Virginia broke
ground on their new barn this week, which will be called the John Paul Jones
Arena. In an interesting bit of timing, a new biography of the early American naval
hero by the same name is out and getting boffo reviews. From UVa's standpoint, however, the
rest of the timing is questionable.
Aside from the discontent with the progress of Pete Gillen's program, and how
that might or might not affect support, with expansion and then two divisions,
now no one even knows who will be playing on a regular basis.
Still, that the arena is not named after a sausage, telephone, or underarm
deodorant is refreshing, and even though war names are out of vogue, the
historical resonance of the name gives a lot of nickname potential.