I Bleed Orange and Blue Series: 2010 - A New Era in UVA Football

Welcome to the Optimus Cheung blog, the "I Bleed Orange and Blue" series.

I've been feeling to blog about something quite dear to my heart for a while now, Virginia Football. I know, I know, it has stunk (even more than usual depending on how you look at it) for a few years now and at the moment, we're the bottom feeder of the ACC, even below Duke.... Nevertheless, I am excited to blog this upcoming season. Out is Al Groh, the coach from the 2001-09 seasons. In is former UVA assistant and Richmond Spiders coach, Mike London. However you interpret Groh's tenure at UVA, one thing is clear, 0 ACC championships. A man of his pedigree, part of the Bill Parcells/Bill Belichick coaching tree, should have maintained UVA's reputation to at least stay competitive in the conference. Last year, we ended up 3-9 culminating with a six-game losing streak and getting thrashed at home to Virginia Tech. Throughout the last two seasons, chants and signs of "Fire Groh" were heard and seen pretty adamantly among the student section (myself being one of those chanters), to the point where signs were banned at Scott Stadium for a short amount of time to shield the TV viewers the embarrassment of an upset fanbase. I digress; Groh did have some good years for UVA standards. But after last year, things needed to change and pretty much everyone in Charlottesville knew his time was near its end.



It could and should have been better, Al....(Image courtesy of Sports Illustrated)

Once Groh was fired, he immediately shopped himself around and landed the defensive coordinator position for Georgia Tech. Now, he had just received a contract extension from UVA and thus is owed a little over $1-2 million for 2010. After losing to Duke for the second straight year in October, the UVA boosters were privately soliciting for donations to help pay that off. The rumor is that that $1-2 million was paid for in full in one month. Everyone wanted him gone. His son, Mike Groh, was the (inept) offensive coordinator from 2005-2008 was fired leading up to the season. Many of Groh's assistants, including Mike London, had left the university for coaching positions at various schools from 2006 on. Groh, you can argue, didn't have a complete and competent team with him on deck. I'll give him that much credit to have gotten the results that he did. Less one or two coaches, the rest of his staff was fired as well. UVA really cleaned house this offseason. Anyhoo (pun intended), enough about Groh, let's move on to Mike London.



A new sheriff in town (Image courtesy of VirginiaSports.com)

Mike London, as I mentioned, was a former assistant for UVA back from I think 2003-2006. He became the head coach for Richmond and led them to a National Championship in 2008 in Division I-A. His name was among the tops on the short list of Groh successors, and many within the program felt he was what was needed to lift UVA back up. Obviously, being a former assistant helps. He also was in-state, where he has significant ties to many of the states potent regions for football recruiting. From what I hear, he is a very likable guy and is very football knowledgeable. All signs point in the positive direction with him leading the helm. There is plenty of uncertainty now and definitely throughout the season. One thing is for sure, however. He's reinvigorated UVA fans and I for one will be cheering him on, regardless of what the outcome may be this year. Wahoo-wa!!!

Braves on the Warpath Series: The Eagle has landed!

(I've been meaning to finish this post about the newest Redskins QB Donovan McNabb since we first heard word about the acquisition back in the spring. Apologies for the delay.)

Well well well. Once again, the Redskins have made some very interesting offseason moves. Snyder and company, by way of new head coach Mike Shanahan, have picked up some really significant players within the last month and a half. Most notably, today, Eagles QB Donovan McNabb is now a Redskin. There is a saying that goes "You go to Washington to get paid." Time and time again, management squanders draft picks for big name players and to an extent, washed up players. Now, I can't say one way or another that McNabb is washed up, but he is 33, an age that isn't quite reliable in the long term, but can still produce. Lest I remind us of Brett Favre who is 40. Peyton Manning is 34, Tom Brady is 32. So, let's just leave it as McNabb is a seasoned veteran. Obviously, this rival pick-up will ruffle some feathers for our friends in Philly. But the McNabb rumor had been going around for a few months now, and from I read, Washington is a better than the alternative for McNabb, Oakland. Blechh.....Nevertheless, I'm VERY interested in this deal and how the QB shake-up will play out this coming season. Here's my take on this move thus far.


"Coach Shanahan introduces new Redskins QB Donovan McNabb, Image courtesy of The Washington Post"

He isn't very accurate deep, but he certainly has a strong arm. He has shown a tremendous amount of leadership and command of the offense despite never truly have a RB (no disrespect to Brian Westbrook) nor a No. 1 receiver, outside of Terrell Owens. His role in Washington and Shanahan's offense will rely less on his ability to run and more on his ability to see downfield and hit open receivers. Currently I'd think the new balanced trio of RBs in Clinton Portis/Larry Johnson/Willie Parker will allow for more spread offense. A healthy TE in Chris Cooley will be welcomed back to his arsenal in addition to the other catching TE, Fred Davis. He'll have a speedster WR in Santana Moss and an up and coming big guy in Devin Thomas.

Personnel aside, McNabb truly feels and outwardly seems to be reinvigorated to the change in landscapes. His legacy in Philly shouldn't be discounted, even though Philly fans have quickly come to ridicule and turn away (just typical of Philly fans to be honest) and perhaps he may even be a Hall of Famer once his career ends. Who knows? Be that as it may, he brings a fresh breath of air and gravitas to the QB position that has been underwhelming for well over ten years. If he stays healthy, I feel he can easily muster up one more TD a game than Jason Campbell did and open up the backfield for a decent rushing attack. Reserved optimism is important right now, we can Monday Morning QB this issue to death throughout the season.

Are you ready for some football?! A preview of the 2010 NFL season

It sure feels like such a long off-season, and with the return of the NFL in the next month, I return to this blog. Plenty of happenings have being going around since the New Orleans Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV. I'll detail them throughout the coming weeks leading up to Week 1.



"Obama meets the Saints at the White House, Aug. 9th, 2010" Image - Susan Walsh, AP

Currently, we're in Week 2 of the preseason, which should be a healthy taste of 1st and 2nd string playing time for all the teams. In the subsequent weeks, teams will emphasize the 3rd-4th string players to evaluate their bench before reducing their roster from about 70-80 to 53 come the regular season. I'm not the most ardent of viewers of the preseason so highlights and stats do not mean much to me at this point. I'll resume my game recaps/highlights for the regular season.

For now, I'll quickly list the final standings for both conferences. Expect a preview of each division in the next week or two as I compile all my research/stats from this past year and forecasts for this coming year.

*denotes playoff teams.
AFC East
10-6 - New England Patriots*
9-7 - New York Jets*
7-9 - Miami Dolphins
6-10 - Buffalo Bills

AFC North
10-6 - Cincinnati Bengals*
9-7 - Baltimore Ravens*
9-7 - Pittsburgh Steelers
5-11 - Cleveland Browns

AFC South
14-2 - Indianapolis Colts*
9-7 - Houston Texans
8-8 - Tennessee Titans
7-9 - Jacksonville Jaguars

AFC West
13-3 - San Diego Chargers*
8-8 - Denver Broncos
5-11 - Oakland Raiders
4-12 - Kansas City Chiefs


NFC East
11-5 - Dallas Cowboys*
11-5 - Philadelphia Eagles*
8-8 - New York Giants
4-12 - Washington Redskins

NFC North
12-4 - Minnesota Vikings*
11-5 - Green Bay Packers*
7-9 - Chicago Bears
2-14 - Detroit Lions

NFC South
13-3 - New Orleans Saints*
9-7 - Atlanta Falcons
8-8 - Carolina Panthers
3-13 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers

NFC West
10-6 - Arizona Cardinals*
8-8 - San Francisco 49ers
5-11 - Seattle Seahawks
1-15 - St. Louis Rams

Sept. 9th can't come soon enough! And to top that, the NFL kicks off with a rematch of the NFC Championship game, the Minnesota Vikings at the New Orleans Saints. Stay tuned for the next update!