I don't usually post non-hockey YouTube videos here, but this is pretty spectacular:
If you're not familiar with the original song, you can watch the video here. "Hot N Cold" reached #3 on the U.S. charts.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
22-10-4
I'll put up a more specific post later about the trip out to Grand Rapids this weekend, but I wanted to reflect first about the end of the hockey season.
Losing in the NCAA regional final would have been a great finish given our expectations at the start of the year, but this was a winnable game. In fact, this was a game I'm convinced we should win most of the time. I wouldn't have had as much of a problem losing to BU or Notre Dame, since these teams are better than Cornell. Bemidji State played very well this weekend, but we had the talent to win. If only we'd come ready to play...
We should be playing in Washington next week, but it doesn't matter now. Season's over. We had a great first half and a lousy second half, going 13-1-3 in our first 17 games and then 9-9-1 in the last 19. Given how much we collapsed, it's a miracle we made it as far we did.
I made it to 34 of 36 Cornell hockey games this season, traveling to 8 states and paying $488 for tickets. I don't even want to think about gas, food, etc. And it was all worth it.
You can be down on this team and choose to remember our implosion down the stretch, or the 8-1 loss at St. Lawrence, or the zero point weekend at Harvard and Dartmouth, or the last-minute collapse against Princeton, or being blown out by Yale in the ECAC final, or losing to freakin' Bemidji State in the game that would have sent us to the Frozen Four.
Or, you can remember how we won tough road games at North Dakota and UMass, how we won the Florida Tournament in a shootout, how we were ranked #2 in the nation at one point, how we came from behind to beat Brown in Providence on the last night of the regular season, and, of course, how we came from behind to first beat Princeton in the ECAC semifinal and then Northeastern in the NCAA tournament.
I have some great memories of this season, and some not-so-great ones. I'm choosing to remember the better ones and stay positive. See you at Lynah in the fall.
Losing in the NCAA regional final would have been a great finish given our expectations at the start of the year, but this was a winnable game. In fact, this was a game I'm convinced we should win most of the time. I wouldn't have had as much of a problem losing to BU or Notre Dame, since these teams are better than Cornell. Bemidji State played very well this weekend, but we had the talent to win. If only we'd come ready to play...
We should be playing in Washington next week, but it doesn't matter now. Season's over. We had a great first half and a lousy second half, going 13-1-3 in our first 17 games and then 9-9-1 in the last 19. Given how much we collapsed, it's a miracle we made it as far we did.
I made it to 34 of 36 Cornell hockey games this season, traveling to 8 states and paying $488 for tickets. I don't even want to think about gas, food, etc. And it was all worth it.
You can be down on this team and choose to remember our implosion down the stretch, or the 8-1 loss at St. Lawrence, or the zero point weekend at Harvard and Dartmouth, or the last-minute collapse against Princeton, or being blown out by Yale in the ECAC final, or losing to freakin' Bemidji State in the game that would have sent us to the Frozen Four.
Or, you can remember how we won tough road games at North Dakota and UMass, how we won the Florida Tournament in a shootout, how we were ranked #2 in the nation at one point, how we came from behind to beat Brown in Providence on the last night of the regular season, and, of course, how we came from behind to first beat Princeton in the ECAC semifinal and then Northeastern in the NCAA tournament.
I have some great memories of this season, and some not-so-great ones. I'm choosing to remember the better ones and stay positive. See you at Lynah in the fall.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
The all-nighter and 9-hour car trip were all worth it
Man, you know Cornell hockey is doing well when Andy Noel -- who values hockey less than Cornell's other big sports -- makes the trip out to Grand Rapids for the NCAA Regional.
Cornell's win last night was unbelievable. We haven't had a win of this magnitude since...I don't know, maybe 2003 in Providence. Down 2-0, then scoring at the end of the 2nd to cut it to 2-1. Scoring with 3:56 remaining to tie it at 2-2, and then this, with 18 seconds left:
Cornell is one win away from making the Frozen Four. Because Bemidji State won a monumental upset over Notre Dame in the late game last night, Cornell faces the Beavers instead of the Fighting Irish. I have to think this is a better matchup for us.
Lets. Go. Red.
Cornell's win last night was unbelievable. We haven't had a win of this magnitude since...I don't know, maybe 2003 in Providence. Down 2-0, then scoring at the end of the 2nd to cut it to 2-1. Scoring with 3:56 remaining to tie it at 2-2, and then this, with 18 seconds left:
Cornell is one win away from making the Frozen Four. Because Bemidji State won a monumental upset over Notre Dame in the late game last night, Cornell faces the Beavers instead of the Fighting Irish. I have to think this is a better matchup for us.
Lets. Go. Red.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Slope Day Lineup Announced
On Slope Day, held this year on May 1st, Asher Roth will open for the Pussycat Dolls. This is pretty good news overall.
There were a few articles in the Sun earlier this semester about how Slope Day funding was cut due to the university budget situation. The S.A. stepped in with $30,000 to help offset the cuts and (possibly) score some political points before the assembly's elections.
I think this will be the best lineup in my three years at Cornell. In 2007, T.I. was the headliner. While T.I. has some great producers who have helped create quality albums for him, he wasn't the best live performer. I've been disappointed at every rap concert I've attended, since rappers usually sound much worse live than they do on recorded tracks. Also, most of the biggest rap songs are compilations between multiple artists. Unless they all happen to be on stage (i.e. at the Grammy's), a lot of the effect is lost.
As a result of this fact, combined with the vivid memory of T.I. asking the crowd to shoot the students who were throwing water bottles at him, we had no rappers last year. Gym Class Heroes headlined, and while they only have a couple of songs worth hearing, they gave a pretty good performance. There put 7-8 people on stage, so there's a lot of energy and interaction with the crowd. GCH were balanced by Ted Leo and Hot Hot Heat, two opening acts who satisfied the purists with quality music, albeit without the commercial success of GCH.
Asher Roth is pretty much a slam dunk choice for this year. Roth's first CD has yet to come out, but he's well known due to his hit song "I Love College," which is essentially a tribute to sex, drinking games, and college life in general. It goes perfectly with the fratty atmosphere of Slope Day. He's a young white man from Pennsylvania, but he's received praise from the hip hop community. While T.I.'s themes of violence, drug dealing, and the dirty south were lost on many Cornellians, Roth's music will hit closer to home. His CD drops (appropriately) on 4/20, so it'll be cool to hear some songs from it.
The Pussycat Dolls are a similar choice to Gym Class Heroes. Not particularly quality music, but they have some well-known songs that the crowd will get into. And even if the music isn't great, seeing five scantily clad women dancing around the stage will be more exciting than seeing T.I. stand around with his mike. Lastly, their name will provide plenty of fodder to greek organizations looking for funny, suggestive slogans for their Slope Day t-shirts.
There were a few articles in the Sun earlier this semester about how Slope Day funding was cut due to the university budget situation. The S.A. stepped in with $30,000 to help offset the cuts and (possibly) score some political points before the assembly's elections.
I think this will be the best lineup in my three years at Cornell. In 2007, T.I. was the headliner. While T.I. has some great producers who have helped create quality albums for him, he wasn't the best live performer. I've been disappointed at every rap concert I've attended, since rappers usually sound much worse live than they do on recorded tracks. Also, most of the biggest rap songs are compilations between multiple artists. Unless they all happen to be on stage (i.e. at the Grammy's), a lot of the effect is lost.
As a result of this fact, combined with the vivid memory of T.I. asking the crowd to shoot the students who were throwing water bottles at him, we had no rappers last year. Gym Class Heroes headlined, and while they only have a couple of songs worth hearing, they gave a pretty good performance. There put 7-8 people on stage, so there's a lot of energy and interaction with the crowd. GCH were balanced by Ted Leo and Hot Hot Heat, two opening acts who satisfied the purists with quality music, albeit without the commercial success of GCH.
Asher Roth is pretty much a slam dunk choice for this year. Roth's first CD has yet to come out, but he's well known due to his hit song "I Love College," which is essentially a tribute to sex, drinking games, and college life in general. It goes perfectly with the fratty atmosphere of Slope Day. He's a young white man from Pennsylvania, but he's received praise from the hip hop community. While T.I.'s themes of violence, drug dealing, and the dirty south were lost on many Cornellians, Roth's music will hit closer to home. His CD drops (appropriately) on 4/20, so it'll be cool to hear some songs from it.
The Pussycat Dolls are a similar choice to Gym Class Heroes. Not particularly quality music, but they have some well-known songs that the crowd will get into. And even if the music isn't great, seeing five scantily clad women dancing around the stage will be more exciting than seeing T.I. stand around with his mike. Lastly, their name will provide plenty of fodder to greek organizations looking for funny, suggestive slogans for their Slope Day t-shirts.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Quote of the Day
Kurt Andersen, from an article in Time:
More than a year into the Great Recession, we still aren't sure if there's a bottom in sight, and six months after the financial system began imploding, it's still iffy. The party is finally, definitely over. And the present decade, which we've never even agreed what to call — the 2000s? the aughts? — has acquired its permanent character as a historical pivot defined by the nightmares of 9/11 and the Panic of 2008-09. Those of us old enough to remember life before the 26-year-long spree began will probably spend the rest of our lives dealing with its consequences — in economics, foreign policy, culture, politics, the warp and woof of our daily lives. During the '80s and '90s, we were Wile E. Coyote racing heedlessly across the endless American landscape at maximum speed and then spent the beginning of the 21st century suspended in midair just past the end of the cliff; gravity reasserted itself, and we plummeted.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
A Tale of Two Athletic Departments
Cornell is playing Northeastern on Saturday afternoon in the NCAA Hockey Tournament in Grand Rapids, Mich. It's a 9-hour drive from Ithaca, and a 13-hour drive from Boston. Cornell has a long and storied hockey tradition, with raucous students and loyal alumni. Northeastern has a long tradition of losing to pretty much everyone in hockey, until they turned things around a couple of years ago.
Yet it's the Northeastern Athletics Department, and not Cornell's, which seems to care about helping students get to the hockey games.
As for Cornell?
I stopped by the Cornell ticket office yesterday morning to purchase tickets for the regional, and I was told that instead of buying an all-session pass for $65, I should purchase a student pass for $30. Well, fine. Problem was they didn't have any student passes. They gave me the number of the Grand Rapids arena's box office manager -- Marcus -- and told me to call him to buy my ticket.
After trying to reach Marcus seven times, I finally got through this afternoon, and he told me that they were no longer selling student tickets. Or all-session passes. Instead, I'll have to pay for two full-price single-session passes.
So not only did Cornell not have any student tickets available, they had no easy system in place for helping interested students purchase tickets. Nor has Cornell made any attempt to help students travel to any away hockey game, whether nearby Colgate, ECACs at Albany, or anything else.
I don't think there will be any other Cornell student fans at the biggest game of the season, while Northeastern will have a busload.
Yet it's the Northeastern Athletics Department, and not Cornell's, which seems to care about helping students get to the hockey games.
The Northeastern Athletics Department has arranged for a student travel package that includes round-trip bus transportation, a two-night hotel stay (double occupancy) and one ticket for all three regional games. Buses will depart from Forsyth Street at 7 a.m. on Friday, March 27, and return depending on the outcome of Northeastern's games.Cost is $175.00.
As for Cornell?
I stopped by the Cornell ticket office yesterday morning to purchase tickets for the regional, and I was told that instead of buying an all-session pass for $65, I should purchase a student pass for $30. Well, fine. Problem was they didn't have any student passes. They gave me the number of the Grand Rapids arena's box office manager -- Marcus -- and told me to call him to buy my ticket.
After trying to reach Marcus seven times, I finally got through this afternoon, and he told me that they were no longer selling student tickets. Or all-session passes. Instead, I'll have to pay for two full-price single-session passes.
So not only did Cornell not have any student tickets available, they had no easy system in place for helping interested students purchase tickets. Nor has Cornell made any attempt to help students travel to any away hockey game, whether nearby Colgate, ECACs at Albany, or anything else.
I don't think there will be any other Cornell student fans at the biggest game of the season, while Northeastern will have a busload.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Every Cornell Sports Team Is Doing Well Except Baseball
Well, almost. Cornell sports teams have had a lot of success this winter. The wrestling team was ranked as high as #2 in the nation and finished 5th in NCAAs. The men's hockey team finished 2nd in the ECAC and enters the NCAA tournament ranked #9 in the polls. The men's basketball team successfully defended its Ivy title and won another trip to NCAAs. The men's lacrosse team is ranked #4 in the nation.
Some alumni have given credit to Athletic Director Andy Noel, and said that even though Noel has done some things to upset hockey fans and fans of Cornell sports in general, it's hard to argue with success. And it's nice to see an article about Cornell in the Wall Street Journal that doesn't focus on the plunging value of our endowment.
But not every team is doing well. The baseball team lost all nine games during its spring break trip to California. Maybe Noel should build them a new facility or something. Seemed to work for wrestling.
Some alumni have given credit to Athletic Director Andy Noel, and said that even though Noel has done some things to upset hockey fans and fans of Cornell sports in general, it's hard to argue with success. And it's nice to see an article about Cornell in the Wall Street Journal that doesn't focus on the plunging value of our endowment.
But not every team is doing well. The baseball team lost all nine games during its spring break trip to California. Maybe Noel should build them a new facility or something. Seemed to work for wrestling.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Martial Law in Schenectady?
I hope I never have to live in the capital district. I've spent a decent amount of time there for hockey, having seen four games at RPI, six at Union, and five championship weekends at the Times Union Center. I was also stuck for an hour in traffic going through Troy on my way to Dartmouth in February. Troy and Schenectady are awful places and it's always nice to leave.
This is why I was amused to read this article about Schenectady, linked on Drudge today. Apparently the Schenectady police force has been rocked by a series of scandals, with officers driving drunk and beating up people -- behavior that is so abhorrent that even the classless locals are outraged. "Mayor Stratton" has put martial law on the table:
This is why I was amused to read this article about Schenectady, linked on Drudge today. Apparently the Schenectady police force has been rocked by a series of scandals, with officers driving drunk and beating up people -- behavior that is so abhorrent that even the classless locals are outraged. "Mayor Stratton" has put martial law on the table:
This would be a marked improvement, in my opinion. During the playoff series last year at Union, the enlightened Onion students threw food and beverages at us as we walked by their section. The Schenectady police, standing right next to us, declined to interfere with the food fight. Good riddance to these cops.Currently, officials are reviewing the legal options and planning to present a full report in early April - options like a consolidated county-wide police force or bringing in the State Police.
The mayor said there is another option - and that would be declaring martial law. The governor would have to declare it and then the National Guard would come in.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Trip Recap
I apologize for not having posted for a few days; I was traveling and didn't have my computer with me.
A few friends from the fraternity and I spent the last few days on one of those very college-like road trips, with very little planning and plenty of alcohol. We took a similar trip last summer, when we went to our international convention in Louisville. This time, we went north and east.
I was stuck in Ithaca until Monday on account of last weekend's quarterfinal hockey series lasting three games, but I went to Connecticut for about 24 hours and returned to Ithaca Tuesday night.
Bright and early Wednesday afternoon, we left for Canada. We made it to Ottawa around 7pm, where we had arranged to stay at the chapter of our fraternity at Carleton University. The guys at the house, of course, had no idea we were coming and were (happily?) surprised when we rolled up in front of their house and told them we were from the Cornell chapter. Nonetheless, they made sure to show us a good Canadian time. A common theme from this trip was that Canadians kept insisting to us that because Canadian beer has a higher alcohol content, we Americans wouldn't be able to handle it. Beginning with Moosehead at dinner, and continuing with Molson Dry (10.1% alcohol) and other things afterwards, they did their best to outdrink us. We made it to a few bars and ended up crashing on the floors and couches of their house (which only sleeps 5, as opposed to our 28).
Thursday morning, we left for Montreal without any real idea where we were going. We saw a freeway on-ramp with "Montreal" and headed in that direction. Once we saw the city skyline we figured out which roads to take to get to downtown. Having nowhere to stay, we (I) drove around downtown and sent our hotelie to negotiate prices at various hotels. We found a reasonably priced (when divided by 5) room and showered for the first time in a couple of days. It's too bad we only had one night in Montreal, since there's so much of the city I would have liked to see. We did go to dinner at a nice French restaurant and made it to five drinking establishments afterwards.
Not everyone in Montreal was happy to interact with Americans. At one bar, the waitress didn't even ask all five of us for our drink orders, and handed us the check a minute later. At another place, the waiter asked us, to our amusement, "you're not from around here, eh?"
We left Montreal around midday Friday and headed south on 87 to Albany, where Cornell was playing in the ECAC Hockey semifinal. With our usual great planning, we called our chapter house at RPI on the way there and asked if we could sleep at their house that night. Cornell won a double-overtime thriller against Princeton, scoring twice in the final 3:00 to send the game to overtime. Captain Colin Greening won the game almost 10:00 into the second overtime to send Cornell to the championship game.
On Saturday, in the conference final, Cornell played their worst game of the season and was embarassed by Yale, 5-0. This was my 32nd Cornell hockey game this season, and most likely my last one, since I don't think I'll be able to make it to Grand Rapids, Mich., next weekend for the NCAA Regional. Cornell, seeded 3rd in the Regional, opens with a game against 2nd-seeded Northeastern. The winner will most likely have to play Notre Dame to make it to the Frozen Four in Washington, DC. I have Frozen Four tickets but I'm not too confident that Cornell will be there, especially given our terrible play last night.
Regardless, this was a fun way to spend Spring Break.
Brief recap of other significant Cornell sporting events:
--NCAA Basketball: #3 Missouri def. #14 Cornell, 78-59
--Lacrosse: #3 Cornell def. #8 Duke, 10-6, on Tuesday, and Yale, 15-8, yesterday
--NCAA Wrestling Championships: Cornell finishes 5th in the nation, and Troy Nickerson wins a national championship at 125 pounds
A few friends from the fraternity and I spent the last few days on one of those very college-like road trips, with very little planning and plenty of alcohol. We took a similar trip last summer, when we went to our international convention in Louisville. This time, we went north and east.
I was stuck in Ithaca until Monday on account of last weekend's quarterfinal hockey series lasting three games, but I went to Connecticut for about 24 hours and returned to Ithaca Tuesday night.
Bright and early Wednesday afternoon, we left for Canada. We made it to Ottawa around 7pm, where we had arranged to stay at the chapter of our fraternity at Carleton University. The guys at the house, of course, had no idea we were coming and were (happily?) surprised when we rolled up in front of their house and told them we were from the Cornell chapter. Nonetheless, they made sure to show us a good Canadian time. A common theme from this trip was that Canadians kept insisting to us that because Canadian beer has a higher alcohol content, we Americans wouldn't be able to handle it. Beginning with Moosehead at dinner, and continuing with Molson Dry (10.1% alcohol) and other things afterwards, they did their best to outdrink us. We made it to a few bars and ended up crashing on the floors and couches of their house (which only sleeps 5, as opposed to our 28).
Thursday morning, we left for Montreal without any real idea where we were going. We saw a freeway on-ramp with "Montreal" and headed in that direction. Once we saw the city skyline we figured out which roads to take to get to downtown. Having nowhere to stay, we (I) drove around downtown and sent our hotelie to negotiate prices at various hotels. We found a reasonably priced (when divided by 5) room and showered for the first time in a couple of days. It's too bad we only had one night in Montreal, since there's so much of the city I would have liked to see. We did go to dinner at a nice French restaurant and made it to five drinking establishments afterwards.
Not everyone in Montreal was happy to interact with Americans. At one bar, the waitress didn't even ask all five of us for our drink orders, and handed us the check a minute later. At another place, the waiter asked us, to our amusement, "you're not from around here, eh?"
We left Montreal around midday Friday and headed south on 87 to Albany, where Cornell was playing in the ECAC Hockey semifinal. With our usual great planning, we called our chapter house at RPI on the way there and asked if we could sleep at their house that night. Cornell won a double-overtime thriller against Princeton, scoring twice in the final 3:00 to send the game to overtime. Captain Colin Greening won the game almost 10:00 into the second overtime to send Cornell to the championship game.
On Saturday, in the conference final, Cornell played their worst game of the season and was embarassed by Yale, 5-0. This was my 32nd Cornell hockey game this season, and most likely my last one, since I don't think I'll be able to make it to Grand Rapids, Mich., next weekend for the NCAA Regional. Cornell, seeded 3rd in the Regional, opens with a game against 2nd-seeded Northeastern. The winner will most likely have to play Notre Dame to make it to the Frozen Four in Washington, DC. I have Frozen Four tickets but I'm not too confident that Cornell will be there, especially given our terrible play last night.
Regardless, this was a fun way to spend Spring Break.
Brief recap of other significant Cornell sporting events:
--NCAA Basketball: #3 Missouri def. #14 Cornell, 78-59
--Lacrosse: #3 Cornell def. #8 Duke, 10-6, on Tuesday, and Yale, 15-8, yesterday
--NCAA Wrestling Championships: Cornell finishes 5th in the nation, and Troy Nickerson wins a national championship at 125 pounds
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Contest: Find the latest error in the Sun
Even though we're on break, the Sun was kind enough to give us a one-paragraph summary of Sunday's game, written entirely based on the box score:
Senior Evan Barlow ensured a memorable night on his last game at Lynah Rink, scoring two goals for the second night in a row to lead the men's hockey team over Rensselaer, 4-3, and into the semifinals of the ECAC Hockey tournament. Cornell capitalized on 1-of-2 power-play attempts against a more-disciplined RPI squad that gave the Red 17 man-up opportunities on Saturday night. RPI couldn't cash in on any of its three power plays, making the Engineers 0-for-11 during the three-game series. Freshman Riley Nash added three assists in the win and senior Michael Kennedy and freshman Keir Ross both added a goal. Junior goalie Ben Scrivens notched 31 saves.Leave your answer in a comment. There are two "correct" answers. Winner gets a game program from the Cornell/RPI series.
Playoff Predictions, Week 3
I'll be traveling the next couple of days, so let me get these out of the way.
Semifinal: #4 St. Lawrence vs. #1 Yale
SLU(t) is playing much better now than they were when Cornell shut them out at Lynah in December. They found the net 8 times against us in a terrible, unforgettable game up in Canton. They swept a pesky Quinnipiac team this past weekend and, as I pointed out last week, they have a chance to play themselves into the NCAA tournament with a semifinal win this weekend. They even had success against Yale this season, winning 3-2 in Canton and tying 2-2 in New Haven.
As I've said before, Yale is clearly the best team in the ECAC this season. SLU(t) scored 10 goals in 2 games against Quinnipiac, but they'll be lucky to score 3 goals on Friday. Yale swept Brown this past weekend, a convincing result considering how well Brown was playing at the end of the season.
Yale is the better hockey team, but SLU(t) wins on Friday. It's a close one, maybe another 3-2 game. St. Lawrence wins.
Semifinal: #3 Princeton vs. #2 Cornell
This is why you try to finish first in the conference. I know I just picked SLU(t) to win, but I'd rather face them than Princeton. Princeton was a great team earlier in the season, but they haven't shown too much down the stretch. They stole a 2-1 victory against us in the final minute at Lynah in February, but lost at Dartmouth and Harvard to end the season. They, like Cornell, needed 3 games to get past the lower seed this past weekend. However, while Cornell thoroughly outplayed RPI during Friday's loss, Princeton lost to Union, 5-2, on Saturday.
To win, Cornell needs offense. RPI's defense was terrible. Regardless of how many penalties there were, any team which gives up 56 shots to clutch-and-grab, grind-it-out, defense-first, slow-skating Cornell is pretty awful on the defensive side. Against Princeton this season, Cornell scored a grand total of 2 goals in 2 games. Tyler Mugford scored in Princeton, while Blake Gallagher scored in Ithaca. Cornell can't count on either player for goals this weekend, since Mugford isn't an offensive forward and Gallagher is injured.
Cornell will also need another great performance from Scrivens. Without offense or strong defense, Cornell loses. Simply put, we did not play well enough this past weekend to beat Princeton. And I'm not confident we can put everything together on Friday night. This hurts to do, but Princeton wins.
Championship game: Princeton repeats as ECAC Hockey champions. St. Lawrence is happy because they make the NCAA tournament.
Consolation game: Cornell, season on the line, takes down Yale. All four ECAC teams make the NCAA tournament.
Semifinal: #4 St. Lawrence vs. #1 Yale
SLU(t) is playing much better now than they were when Cornell shut them out at Lynah in December. They found the net 8 times against us in a terrible, unforgettable game up in Canton. They swept a pesky Quinnipiac team this past weekend and, as I pointed out last week, they have a chance to play themselves into the NCAA tournament with a semifinal win this weekend. They even had success against Yale this season, winning 3-2 in Canton and tying 2-2 in New Haven.
As I've said before, Yale is clearly the best team in the ECAC this season. SLU(t) scored 10 goals in 2 games against Quinnipiac, but they'll be lucky to score 3 goals on Friday. Yale swept Brown this past weekend, a convincing result considering how well Brown was playing at the end of the season.
Yale is the better hockey team, but SLU(t) wins on Friday. It's a close one, maybe another 3-2 game. St. Lawrence wins.
Semifinal: #3 Princeton vs. #2 Cornell
This is why you try to finish first in the conference. I know I just picked SLU(t) to win, but I'd rather face them than Princeton. Princeton was a great team earlier in the season, but they haven't shown too much down the stretch. They stole a 2-1 victory against us in the final minute at Lynah in February, but lost at Dartmouth and Harvard to end the season. They, like Cornell, needed 3 games to get past the lower seed this past weekend. However, while Cornell thoroughly outplayed RPI during Friday's loss, Princeton lost to Union, 5-2, on Saturday.
To win, Cornell needs offense. RPI's defense was terrible. Regardless of how many penalties there were, any team which gives up 56 shots to clutch-and-grab, grind-it-out, defense-first, slow-skating Cornell is pretty awful on the defensive side. Against Princeton this season, Cornell scored a grand total of 2 goals in 2 games. Tyler Mugford scored in Princeton, while Blake Gallagher scored in Ithaca. Cornell can't count on either player for goals this weekend, since Mugford isn't an offensive forward and Gallagher is injured.
Cornell will also need another great performance from Scrivens. Without offense or strong defense, Cornell loses. Simply put, we did not play well enough this past weekend to beat Princeton. And I'm not confident we can put everything together on Friday night. This hurts to do, but Princeton wins.
Championship game: Princeton repeats as ECAC Hockey champions. St. Lawrence is happy because they make the NCAA tournament.
Consolation game: Cornell, season on the line, takes down Yale. All four ECAC teams make the NCAA tournament.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Cornell Should Host an NCAA Hockey Regional
The NCAA men's ice hockey tournament consists of 16 teams, divided into 4 regionals. The winners of each regional, as in basketball, advance to the Frozen Four.
Each regional is hosted by at least one school. For example, Yale and Fairfield are hosting this year's regional in Bridgeport, Conn. Minnesota is hosting the regional in Minneapolis.
If any of these teams should make the NCAA tournament, they are guaranteed to be placed in that regional.
This can be a huge advantage, as Cornell has found out recently. In 2005, Cornell made it to the regional final before losing in overtime to Minnesota, in Minneapolis, Minn. In 2006, Cornell made it to the regional final before losing in triple overtime to Wisconsin, in Madison, Wisc.
Would these results have been different if the games had been played at a more neutral site? I would say yes.
So, what is Cornell waiting for? Rochester presents the best option, as it is fairly close to Ithaca and has the appropriate hockey facilities. If Cornell were to make the tournament, they would sell a tremendous number of tickets if they were placed in Rochester. And such a scenario would be preferable to being sent out to Minneapolis again, which is what people seem to think will happen next week.
Obviously there is a financial risk. Cornell would likely lose money if they didn't make the NCAA tournament, since they wouldn't sell nearly as many tickets. And obviously it would take a good amount of time to organize, which might not be something that our Athletic Department has at the moment.
Still, considering that hockey is the major sport at Cornell and that we have a decent chance of making the NCAA tournament every year, I hate to see us wasting this opportunity. I will not be happy if I have to travel out west this year, and the team could benefit from having an NCAA game in a friendly rink.
Each regional is hosted by at least one school. For example, Yale and Fairfield are hosting this year's regional in Bridgeport, Conn. Minnesota is hosting the regional in Minneapolis.
If any of these teams should make the NCAA tournament, they are guaranteed to be placed in that regional.
This can be a huge advantage, as Cornell has found out recently. In 2005, Cornell made it to the regional final before losing in overtime to Minnesota, in Minneapolis, Minn. In 2006, Cornell made it to the regional final before losing in triple overtime to Wisconsin, in Madison, Wisc.
Would these results have been different if the games had been played at a more neutral site? I would say yes.
So, what is Cornell waiting for? Rochester presents the best option, as it is fairly close to Ithaca and has the appropriate hockey facilities. If Cornell were to make the tournament, they would sell a tremendous number of tickets if they were placed in Rochester. And such a scenario would be preferable to being sent out to Minneapolis again, which is what people seem to think will happen next week.
Obviously there is a financial risk. Cornell would likely lose money if they didn't make the NCAA tournament, since they wouldn't sell nearly as many tickets. And obviously it would take a good amount of time to organize, which might not be something that our Athletic Department has at the moment.
Still, considering that hockey is the major sport at Cornell and that we have a decent chance of making the NCAA tournament every year, I hate to see us wasting this opportunity. I will not be happy if I have to travel out west this year, and the team could benefit from having an NCAA game in a friendly rink.
Patting Myself on the Back
My predictions for the ECAC playoff series this past weekend (actual results in parentheses):Yale in 2 (Yale in 2)
Cornell in 3 (Cornell in 3)
Princeton in 2 (Princeton in 3)
St. Lawrence in 2 (St. Lawrence in 2)
After an exciting weekend of hockey, our semifinal matchups are set for Friday:
#4 St. Lawrence vs. #1 Yale, 4:00pm
#3 Princeton vs. #2 Cornell, 7:30pm
This is my fifth trip to see Cornell play in the ECAC final weekend at the Times-Union Center (formerly Pepsi Arena) in Albany.
In the 2003 championship game, I saw Cornell defeat Harvard in overtime, 3-2, in one of the games that really turned me into a Cornell hockey fan. Harvard was winning, 2-1, with 33 seconds left in the game, when Mark McRae scored an extra-attacker goal to tie the score. Eighty-three seconds into overtime, Sam Paolini scored on a shot from the point to win.
In the 2005 championship game, I saw Cornell defeat Harvard, 3-1, in one of those physical, defensive-minded games that were characteristic of our teams from earlier in the decade.
In 2006, I saw Cornell shut down a good Colgate team, 2-0, in the semifinal on Friday night. (See picture above, stolen from eLynah.com) On Saturday, they collapsed. All-American goalie David McKee let in 6 goals on 25 shots as we lost to Harvard, 6-1. McKee redeemed himself the following weekend, stopping the first 59 shots before Cornell lost a heartbreaker to Wisconsin, 1-0 in triple overtime.
Last year, we again lost to Harvard, this time in the Friday night semifinal. We then defeated Colgate in the consolation game, 4-2, to close the season on a positive note.
This year, who knows? I'll have some predictions up later in the week.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Who's Leaving the Supreme Court?
There was some big news yesterday about our third branch of government:
On the conservative side, everyone is pretty young except the despicable Antonin Scalia, who is 73. If Obama wins reelection in 2012, Scalia might leave the court and give Obama the opportunity to replace him with someone more progressive.
This is another reason why Obama's victory was important.
[Supreme Court] Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has hinted at a possible vacancy "soon" at the US Supreme Court, without indicating who would be leaving.The justices most likely to retire are Ginsburg, who turns 76 today, John Paul Stevens (90), and David Souter (69). All three are reliably progressive justices, so Obama's appointment of a left-leaning judge to replace any of them wouldn't change the demographics of the court.Speaking Friday at New England Law Boston's annual "Law Day," Ginsburg told students that the nine justices only take pictures together when a new member joins the high court.
"We haven't had any photos for some time, but surely we will soon," she said.
On the conservative side, everyone is pretty young except the despicable Antonin Scalia, who is 73. If Obama wins reelection in 2012, Scalia might leave the court and give Obama the opportunity to replace him with someone more progressive.
This is another reason why Obama's victory was important.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Playoff Predictions, Week 2
If at first you don't succeed, try again. So here I am, one week after going 0-for-4 on my predictions for the opening weekend. In my defense, I don't think anyone thought Brown could beat (much less sweep) Harvard, and Dartmouth losing to RPI at home was a shocker.
I think the series this weekend are a little easier to call. Princeton, Cornell, and Yale have been the three best teams in the ECAC this year. In that order, they traded stretches atop the standings. But all three teams ran into some trouble. Princeton ran fast out of the gate before losing four consecutive ECAC games in January. Cornell vaulted to #2 in the national polls in February before playing a stretch of really bad hockey. Yale started a little slow and then played well in the middle of the season, which gave them enough of a cushion to limp into first place, going 1-2-1 over the last two weekends. They would have finished second if Cornell had been able to beat them in New Haven.
St. Lawrence is in an interesting situation, since their position in the PairWise Rankings (14th) means they can potentially receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament if they reach the ECAC championship game.
Enough introduction, here are the matchups (note the reseeding after each round):
#8 Brown at #1 Yale. Sorry Brown, but I don't think they have it in them for another big upset. While Harvard played well for stretches this season, Yale was the best college hockey team I saw this year. One of the games might be close. Yale in 2
#7 RPI at #2 Cornell. I was very happy about this matchup. Cornell has had RPI's number recently, winning their last five contests. RPI did not look good at Lynah or the Houston Field House. Still, RPI is a physical team with nothing to lose, and this might give us some trouble in one of the games. Might be like last year's home playoff series, in which Cornell needed 3 to beat Dartmouth but you never really felt like they were going to lose the series. RPI takes Saturday's game, and then Eric Burgdoerfer gets 17 penalty mins in the decider. Cornell in 3
#6 Union at #3 Princeton. How did Onion win last weekend? Princeton won the ECAC tournament last year and they're going back to Albany this year. Union will enjoy being away from shitty Schenectday for this weekend, but they won't make the short trip down the river next weekend to the Times Union Center. Princeton in 2
#5 Quinnipiac at #4 St. Lawrence. This is like a 7 hour drive for Quinnipiac fans; they must be happy. St. Lawrence played a very solid game against us in Canton, and I think they'll be able to shut down Quinnipiac fairly effectively. SLU(t) has a lot riding on this series, with a win bringing them closer to their first trip to NCAAs since 2001. Quinnipiac is a bit of a wild card, since Brandon Wong could score 3 goals tonight and run away with the game. I still like SLU(t), since they're at home. St. Lawrence in 2.
I hope I get at least one right this week, otherwise it'll be a long offseason. Let's Go Red tonight!
Side note: Playoff tickets should not be included in the student season ticket package. There will be tons of empty seats this weekend, since people are going home for spring break. Let students buy them if they want, otherwise sell them to townies. A lot of students are having to eat the cost of tickets this weekend because they can't sell them.
I think the series this weekend are a little easier to call. Princeton, Cornell, and Yale have been the three best teams in the ECAC this year. In that order, they traded stretches atop the standings. But all three teams ran into some trouble. Princeton ran fast out of the gate before losing four consecutive ECAC games in January. Cornell vaulted to #2 in the national polls in February before playing a stretch of really bad hockey. Yale started a little slow and then played well in the middle of the season, which gave them enough of a cushion to limp into first place, going 1-2-1 over the last two weekends. They would have finished second if Cornell had been able to beat them in New Haven.
St. Lawrence is in an interesting situation, since their position in the PairWise Rankings (14th) means they can potentially receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament if they reach the ECAC championship game.
Enough introduction, here are the matchups (note the reseeding after each round):
#8 Brown at #1 Yale. Sorry Brown, but I don't think they have it in them for another big upset. While Harvard played well for stretches this season, Yale was the best college hockey team I saw this year. One of the games might be close. Yale in 2
#7 RPI at #2 Cornell. I was very happy about this matchup. Cornell has had RPI's number recently, winning their last five contests. RPI did not look good at Lynah or the Houston Field House. Still, RPI is a physical team with nothing to lose, and this might give us some trouble in one of the games. Might be like last year's home playoff series, in which Cornell needed 3 to beat Dartmouth but you never really felt like they were going to lose the series. RPI takes Saturday's game, and then Eric Burgdoerfer gets 17 penalty mins in the decider. Cornell in 3
#6 Union at #3 Princeton. How did Onion win last weekend? Princeton won the ECAC tournament last year and they're going back to Albany this year. Union will enjoy being away from shitty Schenectday for this weekend, but they won't make the short trip down the river next weekend to the Times Union Center. Princeton in 2
#5 Quinnipiac at #4 St. Lawrence. This is like a 7 hour drive for Quinnipiac fans; they must be happy. St. Lawrence played a very solid game against us in Canton, and I think they'll be able to shut down Quinnipiac fairly effectively. SLU(t) has a lot riding on this series, with a win bringing them closer to their first trip to NCAAs since 2001. Quinnipiac is a bit of a wild card, since Brandon Wong could score 3 goals tonight and run away with the game. I still like SLU(t), since they're at home. St. Lawrence in 2.
I hope I get at least one right this week, otherwise it'll be a long offseason. Let's Go Red tonight!
Side note: Playoff tickets should not be included in the student season ticket package. There will be tons of empty seats this weekend, since people are going home for spring break. Let students buy them if they want, otherwise sell them to townies. A lot of students are having to eat the cost of tickets this weekend because they can't sell them.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Red Hot Hockey, The Sequel
If it wasn't enough for you to see BU kick the crap out of Cornell in front of a sold-out Madison Square Garden two years ago, you'll have the opportunity to see that again this November, as the teams will play the sequel on the Saturday night of Thanksgiving weekend.
As I noted in my post about next year's hockey schedule, the result last time was not pretty: 6-3 BU.
Still, cheering with 18,200 fans at a college hockey game is a fun experience, so go buy your tickets already!
Here are some pictures from the last game, taken by Ned Dykes. (Click for larger)
I'm off to my law midterm.
As I noted in my post about next year's hockey schedule, the result last time was not pretty: 6-3 BU.
Still, cheering with 18,200 fans at a college hockey game is a fun experience, so go buy your tickets already!
Here are some pictures from the last game, taken by Ned Dykes. (Click for larger)
I'm off to my law midterm.
Michael Steele is the Angry Customer from Sesame Street
Jon Stewart gets this one right. Embattled GOP Chairman Michael Steele is the angry customer from Sesame Street.
And it's back to studying for me.
And it's back to studying for me.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
What steroids? The media sees nothing
The latest issue of Sports Illustrated has a three-page story about Tony Mandarich, the former Michigan State football player and second pick of the 1989 NFL Draft whose pro career amounted to very little. Titled "Tony Mandarich is Very, Very Sorry," the article describes how Mandarich now admits to taking steroids and why he blames them for his short-lived career. In an interesting twist, SI commissioned the same author to write this article who wrote the SI cover story (at right) on Mandarich twenty years ago.What bothers me about the article is that as with so many other cases of athletes using steroids, there is an immediate reaction to place all the blame on the athlete and none on anyone else.
[Mandarich] lied to me. Lied to everybody. He gamed the system to his advantage. I knew he was using steroids (he now admits he also used human growth hormone), but all I could do was hint at my suspicions. I used the word drugs in the first sentence of that story, even if only referring to the large quantities of caffeine Mandarich downed before lifting. I called him "the man from tomorrow" and an "offensive-tackle creature."Um, hello? The author, a journalist, knew that Mandarich, as well as his coach, agent, and everybody else, was lying. And yet he didn't say anything, until suddenly, two decades later, Mandarich confesses and suddenly it's okay to say this. The author's (Rick Telander) defense that he did his job by including these subtle clues is laughable. If Mandarich's unbelievable body didn't do the trick, some offhand references to 'drugs' certainly wasn't enough.
The media tends to do this. During the 1998 home run race, no one wanted to state the obvious: that these guys were all on steroids. It was too good of a story, too good for ratings, for the sport's popularity, to ruin it by doing serious journalistic work.
And then, when the truth comes out, the media tries to blame everything on the athlete. In fact, it is partly a complicit media which is responsible for letting this stuff go on.
Telander should be ashamed of himself. That was not serious journalism, and he, as well as Mandarich, owes the sports world an apology.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Now I Really Hate Ann Coulter
If she bashes liberals, or Democrats, or minorities, I can just tune it out. But in her most recent column she touches (gasp) Cornell Hockey!
Background: If you've missed it, distinguished Cornell alumni Ann Coulter '84 and Keith Olbermann '79 have been feuding about the validity of their Cornell degrees. Coulter claims that Olbermann, by virtue of having graduated from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, did not attend an Ivy League school. Coulter, as will I, received her diploma from the College of Arts and Sciences.
MetaEzra has more on Coulter's assertions and Olbermann's on-air response.
Here's where the hockey comes in, from her column entitled "Olbermann's Plastic Ivy":
Background: If you've missed it, distinguished Cornell alumni Ann Coulter '84 and Keith Olbermann '79 have been feuding about the validity of their Cornell degrees. Coulter claims that Olbermann, by virtue of having graduated from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, did not attend an Ivy League school. Coulter, as will I, received her diploma from the College of Arts and Sciences.
MetaEzra has more on Coulter's assertions and Olbermann's on-air response.
Here's where the hockey comes in, from her column entitled "Olbermann's Plastic Ivy":
Among the graduates of the Ivy League Cornell are Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Thomas Pynchon, Paul Wolfowitz, E.B. White, Sanford I. Weill, Floyd Abrams, Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Ginsburg, Janet Reno, Henry Heimlich and Harold Bloom.What a bitch. Let's go red!
Graduates of the ag school include David LeNeveu of the Anaheim Ducks, Mitch Carefoot of the Phoenix RoadRunners, Darren Eliot, former professional hockey player, and Joe Nieuwendyk, multiple Stanley Cup winner.
One begins to understand why Harvard students threw a chicken on the ice during Cornell's famous rout of Harvard at a 1973 hockey game.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Your Hockey Bye-Week Pick-Me-Up
It's been over a week since the last Cornell hockey game, and the start of the quarterfinal series against RPI is still four days away. So here are a few videos to reinvigorate your hockey spirits while we wait. (Don't miss the lacrosse video at the end.)
2003 NCAA Regional Final: Cornell 2, Boston College 1 (2 OT). This goal by Matt McRae sent then-No. 1 Cornell to the Frozen Four and made SportsCenter's Top 10 plays.
2008 Florida College Hockey Classic Championship Game: Cornell tops Colgate in a shootout. Senior defenseman Jared Seminoff is the unlikely hero, as his goal, combined with a stop by Ben Scrivens, hands Cornell the tournament championship.
November 10, 2006: Cornell 3, Harvard 2. Then-sophomore Michael Kennedy's breakaway goal with 1:32 remaining puts Cornell on top.
January 14, 2005: Cornell 2, Union 1. Mike Iggulden scores a shorthanded goal in overtime to defeat Union in Schenectady. This game would kick off a 19-game stretch run during which Cornell went 18-0-1 before losing to Minnesota in overtime in the NCAA quarterfinals.
This isn't hockey, but it's my favorite Cornell sports video:
2007 NCAA Lacrosse Quarterfinal: Cornell 12, Albany 11 (OT). Max Seibald makes a fantastic defensive play that sets up John Glynn for the game winner with four seconds remaining in overtime. Cornell (then 15-0) advanced to the Final Four at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, where I saw them lose a heartbreaker to Duke.
2003 NCAA Regional Final: Cornell 2, Boston College 1 (2 OT). This goal by Matt McRae sent then-No. 1 Cornell to the Frozen Four and made SportsCenter's Top 10 plays.
2008 Florida College Hockey Classic Championship Game: Cornell tops Colgate in a shootout. Senior defenseman Jared Seminoff is the unlikely hero, as his goal, combined with a stop by Ben Scrivens, hands Cornell the tournament championship.
November 10, 2006: Cornell 3, Harvard 2. Then-sophomore Michael Kennedy's breakaway goal with 1:32 remaining puts Cornell on top.
January 14, 2005: Cornell 2, Union 1. Mike Iggulden scores a shorthanded goal in overtime to defeat Union in Schenectady. This game would kick off a 19-game stretch run during which Cornell went 18-0-1 before losing to Minnesota in overtime in the NCAA quarterfinals.
This isn't hockey, but it's my favorite Cornell sports video:
2007 NCAA Lacrosse Quarterfinal: Cornell 12, Albany 11 (OT). Max Seibald makes a fantastic defensive play that sets up John Glynn for the game winner with four seconds remaining in overtime. Cornell (then 15-0) advanced to the Final Four at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, where I saw them lose a heartbreaker to Duke.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Deep Down, John Kerry Is Still a Frat Boy
Okay, so Skull & Bones isn't exactly a fraternity, but this is first time I've ever seen Animal House referenced in a column written by a serious politician:Last week, when American taxpayers learned that a bank receiving Troubled Asset Relief Program funds had thrown a lavish bash and spared no expense to celebrate with the bands Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire, I introduced legislation based on a simple concept: if a company accepts bailout funds from the taxpayer, it can’t waste money on lavish parties, expensive dinners and Tiffany trinkets.The reaction in some quarters suggests that I had attempted -- like a modern-day Dean Wormer in “Animal House” -- to ban fun of any kind, or that the wheels of commerce and marketing would grind to a halt.
Kerry goes on to assure us that he is no Dean Wormer, and that is is only trying to curtail wasteful spending of taxpayer money. Kerry is adamant that no partying will be had:
Not Party Time
Clearly, this is no time to party. Economic indicators are deeply troubling. Household debt-to-income levels are at historic highs, and estimates show that homes continue to be overvalued by as much as 30 percent.
Maybe Kerry is not so much Dean Wormer but Robert Hoover, president of Delta House, who unsuccessfully tries to maintain order and keep his brothers out of trouble. Because as long as our government is adamant about funneling hundreds of billions of dollars into corporations to keep them afloat, those companies have no reason to stop partying.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Will Salem/Williams Let the Crazies Take Over?
Yesterday morning it was announced that Rammy Salem and Ola Williams had won the election for Student Assembly President and Executive Vice-President. This was the first year that the top two student leaders were directly elected by the student body, as opposed to by their fellow S.A. members.As for why they won, I suspect it's a combination of the Sun endorsement and the pair's aggressive campaigning (I saw Salem on Ho Plaza nearly every time I walked by this week).
I congratulate them on their victory, but I am concerned about one of their main campaign promises: If any student attends three consecutive S.A. meetings, s/he will receive full voting rights for the remainder of the semester.
This is a really bad idea.
Imagine if this policy had been in place before the S.A.'s ultimately meaningless vote last spring on whether to allow the concealed carry of firearms on campus. Supporters of the resolution could have brought 15-20 like-minded students to S.A. meetings earlier in the semester, and then used these ringers to overpower the actual Assembly members and force passage of the resolution. We could see situations in which an active, yet small, minority of students, force generally unpopular resolutions through the S.A.
Translated to the national level, this is precisely what James Madison was concerned about when he wrote Federalist No. 10. Although the S.A. is elected by students, there needs to be some degree of separation between our elected representatives and the greater student body in order to prevent these types of situations.
I wish Salem and Williams the best of luck in the coming year. I had a discussion section with Salem last semester and I'm confident that he can succeed in this position. Next year's S.A. will certainly have enough to worry about, between the ongoing SAFC controversy and budget cuts everywhere. Still, I hope that they realize the fallacy of this idea.
Friday, March 6, 2009
There Goes My Credibility
Last weekend I posted my ECAC first round playoff predictions.
Each of the four teams I projected to win their respective series lost Game 1 tonight:
FINAL: Harvard 0 Brown 1
FINAL: Dartmouth 2 RPI 3 (OT)
FINAL: Quinnipiac 3 Colgate 2 (OT)
FINAL: Union 5 Clarkson 3
On the bright side, Cornell basketball clinched their second consecutive Ivy League title, and with it an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. They will probably lose to Michigan State or some other 2-seed in the first round.
Edit: The latest bracket prediction from ESPN has Cornell playing Duke in the first round.
Each of the four teams I projected to win their respective series lost Game 1 tonight:
FINAL: Harvard 0 Brown 1
FINAL: Dartmouth 2 RPI 3 (OT)
FINAL: Quinnipiac 3 Colgate 2 (OT)
FINAL: Union 5 Clarkson 3
On the bright side, Cornell basketball clinched their second consecutive Ivy League title, and with it an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. They will probably lose to Michigan State or some other 2-seed in the first round.
Edit: The latest bracket prediction from ESPN has Cornell playing Duke in the first round.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Quote of the Day
Trey Gowdy, Solicitor (prosecutor) for the 7th Circuit of South Carolina, speaking to Law 405.
Q: Some states are considering abolishing the death penalty as a budget-saving measure, since it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to win a death verdict and go through the appeal process. Has this been talked about in South Carolina?
A: Are you kidding? We'd close schools to keep the death penalty.
Q: Some states are considering abolishing the death penalty as a budget-saving measure, since it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to win a death verdict and go through the appeal process. Has this been talked about in South Carolina?
A: Are you kidding? We'd close schools to keep the death penalty.
Better Late or Not at All?
Meredith Bennett-Smith's article in today's Sun about the Cornell wrestlers who received all-Ivy honors seemed very familiar, and a quick glance at Athletics' website told me why.
CornellBigRed.com released a detailed article on this development back on February 26.
Today, six days later, it was reported in the Sun.
The Sun has done a fairly good job with wrestling coverage this year (better than their hockey coverage, in my opinion), and beat writer Zack Slabotsky has impressed me. However, I don't see why it took so long to get something out about this. I do give the Sun credit for getting some quotes from wrestlers and coaches, which Athletics did not. Still, this was an avoidable delay.
CornellBigRed.com released a detailed article on this development back on February 26.
Today, six days later, it was reported in the Sun.
The Sun has done a fairly good job with wrestling coverage this year (better than their hockey coverage, in my opinion), and beat writer Zack Slabotsky has impressed me. However, I don't see why it took so long to get something out about this. I do give the Sun credit for getting some quotes from wrestlers and coaches, which Athletics did not. Still, this was an avoidable delay.
Rare Discussion of Incarceration in the MSM
It's always nice to see the mainstream media give some attention to America's tremendous problem of incarceration. Pew released a report on Monday about prisoners and associated costs in the U.S., and Reuters followed with an article.
Pew found that cutting back on prison populations is an easy way for states to save money during the recession:
Still, given that the U.S. incarcerates its citizens for lesser offenses and longer terms than other developed nations, reform of our criminal justice system would be both a practical cost-saving measure and a step towards progress as a civilization. Unfortunately, although carceral policy and budgets are intertwined, our lawmakers are too distracted by the worsening economy to give much attention to this issue.
For more on this, I would encourage all undergrads to take Government 314: Prisons, one of the most interesting classes I've taken at Cornell.
Pew found that cutting back on prison populations is an easy way for states to save money during the recession:
The release of prisoners has been floated in some states as an idea to save money, but no politician wants to be seen as someone who releases dangerous criminals onto the streets (see the Dukakis campaign).Penitentiary systems have been the fastest-growing spending area for states after Medicaid, the healthcare program for those with low income. Over the last 20 years their spending on criminal justice has increased more than 300 percent, the study found.
During the last 25 years prison and jail populations have grown 274 percent to 2.3 million in 2008, according to the Pew research, while those under supervision grew 226 percent over the same span to 5.1 million.
It estimated states spent a record $51.7 billion on corrections in fiscal year 2008 and incarcerating one inmate cost them, on average, $29,000 a year. But the average annual cost of managing an offender through probation was $1,250 and through parole $2,750.
Still, given that the U.S. incarcerates its citizens for lesser offenses and longer terms than other developed nations, reform of our criminal justice system would be both a practical cost-saving measure and a step towards progress as a civilization. Unfortunately, although carceral policy and budgets are intertwined, our lawmakers are too distracted by the worsening economy to give much attention to this issue.
For more on this, I would encourage all undergrads to take Government 314: Prisons, one of the most interesting classes I've taken at Cornell.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Sun Sports Gets Every Single Thing Wrong
Sometimes when you're reading the Sun sports section, you just have to stop and laugh. Today was one of those days.
First I was going to write about Matthew Manacher's column about Jim Calhoun, but then I came across Meredith Bennett-Smith's atrocious graphic on the hockey teams. Nearly everything is wrong. I would post a link, but it only ran in the print edition. So here we go.
Headline: Yale, Cornell Receive NCAA Berths
Wrong. See, there are two ways to make the NCAA tournament. The winner of each conference tournament receives an automatic bid, and the remainder of the 16 spots are filled with the teams sitting highest in the pairwise rankings. Neither Yale nor Cornell has a spot wrapped up, and by losing their home playoff series next weekend, both teams could easily play their way out of a trip to the NCAAs. I'm not sure what everyone at the Sun is smoking, but this is a completely incorrect conclusion, and a laughable headline. No team has received an NCAA berth, much less close-to-the-edge teams like Yale and Cornell.
Picture caption: Cornell's victory over Brown helped it secure a playoff berth.
What a moronic statement. Each of the 12 teams in the ECAC makes the conference tournament. This is as stupid as the banner flying at Quinnipiac's rink: "ECAC Tournament, 2007, 2008..."
Second sentence: "The Red will be joining the Bulldogs in the quest for an NCAA championship after securing the number two seed for the ECACS [sic]."
I didn't know the second-seeded team in the ECAC got an NCAA bid. Again, this is wrong.
Next sentence: "After the weekend, the Red will head into the post-season 13-6-3, compared to Yale's overall record of 15-5-2, the teams are three points apart."
Aside from being a run-on sentence, the facts here are also incorrect. These are conference records. Yale's overall record is 20-7-2, while Cornell's is 18-7-4.
Next sentence (more great writing): "In other news, Princeton and Harvard battled it out on Saturday for bragging rights mostly, with Harvard pulling out the 3-2 victory, but Princeton maintaining its third spot in the overall rankings, behind Cornell but ahead of St. Lawrence."
Actually, the loss dropped Princeton from 2nd to 3rd, so one could not say they "maintained" their third spot. They entered the weekend ahead of Cornell.
Thankfully, that's the end of the write-up. Let's head to the standings, copied in part below.
Try some of these out. 11 x 2 + 3 = 25. 9 x 2 + 3 = 21. 3 x 2 + 5 = 11. Etc.
This is what really stumps me: Where did Meredith get these records from? They're not conference records, but they're not overall records, either. She screwed them up just enough to make them wrong.
So here we are, in half a page of text and graphics, a slew of terrible errors. Disappointing.
First I was going to write about Matthew Manacher's column about Jim Calhoun, but then I came across Meredith Bennett-Smith's atrocious graphic on the hockey teams. Nearly everything is wrong. I would post a link, but it only ran in the print edition. So here we go.
Headline: Yale, Cornell Receive NCAA Berths
Wrong. See, there are two ways to make the NCAA tournament. The winner of each conference tournament receives an automatic bid, and the remainder of the 16 spots are filled with the teams sitting highest in the pairwise rankings. Neither Yale nor Cornell has a spot wrapped up, and by losing their home playoff series next weekend, both teams could easily play their way out of a trip to the NCAAs. I'm not sure what everyone at the Sun is smoking, but this is a completely incorrect conclusion, and a laughable headline. No team has received an NCAA berth, much less close-to-the-edge teams like Yale and Cornell.
Picture caption: Cornell's victory over Brown helped it secure a playoff berth.
What a moronic statement. Each of the 12 teams in the ECAC makes the conference tournament. This is as stupid as the banner flying at Quinnipiac's rink: "ECAC Tournament, 2007, 2008..."
Second sentence: "The Red will be joining the Bulldogs in the quest for an NCAA championship after securing the number two seed for the ECACS [sic]."
I didn't know the second-seeded team in the ECAC got an NCAA bid. Again, this is wrong.
Next sentence: "After the weekend, the Red will head into the post-season 13-6-3, compared to Yale's overall record of 15-5-2, the teams are three points apart."
Aside from being a run-on sentence, the facts here are also incorrect. These are conference records. Yale's overall record is 20-7-2, while Cornell's is 18-7-4.
Next sentence (more great writing): "In other news, Princeton and Harvard battled it out on Saturday for bragging rights mostly, with Harvard pulling out the 3-2 victory, but Princeton maintaining its third spot in the overall rankings, behind Cornell but ahead of St. Lawrence."
Actually, the loss dropped Princeton from 2nd to 3rd, so one could not say they "maintained" their third spot. They entered the weekend ahead of Cornell.
Thankfully, that's the end of the write-up. Let's head to the standings, copied in part below.
TEAM POINTS W L T
Dartmouth 24 11 9 3
Union 20 9 11 3
Clarkson 20 8 10 7
Colgate 17 6 11 7
Rennselaer 13 6 15 2
Brown 10 3 15 5
Try some of these out. 11 x 2 + 3 = 25. 9 x 2 + 3 = 21. 3 x 2 + 5 = 11. Etc.
This is what really stumps me: Where did Meredith get these records from? They're not conference records, but they're not overall records, either. She screwed them up just enough to make them wrong.
So here we are, in half a page of text and graphics, a slew of terrible errors. Disappointing.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Screenshot of the day
This is what my email looked like on my phone this morning:
Encouraging words from the registrar for the College of Arts & Sciences.
"Drop Deadline" was the subject in full.
Encouraging words from the registrar for the College of Arts & Sciences.
"Drop Deadline" was the subject in full.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Playoff Predictions, Week 1
If you can't tell, I'm still flying high from our comeback win against Brown. Here's a quick look at the first weekend of ECAC Hockey playoffs, based on my own uneducated opinions.
#12 Brown at #5 Harvard
Despite playing two quality periods against us on Saturday night, Brown still turned in a dismal 3-21-5 season. According to a banner at their rink, Brown's program has been around since 1898, and doesn't seem to be going anywhere fast. Harvard looked terrible earlier in the season and went two months without winning a game. They didn't win any games on the road. Still, Harvard always seems to salvage terrible seasons by picking it up at the end and stampeding into Albany. They've played well down the stretch and closed the regular season with a win against Princeton. Brown and Harvard tied in their two meetings so far, but I don't see this as a tough series for the Crimson. Harvard in 2.
#11 RPI at #6 Dartmouth
RPI turned in another good season for a bottom of the barrel ECAC team, finishing 7-25-2. They looked pretty awful in both games against Cornell, while Dartmouth put in a strong performance in Hanover and won on a devastating overtime deflection goal. Still, Dartmouth has been inconsistent this year. They beat Cornell and Princeton in the last couple of weekends, but lost to easier competition. They might be eager to look past RPI and drop a game. Dartmouth in 3.
#10 Colgate at #7 Quinnipiac
I like Colgate in this series. I've seen them play very well for some stretches this season, and that level of hockey is more than enough to beat Quinnipiac. In Florida, Colgate beat Maine on a last-second goal, and they were ahead by two goals against us in Ithaca. 'Gate also swept the season series against Quinnipiac and finished off the regular season with a surprising win over Yale last night. Quinnipiac will also be without its star first-half goalie (Nick Pisellini) and key forward (Brandon Wong). Still, the drunken Q safety-schoolers will make this a tough road series. Colgate in 3.
#9 Clarkson at #8 Union
Union has never won an ECAC playoff series, so history favors Clarkson. Last year, we had a lot of trouble with Union during the regular season before sweeping the playoff series in Schenectady. Clarkson had a very disappointing season given their expectations, but they played well during the 0-0 tie against us in Potsdam. (It's hard to believe they gave up 5 goals six different times this season.) Expect an ugly series, but I don't think this is the year Union breaks through. Clarkson in 3.
If my predictions hold true, that would give us the following quarterfinal matchups, after reseeeding:
#8 Colgate at #1 Yale
#7 Clarkson at #2 Cornell
#6 Dartmouth at #3 Princeton
#5 Harvard at #4 St. Lawrence
Regardless, it'll be nice for me to have a weekend to relax in Ithaca, and I'm sure the team can use the time to recover from injuries and prepare for the playoffs.
#12 Brown at #5 Harvard
Despite playing two quality periods against us on Saturday night, Brown still turned in a dismal 3-21-5 season. According to a banner at their rink, Brown's program has been around since 1898, and doesn't seem to be going anywhere fast. Harvard looked terrible earlier in the season and went two months without winning a game. They didn't win any games on the road. Still, Harvard always seems to salvage terrible seasons by picking it up at the end and stampeding into Albany. They've played well down the stretch and closed the regular season with a win against Princeton. Brown and Harvard tied in their two meetings so far, but I don't see this as a tough series for the Crimson. Harvard in 2.
#11 RPI at #6 Dartmouth
RPI turned in another good season for a bottom of the barrel ECAC team, finishing 7-25-2. They looked pretty awful in both games against Cornell, while Dartmouth put in a strong performance in Hanover and won on a devastating overtime deflection goal. Still, Dartmouth has been inconsistent this year. They beat Cornell and Princeton in the last couple of weekends, but lost to easier competition. They might be eager to look past RPI and drop a game. Dartmouth in 3.
#10 Colgate at #7 Quinnipiac
I like Colgate in this series. I've seen them play very well for some stretches this season, and that level of hockey is more than enough to beat Quinnipiac. In Florida, Colgate beat Maine on a last-second goal, and they were ahead by two goals against us in Ithaca. 'Gate also swept the season series against Quinnipiac and finished off the regular season with a surprising win over Yale last night. Quinnipiac will also be without its star first-half goalie (Nick Pisellini) and key forward (Brandon Wong). Still, the drunken Q safety-schoolers will make this a tough road series. Colgate in 3.
#9 Clarkson at #8 Union
Union has never won an ECAC playoff series, so history favors Clarkson. Last year, we had a lot of trouble with Union during the regular season before sweeping the playoff series in Schenectady. Clarkson had a very disappointing season given their expectations, but they played well during the 0-0 tie against us in Potsdam. (It's hard to believe they gave up 5 goals six different times this season.) Expect an ugly series, but I don't think this is the year Union breaks through. Clarkson in 3.
If my predictions hold true, that would give us the following quarterfinal matchups, after reseeeding:
#8 Colgate at #1 Yale
#7 Clarkson at #2 Cornell
#6 Dartmouth at #3 Princeton
#5 Harvard at #4 St. Lawrence
Regardless, it'll be nice for me to have a weekend to relax in Ithaca, and I'm sure the team can use the time to recover from injuries and prepare for the playoffs.
Third-period Comeback
Cornell 3, Brown 2, Final (OT)
Happy senior night, Brown.
2 14:38 Brn pp Vokes (Russell)Cornell has a week off and then hosts the second-lowest-seeded team remaining in the tournament. If the favorites win, we'll host Quinnipiac and have a chance to avenge the home playoff series we lost to them in 2007. It will be a best-of-three series, so you might have to stick around until the Monday of spring break.
3 03:43 Brn Garbatt (Wolff, Pietrus)
3 08:49 Cor P. Kennedy 4 (Jillson, M. Devin)
3 14:06 Cor pp Greening 12 (M. Kennedy)
4 02:13 Cor pp Gallagher 6 (M. Kennedy)
Happy senior night, Brown.
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