GrohMustGo

We're starting to wonder if the Dictator is actually trying to alienate the fans.

"Groh also endears himself to constituents by telling them they lack the expertise to (God forbid) question his strategy or business model. He even took a swipe at predecessor George Welsh when someone named Bobby called his radio show to suggest Groh's program was deteriorating.
"I might remind Bobby that in the two years before we got here, the other team had something like 110 points in bowl games, and Virginia had 30," was Groh's retort.
Factually, Groh was close to right. Spiritually, he was a boob to knock the guy who built football from scratch in C'ville and made it matter.
Oh, and I might remind Chairman Al that in the two years before he arrived, George Welsh signed or lined up Matt Schaub, Heath Miller, Billy McMullen, Chris Canty, Alvin Pearman, Elton Brown and Marques Hagans - key players who got Groh off to an acceptable start before he dipped south in early 2005."

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&%09s=1045855935437&c=MGArticle&cid=1149191190495&path=%21sports%21columnists

* Virginia coach Al Groh continues to exhibit why he failed as a one-year coach of the New York Jets and shouldn't ever think about going back to the NFL. Yesterday, the Wahoos blew a 20-0 lead and lost to a marginal-at-best Maryland team, 28-26. Trailing 28-20 and facing a fourth-and-4 from the Terrapins' 15, Groh's offensive coordinator - his son, Mike - called for a low-percentage pass to the end zone by redshirt freshman quarterback Jameel Sewell. The pass fell incomplete and wasn't really close. After the game, ol' Albert was asked about the play call and the matchup. "We don't make the throws. If you ask about the matchup, the quarterback makes the throws. But I don't have any problem with the play." Right there, Groh ran the chance of losing his team forever. He threw his young quarterback under the bus so he could defend his son. Blood is obviously thicker than water, but Gibbs would NEVER call a player out like that. Sure, it doesn't make for good copy, but it's why the players respect Gibbs. They know he has their back. If I'm Sewell, I have lost all trust that my head coach will defend me when times get tough (and they don't get tougher for the Cavs right now - they're 2-5; at least they get to play North Carolina on Thursday night). And Mike Groh wasn't around to explain the decision. Ol' Albert doesn't make his assistants available to the media except for a short spell during the preseason.

http://washingtontimes.com/blogs/storyview.php?StoryID=20061015-114856-8756r&TopicsID=skins

This week (Groh) ikened hard, honest questioning from fans on his call-in show to, essentially, Cessna pilots questioning the captain of a jumbo jet. The inference was, "These small people have no idea how to coach my football team." It's that condescension, that utter arrogance in the face of failure, that will be his undoing .
People here are friendly, folksy; they don't like uppity people who used to work for Bill Parcells telling them they don't know what they're talking about, even if Groh is a Virginia alum.
Look, Lord Groh of 'Hooville is about to face a revolt from the peasants that may include pitchforks. It's not going to be pretty.'

-- Washington Post columnist Mike Wise

http://www.dailyprogress.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CDP%2FMGArticle%2FCDP_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149191084182&path=!sports!cav_insider

We've read some asinine sports columns in our day, but Ratcliffe's defense of Groh on this one is inexplicable. The Dictator arrogantly dismisses reasonable questions from loyal fans, and Ratcliffe goes to bat for him?

Pathetic. Does Groh have pictures of him or something? Are they in on a time share together?

Hey Jerry, I got your deuce formation right here.

“I fly on a lot of airplanes,” Groh said. “Just because I fly on airplanes, doesn’t make me qualified to be a pilot. I own stocks. Just because I own stocks doesn’t mean I have any idea how and why my broker picks the stocks.“As a result, I don’t have any opinion as to what the pilot should do, whether he should have flown at 35,000 feet or 15,000 feet. I figure, he’s trained, he’s got all the facts, he knows what he’s doing, he knows a lot more about it than I do. I just let him fly the plane.”

An Open Letter to the Dear Leader, er, Coach Groh:

OK, we get it. We the fans have no idea what we're talking about. Obviously, when things are in the trusted hands of a pair of experts like you and Mike, it's totally inappropriate to second guess. We'll just go back to being docile and writing checks to the VAF so none of those $1.7 million checks bounces (about $600K per win is a darn good deal!)

I mean, it's not like you wasted the talent of every decent recruiting class you ever brought in, consistently expressed contempt for The University's loyal fans, raised mediocrity to an art form, failed to prepare a starting quarterback for this year, hired an unqualified relative for a critical post or led us to one of the worst offenses in the entire country... an expert wouldn't do that!

We'll just be quiet and enjoy our two wins now.

xxx ooo,

Us

UVa has a 10-21 road record, including 1-18 as an underdog.