Dave Fairbank
Reporter, Sr
My Role
Sports reporter, columnist, periodic blogger, occasional pot stirrer, utility infielder
My Biography
Born and raised in Maryland. Came to work in Newport News, Va., in 1984.
My Interests
Taxidermy, Chinese opera, Peruvian architecture. Good stories well told.
My Recent Articles
CAA's Anxious Times
5/16/2012
Recent events and the next couple of weeks guarantee that the Colonial Athletic Association’s spring meetings June 2-7 in Hilton Head, S.C., will be about much more than tee times and dinner reservations. Commissioner Tom Yeager’s influence and management chops will be tested as the direction of the conference, and perhaps its future, are likely to be determined in the coming weeks. Yeager, the CAA’s genial and connected leader, emerges from Tuesday’s funk as shepherd of a league in transition...
Decisions Loom for Conference Realignment 5/8/2012
Rumors and whispers of local college conference membership shuffles could see the light of day beginning Wednesday, when George Mason’s Board of Visitors holds its final scheduled meeting of the school year. Mason and VCU are considering a jump to the Atlantic 10 Conference from the Colonial Athletic Association, as Old Dominion ponders an invitation from Conference USA. VCU’s Board of Visitors is scheduled to meet Friday, while the executive committee of ODU’s Board of Visitors meets Monday. ...
No U-Turn for Richardson 5/1/2012
James Johnson is the only former Virginia Tech assistant coach to do a 180 and return to Blacksburg. Contacted Tuesday morning, new Old Dominion assistant coach John Richardson laughed when the question was asked and replied, “No, sir. I’m very excited to be at Old Dominion and get started again at a place I’m very familiar with. It’s almost like I never left.” Richardson resigned at Tech after two years, just prior to Seth Greenberg’s termination last week. He spent the previous five seasons ...
Grimes' Wild Half-Hour 4/30/2012
The way Jonathan Grimes described it, his Saturday evening turned into the job hunt equivalent of a fire drill: quiet, edgy anticipation; brief, intense activity; step back to exhale and to digest what just occurred. Grimes, William and Mary’s record-setting running back, went undrafted over the weekend, but agreed to terms on a free agent deal with the Houston Texans on Saturday evening after a flurry of phone calls, conversations and decisions. “It was interesting,” Grimes said with a chuckl...
William and Mary Patient Amid CAA Turbulence 4/24/2012
Terry Driscoll is more interested than most in speculation and reports of possible realignment involving the Colonial Athletic Association, but William and Mary’s athletic director said that he and the school are likely to wait for a resolution before acting on their future. “Very honestly, I’m not part of the discussions of what’s been going on,” Driscoll said. “I’m as curious as anyone, because what has transpired has transpired very, very quickly.” Sources said last week that VCU and George...
Recent events and the next couple of weeks guarantee that the Colonial Athletic Association’s spring meetings June 2-7 in Hilton Head, S.C., will be about much more than tee times and dinner reservations. Commissioner Tom Yeager’s influence and management chops will be tested as the direction of the conference, and perhaps its future, are likely to be determined in the coming weeks. Yeager, the CAA’s genial and connected leader, emerges from Tuesday’s funk as shepherd of a league in transition...
Decisions Loom for Conference Realignment 5/8/2012
Rumors and whispers of local college conference membership shuffles could see the light of day beginning Wednesday, when George Mason’s Board of Visitors holds its final scheduled meeting of the school year. Mason and VCU are considering a jump to the Atlantic 10 Conference from the Colonial Athletic Association, as Old Dominion ponders an invitation from Conference USA. VCU’s Board of Visitors is scheduled to meet Friday, while the executive committee of ODU’s Board of Visitors meets Monday. ...
No U-Turn for Richardson 5/1/2012
James Johnson is the only former Virginia Tech assistant coach to do a 180 and return to Blacksburg. Contacted Tuesday morning, new Old Dominion assistant coach John Richardson laughed when the question was asked and replied, “No, sir. I’m very excited to be at Old Dominion and get started again at a place I’m very familiar with. It’s almost like I never left.” Richardson resigned at Tech after two years, just prior to Seth Greenberg’s termination last week. He spent the previous five seasons ...
Grimes' Wild Half-Hour 4/30/2012
The way Jonathan Grimes described it, his Saturday evening turned into the job hunt equivalent of a fire drill: quiet, edgy anticipation; brief, intense activity; step back to exhale and to digest what just occurred. Grimes, William and Mary’s record-setting running back, went undrafted over the weekend, but agreed to terms on a free agent deal with the Houston Texans on Saturday evening after a flurry of phone calls, conversations and decisions. “It was interesting,” Grimes said with a chuckl...
William and Mary Patient Amid CAA Turbulence 4/24/2012
Terry Driscoll is more interested than most in speculation and reports of possible realignment involving the Colonial Athletic Association, but William and Mary’s athletic director said that he and the school are likely to wait for a resolution before acting on their future. “Very honestly, I’m not part of the discussions of what’s been going on,” Driscoll said. “I’m as curious as anyone, because what has transpired has transpired very, very quickly.” Sources said last week that VCU and George...