Cavalier Corner is the publication just for UVa sports fans!
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wahoo nation John Ritchie It was preordained that John Ritchie ('54) would become a Virginia sports fan. His father, John Ritchie III, was a professor at UVa's law school and served on the old 333 athletic advisory council. "He was very close to the athletic programs," Ritchie recalled. "I lived in Charlottesville and used to go to the football games. Ritchie and his wife, Virginia, appreciate the quality and I can remember on Saturday waiting for him character of the coaches and student-athletes at UVa. Photo courtesy Ritchie family to come home from law school so we could Ritchie, who has attended the College World Series, go to the football games. is proud of the accolade Tyler Wilson received in 2011. "My mom [Sallie Ritchie] took me to baseball games "We were at the College World Series in 2011 when at Lambeth Field. We lived on Rugby Road so we could Tyler was named the NCAA Baseball Athlete of the walk to the baseball games. Year because of what he did academically as well as in "We went to basketball games at Memorial Gym," the community," Ritchie said. "That's an example of the Ritchie continued, "and saw boxing matches, which quality of the student-athlete at Virginia." was a great sport then." That's one reason Ritchie became a donor to the Ritchie has long been a season-ticket holder for footVirginia Athletics Foundation in 1978. ball, baseball, men's soccer, and men's and women's "It's because of the enthusiasm we have for the probasketball. gram — the coaches and the student-athletes," he "What we [John and his wife Virginia] find is so wonexplained. derful about UVa sports is the quality of the coaches If there's one UVa student-athlete that has a special and student-athletes plus the interest the coaches place in Ritchie's heart it's "Bullet Bill" Dudley ('42). have in the academic achievement of the athletes in"He's my all-time favorite athlete," Ritchie said. "When cluding later in life," he said. "We feel we have a special my wife and I retired and moved back to Charlottesville group of coaches here. And in the sports we follow we lived across the street from one of his teammates, most closely — men's tennis, baseball, football, and Bill Rinehart. men's and women's basketball — they are outstanding. "Bill told me the story about the team hearing they "They all emphasize character and conduct in their were getting a great player from Bluefield, Virginia, recruiting and coaching so that we're proud of our and then this scrawny kid who couldn't weigh 160 student-athletes on and off the field." pounds soaking wet came out of the locker room. But, Arguably the group of student-athletes that's imaccording to Bill, when they gave him the ball, nobody pressed Ritchie the most is the 2013 men's tennis could tackle him. team, which captured the NCAA Division I champion"As a 19-year-old senior, he won the Maxwell Award ship. as the nation's best football player and was the first "They exemplify one of the great lessons of sport — player picked in the NFL Draft." persistence," Ritchie said. "They reached the final round — Mike Scandura two or three times before they won last spring."