DP is just the beginning of a journey

Srikanth Reddy I still remember making the long, unfamiliar trek from the Quadrangle to 40th and Walnut on a warm Sunday evening in the fall of 1993, before classes had even started. I joined the sports staff that day and got to choose whatever unclaimed fall sport I wanted to cover. I picked men's tennis. Now, four years and over one hundred articles later, it's over. I'd like to thank Dan, Rachel, Adam, Josh, Nick, Jed, Eric, Jeff, Mike, Jordan, Scott and Miles -- all of the sports editors who have helped me tremendously. With that out of the way, I've certainly enjoyed my time as a sports writer for the DP. Although it's been a major part of my college life, I'm not too sentimental about leaving. I'd like to think that being a part of DPOSTM is a beginning for me, not an ending. Still, I think I'll look back on my time writing about Quakers sports with fondness, even if there wasn't a whole lot to cheer about. Penn coaches should be glad I'm leaving -- of the 11 teams I covered over eight semesters, not one of them won a league championship. I'm convinced I'm a bad luck charm. The football team didn't lose a game during my first two years here -- before I covered the team. But the Quakers went 11-9 during my two seasons on the beat. A similar fate befell the men's basketball team. It's true that the men's basketball team was co-champion of the Ivy League for the 1995-96 season. But it lost a playoff game to Princeton and didn't get to play in the NCAA tournament, so that hardly counts. Need more proof? The wrestling team has won the Ivy League title three out of the last four seasons. The only year it didn't was 1995, when -- you guessed it -- I was on the beat. Yes, The Curse even extends to the low-profile sports. Maybe all the losing was supposed to teach me a lesson about being objective. No cheering in the press box and all that. While I think I did a pretty good job of staying impartial, make no mistake -- we at the DP all want to see Penn athletes and squads do well. When I came to Penn I didn't think I would care much about the sports teams here. I come from Ohio, where college athletics means Big Ten football and basketball. In my mind, Ivy League athletics couldn't compare. Four years later, my attitude is different. To be honest, I still don't care how the Penn lacrosse or swimming teams do. But, in the future, I'll always check the scores on fall Saturdays to see how the football team did that day. And, during the winter, I'll do everything I can to keep track of the men's basketball team. I urge any underclassman who might be reading this and who hasn't been to the Palestra to go to as many home games as possible before you graduate. Find a ticket to a Big 5 game or the Princeton game. Listen to the dueling bands and the cheers that fill the Palestra until your ears buzz. Watch as the game gets decided in the final minutes. And don't leave until you have screamed yourself hoarse. Obviously, a big reason for my interest -- previously non-existent -- in Penn sports is the success that Quakers teams have had in recent years, my jinx notwithstanding. Much of that success was due to the performance of some terrific athletes. As I said before, I didn't think much of Ivy League athletes when I arrived at Penn. But people like Terrance Stokes, Jerome Allen, Matt Maloney, Mark DeRosa, Joey Allen and Miles Macik have convinced me that colleges can recruit good people and still hold their own on the playing fields. Some of the athletes mentioned have also proven that they can play their sports at the highest level. Four years ago, I would have thought an Ivy Leaguer playing in the NFL or NBA was a fluke, a million-to-one shot. But I've seen it happen too often now to dismiss it as coincidence. I would like to thank those athletes for giving me someone in the pros to root for. I have favorite players who went to other schools, but I've found that there's nothing quite like rooting for someone who once wore the red and blue. I still get excited when NBA announcers point out Maloney's killer three-point touch. I always hope to see Doug Glanville stroking a hit for the Cubs on SportsCenter. I want Macik to play and make a great catch on third down for the Detroit Lions. Four years ago, I didn't expect to have it. But now I know I'll always have an allegiance to Penn.