The wisdom of Groh

Add to the Al Groh lore.

“It’s all between the white lines. That’s all that really counts. Except in a few memorable circumstances, there’s not much history of anybody coming off the sidelines, much less out of the stands, to impact any particular play,” the wise-beyond-wisdom UVa. football coach told reporters at his weekly press conference, shrugging off the idea that the boobirds at Scott Stadium during last week’s 30-14 loss to TCU that wasn’t nearly as close a game as the score would indicate somehow bothered his team.

Add that to the answer he gave to my question at the 2007 ACC Football Kickoff about life on the hot seat where he said his goal heading into every game was simply to score more points than the other team, his response to a reporter’s question that same summer about dehydration that if you take care of hydration, then dehydration isn’t a concern, and his observation at a press conference later that season that his definition of successful surgery is surgery in which the patient survives, and you’ve got pure genius right there.

But of course I’m biased. Groh would tell you I’m biased against, well, him.

The coach was asked at his presser this week about how the boobirds might affect recruiting. “I think myself and the team are just focused on what we have to do to get ready for this week’s game. But if that be the case, then if there’s somebody who is creating a less than positive impact, and they really care about their team, then they would be wise not to create a less than positive impact, wouldn’t you think?” Groh said.

You’d think the superintelligence that is Al Groh could grasp this concept: We are trying to create a positive impact, Al. The program isn’t going to move forward until you’re gone, so the more we boo, the more people who flee games early, the more who stay at home on Saturdays, the closer you are to coaching your last game in Charlottesville, and that’s what you call a “positive impact.”

– Column by Chris Graham