Speaking the Lawn

Zach and Pierce are back this week to talk about the many goings on in the world of UVA sports. Mainly, the utter debacle in the Commonwealth Cup rivalry, where football goes from here, and how crazy the transfer portal will be. Then, the duo discuss the men's basketball trip to Florida, the rebounding issues (and bounce back win against WVU), and look to tonight's game against Texas A&M.

Pierce, Zach, and Ben are all back this week to discuss the wins to start the season for the UVA basketball season. We were so close to starting with another HUGE upset over Louisville in football - but we discuss the context of the football season after the Hoos dropped a close one on the road. Most of the episode focuses on men's basketball - the early standouts and surprises and what we're hoping in the next few out of conference games.

Pierce, Zach, and Ben are back to talk about the 1-0 start for the UVA Men's Basketball team. The crew discuss what surprised them about the opening win over Tarleton State, what roster decisions were the most interesting, and where they see minutes shaking out from here. They discuss how great Reece Beekman is at length - and what also really encouraging signs fans can take from this game? Get set for the Florida game tomorrow with today's episode!

Pierce and Zach are back this week to talk about the UVA football team's recent OT loss to Miami (and some UNC massive upset reflections as well). Truly, the conversation has changed about the program and this coaching staff - will that continue with some momentum against Georgia Tech? Does it really all boil down to winning the VT game? They also dive more into the men's basketball team roster, the opening week next week and how the lineup tinkering might shake out with Coach Bennett.

Pierce, Zach, and Ben are back to talk about hoops this week! Football was on a bye last week, but the UVA basketball teams hosted their annual blue and white scrimmage - and our team of intrepid undergrad reporters made it to the JPJ to take in the first live action of the 2023-2024 squads. The crew discuss the results of the men's scrimmage and how things are starting to project re: the roster breakdown and potential star players!

Pierce and Zach are back this week to talk about UVA football. The Hoos are finally in the win column! With that excitement headed towards the bye week, there's an opportunity for the team to regroup and head towards some ACC wins. The next two opponents are slightly daunting (depending on how things in Miami are going...) and the duo run through their thoughts on the rest of the schedule as well. What would "success" look like for the second half of the season? There's great opportunity to turn the conversation around on this team and program...we're rooting for it to happen!

Pierce, Zach, and Paul are back this week to talk about the brutal last-drive loss to the NC State Wolfpack. Yes, they discuss the iffy calls and plays that led to the late collapse for the Hoos, but really dive into the bigger themes about losing and where the potential is to turn things around. They discuss the quarterback decision, Tony Muskett starting, and how the Boston College game might shake out.

Pierce, Zach, and Paul are back to discuss the losing start to the UVA football season. What's gone wrong? What of these things was expected? What kind of surprising negatives have popped up for the team - and what are some happy surprises we've seen? The trio discuss the blowout at Maryland, how it compared to the back-breaking loss to JMU and where to go from here. There's a big opportunity to turn things around for ACC play - we're hoping the Hoos answer that call!

Pierce and Zach are back this week - and joined by Caroline! The trio talk about the positives to take away from the loss in Nashville and look at where the UVA football team is going into its home opener this weekend against JMU. The Dukes are favored by the sportsbooks, but there are reasons to believe UVA can pull off a victory in its first game back in Scott. The crew discuss a lot of the questions they have about the team, its health, and how those answers against JMU will give them a better picture of what the rest of the season might look like.

Pierce, Paul, and Zach are all back this week to go through the 2023 UVA football schedule! They discuss each game, make predictions, argue about who is being too optimistic, and who they really really hope the Hoos can beat. The episode ends with an animated debate about starting the season 1-2 and which game would be the most critical win.

Zach is back in the host's chair this week on the podcast - he's joined by Paul and Dan as they go position-by-position through the UVA football roster. The crew talk about the whole depth chart, the starters they're most excited for, and give their grades on their confidence in each position on the team. With so much turnover this offseason, there are a lot of new faces to be excited about - and some strong reasons for confidence in some of the groups. Come listen for the strengths and weaknesses across the Hoos roster - gameday is coming up soon!

Pierce is out of hibernation and bringing back Paul on the podcast this week to get the FOOTBALL preview started for the 2023 season. The duo run through all of the emotional context surrounding this offseason and what actually-on-the-field questions the team is dealing with as it heads towards the opening game against Tennessee. They dive into conference realignment talk at great length as well - and they very much disagree on which conference they want to see the Hoos in. Let's get it going, folks - it's August!

Before the Virginia men's lacrosse team kicks of play over Championship weekend, Zach, Caroline, and Paul jumped on to talk about UVA's wins over Richmond and Georgetown. They discussed takeaways from those games and then looked ahead to tomorrow's semifinal matchup with Notre Dame. They closed the show with some brief thoughts on a potential Duke vs Virginia National Championship game.

Zach, Caroline, and Paul are back on this week's episode of the pod to talk about the men's NCAA lacrosse tournament coming up. How does the bracket shake out for the Hoos? Where are the key positions on the field for making another run? How much do we hate Duke? All this and more in this springtime podcast. Wahoowa.

Pierce, Zach, and Ben are back to breakdown the pair of transfer portal additions the Hoos have picked up pledges from this week! Jordan Minor from Merrimack and Andrew Rohde from St. Thomas both should fill immediate needs for the team and the Speaking the Lawn squad breakdown what excites them about both players. They discuss where they think the team will go from here in the offseason and even get a little too excited about the possibility of a five star freshman committing down the road...

Pierce, Zach, and Ben are back to discuss the state of the basketball program following the transfer departures and where things seem to stand with the portal craziness - and some high school recruiting! They take a look at the roster and the big needs for the team heading into the summer practice season. There's plenty of rumblings to discuss on the recruiting trail, but the crew also chat about the current UVA players who could (and should) fill specific roles for the team next year regardless of new faces. What news will break soon? We shall see...

Paul and Caroline join Zach for episode one of Speaking the Lawn, the rebranded, new name of our podcast moving forward, to discuss the Virginia men's lacrosse team's loss to #3 Maryland and win over (then #1) Notre Dame. They open the show by getting Caroline and Paul's perspective on the end of basketball season and the recent transfer announcements of Kadin Shedrick, Isaac Traudt, and Francisco Caffaro before deep-diving into lacrosse. Focusing on the Notre Dame win, the trio discuss what changed from one week to the next and what made the 15-10 victory so convincing. They then close the show by looking ahead to tomorrow's game against Duke.