The Daze Rant

By wpengine | October 19, 2001

You have to love the concept of self-promotion, but does anyone else think that perhaps MTV has taken this to a level not seen outside the realm of politics? Of late, MTV has run more shows about MTV than they have about all other subjects combined, including music.

I swear, if I turn on the TV one more time and have to listen to Carson Daly extol the social virtues and sociological ramifications of the early days of the MTV Beachhouse, I’m gonna take a chainsaw to my television. The whole station seems to believe in the notion that MTV is the voice of a generation. Let me tell you something, if Jackass is the voice of a generation, we are in some deep shit.

I was watching the other day and MTV was doing the Say What Karoke? Send Off, which stands as quite possibly the worst show in the history of television. O.K., I stand corrected. There was Small Wonder. I do know, however, that Say What Karoke? has to be the worst show to ever run for EIGHT FULL SEASONS. Did you realize this? Say What Karoke? was on the air for eight years. Hell, Seinfeld was only on the air eight seasons. Just frightening.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. This is the same network that in the not-so-distant past cut off Michael Jackson’s Thriller video right at the scene where he’s surrounded by the zombies to run a new episode of Dismissed. In case you missed this new show … well, let’s just say you haven’t missed anything.

The amazing thing is, MTV actually gets away with this. Do you think E! would do a True Hollywood Story on the rise of E!? Would the History Channel do a show on the history of the History Channel? Could anyone even narrate that tongue twister other than Jack Palance? Is Jack Palance dead?

Speaking of things that are supposed to be dead and dismembered, but are still going strong, Microsoft is releasing its new operating system soon. Have you heard about this new Windows XP? Word has it that if you don’t report to the Microsoft gestapo within 60 days of getting the operating system, your screen will go blank. Imagine this, you get the XP disk from your roommate, forget to register and 60 days later you’re typing your final paper on the comparative biology of the Peruvian wombat and your cat Floofy when the screen goes blank. Permanently. Kind of like Macaulay Culkin’s career.

Speaking of the home video front, Star Wars Episode I came out this week on DVD, and apparently George Lucas added 12 new scenes to this “classic.” Unfortunately, none of them involved the untimely mutilation of Jar Jar Binks. Personally, I think it would’ve been kind of cool if Anakin’s pod racer had sucked him up into the engine right before the race. Jar Jar’s final words? “Mesa like staning in front uh da engine, mesa tink its AAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHH.” You really dropped the ball this time, Lucas. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if the error is corrected in episode II.

Anyway, that’s about it from here. If you have 50+ free hours this weekend, I advise you watch the Godfather trilogy, just out on DVD.

In the meantime, enjoy the music of the Neville Brothers. I’m outta here.

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