Fordham steals a win at Binghamton

Brian Gallagher

           

            On the crisp, cloud covered afternoon of September 14, Fordham University Men’s Rugby defeated the Binghamton University Devils on their home pitch, 24-7.  These two teams played a tightly contested game last season and this year’s matchup proved to be no different. 

            From the opening kickoff, the competition was fierce.  Binghamton took advantage of early Fordham penalties and a larger pack to pin the Rams in their own territory, dominating the territory for the early portion of the game.  Backed up to their own goal-line, the Fordham ruggers fought hard, and were able to stymie the larger Binghamton team until the team relinquished possession.

            Fordham then marched down the pitch—only to have every major linebreak spoiled by sloppy ball-handling.  Each time, the Rams were able to regain possession.  Eventually, the Devils committed a penalty too close to their own goal, allowing for Fordham to convert the penalty and take a 3-0 advantage.  3-0 would be the score as the halftime whistle sounded. 

            Coming into the second half, the Devils were reinvigorated.  Binghamton pushed the Rams back, eventually getting a score of their own, bringing the game score to 7-3.  Binghamton’s lead would not hold.

            Fordham rugby pushed, channeling their attack through the backline and spreading the ball against a Binghamton side whose poor fitness began to show.  Fordham rode the performance of sophomore center Jace Caulfield, who had broken the line for large gains several times before scoring a brace of tries to extend Fordham’s lead to 17-7—all the while delivering bone-crushing hits on defense.

            Fordham’s runs in the second half deflated Binghamton, who would allow one more try to Rams winger A.J. Shoemaker.  Fordham was also lead by the defense of junior scrum-half Nick Brucculeri, who harried Binghamton’s number 9 all game, disrupting all of his passes to the backline. 

           When the dust settled, Fordham had won 24-7.  This week, Fordham celebrates homecoming with a game against the longtime rival U.S. Merchant Marine Academy under the lights at Murphy field in the Bronx at 8:30 p.m.  Binghamton will continue to look for their first win against St. Bonaventure at Binghamton.

Fordham rugby falls to Stony Brook

By Brian Gallagher

 September 6, 2013- On a beautiful Bronx night, the Fordham Rams kicked off the fall Empire Conference season by taking on a familiar foe, the Stony Brook University Seawolves.  The Rams would fall to the Seawolves in a 33-20 defeat.

            Stony Brook proved to be the more disciplined side from the outset, jumping to an early 10-0 lead thanks to strong kicking by senior fly-half P.J. Abelein.  Fordham then capitalized on Stony Brook penalties, managing to bring the score to 10-3 before the halftime whistle sounded.

            The Rams entered the second half looking like a fresh team.  Fordham’s ruggers pushed down the field taking advantage of sloppy play by the Stony Brook side to drive in 3 tries, using a mix of driving forward ball and sideline to sideline play by the backs, sophomore flanker Rusty Gough shined brightest, scoring a try off of a. maul, and handling the kicking duties for Fordham.  By the 60^th minute, the Rams had steamed to a 20-10 lead. 

            Stony Brook would not be held down.  The Seawolves exploited the fatigue of the Fordham side, bringing the score to 33-20, before playing a territorial game—pinning the Rams within their own territory.  33-20 would prove to be the final score. 

            Next week, Fordham takes on Binghamton in Binghamton, while Stony Brook will visit Syracuse.  

Fordham Needs to Play Favorites

            There comes a point in a parent’s life when the child will ask, “Mommy, who is your favorite?”  The answer is almost always noncommittal, saying both are equal.  Fordham is that parent and the men’s basketball team and football team are the siblings.  But this time, Fordham has to pick the favorite, and that favorite has to be basketball.

            Football is a fantastic sport, and it can prove to be very profitable for a good team.  Fordham is simply too small of a school to be successful at the Division 1 level of football.  Of the schools currently in the NCAA top 25, only TCU and Stanford have enrollments comparable to Fordham’s, but neither schools have basketball programs comparably successful to their football programs. 

            Smaller schools, however, can be very successful at Division 1 basketball.  The recent NCAA tournaments have seen schools such as Villanova, St. John’s, Duke, Baylor, Gonzaga, and St. Bonaventure compete; all of these schools having comparable or smaller enrollments than Fordham.

            The decision to favor men’s basketball would be just more financially sound.  Last year, according to fordhamfans blog, Fordham had the fifth highest football budget in the FCS, and with that budget the Rams won just one game.  Assuming all the games were sellouts, the team would earn only $525,000 from ticket sales over the course of the season.  For basketball, despite having a smaller total capacity when playing in the Rose Hill Gym, the larger amount of home games would have team earning nearly $625,000, assuming again that all games were sell outs. 

            The annual profit of basketball teams is another draw to favoring basketball.  If the football budget was reduced, and some of the funds were redirected to basketball, the investment could yield great rewards.  According to Forbes, the top 20 most valuable men’s basketball teams averaged around $10 million in profit.

            Of basketball and football, it would be easier to create the most hype with a resurgent basketball program.  The hype can already be seen.  Last season, when Fordham was a middle of the pack team, the YES network was providing coverage to some games.  With the YES network already working with the team, an improvement in the team would likely see more games picked up by the YES network, allowing Fordham basketball to reach a larger audience and earn more form the TV contract. 

            Tradition also dictates that Fordham should choose the basketball team.  As a school with a Catholic tradition, men’s basketball is in the fibers of Fordham.  Catholic schools have a tradition of excelling at basketball.  Schools like Gonzaga, Georgetown, and St. John’s all have excellent basketball programs, and even Fordham was very good in the past. 

            A full revival of the Fordham basketball program would see a battle for New York take place with St. John’s, and it would reinvigorate a city that loves its basketball, opening up the entirety of New York City for Fordham to recruit in.  The opportunities are boundless, but it is time for Fordham play favorites.

Salem and Cooperstown?

            “Witch!  Witch!” the townspeople of Salem Massachusetts once cried.  Searching for people that were doing out of the ordinary things, then taking them to court.  Where an accusation, even suspicion meant guilt.  We like to think those days have long passed, but if you take a look at the Baseball Hall of Fame ballots, you see the same situation developing with the eligible players. 

            The Baseball Hall of Fame is defined by the players kept out, but up until recently the main debate over whether or not a player belongs in the Hall of Fame was on the field performance.  Now the voters must take into account the possibility of the use of performance enhancing drugs with every player that played from 1990 to the present.  As more and more players are discovered as having done steroids, the picture gets cloudier for the entire generation of players.  Because no steroid testing was done until 2003, there is no way of knowing which players have done steroids and which players have not.  This puts the voters for the Hall of Fame in an interesting predicament.  Many of the old school voters have chosen to not vote for any of the players of the era, while other voters have decided to do a case by case basis.  But do the steroid users belong in the Hall of Fame?

            The answer is yes.  Simply put, we just don’t know who has used performance enhancing drugs and who hasn’t.  That being the case, we cannot prevent deserving players out of the Hall of Fame based on suspicion of use.  Even for the players who have been found to be using steroids, or who have admitted to steroid use, they too deserve a place in the Hall of Fame.  Players such as Mark McGwire and Alex Rodriguez played in an era where using steroids didn’t even go against the laws of the game.  If a player used a substance that was well within the legal boundaries of baseball at the time, why should that player be punished for it; in fact, shouldn’t a player be punished for not taking every measure possible to become the best baseball player he could be?  If a businessman had the opportunity to be earning and performing at levels far and above that of a normal businessman, would he not be admonished or fired for not taking that opportunity?  The fact of the matter is that the steroid culture in baseball in the ‘90s and early 2000’s was far larger than anybody first imagined. 

            According to players from the era, such as Curt Schilling, it seems that over 50% of the players used performance enhancing drugs.  If that figure is correct, and the players would be the best source for that information, then the playing field was level as far as steroids are concerned, and the players weren’t getting any advantage, if pitchers and hitters both used steroids. Furthermore, both good players, like Mark McGwire, and journeymen, like David Segui, used performance enhancing substances, so it was common, and not just great players used them.  It is also impossible to tell whether or not a player used steroids if no tests were done, so feasibly, players from the late ‘80s who are in the Hall of Fame already could have been using performance enhancing drugs. 

            The real damage from not letting anyone into the Hall of Fame from the era is the damage done to players who have not done any performance enhancing drugs, but are guilty by association.  For example, Jeff Bagwell was a fantastic first baseman with Houston.  If Bagwell had played in any other era, he would be a Hall of Famer, yet now he languished on the ballot.  Bagwell, although never accused of steroid use, has become guilty because of his fantastic numbers (a .297 batting average and 449 home runs).  Numbers should be used to put a player in the Hall, not used as evidence to incriminate him.  Also, what is sadder than a spot on the timeline devoid of Hall of Famers, devoid of heroes.  The same men who saved baseball with their home runs are now paying the price of not being remembered by the sport they loved.  So unless players are allowed into the Hall of Fame, more and more players will fall victim to the modern witch hunt.              

Not a One Man Fix

            Just under a year ago, 34^th Street was glowing, prepared to embrace the triumphant return of a homegrown hero.  Now, an iconic building has an ever growing feeling of disdain festering within its walls.  The building, of course, is Madison Square Garden.  After the Knicks gutted their roster to acquire Carmelo Anthony in February of 2011, excitement swept New York.  When the Knicks played .500 basketball after the trade—the sentiment being fed to masses was patience, and that “Next year” would be the year that Amare and Carmelo and the rest of the Knickerbockers became a winning force.  Following an early playoff exit, the Knicks retooled in the offseason, picking up defensive dynamo Tyson Chandler play center, and give defensively last ranked Knicks some help on that end of the court.  Starting as preseason favorites, now, more than one month into the season, the Knicks are 7-13, but the latest news is that there is hope, once Baron Davis returns, the Knicks will resume winning ways.  Baron Davis—yeah right.  The arrival of one player cannot fix the Knicks.

            The Knicks’ problems are far worse than lacking depth at the point guard spot, the entire team is suffering.  Perhaps the most obvious problem with the Knicks is their 3-point shooting.  This season, the 3 point shot has not been finding the bottom of the basket for the Knicks, yet it appears that the Knicks have grown infatuated with the 3, taking as many as 43 in a single game!  What’s worse for the Knicks is that they are only converting 30% of those shots; furthermore, the 3 point “marksmen” of last season have disappeared, with Toney Douglas, Carmelo Anthony and Landry Fields shooting 25, 30, and 22 percent from beyond the arc respectively.  The Knicks have had poor shot selection with the 3 as well, shooting them when well covered, and at times when a surer bucket is available.  Baron Davis’ presence on the court cannot fix the shots of his teammates, and he cannot remove the fascination with the 3 ball that the rest of the Knicks have, as they refuse to stop shooting a ridiculous amount of them, 23.8 per game to be exact, which places them for 3^rd most in the league.  Another serious issue that the Knicks face is the complete disappearance of their star forward, Amare Stoudemire.  Stoudemire is a shadow of his former self on the floor, once being a dominant and important scoring force for this Knicks team, he now fouls almost apathetically, sometimes getting only 20 minutes on the court.  The Knicks need Stoudemire to play.  Stoudemire is also missing open looks regularly, shooting a dreadful 42% from the field, a full 11 percentage points beneath his career average.  Putting Baron Davis into the mix will not let Amare drive to the basket more effectively, nor will it improve his shot.  The shot that the Knicks desperately need.  Last season, Amare averaged 25 points per game,  and the team as a whole ranked 2^nd in points per game. Now the Knicks rank 17^th in points per game.  Lastly, and most importantly, the Knicks are playing lazily and apathetically.  With one exception, the rookie Iman Shumpert, who hustles all over the court.  The rest of the team trots down the court, and never appears to be fazed by defeat, even to much lesser opponents.  After a turnover, the Knicks will play lackadaisical defense, whether it be fouling without challenging a shot, or failing to even defend the perimeter, as the Knicks have been destroyed from outside all season.  How can the fans expect Baron Davis to fix the Knicks?  An oft-injured point guard, who has been accused of playing without heart.  That appears to be what the rest of the Knicks team is.  So, by replacing the most active player on the court with Davis, what can the Knicks expect?  More of the same.  

New York Yankees newfound rotation issue

Just when the fans had gotten used to a quiet offseason, Brian Cashman and his Yankees did what they do best, pull off a blockbuster move to upstage any team thought to have the best offseason (here's looking at you, Angels). How could anyone think that the Yankees could stay quiet for an entire offseason.  Last year, after being stood up by Cliff Lee, the Yankees threw money at Rafael Soriano. This year, the Bombers decided to bide their time, and when least expected, added All-Star talent to their roster, that few even knew was available.  Many fans will berate the Yanks for letting Montero go, but for me it's sayonara Jose.  Don't get me wrong, the kid is electric to watch, but he is only half of a player.  I'm not even sure if Montero ever picked up a glove before the minor leagues.  Quite frankly, the Yankees have enough players who struggle with the glove, and they can't afford to fill the dh spot with the amount of aging players on their roster.  Now with the acquisition of Pineda, the Yankees address the pitching rotation, without surrendering too much; furthermore, the Yankees receive an extremely cheap talent in Pineda, who will receive less than one million bucks this year.  Here's the kicker, the Yankees also signed Hiroki Kuroda for $10 million.  Now Cashman has gotten the Yankees an outstanding 22 year old, and also the pitcher that Cashman really wanted, for cheap too.  Not an $80 million dollar mess that Edwin Jackson would have commanded.  Besides the Yankees have enough AJ Burnett's to even consider adding Jackson.  But the addition of the 2 starting pitchers creates a new problem for the Yankees, too much starting pitching.  With Sabathia, Pineda, Nova, Kuroda, Hughes, Burnett, and Garcia, the Yankees have a plethora of starting pitching.  What to do?  Well first, the Yankees can take Burnett out back and shoot him.  At this point the Yankees have a better chance of winning with a slow pitch softball machine, because shit, at least the machine is consistent.  Next the Yankees can move Hughes to the bullpen.  Remember 2009?  Well 2012 could look sweeter with a Soriano-Hughes/Robertson-Rivera end of the game.  Shutdown 'pen.  At this point I'd take Phil Hughes the reliever over Hughes the starter, he definitely impacts the Yankees more positively in the former.  And in actuality, Burnett and Garcia are a good combination to have compete for the 5th spot.  Burnett might even win a few games with that atrocious era he throws up every year.