Football
Richmond Sat 11/18 1 p.m.

p. Men’s Basketball
Wagner Mon 11/20 7 p.m.

p. Women’s Basketball
North Texas Sun 11/19 2 p.m.
Longwood Tue 11/21 7 p.m.

The leaves, turned brown and lifeless on their branches, tumble to the ground by the thousand. The brick pathways, perpetually slick from a muggy mix of rain and fog, lend themselves to approximately 3.2 embarrassing moments per day. The older citizens of our fair city, the wet weather playing upon their arthritic joints, are getting closer and closer to plowing into an entire crosswalk of oblivious students. And the weather — well, forget the weather; Williamsburg will probably be 60 degrees from now until well after the earth crashes into the sun. What does all of this mean, you ask? Well, apparently we have reached yet another mid-November without a nuclear holocaust or a collision with a giant asteroid (score one for Bruce Willis), and for the second consecutive year our football team limps into the season finale hoping to escape with a final win at home.

p. Our opponents in this weekend’s game, the University of Richmond Spiders, come to town looking similarly unimpressive, sitting at exactly .500 for the season. Some things don’t change, and it looks as if this match-up is one of them. The Tribe-Spiders game is touted as “the oldest rivalry in the South” by the University of Richmond website, and also has the distinction of being the fourth-oldest rivalry in the country. This weekend will stand as the 116th year that the two teams have faced off against each other. Overall, we have claimed 59 of the total victories to Richmond’s 51, five ties adulterating the record, occurring long before my base of knowledge begins (plus, I really don’t feel like looking it up. Ah, the glories of having your own column.)
In anticipation of this weekend, I decided to pay a visit to the wild and crazy people over at the Special Collections department of Swem Library (I shouldn’t poke fun — they were all really awesome, and I’m the one who pored over old, grainy microfilm) and check out The Flat Hat’s coverage of the game – 1981 style.

p. Remarkably, little has changed in 25 years. The opinions section overflows with articles decrying the actions of an evangelical republican president, the school was still older than dirt, and the “Friday the Thirteenth” movies sucked then, too. A smarter paper would just pick and choose a couple articles, change a couple details, and voila — a new paper in five minutes. But no, that’d be too easy; the editors have to make up complex reasons not to metaphorically bang our heads against the wall — imaginative phrases like “journalistic integrity,” and “grammar.”

p. As for the game, the William and Mary Indians — this game occurring before the mascot switch to the more PC, but evidently not bulletproof, Tribe — came into the game looking weak, sporting a 4-6 record on the season. In a seeming fit of athletic schizophrenia, the two previous weeks had seen the team get creamed by Harvard’s Crimson and tear the East Carolina University Pirates to pieces. Richmond, although entering the game with a meager 3-6 record of its own, had an ace in the hole.

p. Heisman Trophy candidate Barry Redden lead the charge for the Spiders, his last season before embarking on a nine-season NFL career. Unfazed, Indians quarterback Chris Garrity simply outplayed the Spiders, throwing for 328 yards and adding more of a buffer to the 11 school passing records he had upon graduation.
The game this year mirrors the one from a quarter century ago in many aspects — two rivals, already bloodied from a rough season, will do battle for some of the oldest bragging rights in the country, and this time, if I’ve done my math correctly, the victorious team will have exactly .86 percent more to be proud of than before. Now, with so much at stake, how could you not be excited?

p. Brad Clark is any macropod that isn’t large enough to be classified as a kangaroo, but doesn’t have any other name. He also writes columns for The Flat Hat.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW:

p. The Chicago Bears rebounded nicely from their first loss of the season as the new “Monsters of the Midway” easily disposed of the New York Giants 38-20 in front of a national audience on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. Rookie Devin Hester returned a missed Jay Feely field goal 108 yards to secure the victory. Hester’s return tied the record for longest play in NFL history, set 364 days earlier by Bear cornerback Nathan Vasher on a caught missed field goal as well. With the win, Chicago cemented their place as the best team in the NFC. In AFC action, disgruntled Cincinnati Bengal receiver Chad “Ocho Cinco” Johnson finally broke out of his season-long funk to haul in 11 Carson Palmer passes for 260 yards and two touchdowns. However, it would not be enough as LaDainian Tomlinson (above) rushed for 104 yards and four TDs and the San Diego Chargers defeated the Bengals in a shootout 49-41.

p. The American League and National League Cy Young Awards were announced as Johan Santana (right) of the Minnesota Twins captured his second Cy Young, while Brandon Webb of the Arizona Diamondbacks earned his first. Santana was expected to win for his 19-win, 245-strikeout performance this season, yet baseball critics were up in arms over Webb’s selection as the National League winner. Webb, playing for a mediocre team, earned only 16 wins and had a plus-3.00 ERA. Many experts had argued that San Diego Padres closer Trevor Hoffman, who broke Lee Smith’s all-time record for saves this season, deserved the award.

p. WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEK:

p. College Football
F No. 2 Michigan at No. 1 Ohio State — Saturday, 3:30 p.m. on ABC (channel 13)
F No. 17 California at No. 4 USC – Saturday, 8 p.m. on ABC (channel 13)

p. NFL
F Indianapolis Colts at Dallas Cowboys — Sunday, 4:15 p.m. on CBS (channel 3)
F Washington Redskins at Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Sunday, 1 p.m. on FOX (channel 14)

p. NBA
F Miami Heat at San Antonio Spurs — Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN (channel 12)

p. QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

p. “I thought it was great.”
— New York Knicks Head Coach and former Indiana University basketball player Isiah Thomas on Texas Tech Head Coach Bob Knight’s effort to get Tech player Michael Prince to look him in the eye during a timeout. Knight, using his fist, forcibly raised Prince’s head with a knock on his player’s chin. —Newsday.com

Former Tribe standout Wade Barrett ’98 (right) captained the Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer to the MLS Championship Nov. 12. The Dynamo victory was Barrett’s second MLS title after he was chosen as the 12th overall pick in the 1998 MLS College Draft. Throughout his professional career, Barrett has taken the field for the Dynamo as well as the San Jose Earthquakes. He also spent two years playing in Europe. At the College, Barrett excelled throughout his career. A four-year first team all-CAA selection, Barrett currently stands fourth in Tribe history in goals scored and within the top 10 in points and assists. In addition to first team all-CAA honors his senior season, Barrett was also named an All-American and voted CAA Player of the Year.

p. Sophomores Klaudyna Kasztelaniec (left) and Katarina Zoricic and freshmen Ragini Acharya and Magdalena Bresson all ended the Kitty Harrison Invitational and fall season with strong performances. The Invitational, hosted by the University of North Carolina, saw Kasztelaniec fall in the semifinals of the top singles bracket, while Zoricic rallied from a first round loss to win three games in a row. Acharya and Bresson both recorded hard-fought victories in the consolation bracket. The women return to action at the end of January.

p. Senior forward Gina Cimarelli’s performance throughout the season garnered her South Region Second-Team honors from the National Field Hockey Coaches Association. Cimarelli is the 58th player from the College to earn a spot on the NFHCA all-region team, and her selection marks the ninth consecutive year a Tribe player has been named to an All-Region team. Cimarelli’s senior campaign saw her lead the Tribe with 21 points. Her assist and game-winning goal totals placed her fifth and fourth, respectively, in the CAA and helped earn her First-Team All-CAA recognition.

p. The strong tradition of cross country at the College was on display at the Southeast Regional qualifier for the NCAA Championships. Led by a seventh place finish from senior Keith Bechtol, the Tribe placed second at the qualifier and earned a spot in their 10th NCAA championships. Juniors Christo Landry (right) and Ian Fitzgerald placed eighth and 12th respectively, while fellow juniors Dave Mock and Anthony Arena finished 20th and 23rd. The Tribe’s performance vaulted them from unranked to 21st in the nation. They head to Terre Haute, Ind. for the national championships Nov. 20.

p. By scores of 187-103 and 155-110 respectively, both the women and men swimmers of the College dominated Georgetown University. Junior Meg O’Connor turned in the fourth-best diving performance in College history to pace the women to victory, while sophomores Jeff Collier and Shawn Mathews won two events each to lead the men. Both programs return to action this coming weekend at the Terrapin Cup Invitational hosted by the University of Maryland.

Tribe men’s basketball traveled to Kansas State University Saturday and fell to the Big 12’s Wildcats 60-70. Paced by freshman point guard David Schneider, the College kept it close throughout and even enjoyed an 11-point lead in the first half. Schneider’s 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists earned him his first CAA Rookie of the Week Award.

p. “He’s relentless in his effort and he played with no fear,” Head Coach Tony Shaver said.

p. The Wildcats jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead, but Schneider hit a three-pointer to spark the Tribe’s 18-3 run. To cap the run, juniors Nathan Mann and Laimis Kisielius, who chipped in with 16 points, each hit three-pointers assisted by Schneider.

p. “The key [to the run] was shot selection,” Shaver said. “We got great looks at the basket and stayed within the confines of our offense.”

p. Down 7-18, Kansas State started to press the Tribe and went on a 20-2 run to erase the deficit and take a 27-20 lead. The Wildcats maintained the seven-point advantage and ended the first half leading 34-27.

p. “We played really well at times and really competed hard,” Shaver said. “With the exception of a six-minute run, we held our composure.”

p. The Tribe fought hard in the second half, but could not make it over the hump and could only get within four points of Kansas State. The Tribe connected on only 39.6 percent of its shots, but stayed in the game by holding the Wildcats to a 30 percent shooting performance.

p. The Wildcats made up for their poor shooting by dominating the College on the boards, holding a 59-38 advantage and forcing the Tribe to commit 19 turnovers. Moreover, Kansas State turned the ball over only nine times, which limited the College’s fastbreak chances.

p. Heading into the game, Shaver believed rebounding would be key, and it was. Kansas State’s strong rebounding enabled the Wildcats to score 26 second-chance points.

p. “We defended very well early. We wanted to make them shoot from the outside,” Shaver said. “But we didn’t stop the second chances.”

p. The Tribe can expect athletic opponents — like the Wildcats — and physical play all season long. Playing at Kansas State gave the Tribe underclassmen a chance to play in a tough environment.

p. “We are going to face teams this tough in the CAA and with this level of athleticism,” Shaver said.

p. Traveling to Kansas State also served as a homecoming for Mann – a native of Overland Park, Kansas; he saw limited action due to foul trouble, but Shaver was glad that Mann had the opportunity to play in front of family and friends.

p. The College will have a chance to play in front of many friends in this Monday’s home opener when the Tribe hosts Wagner College at 7 p.m. in Kaplan Arena. Shaver noted that Assistant Coach Dee Vick worked hard to ensure that the College would play at home often. The effort paid off as the Tribe plays seven of its 11 non-conference games at home in Kaplan Arena.

p. “We’re excited to be playing at home,” Shaver said. “We hope the student body and the community will come and help us create an atmosphere that’s tough to play in for our opponents.”

p. Nevertheless, Shaver believes it is his and his team’s responsibility to entice people to the games.

p. “The real key to gaining consistent support is winning,” Shaver said. “It’s on our shoulders.”