Groh's fate may be a classic case of poetic justice

STEVE DeSHAZO: Groh sounds resigned to fate

Date published: 11/29/2009

By Steve DeShazo

CHARLOTTESVILLE

"Keep Al Groh!"

Unless you've spent the past two years in a cave, you can probably guess that that request didn't come from fans of the University of Virginia, Groh's employer. No, they emanated from giddy maroon-and-orange-clad Virginia Tech supporters, who would obviously like to improve on their 8-1 record against the Cavaliers since Groh took over.

They, like Groh, probably won't get another chance. Yesterday's 42-13 second-half runaway by the Hokies didn't exactly seal Groh's fate; he's been a dead man walking for months now. But it served as a sour punctuation to a dreadful 3-9 season that's Virginia's worst since George Welsh's first season, 1982.

"For a while, it looked like we could give [the Cavalier seniors] a positive send-off that they could be gratified by," Groh said, speaking of a 14-13 halftime deficit. "But we couldn't finish it off."

Yesterday's game served as a de facto eulogy for a program that began with such promise in 2001, when Groh was hired to continue Welsh's rebuilding process. The Cavaliers enjoyed modest early success (as they did in yesterday's game), only to fall apart later, mostly because of insufficient talent.

Afterward, as usual, Groh was a bit more eloquent than his detractors. Asked about his future, he unfolded a sheet of paper and read from Dale Wimbrow's 1934 poem "The Guy in the Glass." Among its verses:

For it isn't your father, or mother, or wife/

Who judgement upon you must pass/

The feller whose verdict counts most in your life/

Is the guy staring back from the glass.

Defiant to the end, Groh--who often quotes his mentor, Bill Parcells--sounded very much like a man who recognized a fait accompli but wouldn't acknowledge it.

"When I visited the guy in the glass," Groh said (using his own words, for once), "I saw he's a guy of commitment, integrity, dependability and accountability. He's loyal; his spirit is indomitable; he's caring and loving."

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Date published: 11/29/2009