WAHOO APPRECIATION MONTH

For reasons to be disclosed at a later date, T.A.H. has officially declared the entire month of May "University of Virginia Appreciation Month." Brace yourself for loving praise, hardy endorsements and mostly-sincere kudos.

Puff pieces will abound thanks to the kindness of one of their most distinguished grads who pulled the editor's rear end out of the direct flames earlier today!

All hail, the mighty Wahoos!

Don't forget to watch the Kentucky Derby later today.

Off to the Gold Cup for a day of sweltering good fun!

ELEVEN ENTERED IN VIRGINIA GOLD CUP

An accomplished field of 11 timber specialists will line up Saturday for the $75,000 Virginia Gold Cup, the biggest steeplechase horse race in the Commonwealth. Among the horses entered for the four-mile race over timber are defending timber champion Patriot’s Path, 2009 International Gold Cup victor Seeyouattheevent (r), last year’s Pennsylvania Hunt Cup winner, Erin Go Bragh and 2008 Gold Cup winner Bubble Economy.

Trained by Jack Fisher (below) of Saluter fame, Arthur W. “Nick” Arundel’s Seeyouattheevent comes into the Virginia Gold Cup from a two-length victory over Rainbows for Luck in the $20,000 Middleburg Hunt Cup in Middleburg, Va., on April 17. Erin Go Bragh finished third in that race.

In his final start of 2009, Seeyouattheevent had won the International Gold Cup by 3 1/2 lengths over the Great Meadow course. Willie Dowling, who rode the nine-year-old Event of the Year gelding in the Middleburg Hunt Cup, again will be aboard for the Virginia Gold Cup.

Gregory S. Bentley’s Rainbows for Luck also returns in the Virginia Gold Cup, in which all starters carry 165 pounds.

Fisher, the reigning National Steeplechase Association champion trainer, also will send out Arcadia Stable’s Bubble Economy (below #9), winner of the Virginia Gold Cup and International Gold Cup in 2008 and second in those races last year. Ridden by champion jockey Paddy Young, the 11-year-old Rakeen gelding rallied powerfully to finish second by a head in the $30,000 My Lady’s Manor on April 10.

Irvin Naylor’s Patriot’s Path (below #6) comes into the Virginia Gold Cup from a fifth-place tune-up in the Grand National at Butler, Md., on April 17. Winner of last year’s Mason Houghland Memorial at the Iroquois Steeplechase, the ten-year-old Carnivalay gelding is trained by Desmond Fogarty, and Darren Nagle has the mount.

Also entering the Virginia Gold Cup is H. Bruce Fenwick’s Bon Caddo, Magalen O. Bryant’s Erin Go Bragh (NZ), EMO Stables’ He’s a Conniver, Conrad Somers’ J. Alfred Proofrock, Diane Gilliam’s Artist’s Stroke, Gregory Bentley’s Rainbows For Luck, Joseph Davies’ Fort Henry (IRE) and Keystone Thoroughbreds’ Meet at Eleven (IRE).

(NZ) = New Zealand – country of origination.

(IRE) = Ireland – country of origination.

To read more from Steeplechase Times, click here.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

THE LIKELY FAVORITE. Kentucky Derby entrant Lookin at Lucky with exercise rider Dana Bernes works out in advance of the 136th running of the Kentucky Derby on April 29, 2010 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.

(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO…

Hmmm…

Leave it to the New York Post to give us the scoop on the dead guy on the motorcycle. In a story with the headline “Biker Comes To Dead End” in today’s edition, the Post points out that David Morales Colon of Puerto Rico was unfortunately shot to death last week.

His family was not inclined to send D.M.C. off to his maker in a traditional manner, but opted instead to perch him up on his beloved motorcycle. So, the local mortician propped him up on his trusty Honda dressed for one last road trip.

Now, mind you, we concur the picture is both odd, and, of course, morbid, but it’s the caption that caught the eye of T.A.H. Pop Culture Editor Young A.T. – “Dead guy on motorcycle in Puerto Rico.”

Just the facts, ma’am.

To read more and see more photos (we won’t rat you out), click here.

YET AGAIN, FOOTBALL OFFSEASON = CRIME SEASON

Year-in and year-out, football players manage to find trouble with the justice system during the offseason. Doesn’t matter which school, eventually somebody does something less than brilliant and ends up on the police blotter.

Most are misdemeanors, some are rather trivial, but the consistency probably only mirrors the trouble other college kids their age manage to find. Problem is when Jim in room 18 in Ashby Hall gets busted for a bag of pot, nobody cares (save Jim, Jim’s mom and Jim’s dad.)

Of course, it begs the age old question “What were you thinking?” And the all-too consistent answer “I wasn’t.”

Enter the Wolfpack.

According to the Raleigh News & Observer, four N.C. State football players and a former Wolfpack women's volleyball player face misdemeanor charges after police recovered marijuana and drug paraphernalia during a search of an off-campus apartment early Saturday.

Three football players - defensive tackles Markus Kuhn (middle), 23, and J.R. Sweezy (scheduled to start, but suspended after a misdemeanor assault and misdemeanor larceny after a March 18 altercation with a shuttle bus driver), 21, (below) and offensive tackle Jake Vermiglio (possible All ACC in 2010), 22 - were charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, simple possession of marijuana and maintaining a dwelling for the purpose of using a controlled substance.

Allison Davis, 22, who was a senior on the N.C. State volleyball team this past fall, faces the same three charges as Kuhn, Sweezy and Vermiglio.

A fourth N.C. State football player, tight end George Bryan (All Conference, 40 passes for 422 yards and six touchdowns), 20, (top photo) faces a single charge of maintaining a dwelling for the purpose of using a controlled substance. All of the charges are misdemeanors.

Nice mess.

N.C. State coach Tom O'Brien commented on the charges in a brief statement released by a school spokeswoman.

"I have been made aware of the situation," O'Brien said, "and appropriate action will be taken."

How does this happen? Let’s see – LIKE IT ALWAYS DOES!

An off-duty police officer working a security shift at the College Inn apartment strolls down the hall and is bowled over by the strong smell of mary jane…Hmmm, he thinks: “Should I bust these kids or let it slide?”

Evidently, he wasn’t a Wolfpack fan…

Not helping – three bags of pot, a blunt stuffed with the stuff, two homemade bongs and pictures on somebody’s Blackberry of pot plants…

Then to make matters worse (Note here, dudes: Avoid situations that involve search warrants), the published list of items taken from the apartment also included a box of ephedrine sulfate injection capsules. Ephedrine is on the NCAA's banned substances list.

Jeez.

FSU CENTER ALABI ENTERING DRAFT

You know your basketball program is on the upswing when your underclassmen start leaving early for the NBA...

To wit, Florida State’s 7-1 center, Solomon Alabi, is entering the draft.

Alabi, 22, averaged 9.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and a school-record 2.1 blocked shots in 77 games for the Seminoles. He was a third-team All ACC pick this past season when he helped Florida State to the NCAA tournament for the second straight year. He was twice chosen to the ACC’s all defensive team.

Coach Leonard Hamilton says Alabi will finish his academic work this semester and is on track to receive a degree in international relations next year.

A pair of 7-0 juniors, Jonathan Kreft and Xavier Gibson, will be candidates vying for Alabi’s starting center position next season.

THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO...

Hmmm...

Sumo wrestling students hold babies as they try to make them cry during the Crying Sumo competition at Sensoji Temple on April 25, 2010 in Tokyo, Japan. The first baby to cry wins the competition. The ceremony takes place in Japan to wish for the good health of the child as it is said that crying is good for the health of babies.

(Photos by Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images AsiaPac)

VA MEN, MD WOMEN WIN LAX TITLES

From the ACC.com:

Top-seeded Virginia won the 2010 ACC Men's Lacrosse Championship with a 10-6 victory decided on Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium on the campus of the University of Maryland in front of 2,626 fans on Sunday afternoon.

The second-ranked Cavaliers, who improve to 13-1 on the season (2-1 ACC) took full advantage of their 13th ACC title game appearance, picking up the program's sixth ACC Championship crown and first since 2006 when Virginia also defeated Maryland, 11-5, in Baltimore, Md.
The loss gives the fourth-ranked Terrapins a 9-3 mark this season (1-2 ACC).

The league's championship crown today for the Cavaliers is the school's seventh this academic year, tying the UVa school-record. Prior to the 2010 ACC Men's Lacrosse Championship, the Cavs won men's soccer, men's and women's swimming and diving, wrestling, rowing and men's tennis.

The Maryland-Virginia rivalry, which dates all the way back to 1926, is one of the longest in ACC men's lacrosse history, while the Terrapins hold a 44-41 (.518) advantage. The two programs have faced one another at least once every year since 1950 and 13 times in the ACC tournament with each side taking six victories of the previous 12.

Over in the women’s bracket, second-seeded Maryland won its second straight ACC women’s lacrosse championship by defeating top-seeded North Carolina, 10-5, today at Ludwig Field in College Park, Md. Maryland senior midfielder Caitlyn McFadden, who scored three goals and had two assists, was selected the most valuable player of the championship for the second consecutive year.

The win improves the Terps, who defeated Virginia, 10-6, on Friday to advance to the championship game, to 16-1 (4-1 ACC), and avenges a 13-9 loss at the hands of the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, N.C. on April 10. North Carolina falls to 14-2 (4-1 ACC).