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October 17, 2003
By Fourth Year Sean Lauer
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – Ask any athlete or head coach about home field advantage and they will tell you that the key is the fans. Head football coach Al Groh knows this and wants Cavalier fans to bring their loudest voices and brightest orange shirts to every home game, especially this Saturday, October 18, for the Florida State game.
The Duke game was a good start for UVa, setting a new Scott Stadium attendance record of 61,737. “That crowd was a fantastic crowd that we had the first game,” explains Al Groh, “and I’ve made commentary about the players’ reaction to it. It’s certainly our hope that the fans remember their personality and their energy for that particular game.”Coach Groh realizes that the long lay-off between home games might diminish the Cavalier fervor. “We do have some breaks and then we go two weeks again, so we’re going to go pretty deep into the season before we even play our third home game. Maybe we can build some juice and build some momentum in terms of the energy and passion and intensity in the stadium.”
The game time of 7:45pm should encourage Wahoos to plan their whole day around the game. “Everyone has an opportunity to gargle, take a spoonful of honey, whatever it might be, to get their vocal chords in full shape. The earlier they can get in the better. We’d like to have one of those student sections that gets in early. They were in early last time. I thought that was great. I was listening to a guy on the radio the other day that said that the RVs rolled into Baton Rouge on Wednesday for the LSU-Georgia game. Maybe we can approach that one of these days.”
So there it is folks. Whether you want to be a Groh-rilla or part of Groh’s Warriors, wear your orange gear to every game! Throw a little orange and blue face paint on! In fact, if you have seven dedicated friends, why not spell out Virginia on your washboard abs? Let’s go ‘hoos!
The first 20,000 fans into the stadium Saturday will receive Thunderstix. Orange Cavalier gear can be purchased at the UVA Bookstore or on its web site (www.bookstore.virginia.edu) in the “Orange Crush” section.