Pearl of Wisdom #1

"Some of the biggest, hardest shots in the world, he just goes down and takes it. That takes some guts. It's a great thing for the young guys to see."

-Coach Paul Pearl, quoted in a Worcester Telegram & Gazette story from Wednesday, December 28, speaking about senior defenseman Marc Bianchi (pictured below).

Oh, that darn plantar fasciitis

What is it with plantar fasciitis, anyway? First Pat Doherty, then Laura Aloisi. On Saturday, I found out my mother has it, too! When my mother told me her doctor had given her that diagnosis, the first thing I said was, "That's what Pat Doherty has!" She wasn't aware of that, but she surprised me when she instead reacted, "It's the same thing Laura Aloisi has!" Mom almost seemed to take some pride in that.

I'm a first-generation Crusader, but my parents pay close attention to the goings-on up on Mt. Saint James, and they do follow Holy Cross athletics. They live close enough to Worcester to catch WTAG radio coverage over the air. They also subscribe to the Telegram & Gazette, which is surely how my mother found out about Aloisi's injury.

Crossports continues to debate the redshirt issue for Doherty. I thought this thread died, but it came back to life a few days ago. Do I think Pat should take a redshirt? From an athletic standpoint, I think it would be the right decision. It's really a matter of measuring his chances of returning this season. He can decide on the 5th year later on.

As posters have said, other factors are involved in such a big decision. Some student-athletes graduate with eligibility remaining. Kristin Popovics comes to mind as a recent example. She was ready to move on with her life. Other players, like Pat Whearty and Mary-Rose Campbell, returned to play for a fifth season. Steve Silva decided very late that he would return for a 5th year. And thank goodness for that!

Thursday Thoughts

It seems like it's been ages since I last posted. Between holiday visits and work, there hasn't been much time for either of my blogs, or much else for that matter. You know it's the peak of "year-end" at work when you leave the office at 9:56pm and there are still several cars in the parking lot.

So what's going on, anyway? The men's basketball team is struggling. But I'm not giving up on them. I'm even thinking of heading to Bucknell for the game on the 14th, but I'm not sure yet. I wonder when HC has to return their ticket allotment to Bucknell?

If this turns into one of those lost seasons, I'll be disappointed, but I love the team and enjoy going to the games no matter what. Holy Cross has tremendous kids in its program, and I will continue to root for them, on and off the court. Plus there's always Crossports. The message board and the posters I've met from it have really added to my enjoyment of attending games.

The women's hoops team is sitting on a 4-7 record after a trouncing this evening at the hands of the Virginia Cavaliers. Did Holy Cross really have a 8-33 assist to turnover ratio in this game? Ouch! The team heads up to Portland, Maine, for a game on Monday afternoon. One of my readers was contemplating the women's/men's double on Monday, but I think the Portland-Worcester drive will be too much to ask given the game times. As for the team, I believe Laura Aloisi's health is the critical piece of their potential success this season. Twenty wins? Last year, we thought it was impossible, but the team got there. This year? If they go 13-3 over the rest of the regular season, they'll have to win the PL tournament to reach 20 wins and obtain that coveted NCAA berth.

Holy Cross fans may have to hang their "winter sports" hats on the men's hockey team, and they deserve the attention. They also lost this evening, but I like the makeup of that club. I like their chances of winning the league this year.

Happy New Year, everyone, and Go Cross!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and best wishes, everyone! I hope you have a pleasant holiday and joyful times spent with your families.

I'll be back to update the blog at some point next week.

Special Christmas wishes to Holy Cross junior basketball player Keith Simmons. His cramping is beyond the point of cracking "V8" jokes. Get well.

Bonus Pictures: Baseball HOF

A few weeks back, I posted photos from my visit to Colgate University in May. I was in the vicinity of Hamilton, NY, because of my trip to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY.

I greatly enjoyed the Hall. Was it perfect? No. I think they could have done a better job with the movie at the beginning of the exhibit, for instance. But for the most part, this Hall lets the sport's historical artifacts speak for themselves. And for me, they spoke volumes.

It wasn't all "old stuff," either. Current major-league teams and players were featured, including one whole room with "lockers" displaying jerseys, bats, gloves, baseball cards, scorecards, photos and various memorabilia for up-to-date rosters of each team.

One of my favorite rooms was the "Sports Illustrated" room, featuring enlarged shots of each Major League Baseball SI cover. I especially liked two covers: One with a young Mickey Mantle, and another with former MLB umpire and current Umpire Supervisor Steve Palermo, pictured on the cover standing with canes. Palermo is my cousins' uncle, and he was shot while trying to break up a July 1991 robbery outside a Dallas restaurant. Doctors told him he'd never walk again. He proved them wrong. (Steve's brother John frequently refs women's hoops games at Holy Cross.) Unfortunately, my photos from this room didn't come out too well.

Overall, I loved the Hall!

Here are just a few of my photos. Click a photo to enlarge it.:


Ty Cobb display. The HOF has wonderful displays like this for many of the "pantheon" Hall of Famers. Babe Ruth even has his own small room.


The famous Ted Williams gridded strike zone. I thought it was really cool to see it set up in a display case like this.


Wall of no-hitters, color-coded by year. This photo captures the section of the wall from a particularly fruitful era of no-hitters, with thirteen no-hitters from 1990-91. Where have you gone, Andy Hawkins?


"Swing and a ground ball, stabbed by Foulke. He has it. He underhands to first. And the Boston Red Sox are the world champions. For the first time in 86 years, the Red Sox have won baseball’s world championship. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?" (Radio call by Colgate alum Joe Castiglione.)

The Pride of East Providence

Teammate. Captain. Leader. Speedster.

Steve Silva: All-American!

Congratulations, once again, to Steve Silva, who has racked up two I-AA first-team All-America honors in the last three days. On Monday, Steve was named to the Sports Network's All-America first team as a return specialist.

Then on Wednesday, Steve was honored as a first-team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association. Once again, he was chosen as a return specialist.

Despite these honors, I get the feeling Steve Silva has been under-appreciated in Worcester and even by many Holy Cross sports fans. Steve's the most talented and accomplished player the Crusaders have had in over a decade! This year, he led the nation in all-purpose yards!

Maybe I'm preaching to the choir. Who knows. I'll say this: Steve has been so much fun to watch during his career, and not only are his many post-season honors well-deserved, but Silva deserves to be mentioned with the Holy Cross football elite. These career stats are staggering:

• Second all-time in rushing TDs (33) behind only Joe Segreti (37)
• Third all-time in rushing yards (2,646) behind Gill Fenerty and Joe Segreti, and ahead of Jerome Fuller
• Second all-time in all-purpose yards (5,153) behind Ari Confesor (5,226), (and he fell 39 yards short of Gordie Lockbaum's single-season all-purpose yardage record of 2,173)
• Third in total TDs (38) behind Lockbaum and Segreti (tied with 44)
• Fourth in all-time receptions (Laboranti, Confesor, Gallagher)

Fenerty's and Segreti's numbers speak for themselves. Fuller was like God when I was a student. Lockbaum is a legend. Silva's right with these players from the last 25 years.

Steve has progressed from a USA Today honorable mention All-American as a high schooler, to a bona-fide Division I-AA All-American. Steve, you'll be missed. Best of luck as you continue to pursue your football dreams.

One of the best Crusaders ever. Period.

Ouch, My Foot!

"I can't put weight on my foot! I'm going to be required to wear a protective boot at all times, except when I'm in the pool!"

Just kidding, Pat. The team needs you. Get well soon. (Photo courtesy the media guide.)

Basketball Media Guides, 2005-2006

A week ago Friday, I finally received my Holy Cross men's and women's basketball media guides for the 2005-06 season. I devour these things when they arrive each year.

The women's media guide is much more entertaining and creative than the men's guide. I enjoy reading both, but the women's guide gives you a taste of the players' personalities, with the "Off the Court With..." features. The women's guide also contains a couple of interesting posed team photos, shown above. Can you imagine the guys taking a team picture like either of those? I can't.

Here are some highlights from the "Off the Court" player profiles:

• Jess Conte's favorite song is "The Best of What's Around" by Dave Matthews Band. This is a great song from one of the best 90's rock albums, in my opinion. Good choice, Jess! And her craziest ambition is to go skydiving, something I'd like to do, too.
• Kaitlin Foley's favorite Coach Gibbonsism is "Simonize your watches!" That's priceless, Foles! And her favorite team tradition is "Helping out at the Mercy Centre."
• Brittany "Spider" Keil says she chose #33 "because Anna Kinne is my idol."
• Laura Aloisi's favorite professional sports team is the Boston Red Sox. A fine choice.
• Shannon Bush had never heard of "bubblas" before coming to Holy Cross. Really? She can drink from the bubbler after eating a grinder then a dessert of ice cream topped with jimmies. Don't you love these local expressions? So don't I.
• A handful of the girls like to have team singalongs on the team bus trips, although Brittany likes to "listen to my teammates sing." Shy? Can't hold a tune?
• Asked why they chose HC, almost all the players answered, unsurprisingly, that HC offers an excellent combination of academics and athletics. Several also mentioned something about a "family atmosphere." I think I've heard that mentioned once or twice before.

Joe Young Update

Great work by Crossports poster "pitt65" on tracking down former Crusader forward Joe Young.

Young, who left the Crusaders hoops squad as a sophomore early in the 2004-05 campaign, is now playing for Morehouse College in Atlanta. He's listed on their roster as "Josiah Young," and is contributing early on for the Maroon Tigers.

I did an internet search for Joe about a month ago, but the Morehouse roster didn't list him at that time, and I didn't follow up. Good job, pitt.

Man on the Moon?

It's been two weeks since Colin Cunningham debuted for the Holy Cross Crusaders, and what a quick, impressive span it has been.

At the time, I posted that his appearance reminded me of someone. Vinnie Barbarino? Dan Abrams? Well, we've since received a couple of suggestions.

Are these latest offerings even fair to the young Crusader? With his real-life haircut, the "bushy hair" comps aren't working as well, but I'll oblige those who made the suggestions.

70's TV star Robbie Benson. Those haircuts are almost identical. Colin needs to work on his cover-boy pout, but he made a solid effort.






The great, self-proclaimed "song and dance" man, Andy Kaufman. A wild suggestion from a veteran Crossports poster. This side-by-side turned out a little better than I thought it would. But there's zero resemblance in real life.




The quest continues...

Football Awards Catchup

This clipping is from the Scoreboard page of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette's Sports section, from Wednesday, November 30. Holy Cross football players earned several spots on the "Worcester Area Football Association 15th Annual All-Star Team".

If anyone knows who comprises that association, please comment. The "All-Stars" are mostly from HC, WPI, Assumption, Fitchburg State and Worcester State. Personally, I don't really understand this type of system. It's nice to have the regional recognition, but how can you compare Division One athletes with those from Nichols or Assumption?

Same question goes for the T&G's "College Cup," or whatever it is they call it. Once a week during each athletic season, they publish a list of "college standings" with the combined records of the various athletic teams for the area colleges. Holy Cross is usually in the middle of the pack. I'm curious who attaches real value to those standings.

Nevertheless, getting back to this clipping, congrats to Steve Silva and Dan Adams for sweeping the Offensive and Defensive POY awards, and to O'Neil, Silva, Dugan, Gruber, LaGrenade, Schoepfer, Cannon, Pinard, Adams and Gough for netting spots on their respective First Teams.

(If you want to read the clipping, click the picture, then on that page put your mouse over the picture, and if necessary you should be able to expand again by clicking on the button that shows up at the bottom right. At least that's how it works with my browser.)

Get Well Kieran Hamilton!

Coach Ralph has the story of the Hamilton family's car accident on their way to Worcester for the Fordham game. I think that's Kieran pictured on the far right of the above photo, taken by Annie at the 2005 Patriot League Championship game.

GET WELL SOON KIERAN! Best wishes to the entire Hamilton family.

(By the way, that's a truly outstanding photo by Annie. Excellent content with the Hurley brothers, the cameraman, Ashley Brennan-McBride, Shannon Bush, a couple hockey players, the referee, etc.)

Colin Cunningham, You're My Hero

I guess Colin Cunningham found his swagger. The freshman from Memphis, TN willed his team to overtime with a trey, a drawn player-control foul resulting in a change of possession, and a nifty layup, all in the final 9 seconds! Let's recap: 5 points, and a forced turnover, bringing HC from down 55-50 to tied at 55, in 9 seconds. The kid can play.

Colin didn't do it alone. In a masterful performance at the point, the warrior, Torey Thomas, played all 50 minutes and scored 23 points. Collectively, the team played inspired basketball as regulation wound down. This one had some postseason magic and atmosphere in the overtime periods and the final minutes of regulation.

Fordham Radio leftovers

A few notes left on the Hart Center media table by the Fordham University radio crew, after today's 71-63 double-overtime victory by the Crusaders over the Rams:

A good piece of information for the listeners.

Exquisite color analysis. Let's not let the facts get in the way of the truth, though.

When all else fails, interview the guy sitting on your left.

Alex Vander Bomb

If HC play-by-play man Bob Fouracre travels to Germany, will he drive on the AutoBomb?

"A Collective Will"

Coach Ralph Willard has often mentioned the need for his players to develop a "collective will" and a "winning attitude" in order to develop into a basketball team that tastes consistent success. Well, Coach Ralph has chimed in once again on his website, and he saw progress from his young players in the second half of the Siena game in that regard.

I think the men's basketball team's season has bottomed out. Between Coach Willard's comments on his site, and the eyewitness observations of "pumped" HC student "Boxman" who was at the Pepsi Arena on Thursday evening, I believe this team found something in the second half of that Siena game. Perhaps Colin Cunningham found his swagger, or Lawrence Dixon his confidence. Maybe Torey found his voice. Something good happened in that game, and it will continue to carry over.

I'm excited about the rest of the year.

One more thing: While reading Coach Ralph's comments, I noticed his use of the nickname "KHam" for Kevin Hamilton. I'm pretty sure Ralph hasn't written that before this season. Just a meaningless observation on my part.

Colgate pictures, May 2005

Here are the photos from my trip to Hamilton, NY, in May of this year. I was "in the neighborhood" to visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, in Cooperstown, which is about an hour from Hamilton. How often am I going to be that close to the Patriot League's remote outpost in upstate New York? So I decided the detour would be worthwhile.

I visited Colgate on a beautiful Saturday morning. It was "move out" day for many students. Parts of the campus were buzzing with activity, but obviously not the parts shown in these photos! I don't think there's one person in any of my pictures.

Colgate has a nice campus, built into a hill, but the hill is nothing like Mount St. James. As for Hamilton, it's a small, remote town in the middle of farm country. I think mattb was a little harsh, though, when he called it a "dump of a town." There's not much there, but it wasn't too bad as far as small towns go. Matt visited in the dead of winter, though, and I was there on a warm spring day. Weather can make an enormous difference when forming an impression of a town.

(By the way, that mattb road trip article is the same post where he gave his three key elements to Holy Cross's 2001-03 PL hoops domination. Very interesting, considering Holy Cross is executing NONE of those elements right now.)

Some of these pics have scan blemishes. Sorry about that. Not sure what's causing that. Click on any photo to enlarge it.


The interior of one of the student centers on the top part of the campus.









Quad in the upper campus area.





Part of lower campus, nearer the university's entrance. The houses across the pond are on one of Hamilton's main drags. I'm guessing they are frat houses. Typical farm country pictured in the distance. It looks like that for miles around.

The enticing entrance to the Reid Athletic Center, which includes Cotterell Court (basketball). The Hart Center at Holy Cross puts this building to shame. I tried a few doors, but couldn't get in (unlike Non Alum Dave, who, while visiting the campus once, "accidentally" caught a few moments of a Colgate men's hoops practice! We know you were scouting, Dave.)


Football stadium.






Visitor's grandstand, and press box.






Home grandstand.







Entrance to the lacrosse field. Expand this one to read the plaque explaining the field's name.







There was discussion on Crossports a while back regarding the lax fields and grandstands at various PL schools, so here's Colgate's.


Looks like they have a "mini" ski hill directly adjacent to their campus. Maybe a Colgate reader can give a little more background on this.