Now that Penn Athletics has finally released the men's basketball team's schedule, becoming the last Ivy League team to do so, we finally know once and for all what the season looks like.
And boy, are there some intriguing matchups.
I've already mentioned that the Princeton games have been switched from a game at the Palestra in February and one in March at Jadwin to the opposite. Now we have confirmation of that. Will anyone even be at the Palestra for the game during spring break? What about the away game at Jadwin?
Starting the season at UNC is going to tough. It'll be really interesting to see if coach Glen Miller uses his highly touted freshmen class against the Tar Heels at all.
The biggest non-conference home game, at least outside of the Big 5 games, is clearly the game against Penn State. Not only would a Penn victory make up for all of those times uneducated people have said "Oh you go to Penn. When do you think Joe Paterno will retire?" but it's actually a great chance for the Quakers to beat a major conference team, even if the Nittany Lions are consistently the joke of Big Ten basketball. Plus, if everyone wears their "Not Penn State" shirts the Red and Blue Crew would look pretty impressive in a single color. (Of course, we'll still have the Taco Guy.)
But the biggest "huh" of the schedule is the Drexel game. First, it's at Drexel, for the first time ever. Clearly, Dragons coach Bruiser Flint is happy. But even weirder, it's at 10 a.m. On a Tuesday.
It's part of ESPN's November 18th hoops marathon, which includes 14 games in 23 hours, and will be nationally televised on ESPN. That's pretty cool, but I wonder if anyone actually will go to the game. And so much for the Ivy League and its athletes missing as little class as possible. But at the same time, Penn getting a little extra exposure can't hurt.
We've known most of the info for a while now, but the Athletic Department finally officially released the '08 - '09 M. Hoops schedule this morning.
Here itr is:
Day, Date ... Opponent
Saturday, Nov. 15 ... at North Carolina
Tuesday, Nov. 18 ... at Drexel
Saturday, Nov. 22 ... MONMOUTH
Tuesday, Nov. 25 ... PENN STATE
Saturday, Nov. 29 ... at Albany
Tuesday, Dec. 2 ... VILLANOVA #
Friday, Dec. 5 ... NAVY
December 29-30 ... at UCF Holiday Classic (Orlando, Fla.)
Monday, Dec. 29
Campbell vs. Chicago State, 4:30 p.m.
Penn vs. Central Florida, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 30
Consolation, 4:30 p.m.
Championship, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 6 ... LAFAYETTE
Wednesday, Jan. 14 ... TEMPLE #
Saturday, Jan. 17 ... at NJIT
Wednesday, Jan. 21 ... at La Salle #
Saturday, Jan. 24 ... SAINT JOSEPH’S #
Friday, Jan. 30 ... at Harvard*
Saturday, Jan. 31 ... at Dartmouth*
Friday, Feb. 6 ... COLUMBIA*
Saturday, Feb. 7 ... CORNELL*
Friday, Feb. 13 ... at Brown*
Saturday, Feb. 14 ... at Yale*
Tuesday, Feb. 17 ... at Princeton*
Friday, Feb. 20 ... DARTMOUTH*
Saturday, Feb. 21 ... HARVARD*
Friday, Feb. 27 ... YALE*
Saturday, Feb. 28 ... BROWN*
Friday, March 6 ... at Cornell*
Saturday, March 7 ... at Columbia*
Tuesday, March 10 ... PRINCETON*
Dates and times subject to change
Home games in ALL CAPS played at The Palestra
* - Ivy League game
# - Philadelphia Big 5 game
And for you Whartonites, the Associated Press realized today that Henry Paulson played football at Dartmouth and felt the need to write a story about it.
I know it's a few days late, but I just found this post on the New York Times college sports blog. According to Princeton head coach Roger Hughes, Ivy League football is similar to the NFL because of the recruiting restrictions placed by the League.
The post also brings up the oft-cited issue of banning the Ivy League regular season champion -- or for that matter any Ivy team -- from the Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs.
While I certainly argree with the overturning the ban, I don't know if I can agree with the NFL comparison. Maybe if the Ivy League had limited scholarships instead of the limited lower academic slots, then the comparison to the salary cap would be better suited. Furthermore, the salary cap isn't that much of a hinderance to the top teams in the NFL. In fact, salary caps help cut ownership costs, which obviously is not a hinderance to NFL owners like the limited lower academic slots are to Ivy football coaches.
Realized that I never linked to the stories in Friday's football supplement. They're a good way to keep your mind off what happened on the last play of Saturday's game.
If you're keeping track of predictions this year, mark me one down. I said on Friday's podcast previewing the Villanova game that Kyle Olson would likely not serve as the Quakers punter. I had good reason -- he wasn't on the depth chart at the position at all. Assuming Robert Irvin got the nod at quarterback, which he did, I figures that the coaches would have to be 100 percent sure he was healthy before using their backup somewhere else.
I was wrong. Olson took all six punts for Penn and totaled 230 yards. That's a 38.6-yard average, and he stuck the Wildcats inside their own 20 on half of his punts. Last year, Penn's Anthony Melillo punted just under 2,100 yards for an average of 35.6.
Since the team is not available to the media until the Tuesday after a game, I encourage readers to drop a thought about Saturday's game in the comment box. If you have a question you would like us to ask a coach or player on Tuesday, leave it as well, or send it to scurria@sas.upenn.edu.
From Penn's perspective, leaving Franklin Field after a Villanova game always feels the same -- like getting punched in the stomach. It hurts for fans, and even more so for the players. Seniors like Robert Irvin, Jay Colabella and Tyson Maugle turned in terrific performances, but at the end of the day, the result was out of their hands.
In the days to come, Bill Schmitz's playcalling and Al Bagnoli's coaching decisions will be questioned. Why go with a delayed handoff to Bradford Blackmon on 4th and 2? Or a direct snap to Blackmon in overtime when the same play flopped earlier in the game, and when Michael DiMaggio was running downhill with pretty good results all game long? And why run out the clock with over 90 seconds to play and two timeouts remaining? Did Penn have a two-minute offense prepared? Why did it take so long to get the plays in throughout the game?
There are certainly arguments that can be made for and against the coaching decisions. And hindsight is always 20/20. But there are far more important things to take away from a non-conference game -- much less the first game of the season -- that Penn couldn't have expected to win. Most importantly, many of the questions going into today's game about Penn's offensive unit were addressed, and the outlook seems pretty positive.
1. Irvin looked good. Very good, even, with the exception of the one forced pass that got picked. He was poised in the pocket, felt very comfortable distributing the ball to a wide range of receivers, and, the one interception aside, took what the defense gave him and made the most of it, even if it meant throwing the ball away. He demonstrated a lot of maturity today and didn't appear to be nearly rusty as I thought he would be. The fourth quarter pass to David Wurst over the middle was one of the prettier throws I've seen from a Penn quarterback in a long time. There is no quarterback controversy on this team -- Irvin, the senior, is the go-to guy. Olson can certainly contribute on 3rd and 4th downs and give the Quakers more options, but Penn fans should take comfort in Irvin's performance today.
2. It will take some time to figure out exactly how to balance out DiMaggio and Blackmon's workload, but both backs showed promise today, especially DiMaggio. His touchdown run, with the juke and high-flying dive into the endzone, was SportsCenter-worthy. Blackmon needs to make better decisions in the backfield and not try to break out a big play when he's about to get taken down. But that said, he complements DiMaggio nicely, and he will improve with more experience. I would like to see the more powerful DiMaggio get more opportunities in short yardage situations -- I'm not entirely sure why Blackmon got as many carries as he did when Penn needed to pick up only a yard or two. But on the whole, the combination is strong, and as the Penn coaching staff learns how to balance out the backs' workload more effectively, Penn's running game will be reliable (provided that Blackmon can cut down on the fumbles).
3. Even without Marcus Lawrence playing, Penn's wide receivers and tight ends looked sharp across the board. Irvin completed passes to seven different receivers and at least two passes to five different receivers, and he only attempted a total of 24 passes.
4. The offensive line gave Irvin all of the time he needed. Villanova did not record a single sack on the day, and for the most part, DiMaggio and Blackmon had room to run.
It's hard to stomach another heartbreaking loss to Villanova on Penn's home turf, but this was an admirable and gusty performance by the Quakers, no matter how you slice it. They did not roll over in the second half like they did last year, and Irvin provided exactly the leadership that you'd want from your starting quarterback. I certainly didn't expect the Quakers to take the Wildcats to overtime today, but they did. The future for the Quakers is brighter than I thought it was before kickoff.
And one final sidenote ... Say what you will about the coaching today, but I thought Bagnoli's body language on the sidelines was very encouraging. Every time Penn made a big play, Bagnoli was the first person, players included, out on the field high-fiving everyone and pumping up his troops. When he's angry, he shows it, but he certainly was supportive of his players today, and that was good to see.
David has an recap of today's loss to Villanova, and here is the box score. Here are your recaps from today's games around the conference:
The Quakers open their 2008 season on a hot, sunny afternoon here at Franklin Field, searching for their first win over Villanova since 1911.
FINAL/OT: Villanova 20, Penn 14
Bradford Blackmon gets the ball on first down, runs right, then heads back to his left -- and then fumbles the ball about 10 yards forward. Villanova recovers, and the game is over.
First OT Villanova 20, Penn 14
What a run by backup Villanova QB Chris Whitney. On 2nd and 6, Whitney faked the handoff and kept it himself, then did a complete spin to his left to elude Penn defenders and march on in to the endzone.
But the Quakers block the ensuing extra point, meaning that they can win it with a score.
Start of first overtime, Penn 14, Villanova 14
Penn won the toss and will defend first.
End of Regulation, Penn 14, Villanova 14
To overtime we go.
Penn called that final drive quite conservatively, much to the chagrin of booing Franklin Field fans. Bagnoli called a run on first down, let the play clock wind down and then went with another run up the gut to finish out the quarter.
1:28 Q4 Penn 14, Villanova 14 Another Penn interception in the endzone. Sophomore Jonathan Saelinger picks of Young's offering into single coverage, and the Quakers' poor fourth-down-conversion attempt doesn't come back to bite them -- yet.
3:19 Q4 Penn 14, Villanova 14
Three yard gain for Blackmon on 1st down. And on second, Irvin lines up as a wideout, setting up a direct snap to Blackmon. That play never really got anywhere (Blackmon wound up running to the sideline without getting positive yardage), and to make things worse, Penn was called for an illegal block in the back.
On 3rd and 14, Irvin drops back and finds Blackmon in the slots. He picks up 12 yards before being forced out of bounds.
Penn goes for it on fourth down -- and loses yardage on the play. On an HB draw, Blackmon is forced back, and further back, losing 15 yards.
Nova takes over on Penn's 45.
5:51 Q4 Penn 14, Villanova 14
The Quakers get great field position for a potential go-ahead drive, starting on their on 48 after Villanova went 3-and-out.
8:22 Q4 Penn 14, Villanova 14
Once again, Penn takes advantage of Olson on 4th and 2 from Villanova's 42. They line up in shotgun formation, and while Olson again goes for the punt (this time with more success, pinning 'Nova at its own 7), the Wildcats visibly didn't know what Penn would throw at them.
Meanwhile, Chris Whitney is in at QB for Villanova.
14,758
10:34 Q4 Penn 14, Villanova 14
Irvin throws a bullet up the middle to David Wurst, threading the Wildcats' secondary perfectly for a first down just inside Villanova territory.
11:23 Q4 Penn 14, Villanova 14
Another huge Penn interception in its own endzone - this one from Josh Powers, his first career pick. That brought an abrubt end to the Wildcats' drive, just when it looked like they would score.
On Penn's first play, Irvin airs one out, throwing from Penn's 20 to Villanova's 35. The pass was incomplete thanks to good 'D,' but it was right on the money -- not bad for the first time Irivn's gone deep today.
End Q3 Penn 14, Villanova 14
New promotion: two fans get large plastic bags and compete to see who can catch the most toast. Doesn't look like either man was too successful, however.
1:36 Q3 Penn 14, Villanova 14
On 3rd and 12, another conservative play call. Irvin rolls right and finds a man for a 4 yard gain, but that's it. Olson forced to punt, and it's a good one; 'Nova starts from its own 28.
2:45 Q3 Penn 14, Villanova 14
Halftime stats finally in:
Irvin 9-for-14, 124 yards, 1 TD
Olson 2-for-3, 13 yards
DiMaggio 8 rushes, 45 yards, 1 TD (avg. 5.6)
Blackmon 8 rushes, 37 yards (avg. 4.6)
Derham 4 receptions, 52 yards, 1 TD
Blackmon 3 receptions, 44 yards
Reinert 2 receptions, 12 yards
Koontz 1 reception, 23 yards
Olson 3 punts, 114 yards (avg. 38)
5:04 Q3 Penn 14, Villanova 14
The Wildcats' 41-yard field goal attempt is wide right, no good. Game remains tied, with Penn taking over from its own 24.
After all the early scoring, things have settled down quite a bit.
6:13 Q3 Penn 14, Villanova 14
And now, a moment reminiscent from last year's Penn-'Nova game.
Irvin rifles one, all right, and squarely into somebody's hands. But that somebody would be Villanova's Martel Moody, who hauls in the interception at Penn's 30.
7:51 Q3 Penn 14, Villanova 14
Nova lost yardage on that very brief 3-and-out. Penn was well-prepared for a second-down screen, and on a short 3rd-and-long pass, Maugle again provided an instant tackle to force a punt.
Penn takes over on its own 12.
10:00 Q3 Penn 14, Villanova 14
Bagnoli opts for a Blackmon run play on 4th and 15. He gains 4, but that's the end of a drive that never got going.
Olson's punt is caught at about midfield, and Nova starts with great field position at Penn's 43.
11:58 Q3 Penn 14, Villanova 14
Chris Wynn is putting on a defensive clinic out there. In single coverage, Wynn stayed inside Antwon Young's offering and outjumped the Nova's receiver for his second outstretched-arms interception of the day.
Wynn's tackled just inside the endzone, so Penn takes over from its 20.
14:47 Q3 Penn 14, Villanova 14 Villanova set to receive. Beautiful kickoff -- deep into the corner, right in front of the endzone. But Penn is called offsides, leading to a 5-yard loss and a re-kick. And this one is anything but beautiful. It's a floater, and the Wildcats start from their own 40.
Halftime Penn 14, Villanova 14
The internet here at Franklin Field went out for a little while; hopefully it will be OK the rest of the way.
Not much happened in those final minutes of the half. We got our first look at 4th down trickery of sorts; Bagnoli brought out Olson in shotgun formation on 4th and 5 from around Nova's 45, only to have Olson punt one away. Didn't work particularly well -- the Wildcats took over from their own 16 on that play, barely better than a touchback.
Stats to follow momentarily.
5:20 Q2 Penn 14, Villanova 14
One play later, Penn's Chris Wynn returns the turnover favor, making a diving interception.
Irvin's back in and completes his first to tight end Josh Koontz at midfield.
5:28 Q2 Penn 14, Villanova 14
On second down, Blackmon runs to the right side on a draw play, but he fumbles it (forced by 'Nova's Terrence Thomas). The Wildcats recover at their own 47.
7:35 Q2 Penn 14, Villanova 14
Irvin had been looking pretty good, but here comes Olson for his first Division 1 snaps.
He completes his first two passed, sandwiching a Blackmon run and setting up a first down.
Then on 1st and 10, Olson is chased out of the pocket down the left side and is forced to throw it away for his first incompletion.
7:56 Q2 Penn 14, Villanova 14
After Young hits Atkinson up the middle for a big Villanova game, the Wildcats fumble it on the next play. But they recover, setting up...
Young lofts one up to the middle to the very pronouncable receiver Matt Szczur, who had one step Penn's last man back. It lands right in the hands of Sczur, who then has a clear route to the endzone for a 38-yard play and a tie game.
Scoring drive: 4 plays, 68 yards, 1:52.
9:56 Q2 Penn 14, Villanova 7
Draw to DiMaggio was a good enough fake to not only fool plenty in the stands, but also the 'Nova rushers, who throw Irvin down to the ground for what appeared to be a sack. But just as Irvinwent down, DiMaggio was dusting himself off in the endzone, picking up 12 yards for the score.
Scoring drive: 12 plays, 79 yards, 5:16.
11:20 Q2, Villanova 7, Penn 7
Penn's slowly and unexcitingly marching downfield, until on 1st down, Irvin rolls out on a play action and finds Blackmon wideopen down the left sideline. Nobody's within 5 yards of him, and he hauls it in for a 29-yard game.
13:40 Q2 Villanova 7, Penn 7
Some first-quarter stats:
Irvin 5-for-7, 51 yds, 1TD
DiMaggio 3 rushes, 20 yds (6.7 avg)
Blackmon 4 rushes 11 yds (2.8 avg)
Olson 2 punts, 85 yds (42.5 avg)
Penn and Villanova each had 4 first downs; the Wildcats managed 89 total yards to Penn's 88.
A couple of scores coming in:
No suprise, but Yale crushed Georgetown, 47-7
Fordham defeated Columbia, 29-22
End Q1 Villanova 7, Penn 7 Young's pass on 3rd and 2 is well out of bounds, so Nova will punt -- and punt Zach Ugarte does. Chris Wynn is forced to call for a fair catch at the Penn 21.
DiMaggio runs for 8 yards to end the quarter.
1:45 Q1 Villanova 7, Penn 7 On 3rd and 12 for the Wildcats, Young rolls left and lofts one in the direction of receiver Phil Atkinson, who gets tangled with Tyson Maugle and goes down. It looked inadvertent, but pass intereference is called; Penn coach Al Bagnoli's not too happy.
3:12 Q1 Villanova 7, Penn 7 First incomplete pass from Irvin. He rolls right and tried to find Derham along the right sideline, but his pass was well out of bounds. A second down run only gets one yard, and on 3rd and 9, Irvin is pressured -- he rolls right and ultimately throws it into the dirt (near the feet of a receiver).
Olson has looked good on his two punts so far; 'Nova takes over on its 27.
4:28 Q1 Villanova 7, Penn 7
'Nova gets nowhere after that penalty and is forced to punt on 4th and 14. Penn takes over from its own 32.
4:45 Q1 Villanova 7, Penn 7
Villanova nearly found a seam on the kick return; a late tackle prevented the touchdown, but still enabled the Wildcats to start from their own 44.
On 2nd down, 'Nova exploits a right-side screen pass and takes it all the way to the house. But a flag is down; an illegal block in the back brings it back, to 2nd and 14 from the Wildcats'40.
5:39 Q1 Villanova 7, Penn7
Play action from Irvin on 1st down – throws up the middle for a nine-yard gain, but the pass didn’t have much zip on it. Michael DiMaggio picks up the first down on a power run up the middle.
Irvin’s now 3-for-3 after his six-yard pass to Matt Reinart on the left-sideline. So far, three passes – one right, one center and one right, all between six and nine yards. Bradford Blackmon, who started, gets the first.
On 1st down, Irvin finds Kyle Durham up the middle for another seven-yard pass. And then DiMaggio runs to the right side to pick up the first. So far, Penn moving the chains quite effectively – and now it calls timeout.
After the timeout, Irvin rolls right on a play action, lofts a 29-yard pass into the front right corner of the endzone into the hands of Kyle Derham -- perfect execution of a single coverage situation.
Scoring drive: 7 plays, 70 yards, 3:50.
9:36 Q1 Villanova 7, Penn 0 Penn sent Villanova backwards, leading to 3rd and 13 from inside 'Nova's 15. But the Wildcats aired it out on the next two plays, finding wide-open receivers to march down to the Penn 30. The Quakers' much-touted secondary has looked quite spacious, while QB Antwon Young has been able to take his sweet time.
Another pass for a first down, before the Wildcats decide to hand it off. On 1st and goal from the Penn 1, Young trots into the endzone untouched for the score.
Scoring drive: 8 plays, 81 yards, 3:24.
13:00 Q1, Villanova 0, Penn 0
The Wildcats won the toss, but opted to delay the decision until the second half. So Penn starts with the Pall. Robert Irvin got the starting under center; he completed his only attempt on the Quakers' first series, a slant to the right sideline good for about seven yards. But Penn was forced to punt on 4th and 1, a duty that fell to (apparent backup) QB Kyle Olson.
I know football season is just around the corner, but forgive this basketball interlude.
College Basketball 24/7 is a blog run by 15-year and self-proclaimed "fanatic about college basketball" Jakob Kagel. For a teenager, it's not bad, but one of his more recent posts is a little puzzling.
On Tuesday he wrote a post entitled "Why Cornell Will be the best team in the Ivy League... Ever." His argument is basically the following: Cornell returns a lot of talent, despite Adam Gore's injury (yet he only mentions Ryan Wittman). The schedule has "very winnable early season games against brand name schools," such as Indiana, Minnesota and St. John's. Also, without an Ivy Conference tournament, they could clinch conference play early. Finally, he then says that if Cornell goes 14-0 in the League, they'll have won 29 straight.
First off, I'm still not completely convinced Indiana will be an easy win, especially considering the game's in Bloomington, not Ithaca. Going into Assembly Hall and getting a win is easier said than done, regardless of Indiana's recent sub-par results (sub-par by its standards).
I'll grant him the fact that the conference tournament clearly helps Cornell since they have a greater shot at making the NCAA Tournament without having to face single elimination. But going 29-0 in a two-plus year span doesn't make them the best ever, considering Penn won 48-straight Ivy League games from 1992-1996.
After this basic argument, he then says if Cornell does the above and goes 14-0 (which personally I don't think will happen even if they are the league favorites), they'll invite comparisons to Bucknell who "has been the most recent low major to escape from the confines of playing in a league that had not won an NCAA tournament game in 40 plus years."
And here's where his argument completely derails. First off, the Patriot League was founded in 1986 as the Colonial League. And that first year Navy won three NCAA tournament games. Similarly, the Ivy League has had many tournament wins in the last 40 years plus year, as they have averaged just about one every two years since March 1967 (20 in 42 tournaments).
So maybe comparisons to Bucknell and the Patriot League aren't apt. Well what about the statement further down that "no team out of the Ivy has won an NCAA tournament game in 20-plus years." That's simply not true. There've been three since 1988, most notably Princeton's upset over defending champion UCLA in 1996.
After this error, Kagel then shifts back to Cornell, saying, "This year's Cornell team will be the best that the league has had to offer for the last 15 years, at least." Wait, I thought they were supposed to be the best team ever? Oh no, actually it's just that "the expectations for an Ivy League team have never been this high ... ever." Oh so, it's their expectations that are an Ivy record?
The end of the post kind of redeems him. I think it could be argued that this team might be one of the best Ivy ones over the last 15 years. Although I'm sure the Penn teams of Michael Jordan, Matt Maloney, Ugonna Onyekwe or even Ibrahim Jaaber might have something to say about that, not to mention some of the good Princeton teams in the 1990's. And I'll certainly agree that the expectations are quite high on this Cornell group. But then again, the Big Red's two best players, Wittman and Louis Dale, are just juniors, so it's not like they have the extra pressure of only one more year to win an NCAA tournament game.
What do you think about Cornell's chances of greatest Ivy team of the last 15 years, or even of all time?
- In preparation for Friday's football supplement, David Bernstein offers a profile of a cornerstone of Villanova's defense.
- I give an update on efforts to equalize the Ivy League's financial-aid landscape.
- The men's tennis team is back to business already.
- Wednesday I filed a profile of Daniel Kuhn, the football team's director of operations, who tells me that he was "inundated" with autograph requests today in response. Two of our football aficionados also looked at the most pressing issues facing the Quakers on defense and special teams.
That's the question on Penn football fans' minds as the Quakers gear up for the season opener on Saturday against Villanova. With the emergence of junior college transfer Kyle Olson and the return of senior Robert Irvin -- who was sidelined with an injury for almost all of last season -- it's hard to predict what the quarterback situation will be.
Here's what I know.
At practice yesterday, I spoke to Irvin, who seemed very upbeat about the opportunity to get a final crack at the Wildcats, who intercepted him five times last year in what would be his last game of the season. He particularly emphasized how excited he is to start playing. Health-wise, he said he feels "good," and that he has been "rehabbing very well and doing everything right."
When I asked him point-blank if he knew who was starting on Saturday, he smiled and told me that he was under orders from Bagnoli not to tell me.
So then I talked to Bagnoli, who revealed to me over the course of our conversation that "the quarterback situation has resolved itself." When I asked him to clarify that, he also smiled and indicated that we would all find out on game day.
From what I can tell, then, it's clear that Bagnoli has made up his mind about what he wants to do at quarterback. And I have a hunch that Irvin's going to get the nod. Olson is still very new to the system, whereas Irvin has been with the program for over three years now. Judging from his confidence level and enthusiasm yesterday, I would guess it's his team for now.
That said, I certainly would not be surprised to see Olson get a fair share of snaps on Saturday, and throughout the season. He definitely brings a different look to the offense and gives Bagnoli more options.
But at least for the time being, if I had to guess which quarterback is starting, I'd guess Irvin.
The sports editors of The Daily Pennsylvanian have started posting their stories on the main website as soon as they are filed, an initiative that brings us in line with how a professional paper functions. (News stories are going up more quickly too, but who cares about that?) And since dailypennsylvanian.com can now be officially labeled a source for breaking news, there's no reason that The Buzz shouldn't, too.
So I'm going to start linking to (and commenting on) all the DP's sports coverage on this blog every day, making it a one-stop shop for Quakers stories -- at least as often as I can handle. I'll also include Ivy League stories of interest when appropriate.
Here's edition No. 1:
- This week's football coverage -- and if you're a Quakers fan, this is one week to actually pay attention -- kicks off with a look at the five most pressing issues facing Penn's offense. You'll see a lot more analysis this week, culminating in Friday's football supplement before Saturday's season opener.
- My friend and former design whiz Neil Fanaroff parses out who should get the credit for soccer goalkeeper (and high school classmate of mine) Drew Healy's four straight shutouts to start the season.
- Senior Sports Editor Brandon Moyse recaps the men's golf team's recent exploits at Navy and in beautiful Rehobeth Beach, Del. If I'd talked to their coach beforehand, I would have recommended the Quakers trudge the Rehobeth boardwalk and stop for some Dollie's salt water taffy -- best in the tri-state area.
I said almost everything I wanted to say in last week's stories (the news story is here and student reaction is here) on the new seating policy at Penn basketball games. But a late interview brought one more potential problem with the arrangement to my attention: how general-admissions seating makes it much harder to sit with one's friends.
Think about it -- if you want to watch Penn beat Dartmouth on a Saturday night and show up early enough to get good seats, and your friends show up 15 minutes later and are sitting six rows back, there's no guarantee that you'll be able to sit with them, unless you drape a sweatshirt across the seats next to you. And that's hard to do when there are several hundred other screaming, sweaty undergrads clamoring for those same good seats. The only other option is to give up the seats that you arrived early to get, which defeats the whole purpose of general admissions.
The question is how accomodating students will be. I hope that if someone has to get up and use the restroom, or tries to save a seat for a friend who is about to arrive, fans will be understanding and not demand the seat. But you never know.
It's another potential problem in a long list of them, but I still commend the Athletic Department for at least trying something new and not just hoping that students will miraculously start showing up at 6:30.
Update: Lindy's Sports also picked Penn to finish second behind Cornell. But they give stats of returning players, so you might want to check that out.
Penn still hasn't released its 2008-09 men's basketball schedule yet, but national sports magazines have already started their Ivy League predictions.
Athlon Sports just released its 2008-09 college basketball preview edition, and the magazine has selected Penn to come in second in the Ivy League. Cornell is picked to win it again, although it does mention Adam Gore as a key contributor; clearly that's not going to be the case now that he's out at least four months with an ACL injury.
Sophomore Tyler Bernadini was the only Penn selection on the All-Ivy First Team. Cornell led with two selections, Juniors Ryan Wittman and Louis Dale, who was named Preseason Player of the Year.
Penn's entry states that "the concern is that the strength of the team is in the younger classes, similar to what Cornell had going into last season." It also calls Coach Glen Miller's five freshmen the "league's best" incoming class. And finally, it mentions the return of Darren Smith and Tommy McMahon from injuries.
After the jump, the entire predicted order of finish and All-Ivy First Team.
The entire league's order of finish:
1. Cornell
2. Penn
3. Harvard
4. Brown
5. Yale
6. Princeton
7. Columbia
8. Dartmouth
All-Ivy First Team:
Alex Barnett Sr. F Dartmouth
Tyler Bernadini So. G Penn
Louis Dale* Jr. G Cornell
Chris Skrelja Sr. F Brown
Ryan Wittman Jr. F Cornell
*Player of the Year
At the top of the page, they also have the Ivy's all time NCAA tournament record. It's a mediocre 38-75, (a .336 winning percentage).
(HT Cornell Basketball Blog)
The definition of schadenfreude is "satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else's misfortune," and right now Penn basketball fans might be feeling it.
Courtesy of the Ithaca Journal, Cornell senior guard Adam Gore torn his left ACL, in workouts. He'll be out to at least mid-January, if not later. He had previously torn his right ACL at the end of the Big Red's 2006 season-opening win on Nov. 11, causing him to miss the remaining 27 games of his sophomore year.
Gore had won Ivy League Rookie of the Year award in 2005-06, and last year, he was an important contributor, averaging 10.1 points per game in 27.3 minutes, while shooting 42 percent from behind the 3-point arc and a league-best 93 percent from the foul line. He also scored a season-high 19 against the Quakers at the Palestra in March.
Of course, Cornell returns one of the deeper tea ms in the league, and probably still will be favored to defend its Ivy title.
But Penn fans might be feeling a little extra happy today, even if they're ashamed to admit it.
UPDATE: According to the Cornell Basketball Blog, there's a solid chance that Gore might return for a fifth year in the 2009-10 season, as he already received an extra year of eligibility after his first torn ACL. The blog also says his injury "is likely to cause him to miss the entire 2008-2009 season." So looks like the initial prognosis was on the optimistic side.
Building on David's last post, so far six Ivy League teams have released their Men's Basketball schedules. These are Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Princeton and Yale, leaving Harvard and of course Penn as the two that have yet to disclose their schedules. To further add to David's post, the February 7th and March 6th Penn games against Cornell are confirmed, as are the two Princeton games. However there's a big change. Normally, the Tigers visit the Palestra on a Tuesday in mid February, and Penn visits Jadwin on the Tuesday of Spring Break. But according to the Princeton site, it's reversed. Princeton hosts Penn Feb. 17th, and travels to Philadelphia March 10.
Looking at the non-conference opponents for the other schools, you can say there are three levels of competition. At the bottom are Princeton and Dartmouth. Princeton is clearly in rebuilding mode, as the non-Ivy team with the best record the Tigers will face is 19-12 UNC Greensboro. In fact, UNC Greensboro is the only Tiger non-conference opponent that had an over-.500 record last year. Furthermore, the Tigers also play D-II school Concordia (N.Y.). Maybe they'll lose to the Clippers just like they did to D-III Carneige Mellon in 2005. (They do face two major conference schools. But South Carolina went 14-18 last year and replace coach David Odom, and Rutgers went 11-20.)
Likewise, while Dartmouth does face a major conference school (Providence), the Friars went 15-16. Instead, its best opponents are Colgate and Marist who both went 18-14 last year. And the Big Green also play a non-Division-I school, facing D-III Plymouth St. They'll also participate in the Golden Bear Classic hosted by Cal Berkeley, facing Cal (16-15), and the winner/loser of Air Force (16-14) vs. University of Portland (9-22), who should not to be confused with 23-9 Portland St.
In the middle tier of non-conference scheduling, we have Brown and Columbia, who face tough mid major teams, and middling high major schools. The Bears play two 2008 tournament teams in George Mason (23-10) and American (21-11), as well as ACC team Virginia (15-15). The Lions also get the Eagles of American and a Big Six conference opponent (Seton Hall, 17-15).
Although Penn does have probably the hardest non-conference game of any Ancient Eight team, two other Ivy schools have tough games before starting league play. Stanford (26-7), who made the Sweet Sixteen a year ago, plays at (yes at) Yale. The Bulldogs also travel to Alabama (17-16), and Oregon St. (6-25), where they'll take on former Brown coach Craig Robinson (no not this Craig Robinson).
But Cornell takes the cake. The Big Red probably has the toughest stretch of any Ivy team, traveling to Indiana (25-7), Syracuse (19-13) and Minnesota (20-13) in a seven day span. They also will play in the NIT Preseason Tip-Off, whose top five seeds are Purdue (24-8), Oklahoma (22-11), Arizona (19-14), Boston College (14-17) and Davidson (26-6). (All but BC made the tournament last year.) Finally, as I already wrote, Cornell visits the Palestra... to face St. Joseph's (21-13), a 2008 tournament team.
So where would you say Penn's non-conference slate of UNC (32-2), Penn St. (15-16), Albany (15-15), Navy (16-14), Lafayette (15-15) and of course the Big 5 schools rank? I'd say probably second to Cornell's.
UPDATE: Here is Harvard's schedule. The Crimson's hardest game is probably a trip to Boston College. Penn now is the only team that has yet to release its schedule.
The official announcement of the M. Hoops schedule for the 2008-09 season is still several weeks away. But as several of the Quakers' opponents -- including four of the seven other Ivies -- have released their schedules, Penn's is beginning to take shape.
Penn State will visit the Palestra on Nov. 25 for its 44th meeting with Penn, but first in six years. The Quakers are 31-12 all-time against the Nittany Lions and took the last meeting, 62-37, in the 2002-03 season opener.
As reported by The Summer Pennsylvanian, Penn visits Albany on Nov. 29. Other known non-conference opponents are Navy (Dec. 5), Lafayette (Jan. 6) and La Salle (Jan. 21), all at the Palestra. The Quakers will also host Saint Joseph's and finish their three-game series with North Carolina, although dates are unknown. And there will be no repeat of last year's Sunshine State debacle, as Penn will not play Florida Gulf Coast or Miami this season.
So far, the Ivy League slate looks as follows (games in parenthesis have not been confirmed):
(Jan. 30 @ Harvard)
Jan 31. @ Dartmouth
Feb. 6 vs. Columbia
(Feb. 7 vs. Cornell)
Feb. 13 @ Brown
Feb. 14 @ Yale
Feb. 20 vs. Dartmouth
(Feb. 21 vs. Harvard)
Feb. 27 vs. Yale
Feb. 28 vs. Brown
(March 6 @ Cornell)
March 7 @ Columbia
Unless you've been under a rock recently, you've probably heard about US swimmer Michael Phelps who broke Mark Spitz's record of seven golds in one Olympics by winning his eighth 2008 Olympics gold medal on Sunday Beijing time. (In case you didn't hear, here's ESPN's web page devoted to the 23-year old.)
As a sports fan I'm quite impressed with Phelps' accomplishment, but I'll admit that my only knowledge of swimming comes from the one season of Penn swimming that I covered for the DP. So although Phelps himself does not have any Penn connection (the closest I can come up with is that he was born just two hours away in Baltimore, Md.), I thought I would ask two Penn people who actually know swimming to give their thoughts on Phelps: men's and women's swimming coach Mike Schnur and rising-junior Sara Coenen, who owns three Penn swimming records of her own.
Of course both were quite impressed with Phelps' performance.
"[I'm] probably thinking the same thing as everyone else: Holy crap!" Coenen said. " It has just been so cool watching him either win a race by miles, out-touch someone by literally a fingernail, or as a part of a relay where he only can hold the race so much in his own hands."
In addition, Coenen is proud of a fellow swimmer bringing swimming into the spotlight.
She sees "the whole event as a way to bring more recognition to the sport," she said. "To see a swimmer getting so much attention, and the sport being talked about on ESPN for more than 15 seconds, is really rewarding."
Schnur, who himself set two records while a swimmer at Penn in the late 1980's, put Phelps's accomplishments on a grand scale.
"What Phelps did is beyond comparison to anything anyone has ever done in the Olympics," Schnur said. "It's the greatest athletic feat I have ever seen and I honestly think he's the greatest athlete who has ever lived. There are no other athletes in any sport who have dominated the way he did for the last eight days."
The fact that Phelps won events while having to swim all four strokes specifically impressed Schnur.
"Its not just that he wins and sets world records," Schnur said. "It's the variety of events he does. Winning the 400 [Individual Medley] and setting an American record in the 100 free would be tantamount to a runner winning the 100 meter dash and the 1500. Its amazing and nobody has ever even attempted it before. Competitive swimming is a world wide sport with millions of athletes. Michael Phelps is far and away the best."
Coenen was a little more hesitant to name Phelps "Greatest Athlete Ever."
"His eight medals is obviously a major accomplishment," she said. "But I think it is a very hard thing to put into a ranking in history of sports. For one thing, he still has at least one more, and possibly two more Olympics to go. I don't think what he has done can be put into a ranking until he has finished.
"Similar to all best athletes who have made their name known, such as Favre, Jordan or Woods, we are going to have to wait a little longer to actually compare him to all the other 'greats', because he isn't done being great yet."
She was quick to mention however that she believes he's the greatest swimmer ever.
"In the swimming world, though, he is already on the top," she said. "Times tell that, and obviously the eight gold medals compared to Mark Spitz's previous seven do as well... He is simply the best."
In his eight races Phelps set seven world records and eight Olympic records. However he's not the only one shattering previous high marks. New world records were set 25 times altering 21 distinct world records.
Coming into the Olympics there had been talk about new suits possibly affecting times. (Here was the Penn reaction to the suits.) However, both Schnur and Coenen were skeptical that the suits are the main reason for both Phelps' and everyone else's success.
"The suits are contributing to the speed and the records, but they give Phelps no competitive advantage over the other swimmers since they are all wearing the same suits," Schnur said.
" The LZR suits are a factor as they have been in the past years, with Fast Skins and Aquablades being top suits in previous Olympics," Coenen added. "But I think the hype is a little too much, because people have to understand that the sport is just still developing... The suits are a part of this evolving process, so they do have a part in the records, but not too much."
Regardless of improved technology, Phelps has been quite the spectacle at the Olympics, which have been significantly bolstered by Phelps. In fact, the IOC changed around the schedule so that all of the finals that Phelps would compete in would be in the mornings Beijing time. That way the races could be broadcast in prime time in America. This strategy greatly helped NBC, as Saturday night (Eastern Standard Time) -- when Phelps raced for his eighth gold medal -- drew NBC's highest ratings for a Saturday night program since 1990.
And why wouldn't America tune in to witness history? For as Schnur said, "It's been really fun to watch, huh?"
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Another big story from Beijing is that Jamaican Usain Bolt broke his own world record in the 100m dash, sprinting to a ridiculous time of 9.69. Bolt has raced at the Penn Relays before, and can be seen in this video from the 2004 relays.
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But the biggest Penn Olympic story is that rower Susan Francia, Class of 2004, won a gold medal for the USA.
A few more summer updates...
First, Chance Pipitone, who transferred to Duke last year after tearing up the links in his freshman season at Penn, has decided to return to Penn. According to an article from Golfweek, Pipitone declared that his desire to pursue a career in finance, not professional golf, prompted him to come back to Wharton.
"This was a difficult decision for me and was made with my academic interests in mind," he said. "Coach Vincent, my teammates and everyone involved with the Duke golf program are class acts and I could not have asked for a better group of which to be a part."
The Penn men's golf team, which has made great strides in recent years, also welcomed GW's Scott Allen in as the director of golf and head coach. With Pipitone on the roster in 2007, the Quakers won the Ivy crown, and Penn locked up third place last year. At the 2008 Ivy Championships, rising senior Michael Blodgett took home the top individual honors, finishing first at five over par. The return of a top talent like Pipitone should really help the Quakers to navigate the coaching change and to fill the void of the now graduated Dean Merrill, who again qualified for the U.S. Amateur Championship and will tee off Monday at Pinehurst.
Pipitone's departure from Duke comes at a very interesting time for the Blue Devils' golf program, which is currently caught up in a major controversy over the dismissal of Andrew Giuliani. Though the two events are unrelated -- at least Pipitone said he left on fine terms with Duke coach O.D. Vincent -- Giuliani has filed a lawsuit against the school, claiming that in an effort to trim the number of players on the team, Vincent exaggerated and made up incidents that portrayed Giuliani as a poor team player. Ultimately, Giuliani contends that Vincent used these incidents as grounds for cutting Giuliani from the team. Whatever the circumstances may be, Penn's golf team must be thrilled to have its ace back.
When school starts up again, I'll see if I can get Chance's take on everything. I spoke to him last spring about an article on Penn golf's practice routine, and he had sounded pretty happy at Duke, though he definitely indicated that he missed Penn. I could also use some short game tips from him, but that's nothing newsworthy...
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Second, Ibby Jaaber has signed a two-year extension with Euroleague team Lottomatica Roma. The link to the only article in English I could find on it is here.
In the Ivy League football preseason poll, Penn is ranked fourth, though it managed to capture one first place vote. Defending champion Harvard, which shocked what had been an undefeated Yale team in the final game of the season, shares the top ranking with its rival New Haven rival. Brown took the third spot.
Obviously, there are no real surprises in the rankings (Princeton, Cornell, Dartmouth, and Columbia, respectively, follow Penn). But for what it's worth, I would say that of the top four teams in the rankings, the fate of the Quakers might be the most difficult to predict. After all, a healthy Mike McLeod will be back to break more records as a senior at Yale, Harvard returns 22 starters, including quarterback Chris Pizzotti, and both Yale and Harvard have their key defensive players returning.
The Quakers, though, are full of question marks. For starters, who knows how Robert Irvin will bounce back from practically a full season on the shelf? And how will Penn's 5-2 defense respond without Naheem Harris, who anchored the unit at nose tackle for the last four years? What about the backfield without Joe Sandberg?
Penn returns only 10 starters, but some of the younger players from last season showed great promise down the stretch. Mike DiMaggio, the powerful bruiser, and Bradford Blackmon, the shifty speedster, complement each other very nicely out of the backfield. They certainly made life easier for the Quakers' offense when Sandberg was nursing his slew of injuries last season, and now that he's gone, both DiMaggio and Blackmon will help to fill the void. Penn should also have one of the stronger, if not the strongest, secondaries in the league, with all-Ivy players Chris Wynn and Tyson Maugle both returning.
There is no question that there is a lot of talent on this team, but it is really impossible to know what to expect. Penn got off to an atrocious start last season, but its valiant effort in an epic overtime loss to Yale and its dominating 45-9 win over Cornell in the season finale cannot be overlooked. The Quakers got a lot better as the younger players grew more comfortable over the course of last season. The first few games of this season will be absolutely pivotal -- Penn needs to get off to a good start and play with confidence from the outset. The Quakers first three games are the same as last year's, just in a different order. Either way, they cannot afford to lose to Lafayette and Dartmouth again.
Which team will show up for the Quakers in week one? And will that team be the same team that shows up in week seven? The fourth-place ranking means absolutely nothing; there are simply too many unknowns to make any accurate predictions. I wouldn't be shocked if the Quakers put themselves in position to win the league, but I wouldn't be shocked if they got taken down by Columbia, either (ok, maybe a little shocked). We'll just have to wait and see.
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A quick side note: Penn Athletics made great and much-needed improvements to its website, www.pennathletics.com. The site is now much easier to navigate and has a more user-friendly interface. I know nothing about web design, but this is definitely a major improvement. Apparently, in addition to enhanced audio and video and podcasts, the site will include blogs updated by coaches and student-athletes. Perhaps Penn Athletics read Andrew Scurria's column for the Summer Pennsylvanian back in June. In the "links" section of the website, the DP -- the only newspaper whose sports section is devoted entirely to Penn sports -- is the last link listed in the local media section, behind the likes of Phillyburbs.com and AllAroundPhilly.com. I guarantee you can't read about Penn Fencing on Phillyburbs.com. All kidding aside, the new site does look much better, and if the blogs are done right, they could make for a very interesting feature... certainly something to check up on as the fall season gets going.
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