Dynasty to Dumpster

By wpengine | October 19, 2001

The pain that is another baseball season is finally coming to a close. I have watched a number of the great records of the modern game be rewritten, and have finally given up on the idea that the Yankees are beatable in the playoffs. By my estimations, those damn Yankees will have wrapped up the World Series on the 31st of October, depending on the fight that the Braves are willing to put up, which in classic Atlanta fashion will be very small.

In the meantime, you have 13 days left to enjoy your life, assuming you’re not a Yankees fan, until you have to spend the next five months listening to the repeated chorus of New York, New York, (a brilliant song I truly enjoyed but which has now been bastardized in an irrevocable way, now that the Yankees are on television 23.5 hours per day).

So yours truly is here to help, bringing you the top five dynasties that appear to be on their way down the tubes. While you may not get to watch the Yankees fall yet (though Mariano Rivera’s life expectancy is only another 50-60 years, so they can’t win forever), you can relish in the fact that these teams are no longer any good.

5. Penn State football — Some people will say that the problem is Joe Pater-no, that a 178 year-old can’t relate to the young kids on his team. In reality, the problem is that the Nittany Lions simply suck. You can’t teach suck, you are simply born that way. The Lions average 40 yards per game rushing, which is barely more than half of what Cornell is averaging. Ugh. The team is averaging slightly more than seven point per game. Double ugh. Let’s just say Joe Pa may have that game with Indiana circled as his team’s only shot at not going 0-10.

4. New Jersey Devils — Ok, it may be a little early to predict the immediate demise of this franchise that has made the last two Stanley Cup finals, but they have already managed to lose to the Capitals, the Islanders, the Canadiens and the Rangers. Those four teams combined to be 38 games under .500 last year, and if you take out the Caps, the other three teams were 52 games under .500. They were also outscored 19-9 in those four losses. Last night’s win was a good sign, and against a decent San Jose squad, but the team has still managed to dig itself an early hole it’s going to have to find a way out of.

3. Washington Redskins — Take a coach that’s as decrepit as Joe Pa, add an incompetent owner and a quarterback situation that’s as frightening as a student assembly meeting, and you get the Redskins. I mean, Tony Banks got cut by the Cowboys, and he’s their starter. Sources also tell me they’re about $350 million over the salary cap, meaning they are going to be bad until at least 2010. Or until Dan Snyder dies. 0-16 would be a distinct possibility this season, but they get two games with the Cardinals and one more with the Cowboys. Still, even those aren’t guarantees. Plus, there may not be a more fun team to root against.

2. Dallas Cowboys — I stand corrected. Take a coach that’s a pawn, add an incompetent owner and a quarterback situation that’s frightening and you get the Redskins. No wait, I mean the Cowboys. The quarterback rating for the team is pretty close to the I.Q. of your average doorknob. Speaking of doorknobs, it’s so bad that Ryan Leaf may get to start at quarterback. Just when you thought it really was that bad, it gets worse. Thank God fans in Dallas-Fort Worth still have the Rangers and Stars. Oh, wait. Shit.

1. Notre Dame — Ok, truthfully, some of this is scheduling, and the Irish have gotten their record to 2-3 at this point, but they could be looking at only two more winnable games this year. One is this weekend, which would bring them back from 0-3 to .500, but after that it gets pretty tough. Bob Davies is a good coach, but he’s no Lou Holtz (see: New powerhouses forming, S. Carolina). This team still needs a quarterback (they have one passing TD and 7 INTs this year so far) and more than that luck crap if they want to avoid going from a Fiesta Bowl birth to a 4-7 team in one year.

That’s all I’ve got this week, go to the football game against Brown and hope the Red avoids 0-5. Speaking of turnarounds…

Archived article by Charles Persons

V-ball Takes Key Step to Title

By wpengine October 22, 2001

Any team with serious aspirations for the Ivy League volleyball title would be advised to take note of the events that unfolded at Newman Arena this weekend. The Cornell volleyball team moved into pole position in the Ivy standings in emphatic style, dispatching Dartmouth 3-1 (30-23, 30-32, 30-16, 30-18) and blanking Harvard 3-0 (30-27, 30-22, 30-24). Since losing the opening league game to Columbia on Oct. 5, the Red has racked up five consecutive wins to move to 13-5 overall (5-1 Ivy). A season that started with a 1-3 showing at the Kent State Invitational and injury to star setter Rachel Rice, is beginning to materialize into one of the best campaigns in recent school history. The Red has won 10 out of its last 11 match-ups and is in irresistible form at the moment. “I’m not surprised at all,” commented sophomore Jamie Lugo. “Our team has great team chemistry, and we work really hard.” While the loss of Rice before the season was a huge blow, the solid play of senior Jamiee Reynolds has allowed Cornell’s attack to run smoothly in Rice’s absence. Reynolds, a middle blocker by trade, has filled in admirably at setter, averaging 11.48 assists/game. “It took some time to adjust to a new setter, but Reynolds is doing great.” said Lugo. “We all miss Rachel, but we’re happy to have Jamiee.” On Friday night, Dartmouth found the pair of junior Angela Barbera and sophomore Debbie Quibell too hot to handle. Barbera was outstanding with 20 kills and 15 digs, while Quibell had 18 kills, 13 digs and four blocks. The Dartmouth attack led by all-Ivy candidate Ashley Dean was neutralized by a strong Cornell defensive showing. The Red out-blocked its opponents 12-2 as Lugo and Senior Jennifer Borncamp each assisted on eight blocks. Saturday afternoon brought a different opponent to Newman Arena, but the same result. Hitting .235 and riding another stellar effort from Barbera, Cornell blew away the Crimson in straight sets. Once again, it was a fine defensive performance that laid the foundation for the offense to prosper. “We’ve been working on these things,” said Lugo. “We need every aspect of the game to win matches.” While excellent overall team performances contributed to the two victories, there is no denying that this weekend belonged to outside hitter Angela Barbera. Barbera, a transfer from Boise State, continued to feast on Ivy League opposition, posting a career-high mark for kills against Dartmouth. In the last four matches, she has recorded a remarkable 75 kills. More importantly, her emergence takes some heat off the outside hitting duo of Borncamp and Quibell, and gives the Red valuable depth. There are still eight Ivy League matches remaining in the season, but next Friday’s clash away at Brown could prove to be pivotal. Brown is currently 4-2 on the season and looks to one of the main obstacles to Cornell’s run for the Ivy League title. However, Lugo is determined that every opponent be given the same level of respect and every match the same level of intensity. “All of the teams are very comparable,” she observed. “We’re gonna have to work just as hard to beat every one of them.” Following the match-up with Brown, the Red travels to New Haven, Conn., on Saturday to do battle with Yale. In the corresponding fixtures last season, Cornell lost 3-2 to Brown and defeated Yale 3-0.Archived article by Soo Kim
Football Drops to Brown

By wpengine October 22, 2001

One look in the eyes of head football coach Tim Pendergast told it all. There were no words needed to convey the utter disappointment that was the football team’s 49-21 loss to the Brown Bears. “I’m just hard-pressed to have a lot to say right now,” the coach tersely remarked following the contest. And what more can he say about a performance that saw his team cough up the ball four times, including three fumbles, a porous defense that surrendered 478 yards and a run game that once again failed to establish itself as a legitimate threat. Add a blocked punt to the Red’s list of shortcomings and it becomes all the more clear why there was a scarcity of words following the game. All week leading up to the game, Pendergast and company had prioritized getting off to an early start. Having fallen behind from the get go in each of its previous games and facing one of the most potent aerial and ground attacks in the Ivy League, the Red was well aware of the importance of a strong start. However, almost from the opening whistle, it was clear that Red would be unable to attain that goal. A dismal first quarter effort saw Cornell gain only one first down compared to Brown’s 10. The Bears had control of the ball for nearly 11 minutes and penetrated the Red’s defense for 122 yards. Brown’s quarterback Kyle Rowley completed 10 of his first 12 passes including a 35-yard touchdown connection with standout receiver Chas Gessner who burned Cornell’s soft secondary all game long. The score midway through the first quarter put Brown ahead 7-0, dashing the Red’s hope of striking first blood. “We wanted to make a statement that we wanted to end the game quickly. My objective was to force them to make plays,” Brown coach Phil Estes said. In the open moments of the second quarter, the visitors capped a 62 yard, 13 play drive with a 25 yard field goal to add to their lead. The Red got on the board on the ensuing drive, when senior tailback Evan Simmons found the end zone on a short carry. After adding a second field goal, Brown executed the two-minute drill to perfection in the closing moments of the half. Rowley connected with his brother Travis with six seconds on the clock to expand the lead to 21-7. “They took it right down the field. I don’t know if they missed a throw in there, I don’t recall that they did. We couldn’t stop them,” Pendergast conceded. Gessner explained, “Once we get our momentum rolling like that, we’re hard to stop.” The Red failed to get any offensive momentum built in the opening half. With the exception of the Simmons scoring series, Cornell had no drives that lasted longer than 2:19. “There are a lot of things we [didn’t] do correctly. I guess we could throw more, but then we’d get pressure and sacks, so pick your poison,” Pendergast offered. “You have to have a running attack to be able to throw the football. Overall, our offense isn’t doing what it needs to do. I don’t have any explanation for that other than that we need to execute and as the leader of the offense I need to will them there,” senior quarterback Ricky Rahne added. The second half proved to be even more abysmal for the Red as last week’s turnover bug against Harvard manifested itself once again. Return man Vinny Bates was unable to complete a routine fair catch on a punt early in the third quarter and fumbled at the Red’s 12-yard line. It took just one play for Gessner to make Cornell pay, as Rowley connected with the senior on a touchdown pass. The home side followed the turnover with another costly error as Simmons fumbled the ball, leading to an 82 yard touchdown return by Hunter Young. It added to what was already a rough day for Simmons who managed just 57 yards on 14 carries. The Red’s propensity to surrender the ball was confounding to Pendergast. “We gave up some points there in the second half that just. I don’t know how to define it other than a lack of focus,” he reasoned. The Red showed some fleeting signs of life earlier in the third quarter when senior Jamie Moriarty stepped in front of a Rowley pass and recorded Cornell’s first interception of the season. But as has been the case all year, the offense was hopelessly unable to capitalize on the opportunity, going three and out on the ensuing drive. “Getting the interception kind of sparked the team a little, and put us back on track. [The next drive] does take something away but you just have to have faith in the offense,” Moriarty stated. Brown’s final score exploited a glaring Cornell weakness: the inability to make a tackle. Tailback Joe Rackley who finished with 122 yard on the day, inexplicably broke away from the Red’s defensive corps exploding for an 80 yard touchdown run. When asked what he planned to do to improve the tackling, Pendergast simply responded “tackle.” “We’re not going to quit tackling. We’re going to continue to try to tackle. We’re going to try harder,” the coach said, searching for an explanation for Cornell’s failure to complete solid tackles. The game ended appropriately enough with the Red having several chances to score on the closing drive, however backup quarterback Mickey Razzano was unable to complete either of his final two attempted touchdown passes. Though he was disheartened by the effort, Pendergast remained optimistic. “Our guys never quit. That’s something they can be proud of.”Archived article by Gary Schueller