Archive for February, 2012
Feb. 29, 2012 — Experimenting
As long-time readers of this or any website know, the presentation of content is a major factor in what marketers call “the user experience.”
Most of you don’t care about said “user experience” as long as you can find what you need with ease.
This afternoon, our partners at WordPress came out with some interesting visual tools that allow changes to the look and feel of the site. We’ll try not to radically change everything like some search engines and social media hubs have done, but we’ll try to make the site better for you whether you’re on an actual computer or whether you are on a mobile device.
And thanks for reading.
Feb. 28, 2012 — Lacrosse needs to grow up
Back in my workaday life as with the dailies, I had a chance to get to know Trevor Tierney, who prepped at The Hun School of Princeton (N.J.) before matriculating to Princeton University and winning a World Cup with the United States in 2002.
Last week, on the occasion of the conviction of George Huguely on second-degree murder charges, he penned this. It’s a great read.
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Feb. 27, 2012 — Field hockey’s Native American roots, redux
A few years ago, this space championed the concept that the game of field hockey needed to champion its Native American roots in games like toka and shinny in order to add to the game’s background and lore.
Well, in the near future, there is going to be a feature film called The Road to Paloma, and, according to this story, filming on the Mohave reservation in Arizona — complete with a game of shinny — recently wrapped up.
I don’t know whether this movie is going to have a lot of shinny footage in it, but it is likely to be promoted with 10 times more backing than the average field hockey broadcast on television.
Feb. 26, 2012 — Two roads, divergent
They finished the final round of the New Dehli qualifier for the men’s Olympic field hockey tournament, and the feeling around Dhyan Chand Stadium was that the return of India to the Olympics, after stunningly failing to qualify for Beijing, was unsatisfying.
That was because India soundly defeated France 8-1 in the championship match, while the team that almost certainly was the top challenger to India did not make it into that final game.
That team was Canada. The Canadian men, which have split the last eight gold medals at the Pan American Games with Argentina, almost certainly should have contended with its veteran lineup including scorers Rob Short and Ken Pereira. But the Leafs had a pair of losses in pool play and slipped to the bronze-medal match; the format of this tournament, unlike many others, did not allow the top four to play out for the gold medal, only the top two.
Meanwhile, India glided through the tournament with an unblemished record and scores that remind one of video games. India outscored its opposition 44-9 in its six matches and was definitely the class of this six-nations tournament.
Of course, this sets up a situation where a billion people will be tuned into London to see whether the eight-time Olympic winners can contend.
Feb. 25, 2012 — A group of women taking what is theirs … twice
Today, with a 3-1 win over India, the South Africa women’s field hockey team qualified for the 2012 Olympics.
This came only a few months after the South African Olympic Committee did its team a disservice by making the team — the continental champion — qualify a second time.
I hope, after the beancounters absorb what it actually cost the Committee to send the team to New Delhi, there is a realization of their folly.
Feb. 24, 2012 — Danica, proving a point
The TopOfTheCircle.com Second Law of Field Hockey dictates that “the easiest way to improve your game is to not make the same mistake over and over again.” It’s akin to Ruby Mae Brown’s 1983 observation that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.”
The nature of competition, especially at its highest level, dictates that you can have a person or team of people doing something — throwing a baseball, making a first touch on a soccer ball, riding a horse — that actually does not result in the same outcome.
There are times when I’ve watched a golfers who ties for the lead at the 18th hole of a golf tournament. But when this golfer and the rest of the low-scorers go back to the 18th tee for the first hole of a playoff, I sometimes perceive a different hole from what I saw just a few minutes ago. I don’t know whether it’s because of camera angles or whether the announcers are doing a good job at describing a pressure-packed situation, but sometimes that 18th fairway looks narrower, the rough a bit more menacing, the bunkers deeper.
Thursday, at a 2 1/2-mile ribbon of asphalt called the Daytona International Speedway, Danica Patrick was wrecked coming off the penultimate turn of a 150-mile qualifying race. Tongues wagged about how Patrick, who is running stock cars full-time in 2012, may not necessarily belong with the men of NASCAR.
Today, on that same track (albeit with a car with a bit less horsepower at her command), Patrick won the pole position for the second-tier Nationwide Series. It’s a remarkable achievement, given the head-on crash she suffered against the inside wall of the Daytona Super Stretch. It’s very possible that, in the old configuration of the track, she might have had a closed-head injury similar to those that killed Kenny Irwin, Dale Earnhardt, and Adam Petty.
But Danica Patrick has always been made of ambitious stuff.
A hearty “well-played!” from this corner.
Feb. 23, 2012 — Not nearly enough
Last evening, a jury of seven men and four women in Charlottesville, Va. came down with a guilty verdict in the murder of former University of Virginia women’s lacrosse player Yeardley Love.
It was a crime that galvanized the university and shed a spotlight on relationship violence, alcohol abuse, and higher education’s role in each.
Yet, for the taking of an innocent life, the jury recommended that the now-convicted George Huguely receive a sentence of 25 years, plus one for the larceny of her notebook computer.
As this space said three years ago at the close of one episode of jurisprudence, it’s unfair that people who kill others wind up getting less jail time than people convicted of certain nonviolent (albeit just as salacious) crimes.
While there are, I’m sure, plenty of people who are ready to pick up and move on after this, your Founder isn’t one of them. Where is the outrage when an episode resulting in death is given less prison time than texting nude pictures over the Internet?
It does make me wonder about society’s willingness to give a free pass to people in athletic pursuits, from O.J. Simpson on down to college football players who carouse during the offseason in their segregated athletic dorms.
And for me, 26 years is not nearly enough punishment.
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Feb. 22, 2012 — NCAA Division I preview: breaking the dual wall
The Fearless 5ive
Florida
Maryland
North Carolina
Northwestern
Virginia
For the last 20 years, exactly four women’s lacrosse teams have won an NCAA national championship. The winners of six out of the last seven, Northwestern, lost only two starters from a team which bounced back from its first home loss in seven years to beat back every challenge. Shannon Smith, who could take her place alongside Karen Emas, Jen Adams, and Cherie Greer in women’s lacrosse’s Mount Rushmore, returns for her senior year. Smith (86 goals, 42 assists) assumed much more of a leadership role late in the season and willed the Cats a national title.
Her teammates were as astounding. Erin Fitzgerald (40 goals) also returns, along with close defenders Taylor Thornton and Lacey Vigmostad. Brianne LoManto returns for her final season in the goal cage.
The Cats, for the last two seasons, met Maryland in the national final. The Terps had a spirited run to the national title match without attacking midfielder Karri Ellen Johnson, who suffered a concussion and missed most of the season. The Terrapin attack, to its credit, picked up its game a notch. Alex Aust, Kristy Black, and Katie Schwartzmann played their hearts out late in the season.
The key for the Free Staters is going to be the play of the defense in front of goalie Brittany Dipper. Iliana Sanza is a presence in the defensive backfield, but the graduation of U.S. national team pooler Brittany Poist leaves a gaping spot in the back seven.
In the always-competitive ACC, North Carolina has been the Terrapins’ closest rival the last several seasons. But forward Corey Donahoe has graduated, leaving behind the responsibility for goal scoring to younger players. One of these is sophomore Abbey Friend, the ACC Rookie of the Year for 2011. She had 34 goals and 18 assists and will be counted upon to do more alongside Laura Zimmerman and Becky Lynch this year.
A resurgent Virginia will also challenge for ACC honors. Seniors Ainsley Baker, Josie Owens, Julie Gardner, and Charlie Finergan will lead the Cavaliers in a dark-horse challenge for the national title. A pair of freshmen will also see significant playing time: Courtney Swan, who helped Vero Beach (Fla.) to four state championships, and Sloan Warren, who scored 460 goals and assisted on 181 others at Bryn Mawr Baldwin School (Pa.).
But if Virginia is the dark horse in the race, Florida is moving forward on the rail like an absolute rocket. The Gators made the NCAA Tournament a year ago and even earned a win over eventual national champion Northwestern. There is no reason that Florida can’t do it again, especially in returning Kitty Cullen (77 goals, nine assists), who was a part of head coach Amanda O’Leary’s first freshman class.
Where the Gators are making improvements is on the defensive end. Goalie Mikey Meagher has been benefitting from the advanced shooting clinics given to her every day at practice and she is a true leader in the backfield. If Florida steps it up defensively, there is no reason why this team shouldn’t be in the Final Four.
Feb. 21, 2012 — NCAA Division II preview: a wide-open competition
The Fearless 5ive:
Adelphi
C.W. Post
LeMoyne
Lock Haven
West Chester
If you were taking odds last May as to whether Adelphi would be able to repeat as Division II women’s lacrosse champions, based upon its dominant performance in last year’s final against Limestone, you wouldn’t have figured upon head coach Joe Spallina taking himself and seven of his players to the north shore of Long Island. But what this has done is made Division II a wide-open competition for this year. Some of the most competitive and entertaining matches may be in this national tournament.
For the Panthers’ part, it is now up to head coach Rob Grella. He comes back home to Adelphi after a distinguished playing career for the men’s team. It will also be up to seven seniors who stayed when Spallina made the jump to Division I.
One of the likely contenders for Division II honors this year is LeMoyne, which has its best chance at a national championship after foundering at the edge of Division I for years. The Dolphins return senior attacker Brittany Brigandi, who, with 87 goals last year, may have been the single most unstoppable force this side of Corey Donahoe.
A team which may also contend is C. W. Post, which has added Kristin Leggio to the coaching staff to assist Megan McNamara. The Pioneers return leading scorer Lauren Spagnoletta (62 goals) and leading assister Jackie Sileo (67 assists). If this team figures out how to share the ball in the attack end and not have only one pair of players do the work, Post could be unbeatable.
West Chester boasts national titles in 2002 and 2008, but the Golden Rams have been unlucky not to have surpassed that total. The Golden Rams have been an outstanding program over the last decade, winning more NCAA Tournament fixtures than any other Division II school and have been in the national final eight times. Tori Dugan (46 goals) returns, but head coach Ginny Martino has a lot of starters to replace.
Another fixture in the Division II ranks is Lock Haven. Kayleigh Johnson (51 assists) and Jessica Pandolf (37 goals) return for the Eagles.
Feb. 20, 2012 — NCAA Division III preview: two bulls-eyes
The Fearless 5ive
Franklin & Marshall
Gettysburg
Hamilton
The College of New Jersey
Salisbury
One year after exiting the NCAA Tournament on its home ground, Gettysburg captured the national championship in 2011 and now has the unenviable challenge of trying to repeat. Despite a large target on its back, the Bullets have two of their major pieces back in place for this season. Forward Hannah Church had a record-setting NCAA Tournament in terms of goal-scoring, while goaltender Maddie Coleman had a number of 10-bell saves in the championship final against Bowdoin.
Gettysburg will have plenty of talent in the midfield, but will be playing five road games to start the season, including two in Florida in early March.
The reason The College of New Jersey will have a target on its back this spring is because of what a handful of players of this team did on the hockey pitch. Senior midfielders Leigh Mitchell and Kathleen Notos will lead a Lions team which had its own disappointment a year ago when it dropped a national semifinal to Bowdoin while leading the country in scoring and in defense.
The champions in 2010, Salisbury will have a definite physical edge, with several midfielders skying over 5-foot-10, which could give Jim Nestor’s crew an advantage on draw controls. Watch for attacker Logan Bilderback, who had a fine NCAA showing two years ago.
Ten seniors dot the Franklin & Marshall lacrosse roster, and the Diplomats return every player from last year’s Centennial Conference championship team. F&M went 19-3 a year ago, and this is a definite team to watch.
The same goes for Hamilton, which loses just three seniors from last year’s team, and will be looking to round into form for a 2012 run at the championship.
