If you find yourself in Charlottesville between the months of November and March and don’t have tickets to the game at John Paul Jones Arena, you should definitely check out the game somewhere in town.
Champion Brewery, located pretty close to the nTelos Wireless Pavilion, is the old standby for this author, but there are several places to go depending on the type of atmosphere you want. Of course the UVA Corner (which is located right across from Grounds) has a dozen different places to watch the game: Boylan Heights is probably one of the more popular spots. It’s huge, capable of comfortably housing hundreds of basketball fans with (relative) comfort. They’ve got great burgers! The TVs are huge and they play the games with the sound on.
Places like that are popular destinations for the college crowd, but I prefer to be on the Downtown Mall. Citizen Burger Bar serves up huge, half-pound burgers locally sourced from Timbercreek Farm, an organic farm in Charlottesville (notice a burger trend yet?) It doesn’t matter if you’re not a huge fan.
Even folks from the outer reaches of Albemarle, Nelson and other parts of the Greater Charlottesville come out in droves to support UVA. There’s just something so invigorating about UVA’s playing in recent years. It’s a refreshing take on basketball and in many ways it’s what makes college ball so different from the NBA. These are kids…they haven’t lost their passion, they’re still coming into their own.
The defense is exhilarating to watch; guard Malcolm Brogdon’s tenacious man-to-man coverage, center Mike Tobey’s explosive rebounds, or the look in Justin Anderson’s eye when he “turns on” and morphs surreally into a true playmaker. The team hasn’t been this good in a very long time… the last time was in 1981 for Pete’s sake! And the difference among the community is palpable. The air is thick with inflated expectations,dashed hopes and wide-eyed longings.
Check out the 2015/2015 Schedule for game times.