Pearl of Wisdom #19

"It was an unbelievable accomplishment, but the best thing we can do is cut off last year and move on. Last year is last year. This year is this year."

-Coach Paul Pearl, from Jen Toland's season preview in Friday's Telegram & Gazette, discussing the hockey team's incredible and dramatic 27-10-2 season last year.

Unfortunately, the Crusaders twice blew three-goal leads last night at Niagara, losing 5-4 in the 2006-07 season opener. With the loss of experienced seniors Tony Quesada and Ben Conway, goaltending figured to be a critical factor this year. But a quick glance at the box score makes it seem we can't pin this loss on young goaltender Ian Dams. There will be some bumps this year, for sure, but with Coach Pearl at the helm, leading Bubba Sixsmith (below) and a steady crop of talented players, it should be an entertaining season.

Quick thoughts on the football team

So it wasn't the prettiest of wins. But HC won the game in overtime at Dartmouth yesterday, and is now 5-2 on the season. Yes, I realize the five wins haven't come against traditional 1-AA powers. But two of them have come against Ivy League opponents, and the two losses were competitive.

I expected this season to be a step back from last year. They graduated many seniors on offense, and I thought the Crusaders would struggle this year. Looks like I was wrong! And I'm happy with that! Two years ago, HC was getting pummeled in the second half of games, even as the first halves were tightly contested. Last year, HC went 6-5 and had some tough 4th quarters. Look at the Delaware game as an example. HC was losing 21-17 after three, and got trounced in the fourth, eventually losing 35-23.

This year, Holy Cross has had some late-game fades, but they're hanging on to win! The conclusion? Depth. The gradual increase in depth from two seasons ago is paying dividends. If this trend continues next year, I expect we won't see the late fades at all. Coach Tom Gilmore has turned this team around. He's acquiring the right pieces, and I'm excited about the coming years! I don't know how he got a talent like Aaron Jones to commit to HC instead of Lehigh, but whatever he said, it worked. Holy Cross football is finally on its way back to glory. Let's win these last four games!

Coach Pearl - Back Again!

After a close call with Milton Academy a few years ago, men's hockey coach Paul Pearl re-signed with Holy Cross this offseason, and is back on the hill for the foreseeable future. We're ecstatic about that! We've previously posted our thoughts about Coach Pearl and his place here at Holy Cross. Our opinion hasn't changed since then. Good luck to Coach Pearl and the entire hockey team as they begin their AHA title defense!

The photos above and below accompanied Jennifer Toland's T&G feature article on Coach Pearl from the Wednesday of NCAA week last spring.

More Fordham pics

Special thanks to a friend of ours from the Holy Cross Class of 1970, who sent these Homecoming day photos to us the old-fashioned way - via postal mail!

First up is a picture featuring a few of our hoops players. Left to right, it's sophomore Pat Doherty and frosh Zach Paterick and Adam May going up for a bomb on the baseball field, prior to the game. IIRC, the pass was tossed by Greg McCarthy. Or maybe it was Lawrence Dixon. On crutches. Or not. Honestly, I don't remember who threw that particular pass, but several of the younger guys were having fun throwing the ball around. Pat looked fine, I think! I'd say it was a good thing Coach Willard wasn't around to see these guys horsing around, except he was standing nearby watching them!




Another one of Dave and yours truly, tailgating prior to the game:



Finally, a couple shots of the actual game, taken from the Fordham side of the bleachers. HC on offense, then on defense. Expand to your heart's delight - you might be able to pick yourself out on the other side of the stands.

New Mascot - Named?

Holy Cross unveiled its new mascot this week. Mr. Mascot is seeking a name. In this Crossports thread, our friend CHC8485 suggested "Benny" and "Iggy" among other names. pitt65 went with "Rick," which had us chuckling. We actually sort of like "Iggy" as a mascot name, but we're not sure it fits the look of this Crusader.



So here's a suggestion, one that came to us last night: "Joe Knight"

Yep, it just works.

And is this guy available to wear the suit?

Fordham pics

We're guessing sader1970 sent these photos to Crossports for posting over there, but we received them, too, and figured we'd post them here! Not sure who made the ESPNU sign (it was passed to us by some nearby football family members who had similar signs), but it looks sharp.

Holy Cross won the game, 28-21! Here are three pictures from the day:

sader1970 and his wife, along with their niece on the left, and footballwoman75 (frosh gridder Don Matheney's girlfriend) on the right:


"We Are Crusaders" blogger Jon, with footballwoman75:


Non Alum Dave (fresh off his morning visit to the Hart Center) and Jon, on the 50-yard line:

CROSS77 Stayed

Thanks to hchoops for taking the opportunity in this thread on Crossports to follow up on our inquiry below. CROSS77 answered the question - turns out he stayed on campus, and in the following weeks attended the NU and Harvard games.

Hope you're enjoying your time on campus so far! And thanks, 'hoops!

CROSS77, did you stay or go?

I don't know what reminded me of this. Remember incoming freshman CROSS77, hailing from Nebraska, posting in this thread over on Crossports asking for advice about staying on campus or traveling to Georgetown his first weekend at college?

"We Are Crusaders" wants to know the outcome! Did you stay on campus, or did you visit your friends down in D.C.? I didn't chime in on that thread, but I thought he should stay at Holy Cross. I have great memories of my first days on the hill, and I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.

Incidentally, we're also curious about the "77" part of his posting name, because it's pretty confusing given all the names like HC62, Sader81, sader1970 and sader1998. Number implies grad year, for the most part. Sometimes it's year of birth, but he wasn't born in 1977. Maybe it's a uniform number?

Delaware Football Pics, 2005

I could've sworn I posted my photos from the Holy Cross game at Delaware held September 24, 2005, but as I'm in catchup mode here, I went through the archives and couldn't find any pics from that game. Delaware won that game 35-23, but Holy Cross made them work for it. It was 7-7 at the half.

I had fun at that game. It was also "Band Day," so after the game we were treated to a show by area high school bands and the UD band. Good times at Tubby Raymond Field.

There's nothing overwhelming here, but it's interesting to see the excitement of the player intros for the Delaware team, along with the stat progression in the last quarter of the game (seen on the scoreboard with a breakdown in passing, rushing, and total yards). Specifically, UD ran for 94 yards in the 4th quarter, Holy Cross only 18.

The first four pics were taken during pre-game. And how can I forget, the fifth photo features Holy Cross basketball center Tim Clifford on the very right, wearing his homemade hat with the Steve Silva cutout. Gotta give Tim credit, he stuck it out and wore his hat long after his buddies discarded theirs.

Click on any photo to enlarge it.

I didn't want to dwell, but...

Yeah, I know. I said in my previous post that I didn't want to dwell on the events of 9/11. But with the 5th anniversary, I've been thinking a lot about that day and the subsequent weeks. It sticks with me. And I don't think that's a bad thing.

For the music fans out there, here are a couple videos I found that remind me of the days and weeks following 9/11.

The first one is a video of Bruce Springsteen singing his powerful song, "My City of Ruins." This version is actually a live duet with Sam Moore of "Sam & Dave" fame. There are other versions on YouTube (including some post-Katrina versions, another event for which this song became an anthem), but I like the raw energy and soul displayed here.

The entire Springsteen album, "The Rising," draws from 9/11, and it's one heck of an album. This song in particular, for me, simultaneously captures the anguish and the hope of the days following the tragedy. Sam Moore and Bruce Springsteen, Asbury Convention Hall, 12/7/2003:



Another video I'll always associate with 9/11 is Maxwell's "Lifetime." After the 11th, MTV halted regular programming for a few weeks, and returned to its roots by almost exclusively airing music videos. One video in heavy rotation was this great neo-soul song from Maxwell. I don't know if it's the song's slow groove, thoughtful and optimistic lyrics, or the video's blurred images of NYC, but this one made an impression. I always think of the strange tepidity of September 2001 when I hear or see it. A favorite of mine.

Five Years

Among the thousands killed in the attacks of September 11, 2001 was my Holy Cross classmate Todd Isaac. Todd was working for Cantor Fitzgerald in the North Tower of the WTC. I wasn't really friends with Todd, mainly because he was a Wheeler kid and I was a Mulledy kid, and those paths didn't cross very often. But I was introduced to him at one point freshman year, and he was as nice as they come. After that, whenever we saw each other on campus, he always had that smile and a friendly "Hi Jon!" He was a genuine, good guy.

Todd played basketball at HC during our sophomore year. I'm almost positive he was a walk-on that year. Maybe someone could confirm this. John Young and Reece Horton were the other players from my class, and they lettered all four years they were at HC.

I don't want to dwell on 9/11, as the whole event conjures up all kinds of memories and emotions for people. But every so often I think of Todd, and I can't even imagine what he must've endured up in that tower. Rest in peace, bud.

Random Sader Spottings

If I randomly bump into a current or former Holy Cross athlete around town (I'm not counting sightings on campus), should I post it here? I thought it would be kind of funny, but then I started to think I'd become the "Crusaderazzi" and I don't think that's an objective of this blog. I'm not snapping photos or anything, and I guess I thought it might be interesting to mention seeing these folks as they go about their lives, but you could certainly argue it's an invasion of their privacy.

For instance, a few years ago I was grocery shopping at my local Stop&Shop in Worcester, and the next thing I know, I spot Neil Fingleton (he was on HC's roster at the time) in the deoderant aisle. I know, it's personal and all that. But it was funny just the same. It was strange seeing this 7'6" guy by himself at Stop&Shop trying to find some toiletry item. The store employees and other customers were in awe of him. When I checked out, the cashier said "I wonder if he plays basketball," and of course I provided her the details.

And no, I didn't talk to Neil that day. It just didn't seem right. "Hey Neil, what's up? I'm Jon, and I'm a season-ticket holder at Holy Cross. Say, are you going to go with the Right Guard or the Old Spice High Endurance?"

No, thank you.

I bring this up because today I was at the gas station, and I looked up and a few cars over was a former HC women's basketball player. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to say hello. She didn't see me (I don't think), plus I was almost finished filling up, and there was a line.

Are these sightings worth posting? What if she had a blog? How would I feel about her posting that she saw "Jon" at the gas station? I'm probably blowing it out of proportion by doing this big writeup as opposed to a short-and-sweet post saying "Random Sader Spotting #2: 9/10/06, 'Player X' spotted at gas station on Grafton Street".

And feel free to guess the player. The prize for the correct guess is four straight trips to the NCAA tournament.

Colin Comp #6

I might as well start counting these, sort of like the Pearls of Wisdom, right? This is our 6th suggestion for a lookalike for now-sophomore Crusader hoopster Colin Cunningham. A classmate of mine suggested this one to me months ago, but I didn't get around to posting it back then.


Vietnam-era John Kerry. Not too bad, 'eh?

In case you need a refresher, you can find the Ricky Nelson comp here, the Robbie Benson and Andy Kaufman comps here, and the Vinnie Barbarino and Dan Abrams comps here. And let's keep them coming!

As an aside, Colin strikes me as the men's basketball team "social director." Maybe Torey's occupied that role to some degree the last few years, but Colin is next in line. He's going to end up being the guy that figures out what the team's going to do after practice when they're on break, what movie they're going to watch while they're on the road, etc. Yesterday, Colin was sporting the aviator glasses and working the tunes during the basketball team's tailgate on the baseball field. You can tell he likes his music - Motown, Prince ("Kiss"), you name it. He seems to have a great personality and he'll be fun to watch, both on and off the court, while he's at Holy Cross.

Another HC Clip

This one isn't sports-related, but I thought it was sort of interesting nevertheless. Someone shot video at this year's Commencement ceremony at the College and posted it to the web. The lyrics in the background song aren't 100% clean, but it's not a vulgar song in my opinion. Sounds like the Fugees.

HC Hockey Video

Here's a YouTube video of the HC hockey team's AHA title game victory over Bentley from this past spring. This win sent them on to the NCAA's where history was made! (That just doesn't get old.)

Begging for a Caption

Props to Non Alum Dave, who easily identified everyone (save the managers) in the 1993-94 men's basketball team photo. Dave, I forgot to tell you there was a prize. You win a trip to Texas to go fly-fishing with Nate Lufkin! Get your waders ready! Click on the b**bies for more details (haha).

Okay, time for something a little different. I'm not going to call this an official "Caption Contest," but you have to wonder what was going through Ralph's head at this moment. I believe this photo is from the HC-Kansas NCAA tournament game from 2002. It's Classic Ralph Willard.

Friday Trivia?

Is my hiatus over? Technically, yes, but I have no idea how frequently I'll be updating the blog this summer. That was a two-and-a-half month break! I hate to say it, but I was probably spending more time on the blog than I should've been, and frankly I haven't missed it that much.

That said, I'll try to post updates more than once every three months! So here's a little something for the Crusader fans out there who are still reading "We Are Crusaders." (And thanks for sticking with me!)

Since "Friday Trivia" has been popular over at Crossports, here's some trivia of my own: Name the year of this photo, along with the coaches and players. I don't think I can identify everyone, so your assistance is needed! (The photo contains a dead giveaway on the year.)

Click on the photo to expand it. Then you may be able to expand it further by putting your mouse over the photo and clicking on the "expand" arrow that shows up on the bottom right corner of the photo.

Happy Easter!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter Sunday.

Introducing Adam May

Here's Holy Cross incoming recruit Adam May:

Oh wait, that's not Adam, that's Chris Potter. I got confused. Here's the real Ohio All-Star, Adam May:


I have to admit, based on everything I've heard and read, I wish I saw Potter play. Some of his numbers are astounding:

• Tied with NBA Hall-of-Famer Tommy Heinsohn for 5th in career scoring
• Third in career rebounds (1019) behind Heinsohn and Togo Palazzi
• Fourth in career assists (470), slotting in between Roger Breslin (475) and Dwight Pernell (430)
• Most assists in a Hart Center game (16 vs. Iona, 12/7/1977). Wow, that's amazing. HC was ranked at the time, 15th in the country, and stomped Iona 105-83.
• Third in single-season FG%, .591 in 1978-1979

Maggie Dixon: 1977-2006

A little over a week ago, and about a month shy of her 29th birthday, we lost Maggie Dixon. The sudden passing of Coach Dixon, who led the Army women's basketball team to their first Patriot League title, has been well-documented. But we haven't been able to do much blogging lately, and wanted to post a little something in her honor.

We'll remember watching her enthusiasm at the Hart Center, as she guided her visiting team to a regular-season victory over the Crusaders. We'll remember commenting about her bright future as a head coach. We'll remember watching her on CSTV, as her team captured the PL title and she was taken off the court on the shoulders of cadets. We'll miss her.