The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - College World Series: UVA Baseball Strikes Out; How Do You Grade 2024 UVA Baseball Season?

Episode Date: June 18, 2024

The Jerry & Jerry Show headlines: College World Series: UVA Baseball Strikes Out How Do You Grade 2024 UVA Baseball Season? Hootie’s Golden Nuggets From Omaha UVA Contract Extensions T. Bennett, B. O’Connor UVA AD Carla Williams: Her Top Week On Job? Virginia Football Notebook: News & Notes UVA Golf At US Open – Thoughts & Takeaways UVA Swimmer Qualifies For 2024 Olympics Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air Jerry Ratcliffe & Jerry Miller were live on The Jerry & Jerry Show! The Jerry & Jerry Show airs live Tuesday from 10:15 am – 11:15 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The Jerry & Jerry Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible and iLoveCVille.com.

Good Tuesday morning, guys. My name is Jerry Miller, and thank you kindly for joining us on the Jerry and Jerry Show. We're about two miles from the University of Virginia, which has been just a fantastic epicenter of success, athletic success this calendar year, frankly, like most calendar years. And today's show, a microcosm of that statement. We'll talk Virginia baseball. Not the storybook ending. Still a season that saw Brian O'Connor host a regional, a super regional,

and earn his third College World Series trip in the last four years. We're talking the winningest program in college baseball since Brian O'Connor has hit Charlottesville, Virginia. We'll talk a little bit of football today. We'll talk the extensions for Tony Bennett and Brian O'Connor. And I'm going to ask Jerry Hootie-Rackliff this question. Was this past week Athletics Director Carla Williams' best year on the job since she's come to Charlottesville and taken over for Craig Littlepage. We'll talk golf as the Virginia golfers in the U.S. Open have seen a magical weekend now conclude. And how about a Virginia swimmer breaking a world record and qualifying for the Olympics? What an easy time

to do the job that we love to do. Judah Wickauer behind the camera we'll welcome the distinguished and dapper on a tuesday morning jerry hootie racklin looking good right here he's got a fresh cut he's got a nice row back he's got a suntan sun kiss from the golf course you're looking good my friend feeling good you look great that's it's nice to feel good again. I went through a while during the winter where I felt beat down and run down, so I'm feeling really good now. A documentary? How about we start with that one on Rod A. Antiqui Barber? Yeah, I was fortunate.

I guess when you've been around forever, a lot of people want to talk to you when it comes time to doing documentaries. But I think this is the seventh one I've participated in. ACC Network and the Raycom guys came up last week, and we spent some time over at Scott Stadium in the locker room. They're doing a documentary, working on a documentary on Tiki and Rondé Barber, which I think should be sensational. Their documentaries they've done have been excellent. I don't know how many people have seen them all, but not just on Virginia, although they seem to have done. done uh i was talking to one of the guys uh in charge of the documentary and he said we we've

done a lot more on virginia than we have just about anybody else and that's true uh but i was honored to be uh asked to participate in that and uh had to go back and brush up on my Tiki and Rondé knowledge a little bit, although I've kept up with both of those guys over the years. That's one of the things about the job that has changed, Jerry, over the years, as I'm sure you've probably noticed as well, is that back in those days you really got to know the players on a personal basis and could form a relationship. And most of those from those days have been lifelong, lasting relationships.

And I like to call Tiki and Rondae friends and love every time I get to see them and interact with them and had them on my podcasts and various things we'll get them on here at some point but it was fun doing that you get interviewed for about an hour and they may use five minutes of it, but that's the way they... I don't know how they do it. They amass hours and hours of interviews with various people, and how they weave that and blend it into the documentaries that they do,

it's magical. And it always turns out great. Also got to be very careful what you say because they cherry pick a couple of sound bites. They do, yeah. I guess if you really screw up, they can go back and record it, re-record it. But yeah, you're definitely on the spot.

You have to think on your feet. Sometimes it's challenging because they'll ask you about something that happened 30 years ago and expect you to have total recall. Sometimes you do and sometimes you don't. Renee Pettiford says, Hootie Radcliffe, you are looking very sharp. And we will talk Carla Williams per her suggestion. And she wants to know where we were when we heard about the Tony Bennett contract extension. We'll talk all those topics.

Renee, we love when you watch the program. I'd love first, Renee, to highlight Rane and Tiki Barber's impact at the University of Virginia. I have a story from my childhood that I remember of the Barber twins. I attended the University of Virginia. My brother attended the University of Virginia. My dad attended the University of Virginia. And as we were doing the college tours, my father and my mother brought my brother and I up to Charlottesville. And my dad's a UVA McIntyre School of Commerce graduate. So, of course, we went into the McIntyre School. And at the time, they had a board in one of the hallways with the average salaries for all the concentrations in the McIntyre School. Accounting, marketing, business, whatever it may be.

And they put all the average salaries up. I mean, goodness, this must have been 1998, 1999, whatever it may be. And they put all the average salaries up. I mean, goodness, this must have been 1998, 1999, somewhere in that range. And at the bottom of this salary list, there was an asterisk. And it said, this does not include Rod A. Antiki Barber, who signed multimillion-dollar NFL contracts. You know the impact of the Barber boys more than anyone. Can you put

in perspective Rod A. and Tiki Barber, what they meant to the University of Virginia and the impact on and off the gridiron? Well, I think they're two of the greatest ambassadors of the University of Virginia that they've ever had to walk through here. Not only were they great athletes who went on to succeed, but they were both brilliant students. A lot of people don't realize that, how smart these guys were. They were incredibly intelligent guys and just great people. Their mother, Geraldine, did an incredible job raising those twin boys, and they'll be the first to tell you to thank her for the way they were brought up. She did a remarkable job.

Again, just good people. So many stories about them that I was witness to, and one of them, just to show you what kind of people they are and were back then, as young men, very young men who sometimes don't maybe have a total perspective of the world was my son was injured badly in a car accident and i spent most of uh july and part of august uh by his side in two hospitals in norfolk and in charlottesville and when he he came back to Charlottesville, Tiki and Rondae, unbeknownst to me, showed up one afternoon or evening at the hospital when I wasn't there

and brought my son an autographed football and gave it to him because they knew what a big Virginia fan he was and how much of a fan of Tiki and Rondé that he was and they just did that nobody prompted them to do it they just did it out of the goodness of their heart he still has that football and they spent time with him and that was very meaningful they did a lot of things like that over the years then and I'm sure now I think Rondae lives in Tampa and Tiki lives in I guess Connecticut or New Jersey

since his wife was on the housewives of New Jersey for one season, I think they wisely got out of that deal. But that's just the kind of people they are. And, again, great ambassadors. They've both been brilliant in their careers on and off the field. And now Rondae's in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and Tiki should be and hopefully will be somewhere in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and Tiki should be, and hopefully will be somewhere in the not-too-distant future.

You're talking broadcasters. You're talking children's book authors. You're talking podcasters. You're talking guys that pretty much would have had success in any career they'd chosen. Absolutely. I know Rondé works with a charity golf tournament in Tampa that raises lots of money for, I think, children. Tiki has been in a soap opera. He was in a Broadway play. He's done a little bit of everything, TV, radio.

I guess he has a national radio show now. But these guys have been everywhere. And just, again, outstanding athletes. I mean, Rondé did some things with the Tampa Bay Bucks that will probably never be done by a football player again. And T.K., when he left the Giants, he was among the top 25 rushers in NFL history, along with Thomas Jones, another UVA guy who took his place when T.K. graduated. And I don't know if he still is or not, but when he left the Giants, he was their all-time leading rusher and I think maybe totally yardage guy

because he was a great receiver as well. So we're talking about maybe the most successful athletic twins in pro sports history. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. And you talk to evangelist guys from the University of Virginia, there's so many of them that have positively represented the University of Virginia. One last night in the NBA championship, Sam Houser, a meaningful role, a meaningful role in the NBA finals, Sam Houser. I was watching him last night. I think he finished with eight or ten points,

and he was a stretch-the-floor type of shooter where Tatum and Brown or Holiday, when they were dribbling to the rack and defenses were collapsing on them, they would kick out to Hauser, who very proficiently would stretch the floor with his three-point shooting prowess. So maybe we highlight Hauser, and I'll ask you this question. Diakite got a ring with the Bucs.

He was a bench player. Joe Harris tied to that Cavaliers team that won a championship, although if memory serves correctly, he was traded mid-season from that Cavaliers team. That was some years back, and as the older I get, the memory gets a little hazier and foggier. But Hauser with the Celtics, a meaningful role here for another UVA guy on the national stage. I think Jeff Lamp had a ring with the Lakers, and Mark Iveroni had a ring with the Sixers and played a prominent role in that. I don't know if our good friend Wally had a ring or not with Portland or Seattle. Did Rick Carlisle have a ring?

I think Rick Carlisle was on one of those Celtics teams that won a title. So Sam Houser joins the club. I mean, that's what his reputation was when he got here. He was a stretch-the-floor guy, great shooter. He had a good year here, not the year that everybody expected, even though he sat out a year and worked out with the team during his, back then you had to set out when you transferred. But we heard stories about him in practice that that redshirt year that he couldn't be stopped.

He made everything. And I think that probably raised the expectations to an unbelievable level. So when he did play, people expected him to make every shot he took. And had he been around here maybe more than a year, he might have become that guy that never missed. That was a talented team. That was a talented team. Jay Huff was on that team.

That team never didn't. They did not live up to expectations. No, they sure didn't. Or to talent. And Trey Murphy was on talented team. Jay Huff was on that team. That team never didn't. They did not live up to expectations. No, they sure didn't. Or to talent. And Trey Murphy was on that team. Exactly. On paper talent. You're talking about a handful of pros on that team,

and they didn't meet that on paper talent. Right. And, yeah, that's one of the teams that probably should have done a little bit more than it did. We'll talk basketball with the Tony Bennett contract extension, the Brian O'Connor extension. I'll ask the Virginia Sports Hall of Famer, Hootie Ratcliffe, if that was the greatest week in Carla Williams' tenure so far in Charlottesville of the athletics director at University of Virginia.

But first, we'll go to the College World Series here. It was not the storybook ending we wanted. Regardless, a fantastic season. They host a regional. They host a super regional. They're playing in June. They were a whisker's hair away from beating the Tar Heels. All the Monday morning quarterbacks are saying an intentional walk should have happened in that bottom of the ninth inning, that maybe two intentional walks to load the bases,

to create an out at every base. I'll ask you about that. Still, we'll start open-ended. Virginia baseball, College World Series, where do you want to begin? Yeah, I think overall it was an incredibly successful season. A lot of people didn't think they could get there because the pitching really transformed over the season. A couple of guys that they were counting on got injured right off the bat.

They weren't available, so they had to scramble to come these guys played, over 50, well over 50 games, I guess around 60 games. And up until the College World Series, they only lost back-to-back once all season long. It's pretty remarkable. Very remarkable. Incredible offense. Rewrote a lot of the offensive records for the program, including home runs. They destroyed that. You look at it, and, I mean, baseball is a highly competitive Division I sport. There's over 300 teams that compete,

and it's easier to throw money, I think, into your baseball program than some of the other major sports. So highly competitive. The fact that they've gotten to Omaha as many times as they have, seven times, I mean, you can equate that to Tony Bennett getting to the Elite Eight seven times. I mean, if we said. If he did that, people would be building a statue. But, you know.

They're already building a statue for Coach Bennett. Imagine if he's done what Brian O'Connor has done. Yeah. I mean, seven Elite Eights, that's powerful. Three Elite Eights in the last four years. The winningest coach in the entire sport since he's taken the job. Yeah. He's got a national championship.

Bennett's got a national championship. It's basketball is more of a mainstream sport than college baseball. I think that's changing. You just said it perfectly. If Tony Bennett had posted the milestones and metrics that Brian O'Connor has done, Tony Bennett wouldn't just be on the short list of UVA's Mount Rushmore. Tony Bennett would be on the short list of greatest basketball coaches in the history of the sport.

Yeah, no question about it. To reach that level that many times is remarkable. Not a lot of people have done that. And sure, you know, it's easy to second-guess a guy, but, you know... I've got to ask you about that. What did you make at the bottom of the ninth against the Tar Heels? Well, you know, I could see it either way. You're almost damned if you do and damned if you don't.

I mean, if you decide to... I mean, Brian explained it. The guy that came up next for Carolina, he thought was a better hitter. He was three of four in the game. Yeah, and had a higher batting average, more RBI on the season. Now, the kid they pitched to is what? Top 20 pick in the MLB draft. Yeah, he is.

He's a pro player. And he's hit a few home runs. I guess maybe three. Two or three. And even the guy after that, had you walked him and walked the next batter, the next guy was a pretty good hitter too. We're talking about the top of their order. And we're talking about a North Carolina team that's one of the best in the country. Yeah.

I mean, that Carolina team is really good. And Virginia, you know, it was a one-run ball game. You know, if he had walked both those guys and the next guy had driven them in and they would have won in a walk-off, people would still be unhappy and criticize him. So, you know, I think Jay Woolfolk made a good analysis when he said, you know, you haven't walked in his shoes. You haven't been sitting there in a dugout having to make decisions under pressure.

You know, and again, you know, coaches aren't always going to get everything right. I'm not saying he was wrong, but again, I think either way, if he's successful, he's going to get incredible praise, and if it doesn't work out, he's going to get criticized, and that's just the way it is in sports. But, you know, it's easy to sit there and second-guess. If you haven't been in that situation, there's a lot of pressure, and you have to come up with the best idea you can come up with.

At the time, some coaches coach by the book and the analytics and some coach by the seat of their pants. And, you know, again, you're going to get criticized one way or the other. Yeah, 100%. Wolfolk's ringing endorsement of Brian O'Connor got me choked up. That was a very emotional moment. That really came from his heart. There's no question about it. That kid went through a really tough year,

and I talked to him one-on-one the other day at Disharoon before they left for Omaha and did a story on it. And, yeah, he said it got to the point to where he was asking O'Connor, can I just close out games? You know, and the kid was lost. And O'Connor, to his credit, O'Connor told me this later in that little press meeting we had over there that day. He said, I had Jay in my office and I I told him I said I think O'Connor

handed him a stat sheet and he told him he said tear it up tear it up right now and he tore up the stat sheet and he says starting with a clean slate right now don't worry about it's not how you start it's how you finish kept him hanging in there kept his confidence brought him back as a starter at the end of the season and and the kid's going to get drafted uh there's not a lot of people in this world that can throw baseball 95 97 miles an hour so he's certainly going to get his opportunities but uh that's kind of you you know when we had o'connor in here in this seat right here a few weeks ago you could tell what kind of

guy he is how much he loves his players a few weeks ago hootie i was ready to run through fire for the man i could see that i had goosebumps yeah i mean he was he was he was a fiery passionate leader and he was doing it and and in the most sincere and genuine way i mean i can't even imagine if you're spending an entire season the ups and downs of a sports season with them exactly and uh chris graham and uh scott german they went up to fenway park when virginia played at bc this year and they went up to Fenway Park when Virginia played at BC this year, and they purposely didn't sit in the press box. They got tickets down next to the Virginia dugout, so they sat essentially closer to O'Connor than you and I are at this moment, physically apart.

I'm sure they watched the game too, but they spent a lot of time just watching him maneuver through that game. And they said he never stopped coaching from before the game started until the last pitch of the game. And was positive and confident in making all the right moves and coaching guys all over the field in the dugout that's just the way he is and that's why he's the winningest coach in in the country over the last 21 years absolutely unbelievable what stood out to you about the team? Looks like they have an extremely young core returning. That's a foundation for perhaps another push to Omaha next year. Of course, you're going to lose some talent, but you got a lot of talent coming back.

Yeah, I mean, the coaches can tell usually how much talent they have on a program and where they might end up. I remember back probably more than a decade ago, and I said, I can't remember what team it was, but I said, you think this team is an Omaha team? He said, well, actually we think the next year's team is probably a team that has the better chance to go to Omaha, even though I think that team made it.

But they usually have a good idea and the fact that so many of these guys are coming back and they can add quality pieces to the team, I wouldn't be surprised to see them making a fourth trip in five years and to add to the legacy.

But, you know, he was asked about, you know, kind of where the program is, and he said, you know, I think to make a deeper run in the College World Series, we might need just a little bit higher quality pitching. If you look back at that 2015 team that won it all, they had excellent pitching. They've had some teams with great pitching that made it to Omaha, some with suspect pitching that made it. But to pull it off in Omaha against the best hitters in college baseball and usually a bunch of pros, future pros, you need excellent pitching.

I mean excellent pitching, the dominating pitching. And O'Connor, and good defense, but O'Connor's always been a guy who would say that once you get to postseason, you need two or three guys who step it up, kind of take their game to another level, and hit two or three home runs, a couple of RBI doubles, things like that in a game that make a difference. And they really didn't get that this time. I think they were four of 23 scoring with runners in scoring position in those two games. And it's awfully hard to get it done with those kind of numbers, maybe leaving 19 guys stranded on base. So once you get to that level, brother,

you better be ready to take your game to another level because other teams are doing so. Frankie Bourne watching the program from Palmyra. Frankie, we appreciate your comment here. And Frankie Bourne has this to say. Do you guys think Jay Woolfolk is coming back to the University of Virginia no I don't think so I don't think so I think he's pitched his last pitch for Virginia and I think I think that was part of why the the emotional uh the emotions we

saw from him because I think he he knows and it wasn't the exit that he wanted. Right. I totally agree. I think that's good analysis from you. Yeah, I think he's done. I think he knew it. Again, there's not a lot of guys in this country that can throw a fastball 95 to 97 miles an hour with command. And he didn't have his best stuff. No, he didn't. And had that little injury that

that came out of nowhere but uh i mean he's in the top 100 on most of the draft boards i've seen and certainly uh that was part of his decision i think last summer when he was with Team USA Baseball and decided to give up football and focus squarely on baseball, where his future was going to be. I don't – unless something weird would happen and he doesn't get drafted like Andrew Abbott did a few years ago, which I still can't explain, and he came back and had an incredible final year and now is a starter with Cincinnati Reds.

And we saw what he did last summer as a rookie. I can't see that happening with Jay Woolfolk, but you never can say never. But I can't. I think he's thrown his last pitch for the Orange and Blue. Mark Brown watching the program, and I think it's Prince George. And he says the problem is our offense only put up two runs. Yeah.

It's easy to talk about the pitching and Honeycutt and O'Connor, but scoring two runs, you don't deserve to win. That's not the output you need. He's in Prince George, Virginia. No, he's right. And I think Virginia's hitters and Coach O'Connor would agree with that. I mean, that's two years in a row where they've gotten to Omaha and the offense kind of laid an egg.

Last year, I think, with all the great hitters they had, their top three hitters, if I recall, Jerry, in those two one-run losses to Florida and TCU, I think they were 0 for 20. And when you have a hole like that in your lineup, when you're used to getting multiple runs, particularly two out productive at-bats with the drive-in runs, that's tough to overcome. And Virginia out-hit, had more hits in that second loss, but they were all scattered out.

And again, they left so many people stranded on the base paths, particularly in scoring position. You just can't do that on that level. It just doesn't work. Rob Neal watching the program. Rob Neal appreciated your perspective on Rane and Tiki Barber. He said the Barber twins donated a brand new weight room, all the trimmings, and additional supplies to their high school, which was also his alma mater.

Cave Spring. Very early into their pro careers. He also highlights, Rob Neal does, that Rod A. and Tiki Barber were the valedictorians at their high school. Yes. And it's the high school that's synonymous with Western Alamo High School. Why he's highlighting this, I don't want to assume, but I know Western well, is Western's a very high-performing academic school. Right. So the fact that he's comparing Cave Spring to Western and the Barber Twins being valedictorians

is highlighting the fact that they're academic stars and athletic stars. Oh, he made a great point. And we, as media, we were, it was evident from early on just how different these two guys were. They came here as, certainly they had to mature into young men, but they were outstanding from the day they walked on grounds. And it was so funny. I remember talking to Geraldine, their mom, one time about them. She said, I don't think they've ever spent a night apart because they obviously lived together growing up with her.

And then at UVA, I guess they roomed together growing up with her. And then at UVA, I guess they roomed together, obviously, and they were identical twins. You know, the stories about identical twins, feeling and thinking the same. Rondé, out at Lake Monticello, Rondé played with me. Tiki and Rondé both played in this. It was 100 holes of golf in one day, charity event.

100? 100 holes. Started almost at sunrise and finished in the dark. And Rondé was my partner, and Tiki was playing with another group. It was only the second time Rondé had ever played, and I remember, I don't know, it was four or five holes into it. He made a par on a par three,

and it was the first par that he'd ever made. He was so excited. He called Tiki and told him about it and was bragging about it. Tiki called him back a few holes later and said he had a birdie. It was just like that all day long. They were just inseparable. They had to keep sharing their accomplishments with each other even though they weren't playing together. And it was, that's just the way they were. They, they, they were always together and always thinking about each other and their well-being and

pushing each other to greater heights. I mean, can you imagine growing up in the driveway and you've got a brother that's identical age to you? I can't imagine. Same physicality as you, same athletic ability as you, as competitive as you, pushing you every day in every aspect of your life. I can't. Competing and dunking Oreos in your milk glass.

Competing like my brother and I would compete at everything, running up the stairs. I mean, and we were 18 months apart. Imagine being the same age and that God-given ability. And looking just like you. Right. I mean, it's just. I can't imagine. I really can't.

I can't relate to that. That's absolutely amazing. Guys, we got a lot of comments coming in. This one's coming in from the Baltimore area. And they want, Thomas wants Hootie to put into perspective Brian O'Connor's coaching job this year and asks if this is one of his best ones yet. Hard to compete with a national championship, Thomas, which Brian O'Connor certainly has. On the short list of one of his best ones.

But I'll give the mic to the Virginia Sports Hall of Famer here. No, I would agree with you, Jerry. I think you were spot on in that analysis. I think it's one of his better jobs because, again, they had the pitching struggles. And they've had that a few times in recent years and still manage to get to Omaha, which speaks volumes about how his coaches groom these guys throughout the season, bringing them along to where they become incredibly useful at the right time. This team seemed to peak at the right time. They were unbelievable in the regionals and sub-regionals,

going undefeated against an SEC team and a team that knocked out an SEC team to get here, Kansas State. But it wasn't his best team ever now, but it had its faults. But the offense was unbelievable until they got to Omaha. Unfortunately, maybe the worst offensive performance was on the biggest stage of the year. Yeah, and again, that's two years in a row. That's baseball. Yeah, it's baseball. You're going to face elite pitching when you get to the College Bowl Series, and we've seen that.

I mean, it was dominating pitching last year and this year that silenced Virginia's bats to a degree. So we'll talk Carla Williams. Extensions for both Tony Bennett and Brian O'Connor announced on the same day. I take that topic and I parlay it into, is this Carla Williams' best week on the job last week since she's taken over as athletics director at the University of Virginia? Arguably so.

I know Jenny Pettiford asked where we were when we found out the news, unfortunately. Renee, Renee. Yeah, I think she is by Jenny. But anyways, I was on the golf course. I was over at Stony Creek playing in the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame golf tournament that they'd used as a fundraiser for the hall last Thursday afternoon when the news broke. And so I didn't really, I actually didn't know about it until the round was over, you know, because obviously you're not paying attention to your phone during the golf tournament. But I found out after the tournament was over that they both had signed

and had to hurry back and address that. But, yeah, it was a great day to be Carla Williams because not only did she secure two of the greatest coaches in UVA history, but only a few days before she opened the Football Operations Center, which was a major accomplishment for UVA sports, and cut the ribbon, I guess, for the Olympic Sports Building, which is going up right beside of it. So, yeah, she had a great week.

Brian O'Connor and Tony Bennett, if the contract is an indication, this could be their final stop on the coaching journey and certainly makes yours truly very happy. I can't think of better guys to lead both programs. We highlighted in previous weeks guys that would make the Mount Rushmore of Virginia coaching. Guys that, when it's all said and done, may very well could have their name on the hardwood, a la Mike Krzyzewski, and their name somewhere on the diamond at the dish. Special guys leading programs that have become, in a lot of ways,

the face of the athletic department. Put in perspective, as we get off baseball here, what baseball has become at Virginia. Well, it's certainly probably the golden age for both of those sports that fans right now are enjoying that people 10 years from now will have missed out on and won't be able to relate to. It'll just be part of the history for them. But having covered the Welsh and Holland years and then seeing what happens sometimes to programs when greatness departs it you know it leaves a

lot of fans empty because they remember how it used to be. Not saying that you can't continue that success, but it's awfully hard to maintain that high a caliber of success in any athletic program because you're competing against other programs that are trying to beat your brains out and scheme and find their ways to advance their programs. So it's a tough world out there, a competitive world and a cutthroat world. And so when those two guys are gone, I hope fans will appreciate what they did for their respective programs because uh who knows you

you may get lucky and and have bring in coaches who can maintain that rate of success or or you know the programs could take a dip like a lot of programs do when we've seen when great coaches retire, it's awfully hard to continue that kind of productivity. I mean, look at what Tony Bennett's done for this basketball program. He and Terry Holland have taken it to heights that most other colleges dream of. And same with UVA baseball, the winningest program in the nation over the last 21 years. Unbelievable. And I have a feeling that will continue on through his tenure whenever he decides to hang it up.

But there's no guarantee that you'll continue that kind of winning when either of these guys decide that they've had enough. Hootie Ratcliffe makes this show easy. We still got to talk football, golf, and swimming. Football notebook. Slower time for football. Anything you want to highlight news and notes wise from Tony Elliott's football team? Well announced yesterday that they've added three guys to the transfer portal. One was a linebacker from Cincinnati who had some pretty nice numbers. And

a long snapper, and I can't tell you how much people say, oh, it's a long snapper, but Long snapper's critical. You've got to have one. You've got to have a good one. When you don't know your long snapper is critical. You've got to have one. You've got to have a good one. When you don't know your long slapper's name or your holder's name, that's a good thing. When you know your long snapper's name and your holder's name, you have trouble.

Exactly. I couldn't say it any better. And so that was important. And they had some walk-ons, too. And who knows, you know, one of those, those couple of those guys might be able to contribute we've seen a few over the years contribute to the program but um you know i guess right now he's doing his camps and recruiting and evaluations and all that sort of stuff and probably taking a little bit of a downtime before they get serious when training camp opens up in early August.

I guess a lot of the guys have reported in to school that will be here this fall. Same with basketball. It's amazing. For summer school. Even squash. I'm seeing, and squash gets no attention here. They've launched a summer school. Even squash. I'm seeing, and squash gets no attention here. They've launched a summer program. Big college sports, top to bottom,

has turned into almost a full-time profession for these student athletes. It's year-round. They're taking three-week training sessions. We're talking squash. Three-week training sessions for these athletes. They take a class. They get ahead, so they can take maybe 12 credits during the season.

They're training hard for three weeks so they're ahead preseason. And this is squash. I mean, imagine what the football, the basketball guys are doing right now. It's big time. It's almost a pro athlete's lifestyle. Yeah. it's it's it's it's almost a pro athlete's lifestyle yeah well basketball guys will be playing pickup games and doing some one-on-one i think work with the coaches i think ncaa allows that now the football guys will be doing uh summer conditioning and seven on seven i guess drills uh baseball guys will be headed out all over the country to play in summer leagues.

None of these athletes in any of these sports really take much time off. The tennis guys are playing tournaments everywhere. We've got swimmers doing U.S. trials in the Olympics. The golfers are playing in the U.S. Open. Yeah, and any other tournaments they can play in. So it's become a thing where you have to specialize in your sport now. And it's awfully hard to be a two- or three-sport athlete these days, just almost nonexistent in college. And in high school, a lot of these guys are asked to specialize in one sport,

which there's been a lot of criticism of that. Which is almost sad. Yeah. But that's the way of the world. Some of these elite travel squads that these high school kids are on, they almost have to commit to being on those, which is time-consuming for the parents and expensive because they're spending their weekends traveling all over the East Coast, participating in high-level competition.

And you almost have to do that to earn a college scholarship on a lot of these teams anymore. Comments coming in. Phillip Dow is watching in Scottsville. He says he saw an article on ESPN where the Virginia football team is predicted to win two games this season. Yeah, I think Vegas probably has them at 4.5.

You take the over-runner on four and a half. It's going to be close, I think, because, again, there's some things I like about this team that I think could weigh heavily in their favor. They've got so many guys, so many starters returning on both sides of the football and and guys with starting experience who aren't listed as starters so in college athletics a lot of times experience will will make up for some other things but

again we've talked about how challenging the schedule is, particularly back-loaded. But I still think the biggest obstacle for Tony Elliott and this football team is that, and I don't know how you do this, but they have to learn how to win. George Wells was a big proponent of that, and I think some other coaches would agree. I think that's what hurt them so much last year in so many close games.

They lost six games by a combined 17 points. They didn't know how to win. They kept making mistakes, shooting themselves in the foot, critical errors at the most critical times in games. They should have won at least two more games last year, Jerry. They could have been a borderline bowl team last year, albeit a crappy bowl, but it's still a bowl game, and that's how you're measured in today's college football.

But if they can learn how to win and reverse some of these close game decisions, maybe through that experience, I could see them winning enough to get into a ball game. I'm not saying they will, but I'm saying if they can eliminate all the dumb mistakes, or a majority of the dumb mistakes they made a year ago, they can win some games. Because they've got some talent. They've got two quarterbacks they can win with. Two quarterbacks that are starting caliber quarterbacks.

Yeah, they've got, I think, 80. They've got talent on defense. Yeah. Offensive line is a huge question mark. Yes. I think they've got 85% of their offensive productivity returning, which is like fourth or fifth in the nation. Now, the follow-up to that is losing a guy like Malik Washington.

Yeah. I mean, it's impossible to replace somebody as good as he was, although they've got a couple of good transfers like Chris Tyree. Kid from Notre Dame. Have a chance. Richmond product. Yeah. And Green from Carolina, who was hurt and didn't really fulfill his expectations.

But Malachi Fields, ready for a breakout season. They've got some guys with a lot of potential. If they can find a way to bring it out, bring out the best in those guys, and again, I think the biggest thing is to eliminate the dumb mistakes that they made last year. They have a chance. They'll win more than two games. I think that's a silly projection on ESPN's part. I think they'll also win more than two games.

You open the season with Richmond. Now, some of these games in the beginning of the year are, in a lot of ways, must-win games. With Richmond, you've got a Coastal Carolina team that you'd probably make an argument that is a must-win game, although you're on the road there. Hootie makes the point that the back half of this season is brutal. Louisville at Scott Stadium, Clemson in Death Valley, North Carolina, Scott Stadium, Pitt at Pitt, then Notre Dame in South Bend, SMU in Charlottesville with SMU looking to make a statement. And a Virginia Tech football team that's had Virginia's number, and that one's in Blacksburg at Lane. Hootie, we are just over two months away from the opener yeah and you made a great point too that a lot of this success or failure is going to boil down to that offensive line and even though a lot of those guys are

returning they still haven't proven that they can get the job done. And I think that's going to make or break this football team. I mean, you look at what happened with the quarterback play last year, Tony Musket, the entire campaign injured, running for his life, Calandria running for his life. And yes, he's made some bad decisions. He was a freshman taking care of the football. But a lot of those mistakes he made were because he was out of pocket running literally for his life and having to throw off the back foot, having to throw on the run, having to throw with a backer in front of his face. They really didn't have a lot of time to just assess what was in front of them. And, you know, talking to Jay Wolf last week about, he said, that's one thing I don't miss about football is somebody trying to knock my head off every other play.

So he got it. He understands. It's tough playing quarterback, but it's even tougher when you don't have a lot of protection. And who was it that told you this? And then you told me all running backs run the same when there's no holes in front of them. Was that Al Groh? That's a famous Al Groh quote. Yeah.

Couldn't be any words truer than that. Kobe Pace, we've seen what he could do at Clemson. He was a starting running back there for a while. But again, you can't run through a wall. So maybe Errol Campbell could, but there's not many Errol Campbells out there. But yeah, the offensive line, they've got to protect these two quarterbacks

and they've got to punch holes in defenses. And if they can do that, then it makes the quarterbacks better. It allows them to be more proficient because they can use the play-action pass to their advantage and keep defenses off-balance and back off linebackers and safeties. And it makes a world of difference when you've got a running game that you can rely on. Roger Voisinet watching the program.

Mr. Virginia Hockey, Roger Voisinet, giving love to the show. Multiple folks are asking if this is the make-or-break year for the head coach. Well, it depends. You know, should he win two games and they lay an egg, there's going to be a lot of pressure on him. He'll be on the hot seat for sure. If they can win four or five football games, I don't know how you can fire the guy because to me that signals progress. They have upgraded their recruiting a little bit this year over the past two years,

which is a good sign because they're bringing in guys who look like they can compete and they're being recruited. Most of them are being recruited by other winning programs. So if you can accumulate enough of those, it can make a big difference. And one of my arguments about Virginia, and I have a friend who used to be a defensive coordinator at a major ACC school and in the NFL. And he shared that philosophy with me one time. I asked him about it, and I said, it seems to me that Virginia has a lot of good players who could play for a lot of teams in the country.

And he said, yeah, they just don't have enough of them. They just don't have the depth. Exactly. And when you get a couple of guys injured. And we saw that. Yeah. You don't have anybody to replace them at that. That's almost always been the case with this team.

I mean, we saw some flashes where that wasn't the case. We saw it in some in the grow tenure. I'll grow with that pro-style offense and what he was doing with the 3-4, he had depth at stages of his tenure. We certainly saw it with George Welsh, but it's not depth consistently. Yeah, ever since then, that's been a problem.

No question. And something you've got to have if you want to stack up winning seasons. And that's why a lot of us, you know, I want nothing but the best for football because it sets the stage for the rest of the season and the athletic department in totality. Lauren and Keswick, welcome to the program. When the football team is doing well, the fan zest or the fan passion,

the interest carries over throughout the year. And guys like Hootie and I, we're blessed to almost piggyback off that interest when football is doing well. When football is sour and not doing well, that bitterness just resonates. And folks that like, especially Hootie, folks like me that do this where we're talking media and sports on a regular basis, that bitterness can even wear on us covering it. Yeah, because you feel like you're watching the same game. Right. You feel like you're writing the same story week after week.

And that gets old. It gets old. Yeah. Yeah. And I remember that during the tail end of uh you know coach london's tenure i mean you're talking a fantastic human being in mike london who's having success in williamsburg at wave and mary yeah and it was just getting old having to talk about a guy that was on the cusp of losing his job over and over and over again and and and to the point of the the depth missing

at virginia that's why a lot of us were saying, Bronco Mendenhall, we got to be patient with this guy because he came in with the system that was a spread style offense. I don't want to call it gimmicky, but in a lot of ways like Tony Bennett's pack line defense that allowed the team to compete because it was different from the norm, which gave the team on edge on Saturdays because other teams weren't accustomed to playing it. Yeah, it was essentially Mike Leach's air raid offense that he made famous with its own tweaks. But that's where it was born out of. And so it was a different system that they provided. And that was intentional.

John Oliver and Craig Littlepage definitely went after a guy with something different, just like they did with Tony Bennett, because other teams had to adjust to you in a week's time. And that's why some folks are asking, can a pro-style offense work here at UVA? Well, we'll see. We'll see. To be determined. 100%, Hootie, 100%.

A sport that you're extremely passionate about, golf, a tournament you're extremely passionate about, the U.S. Open, a course you're extremely passionate about, Pinehurst. Yeah. I love that golf course. Three Virginia golfers in the same group to open the tourney? Yeah, it was awesome. And the fact that they got to play together both days was incredible as well.

Ben James just missed the cut by a stroke, a single stroke. It had to be a thrill for him to be playing with Ben Coles and Denny McCarthy, who both ended up, I think Denny ended up in the top 30-some, something. And Coles, I think, in top 50-something. But the fact that those guys made the cut through sunday on a incredibly difficult golf course against uh an elite field had to be had to be special yeah you talk about

baseball being a brutal sport look at what happened to roy rory mcelroy maybe the best golfer of this generation and And look at the collapse he had in the fourth round and the final round over the backstretch. I mean, you saw a man look extremely human and then he leaves the course without talking to the media. Uh, he later gives props to the champion for, for, for a job well done, but you're talking maybe the greatest golfer of our current generation looking very human in the U.S. Open. It's devastating. Missing putts that you and I make.

Yeah, well, on Thursday I missed a putt just like that, and I was complaining to myself, and one of my partners said, no big deal, pros miss those putts, and I'm saying, no, they don't. And then McElroy does. And DeChambeau missed one too. Two-and-a-half footers, three footers. I mean, that's golf. And sometimes you think it looks easy, but sometimes there's a subtleness on those greens that you don't see,

and it can make a golf ball do some funny things, and it can catch the edge of the cup and roll out, lip out. Sometimes you may not be 100% focused, and your club putter's face may not be precisely where it needs to be. It's just a teeny little bit. And you push the putt. And you push it or pull it, and it doesn't take much to miss a putt. You've got to feel for the guy because, like you said,

he's not only one of the greatest golfers of our generation but he's a good guy and uh going through some tough stuff he is going through some tough stuff on and off the course yeah uh and you know life ain't easy and he's just leaving he's living in in the global spotlight exactly and. And I'll applaud it to DeChambeau. He's a breath of fresh air for the sport. Oh, my gosh. He's changed himself. He didn't used to be a people's champion.

He used to be a guy that was hard to deal with. Bristled. Same way Payne Stewart was, his hero. 100%. And Pay pain changed and and de chambeau changed and uh how refreshing it was to see him out uh out there on the grounds of pinehurst after dark two and a half hours after the tournament was over. Most guys are gone. Most guys are at the bar. He's out there signing autographs and taking pictures.

He was interacting with fans and signing autographs during the round. Yes. During the final round of the greatest tournament. Well, some would say the Masters. I love the U.S. Open. I love them all. I love the U.S. Open because it's different every year. Exactly. That's why I love the U.S. Open too. It's a would say the Masters. I love the US Open. I love them all. I love the US Open because it's different every year. Exactly. That's why I love the US Open too.

It's a different course every year. He's interacting with fans and signing autographs while walking the course. It was touching to see him walk past the kid that was in a wheelchair and just stopped and signed his hat.

Gave him two high fives. Yeah. You just don't see that. Right. I mean, it's... I thought the U.S. Open was just start... I love the majors, start to finish. I watched the majors start to finish.

It was a special one. I had the good fortune when they uh had the redesign of the course it used they used to have not hardly any what you would call like pga tournament rough it's mostly just pine needles but when they had the the redesign back several years ago i had the great fortune to be invited down for the press conference, and they showed us the native grasses and the wiregrass and all that stuff and had restored it the way it was back when Donald Ross built it way back when. And I got to play it that day, and I've played it a couple times since then.

And it's so different than anything else that you find in this country. And it's just an incredibly challenging golf course, as you saw. I mean, the fact that Dee Shambo was able to be as inaccurate as he was off the tee and end up in that wiregrass so many times and still made incredible shots and pulled it off was remarkable. I like the tournaments, and one of the reasons I like the majors, one of the reasons I like the British Open is I like the tournaments where you see the pro golfers, where a lot of these other tournaments, they're

24 under par after four rounds. I like the tournaments where they're basically close to even. The regular golfer can't relate to 24 under par. Most guys, if they make a birdie during their round, they're excited.

If I make a birdie or two a month, Hootie, I'm happy. Exactly. So all the drama from, and that's, again, I love the British Open as well, the Open, because it's usually a real test of golf because most of the time, sometimes those links courses can be very vulnerable if there's no wind and no weather uh because they're flat and hard and and i got a taste of that when i got to play out abandoned dunes and pacific dunes in o Oregon a few years ago when they're sort of ocean-y, ocean-side links courses.

And it was so different hitting a golf ball and you're used to it going X amount of yards off the tee and you go out there where you think your ball should be and it's another 75 yards or 100 yards further than you thought because you got incredible roll from how hard the ground is. So it's so different. But still, that's why I like the U.S. Open and British Open so much

is just because there are different courses every year, and there are usually incredible challenges for the golfer. Eight guys for the entire tournament under par. Yeah. Two of those eight were at one under, and the winning score was six under par. To put golf into perspective, almost in a lot of ways a microcosm of life, Rory McIlroy, so frustrated with his finish. And listen to this guy's finish. He finishes in second place in the U.S. Open,

another top five finish in a major championship for Rory McIlroy. Yes, he hasn't won a major in about a decade, but still, he's performing in a ridiculous clip. He walks away with $2,322,000. $2,322,000 Rory McIlroy leaves. And he's so frustrated with himself and his game, he's deciding to take this weekend off with the Travelers Tournament. Yeah.

I want you guys to think about that. Yeah. It's just. Yeah, I know there's billboards all over that city plugging him going to play in the Travelers Tournament this weekend. And he's pulling out. Up in Connecticut. But it's understandable. Yeah, 100%.

Again, with some of the things he's got going on off the course. Right. And to lose that way, it's just dispiriting. Yeah, I mean, he's so close you can taste it. And it's been so long. There wasn't more pressure on anybody in the golfing world than there has been on Rory McIlroy the last few years. 100%. Trying to get back to winning a major. And with the LIV stuff, when he was the face of the PGA, with the old guard staying with the PGA with the new guard going to the

LIV. He took a lot of heat for that. He was the spokesman in a lot of ways for staying with the PGA and hating on the LIV. Absolutely. He was the face of the PGA for that entire process pretty much and did it brilliantly. I thought he handled that extremely well. This show's been a breeze with Hootie Ratcliffe. We'll have to get Dr. Rotella in here.

Bob Rotella's a great man. He works with Rory. I know. Lives in town, lives in Glenmore. Yeah, and he's told me just, he's had so much interaction with Rory, he talks about what a, just a great human being he is and so we'll have to get

him in here and talk about that. Rotella's still long off the tee. I saw him a little while ago. He was playing by himself. He had three or four balls off the tee. I think he was playing three or four balls on each hole right there and then when he's not playing golf he might be having a pop or two in the 19th hole. He still competes in some of these state tournaments, and even last year at the city tournament out at Metacreek, he was playing, and even though he is at an age now where he could play in an easier division, he was playing in the most difficult division, and that's a tribute to him, just how much he loves to compete. Yeah, 100%.

And speaking of golf, I don't have the date in front of me, but I promised Phillip C. from Metacreek, they're having the men's and women's and seniors championship all rolled up into one on the same day. I don't have the date in front of me. I can't get to my email right now, but it's late June. For some reason, 27th or 29th kind of jumps out at me, but if you're interested in playing in any of those divisions, men's, women's, seniors, super seniors, just check out Metta Creek's website or call the pro shop

and you can get all the information you need to compete. And the only tournament, really, that we have left in Charlottesville other than the Kenridge, which has turned into more of a college invitational. But this is really the only tournament left. You know, when I was working for you at the Progress, when you were the editor,

we had a boatload of tournaments because I'd go out there and cover them with you. What are they going for, what, the battle trophy? The battle trophy. I enjoyed getting to know the golfers with you. Yeah, they're great guys. The golfing community here is strong. I mean, as Rob McNamara said recently, he said, if you look around Charlottesville and we have as many quality golf courses as we have here,

for a city this size, it's almost incomparable. There's not many places in the country where you can find that. So it's an incredibly strong golfing community. And, yeah, Kevin Record and myself developed that competition over the years because there was a few tournaments here in those days, the Faulkner out at Monticello, Lake Monticello, the Kindredge, the City Championship, Green Hills. Those were initially the core, and then Birdwood went on to add the Jefferson Cup. We had an event out at Old Trail.

Spring Creek came alive with the Cannon Cup. So we developed that competition locally and I asked Bill Battle who was USGA president in 88, 89 if we could name the trophy after him because he had been so important to the golf world and this community had a lot to do with Birdwood being developed. And he allowed us to grace the trophy with his name.

We handed it out to our golfer of the year every year through the points competition competition through those tournaments. And we also awarded points. So we knew we had good golfers here. We wanted them to compete more around the state. So we gave them points for the state amateur and state open. And it helped really develop a couple of generations of good golfers out here in this community. It's a shame we don't have that anymore.

And I guess COVID kind of ruined it all. But maybe someday we'll get back to it. But Charlottesville area was the envy of the state because nobody else had competition like that. And so hopefully someday that it'll come back around again. Highlight, as we close the program, Virginia swimmer, world record holder, future Olympian. How cool is that? I watched it, I just happened to have my TV on about the doze off when the swimming came

on from Indianapolis and I said yeah I bet Gretchen Walsh was going to be competing here in a few minutes and she was in the second race of the evening and I watched her and it was so joyous watching

her break that the evening and I watched her and it was so joyous watching her break that world record. She didn't know that she had broken it until she looked up and saw the time and gosh, she was so ecstatic and so was her family. I was second Olympian in her family. Her older sister had won a silver I think. So how happy can you be for her to not only be an Olympian, but to have a world record in her pocket and representing UVA.

It's fantastic. Todd DeSorbo has built a dynasty at UVA and I think he's one of the Olympics room coaches. I believe he's one of the coaches. Sarah Buchanan, thank you for interacting with the program. We appreciate you. Hootie, this show's been a breeze. Folks, we just

went an hour and 16 minutes of just having fun, talking sports. Shows like this, Phelps does a great show. Thank you guys. We appreciate you. Iows like this, Phil says, great show. Thank you guys. We appreciate you. I love doing this. Go to the man's website. It's Jerry Rackliff.

JerryRackliff.com. JerryRackliff.com. Anything Virginia sports related, JerryRackliff.com. We appreciate you watching and listening to the program. Judah Wickauer behind the camera. Thank you kindly for keeping us on air. MVP. Absolutely. The show airs on Tuesdays. The I Love Seville show, guys, is up about 58 minutes.

So long, everybody. Thank you.