Brian Bald
Feb 19, 2009

Daily Progress Slide Show

As several people have pointed out recently, I have been a bit off my blogging game. You would think the implosion of UVA basketball over the course of an 8 game losing streak would incite action, but mostly, it just depressed me to the point of disinterest.

After the removal of the team’s schedule from my cubicle in mid-January (a sad and unceremonious event in my life), I checked in on the team only on the off chance I came across a game on weekend afternoons. I happened to see signs of improvement in the first half in Chapel Hill, but when you’re taking your seventh straight defeat, first half improvement does little to ease the overall feeling of suck.

Two weeks later, I was predictably on my couch on Sunday morning and stumbled into the Clemson game. Despite efforts in the second half to further crush the souls of fans across the Commonwealth, the Hoos survived. It was a pleasant upset made all the more satisfying by the post-game texts to E-Dubs.

But despite the Tigers ranking, Sunday’s win pales in comparison to last night’s. For the first time in 2009, I was looking forward to a UVA game. I was just hoping to see the Cavs avoid the longest losing streak to the Hokies since the 60’s. Instead, I spent the entire game asking myself what team I was watching and wondering where an all-around performance like that came from.

Whatever it was, if the team on the floor last night shows up the rest of the season, we may see a similar performance down the stretch by the Hoos bball team as by the Hoos football team only the complete opposite.

Perfectly happy with a two-game ACC win streak, I turned my post-Hoos attention to the Caps just in time to see the best sports franchise in D.C. beat Montreal in a shootout. Though I missed it live, Ovie’s first period goal is a must watch…the dude is unreal.

Throw in highlights from Eric Maynor’s 30 point effort to lead VCU to the top of the CAA and an internet update on Freeman advancing to the district finals rematch with Travis McKie and John Marshall and it was the best of sports night at the Bald household in quite a while.