Virginia-Duke
Nearly 4,000 tickets have been pre-sold to the Duke at Virginia game on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Klockner Stadium. Dave Curry, our Virginia Insider, has accounted for at least one of them. TFBO2F is still holding out for a freebie.
Is Duke on the same level as untouchable teams like 1990 Syracuse and 1998 Princeton?
Absolutely not. They have a couple midfielders who are very good but I don't think they have those one or two midfielders who are dominant. [Fifth-year senior attackman] Matt Danowski is as good as there is. But I think Virginia has more players who can run by you than Duke does.
Why all the excitement for Duke?
Charlottesville people don't like Duke. Nobody likes Duke unless you went to Duke...Duke still probably isn't accepted at UVa [lacrosse-wise]. Obviously, there's a great deal of respect, but Duke hasn't climbed the mountain yet [i.e. won a national title].
How would a big crowd be an advantage to Virginia?
Duke's crowd numbers have gotten better, but they're not drawing what they might see on Saturday. Eight thousand people would make Klockner very clausterphobic claustrophobic...It can be a very tough place to play.
What should we watch in the game?
Right now, given everything that happened two years ago and everything else, Duke is playing with a lot of motivation...The key will be Duke's ball-hawking defensemen against Virginia's offense. Everyone talks about Danowski and [junior attackman] Zack Greer, but Duke has some longsticks who can really move and get after the ball.
Virginia has made a goalie switch and will start fifth-year senior Bud Petit. How will that affect the game?
Right now, it's no different from having another midfielder step into a starting role. It means you have depth at that position. It's like what we said last week, do you go with the goalie who may make you better in May or the goalie who makes you better now? The coaches decided they would be better with Bud today. But I don't think Adam Ghitelman is off the table. Bud needs to play well.
By Christian Swezey |
April 11, 2008; 9:21 AM ET
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Posted by: anon | April 11, 2008 10:56 AM
I'm posting here because the discussion is over. You forgot to tell Hartford about the risk of death. Remember the Cornell player who died a few years ago when he took a ball in the chest. Also, in its origins, lacrosse was a very violent sport, really a war-substitute.
Posted by: Lex Pk | April 11, 2008 2:05 PM
Yes, you forgot to mention that two (Boardi and a kid in Vestal, NY, as far as I know) of the MILLIONS of people who have played lacrosse died ... to the mother of a kid who could play lacrosse.
Christian, you also forgot to mention that lacrosse can cause knee injuries, strained quadriceps, compound fractures, typhoid fever and the clap. EVERYBODY PANIC!
Posted by: Incredulous | April 11, 2008 2:26 PM
Thank you Incredulous, you took the words right out of my mouth. I was going to delete Lex Pk's comment, but now I think I'll leave it up as a sign of ignorance. "Food to the indolent is poison, not sustenance." --Frederick Douglass.
Posted by: Christian | April 11, 2008 2:32 PM
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claustrophobic