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The Roanoke Times: Press Box

with our sports staff

Shooting the breeze

According to weather.com, it was 63 degrees at 11:25 a.m. in Charlottesville's 22903 zip code, with 15-mph winds gusting to 26 mph.

Weather.com also said it "feels like" 63 degrees, but under the overhang here in the outdoor UVa press box, it feels closer to 50. The sun hasn't been out for a while (OK, at 11:59 a.m., here it comes).

I think it's safe to say that wind could be a factor today, but in which direction, you can't say. It's tougher to throw the football in windy weather, but the respective quarterbacks, redshirt freshman Jameel Sewell for the Cavaliers and sophomore Daniel Evans for the Wolfpack, would seem to be an even match.

On paper, State has the stronger running game.

I made my usual pregame check for injured players, but UVa has been remarkably injury-free this season. "That's giving them the kiss of death," UVa sports information official Michael Colley informed me.

A couple of Roanoke-area notes that I picked up on the way to the game:

Virginia linebacker Jon Copper from Northside High School was engaged Thursday to UVa student Holly Dixon, a former standout athlete at Glenvar High School.

Also, there was an Alan Castro sighting on the UVa sideline during pregame warmups. Castro, prolific sophomore quarterback for North Cross, was accompanied by his father, Armando, formerly one of his son's assistant coaches in 2005 at Cave Spring.

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Quick thoughts

  • Poll voters get it right -

    Who knew the Virginia football program carried so much weight? Southern Cal moved up from No. 3 to No. 1 in the Associated Press media poll, and from No. 2 to No. 1 in the coaches’ poll, after its 52-7 rout of UVa in Charlottesville. “To see a team go on the road and play a New Year’s Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?” voter Stewart Mandel of SI.com told the AP. Now we all know UVa is hardly the same team that played on Jan. 1. But the voters still got this right. USC proved more at UVa than a Georgia team that beat Division I-AA Georgia Southern or an Ohio State team that beat I-AA Youngstown State. — Mark Berman

  • ACC stinks it up -

    Arkansas State won at Texas A&M. Bowling Green upset Pitt. Louisiana Tech beat Mississippi State. But the ACC laid the biggest egg of all in Week 1, reinforcing its reputation as a weak conference. Preseason ACC favorite Clemson was squashed by Alabama. ECU upset the Hokies. USC flattened UVa. Maryland only beat Delaware by a 14-7 score, and UNC had to rally to beat McNeese State. On Thursday, South Carolina shut out N.C. State. At least Wake Forest beat Baylor. But the ACC was an object of ridicule on national sports talk radio Saturday night, and rightly so. And it won’t get any better next weekend when Miami visits Florida. — Mark Berman

  • Intriguing ACC games for VT hoops -

    The 2008-09 schedule for the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team was released this week, and the Hokies will begin and end the ACC portion of it in noteworthy fashion. Their ACC opener will be a Sunday night visit to Durham on Jan. 4 to take on Olympic coach Mike Krzyzewski and Duke in a game airing on Fox Sports Net. Their next game features a visit to Cassell Coliseum by Virginia. And the Hokies better hope they have a good record before their final three games of the regular season, because that will be the toughest stretch of their year by far. They host Duke in an ABC game on Feb. 28, followed by a March 4 visit from Tyler Hansbrough and North Carolina in an ESPN game. The regular-season finale is a trip to Florida State, where Tech always loses. — Mark Berman

  • Good showing for UVa at Olympics -

    With the Olympics over, UVa has plenty to be proud of. Ex-Cav Angela Hucles, the leading goal scorer in UVa history, now has to be considered one of the best female athletes UVa has ever produced. Not only did she win her second gold with the U.S. women’s soccer team, but she scored a team-high four goals in Beijing — including two in the semifinals and one in the quarterfinals. Ex-Cav Lindsay Shoop also won gold — one of three UVa grads to medal in rowing. And Dawn Staley was part of a winning basketball team as an assistant. As for Virginia Tech? Well, ex-Hokie Ieva Kublina had a few good basketball games for Latvia. And Queen Harrison reached a hurdles semifinal at the age of 19. London could be in her future. — Mark Berman

  • Hightower making us look good -

    Tim Hightower is making The Roanoke Times — and Division I-AA football in this state — look good. Hightower was a standout running back at Richmond last fall, helping the Spiders reach the I-AA semifinals. We chose him as the Roanoke Times’ state Division I offensive player of the year, eschewing I-A stars. Now comes word that the fifth-round draft pick will likely be Edgerrin James’ top backup with the Arizona Cardinals. Good for him. I just hope he fares better off the field than our offensive player of the year picks in 1999 and 2004, Michael and Marcus Vick. — Mark Berman

About this blog

The Press Box blog will post entries on a variety of sports at both the high school and collegiate levels in Southwest Virginia. Contributions come from staff writers of The Roanoke Times sports section.

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