I got an email from a Cornell friend now attending grad school at Johns Hopkins. She was perusing a blog on recycling a friend had linked her to when she linked to another site she randomly came across and happened to notice a familiar face...
Stuff White People Like
The poster probably did a google search on black people and snowboarding, and came across my pic, but I have no idea. I imagine it's rare to find pictures of black people doing anything snow-related. Anyway, this is just another reminder that one should always be careful of what pictures you post online because you never know where they could end up.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
WiFiBi-nghamton...
Philly has been doing this for years, but more cities are catching on, including Bing.
http://www.wbng.com/news/local/15745362.html
This makes me want to go down to the Lost Dog Cafe on Water St. and sip on some hot tea while working on my laptop enjoying some WiFi. Nifty.
http://www.wbng.com/news/local/15745362.html
This makes me want to go down to the Lost Dog Cafe on Water St. and sip on some hot tea while working on my laptop enjoying some WiFi. Nifty.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
CU at the NCAA Tourney?
There are a few things that I've doubted I'd ever see in my lifetime, of them are: 1. a black person or female having a chance at winning the presidency of the USA and 2. seeing Cornell playing in the men's basketball NCAA tournament. Who woulda thunk both would be a real possibility in the same year, and the latter is one weekend away from being determined! While the former clearly has greater historical significance, as a longtime/long-suffering CU sports fan, a b-ball team in the tourney has its own special significance to me. The Cornell team is an amazing 10-0 in the Ivy League and could clinch a tourney spot sometime next weekend with 4 games left. While things seem destined at this point, looking back on the last 20 years since Cornell won the Ivy title, it's pretty clear why I would have been so doubtful this day would be so close to coming.
Years before I set foot on the Cornell campus or even knew I ever would, the team made the tournament in 1988; the first and ONLY time the team had or has made it. Immediately after, Ivy league hoops was dominated by Princeton and Penn. Either team has won at least a share of the Ivy title every year since. And while watching this domination as a student and after graduation, it almost seemed certain this was how it would always be. I mean, if a reasonably talented basketball player had the chance of going to an Ivy league school, chances were Penn or Princeton would snap them up first or second, leaving Cornell with the rest. "The rest" doesn't win titles. Penn had even beaten Cornell *18* times in a row up until this year, to further salt our non-Ivy title winning wounds. With no legacy of title wins to point to during recruiting, one would assume things would just continue this way, wouldn't they?
But this year there was a shift, and the signs were seen last season. Cornell got its strongest freshmen class in years in `06. One of the players, Ryan Wittman, is the son of NBA coach Randy Wittman. Young Wittman broke the Cornell record of single season 3-pointers his freshman year with 93! The team also got Louis Dale, a strong point guard player. These players are now only sophomores and another group of strong freshmen were added this season. Add to the equation only having one senior and a solid junior group and you have a young team with great potential for the '07-08 season. ESPN saw this potential by ranking CU 59th in the pre-season. Honestly, I thought that was a bit much, but after years of never finishing 1st and usually finishing near the bottom, I was hesitant to get my hopes up.
When the season started, the team definitely seemed better than in the past but still not good enough to deserve ranking 59th. But it was clear the offense was nothing like I have seen before from a CU team. It was effortless at times as the team scored 70+ with regularity. But the defense struggled and still does. The team suffered some surprisingly close games and unexpected losses that made me nervous for Ivy League play. Then came the Duke game. Duke was ranked #2 in the nation at the time. Everyone rightfully expected a blowout... everyone except the Cornell team. They came out shooting and gave the Duke team fits! While the final score was a 14 point differential, Cornell held it close until the last minute. It was at this point I realized that this may be the team ESPN was seeing and maybe this could be THE year. Though it was a loss, that game was a turning point in the season. The CU team has gone 12-0 since.... and are *so close* to the Ivy title.
The team and school is getting increased national attention now. There was even a NY Times feature on the team and they made last Monday's Sports section cover. A Times writer rode with the team and had an ongoing blog of the roadtrip. Cornell even got a top 25 vote in the last AP poll. It's an exciting time as a CU sports fan. I suffered through many crappy seasons and crappy losses in a half empty arena. (Possibly) seeing a Cornell team play in the NCAA tournament to a packed house on national TV is going to be sweet, eventhough it's pretty certain to be a blowout. I'm excited to even see Cornell in early brackets. But there are still games to be played and anything can happen, but even the real possibility of what can come feels amazing.
Oh, and not to be forgotten, the women's basketball team is also 1st in the Ivy League. The women's team has *never* won the Ivy title. Nothing would be sweeter than for the men and women to both do what I once thought was impossible for either the same year. Here's hoping...
Years before I set foot on the Cornell campus or even knew I ever would, the team made the tournament in 1988; the first and ONLY time the team had or has made it. Immediately after, Ivy league hoops was dominated by Princeton and Penn. Either team has won at least a share of the Ivy title every year since. And while watching this domination as a student and after graduation, it almost seemed certain this was how it would always be. I mean, if a reasonably talented basketball player had the chance of going to an Ivy league school, chances were Penn or Princeton would snap them up first or second, leaving Cornell with the rest. "The rest" doesn't win titles. Penn had even beaten Cornell *18* times in a row up until this year, to further salt our non-Ivy title winning wounds. With no legacy of title wins to point to during recruiting, one would assume things would just continue this way, wouldn't they?
But this year there was a shift, and the signs were seen last season. Cornell got its strongest freshmen class in years in `06. One of the players, Ryan Wittman, is the son of NBA coach Randy Wittman. Young Wittman broke the Cornell record of single season 3-pointers his freshman year with 93! The team also got Louis Dale, a strong point guard player. These players are now only sophomores and another group of strong freshmen were added this season. Add to the equation only having one senior and a solid junior group and you have a young team with great potential for the '07-08 season. ESPN saw this potential by ranking CU 59th in the pre-season. Honestly, I thought that was a bit much, but after years of never finishing 1st and usually finishing near the bottom, I was hesitant to get my hopes up.
When the season started, the team definitely seemed better than in the past but still not good enough to deserve ranking 59th. But it was clear the offense was nothing like I have seen before from a CU team. It was effortless at times as the team scored 70+ with regularity. But the defense struggled and still does. The team suffered some surprisingly close games and unexpected losses that made me nervous for Ivy League play. Then came the Duke game. Duke was ranked #2 in the nation at the time. Everyone rightfully expected a blowout... everyone except the Cornell team. They came out shooting and gave the Duke team fits! While the final score was a 14 point differential, Cornell held it close until the last minute. It was at this point I realized that this may be the team ESPN was seeing and maybe this could be THE year. Though it was a loss, that game was a turning point in the season. The CU team has gone 12-0 since.... and are *so close* to the Ivy title.
The team and school is getting increased national attention now. There was even a NY Times feature on the team and they made last Monday's Sports section cover. A Times writer rode with the team and had an ongoing blog of the roadtrip. Cornell even got a top 25 vote in the last AP poll. It's an exciting time as a CU sports fan. I suffered through many crappy seasons and crappy losses in a half empty arena. (Possibly) seeing a Cornell team play in the NCAA tournament to a packed house on national TV is going to be sweet, eventhough it's pretty certain to be a blowout. I'm excited to even see Cornell in early brackets. But there are still games to be played and anything can happen, but even the real possibility of what can come feels amazing.
Oh, and not to be forgotten, the women's basketball team is also 1st in the Ivy League. The women's team has *never* won the Ivy title. Nothing would be sweeter than for the men and women to both do what I once thought was impossible for either the same year. Here's hoping...
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