UMD past due for new Athletic Center

With only 5000 square feet, some students say that the Fitness Center in UMass Dartmouth’s Tripp Athletic Center doesn’t leave much breathing room for those working out.

By Adam K. Ellis

With an ever-expanding student population and limited campus athletic resources, it is time the university opened up their pockets and began to spread some of the wealth around campus — (cough) Parking Fees (cough)! Why pardon me. Seems in the midst of this late fall chill I have caught a cold.

All jokes aside, it has become evident with 2,000 intramural participants and an estimated additional 1,200 students frequenting the gym throughout the semester that further facilities are needed to accommodate the current and growing athletic-student body. The gym and fields are packed with varsity teams looking to practice and the Fitness Center is loaded with the teams’ athletes and gym rats.

Although the Fitness Center does its best to acclimate to the students needs, they are underprivileged. The weight room is roughly 5000 square feet and on crowded days, can see as many as 100 students attempting to workout. The most popular section of the Fitness Center doesn’t have enough room for interested students to use equipment at once. Students are forced to wait their turn — or turn away and leave.

“They added a few new weights a couple years ago, but that’s not enough,” said Intramural athlete and gym frequenter Mizz C.

“Overall the Fitness Center isn’t big enough. During football it’s so hard to get a spot in the gym because all the football players are always in there,” Mizz C continued. “Sure I’d like to see some improvements and I think the school has the money to make a separate gym; so you can have one for athletes and one for other students.”

“The buildings are way too small,” said junior/senior business major Matthew Klein. “They were built for another time and age, but when administration decided to pump up the size of the school, they fell behind.”

When asked if he thought if he would be around to see some of the changes, Klein replied, “Let’s just say that the first week of school I put in a work request to fix my stove and they still haven’t done it. Look how long it took them to renovate the Dell. Change only occurs when they choose to do something. I don’t see that happening.”

These students are just a small sample of the grumbling that can be heard on campus and in the locker rooms. If you were to poll the coaches, I am positive you find a similar sentiment. Instead of having to constantly boot intramural athletes in the midst of competition off the courts before practice, coaches would be provided with a sense of peace and exclusivity.

In response to the limited athletic facilities of the university, Head Coach of Women’s Lacrosse and Director of Intramurals Jerry Jennings described the difficulties of scheduling with such limited facilities, “In terms of the limited facilities we have at our expense, it takes a group effort. All the coaches have made an effort to consistently work together to ensure that there is enough time for everyone to use the courts and fields.”

Jennings continued, “As a coach, I bring my girls in the gym at six in the morning to practice. It’s convenient, it’s quiet and we can concentrate on the game. But it’s tough. It would certainly make things easier if we were to add another athletic facility.”

The problem has been laid before you and it shall only get worse. Unfortunately for juniors and seniors, the monetary decision to continually increase freshman enrollment each year, has left the upperclassmen feeling a bit cramped, and their window of opportunity has closed. But for underclassmen, heed my warning: A plan of action must be developed soon or by the time you are juniors and seniors, the student population of UMD will be even greater and the athletic accessibility will certainly be more limited.

Corsairs’ late rally comes up short

MILTON, Mass. — The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s football team staged a late rally, but fell short as they bowed to defending Northeast Football Conference champion Curry, 40-25, in an NEFC Boyd Division game at rainy Walter Katz Field Saturday afternoon.

The Corsairs, who saw the Colonels break a 9-9 second quarter tie with three consecutive touchdowns, scored 10 points in the third quarter to make it 30-19 and tallied again in the fourth quarter to make it 37-25 before Curry’s David Vincent kicked a 30-yard field goal with 3:23 remaining to cap the scoring.

UMass Dartmouth trailed by 21 points when they began their comeback in the third quarter. Starting at their own 47-yard line, they drove 53 yards in eight plays, including a 22-yard run by senior running back Bob Sullivan and a 21-yard pass from junior quarterback Alex Garro to junior running back Aaron Russo. Garro connected with senior tight end Charles Gryska from seven yards out to make it 30-16.

The Colonels fumbled the ball on the first play of their next possession, and senior defensive back John Waldron recovered at the CC 33. The Corsairs drove to the Curry nine, but Garro was sacked on third down, and sophomore kicker George Vasiliadis drilled a 33-yard field goal to make it 30-19.

The Colonels came back and extended their lead. They went 60 yards on six plays on their next possession. Quarterback Ryan Van De Giesen connected with Brian Taylor for 38 yards to put the ball at the UMD 11-yard line. Two plays later, Van De Giesen and Taylor connected from six yards out to make it 37-19.

An interception by freshman defensive back Mario Joseph set the Corsairs up at the Curry 40-yard line late in the third quarter. It took UMass Dartmouth 10 plays to go 40 yards, including a three-yard run by freshman Alex Amaral on fourth and two at the Colonel nine-yard line.

Garro hit Vasiliadis, who was in the game as an extra tight end, with a five-yard touchdown pass to make it 37-25 with 14:09 remaining. A two-point conversion attempt failed.

Curry drove to the UMass Dartmouth 45 on their next possession, and a Vincent punt pinned the Corsairs at their own one-yard line. A pair of Sullivan rushes got UMass Dartmouth out of trouble, but the Colonels got the ball back at the Corsair 41 after Garro’s pass was picked off by Scott Driscoll with 10:07 remaining.

Senior linebacker Bill Reiss and sophomore defensive end Anthony Musto sacked Van De Giesen for a 10-yard loss on Curry’s first play, but Steve DiFabio ran 42 yards on third down and 25 to set the Colonels up at the UMass Dartmouth 14. The Corsair defense stiffened, but Vincent kicked a 30-yard field goal with 6:35 remaining.

UMass Dartmouth had two more possessions. The first one ended when Sullivan was stopped by Daniel Dawson on fourth and one at the Curry 32 with 4:26 to play. Two plays later, sophomore defensive back Chris Ciesluk recovered a fumble at the Curry 47. The Corsairs drove to the Curry 35, but four consecutive incompletions ended the drive, and the Colonels ran out the clock.

UMass Dartmouth scored first. Reiss recovered a fumble on Curry’s first play, and Garro hit Gryska for 13 yards and a touchdown to make it 7-0 two minutes and six seconds into the game.

Vincent’s 34-yard field goal made it 7-3 with 5:46 left in the first quarter. A short punt led to the Colonels’ second score, a 14-yard pass from Van De Giesen to Borukhov that capped a 31-yard, two-play drive just over a minute later.

The Corsairs tied the score when senior defensive tackle Chris Azevedo sacked Van De Giesen in the end zone for a safety with 2:25 left in the first quarter.

“Our kids did a great job, we were in it right until the last few minutes,” said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Mark Robichaud. “We finished up strong. They scored 21 points in the second quarter, and it would been easy to pack it in, but we came back.”

Robichaud continued, “There were a lot of turnovers, and a lot of crazy things. Our defense did a great job in the beginning of the second half to let us get back into the game. Curry is the best team we’ve played, and we hung in there with them.”

Sullivan rushed 17 times for 81 yards to lead a Corsair ground attack that picked up 95 yards for the day.

Garro completed 17 passes in 42 attempts for 203 yards. Gryska caught three passes for 54 yards and scored twice.

Russo caught four passes for 68 yards, and senior wide receiver Derek George caught five passes for 49 yards.

DiFabio led the Colonels with eight carries for 65 yards, as the Colonels gained 157 yards on the ground. Van De Giesen was 11 of 27 passing for 201 yards, Felix Borukhov caught seven passes for 129 yards and two touchdowns, and Taylor caught three passes for 61 yards.

The game featured 11 turnovers, six by the victors. The Corsairs turned the ball over three times on downs after failing on fourth down plays.

UMass Dartmouth dropped to 5-5 and 4-4 in the NEFC Boyd Division with the defeat, while Curry improved to 10-0 and 7-0 with the victory. The game was the final action of the season for the Corsairs. Curry will host Coast Guard next Saturday for the NEFC championship and a bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL ROUNDUP

Undefeated teams face different fates

By Trevor Mederios

Well, it had to happen sooner or later, and for the Boston College Eagles, their first loss of the season happened sooner than many hoped. The Eagles were dealt their first loss on national television last Saturday night, dropping a 27-17 decision to Florida State.

Quarterback Matt Ryan’s Heisman hopes took a major hit in the loss to the Seminoles. He did throw for 415 yards, but he also threw a career-high three interceptions. One of the picks was returned for a touchdown late in the game by Geno Hayes, which essentially put the upset on ice for Bobby Bowden and FSU.

On the other side, Seminole quarterback Drew Weatherford has been involved in a QB tug-of-war between himself and Xavier Lee. With Lee out of the picture due to a suspension, Weatherford took the reigns under center and possibly took control of the job for good. He threw for 354 yards and had two big touchdown passes to outplay Matty Ice in Chestnut Hill.

The Seminole offense has been inconsistent all season, but played very consistently under Weatherford’s guidance. Of course, the BC defense played most of the game without star linebacker Joloon Dunbar. He left the game early in the first half with an injury.

With the loss, the Eagles’ chances of playing for the national championship were washed away with the rain that pelted Alumni Stadium on Saturday. Given the soft schedule and an overall lack of respect for the program, it will be nearly impossible the BC to make it to the big game, even if they run the table the rest of the way.

With that being said, the Eagles still have a lot to play for. Despite the poor outing, Ryan still has a great chance of bringing home the Heisman if he plays well the last three games. Also, the Eagles only have one loss in the conference, so BC still controls its own destiny in the ACC.

There’s another primetime game for Boston College this Saturday, as the Eagles travel to College Park to take on Maryland. Considering how they’ve owned the Terps over the last two years, this Saturday’s result should be no different for BC.

Arizona goes down

Boston College wasn’t the only unbeaten to suffer a loss, as Arizona State was dealt its first loss, 35-23, to Oregon. Ducks quarterback Dennis Dixon catapulted himself to the front of the Heisman race, throwing four touchdown passes. He has 20 touchdowns against only two interceptions so far this year.

It’s safe to say Oregon’s playing great football this year. I mean, how many programs can say they defeated Michigan and USC in the same season? At the very worst, the Ducks will punch a ticket to the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day. That game could possibly be a rematch with the Wolverines, who they humiliated in the Big House in week two.

Moving the chains

The unbeaten Kansas Jayhawks put up 76 points on Nebraska this past weekend. Oh, and by the way, that’s the Kansas football team, not its basketball team.

Forget New York, the real Mangenius resides in Lawrence. Head Coach Mark Mangino has his team knocking on the door in the Big 12 North. The Jayhawks are 9-0. Led by quarterback Todd Reesing (six touchdowns against Nebraska), Kansas is a force to be reckoned with in the Big 12.

If Notre Dame hadn’t hit rock bottom yet this year, they certainly did against Navy. The Midshipmen won 46-44 in triple overtime to snap a 43-game losing streak to ND. Yeah, that’s right; Navy hadn’t beaten the Golden Domers since Mick Jagger was a kid.

I could see if the Irish lost to a good Navy team, but this is not a good Navy team. The Middies were coming off a 59-52 loss to I-AA Delaware the week before. However, they looked like world-beaters against the Fightless Irish.

At this point, even UMD could give ND a run for its money.

PROFESSOR TORCH

By Adam K. Ellis

During opening night at the Garden, I felt the need to express my feelings towards what looks to be a very promising season. So in a Bill Simmons-like fashion, here is a running diary of Friday night’s opener versus the Washington Wizards.

8:00 – Man oh man.... It’s official, I have the chills. We are moments away from tip-off to a meaningful Celtics’ game. You can just sense a different atmosphere in the crowd that hasn’t been there, since...those days my dad used to talk about, which I wasn’t alive for. Know that tonight, the true diehard Celtics’ fan around the country are breathing a sigh of relief. A true diehard Cs fan can be categorized as one who can remember suffering through the past 15-20 years of mediocrity; the days of the M.L. Carr led C’ featuring Pervis Ellison, the nightmare that was Rick Pitino, the Jim O’Brien tease-me-era, and what was known as the Danny Ainge rebuilding process.

8:06 – Lineups are introduced. Someone pinch me please. Slap me. Punch me right in the face, right in the kisser. Anything to know that this isn’t a dream, that our lineup really consists of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett. It’s too good to be true.

8:07 – Paul Pierce attempts to deliver a heartfelt speech giving love to the fans who have stuck around for the past 10 years he has been here and dealt with the ups and downs (mainly downs). If this is a Hollywood like season, then I can think of no better of a way to start off the magical beginning than Paul Pierce at mid-court, addressing the fans.

8:09 – The tip-off is about to take place and some reason I can picture all of the diehard Cs fans I have met around campus over the years and picture them salivating in front of their televisions as I am. The NBA has fallen in popularity since the days of Michael Jordan. So to find someone who will converse about the NBA is like being in a foreign country and finding someone who speaks your language. It’s pathetic, but NBA-lovers now share the same characteristics as chess-league cronies. But speaking of televisions, this game is one of the reasons I purchased a high definition television this summer. It’s as close as I get to a girlfriend these days. Man oh man, what a beautiful picture. What a woman.... Umm, back to the game....

8:12 – Tommy (Heinsohn) and Mike (Gorman) pop up with a comment in which Gilbert Arenas guaranteed a Boston loss tonight. But the way this Cs team is playing defense, it’s going to a long night for the Wizards.

An old high school teammate of mine said that playing with a group of players as good as the Big Three are is contagious to the rest of the team. Their attitudes permeate throughout the locker room and spill onto the court in the form of high intensity basketball. I liked the analogy so much, I had to steal it to describe the defense the C’s are playing tonight.

8:14 – Kevin Garnett’s first point in a Celtics uniform comes via the foul line. Which allows Tommy Heinsohn to indulge on his new man crush (K.G). Heinsohn and Gorman are like distant relatives that you don’t know how much you miss when they are away, until the season begins again and they make you feel right at home.

8:34 – First Tommy Point of the Year goes to Brian Scalabrine with 20 seconds left in the first!

8:35 – First quarter action ends with a 9-4 C’s run, keyed by seven straight points from Ray Allen. Allen is as expected: cutting, flashing and scoring at ease. The only knock against him is that silly 70’s porn star mustache he has decided to carry into the season. To avoid confusion between Tony Allen and him, I shall refer to Ray as his He Got Game name for the remainder of the season. Ladies and gentleman, Number 20, Jesus Shuttlesworth.

8:41 - Despite not shooting well (2-6), Garnett has played great defense and has been very active on the boards (5). Chalk the shooting up to nerves, evidenced by his first shot as a Celtic: a line drive backboard airball off the opposite side of the hoop.

2nd Quarter

8:45 – C’s push the lead up to 11, beginning the second quarter with a 14-6 run. Pierce reminds the Garden of who the captain of this team is, as he begins the second with 8 points including two threes. Tony Allen also chimed in with a defensive stops and some aggressive offense. After watching his knee bend sideways last year, I am just enjoying the fact that he is on the court. If he could return to be the player he was before he tore his ACL, Allen has a real good shot of being the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year. Don’t believe me? Check out some of the Youtube videos dedicated to this man.

8:57 – K.G comes back in after sitting the first five minutes of the quarter. Immediately he asserts his presence with a block on Brendon Haywood and a Hakeem Olajuwon like post-fadeaway. C’s up 45-30.

9:01 – This is what the first half has looked like: Kendrick Perkins or K.G sets a high screen for Pierce; Pierce drives or pulls up for an easy jumper. Which leads me to believe that Pierce is going to have a monster year without the defense being able to key in on him. Pierce, for the half: 8 for 13; 3 for 5 from downtown; 19 points and 4 rebounds.

9:05 – Moments later, Heinsohn steals my thunder by exclaiming, “the Wizards are playing Pierce man-to-man. In year’s past they would send two or three players at him, but with Garnett and Ray Allen on the court, they don’t know what to do defensively.” Thanks Tommy.

9:11 – This gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, “What’s eating Gilbert (Arenas in this case)? Arenas may want to retract that guarantee. C’s are up 58-36 heading into halftime and have absolutely looked liked the better team.

3rd Quarter

Second half play is about to begin and I don’t see how these Wizards are going to stop the C’s. They don’t have enough defensively to matchup to the three-headed monster. Brendan Haywood is far too slow to cover K.G or to step up and stop Pierce from driving to the hoop off the high pick-and-roll. And if that wasn’t enough already, Jesus Shuttlesworth is just one drive and kick away from another spot up three. Wizards Coach Eddie Jordan looks like he could be in one of those Southwest Airline commercials…..Wanna get away?

9:39 – First WOW of the season - Proceeding a 6-0 Wizards run, Rivers calls a timeout. And for those who didn’t watch last year (and I don’t blame you), when Rivers called a timeout, the young, inexperienced roster the C’s had didn’t do much with it. Following this Rivers T.O., the little-engine-that-could Rajon Rondo sparks an 8-2 run with 4 points and a solid dish off to Kendrick Perkins. Danny Ainge has transformed a young inexperienced team into a veteran savvy-and-skilled squad within 5 months…..impressive.

9:53 – A Vince Wilfork sighting!!! – Wilfork takes up the width of my entire HDTV with his enormous body. Like many other celebrities, the Garden is the place to be tonight. My buddy Mike who has stopped in for some second half action chimes in with this observation, “ How do they get a jersey to fit him?” For Mike’s sake, I give him credit. After seeing the flurry of individuals who have paraded onto the C’s potential championship boat, he has proved himself to be a true sports fan, by not jumping on “because it’s the thing to do”. Bandwagon jumping: I don’t know why it bothers me, but it does. It’s that “you didn’t live through what we all lived through so don’t try to pawn it off as if you did” mentality.

Anyhow, while we’re on the subject of the Pats, come Thursday when you’re reading this and all the national hype has surrounded the 9-0 Patriots and all the prognosticators are now predicting a perfect season, I have this one request of Bill Belichick. During your weekly press conference, just walk into the press room, draw a line, tell each journalist to pick a number, drop you draws, bend over and tell em’ to line to kiss you’re a&#. Because that’s what they will be doing. Bandwagon jumping seems to be the fashionable thing to do in New England these days.

4th Quarter

10:11 – Back to the action, as the Wizards are closing the gap 83-68, but the sand in the hour glass is slipping away for poor Gilbert. For his sake, he has opened the fourth quarter on a tear, scoring the first four and assisting on the next two baskets. Despite shooting just 5-17 from the field, Arenas leads the Wiz with 21.

10:13 – Garnett pulls down a board and hits a streaking Paul Pierce, who outjumps Caron Butler for the loose ball. Pierce takes it to the rack, gets fouled by Arenas and finishes for the “and 1”.

10:20 – The first “Don’t you know I’m Kevin Garnett #$%#” scream comes at the expense of Arenas on a monstrous block. Garnett’s scream may be on par with some of those Chuck Norris lines, “When Chuck Norris does a pushup, he isn’t lifting himself up, he’s pushing the Earth down.”

10:28 – Beautiful Sequence of Events: Shuttlesworth grabs an offensive rebound after a series of good ball movement, swings it to Pierce, who in turn kicks it to Garnett. The lane clears out and Garnett easily takes Haywood one-on-one with a Hakeem like jump hook. Celts by 21 with three minutes to play.

10:35 – Much to the delight of the crowd, Rivers pulls Pierce and Garnett with 2:28 left in the game to a roaring ovation. Garnett puts his arm around Pierce and both walk off the court exhausted, yet victorious. Scalabrine knocks down two “garbage time” threes and the crowd taunts Arenas, chanting “Gilbert” as the clock expires.

Final Score: Boston 103 Washington 83

Final Thoughts

The Big Three: 67 points on 50 % shooting, 11 assists, 29 rebounds, 3 steals, 4 blocked shots, and a renewed sense of confidence.

It’s the first game of a long 82 game season, so I won’t get ahead of myself, but tonight the C’s looked real good. They played with a high amount of energy, hustled to loose balls, played great defense for most of the night, and looked offensively cohesive, for a unit who hasn’t run much together. On the contrary, the Wizards also looked plain bad and just seemed lost for long bouts out on the court. Whether that was a product of the mismatches created by the C’s weapons, only time will tell. It’s a long season and I encourage you to C’s fans to enjoy every moment of it. If ever for a moment you get frustrated this season, I will also issue this challenge out: remember where this team was a year ago at this time. Be happy. Life is good.

Volleyball drops LEC playoff match

DANBURY, CT — The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s volleyball team dropped a hard-fought, five-game match to host Western Connecticut State in five games in a Little East Conference playoff match at the Stephen Feldman Arena Tuesday evening. The Colonials won 30-20, 30-25, 23-30, 29-31 and 15-7.

Junior outside hitter Hilary Teichert led UMass Dartmouth with 24 kills and three blocks, senior outside hitter Nazareth Cardoso added 20 kills and 23 digs, junior setter Mellanie Staiger had 44 assists, and junior libero Aly Zagame had 22 digs.

While the loss was disappointing, UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Steve DeRossi said his team played as well as they were capable of playing.

“We were as scrappy as we’ve been all year, and we gave it everything we had,” said DeRossi.

DeRossi continued, “We played our hearts out and left everything on the floor, and everyone can go out with their heads held high. This is the best match we played this year.”

The Corsairs dropped to 6-20 in the Little East Conference with the defeat, which ended their season.

Western Connecticut improved to 18-11 and advanced to the semi-finals of the conference tournament Friday evening.

Swimmers split at University of New England

BIDDEFORD, ME — The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s swimming team split their dual meet at the University of New England at the UNE Campus Pool Saturday afternoon.

The Corsairs dropped the women’s meet, 122-83, but won the men’s competition against the UNE club team, 102-60.

In the women’s meet, senior Renee Kruszyna won the 1000 yard freestyle in 11:50.45, seniors Katelyn Chase won the 200 yard freestyle in 2:09.95 and the 500 yard freestyle in 5:52.94, and sophomore Kathleen Foley won the 200 yard breaststroke in 2:44.72.

For the men, freshman Craig Johnson won the 50 yard freestyle in 23.87 seconds and the 100 freestyle in 53.76 and was a member of the victorious 400 yard freestyle relay team, which finished first in 3:46.12 and also included freshman David Adams, sophomore Andrew Adams and sophomore Nate Landry. Landry won the 200 yard butterfly in 2:31.26, David Adams won the 500 freestyle in 6:03.69, and freshman Steve Szarek won the 200 yard breaststroke in 2:27.97.

“We had some good performances today,” said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Cathy Motta. “Renee Kruszyna, Katie Chase and Kathleen Foley swam well. On the women’s side, they just had more depth than we did. The men swam great, we had some good performances from Craig Johnson, Nate Landry, Steve Szarek and our 400 freestyle relay team, which won by a lot. It wasn’t bad for our second meet, but we still have some work to do.”

The Corsair women fell to 1-1 with their defeat, while the Nor’ Easter women improved to 2-0. The men’s meet will not count in the Corsairs’ overall record. UMass Dartmouth will return to action when they visit Bridgewater State Tuesday evening.

MMA

Lesnar to the UFC

By Timm Freitas

After a short career in the WWE and a failed attempt at playing pro football with the Minnesota Vikings, heavyweight Brock Lesnar has decided to try a new sport, mixed martial arts (MMA), and even though he has only one professional fight on his record, he has recently inked a deal with the UFC.

This deal is big news — well, sort-of. Last year at this time there was no question that the UFC’s heavyweight division was by far their thinnest, but with the signing of Antonio Nogueira, Mirko “Cro-Cop,” Heath Herring, and now Brock Lesnar, along with the re-emergence of Brandon Vera, Tim Sylvia, and Randy Couture (maybe), the weight class is undoubtedly stacked.

This is good news for fans, but for Lesnar it may be a problem. Even though he’s got muscles the size of China, in a sport of technicality like MMA this means nothing. He doesn’t have half the experience of most fighters in the UFC and his only win in the sport was over MMA no-name, Min Soo Kim.

So the question will soon be, how will this giant of a man face up to his smaller yet more experienced, more skilled opponents?

According to UFC president Dana White, we won’t know until February when Lesnar makes his UFC debut, against an unnamed opponent. There is no question that Lesnar is a tough dude who could probably make it in the sport of MMA, but will he be able to make it in the UFC? Who knows, but you know what they say about competition his size, “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”