A few weeks back, a friend on social media posted a top five quotes list from the movie Almost Famous and then asked for additional contributions. As someone who loves that movie, it quickly sent me on a goose chase to IMDB.
A line from the movie listed there struck a chord with me because it reminded me of the plight of the Virginia football fan.
Sapphire: They don’t even know what it is to be a fan. Y’know? To truly love some silly little piece of music, or some band, so much that it hurts.
Make no mistake, being a Virginia fan in general isn’t difficult of late. Three National Championships for teams in one year and men’s basketball’s back-to-back ACC Regular Season Championships – plus the ACC Tournament drought breaker in 2014 – are enough to make any Hoo smile, both in the moment and months later on a whim.
But being a Virginia football fan? That’s a different story entirely. It’s gone far beyond difficult at this point. It’s all out hard work. It’s to the point that a fan might go to the Thesaurus looking for the worst-sounding word of the bunch. Strenuous. Burdensome. Arduous. Onerous. Laborious. Do any of those seem daunting enough to describe the Atlas act that Virginia football fans have had to endure?
Year after year, Cavalier fans hold this giant football boulder on their shoulders while the rivals in Blacksburg crow about the streak and other long-time ACC members like Georgia Tech, North Carolina, and even Duke tick off series wins. Fans trudge to Scott Stadium – though the ranks have dwindled to smaller and smaller numbers – and hope that this is the year the burden is lifted, that winning seasons return.
Seven out of the last nine seasons, however, the journey ended the same. A losing record. A fall of discontent. The two seasons of oasis – 2007 and 2011 – provided a temporary respite, but those thrilling last-minute victories that provided bowl bids proved to be more mirage than mainstay.
To truly understand how difficult that has been for UVa fans, you need to remember the years that preceded the slump.
Virginia, after all, experienced consistent success under George Welsh. The Cavaliers won at least seven games each season from 1987-1999, that string coming prior to 12-game schedules and never-ending bowl options. Adding in the early part of Al Groh’s tenure even flashed the consistency that Virginia football fans perhaps took for granted. From 1983-2005 under Welsh and then Groh, the program experienced two losing records (3-8 in 1986 and 5-7 in 2001).
Since then, the program drifted into the desert. After two losing seasons in 23 years, there have been seven in nine. Groh finished his tenure with three losing seasons in four years. Mike London has followed that up with four losing seasons in five years. Throw in Groh’s surly persona and rankled relationships then some questionable game management and roster management from London and the dissatisfaction grows. The great Virginia Tech timeout caper of 2012 is the poster child in that regard, but “Khalek get off the field!” and ending a game last season with a too many men on the field penalty again are up there too. Transfers by starters like Jake McGee and Greyson Lambert have raised a few eyebrows as well.
Losing games is only part of the tale, though.
What brought that Almost Famous quote to the surface for me is the indistinct “they” that opens the line. “They don’t even know what it is to be a fan. Y’know? To truly love some silly little piece of music, or some band, so much that it hurts.” That sounds so much like many Virginia football fans in 2015.
Virginia football fans not only feel the sting of losing, many feel alienated as well. Reseating ruffled feathers prior to the 2008 season. Bottled water prices during a heat wave angered some. Concession stand offerings and prices, problems elsewhere as well to be sure, haven’t helped. Season ticket prices on a per-game basis have continued to rise through the continuous losing records.
Despite London floundering in the results department, the administration has stood by him even while the staff shuffled around him. That included a Daily Press interview in 2013, during a 2-10 season no less, where Virginia Athletics Director Craig Littlepage drew the ire of football fans for being ‘tone deaf’ to fan concerns about the program’s direction. Associate Athletics Director Jon Oliver has also been a lightning rod for criticism for everything from his sideline location (he spent 2013 on the sidelines beside the bench, but then moved to the end zone for the most part in 2014) to out-of-conference scheduling to assistant coaching staff input.
It’s all come together as a perfect storm for frustration.
Fans snipe at each other on the message boards over things big and small. Silver linings are hard to find even when good news emerges. Outrage seems to have faded a bit as well. No one blinked when the media picked Virginia to finish last in the Coastal Division again for example.
The reason all of these arguments unfold and frustration bubbles over time after time is simple though. The weight of the football struggles wouldn’t be so heavy if Virginia football fans didn’t love Virginia football so much. So much it hurts.
Add to this list of ignominies the decision by Littlepage to re-up with London BEFORE the Tech game last year, with a 5-6 record for both teams going into the game. Sheesh.
Maybe, just maybe this is the year we make the cover. “Stillwater Runs Deep”.
No, I’m afraid we’re going down in a plane crash instead.