Anna Dyer

At the Olympics this summer in Rio, there will be a sport making its long-awaited return. Last played at the Olympics in 1924, the return of men’s and women’s rugby sevens to the world games will bring a sport that most Americans know little about into popular view.

If you asked most Penn students if they really enjoyed their toughest Pottruck workouts, the answer would probably be no. Hard runs or the dreaded leg days are often the things that — despite being sometimes necessary — they dread the most. Calvary Rogers, freshman track phenom, on the other hand, relishes the opportunity to have his coaches push him every day in practice.

Not many Penn athletes can say they spent time in the pros before putting on the red and blue for the Quakers.

Historically in athletics, men and women of respective professional sports do not train with or compete against each other.

Winning is a state of mind. And for Penn women’s lacrosse, it’s the only state of mind the members of the team have ever known.

It’s a Tuesday night game at Villanova for Penn women’s basketball. At tipoff, in the first chair on the bench, senior captain Keiera Ray intently watches a contest that she won’t be able to enter. Donning her Penn sweats, she is still one of the players. And with clipboard in hand, she is now one of the coaches as well.

Vince Lombardi once said, “Winning isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.” But I have to disagree with the football legend on this one — at least in the context of Penn basketball. On Tuesday night, Penn women’s basketball lost to Villanova, 66-46, in what undoubtedly was its worst performance of an otherwise stellar season.

With everyone healthy and playing well, the Quakers felt prepared heading into Ivy play. The team was hot and expectations were high. But things quickly began to go downhill.

Not only am I from the Lone Star State, but I may have a slight obsession with the place I call home.

It takes most teams a couple of games to warm up early in the season before the players really hit their stride, both the best teams and the worst teams.