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(09/06/96 9:00am)
After six year, he cites need to move on Citing a need to do something else in his life, Ned Edwards -- the head coach of the men's squash team and the director of the squash program at Penn for the last six years -- resigned, effective Sept. 5, 1996. "I've been in squash for so long, I knew at some point I had to make a shift," Edwards said. "And now seemed like the time to do it." A 1981 graduate of Penn, Edwards was the No. 2 ranked squash player in North America for five years. He also won the North American Open title in 1987 and the 1979 intercollegiate championship. Edwards is currently part of the No. 2 ranked doubles team in North America and was selected to coach the U.S. junior men's team at the World Championships this past summer. What made the move all the more surprising was that Penn had one of its best seasons in recent history last year -- ending up as the No. 4 ranked team in the country. "He was an excellent coach," Quakers sophomore squash player Bryan Abrano said. "The move was sudden? but I'm confident that [athletic director Steve Bilsky] can find a new coach." When discussing his accomplishments at Penn, Edwards voiced regret that he did not have stronger recruiting classes. "I think probably I would liked to have recruited more new talent each year, giving our guys a chance to compete for the national championship," he said. After a life dominated by squash, Edwards plans to go into business in New York -- "something outside of sports," Edwards said. Bilsky could not be reached for comment.
(09/04/96 9:00am)
When Napoleon was asked what troops he considered the best, he replied, "Those which are victorious." "...They're stretching [the rules] as if they're plastic," Steve Tosches, coach of the arch-rival Princeton Tigers and head of the unofficial 'smear Penn with innuendo' committee, told Sports Illustrated last year. "When does the plastic break?" But for anyone who actually watched that Penn class compile its 26 victories knows it was not due to overwhelming talent. Indeed, many of the games were of the nail-biting variety -- seven of the games during the streak were decided by four points or less. Like plastic, you could bend the Quakers, but they did not break. But that magic touch waned midway through last year. First, Columbia made the Quakers wobbly with a 24-14 victory, snapping Penn's 24-game winning streak. And then Princeton delivered the wallop -- 22-9, on Penn's homecoming day, no less. The Quakers tied Cornell for second place in the league. The Tigers, suddenly mum about the compatibility between victories and academics, took the top prize. The plastic for the Quakers indeed broke. And to add to Bagnoli's challenge this year is the fact that he can no longer rely on his two aces -- his All-American wide receiver Miles Macik, whose hands are as sure as his smile, and his gifted if erratic quarterback, Mark DeRosa, who would have been perhaps the greatest of Penn's throwers, save for his habit of passing the ball to the other team. The eternally optimistic Macik overcame the odds and made the Detroit Lions opening day roster despite not being drafted. It did not take long for Lions coach Wayne Fontes to notice the abilities of Macik, as well as the alliteration of his name. "Miles Macik -- what a great name for a player, a movie star maybe, " Fontes told The Detroit Free Press. Coaching football, fortunately for Wayne, is not rocket science. DeRosa, on the other hand, who doubled at Penn as a shortstop on the baseball team, gave up his remaining football eligibility after signing with the Atlanta Braves, who drafted hin in the seventh round. The Braves sent him to Class A ball in Oregon, where the curves are tougher than in Wharton classes; he batted a respectable .242. But on the bright side for Bagnoli, he fields a trio of talented runners -- the speedy Jasen Scott, the rough-and-tumble Aman Abye and the green but ready Jason McGee. Penn will replace DeRosa with the forever-in-waiting Steve Teodecki, who will get to prove he is more than just a backup, or not. But the fact that Bagnoli never deigned to replace DeRosa with Teodecki, despite DeRosa's struggles last year, gives the Penn partisan some pause. The defense loses some too, especially in their secondary. Gone are all-Ivy selections Tom McGarrity, Kevin Allen, Nick Morris and Dana Lyons. But Mitch Marrow, arguably Ivy League football's best athlete, along with the wrestler-cum-gridder Joey Allen and co-captain Tim Gage, leads a still-strong defensive front seven. But the most important returnee is Bagnoli himself, who took over a 2-8 team four years ago and has won 33 out of 39 as the Quakers' commander-in-chief. A record like that breeds optimism in any season. And this year, Bagnoli will get to prove that he's a great general, and not merely a cheerleader for some very winning troops.
(08/30/96 9:00am)
Allen signs with Indiana Jerome Allen, a 1995 Penn graduate, signed a contract with the Indiana Pacers on August 17. Although the Pacers would not disclose the terms, Allen's agent, Arn Tellum said it was a one-year guaranteed deal. This will be the second pro team for the two-time Ivy League Player of the Year. Allen spent his rookie season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who selected him in the second round of the 1995 NBA draft. In 41 games with Minnesota, Allen averaged 2.6 points, 0.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists per contest. Allen's playing time dwindled significantly after Flip Saunders was fired and replaced by Bill Blair as coach of the T-Wolves mid-season. After an unproductive year with Minnesota, Allen became a free agent on July 1, since he had signed only a one-year deal with the Timberwolves. He attended free agent camps with the New Jersey Nets and Atlanta Hawks before signing with the Pacers. Allen came to the Quakers in 1991and helped lead Penn to three straight NCAA appearances. He ended his career as the Quakers' all-time assists and steals leader and second all-time in three-pointers made. Allen might be best remembered for the leaner he hit with 4.4 seconds left against Michigan, giving Penn a 62-60 victory on ESPN, arguably the greatest upset in recent Quakers history. Known for his cross-over dribble and his tenacious defense, the biggest weakness in Allen's game is his jump shot -- which probably dropped him to the second-round in the 1995 NBA draft. -- Michael Hasday
(08/30/96 9:00am)
Macik led DetroitMacik led Detroitreceivers with nineMacik led Detroitreceivers with ninepreseason receptions When Miles Macik approached his locker and saw that it had been cleaned out, the former Penn All-American wide receiver thought that he had been cut by the Detroit Lions, perhaps ending his dream of playing in the NFL. But a quick glance to the row of veterans' lockers produced a mood swing in the usually staid wide receiver. Macik's equipment was right there along side Barry Sanders's and Herman Moore's. Miles Macik had achieved a life-long goal -- playing professional football. "It's something I dreamt of for a long time, but I didn't expect it," Macik said. "I just kept working on getting better." In the confines of the Ivy League, the 6-foot-4, 200 pound Macik towered over Ivy corners, catching a league record 200 passes in his three years on the Quakers varsity football team. But perhaps because of his lack of speed, Macik was not selected in the seven-round NFL draft, and he was forced to go the the free-agent route. But it only took a few days for Detroit to sign him. This signing was especially sweet for Macik, who lives only a few minutes from the Pontiac Silverdome. That allowed Macik to work out with Detroit quarterback Scott Mitchell two weeks before training camp began, getting an extra jump on the other rookie hopefuls. The pre-preseason work paid off for Macik, who quickly raised eyebrows among the Lions coaches with his glue-like hands and his above-average size. "Miles Macik -- what a great name for a player," Detroit coach Wayne Fontes told the Detroit News on July 25. "A movie star, maybe. I'm impressed with the way he's catching the ball. He's definitely caught my eye." Although most of Macik's action was with Detroit's second team, his performances impressed the coaching staff enough to garner some action with the Lions top squad. The fact that there were holdouts and injuries in Detroit's receiving corps no doubt helped the coaches make that decision. Macik ended up leading the team in the preseason with nine receptions for 120 yards. Perhaps the highlight of the preseason for Macik -- and maybe the Lions -- was his grab of a Hail Mary from Lions quarterback Johnny Johnson with no time remaining in a game against the Saints. The touchdown brought Detroit within a point of New Orleans, but the Lions missed a two-point conversion and lost the game. "Things couldn't have gone better," Macik said. "I played well enough to take the pressure off myself and put it on the administrators who were making the decision." Macik feels that the Lions, even though they have perhaps the deepest receiving corps in the NFL, with Moore, Brett Perriman, Johnny Morton, Aubrey Matthews and Glyn Milburn, gave him one of their last roster spots because they were afraid another team would pick him up. The Lions kept seven wide receivers, and Macik, as a rookie, is realistic about his playing time. He expects to see occasional action on special teams, but he will primarily serve as Moore's backup on the right side. Moore, a five-year veteran out of Virginia -- which Moore dubbed the "Ivy League of the South" -- quickly bonded with Macik. However, it wasn't all smooth sailing for Macik, who received his fair share of monster tackles in the preseason. "I didn't get tackled like that in college," Macik recalled. "The tackles [in college] didn't hurt me." Welcome to the NFL.
(08/01/96 9:00am)
you should seize the day and keep your list of regrets as short as possible. Up above 43rd on Locust, Koch's was always a bit of a hike. There was always more of a wait than I had time to spare, Everything there cost more than I could afford to spend. Every time I did, though, it was worth every inch walked, every minute wasted, and every penny spent. The rolls were fresh. The meat was highest quality and it was packed thick. The sandwiches, once assembled,were worthy of Dagwood Bumstead himself. There's more to the place than sandwiches, too. The milkshakes are the thickest and richest I've ever had anywhere. I hated potato salad until a friend convinced me to try it there. Just like with any great business, there was more to it than just the product. Koch's was closer to the atmosphere I knew back in small-town Vermont than the one I am used to finding here in metropolitan Philadelphia. The Koch brothers, Bob and Lou, were as friendly as human beings come, making the hour-plus spent in line go by more quickly with free cold-cuts and Lou's god-awful puns. What's more, they recognized their customers, and always greeted people they had seen before with a relaxed familiarity that made you feel like you were in the company of friends. When Lou Koch died of a heart attack this past fall, cards came pouring in from all over the city. When Bob reopened the deli a few days later,he personally thanked everyone who sent one. I kept meaning to take my parents there when they came to visit, but I never did. There were many weekends when I could've afforded to do and didn't. I always assumed that thee would be another opportunity. As is always the case with that assumption, eventually I was wrong. So one more piece of the Penn I fell in love with is gone. This is a big one, so it gets to me a bit more than it should. This is hardly the first bit of my Philadelphia that has been lost. When I came here there was a club called the Chestnut Cabaret. It wasn't that fabulous a place save for the fact that on many a boring weekend it would host the sort of show that one normally had to go to the Trocadero to see. I still fondly recall the three hours of a bluegrass band called Allgood spent jamming there in front of a tiny crowd. Tiny crowds were the reason that the Chestnut Cabaret closed its doors. When the doors reopened, it was renamed Fubar, and now it is the sort of asinine dance club where overdressed jarheads get drunk off overpriced, crappy beer and do pelvic thrusts to the time of god-awful techno music. A cozy little place with a cozy little name became twisted and deformed like a thalidomide baby. Judging from my indictment of Fubar, one might guess that I'm the sort who absolutely hated (hates) Murph's. Lousy beer, overcrowding and grime are not the traits which attract me to a bar today. Murph's, however, was my first bar, and, like a first love, it will always hold a special place in my heart. Having been good and well behaved and studious in high school, I hadn't so much as smoked a cigarette when I came to college. My liver lost its virginity at Kappa Alpha and was finished off in the basement of Murphy's Tavern. There was a certain magic to a bar where a baby-faced 17 year-old could approach the door nervously holding out his PennCard in place of an ID, and have the bouncer wave it aside saying, "Quit wasting my time and get the hell in there!" I haven't been there in a long time. Like I said, my taste of atmosphere has changed. I've heard that since they were busted last year, they've started carding on a regular basis. That's a shame. My sympathies are with the incoming freshmen who are as dorky as I was and won't get the chance to have the same huddles in a Rolling Rock soaked booth, the same hook-ups in a dark and grungy corner, the same raucous sing-a-longs to "Piano Man" through a Jaegermeister induced haze. All these made my life that much richer, and it's a shame that those to come won't be able to share in them. I feel the same sympathy for all the Penn students who never had the luxury of walking no further than 38th and Chestnut to see one of their favorite bands. I feel even more sympathy for all those who'll never know the joy of sinking their teeth into a Koch's sandwich and washing it down with a milkshake. Yarislav (the malevolent spirit who lives in my laptop) is glaring at me as if to say, "If you get anywhere near a point, make it!"I'll sum it up with a piece of advice to all those who will be arriving in just over a month. The point is one that everyone has heard a million times, but is still every bit as true on the million and first" CARPE DIEM. Seize the day. If you do something that turns out wrong, you can almost always put it right, get over it, lean from it, or at least deny it. Once you've missed out on something, it's gone. The world waits for no one. It has its own schedule and either you keep up or get left behind. This is the point in your life when things around you begin changing a bit faster. The old will be replaced by the new, and often time the new will never be quite as cozy as the old was. People in your life will come and go a lot faster then they did before. There will be the girl who you never got to say the right words to, the band you never got to see live, the winning streak you never got to cheer on, the bar you never got to stumble home from, the brilliant retiring professor whose class you never took, the relative you never got very close with? It's a long list no matter what. Try to keep it as short as possible. Just before I finished writing this, I was told that I had been misinformed. Koch's isn't closing forever -- just for the rest of the summer. When September comes, get your ass over there and have a sandwich, because you never know?
(07/25/96 9:00am)
Consider the facts: · Lacrosse is a regional game, played primarily in the Northeast. · A disproportionate number of players come from the suburbs of New York City and Baltimore, like the Penn population as a whole. · Lacrosse, as a result of its demographic base, is one of the few sports where Ivy League teams compete on even terms with scholarship schools. Right now, Princeton is the defending national champion. · Although Penn's pedigree in the sport is not as impressive as other Ivies, the Quakers were in the Final Four as recently as 1988 and its coaching position is considered one of the "premier" jobs in the sport, according to Virginia coach Dom Starsia, who guided his Cavaliers to the NCAA title game this year. So why is the Penn program firmly established as the worst in the league, having gone over two full seasons without an Ancient Eight (actually Seven since Columbia doesn't field a team) victory? You need to look no further than Monday's announcement for an answer. No, it's not ex-Virginia assistant Marc Van Arsdale's fault -- he's only been on the job three days. What's troubling is that this is the third time in the last six years the Athletic Department has welcomed a new coach to "the Penn athletic family." It's been a steady descent for the program since Tony Seaman, the architect of Penn's glory years of the 1980s, traded Penn for lacrosse superpower Johns Hopkins. Seaman's immediate successor was G.W. Mix, a Penn alumnus and former assistant. Mix consolidated the decline that began in Seaman's last year, and by the time he resigned after the 1994 campaign, Penn had suffered four straight losing seasons. Penn then went in a different direction. If Mix was the born-and-bred Quaker, then successor Terry Corcoran was the outsider. A spectacularly successful coach at Division III Washington College in Maryland, Corcoran was the new blood who would revitalize the Quakers. Needless to say, it didn't happen. The team menaced a number of highly-ranked Ivy League opponents, but never broke through for a win in either year. To watch last year's Penn-Princeton game was to see a contest so one-sided it could hardly be called a sport. Indeed, the 19-4 scoreline was flattering to the Quakers. So Corcoran, failing to stop the bleeding, to say nothing of building the program, is returning to the comfort of Division III. Which brings us, in a round-about way, to the real question -- how long does a good program have to go through a bad period before it is a bad program? Clearly, Penn is at a crossroads, an even more important point in its development than 1990 or 1994. Six years is a long time to be league doormat in college athletics. If that reputation sticks, if Penn is branded a second-class lacrosse citizen, the program will be caught in the same cycle as, say, Cornell basketball. Unable to attract top players to improve, the Quakers will have no chance to be good enough to attract the best players. That's where Van Arsdale comes in. He spent six years honing his craft at Virginia, runner-up in the 1996 playoffs and a consistently first-class team. He is well-known in lacrosse circles as an up-and-coming coach and offensive strategist. At age 33, he figures to be just the sort of young blood Penn needs. Creating Penn anew is not an impossible task. In five years, Bill Tierney took Princeton from laughing-stock to national champion. No doubt, it is unfair to ask Van Arsdale to match that, but the gains must be immediate and they must be tangible. Playing well for 57 minutes is not going to cut it -- the 1996 team already showed it could do that. Van Arsdale's task is crystal clear -- beat someone in the league. Anyone. Otherwise, a few summers from now, we'll be treated to a new batch of press releases proclaiming deep regret and wishing Van Arsdale, like Mix (and Corcoran) before him, "the best in his future endeavors."
(06/30/96 9:00am)
Tigers guard listsTigers guard listsPenn as one of 30Tigers guard listsPenn as one of 30possible new schools Scarsdale, NY Freshman Brian Earl, Princeton's starting point guard this past year, is considering transferring from Princeton -- and has not ruled out coming to arch-rival Penn. Earl, who was the Tigers' second-leading leading scorer last year at 9.2 points per game, cited a "the lack of freedom" in the famous Princeton famous slow-it-down offense as a primary source of his dissatisfaction. He added that the move was in no way due to the Tigers players or coaching staff. Although The Philadelphia Daily News announced in a headline that "Princeton's Earl might join enemy," the 6-foot-2, 165-pound freshman downplayed the possibility of joining the Quakers, saying that Penn was just one of roughly 30 schools he was considering. Earl said that he was not looking at Penn "more than other school." "I wouldn't say they are on the top of my list," he added. Earl cited two factors that were not in the Quakers' favor -- the heat he would take for joining Princeton's biggest rival and his friendship with incoming Penn recruit Matt Langel, a 6-foot-4 guard from Moorestown, N.J. Earl explained that he does not want to be in a situation where he is competing for playing time in the Quakers backcourt with Langel. Working in the Quakers' favor is Penn's close proximity to Earl's home in Medford Lakes, N.J., which is about a half-hour drive from University City. Earl added that Penn is the only Ivy League school that is on his list. Princeton coach Bill Carmody -- who replaced legendary coach Pete Carril following the Tigers' NCAA tournament run -- said that he granted Earl permission to talk to other Ivy League schools, which is required by NCAA rules. But he did not want to further comment on the situation. However, Carmody hinted that he may open the Tigers offense up a bit, which may induce Earl to stay. "I'm different from Coach Carril," Carmody said. "I believe a lot of Coach Carril's philosophy, but also that you look at the players, what their strengths are and basically go from there." Regardless of whether Earl comes to Penn or not, if Earl transfers it will be a blow to the Tigers chances of repeating as Ivy champions. Princeton returns the core of last year's team that defeated defending national champion UCLA in the NCAA tournament last year. Although Earl lost his starting spot in the rotation to Mitch Henderson after struggling in the middle of the season, Earl was one of the top rookies in the Ivy League last year and was expected to play a big part in any future Tigers successes. Earl says that his decision to transfer "depends on the interest" he gets from other schools. "If I feel its the right place for me, if I feel its better, I'll go," Earl said. Penn coach Fran Dunphy, who unsuccessfully tried to recruit Earl out of high school, said that he received a fax Tuesday afternoon indicating that Earl was a recruitable athlete. But Dunphy was precluded by NCAA rules to further comment. If Earl does transfer to Penn or anywhere else, he will have to sit out a year in compliance with NCAA rules.
(05/17/96 9:00am)
Walker's three-year record was 27-51 Al Walker, Cornell's men's basketball coach since 1993, has stepped down from that position after three trying years as the Big Red's leader. The move was made April 29. "Based on conversations with Coach Walker over the past few weeks, we decided that it's time for a change in the men's basketball program," Cornell Athletic Director Charles Moore said in a statement. During Walker's tenure, Cornell went 27-51 overall and 12-30 in the Ivy League. "It's been a difficult personal year," Walker said in a statement. "Right now, I need to step away from Ithaca and put basketball in perspective. Our team is maturing, talented and moving in the right direction." Diane Murphy, the Big Red's Associate Athletic Director, will be heading the "national" search for a new coach. "Were looking for the person who is the right fit," Murphy said. "That includes a person who has a great deal of integrity, is a teacher, role-model, has outstanding coaching credentials, great communicator, obviously an excellent recruiter, and committed to the student-athlete concept."
(04/22/96 9:00am)
Penn receiverPenn receiverlooking to signPenn receiverlooking to signas a free agent Senior Miles Macik, the All-American wide receiver who helped lead the Quakers to a 26-3 mark and two Ivy championships in his three years of varsity football at Penn, was not drafted in this weekend's seven-round National Football League entry draft. "I wasn't sure what was going to happen," Macik said. "I was hoping to be a late-round draft choice." Macik still hopes to sign with an NFL team as a free-agent, and that agent -- John Macik, his cousin -- was talking to several NFL teams yesterday. Macik added that he probably will find out in the next day which NFL teams, if any, are interested in him. What might have hurt Macik was the draft's depth at the wide receiver position, which was generally thought to be the strongest position in this year's collegiate crop. Of the 254 players selected over the weekend, 33 were receivers, including five first-rounders and six second-rounders. Macik, however, discounted speculation that the depth at his position hurt his stock. "It's hard to say," Macik said. "Just because it was a strong year for wide receivers doesn't mean that it would necessary hurt me, that I'm not going to get a chance." Macik tried out with 10 NFL teams -- Carolina, Detroit, Kansas City, Tampa Bay, St. Louis, Minnesota, Green Bay, Tampa Bay, Baltimore and the New York Giants -- before the draft and said he thought the workouts went "pretty well". "I'm in the best shape of my life," said Macik, who added that he weighs nearly 215 pounds -- 15 more than he was listed at during his senior year -- and ran the 40-yard dash in 4.67 seconds. Macik, a 6-foot-4 receiver known for his glue-like hands, set an Ivy League record with 200 catches in his three years of varsity football. A three-time first-team all-Ivy selection, Macik is also second in Penn history in receiving yards with 2,365 -- just 54 yards short of Don Clune's mark of 2,419 yards, set from 1971 to 1973. For now, Macik is in a waiting game that could work out in his favor. If more than one team requests his services, Macik would have some leverage in terms of salary. If he was drafted, he could only negotiate with that team. Macik also has the benefit of signing with a team where he felt he could receive the most playing time. If he had been drafted by a team with a deep receiving corps, Macik may have been cut or relegated to practice squad duty. Macik recognized that not getting drafted may turn out for best. "I'm pretty positive about the whole thing," Macik said. "I'm just waiting to get my shot."
(04/19/96 9:00am)
Freshman Brian Earl, Princeton's starting point guard this past year, is considering transferring from Princeton -- and has not ruled out coming to arch-rival Penn. Earl, who was the Tigers' second-leading leading scorer last year at 9.2 points per game, cited a "the lack of freedom" in the famous Princeton famous slow-it-down offense as a primary source of his dissatisfaction. He added that the move was in no way due to the Tigers players or coaching staff. Although The Philadelphia Daily News announced in a headline yesterday that "Princeton's Earl might join enemy," the 6-foot-2, 165-pound freshman downplayed the possibility of joining the Quakers, saying that Penn was just one of roughly 30 schools he was considering. Earl said that he was not looking at Penn "more than other school." "I wouldn't say they are on the top of my list," he added. Earl cited two factors that were not in the Quakers' favor -- the heat he would take for joining Princeton's biggest rival and his friendship with incoming Penn recruit Matt Langel, a 6-foot-4 guard from Moorestown, N.J. Earl explained that he does not want to be in a situation where he is competing for playing time in the Quakers backcourt with Langel. Working in the Quakers' favor is Penn's close proximity to Earl's home in Medford Lakes, N.J., which is about a half-hour drive from University City. Earl added that Penn is the only Ivy League school that is on his list. Princeton coach Bill Carmody -- who replaced legendary coach Pete Carril following the Tigers' NCAA tournament run -- said that he granted Earl permission to talk to other Ivy League schools, which is required by NCAA rules. But he did not want to further comment on the situation. However, Carmody hinted that he may open the Tigers offense up a bit, which may induce Earl to stay. "I'm different from Coach Carril," Carmody said. "I believe a lot of Coach Carril's philosophy, but also that you look at the players, what their strengths are and basically go from there." Regardless of whether Earl comes to Penn or not, if Earl transfers it will be a blow to the Tigers chances of repeating as Ivy champions. Princeton returns the core of last year's team that defeated defending national champion UCLA in the NCAA tournament last year. Although Earl lost his starting spot in the rotation to Mitch Henderson after struggling in the middle of the season, Earl was one of the top rookies in the Ivy League last year and was expected to play a big part in any future Tigers successes. Earl says that his decision to transfer "depends on the interest" he gets from other schools. "If I feel its the right place for me, if I feel its better, I'll go," Earl said. Penn coach Fran Dunphy, who unsuccessfully tried to recruit Earl out of high school, said that he received a fax Tuesday afternoon indicating that Earl was a recruitable athlete. But Dunphy was precluded by NCAA rules to further comment. If Earl does transfer to Penn or anywhere else, he will have to sit out a year due to NCAA rules.
(04/17/96 9:00am)
Quakers men's basketball coach Fran Dunphy, like every coach, loses out on prized recruits all the time. And despite Dunphy's remarkable success against the Tigers on the court, Penn often lose to Princeton in the all-important recruiting wars. Last year, Dunphy lost out on his top recruit, guard Brian Earl. The former Shawnee (N.J.) High School star rejected Dunphy's offer, opting to play for Pete Carril. And in 1993, Sydney Johnson, who Dunphy recruited, also opted for the orange and black, where he has matured into an all-Ivy guard. But Carril stepped down as Princeton coach this year, turning over the big desk and reserved parking space to his long-time assistant Bill Carmody. When the change was announced, Carmody promised that he would continue Carril's famous slow-it-down half-court offense, complete with back-door cuts and 34-second sets. But when Rocca explained his reasons for spurning Penn, he cited Carmody's promise that the Tigers would play a new style of basketball as a major factor in his decision. "Coach Carmody is a lot different that Pete Carril," Rocca claimed. Right from that first press conference, it was hard to believe Carmody would be Pete Carril II. It's a no-win situation for Carmody. If he wins, it will be because Carril laid all of the groundwork. If he loses, it will be because he messed with Carril's system. So despite his public comments, Carmody will likely open up the offense to some degree and implement his own system. Carmody doesn't want to be just a button-pusher in Carril's master plan. He wants to leave his own mark on Ivy League hoops. And if Carmody does loosen the reins and go with a more up-tempo system, then the Ivy League may be entering a new era. And that could be very good news for the rest of the Ivy League. Even when Penn was in the midst of its back-to-back-to-back Ivy League championship seasons, the most unpleasant two games on every Ancient Eight team's schedule were those against Princeton. The Quakers were going to beat you -- that was never a question. But the Tigers could degrade you and make you look like third graders. Holding your opponent to 40 points, but still losing will do that to a team. But the true magic of Carril's system was that it produced consistent winners with only average talent. This past season, both Penn and Dartmouth had better teams on paper. In Ivy League Player of the Year Ira Bowman, all-Ivy center Tim Krug and second-team all-Ivy guard Donald Moxley, Dunphy surely had the best core of stars in the conference. Throw in solid role players like sharp-shooter Garett Kreitz and low-post banger Paul Romanczuk and the Quakers starting five could make a case for being the Ivy's best. The Big Green answered with its inside-outside combo of 7-footer Brian Gilpin and Sea Lonergan, the league's leading scorer, along with a strong stable of complimentary players, including point guard Kenny Mitchell and gunner P.J. Halas. At best, Princeton had the third-best talent in the Ivy League. Yet the Tigers were league co-champions, won the one-game playoff with Penn and knocked off defending national champion UCLA in the first round of the NCAA tournament. But without Carril, what is the future of Princeton basketball? Four starters return from last year's squad -- all-Ivy center Steve Goodrich, all-Ivy guard Sydney Johnson, guard Jamie Mastaglio and Earl. But how much of their success was a result of Carril's wizardry, and how much was skill? The answer to that question may not sit too well with Princeton fans. That by no means takes away from the Tigers players' accomplishments. Someone has to execute the game plan. But the same starting lineup coached by anyone other than Pete Carril would never have won an Ivy crown or beaten UCLA. Princeton can have Mason Rocca. But what the Tigers really need is Pete Carril back.
(04/16/96 9:00am)
Simonian tosses four-Simonian tosses four-hitter to lead Penn toSimonian tosses four-hitter to lead Penn tovictory in first game After crushing Harvard, 8-1, in the opening game of yesterday's doubleheader, the Penn baseball team had won four straight Ivy League games -- going a long way to establishing itself as the premier team in the Ancient Eight. But in a reminder that Penn can be beaten in any given game, the Crimson roared back, defeating the Quakers, 5-3, in the nightcap. Penn (17-11, 9-3 Ivy League) cruised in the opener against Harvard. Quakers pitcher Armen Simonian -- who leads the conference in ERA -- pitched a masterpiece yesterday, sprinkling four hits over seven innings and allowing only one run. Simonian lowered his ERA from 2.48 to a sparkling 2.28 and received the complete-game win, his fourth victory of the season. The Penn hurler got plenty of help from timely hitting by the Quakers sluggers, who gave Penn a 4-0 lead by the second inning. Penn's offense was not necessarily powerful -- its only extra-base hits were two doubles, courtesy of sophomore second baseball Joe Carlon and senior center fielder Sean Turner. However, timely hitting and a poor Crimson defense allowed the Quakers to score eight runs on only eight hits. Harvard made four errors in the game, leading to five unearned runs for Penn. The offensive stars for the Quakers were second baseman Joe Carlon and catcher Rick Burt, two players that have been hitting consistently all season. Carlon went 2-for-4, knocking in two RBIs. And Burt, a Penn co-captain who called the game for Simonian, had a perfect night -- going 3-for-3, knocking in two runs. Burt raised his batting average to a cool .366, not bad for a player known more for his defensive prowess than for his offensive skills before the season began. On the Penn roster, only pitcher/first baseman Mike Shannon (.405) and Turner (.384) have higher batting averages among the regulars. In the nightcap, the Crimson enacted a measure of revenge by edging the Quakers 5-3. Harvard scored all of its runs early, tagging Penn pitcher A.B. Fischer for five earned runs in three-and-two-thirds innings. Junior pitcher Alex Hayden mopped up for Fischer, hurling a scoreless two and one-third innings, but the damage was already done. Penn scored two runs in the first inning and added another in the sixth, but Harvard pitcher Bart Brush contained the Quakers to only three runs on eight hits -- giving Brush the victory. Fischer took the loss for the Quakers. The loss was Fischer's third of the season to go with three wins. The doubleheader was originally scheduled for Sunday, but was postponed due to field conditions.
(04/15/96 9:00am)
Five years ago, Jerome Allen came to town, bringing with him the street smarts and cross-over dribble that led to three straight NCAA appearances for the Quakers and landed him a high-paying job sitting on the bench of the Minnesota Timberwolves. A half-decade later, the man with the golden name of Michael Jordan -- who is considered by some to be the top guard coming out of the Philly area and is already being compared to Allen -- will attempt to bring the magic back to the Palestra as Penn faces an uphill battle to return to the top in the campus's most celebrated of sports. The Quakers lost five seniors after the 1994-95 season, including Allen and backcourt mate Matt Maloney, the 1995 Ivy League Player of the Year, and were still able to compete for the NCAA's automatic bid, losing out to the arch-rival Princeton Tigers in a overtime playoff game. However, this year's losses, although less heralded, may be more deadly. Penn loses the Ivy League's top player last year in its acrobatic point guard Ira Bowman. Coach Fran Dunphy's program also loses first-team all-Ivy center Tim Krug along with second-team guard Don Moxley. Someone will have to emerge for Penn to compete with the always-disciplined Tigers, who return nearly everybody, besides curmudgeonly coach Pete Carril. But the Quakers do not seem to have a go-to guy and that will inevitably be costly since Ivy League games have been going down-to-the-wire at an ever-increasing rate. The Quakers top returning scorer is sophomore shooting guard Garett Kreitz, but he averaged barely nine points a game. Kreitz showed nice touch from behind the three-point line, but unlike Bowman or Krug, cannot create his own shot. Last year's highly touted recruits -- Frankie Brown, who left his shot at Beverly Hills, and Jed Ryan, who took his shots off the court -- were erratic, to say the least. Rice transfer George Mboya looks promising as a Shawn Trice-type at power forward, but he is still a mystery. And for that matter, so is smooth-shooting George Zaninovich, who left Penn for personal reasons last year. It is yet to be known if he will be back. Freshman Paul Romanczuk did all anyone could ask last season when asked to fill in for the departed Nat Graham. But he, along with point guard Jamie Lyren -- fresh off foot surgery -- are still complimentary pieces to any championship puzzle. Of the three recruits, Jordan is the only one who will likely make an immediate impact. Matt Langel, a 6-foot-4 guard from South Jersey, who ironically is being compared to Allen's partner Maloney, is expected to need a year or two before he will become a scorer for Penn. And 6-foot-11, 180-pound center Geoff Owens is, in the truest sense, a project. Look for Dunphy to feed Owens 1500-calorie shakes until he vomits. David Benezra of Recruiting USA magazine says Jordan is among the top 100 to 150 recruits in the country and is "a steal for Penn." In high school, Jordan led Abington Friends to three straight league titles. He has already stated that his goal is to take the Quakers back to the NCAAs. On the comparison to Allen, Benezra said: "In some ways, Jordan may be more skilled than Jerome Allen, but probably not as athletic." One cautionary note: For all of Allen's talents, it wasn't until his sophomore year that he brought the Ivy championship home to the Palestra. But Jordan will probably not wilt under having to live up to the Allen comparisons. After all, it's easier than living up to his name.
(04/09/96 9:00am)
All Rebecca Hornstein wanted was to vote for the future of student government. She could have, if the University had decided whether she is full-or part-time. It has been about a week now since it happened, since Nominations and Elections Committee Vice Chairperson for Elections Ben Goldberger told me he was pissing in his pants. I am pretty sure he wasn't disclosing this embarrassing fact to wrangle a free pair of Depends, or to obtain baby powder to prevent a diaper rash. In fact, if I had to bet, I would say his condition had something to do with my being upset about having been prevented from voting on the proposed student government constitutional referenda. I know. It sounds pretty pathetic that a second-semester senior would care about a referendum, let alone care enough to write a column about it for the DP. To be quite honest, these days it takes a lot to motivate me to any additional effort, but being prevented from voting was enough. The student manning the polling booth took my name, phone number and Social Security number, and informed me that someone would be in touch with me. A little after 6 p.m. that day, I was standing in front of Commons when I observed a friend of mine, a legitimately part-time student, a senior enrolled in only two classes, vote -- not only on the referendum, but also in Undergraduate Assembly elections. On Wednesday, the NEC did not call me. At 5 p.m., I wandered into Houston Hall where I ran into a friend who advised me that I should voice my concerns to the NEC. Oddly enough, NEC members in the group's office at the time were not sure whether I should have been permitted to vote. One NEC member said that since I am enrolled in three classes, I should have been able to vote. But it didn't matter anyway; the polls were closed. I was upset. I was rude. I said that as a full-time student, I received little enough from the University that I couldn't accept being prevented from voting. Interestingly enough, at no time did any of the five NEC members in the office advise me that I had the right to file a complaint. In the end, it didn't matter -- someone else filed one on the same issue. The next day, I ran into Goldberger, who was responsible for determining student voting eligibility. When I told him I had called the Bursar's Office and the College Office -- both of which considered me to be a full-time student -- Goldberger informed me that he was "pissing in [his] pants." I am, of course, assuming that this was meant to be a humorously snide remark, because when he and I looked between his legs, there was nothing -- no liquid, that is. That night, at the hearing on this matter, the complaint was withdrawn because the Registrar's Office does, indeed, consider students taking three credit units to be part time. According to the Bursar's Office, I am a full-time student. As a full-time student, I was billed $8,987 for the privilege of being registered for three classes this semester, instead of the two that would have enabled me to save mucho dinero as a part-time student. In fact, for what I paid, I could have taken four or even five credits. According to the College Office, I am a full-time student. Indeed, when I called on Thursday, March 27, Assistant Dean for Academic Advising and Graduation Auditor Husine Fetni advised me that, since I am enrolled in three or more credit units, I am a full-time student. Still, according to the Registrar's Office, I am a part-time student. It's not a misprint. It just doesn't make any sense. Why should one student be classified differently by branches of the same university? I don't know what the University gains by its creative accounting. All I know is what I lose. Regardless of the University's confusion over the seemingly simple question of the status of my enrollment, I fail to comprehend why a student organization such as the NEC -- which went to the trouble of coordinating student government elections with a raffle for Billy Joel tickets for the sole purpose of promoting student participation -- would turn away students who are, by the University's own designation, full-time students. In any case, all I know is that Ben Goldberger has a bladder control problem and I am paying to be a full-time student while receiving part-time benefits. Goldberger can see a physician. To whom do I turn?
(04/08/96 9:00am)
Will investigateWill investigatewhether athletes getWill investigatewhether athletes getinflated packages The Ivy League will soon conduct an internal audit to determine if any of its members are violating the league's long-standing policy prohibiting athletic scholarships. The audit, which was initiated by the Council of Ivy Group Presidents, will investigate whether athletes receive more financial aid than non-athletes. It is Ivy League policy that financial aid should be need-based and athletes should not receive any additional financial benefits as an incentive to enroll in the school. This is the first audit the Ivy League has conducted since the league reached a settlement on a federal price-fixing suit in 1991. Jeffrey Orleans, executive director of the Council of Ivy Group Presidents, downplayed the significance of the audit. In a statement released on April 5, Orleans said the audit "is the regular administrative procedure provided for in the League's consent judgement for verifying that compliance." He added that the Ivy League Presidents "are quite confident" that the audit will not find any wrongdoing among the member schools. While Penn has been publicly accused of stretching the rules for the benefit of its athletic team members, University officials expressed confidence that the audit will find Penn in full compliance with Ivy League procedure. "The study will show that Penn awards its financial aid fairly, and that athletes at Penn do not have an unfair economic advantage over other students," University spokesperson Barbara Beck said yesterday. Stanley Jarocki, Penn's associate athletic director, said in The New York Times on Friday that the Athletic Department is involved with the financial aid process for its athletes. "What we try to do in terms of looking at that information is walk families through the process and give them a sense of the estimated financial aid -- and whether it is doable," Jarocki said. He added that if the family is not happy with the financial aid package, "we go back to the financial aid office and see if assessments can be made more accurate." The audit will investigate whether the process that Jarocki described -- commonly referred to as pre-reads -- leads to larger aid packages for athletes. Donald Routh, Yale University's director of financial aid, has noticed that athletes sometimes receive more aid than necessary. "The most common kind of case we deal with, where we feel the other school has been too generous with aid, involves athletes," Routh told the Times. "Obviously, all schools are in competition for good athletes, and all Ivy League schools would argue they offer only need-based aid. But I guess it's a question of how far you stretch it." Orleans responded in his statement that the quotes in the Times article were "simply speculation." "Ivy aid procedures are fully open to, and used by, all interested applicants, and Ivy financial aid offices make substantial efforts to respond to every family which applies for aid, from any circumstance," he said. Penn Athletic Director Steve Bilsky could not be reached for comment. The Associated Press contributed to this story.
(03/19/96 10:00am)
After overtime playoff win over the Quakers, Carril announces his retirement BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- The Quakers discovered against Princeton that the road to the NCAA tournament is not paved with bricks. Despite Penn guard Ira Bowman's clutch three-pointer with 16 seconds remaining which sent the game into overtime, the Quakers miserable shooting performance eventually sent them home as Penn fell to archrival Princeton, 63-56, on March 9. The playoff victory gave Princeton the Ivy League's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and ended the Quakers' season. After the game, Princeton coach Pete Carril announced his retirement after 29 years of coaching the Tigers. "I knew for five months I was going to quit," said Carril, who added that long-time assistant Bill Carmody will take over as head coach. "But I didn't want it to become a traveling road show." Carril said that the victory over Penn -- which was necessary because both Penn and Princeton ended the regular season with identical 12-2 records -- was the highlight of his coaching career. Both of Princeton's losses came at the hands of the Quakers, the last one a 63-49 rout by the Quakers on March 5, which forced the one-game playoff. In fact, Penn had beaten the Tigers the last eight meetings. "I told [my players] to look in the mirror and see what they're made of, and I had to look into it myself," Carril said. Princeton jumped out to an early 9-1 lead in the game. But Penn remained in striking distance throughout the heated affair, despite hitting only 24.4 percent of its field goals, its second-worst performance of the season. In fact, the Quakers made only two field goals in the entire first half, which ended with Princeton ahead 26-17. "It was a matter of us being a little impatient early, just thinking we could do the things which were successful in the first two games and really forcing the issue and not getting good team shots," said Bowman, who finished with 21 points on 5-for-10 shooting. "Princeton did a good job of really coming out and getting up early," Bowman added. "We were fighting from behind the whole time." Although every Quaker other than Bowman had a poor shooting night, senior Donald Moxley -- who had been the star performer for Penn in the previous two games against Princeton -- had a day he is not likely to forget anytime soon. Moxley misfired on all 14 shots he took from the field, including his five three-point attempts. "I give their defense a lot of credit," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "I think they're a very solid defensive team that contests every shot that you take. We had to be a little more poised and a little more disciplined about our attack. I think we almost got what we deserved in terms of shooting percentage." Quakers all-Ivy center Tim Krug (2-for-8, 6 points) and sophomore Garett Kreitz (1-for-5, 8 points) also had problems finding the touch. Freshman forward Paul Romanczuk was able to avoid any misfires, but that was only because he did not take a shot in his 28 minutes of play. Ironically, what saved the Quakers from being routed was foul shooting -- even though Penn was the second-worst team in the Ivy League from the line. Penn had 38 attempts from the charity stripe, and hit on 30 of them, accounting for more than half of its points. "We missed some shots that we normally can make," Dunphy said. "It seemed like we got to the foul line an extraordinary amount of times, which was presenting us with as many points as we were going to get for the night. I give their defense a lot of credit. I think they're a very solid defense that gets to every shot that you take." Penn's solid foul shooting, combined with the Tigers inability to put the game away, left the Quakers down only three points, 49-46, with 26 seconds remaining in regulation. Although Penn never held the lead in the entire two halves of play, Bowman swished a three-pointer from several feet behind the top of the key to tie the game at 49 with 15 seconds left, extending the game to another time period. In just under a minute of the five-minute overtime, Quakers reserve forward Cedric Laster gave Penn its first lead of the day with a layup. And when center Steve Goodrich was called for his fifth foul trying to defend the shot, Laster hit the free throw, giving the Quakers a 52-51 lead with 4:02 left in overtime. But that would be the high point of the game for Penn as things quickly went downhill -- due, in large part, to the leadership of Princeton captain Sydney Johnson. Princeton's silky-smooth guard broke a 54-54 deadlock wide-open with five points -- a three-pointer and two successful free throws -- on two consecutive possessions. Johnson proceeded to steal the ball from Bowman, the Penn guard's sixth turnover of the game, to seal the win for the Tigers. "You've got to give them credit as a championship-caliber team," Bowman said. "The better team tonight won."
(03/07/96 10:00am)
Penn point guard Jamie Lyren, who has been sidelined since breaking a bone in his left foot against Penn State at the Atlantic City Shootout on December 9, has indicated that he will apply for a fifth year of eligibility. "It's something 100 percent that I want to do," Lyren said. "I want to get as many opportunities to play as I can get." Lyren still has to petition the Ivy League to be classified as a medical redshirt at the end of next season, but he puts the odds at "over 90 percent" that he will be granted the extra season. Lyren, who originally thought he would be out only two months, underwent season-ending surgery in early February when it was discovered that his foot was not healing as expected. Right now, Lyren says that he is at 85 to 95 percent, but will wait until he is at full strength before he competes. In the four games he played before the injury, Lyren averaged 7.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists in his first year as a starter. · Penn and Princeton may have identical 12-2 records, but the Quakers have beaten the Tigers twice this season in head-to-head competition. That has created some debate about whether Saturday's tie-breaker game at Lehigh's Stabler Arena should be necessary to determine who will receive the NCAA bid. "I don't think it's right that we have to play Princeton three times," said Lyren. "But those are the rules." Penn coach Fran Dunphy was also resigned to his fate. "It doesn't matter what I think," Dunphy said. "If you finish in a tie, you play a tie-breaker." · With Princeton center Steve Goodrich, who scored 26 points -- or over 53 percent of the team's offense -- in Tuesday's game against Penn, the Tigers did not have their typical balanced scoring. However, Dunphy said there will be only subtle defensive changes on the way to slow down Goodrich this Saturday. "You pick your poison with Princeton," Dunphy said. "You either defend the three-point shooters, or you play Goodrich one-and-one." Even though Goodrich did his damage, Penn was able to stop the Tigers' shooting behind the three-point arc. Princeton only hit two treys in 14 attempts -- a 14.3 percentage. Before Tuesday's game, Princeton led the league in three-points shots made and was third in three-point field-goal percentage (362). · In the second half of the Princeton game, Penn guard Garett Kreitz was smacked in the face by Tiger guard Mitch Henderson. The officials, however, did not call a foul -- a decision that left a significant portion of the crowd jeering. "That [non-call] upset me," Kreitz said. "The official was right there. But they're human, and they're not going to see everything." · Ira Bowman, a leading candidate for Ivy League Player of the Year honors, needs just two steals on Saturday to move into fifth on the Quakers' all-time list. His average of over two steals a game by far the best in Quakers history. What makes his steals total all the more impressive is that Bowman has done it in just two yearas a Quaker. Bowman transferred to Penn from Providence after his sophomore year. Furthermore, this is Bowman's first season as a starter. But with all his accolades, Bowman admitted he felt the butterflies before the Princeton game. "I was a little bit more nervous than usual, being my last game at the Palestra," Bowman said. "It's a credit to all the guys and the coaching staff we never thought about losing. We were always preparing for this game and preparing for Saturday. We came out and played like we had a purpose." · After Penn's victory over Princeton, a few hundred of the Penn partisans stormed the court in celebration. In contrast, however, the members of Penn basketball team exited in a business-like manner. "We knew when the game was over," Penn guard Donald Moxley said. "We didn't run around on the court. There was no need to. We still have a job to do Saturday, and that's to play this team again. It's going to be the third time, and it's not going to be any easier."
(03/05/96 10:00am)
The Scene: Muffy, a typical Princeton junior, calls her father to ask for a favor. Muffy: Daddy, the Tigers can win the Ivy title this year, and all they have to do is beat Penn. So I want you to make that happen. Daddy: Dear, how can I do that? It's not like getting you into Princeton -- I can't just arrange that. Muffy: Can't you just write a check like you did the last time? Daddy: Muffy, it's not that simple. You see? Muffy: What? You don't love me enough. You're just like Buffy [Muffy's mother]. I will never talk to you again! Daddy: Now calm down, Muff. Maybe the Tigers will beat Penn. Tell me about the team? Muffy: Why? You go to almost all the games. Daddy: Yes, but Carril's offensive puts me to sleep. I try, but I just can't stay up. Muffy: Use a double dose of No-Doz like everyone else. Daddy: That's a good idea, Muff, but getting back to the team... Muffy: Oh yes, we're doing really well Daddy. Really we are. We've won our last 12 Ivy League games. Oh Daddy, you would be so proud of me. Daddy: Of you? How are responsible for the team's success. Muffy: Um?I'm their No. 1 fan. Daddy: Oh? Anyway, Muffy, why are you afraid of playing Penn? Didn't they lose all five of their starters last year to graduation, and didn't we return all of our starters from last season? Muffy: Yes that's true Daddy. It's all true. But that didn't help us the first time we played Penn this season. Oh Daddy, it was just awful. Daddy: What happened dear? Muffy: We lost. There I said it. We lost to those damn Quakers for the seventh straight time. Oh Daddy, we just can't beat them! Daddy: The Quakers must have played way over their heads to beat the Tigers? Muffy: No, Daddy that is not what happened. The Quakers had a positively awful game -- missing 18 foul shots -- and they still beat us. Daddy: But what about that freshman Princeton has -- Brian Earl. Isn't he a good player? Muffy: No, you must be thinking of his brother, Dan Earl of Penn State. Brian Earl positively sucks. Against Penn, he took only four shots the entire game. It looked like he was afraid to shoot. I hope he doesn't choke again like he did the last time. Daddy: But what about Sydney Johnson, Mitch Henderson, Steve Goodrich and Chris Doyal? That's a fine quartet Princeton has there. Muffy: Daddy, you have to remember to renew your eyeglass subscription. These players are missing an ingredient that helps in basketball -- talent. And it's not only that Daddy, but Princeton has a tendency to choke when the pressure is on. Did you see the score of Saturday's Princeton-Columbia game? The worst team in the Ivy League almost beat us. (Muffy starts making a choking noise.) Daddy: Well, who do the Quakers have that is so good? Muffy: Where should I begin? Penn point guard Ira Bowman is probably the best player in the league. Tim Krug and Donald Moxley, who lit us up for 19 points last time, are among the best, too. Oh Daddy, these players on Penn can do something that none of the Princeton Pussycats can? Daddy: What is that dear? Muffy: Play basketball. Daddy: Well my dear Muffy, it seems like Penn is going to beat Princeton on Tuesday, probably by a score of 62-51. Muffy: Isn't there anything that you can do? Daddy: I'm sorry Muffy. Penn is going to win, and there is nothing that Daddy can do. Michael Hasday is a junior political science major from Scarsdale, N.Y., and is the associate sports editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian.
(02/28/96 10:00am)
It seems as if Carill's boys at Princeton are on a nice little run -- winners of their last 11 Ivy League games and all. But never fear, we here at Ivy Roundup have discovered the Tigers' achilles' heel that will lead to their eventual doom. After combing over the game tapes, player rosters, University phone cards, etc., etc., the crack staff at Roundup has discovered that Princeton sucks. While we're on that subject (you know, basketball), we couldn't resist calling the Brown Daily Herald, and ask them about those golden Bears. If We Had Michael Jordan We Would Kick Some Behind of the Week We here at Roundup have a theory about why the Brown Bears are 9-15 this year -- they suck. But in the spirit (if not the reality) of journalistic integrity, Roundup contacted (using Kerry Kittles phone card) the Brown Daily Herald to find out what they think are the causes the Bears' woes. "The problem is that nobody really emerged that is able to take over the game," said Bill Fiedman, the Brown Daily News basketball writer. "Look at the Chicago Bulls, the reason they're 49-6 is that they have those players. Brown does not." You don't say? He continued: "If we did [have Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen] we'd be on the top of the league." You think? Roundup feels that Dennis Rodman (who would fit right in with the Brown squad) would also be an improvement over James "J.J. Dyn-O-Mite" Joseph and could be quite a boost in the Ivy League. Well, at least Bill has given the Bears' coach some insight on what type of players that they should draft. Maybe if Brown had Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman they would have scored more than 36 points against Princeton. Nah, they probably would also need Toni Kukoc. Anyway, a reliable source tells Roundup that Brown is blaming its 36-point "effort" on the fact that the Tigers would not let the Bears take any warm-up shots. We here at Roundup have another theory to explain the Bears' offensive woes -- they suck. Phobia of the Week Roundup called the offices of The Daily Princetonian (again, courtesy of Villanova sports information) hoping to get some insight on the titanic struggle that is going to occur next Tuesday. Now, one would think that the Tigers would be in the catbird seat since they are up one game in the standings, meaning -- if things hold this way -- Penn will have to beat the striped pussy cats twice in a row next week. (Aside: Roundup has learned that the tiebreaker game will be played at Eisenlohr; so just scale the fence and Judy will take your ticket.) However, Dimitri, the sports editor of The Daily Princetonian, informed us that Princeton is actually scared of Penn. "Princeton always seem to have a phobia playing Penn," the budding scribe said. We here at Roundup have another theory about why the Tigers always lose to the mighty Quakers, and you could probably guess what it is. However, Princeton certainly has its share of phobias -- like shooting the ball before everyone in the stands falls asleep. A Decent Player on Cornell Who is Under 30 Now when you think Cornell basketball, the first thing that comes to your mind is 'Why I am wasting my time thinking about Cornell basketball' or as President Judith Rodin would say, "Get a life." However, the second thing that comes to your mind is Cornell's best player, Eddie Samuel, a Pensacola junior college transfer who is more than half way to qualifying for AARP membership. However, it seems that the Big Red have another diamond in the Ithaca rough in St. Joseph's transfer Alex Compton -- who lit Yale up for 38 points, the third highest total in Cornell hoops history. Not only that, but Compton outscored the entire Yale team until 2:21 in the first half. And wait, there's more -- Compton set a league record for three-pointers with nine. But most surprising: Compton is only 21 years old! Roundup encourages Cornell's recent trend of finding transfers who were not born during the Johnson administration. And they say that the Big Red are desperate. Palestra Renovaters of the Week Yes, Dartmouth has the qualifications. Brick-laying ability -- check. A seven-foot stiff who can paint those hard-to-reach places,and has no future career possibilities -- check. An all-Hanover hero who is good for staff morale -- check. So when you see Seamus Lonergan applying the cement on your way to DRL, don't forget to say, "Hi."
(02/27/96 10:00am)
The Penn women's basketball team may have won its first basketball game of the season on Saturday with a 62-58 victory over Dartmouth, but that is not likely to dampen speculation on coach Julie Soriero's future with the team. But Soriero, who has a career record of 64-115 in her seven years at Penn, says she does not view the rest of the season as a fight for her job. "I don't think that is what will motivate me to see my team do well," Soriero said. "There's enough pressure on coaching anyway without me putting the imposed pressure of 'If we don't go in and beat Columbia, what's going to happen to my future.' " Senior captain Natasha Rezek, the heart and soul of the team, declined comment when asked if Soriero should be brought back, but added: "I haven't connected this season -- or the lack thereof -- to bad coaching." Penn Athletic Director Steve Bilsky is in Florida this week and could not be reached for comment. · Last Saturday's win was quite emotional for the team. When the final buzzer sounded, the team rushed on to the court "like we've won the Final Four," according to sophomore point guard Colleen Kelly. Afterwards, most of the team cried in joy. "A lot of times this year, I saw tears based on losing -- or that someone did not make a shot at the buzzer or poor shooting or whatever," Soriero said. "It was nice to walk in the locker room and see people crying because they felt so good." Rezek, however, was a bit more reserved after the victory. "It was a huge win," the senior captain said. "It was great, but it was something that came a little late." · Despite opening the season with 22 straight losses, the team was not in jeopardy of breaking any NCAA records for futility. Charleston Southern set the NCAA mark for the most losses in a season at 28, which Penn could not break because their are only 26 games on the Quakers schedule. The NCAA record for consecutive losses is 58, set by Brooklyn College, which accomplished the feat from February 1987 to February 1989. The Quakers, who lost its season finale last year, ended their losing streak at 23. However, this year's edition of the Penn women's basketball team is likely to record the least number of wins in Quakers women hoops history. That mark is currently four wins, and will be broken unless Penn sweeps its remaining three games. · Erica McCauley, the Quakers lauded point guard who mysteriously left the team in the middle of the season, was quoted in The Philadelphia Daily News this past Wednesday as saying that she will "shed some light on things after the season ends." When contacted last night, she said: "At this time, while the season is still going on, I have no comment out of respect for my teammates." But McCauley still left open the possibility of commenting on the team after the season ends. "It's a possibility," she said. "I'm not sure what I'm going to do right now." · Almost lost in the hoopla of the losing streak has been the outstanding season of Rezek. She leads the Ivy League in both scoring average (17.8 ppg) and rebounding (11.1 rpg). Rezek said she does not regret staying a fifth year at Penn despite the team's woes. She also admitted she has thought about what she is going to tell her kids about this year. "I would just tell them that this happens," Rezek said. "Negative things happen, and you just have to handle it. You just have to stick it out and you can never quit -- ever."
