The case for Groh Must Go

Notre Dame is about to begin its third coaching search in eight years after going only 54-42 and enduring three losing seasons in that span from Bob Davie to Ty Willingham to the now-embattled Charlie Weis. And Auburn is thinking about replacing Tommy Tuberville, who has gone 71-30 the past eight and stumbled only this year, going 5-7 after a 9-4 2007 that had the Tigers in the top 15 in the final national polls. And then there’s Phillip Fulmer, 68-34 at Tennessee since 2001, with two losing seasons in that period, but a national title in 1998 and a 152-52 record overall, including 98-34 in SEC play, who is already out of a job.
And you still think Al Groh, 56-44 in eight years at Virginia, with three losing seasons at a school that hadn’t had a losing season in 15 years before his arrival, shouldn’t be on the hot seat? Read more

UVa. not extending Groh

A day after the completion of the third 5-7 season in Al Groh’s eight-year tenure at the University of Virginia, athletics director Craig Littlepage announced that the school is not extending his contract for an additional year.
“In accordance with a specific clause in Virginia head football coach Al Groh’s contract, I have informed him that his contract will not be extended for an additional year. Coach Groh has three years remaining on his current contract,” Littlepage said in a statement released to the news media Sunday evening. Read more

Only three and a half more years of this, and it’s all over

Five sentences, and so much contained therein. It’s not Christmas yet, but Reo Hatfield is doing his part to play Santa.
“They will NOT vote for an increase,” the former Waynesboro vice mayor declared in a letter to the editor published in the News Virginian today, referring to political allies Frank Lucente and Bruce Allen, whom Hatfield says are opposed to a proposed pay increase for city-council members proposed by Mayor Tim Williams, also ostensibly a political ally of Hatfield, though we have to wonder about that now, don’t we? Read more

Top-ranked Dukes get off the playoff schneid

At some point you got the feeling that the team that had the ball last would end up winning this one. JMU ended up with the ball last.
The top-ranked and top-seeded Dukes held off a game Wofford squad by recovering an onside kick with a minute to go to post a 38-35 win in the first round of the I-AA football playoffs Saturday night in Harrisonburg. Read more

Videocast | JMU wins playoff opener

Top-ranked JMU held off a second-half Wofford rally to post a 38-35 win in the first round of the I-AA football playoffs. AFP editor Chris Graham reporting with footage from the game and from the postgame press conferences. Length: 4:00. Read more

Podcast | JMU wins playoff opener

A six-yard Rodney Landers touchdown run gave JMU some breathing room, and the Dukes recovered a late onside kick to seal the deal in a 38-35 win over Wofford in the first round of the I-AA playoffs at Bridgeforth Stadium in Harrisonburg Saturday night. AFP editor Chris Graham reporting on the game and postgame press conferences with JMU coach Mickey Matthews, Wofford coach Mike Ayers and more. Length: 34:32. Read more

Steven Sisson | Don’t just stand there. Give ‘im a pencil

In 2003, the Blue Dog first met Congressman Virgil Goode at the Greene County Strawberry Festival.
While shaking hands and passing-out Sisson for Senate campaign literature, I heard a high-pitched shrilled voice calling-out … “Steeeveee Sissssson … anti-tax Democrat fer State Senate!”
Even though I had never met him, I knew the distinct voice of Congressman Goode from the countless media stories and interviews I had witnessed. The Blue Dog had always been a big fan of the congressman because Virgil Goode was a like-minded Blue Dog Democrat while serving in the General Assembly in the 1990s. Read more

Haresh Daswani | Mumbai Terrorist Attack: More has to be Done

The devastating attack on Mumbai in the evening of the 26th of November shows us the barbaric savagery of these terrorists. They have nothing to lose, and are willing to give their life to their irrational cause. These terrorists will still continue with their attacks, without a doubt, and with attacks this coordinated, international intelligence and security, we have just been presented just how vulnerable the world still is with terrorist attacks. Read more

EMU prof wins Fulbright

An Eastern Mennonite University professor has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture at the University of Zagreb in the central European nation of Croatia during the 2008-09 academic year. Read more

Matt Caterine | Support Employee Free Choice

On Nov. 4, the people of Virginia sent a loud and clear message to elected officials in Congress: they want leadership that will bring about real change in Washington. Despite misleading attacks from anti-worker special interests, voters elected Mark Warner to work with a pro-worker majority in Congress and a pro-worker president to take a critical step toward reinvigorating the middle class and turning around our crumbling economy. Read more

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