Mistakes in Best Of

I don't want this published, but FYI:

Creed's newest album is their third, hence it is not their "sophomore" effort.

The U2 "All That You Can't Leave Behind" CD was released in Fall of 2000, not 2001. I know because we printed a review of it in the November 2000 edition of CUA World.

God Bless,
Ben Kaczmarski

Response To Pat Gitting's Letter

I think 12 years out of college has severely affected Mr. Gittings. Which leads me to ask the question, why would someone twelve years out of school even bother to write a letter to the Tower? Does Mr. Gittings enjoy chastising the student body? In his letter to the editor last week, Mr. Gittings took aim on the CUA student body as a bunch of typically lazy college kids who impede progress. The criticisms Mr. Gittings posed were out of line. Is there anything wrong with a sudent body wanting things to be convenient? Is there something wrong with wanting the ticket sale to be in UCE, where almost everyone on campus passes through daily? Mr. Gittings, students were not easking to have tickets delivered to them in their P.O. boxes. We were merely requesting that the tickets be sold somewhere more convenient, which obviously was not such an outrageous request as the University heeded our call. Maybe you should remember your hectic schedule in college, Mr. Gittings. Do you like to take the quickest way to work, or do you struggle through the hardest possible way? Our time is valuable; we all want to make the best of it. The student body is neither lazy nor demanding. If we were, then Johnny K's would have to move a lot closer to campus.

Ice Hockey Falls to Dickinson

The Catholic hockey team continued its offensive success on Nov. 17 in a loss to league rivals Dickinson College, 5-4. Senior captain Matt Kriston aided the losing effort, by scoring his fifth goal in three games.

“We did not play too well against Dickinson. We came out flat and that attributed to our loss,” said Kriston.

The Cardinals were down 4-3 in the third period and fought back to tie the game at 4. Dickinson shattered hopes of a Catholic comeback with a goal late in the period, and hung onto the win with good defensive play.

Ted Venuti scored twice; Andrew D’Agostino and Matt Kriston each had a goal in CUA’s loss. The Cardinals are now 4-4 as they approach the halfway point of the season. All four of Catholic’s losses this season have been by one goal while their offense has come alive averaging five goals over the past three contests.

“We are doing much better than I expected at this point in the season,” said team president Eric Dornbusch. “We always play more consistent in the second half of the year and if that holds true we may match our success of the 1999 season,” said Dornbusch.

Catholic plays in the Mason Dixon Collegiate Hockey Association; an independent league that is made up of club teams. According to Dornbusch the CUA hockey team has no plans of going the NCAA. “It is impossible for a hockey team in the Mid-Atlantic region to have a NCAA hockey team, just based on the popularity of the sport,” said Dornbusch.

Catholic is ranked second in the Washington division of its league entering the midpoint of the season, with a big game against former league powerhouse Georgetown looming tomorrow night at 8:30 p.m.

Georgetown is not as good as past years according to Dornbusch, but he believes Georgetown will still pan out to be one of the toughest games on CUA’s schedule.

Georgetown is a tougher opponent than American, a team CUA beat while committing 10 penalties. Catholic will have to stay focused and keep the penalties to a minimum if they want to win this game and stay in the playoff hunt.

Swimming Sweeps Weekend Meets

The men and women’s teams were successful in achieving a dual victory early last week. On Saturday Nov. 17 the Cardinals defeated Randolph-Macon in the first home meet of the season. On Sunday Nov. 18 the Cardinals then did battle with York College at the DuFour Center to clinch the double header.

The Cardinals produced some impressive races at both meets. The women were led by junior Kelly Anne Creazzo and freshman Kathy Jenko. Against Randolph-Macon, Creazzo placed first in the 200 yard individual-medley and the 100 backstroke. Creazzo again was a dual winner at the York meet with first place finishes in the 1000 yard freestyle and the 200 backstroke. Jenko, at the York meet, won the 200 individual-medley and the 200 butterfly. Both Jenko and Creazzo have been producing impressive results for this season thus far.

The men were once again led to victory by junior Paul Ojeda. At the York meet, Ojeda won the 50 and 100 yard freestyle races. He has consistently placed first in these events and is likely to continue his impressive performances. One of the most notable swimmers from last weekends meets was freshman Tim Creazzo. Creazzo won two major distance races in the 1000 and 500 yard freestyle as well as the 200 individual-medley. Tim, the younger brother of Kelly Anne, is a freshman from Wilmington, Del., and looks to have a very promising season ahead of him.

This weekend the Cardinals will travel to New Jersey to compete in one of the most intense competitions of the year. Gloughster Institute of Technology will host the annual Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships. The ECAC is the largest athletic conference in the United States. This weekend’s championship will be home to nearly thirty schools across the east coast and some of the most competitive swimmers in the country.

Coach Calomeris is looking forward to seeing his teams perform this weekend. “Everybody has been working very hard and we’ve had a good couple of months. It will be interesting to see what we can accomplish up in New Jersey.”

This is the swim teams last major competition before the holiday vacation. The swimmers will continue to practice over the break in order to maintain the results of their hard work thus far. The team will also be returning to the university a few days early in order to prepare for their upcoming meets.

Game of the Week

First year head coach Maggie Lonergan leads her squad into tomorrow afternoon’s Capital Athletic Conference matchup against the Gophers of Goucher College. Lonergan’s record at CUA stands at 2-2, including an 81-63 victory over Washington College last Monday.

Senior Meg Hagarty and junior Carol Schnepp form the core of Lonergan’s deep, talented squad. Junior Amy Tyluki runs the point, and freshman Katie Hazlett comes off the bench at the point position. Senior Liz Mintzer and sophomore Claire Flatley provide additional scoring threats for the Cards.

The Gophers are led by the scoring prowess of sophomore forward Kate Guggino and freshman guard Stephanie Tolbert. Through five games, Guggino has averaged 17.0 points per game, while Tolbert averages 16.6 per game. Guggino is also the Gopher’s leading rebounder, averaging 9.2 per game.

Catholic’s defense will have its hands full with the scoring machines of the Gophers. The Cards will have to improve upon Wednesday’s performance, when they fell to York, 80-46.

Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. tomorrow. Following the women’s game, the men’s team will renew their heated rivalry with Goucher.

Fan Interference

It’s ten weeks until spring training. And it’s still anybody’s guess what the 2002 Major League Baseball season will bring.

First of all, the collective bargaining agreement which has been in place since 1995 expired at the end of the World Series. I don’t know much about economics and labor laws, but the owners and players will have to put a new agreement in place before the 2002 season begins.

In the wake of September 11th, baseball played a key role in America’s return the normalcy. One of the best World Series in recent memory captured the attention of the nation. Baseball should recognize the situation facing this country and agree to a one-year extension of the collection bargaining agreement. Fans won’t tolerate another work stoppage.

On top of that mess, the owners voted 28-2 a few weeks ago to eliminate two teams before the start of next season. The economic disparity between franchises has become ridiculous, and commissioner Bud Selig believes that eliminating two franchises is the best way to solve baseball’s economic problems.

This makes no sense whatsoever, however. It was merely four years ago when Bud Selig expanded the league by two teams. Granted, one of those teams just won the World Series, but Selig should have had more foresight.

One of the candidates for elimination is the Minnesota Twins. This is the same franchise that has won the World Series twice in the last 15 years. The club has several of the most promising young players in the game, and 2001 saw a resurgence in their attendance figures.

Before becoming the Twins, the franchise existed as the Washington Senators, the team of Hall of Fame pitcher Walter Johnson. The Big Train ranks second on the all time career list for wins with over 400. It would be the greatest tragedy in the history of sports if the Twins were eliminated.

Selig claims baseball lost $500 million last year. A likely story, considering Forbes Magazine published a report that said Major League Baseball made a net profit of $130 million in 2000. A financial swing of $630 million is about as likely as a civilized crowd at Yankee Stadium. Someone’s not telling the truth.

No matter what happens, baseball needs to get its act together before 2002. Here’s hoping they do.

Men Win Two Tough Battles

The men’s basketball team opened their season with a string of hard-fought games. Wednesday night, the Cards opened their Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) schedule in style with a 72-69 victory over York (Pa.) College. Sunday afternoon, the Cardinals pulled out a 90-83 overtime victory in a dogfight against Scranton. Catholic dropped a 90-46 decision in an exhibition against the Harlem Globetrotters Nov. 19. The Cards opened the season Nov. 16 with a national championship game rematch at William Paterson. A valiant comeback fell short, as the Pioneers triumphed 71-68.

“I’m very happy with how we played tonight,” said head coach Mike Lonergan after Wednesday’s 72-69 victory over York. “Tonight was the first time we played well for the entire game.”

Junior forward Matt Hilleary led Catholic scorers with 18 points. Junior guard Craig Avallone followed with 17 points, while junior guard Kevin Wise notched 14 points.

Trailing by seven points eight minutes into the game, the Cards got key shots from Avallone and Wise to reel off a 14-3 run en route to a nine point halftime lead.

The Cards started slowly in the second half, but made crucial shots down the stretch, including free throws. Catholic was 17-18 from the charity stripe on the evening. In contrast, the Spartans were only 2-3.

Sunday afternoon, perennial Div. III power Scranton came to the DuFour Center. The Cardinals played awful to start the game, allowing the Royals to open a 21-5 lead seven minutes into the game. The Cards began to rebound consistently, sparking a 14-2 run on key shots by Wise, Mills and sophomore forward Blair Mills. Catholic only trailed by three at halftime.

Scranton clawed back in the game, tying the game at 67 with about three minutes remaining. Upset with a foul call, Lonergan was assessed a technical foul. The free throws gave the Royals the lead. Catholic cut the lead to one with a basket. With exactly two minutes remaining, the referees lost control of the game as Lonergan was assessed a second technical.

Trailing by three with a minute left, Catholic got a bucket from Hilleary, a steal and another basket from Morley to take the lead. However, Scranton was able to tie it as time expired to send the game into overtime. The Cards outscored the Royals 16-9 in the extra session for the win.

“We got off to a bad start,” said Avallone, “but we fought back hard.”

“Wins like this make us realize that we need to play tough every game,” added Hilleary.

Prior to their exhibition against the Globetrotters, Catholic opened the season Nov. 16 with a national championship rematch at William Paterson University. The Cardinals were outplayed the first half and trailed by 22 points at halftime.

In the second half, however, Catholic was able to disrupt the Pioneer scoring rhythm with their full-court press. The Cards fought back hard, tying the game with about a minute left. They couldn’t scratch out the victory, however, as Paterson got a three point play in the final minute to hang on for the 71-68 victory.

Tomorrow afternoon, the Cards will host Goucher College in another conference matchup. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.

Women’s Hoop Opens Play

CUA’s women’s basketball team started the season with a series of highs and lows. On Monday, they won their home opener against Washington College convincingly, 81-63. On Wednesday, they lost in their first conference game, 80-46 at York (Pa.). On November 17th, in the Cougar Tip-Off tournament at Kean University, the Cardinals lost to eventual champion Gwynedd-Mercy, 74-66, then defeated Kean 83-70 in the consolation game the next day.

Maggie Lonergan’s first game as CUA coach in the DuFour Center was a good one, as a great all-around team effort led the Cardinals to victory.

About two hundred fans cheered the Cardinals on as CUA and Washington College traded baskets early. With a 20-16 lead in hand, Catholic went on a 23-6 run to go into halftime with a 43-22 lead over the Shorewomen.

CUA’s defense shut down the Shorewomen in the first half, holding them to 30 percent shooting. CUA’s aggressive approach also yielded sixteen turnovers, many of which were converted into breakaway layups.

In the second half, the shots began to fall for Washington College, as they pulled within ten with a few minutes to go in the game. The Cardinals responded well, closing the game with a 13-5 run for the victory.

Sophomore Claire Flatley led all scorers with 22 points; senior captain Meg Hagarty and junior Carol Schnepp added 18 and 15 points, respectively. Junior guard Amy Tyluki created many scoring opportunities for her CUA teammates, dishing out eight assists.

The Cardinals got a lot of production off the bench. Sophomore center Kat McGlynn scored seven points and had five rebounds in nine minutes of play. Freshman Tara Petrolino wreaked havoc on the Shorewomen, stealing the ball four times in thirteen minutes of play.

The rest of the team played extremely well, too. Nine players played twelve minutes or more, and the reserves often increased the lead while the starters rested.

“Being at home for the first time, all the girls were really ready to play. We had a tremendous effort off of the bench. The focus was incredible,” said Lonergan about her team’s victory.

“We were able to press longer, since our bench was deeper than theirs. It was a huge part of our success,” she added.

The 80-46 loss Wednesday to York was the first game within the Capital Athletic Conference for the Cardinals. Cold shooting put the game out of reach.

Catholic made only 19 of 65 shots, a meager 29.2 percent. York raced out to a 41-21 halftime lead, and the Cardinals couldn’t catch up. Hagarty led the Cardinals with 15 points, and Schnepp added 12 for the Cardinals. Junior Jackie Yacenda provided support off the bench, with nine points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes.

The Cardinals have a busy stretch ahead, with four games in seven days, beginning with a home game against Goucher tomorrow at 2 p.m at the DuFour Center.

Globetrotters Invade DuFour Center

The Harlem Globetrotters, the world's most famous basketball team, came to the DuFour Center on Monday, Nov. 19 to help celebrate the men's basketball team's 2001 Division III National Championship. A packed house saw the Cards unveil their championship banner prior to an exhibition against the Globetrotters, who put on a show by defeating the Cards, 90-46.

The Globetrotters, who are comprised of former NBA and college players, visited Catholic University as the final stop on their nine-game Fall College Tour. The victory over the Cards was the eighth straight victory for the professional barnstorming squad.

"It was great to have a huge crowd out to watch us," said head coach Mike Lonergan. "I hate losing though, even if we're playing the Lakers," he added with a grin.

As the Globetrotters warmed up prior to the game, they wowed the capacity crowd with reverse layups and fancy slam dunks. After both teams finished their pregame warm-ups, the players from each squad exchanged t-shirts and handshakes.

"It was one of the most memorable moments of my college career," said junior C.J. Gilbert, who is also the sports announcer at DuFour. "To work with such a distinguished organization was an amazing thrill."

The Cards also unveiled the championship banner for the first time prior to the exhibition. Kurt Zeisler and Andy Rice, seniors from last year's squad, encountered a few problems. When they grabbed the ropes attached to the sheet of butcher paper across the banner, the ropes came off in their hands. It took Zeisler several leaping attempts to uncover the banner.

Cardinal junior forward Matt Hilleary came out hot once the game actually started. He scored the first eight Cardinal points.

The Cards jumped to a quick 10-9 lead five minutes into the game thanks to Hilleary's fast start. After a Globetrotter timeout, they went on a 27-7 run, taking control of the game.

Hilleary was Catholic's leading scorer, notching 19 points in addition to four rebounds and a block. He held his own in the paint against the massive bodies of the Globetrotter frontcourt, including 7'4" Keith Closs and 6'9", 315 lb. Oliver Miller.

Near the end of the game, Miller joined the Catholic "jayvee" cheerleaders at halfcourt to lead the crowd in a C-U-A chant.

After the game, members of both teams posed at midcourt for a photo. Several Globetrotters; including Donald Williams, Closs and Miller; remained on the court and signed autographs for the throngs of fans.

We Didn’t Believe It Either…

•Cost of a senior t-shirt…$10
•Amount you bet your friend to try to steal one…$5
•Price of watching a senior class senator chase your friend back to the dorm and later be taken out by Public Safety… Priceless

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