Happy New Year

Wherever you are, and whatever you're doing, I hope it's a fun one.

Thanks for reading one of the 412 blog posts I wrote this year.

Let's have a great 2010.

Stat of the Day

In four non-conference games this season, Cornell has scored one goal in the third period.

Schafer Concedes UNH Game

Quotes after last night's game:

"Obviously this weekend was lost before the weekend began," Cornell coach Mike Schafer said. "(It was lost) through exams and what guys did at home over Christmas break because we had no legs -- we were lethargic. We came out and played a solid first period but it seemed that was all that was left in the tank the rest of the night."

"All around it was a really frustrating weekend," Schafer said. "For us it has to be about starting all over now and beginning a whole new process for the second half of the season. We're right back to ground zero. It's like training camp is going to be starting here as soon as we get back to Ithaca and start to get back to the basics of a hockey team and start to build all over again."

"It's water under the bridge and it really is time to roll up our sleeves and get back to work over intersession here," Schafer said.

Notice that there's no mention of the UNH game three days from now. It seems like Schafer has focused his efforts on getting back to Ithaca next week and whipping the team back in shape. There aren't any quotes (at least published ones) about changing things around before Sunday. So has Schafer, after his team loses two non-conference games, given up hope of winning against New Hampshire?

In previous years, we as fans have often bemoaned Cornell's weak non-conference schedules. We might face a quality team in Florida, but otherwise the schedule was packed with schools like Niagara, Wayne State, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, and RIT - schools which often gave us good competition, but didn't help us much in the computer rankings or pairwise.

This year, things seemed to be much different. We were going to be good, and we had plenty of chances to prove that. But, one by one, the team has let each opportunity slip away.

Road game against Yale? Loss.
Home game against Quinnipiac? Loss.
MSG game against BU? Blew a lead and tied.
Road game against Union? Tied.
Florida game against Colorado College? Loss.

Now... road game against UNH? It doesn't seem like anyone thinks Cornell has much of a chance to win.

The only remaining non-conference games, after UNH, are the two games against North Dakota. Let's be optimistic and say that Cornell earns a split at home.

Then, our non-conference record will be 2-4-1. One of those wins is against Niagara (3-10-2).

With a non-conference record like that, Cornell has to do one of two things. The clearest option is to win the ECAC tournament and secure an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. To do that, however, Cornell will probably need to beat at least two of four good teams (Yale, Quinnipiac, Union, Princeton). A tough, but not insurmountable task given the talent on this team.

The alternative is to win enough remaining ECAC regular season and tournament games to get to the top 11 or 12 in the pairwise, and secure an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. But this is a very difficult task, considering that Cornell is currently 23rd in the pairwise and doesn't win any comparisons against teams with winning records.

Neither option looks particularly likely at this point. The season which could have been 2003 is looking instead like a total dud. By striking out at every big opportunity, Cornell doesn't deserve to make the NCAA tournament. Unless things turn around, they won't.

A Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, Cornell joined Maine, Princeton, and Colorado College on a journey to a tropical land. This land was called Estero, and it lay within the kingdom of Florida.

Each school knew that it had a chance to win something in this magical land. Colorado College was considered to be the third-best in the country at winning things, and Cornell was fourth-best. Maine had been winning more treasure recently, and Princeton had not won nearly as much as they were expected to win.

Maine left Florida very happy. They received the tournament crown, which includes a tie (officially) against Princeton and a solid win against mighty Colorado College. Maine has now won treasure in each of its last eight expeditions.

Princeton also left Florida very happy. They secured a tie against a good Hockey East team (Maine), even though unsteady captain Zane Kalemba surrendered six goals. Then, they topped fellow Ivy kingdom Cornell University, a team which had beaten them 5-2 just one month earlier.

Colorado College left Florida somewhat happy. They vindicated their lofty ranking by bringing home a convincing victory against Cornell. They played a mostly good game against Maine, and had a 2-1 lead late in the game. Sadly, they lost, but they still brought home some treasure.

The only school which returned from Florida empty-handed was Ol' Cornell. Cornell did not look like it was interested in winning any treasure during its first game against Colorado College. In fact, Cornell may have forgotten where the treasure was located. It took forty-five minutes of hockey before Cornell reached ten shots on goal.

Fate presented Cornell with another opportunity for treasure. True, the rewards for beating Princeton were not as valuable as those for beating Colorado College or Maine, but it would have been better than nothing! Cornell looked like they might get some treasure, as they took a 2-1 lead early in the third period. But two-faced Keir Ross, who seemed so interested in winning when he scored that second goal, quickly sabotaged his team by going to the penalty box. Cornell's accursed penalty-killing unit surrendered a tying goal, and the winning goal was not far behind.

Thus, Cornell was the only team to make the long journey northward without any treasure in hand. Cornell heads next to the frozen winter kingdom of New Hampshire, where the prospects for winning treasure appear to be bleak.

Quote of the Day

Yesterday's Washington Post:

An alleged attempt to blow up a transatlantic flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas would be all-consuming for the administrator of the Transportation Security Administration -- if there were one.

Instead, the post remains vacant because Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) has held up President Obama's nominee in an effort to prevent TSA workers from joining a labor union.

Quick Thoughts on Tonight's Debacle

Colorado College 4, Cornell 2.

Cornell squanders yet another opportunity to convince the country that it's going anywhere this season. Cornell falls to 2-3-2 against teams with a winning record, and the two wins are against essentially .500 teams Colgate and Rensselaer.

Watching the earlier semifinal, it was quite obvious that the refs down here were calling a lot of stuff which doesn't get called in the ECAC. I assumed that the Cornell coaches would have caught on to this as well, since they were observing the game from the section next to me. Not the case apparently. Cornell goes to the box ELEVEN times tonight, including in the first minute of each of the first, second, and third periods. Senior defenseman Brendon Nash leads the way with a penalty 44 seconds into the game. First round NHL draft pick Riley Nash has two minors, including one at the end of the game with the goalie pulled. Cornell surrenders goals on a 5x3, 5x4, and 4x4. What do all three situations have in common? There were Cornell players in the penalty box!!!

No offense tonight, until a five minute stretch in the third period. Cornell was outshot 26-8 through the first two periods. That's eight shots on goal, as in one shot every 5 minutes for the first two periods. Abysmal.

Cornell had some great pressure in the third when it was 3-2 Colorado College, but CC played a very disciplined game and didn't go to the box during that stretch. Cornell lets up a bit, and then it's 4-2 and the game is basically over.

Princeton "lost" a sloppy first game. Tied 6-6, and lost in the shootout. Kalemba let in six goals. Six. Then three more in the shootout. That's your preseason all-American. Exciting fact: Princeton scored three times during a five minute major. Won't see that again.

Tomorrow's consolation game is an EZAC special. Underperforming Princeton against has-not-proven-anything Cornell. It means nothing.

Great vacation.

Florida College Hockey Classic Preview

This will be my eighth, and probably last, year attending the Florida College Hockey Classic in Estero, Fla. Cornell plays Colorado College tomorrow at 7:35 pm. Maine and Princeton play in the earlier semifinal. The two winners and two losers will play on Wednesday in the consolation and championship games.

Cornell's performance in the Florida tournament is generally not a good indicator of how the season will turn out. For example, Cornell finished in last place in 2002 (albeit without Leneveu) and went on to make the Frozen Four that season. In 2006, Cornell won a big game against then-No. 2 New Hampshire, but lost in the ECAC Quarterfinal round in the spring.

Plus, the tournament's atmosphere is a little quirky. Teams usually show signs of rust after not playing for a few weeks. The Florida referees (usually from the ECHL) are not the best; I can remember one time they called icing on a team trying to kill off a powerplay. The crowd is quiet and you can hear the players and coaches yelling at each other on the ice. Plus, other weird stuff happens. Cornell scored a goal when Maine's Ben Bishop went towards the corner to play a cleared puck. The crappy Florida boards inexplicably diverted the puck into the open net as Bishop watched in horror. There was also that time the entire UMass-Lowell team got seasick when they went fishing the day before the tournament. Lastly, it's just unnatural to walk into a hockey game wearing shorts and a t-shirt.

Cornell has a great opportunity to make their first statement of the season. They failed against Yale, they failed against Quinnipiac, and they failed against Boston University. Based on the program's reputation, and a generous slate of terrible teams on the schedule, Cornell finds itself with a No. 4 ranking in the polls without having won any games of consequence.

Colorado College would be one of the big stories of the season if not for Quinnipiac's even more remarkable achievements. No one expected them to be anywhere close to their current No. 3 ranking in the polls. They're anchored by a freshman goalie with a .926 save percentage, and, like a typical WCHA team, they have plenty of offense. Still, they've struggled a bit recently. At 1-2-2 in their last five games, they're looking to get their season back on track.

In the other semifinal, a hot Maine team (unbeaten in their last six games) will take on a Princeton team which is coming off a big win against then-No. 9 UMass-Lowell. Princeton is the only team in the field with a losing record, and they looked pretty ordinary against Cornell, but if Kalemba and some other players come alive, they have a shot to win the tournament.

Cornell's worst case scenario would be to lose to CC and Princeton this week. The game against Princeton is essentially meaningless, since it doesn't count towards ECAC standings and it doesn't look like Princeton will be making the NCAA Tournament.

The goal has to be to beat Colorado College. This would be a major "statement" win against a very good western team, and it'll certainly play dividends with RPI, Pairwise, and all those important things. A win against Maine would also be nice, since that'll help our comparisons with Hockey East teams. But at 9-7-1, Maine isn't a blockbuster team this season.

It'll be interesting to see if Cornell can get any offense this week from players not on the top line. Riley Nash had a big goal against Union; let's see if he can follow that up. Schafer has shown some signs of frustration with the third and fourth lines; will he give someone like Chris Moulson a chance to play to mix things up? Ben Scrivens has been solid recently and I would expect that to continue in Florida. He was the tournament MVP last year.

The games aren't televised, but can be streamed online for a few dollars here.

Go red.

Update: Here is the Colorado Springs Gazette's scouting report on Cornell. And here is some insight from the College Hockey Blog:

Colorado College is the favorite to win the tournament methinks, and they have the goalie who should be on the World Junior team. The Tigers are pretty consistent, ranked 9th in both offense and defense. They are pretty balanced on offense, and feature perhaps the most “selfish” player in America in Mike Testuwide, who has 12 goals and just 2 assists.

Murray Makes Olympic Team

And congratulations to Douglas Murray '03 for making the Swedish Olympic Team.

(eLynah.com)

Johnston Named to Olympic Team

Cornell hockey player Rebecca Johnston, who is taking this year off from Cornell to train, has been named to Team Canada's roster for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Johnston, who wears the number 6 for Team Canada, is the second player with Cornell ties to represent Canada in the women's hockey competition at the Winter Olympics, as Dana Antal was a member of the 2002 gold medal-winning team at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Congratulations to Rebecca on this achievement. And continued congratulations to the Cornell women's hockey team, which is ranked No. 8 in the NCAA despite playing the season without Johnston.

Adam Frey Passes Away

At the end of his sophomore wrestling season, in the spring of 2008, Adam Frey was in a serious car accident. Relief at his being okay quickly turned into shock as tests revealed that he had cancer. For almost two years afterwards, Frey fought valiantly against his disease. He blogged regularly, stayed involved in wrestling, started a charitable foundation, and maintained a positive attitude throughout everything. He passed away this afternoon.

Here is the announcement on the Cornell website, and here is the post from his blog.

Frey is the sixth Cornell student to pass away this fall.

Ken Dryden Would Hate Cornell Hockey

Ken Dryden's book, The Game, is interesting on so many levels. The discussion of NHL locker room and bus life; Dryden's professed dominance of Harvard, BU, the Bruins, all things Boston; his annoyance at reporters' questions about differences between him and the rest of the team; competition with other goalies on the team; contracts, salaries, and trades; the rivalry with the Soviets; etc.

Enough time has passed so that we can also view The Game as aN historical text; when Dryden writes about teammates passing out newspapers to read on the team bus, it's clear that he is writing about a different era. Dryden hardly mentions his family, which is quite different from any sort of memoir today. Above all, Dryden's teammates on the Canadiens seemed to be much closer to each other than we imagine to be true of current athletes.

The last chapter of Dryden's book came as a bit of a surprise to me. He stops discussing his life as a hockey player and switches to a historiographical essay about the history of hockey. Dryden seems downright depressed at the types of changes which were made to the game of hockey during the middle of the twentieth century. He doesn't like the rule changes, and he doesn't like the expansion of the NHL.

Most significantly, Dryden rails against the very attributes that define Schafer-era Cornell hockey. Dryden laments that the legalization of the forward pass has persuaded teams to abandon passing into the offensive zone, and instead engage in dump-and-chase. He complains that the introduction of hockey to American cities and media markets has forced the game in a more physical, violent direction. Unlike high-brow Canadian audiences, who appreciated the game's skillful passing and grace, Americans want to see more hitting and fighting. Dryden seems nostalgic for the time when players played 2-3 minute shifts.

Sound familiar? Let's see here... Cornell teams love to dump and chase, to battle for the puck in corners. They've earned a reputation for playing a slow, physical game which wears down opponents. And, during key situations, Schafer maniacally changes his lines to gain what he thinks will be an advantage. Not exactly what Dryden would love.

(Ned Dykes)

Of course, this book was written in the late 1970s, so it's quite possible that Dryden's opinions about hockey have changed. Cornell hockey has certainly changed from that time. But it was comical to read Dryden's thoughts on these types of plays which have come to define Cornell hockey.

Dryden's book is a fascinating read, especially for a Cornell hockey fan. Certainly recommended.

Christmas Links

Hope you are enjoying the holiday.

Here are some links which may be of interest:

On David Brooks's recommendation, I enjoyed reading this humorous yet frustrating essay by Jonathan Rauch, titled "If Air Travel Worked Like Health Care."

I'll write my own preview over the next couple of days, but here is a look at the upcoming Florida College Classic hockey tournament.

Cornell senior wrestler, Binghamton area native, and undefeated NCAA champion Troy Nickerson was chosen as the Press & Sun Bulletin's athlete of the year for the fourth time.

Poker champ Brian Hastings '10 has donated at least $250 of his winnings to the 2010 Senior Class Campaign.

As a Christmas gift to fans everywhere, Jim Knowles '87 has resigned as Cornell football coach. You know you're doing a great job when you leave a head coaching job after six years to become an assistant somewhere else.

The Cornell basketball team is off to a great start and has a chance to win a first-round NCAA game, provided it can beat Harvard for the Ivy title.

Edit: One more. The Jerusalem Post hired Glenn Altschuler to write a review of Sarah Palin's book. Weird.

A(n) Historic Moment

There have been a few times in which I've found myself in the middle of the debate between people who think "historic" should be preceded by "a" and those who think it should be "an." My understanding is that either way is correct, so I haven't really cared about these discussions.

Regardless, the Obama administration may have passed judgment on the issue in the form of a mass email today, entitled "A Historic Moment."







For what it's worth, the New York Times seems to favor "an," and even gossip blogger Perez Hilton likes the "an."

My guess is that someone in the Team Obama email writing department thought "an" might seem too elitist, so they went for "a."

Me? I don't really care.

Poker Hero Hastings Runs Into Trouble

Two weeks ago, Cornell senior Brian Hastings won $4.2 million playing online poker. After an initial celebration of his record achievement, the poker community appears to have soured on him.

The trouble began with an ESPN.com article about Hastings in which he revealed that he had studied his opponents' previous games to anticipate how he would play.

“We’ve done quite a bit of studying of his habits,” Hastings said. “Honestly, I give most of the credit to Brian Townsend here. I mean, Brian is honestly the hardest worker I know in poker. He analyzed a database of heads-up hands that Isildur1 had played and constructed ranges of what Isildur1 was doing in certain spots.

“In a way, I feel bad that it wasn’t Brian who got this win instead of me. Obviously I’m happy and I’ll take it, but Brian did a ton of work. The three of us discussed a ton of hands and the reports that Brian made, so I’m very thankful to him and to Cole (South) as well.”

Their actions were not illegal; the hands they analyzed were played against Hastings' friends, so they had access to the proper data.

However, some in the poker community aren't too happy to hear about this:

Whether Hastings put his strategy out there publicly in a "look-how-smart-we-are" display of poker nerd hubris, or whether it was a simple case of verbal vomit, this was his fatal mistake. Neither he nor Townsend would be worrying about the consequences they're now facing, the least of which is having their Full Tilt "red pro" status suspended for a month. This budding scandal taints CardRunners, the poker training site they have spent so much time and effort building, not to mention their own metagame against Isildur1 should he ever re-appear on Full Tilt. However, based on the thoughts Isildur1 shared yesterday with our own Matthew Parvis, that possibility now seems extremely unlikely.

The article compares Hastings' actions to those of the MIT students who manipulated the game of blackjack at some Vegas casinos.

To be honest, I don't know enough about online poker to fully understand what all the fuss is about. But I'm certainly not feeling sorry for Hastings and his $4.2 million.

The New Notable Cornellians

Who are the most famous alumni of our fair university? There's the traditional roster -- White and Vonnegut on the literary side, Reno and Wolfowitz in politics, the Coors family, and many, many others.

But these lists tend not to reflect the people who are currently making headlines.

Here are the 15 New Notable Cornellians, in alphabetical order. I am leaving out plenty of qualified people, so feel free to let me hear about it in the comments.

Bruce Arena '71

One of four sports figures to make the list, Arena coached the U.S. national soccer team from 1998-2006. Arena was named MLS Coach of the Year this season for his work with the Los Angeles Galaxy, and has been credited with smoothing over differences between star players David Beckham and Landon Donovan.

Gary Bettman '74

Bettman is in his sixteenth year as NHL commissioner. His tenure has featured plenty of controversy, as he has been unable to expeditiously resolve disputes between owners and players. The most recent one resulted in the cancellation of the 2004-05 season. Bettman also oversaw the expansion of the NHL to thirty teams.

Ann Coulter '84

The Cornell alum whom nobody in Day Hall wants to talk about. It seems like Coulter's voice is not as prominent as it once was, perhaps due to the popularity of Glenn Beck and the emergence of Sarah Palin as the preeminent conservative female figure. Still, events like her moronic dispute with Keith Olbermann over the values of their respective Cornell degrees manage to keep her name -- and Cornell's -- in the news.

Ken Dryden '69

I recently finished Dryden's book, and I hope to blog about it over the next couple of days. If Dryden had solely achieved fame through his hockey success, he would join the ranks of Joe Niewendyk and Janet Reno as Cornellians who are famous for what they've done in the past. But Dryden has spun his hockey fame into a relatively successful career as a Canadian MP, and his continued influence and fame lands him on this list.

Gabrielle Giffords M.R.P.'96

One of three Cornellians currently serving in Congress, this Rhodes Scholar (and Democrat) is popular in her home state of Arizona and is a good bet to be Senator one day. Her 2008 campaign website won some praise for photos like this. Oh, and she's married to an astronaut. Talk about a rising political star.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg '54

Concerns about her health mean that Ginsburg is likely to retire before President Obama leaves office, but for now, she may be the most powerful Cornell alum.

Brian Hastings '10

An unconventional choice, but the kid set an online poker record by winning over $4 million in one weekend. His luck may change in the future, but he's become a celebrity in the large, if somewhat reclusive, online poker community.

Matt Moulson '06

What a great story. Cut by his junior hockey team, he works his way to play hockey at Cornell. After a few short stints at the NHL level, he finally breaks through this year with the Islanders. Moulson is playing on the top line and shares the team lead for goals. Every serious hockey fan knows who Moulson is.

Bill Nye '77

It's been a decade since his TV show, but Nye remains extremely popular among my generation. He's Bill Nye the Science Guy!

Keith Olbermann '79

Olbermann's rise to become the face of MSNBC and one of the most prominent critics of the Bush administration mirrored the Democratic Party's return to power. Now if only he hadn't let Coulter drag him into that moronic debate about Cornell.

Michelle Rhee '92

Rhee joined Teach for America after Cornell, eventually went back to graduate school, and was a surprise choice of DC Mayor Adrian Fenty to become superintendent of schools. Rhee has managed to piss off nearly every constituent group, including parents, teachers, and city councilmen. She's closed schools, fired hundreds of teachers, and doesn't seem to care what others think. Her goal is to provide students with the best teachers, and she's prepared to pay high salaries (and fire as many people as it takes) to make it happen.

Michael Ross '81

The other Cornell alum nobody in Ithaca wants to talk about, serial killer Ross was executed by the state of Connecticut in 2005. His execution was the first in New England in 45 years, and helped spur the Connecticut legislature to abolish the death penalty earlier this year. (Our wonderful Governor Jodi Rell decided to veto the bill.) Ross's first murder was of a fellow Cornell student, as we in Connecticut are continually reminded.

Andrew Ross Sorkin '99

One of many Cornell alums doing good work for the New York Times (see Eric Lichtblau) Sorkin's stock rose tremendously this year. His book, Too Big To Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System–and Themselves, has become the definitive book on the "bailouts."

Sarah Spain '02

Someone you probably haven't heard of, but look for Spain to become the next big Cornellian in the media. She made some headlines back in 2007 for offering herself as a date for the Super Bowl, before Axe stepped in and gave her enough tickets so that she could choose a date. (She chose a young doctor from Chicago.) She's been getting more gigs as an on-camera sports reporter and seems to love being the center of attention.

Ratan Tata '62

He is chairman of the Tata Group, which is the biggest conglomerate in India. Tata purchased Jaguar and Land Rover back in 2008, and he gave a whopping $50 million to Cornell that same year.

Cornell Basketball Beats St. Johns

If you read this in the next few minutes, head over to ESPN to follow the game. If the Big Red can hold on, it would be the biggest win for the Cornell basketball program in quite some time.

Currently 55-50 with 7:57 left.

Edit: Now tied at 60 with 2:55 left. Cornell having trouble staying ahead.

Edit 2: Cornell wins! 71-66. Jon Jaques, an all-around good kid, leads Cornell with 20 points. Jaques shot 7-for-8 from the field and 5-6 on three pointers. Big win as Cornell improves to 9-2.

Milstein Hall Continues To Bore Twitter Readers

I'm wondering if budget cuts forced Cornell to get rid of walkie talkies, so Twitter has become the only means of communication between the construction crews and the project managers. Otherwise I really can't understand why the internet is polluted with this junk every day. Maybe every so often they could give an update about how many more hundreds of weeks we will have to wait before University Ave. is reopened.

Cornell Prof: Lying is a Social Lubricant

The next time you're updating your Facebook profile, feel free to throw in a few small lies. Add a major or a minor, add some cool-sounding activities, or something like that.

Today's Washington Post had an article about yet another Cornell research study about the internet. Comm Professor Jeffrey Hancock has found that it's quite common for internet users to lie about small biographic details:

The researchers found that while lies were widespread, they were generally very small -- fudging height by an inch or two, subtracting 10 pounds from the scale. Whopping deceptions about things like marital status were rare.

The study looked at dating sites, but the same basic ideas hold true for Facebook. The purpose of the information you share is to paint yourself in the best possible light. Hancock doesn't seem to think this is a problem:

"Some people call lying a social lubricant," Hancock explains. "Let's say you're short and a lot of women ignore you. You fudge a little on that and when you actually meet the person, you hope you're interesting enough that they'll overlook it."

There you have it.

Damn Yale, Always Topping Us

"Twin whizzes from Copiague accepted at same college"

Twins Marta and Monika Sulima, the two top graduates of Walter G. O'Connell High School in Copiague, sat at two separate computers logging in to see if they had been accepted early to Cornell University.

"Boola Boola, Boola Boola: Yale Says Yes, 4 Times"

The Crouches’ perfect batting average represents a first for Yale — the first time in anyone’s memory that it has offered admission to quadruplets.

Quill and Dagger Beer Pong Society?

Newsday:

[Matt] Moulson is in good company. Fellow Quill and Dagger members include Janet Reno, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Adolph Coors. Moulson and Coors in the same society?

Sounds like a party.

Cornell Hockey to Return to MSG Next Year

Cornell will play Northeastern at Madison Square Garden next Thanksgiving weekend.

This is according to a poster on eLynah whose wife received a card from the NU athletic department.

80,000 Cornell Library Books Available Online

Head over to the archive.org site to browse the selection. The books were all printed before 1923, so they are in the public domain. Books can be read online or downloaded as .pdf files.

Scrivens and Greening Make Midseason INCH Team

Gutsy move for INCH to leave Blake Gallagher off the team. Even though Greening dominates nearly every time he's on the ice, Gallagher is scoring at an incredible clip and has to be up there in consideration for the Hobey Baker.

INCH’s FIRST HALF ALL-ECAC HOCKEY TEAM

G-Ben Scrivens, Cornell: The league’s leader in goals-against average and save percentage will continue to be cursed by “it’s a product of the system” stereotyping, but his play has gradually improved all season.

D-Tom Dignard, Yale: The standout from the defending league champs missed the end of last season due to injury, but has been right back in the mix this year after missing the first couple games. He has 11 points in nine games.

D-Mike Schreiber, Union: The Dutchmen don’t get much offensive punch from the blue line, but they don’t need it. The senior has contributed four goals and eight assists in 16 games.

F-Brandon Wong, Quinnipiac: A dozen goals and a dozen assists for Wong leads the way for one of the nation’s most pleasantly surprising teams this year. Wong has four game-winning goals.

F-David McIntyre, Colgate: A premier player previously known for his goal-scoring proficiency has been more of a setup man this year, with a league-leading 14 assists.

F-Colin Greening, Cornell: He is second on the Big Red in scoring with 16 points and sets the physical and emotional tone for Cornell.

So That's Why I'm Miserable!

LiveScience released the results of a study which measured objective levels of happiness across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Here's the bottom:

47. Indiana
48. Michigan
49. New Jersey
50. Connecticut
51. New York

Yep, my home state is No. 50 and I attend college in No. 51.

Interestingly, Louisiana is No. 1, but the authors of the study are careful to note that the data was collected prior to Hurricane Katrina.

Cornellians Everywhere

Cornell sophomore and Student Assembly representative Matt Danzer has been named one of Political Wire's five interns for the spring semester. Danzer will be joined by four other male Ivy Leaguers. Who needs diversity?

Where is Chris Moulson?

From the NYT article about Islanders rookie John Tavares playing against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden:

Wednesday’s game was not the first time Tavares had set foot in the Garden. That happened on Nov. 28, when he and his Islanders teammate Matt Moulson watched Moulson’s brother play for Cornell against Boston University. No one recognized him at that game, he said.

Hopefully Tavares and elder Moulson weren't too disappointed. Chris Moulson did not suit up for that game, and he hasn't played since the first exhibition game of the season.

It seems like most media references to Matt Moulson's Cornell days include a mention of the fact that his younger brother is currently "playing" at Cornell, although Chris has not played at all this season. Chris looked pretty good on the ice during the Red-White scrimmage and the Windsor exhibition, so it's a little surprising that Schafer hasn't worked him into the lineup at all since then.

Two Opinions of Riley Nash at Cornell

One:

Riley Nash is the top ranked college player on my list and looks like he's developing well. There is some hesitation to make any sweeping statements about improved development this season because his NCAA year is only 9 games old. However, the early returns are very strong and he's been very consistent during his career at Cornell.

Two:

Still, Riley Nash strikes me as an idiot of the first degree. Woo Hoo, going to an Ivy League college, to reprise Ryan O'Neil's role from Love Story, or whatever the fuck else he's there for.

What's Nash done? He's fucking regressed, that's what. Okay, enjoy your education, and forget the pros. You're not going to make it sucker. That kid riding the Saskatchewan bus wants it more than you do, is working harder, is probably younger, and by the time you're facing off against him in training camp, will have forgotten more about what it takes to succeed as a hockey player than you're likely to ever know.

If you lean more towards Opinion No. 1, you can head over to eBay to purchase your Riley Nash autographed puck, or Riley Nash autographed picture.

Stupid Comment Of The Day

Today's stupid comment comes from Zach Kwartler, a senior writer for the Daily Princetonian:

Traditionally, ECAC Hockey is one of the toughest leagues in the country. In a conference where cakewalks are not so much hard to come by as unheard of, last year’s league tournament typified the close competition that the teams in the conference see week in and week out.

If there existed an Onion for Ivy League sports, I would expect to see something like this.

I think the comment on the Princetonian site makes some valid points:

The first paragraph of your article highlights your utter lack of knowledge of college hockey. Since when, praytell, in the last 20 years, has ECAC hockey been "one of the toughest leagues in the country"? With a whopping 0 NCAA championships since 1989, and then another 19 year break since 1970, I hardly consider the ECAC to be one of the toughest leagues in the country "traditionally." While the ECAC has seen recent comebacks over the past couple years, let's be realistic here; fans around America do not call it the "EZ-AC" for nothing.

Plus, it's not like the 2009 ECAC tournament was upset central. There were two upsets in the first round (out of four series). Then, there were zero upsets in the quarterfinals, as Nos. 1-4 (Yale, Cornell, Princeton, St. Lawrence) all made the final weekend in Albany. Nos. 1 and 2 met in the championship game, and Nos. 3 and 4 met in the consolation game. Pretty predictable. I wouldn't celebrate as evidence of national parity events like last year's pathetic Brown team beating slightly-less-pathetic Harvard in a playoff series.

Until an ECAC team (besides Cornell) starts winning in the NCAA tournament, or Cornell makes the Frozen Four this year, I don't think the ECAC can claim to be a top conference. The WCHA, Hockey East, and CCHA all feature tougher competition on a nightly basis, and the ECAC still has too many bottom-feeders.

Thanks MA

Cornell Hockey Games of the Decade

The College Hockey Blog named Cornell's triple-overtime loss to Wisconsin in the 2006 NCAA tournament the tenth-best college hockey game of the decade. In my own biased opinion, I think it should be higher. Cornell goalie Dave McKee turned in the best single-game performance I have ever seen from a goalie, stopping the first 59 shots he faced. The game was exciting not because it was high scoring, but because it was low-scoring! Who says posts and crossbars can't be exciting?

Regardless, here's my list of the top ten Cornell hockey games of the decade.

10. (03/23/02): Cornell 6, Quinnipiac 1, NCAA Regional Semifinal
Certainly not an exciting game, but a significant game nonetheless. This was Cornell's first trip to the NCAA tournament in five years, and the convincing victory over Quinnipiac proved that Cornell hockey had returned to the top tier of the NCAA. Cornell rebounded from a 4-3, 2OT loss to Harvard the week before in the ECAC final, and went on to give UNH everything it could handle in a 4-3 loss the next night.

9. (12/29/06): Cornell 5, New Hampshire 2, Florida College Classic Semifinal
Again, not a nail-biter, but a solid victory over a UNH squad which was ranked No. 2 in the nation at the time. This struck back against UNH after the NCAA losses in 2002 and 2003. However, the problem for Cornell in 2006-07 was consistency, and the Big Red lost the following night.

8. (11/10/06): Cornell 3, Harvard 2, ECAC Regular Season Game
Arguably the most exciting home hockey game during my time at Cornell. Cornell trailed 2-1 when Doug Krantz scored with 4:10 remaining in the third period. A breakaway goal by Mike Kennedy with less than two minutes left capped the comeback effort. Cornell improved to 5-0-0 on the season with this victory.



7. (03/11/06): Cornell 3, Clarkson 2, 2OT, ECAC Quarterfinal Game 2
Clarkson had a mediocre season, Cornell was ranked in the top 10 nationally. But the Golden Knights did not make things easy for the Big Red, taking both games of the series to double overtime. Cornell seemed to dominate in the two games, outshooting Clarkson 54-30 and 59-25. But the Big Red couldn't advance to Albany until Matt Moulson scored mid-way through the second overtime.

6. (03/28/09): Cornell 3, Northeastern 2, NCAA Regional Semifinal
Trailing 2-0 late in the 2nd period, Cornell comes all the way back. Colin Greening scores at 16:04 in the third to tie, and Evan Barlow gets the winning goal with 18 seconds remaining in the game.



5. (03/26/05): Cornell 3, Ohio State 2, NCAA Regional Semifinal
A similar comeback victory. Mike Iggulden scores a highlight-reel goal to put Cornell ahead for good. The Big Red had trailed 2-0 late in the second period.



4. (03/20/09): Cornell 4, Princeton 3, 2OT, ECAC Semifinal
With Cornell's NCAA hopes on the line, Evan Barlow and Riley Nash score in the last four minutes of the third period to tie the game, 3-3. Colin Greening scores mid-way through the second overtime to send Cornell back to the ECAC championship game for the first time since 2006.



3. (03/26/06): Wisconsin 1, Cornell 0, 3OT, NCAA Regional Final
See above. What a night for Dave McKee. Those were the good ol' days for him. Hey, maybe Cornell could have won the NCAA that season if they had been able to play every NCAA tournament game in upstate New York. Regardless of the bullshit home ice advantage which Wisconsin enjoyed, this game proved that the Big Red could compete with anyone in the country.



2. (03/22/03): Cornell 3, Harvard 2, OT, ECAC Championship Game
I'm including the tying goal because it was really the turning point in this game. Mark McRae scores with 33 seconds remaining in the third period. The win avenged Cornell's double-overtime loss to Harvard in the title game the previous year. This is an exciting sequence, as Harvard barely misses the empty-net goal.



Ah, screw it. Here's the game winner, courtesy of Sam Paolini:



1. (03/30/03): Cornell 2, Boston College 1, 2OT, NCAA Regional Final

Cornell's only Frozen Four appearance of the decade did not come easily. Dave Leneveu stopped 25 shots and Matt McRae, the other brother, scores to earn Cornell its first trip to the Frozen Four since 1980. Hopefully we won't wait another 23 years to return.



Honorable mention: Cornell 3, Colorado College 2, 2005 NCAA Regional Semifinal

What Recruiting Says About Schafer's Plans

I don't follow the recruiting scene as closely as others do, but it seems clear that Cornell has been doing quite well recently. I wrote earlier about Philippe Hudon, and it was reported over the weekend that Swedish player Joakim Ryan has committed to the Big Red.

Of course, top recruits do not necessarily lead to success. Just look at Harvard these past two years.

But perhaps the trend towards landing bigger recruits in Ithaca says something about the future of the Cornell hockey program.

One of the big, if unspoken, questions surrounding the Cornell hockey program is how much longer Mike Schafer will stay at Cornell. He's already won more games than any other coach in school history (having passed Dick Bertrand last year). I speculated in July that Schafer received a generous contract extension back in 2005 which persuaded him to stay at Cornell.

Cornell hired alum Casey Jones as an associate head coach before the start of last season. Jones had held the same job at Ohio State for over a decade, so this wasn't exactly a move upward. The Jones hiring led some fans to assume that Schafer would be leaving in the next two years, since Jones is a logical and qualified replacement.

So, what does the trend towards bringing in better recruits tell us about Schafer's intentions?

On the one hand, it may mean that he's serious about staying. He may have hired Casey Jones to bring in the top players needed to make a run at the NCAA championship. Schafer has a family and a pretty good gig at Cornell. Maybe the newly rekindled Cornell-BU rivalry has piqued Schafer's respect for Jack Parker, and he envisions a similar, incredibly long career for himself at Cornell. Jones will stay for a couple of years before moving on to a head coaching job somewhere else. Besides, it's not like Schafer will be offered an NHL head coaching job. He'd be getting a minor league coaching job, or maybe even an assistant's job somewhere in the NHL. Either way, he wouldn't have the high level of control he currently holds over the Cornell program.

The more logical explanation, at least to me, is that Schafer is leaving. If he wants to leave, it would make sense to do so at the end of this season. This is the most talented Cornell team since 2003, and with Scrivens, Greening, Gallagher, (likely) Riley Nash, etc., all leaving at the end of the year, it's not clear when Schafer can expect a similarly strong team. If he brings Cornell back to the Frozen Four and competes for the national title, that's a high note on which to end his career. If he makes the NCAA tournament but yet again fails to reach the Frozen Four, it might just be time for Schafer to move on.

Jones may have been brought back with the understanding that he would work as associate head coach for a couple of years, and then he would take over a team which is full of players he had personally recruited. Schafer is not old, but he's been getting injured a lot recently. (Rumor is that his red cast at RPI/Union was from his punching a wall post-BU game.) A job with an NHL team might not require him to spend so much time on skates. Schafer's defensive and goaltending success at Cornell give him the credentials to help an NHL team on that end of the ice.

Of course, this is just my own thinking. In any case, I can't see both Jones and Schafer staying together at Cornell for too many years. Either Schafer leaves and Jones takes over, or Jones becomes head coach somewhere else.

The big question of this past summer was whether Riley Nash and Colin Greening would stay for another year. The big question of this coming summer may be whether Mike Schafer stays for another year.

ECACHL Commish Loves Lynah Rink

From a wide-ranging (like, recipe-sharing) interview in the Albany Times-Union with ECAC Hockey League commissioner Steve Hagwell:

Q: Favorite rink in the league?

A: Can I answer that question? Hmmm. Not to put any others in a negative light but Lynah Rink (Cornell) is electric. There are some special barns in our league. They all have something.

The main purpose of the interview was to find out more details about the ECAC's decision to relocate the championship weekend from Albany to Atlantic City beginning in 2011. See my earlier post on this topic here.

I don't know too much about Hagwell (other than his great email address: shagwell@ecachockey.com), but he comes across as a pretty reasonable guy. He has nothing against Albany and the Times-Union Center, but admits that they haven't been selling enough tickets. He speaks honestly about the fact that attendance has been hurt by local team RPI's failure to make it to Albany in any of the seven years the tournament has been held there. He also gives a nod to Cornell's fan base for boosting ticket sales.

One interesting point that Hagwell raises is the possible effect of the Albany NCAA Regional on attendance for the ECAC tournament. He implies that casual fans who are unaffiliated with any team might decide to buy tickets for the NCAA tournament, and not the ECAC tournament, during years the regional is held in Albany. Presumably, the lack of a NCAA regional near Atlantic City will eliminate this effect on ticket sales.

I hate to use this terrible quip, but it really applies here: moving to Atlantic City is a huge gamble for the ECAC. As far as I can tell, there is only one legitimate reason why ticket sales might go up: Atlantic City is closer than Albany to NYC (if only slightly). Hagwell seems to be throwing himself at a poorly defined, yet certainly large, group of ECAC alumni who live in the NYC area. He probably hopes a lot of the 12,000 Cornell fans who went to MSG for the BU game will be willing to go to Atlantic City for the ECAC tournament. And he's really hoping that this attendance boost will make up for the number of people from Canton, Potsdam, and even Ithaca who will refuse to make the longer drive. The ECAC had better sell a lot more tickets in Atlantic City to justify moving the tournament from a relatively central location to a seedy gambling town 8 hours away from two of its schools.

Most troubling was Hagwell's answer as to why hosting the ECAC tournament in Albany has not worked out:

Q: Why hasn't it worked here?

A: In all honesty, I don't know. We have adjusted our ticket prices. I don't have an answer. I am frustrated in myself in not being able to figure out the answer.

He doesn't know why Albany hasn't worked, but maybe Atlantic City will work... Not exactly a vote of confidence.

Regardless, we'll have to wait until next year to see what the attendance figures will be. Of course, a Cornell-Yale-Princeton-Harvard weekend in Atlantic City would deliver a flood of cash for the ECAC, while a Clarkson-St. Lawrence-Brown-Dartmouth weekend would deliver dismal numbers. Who knows what the future will bring.

Cornell Professor Sues Wesleyan Over Photo

If you've missed this story so far, here's some background:

When the [Wesleyan University] Office of Public Safety sent an e-mail last May to students, faculty, and parents regarding Stephen Morgan, the alleged killer of Johanna Justin-Jinich ’10, they attached two photos. One of the photos, which was obtained from a driver’s license database, was quickly found to be a different Stephen Morgan. While many follow-up e-mails were sent to the University community with updates on the case, no mention was made of the incorrect photo, which also appeared on the University website.

Now, Dr. Stephen L. Morgan, the Cornell professor whose photograph appeared in news sources across the country as a wanted killer, is suing the University, claiming three counts of knowing falsehood, recklessness, and negligence.

Certainly, this was a terrible situation. It was a time of panic and tragedy at Wesleyan, and in that university's haste to provide information to an impatient press, someone did not perform due diligence in making sure that they had the right photograph.

Professor Morgan's decision to sue strikes me as the wrong decision. It should be obvious to everyone who has personal or professional associations with Morgan that he is not the one who committed the Wesleyan murder. People would have only been confused if they recognized his face on the news, which further limits the pool of affected people.

The lawsuit seems to center around the Wesleyan legal counsel's refusal to submit a public apology:

The post went on to explain that David Winakor, the University’s general legal counsel, provided an insufficient explanation for the incident, and refused to provide a public apology, claiming the University “did nothing wrong.” It was at this point, according to the post, that Morgan chose to file his lawsuit.

So, why doesn't Wesleyan release some sort of official apology to Professor Morgan, and then everyone can continue with their lives? This seems to be the type of issue which does not need to be resolved in court.

Update: Professor Morgan emails to draw our attention to this post, which has some discussion of the merits of the case. A key point seems to be that the Connecticut State Police failed to give Wesleyan permission to publicize the picture of Morgan; it was intended for internal use only.

Cornell Greeks Host Amnesty Day

On Tuesday, the Greek community hosted an amnesty day for "fraternities, sororities, and other organizations/societies" to return any items they may have stolen from other groups. In plain language, this was a day for fraternities to return stolen items which belong to other houses.

Tuesday Dec 8th from 11am-6pm
Anabel Taylor Hall One World Room
For Fraternities, Sororities, other Organizations/Societies

- A chapter can do any of the following: Return "Lost" (Stolen) goods, Report goods "lost"

- You do not have to identify yourself if returning a good but if you know what house it belongs to, please write that on a post it on the item if it is not obviously written on the item already. You cannot get in trouble for returning something.

- If something comes back for a chapter, the president will be notified and it should be picked up ASAP (we don't want to have left overs sitting in WSH).

For all of the positives associated with the Cornell Greek system, there are plenty of negatives. Theft is one of them. I would guess that every fraternity has some items which were "borrowed" from another fraternity. Many of them were probably acquired before any of the current brothers arrived at Cornell. But it certainly continues today. During my year as fraternity president, one of the most common announcements at IFC meetings was "Chapter X lost their sign over the weekend. They just want it returned, no questions asked." We can chalk up most of these thefts to the combination of alcohol and a desire to prove one's own house's superiority.

I doubt that the amnesty day was successful. There really isn't much of a reason to let go of stolen items, unless you are concerned about being prosecuted. In that case, chapters are probably more likely to throw the items in a dumpster somewhere than actually return them to their rightful owners.

Even so, I was pleased to hear that this amnesty day occurred. It is the latest example of a significant, positive shift in the attitude of our Greek leaders. We no longer pretend that bad things never occur, or that rules are never broken. We call things for what they are and address issues head-on.

For example, for years the standard Cornell fraternity party was registered as a "non-catered invite." This was supposed to be a classification reserved for closed parties (with guest lists), which were the only types of parties which did not require the fraternity to hire an outside catering service. However, it became standard practice for fraternities to register their big, open parties as "non-catered invites" and to create a dummy guest list which was posted at the door. Everyone -- IFC, police, Dean of Students -- knew what was going on, but no one did anything about it. Recently, the IFC has moved to change the titles of the various types of social events, and to stop pretending that the standard fraternity party was a closed event.

Similarly, on the sorority side, Panhellenic has finally come to admit that recruitment does occur during the fall semester. There was a rule that sorority women were not allowed to discuss rush with freshmen until a certain date; it was obviously a little delusional to expect this rule to be followed. So, Panhellenic set up some sorority recruitment fairs this fall, and even has virtual house tours available to interested prospective members. Everyone knows that rush is going on in the fall, so why pretend that it isn't?

It is only by addressing these sorts of issues head-on, and not lying to ourselves about what really happens, that the Greek community will be able to solve its major problems and remain solvent in this time of national anti-Greek sentiment.

Cornell Senior Wins $4.2 M Playing Poker

I can't believe this hasn't been picked up anywhere. Last weekend, Cornell student Brian Hastings '10 pocketed over $4 million by playing online poker.

This was the largest single-day profit in online poker history.

So Brian Hastings, a senior at Cornell University, is trying to study for finals right now. I understand he’s having a hard time concentrating. Why? Word is he had a decent session at the online tables night before last.

How decent? Try about $4.2 million up. Sometimes taking a study break can be most beneficial.

The former fifth-floor Donlon resident also wrote a blog post about the amazing day. From what I can tell, he won the money by playing one-on-one against some other poker hotshot.

Supposedly he hosted a big party in Collegetown last night. Sources also report that Hastings has been winning big at poker for a few years, although nothing so big as last weekend's $4.18 million.

Great Alcohol Use Article in Daily Iowan

Not Cornell news, but this is an example of great college journalism. I recommend reading the whole article.

A Daily Iowan investigation involving a study of alcohol statistics, student behavior, nearly a dozen hours riding along with ambulances, and more than 20 interviews found that UI students are getting substantially more intoxicated than in recent years, commonly imbibing dangerously high and sometimes lethal levels.

There are some definite similarities between alcohol usage at Iowa and Cornell. Iowa students go to bars, while Cornellians go to fraternity parties, but the outcome is the same: each weekend night, hundreds of students who are not of legal age are given alcohol and get drunk. I'm sure Iowa City bar owners know that some of their patrons are underage, and Cornell fraternities rely on freshmen to boost party attendance.

During my freshman year in Donlon, we were yelled at a few times because our number of alcohol emergencies was much higher than it was the previous year. This isn't necessarily a reflection of higher rates of alcohol abuse; our RAs may have been more likely to call an ambulance for drunk residents, and Cornell did a lot of publicity about the medical amnesty program. My own roommate came back quite drunk one night and our RA called for the paramedics; looking back, he wasn't in any sort of life-threatening danger, and the EMTs didn't see any need to take him to the hospital.

The DI article has some data to back up their observation of higher rates of alcohol use:

In a university survey this year, male students reported consuming an average of nine drinks during the last time they partied, up from seven in 2007. Females reported an average of six, one more than two years ago. Drinking that much within two hours constitutes binge drinking.

I've always felt like the definition of binge drinking was a little off; I wouldn't consider a female friend to be binge drinking if she had six drinks over two hours. Still, it seems like alcohol has become a more serious problem at IU.

One interesting point raised in the article was that alcohol emergencies on Thursday nights and Friday mornings declined 25 percent during the year after the school started an initiative to hold more classes on Fridays. I think a similar initiative at Cornell would fall flat; most freshmen don't seem to drink too much on Thursdays, since the vast majority of fraternity parties are on Fridays and Saturdays. Upperclassmen would complain about the scheduling change and would still find ways to avoid Friday classes.

Looking through the Sun archives finds an article from 2007 in which the administration makes clear that Cornell does not plan to increase the number of Friday classes. It doesn't look like the Sun has done any sort of comprehensive look at alcohol use on campus recently...

What Kind Of Year Will This Be?

When thinking about Cornell hockey, it's often useful to try to compare the current season to past seasons. In other words, try to fill in the blank: "This season will turn out similarly to the ____ season."

Back in July, I wrote that this season, and its schedule, might turn out like 2003's:

One possible explanation for this year's schedule is that Coach Schafer, as he did prior to the 2003 season, knew he had a very good team and wanted to get them some tough games to prepare them for a strong stretch run. That year, Cornell went 5-2-0 out-of-conference, only losing in Florida when All-America goaltender Dave Leneveu missed the tournament to play for Canada in international competition. A similar record this coming year will position us well for a high seed in the NCAAs.

Of course, the team made the Frozen Four in 2003, so this was aiming pretty high.

The 2003 comparison is not completely shot to hell... yet. As in 2003, Cornell has shown a knack for defeating -- destroying, even -- weaker teams. This season, Cornell is 7-0-2 against teams not from the state of Connecticut. In four of those wins, Cornell has put up at least 5 goals. Cornell's current 6-2-1 conference record won't turn into the unreal 19-2-1 ECAC record from the 2002-2003 season, but both years' teams have shown an ability to beat up on the opponents they should win against.

Moreover, this past weekend's low-scoring affairs against RPI (2-1) and Union (2-2) may signal that our offense is coming back to Earth. It may have been premature to argue that 2009-2010 is a significant shift in the type of hockey being played at Cornell. Big defense, a la 2003, is back.

I think that 2009-2010 will, in certain ways, look similar to the 2007-2008 season. That year's team went 12-9-1 in conference, but they were a terrible 0-7-1 during the regular season against the four teams above them in the standings (Clarkson, Princeton, Harvard, Union). If Cornell can't figure out a way to beat Quinnipiac, Yale, and maybe Union, they could end up with something like a 0-4-2 record against the three teams above them in the standings. In 2007-2008, Cornell went 12-2-0 against the teams below them in the standings; we could see similar success this season against the crappier teams of the ECAC.

Although the team missed the NCAA tournament in 2008, Cornell can definitely make it in 2010, even with a 3rd-place finish in the ECAC. The key will be to win non-conference games and boost our record by continuing to beat up on the teams below us.

Or, we could figure out a way to beat Quinnipiac and Yale.

Back in Business

Apologies for the relative lack of posts over the last few weeks. This end-of-semester sprint has been my worst stretch at Cornell. Two lengthy final papers, my thesis proposal, a final round interview for TFA, and the LSAT re-take. That was all over the last seven days. Add traveling to hockey games, and it's been a crazy stretch.

The problem with running your own blog is that no one is around to cover for you when you don't have time to write. Since I don't receive any sort of compensation for doing this, it's been difficult to justify writing when I have so much else to do.

The good news is that I am now done with the semester, and nearly done with taking classes at Cornell. Next semester I will be writing my thesis and taking one easy class somewhere. I will also have my future planned out by (hopefully) January 21, or else March-ish. Point is, I don't anticipate having any more stretches like this one. So look out for posting to resume at the usual one-a-day or so pace.

Thanks again for reading, and if you're a member of the Cornell community, enjoy the break.

Three More Days

And I'll be back to blogging daily, I promise. This has been a tough stretch and I will be completely done with the semester come Wednesday.

In the meantime, I'd recommend reading this excellent piece in today's Washington Post.