous Ras-I Dowling on Reed. (Reed is teensy.) If Dowling has regained his quicks, he can use his size to limit Reed. I think Minnifield can hang with Easterling. Additionally, we'll need outstanding side-to-side play from our linebackers.

- Because of the short passing game, I don't expect the pass rush to be a huge factor unless the cornerbacks are really doing a good job on the FSU receivers. So more run-stopping beef on the D-line - that is, more playing time for Matt Conrath and Nick Jenkins over John-Kevin Dolce, except in obvious passing downs - should be of greater help against the very efficient FSU running game.

- Is there a weakness in the FSU defense? The only team yet to find one is Oklahoma, which doesn't have a monster running game but did shred FSU through the air. Nobody's really run successfully on FSU this year, and my thought is UVA will need heavy doses of the pass to keep the run defense honest. Getting the tight ends open will be key. FSU has very, very good linebackers, but they can't step up for run defense if they're in pass coverage against our tight ends. A successful offensive attack might start with a few strikes to TE's Torchia and Phillips, and draw plays when Lazor wants to run the ball.

HOW WE CAN LOSE

- The worst thing that can happen is for FSU to be able to establish their running game. Not unlike Payne and Jones, FSU has a quality tandem of big-and-small running backs. Level of competition obviously has to be taken into account when considering the impressive run-game results, but the only team to date to stop FSU has been Oklahoma, and, you know, we're not Oklahoma.

- Under no circumstances whatsoever should Greg Reid be allowed to field a punt.

- Remember how, before the season, every preview of the offense written anywhere began with "if the offensive line...."? This is why. USC aside (and UVA wasn't especially effective on offense there), this is really the kind of game that that phrase was meant for. FSU will just bulldoze the offense if they're allowed to and it'll be the kind of long, frustrating afternoon that ends up with a score of 34-6 if the O-line doesn't give the skill players room to work. Their defense is more than good enough to just shut us right down.

HOW THE GAME WILL GO

Really, it'll hinge on the two O-lines. And Ponder. UVA's is healthy but still of questionable ability - we don't really know yet if they're a good, ACC-caliber unit or not. FSU's is not healthy and in a little bit of flux: Datko, their top tackle, is out, and Zebrie Sanders may or may not move to left tackle for the game.

Ponder, meanwhile, is a bigger mystery than Verica. FSU pushed him as a major-league Heisman candidate, but that was borderline silly. Ponder isn't a Heisman-caliber quarterback. But he does have the ability to drive the offense down the field and hurt you. He also has the capacity to miss receivers he should hit. Verica's a wild-card in a different fashion - you know the giant brainfart is coming, you just don't know when and you hope it doesn't hurt you too bad. But otherwise Verica is Verica and you know what you're getting. Sometimes with Ponder, the whole game is a lost cause, though that sort of thing is getting less frequent as he gets older.

Really, FSU should win this game. There's still a talent gap. But even though both teams are under new management, there's a difference in the change. As FSU fans will point out, the team is being coached again. Bobby Bowden, the thinking goes, didn't do much of that. Fisher's introducing plays and schemes and stuff, and the thought process no longer stops at the assumption that being Florida State is enough to make them bigger better faster and that's all it takes. Contrast that to the change here at UVA, where the problem was not undercoaching, but overscheming. The schemes of Mike London, Bill Lazor, and Jim Reid are still schemes and they're still coaching, but they demand much less thought, much less "if A then B" going on inside a player's head while the play goes on around him. Makes playing easier. For this reason, you will see UVA overachieve relative to expectations, while FSU has ups and downs, good games and bad, and may or may not play up to their talent level while they get used to being coached again.

And don't forget the overlook aspect: FSU has Miami next week. We're just little ol' Virginia. You always beat us. No need to get too excited.

So I'd be surprised to see a blowout. UVA may still lose - in fact, I think the chances of that are better than even. But since we've been reminiscing about FSU's past trips to Charlottesville, let's talk about 2003. The Hoos lost, 19-14, playing a very solid game (particularly on defense) but were done in by one really glaring, ugly weakness and a couple ill-timed mistakes. In that team's case, the weakness was punting and the worst mistake was a poor snap that ruined a crucial third down. This seems like the kind of game we're in for. Fortunately, nothing on this team is as bad as the punting was in that game, although there's no Matt Schaub or Ahmad Brooks, either. But - eliminate the mistake(s), and what happens instead? A Virginia win may be the answer. It'll be close enough that we might just get to find out.

REST OF THE ACC

Miami @ Clemson, 12:00
Virginia Tech @ NC State, 3:30
North Carolina vs. East Carolina, 3:30
Duke @ Maryland, 6:00
Georgia Tech @ Wake Forest, 7:00
Boston College vs. Notre Dame, 8:00

the recruit: David Dean

Name: David Dean
Position: DT
Hometown: Virginia Beach
School: Green Run
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 285

ESPN: 79; four stars; #19 DT
Rivals: 5.7; three stars; #27 DT; VA #9
Scout: three stars; #63 DT

Offers: West Virginia, Boston College, Stanford, Louisville, Duke, Marshall

Ah, football recruiting, ever a source of entertainment. David Dean committed to Mike London - the first recruit to really do so, as Clifton Richardson is still only sort-of committed (but also apparently having no great desire to get up and visit many other schools) - back in March. This was reported just about everywhere, and Dean made no secret of it. That didn't stop Scout from announcing (in May) that "Dean Comes Clean - David Dean says he's been committed to Virginia since early March." Maybe he was mad at Scout for ranking him so low on the DT food chain.

They're the only ones, anyway. Other than from Scout, Dean comes with the rankings and pedigree of a real bedrock defensive tackle. ESPN has him in the top 20 in the nation at his position and Rivals says he's one of the top 10 players in the state. Dean's very well known in the 757; second-team all-district as a sophomore and first-team district and second-team all-regional as a junior. The all-region honor is Dean's versatility at work, as it's for offense, not defense. (That's not all - he's an all-region hitter on the diamond, too. Got that hand-eye coordination working for him.) Quality academics, with offers from Duke and Stanford to back that up as well. In short, the kind of recruit that is right in the middle of UVA's wheelhouse.

So I'm pretty excited about Dean. A little weak on offers, but the fact that a few of them came in even after Dean's commitment is a plus, and Scout's lukewarmness notwithstanding, the gurus are all pretty high on the guy. ESPN is concerned about his size, and who cares really because six of the eighteen guys ranked ahead of him are also 6'1". Nothing wrong with 6'1" - besides, too much height isn't a good thing in defensive tackles. I'm willing to ignore their worries about his size. He's definitely proven himself against VA competition.

And DT is a good place to be in UVA's recruiting class. This is a position, remember, where our needs doubled with the arrival of the new staff. Not only needs, but requirements too: the demands of playing nose tackle in the 3-4 are way different from DT in the 4-3. The roster contains exactly one true defensive tackle: Nick Jenkins. The rest (and there aren't many) are converted ends (Conrath, Hill, Urban) or linebackers (Dolce.) Dolce is the only conversion with college experience, either in practice or games, on the interior, and he departs after this year, leaving behind a really thin DT corps. Moreover, we really have absolutely no idea how the converted players will take to the new positional demands - even Jenkins. Dean and fellow incoming DT Vincent Croce are coming into a situation where there's a chance to help out immediately. Good thing Dean was one of the best DT's we could have gotten.

BEST DAY EVER

This is my blog - there are many like it, but this one is mine. My own humble little spot in the big wide InterBlogoWeb where I get to write what I like. That means, just every so often, you will find me wandering off track to write about other stuff I like besides Virginia sports. Not terribly often, mind you, not at all; but this is going to be one of those times, because if it isn't now, it never will be. If you don't care about the NFL or just want to skip ahead to the Virginia stuff, feel free. It's down a few paragraphs, you can't miss it.

Today, all is sunshine and daisies and butterflies and gumdrop rivers. Because, you see, I am a Detroit Lions fan. And today is the day that all of us have been waiting for, who cheer on the Honolulu Blue and Silver.

He's gone. Matt Millen. Fired.

The Lions I grew up with, you see, were maddeningly inconsistent throughout the '90s. They would do things like beat the defending Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football, only to get waxed at home the next week against the Cardinals. They would start a season 2-6, then rip off an 8-game win streak to roll into the playoffs, guarantee a win.....and give up 56 points in a blowout loss. Millen was hired to fix the inconsistency. Bill Ford "stake[d] his reputation on Matt's success."

Did he ever fix the inconsistency. It got to the point where us Lions fans no longer minded the losing, because we knew it was coming, we knew who to blame it on, and it just gave us one more reason (84 in total) to pile on the anger.

Millen inspired a movement. Fire Millen became a slogan. This was not just some loudmouth with his www.FireCoachX.com website. This was new, unique, a first of its kind. Fire Millen showed up at Michigan basketball games. At Tigers games. At Red Wings games IN ANAHEIM! The local radio station bought a billboard. Millen inspired the only other-team's-color-out as fans went with orange for the Cincinnati Bengals' visit. (Three years and 11 wins ago. And yes, the Lions lost that game.) FireMillen.com is so popular they're putting out press releases about this. A blog! Putting out a press release.

Needless to say, I'm thrilled. And a little worried. If the Lions continue to suck - I mean, past the time they're supposed to not suck any more - the only person we'll have left to kick around is the owner, William Clay Ford, and he can't be fired. But that's OK. The Lions could go 0-16 and the 2008 season would be a rousing success. Because Fire Millen just became Millen Fired.

WE NOW RETURN TO REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING.

Pretty typical midweek stuff. We'll start with Marc Verica again, because the Wednesday after his first ever start seems to be a pretty good time for fluff articles. Did you know he plays the piano? I didn't either, but Doug Doughty and Jeff White are dying to tell you this. The Washington Post gets in on that action too - that's three in one day, in case you lost count. Verica plays the piano, was put into a similar situation in high school, is unflappable, etc. etc.

Switch gears for a quick second over to the soccer team, which beat CCSU 4-0 last night. Tony Tchani, who is a frickin' hoss, scored twice.

Switch back! The UVA notes in the RTD update us on Sean Gottschalk:

Gottschalk, a graduate of Deep Run High, hopes to resume his football career, but it's not clear if he'll play this season. Even if Gottschalk were to return to practice today -- and that's not expected to happen -- he would need three or four weeks of training before he's ready to play again, Groh said.

"Hopes to resume his career." That is not promising.

Peter Lalich is going to Oregon State, which in Oregon-hippie fashion has a weird class schedule and has not started classes yet - a big reason for the selection.

Saved the best for last - the depth chart and the coach's press conference. Depth chart is mildly interesting. No changes on the O-line, at least not among the starters. Biggest shakeup is in the secondary (which needs it.) Ras-I Dowling returns to the depth chart, backing up Mike Parker in OR status with Chase Minnifield. Brandon Woods is demoted to backup and redshirt freshman Corey Mosley takes his place. Nick Jenkins and Nate Collins switch spots at nose tackle - Jenkins is now listed as the starter, though chances are the roughly 60-40 split of snaps will continue.

From the presser:

- Groh wants to keep the redshirt on Riko Smalls but realizes the circumstances may end up dictating otherwise.
- Hints that Verica had a little more notice to prepare for the UConn game than was generally known.
- Fluff fluff fluff, Duke's a tough team yada yada yada.

fluff is less fluffy

One really nice thing about the offseason giving way to "fall" practice ("fall" being kind of a silly word - have you been to Virginia in August?) is that the fluff pieces put out by the local papers get less fluffy and more newsy. You can get a pretty decent look at how the defense will be shaking out this season just by reading these articles here.

First, a look at nose tackle. Junior Nate Collins is more or less the man here, replacing Allen Billyk as the starter. Collins is one of the reasons I'm not going "OH NO defensive line OH NO" despite the much-mentioned loss of all three starters. Collins got in on his fair share of snaps last year and contributed also his fair share of tackles to the nose tackle total of 69, which in a 3-4 defense is saying something. So we're OK there. More exciting for the future is the emergence of Nick Jenkins. The article is about Collins, but Groh is talking good things about redshirt freshman Jenkins and hopes to use Jenkins this season in Collins' role from last year, which would mean seeing quite a bit of him on the field.

Next we go to the defensive backfield for a look at safety, where Byron Glaspy holds down the spot with a lock and key - Groh himself says Glaspy has "ownership" of the position. As a former walk-on, Glaspy is a great story, having become a starter his freshman year and never looking back. He will definitely be one of the defensive leaders this season.

Before I link you to this next article, I have a rant. And I'm not complaining, mind you, because thanks to the world of half-assery that is the NCAA eligibility rules, we get an extra kicker, and that's a good thing because the more kickers on the roster, the less the chance that they all will totally stink.

Here's the deal: Yannick Reyering, before he came here from Doitchland for his tour of duty as a Wahoo soccer player, played some for a German semi-pro team. The NCAA said, whoa there, and then said, das ist nicht so gut, you nicht play. End of eligibility. UVA appealed, and Reyering got three years of eligibility returned to him. Those ran out after this last season. BUT HE'S STILL OK TO PLAY FOOTBALL? Again, not that I'm complaining. We got a kicker out of it. But I don't understand why we can't get a soccer player out of it. What is the point of denying eligibility in one sport only, I wonder?

Whatever. Here's the article. It's a gripping, tearjerking tale, if you hold on to an onion really tightly while you read.

Other notes gleaned from the articles linked above:

- The inside track on the non-Glaspy safety position belongs to junior Brandon Woods. The article calls him a "converted wide receiver" but he hasn't played that position since 2005 (a redshirt year) and played on defense in high school besides. He is competing with Matt Leemhius, Rico Bell, and Corey Mosley.
- Besides Reyering, there are five other walk-ons joining the team: LB Brady Stovall, K Robert Randolph, C John Maghamez, WR Johnny Pickett, and QB Kyle McCartin, the older brother of '09 verbal Connor.

Programming note: I'd intended to have the UNC season preview up tomorrow, but it's been a LONG week at work, especially today, and I don't want to bother writing it up tonight. Tomorrow afternoon is a recruiting update, so UNC will run Sat. or Sun., and the rest of the ACC will finish up next week.