February 26, 1999

Sports

Friday night, Chris Wilson led his Boys Varsity Basketball team into the Loyola gymnasium against a powerhouse team loaded with size and talent.  In two previous meetings the Lions were beaten decisively by 26 and 24 points. In each match, the Loyola guards played a hot hand, driving their team to quick leads, of 17-4 and 10-0, respectively, before the Lions could regroup.

This time out, Coach Wilson designed a triangle zone (which effectively shut down the guards leaving two players defending man-to-man in close). Offensively, his plan was "to take the air out of the ball" and "shorten the game," to play a patient, ball control offense with extra attention to shot selection.  The strategy worked brilliantly as guards Aaron Williams andRobbie Crespi ran their team with crisp ball handling and precision passing. Tom Kotler played a powerful inside game scoring 6 points and capturing a number of statement rebounds.  A flurry of imaginative, quick whistles sent Kotler to the bench bringing in Greg Goldstein to counter the relentless Loyola attack.  Rising to the challenge, the Columbia defense was relentless, doubling up whenever the ball got to one of the behemoths low in the post, forcing them to kick the ball out to the guards, who were neutralized by the zone.  Loyola, stymied, found themselves at a 12- 12 standstill at the quarter and leading by just 20-18 at halftime.

Chris Wilson huddled with his players at the half: "I told them they're going to try and blow you out in the third quarter to show that the first half was just a fluke.  I told them to play their game, and that Loyola was shook up, and they would crack."  And such it came to pass.  Aaron Williams brought out the ball, at half-court, taking his time, daring the defense to come at him. Loyola began to reveal holes in their defense which the Columbia guards exploited with dart-like passes inside to Adam Shapiro (a.k.a., "Pinkie" according to Kenner) who finished the game with 9 points.  Meanwhile Nick Kenner was a fury, tearing down rebounds and pressuring his prey into errors. The game continued, dictated by the Columbia strategy: slow and patient offense, aggressive defense.  With 6:56 left in the game a smashing Crespi block and two scores by Kenner opened up a 36-32 Lions lead.  The flow of the game down the stretch was fouled by a number of arcane calls on the Lions which the Loyola sharpshooters took full advantage of.  Aaron Williams answered from the line at the other end but with 1:22, his team found themselves down by a point as the Loyola forwards were able to power their way inside. (Note to Nike quality control: at this critical juncture, Robbie Crespi twisted his ankle as the top quarter of his shoe disintegrated.  He played through the injury which the next day had transformed his foot into a swollen orb.)   With time running out, Columbia was forced to resort to intentional fouls which Loyola converted.  Columbia caught a break with 17 seconds left as Loyola missed two free throws but were a last heave from midcourt missed its mark as the Lions came up short 42-39.

Aside from the players, who hate to lose any time, the Columbia side showed no signs of the defeat. We were rewarded with a heroic show which found an outmatched Columbia team coming up just short against a daunting opponent.  A contingent of Columbia fans gathered around the players to applaud.  Athletics Department Head Steve Rybicki who once composed a similar defensive scheme several years ago against another dominant Loyola team, said the strategy called the game "awesome."  He singled out Williams and Crespi for their leadership and ballhandling.  He also took time to praise the small, but stentorian (SAT word) turnout (Geoffrey, Jesus, Ian, Brooke, Greg, Matt, Jason, Matt).  And in particular he noted how Neil Crespi was both a loud and supportive partisan, while appreciative as well of the Loyola play.  (The Loyola side should be equally lauded for their sportsmanship.  Aaron Williams was impressed by both Loyola players and parents who frankly acknowledged that the best team on the court this night may not have been the one listed in the book. "Their priest came up to me after the game," remarked a mildly amazed Crespi.)   Chris Wilson hailed the CP turnout among whose numbers he spotted: Dr. Soghoian and Helen Jarvis, Mike Cohen, and Steve Davis.  "I felt bad for the kids all year that they weren't getting better support," said.  Then he gratefully listed the faithful: Neil and Elissa Crespi, Jane and Tony Shatz, Pat and Bill Williams along with others unforgivingly unlisted here due to the high-friction pen of the delinquent reporter. Even in defeat, this team made this the place to be on a Friday night, better than courtyard seats at the Garden. Coach Wilson was in anything but a funereal mood.  "I told them they played great," he said the following evening, "I went out and celebrated tonight," he said.   (You might have seen him at Carmine's dining on Chicken Scaparielle.)   His message echoed that of Coach Rybicki, Jane Schatz, Helen Jarvis and many others who enjoyed the game. The message was that victory would have been sweet, but the boys gave it more than their all-- they experienced what is possible when you turn it on, and we thank the team for the night's achievement which would be no less praiseworthy with the few extra points on the scoreboard.


Big A-s Bertha

Friday afternoon, Master of Light Todd Goldblatt (whose effects could be seen in Sarah Cusick's production of Stage Door in the Underground) and his friend from kindergarten Darielle Smolian, staged an entertaining exhibition of rocket physics in the snowy CGPS east building backyard.  Goldblatt was at the controls of a seven-foot potato launcher which they used to calculate trajectory angles and "theta" data uncomprehensible to lay persons.   Goldblatt built the cannon known as "Big A-s Bertha" from two sections of PVC piping along with a pressure pump which fired ten potatoes at pressures up to 200 psi.  Normally non-plussed Jacob Aronson, watching from the faculty room balcony was witness to the final shot which cleared twenty stories and landed somewhere on a rooftop to the east.


Stage Door

Not to be Missed: See the virtuoso Mrs. Shaw played by Shana Van Valkenburg, the distinguished and hunky Dr. Randall conjured by David Adler.  And of course, the stars: Alexis Cullen-Baker, Eve Lateiner, Litsa Kaouris and among others, Sasha Rubel as the dotty Mrs. Orcutt.  Great ensemble, stunning drawing room set lit by Sam Kirsch and Todd Goldblatt.  Directed by Sarah Cusick.

February 23, 1999


A Mystery
Early last Friday morning several Cheerios were discovered on the floor of the East Building faculty room.  Administration troubleshooter Peter Reynolds was immediately dispatched to track down the vandal.  All signs pointed to one faculty member toiling late on Thursday night.  However, when questioned it became apparent that this faculty member never eats Cheerios and barely had an understanding of what a Cheerio is. This mystery remains unsolved.

Data
Le Corbusier was the father of modern architecture.  He helped sweep aside the archaic gables and dour excess of classical design in favor of clean, functional buildings featuring ramps, concrete and pipe railings.  Although he has been unjustly blamed for the ugly glass boxes on 6th Avenue, his theories taught us new ways to see and appreciate space.  If you're ever at a gathering of design-minded people, you will seem sophisticated to refer to him as "Corbu" or if you really want to sound on the qui vive, "Corb."

Meetings of Remarkable Men
Hot shot writer Marcel Molina and idiosyncratic free-associative pulsar Adam Purjes took each other's measure yesterday during I Channel study (11:15 A.M.).  It should be noted that Molina (a true, "small d" democrat) is perfectly willing to hear anyone out be it Haruki Murakami or the smallest 7th Grader.   [A note to future biographers: congratulations!  Your powerful search-engines have uncovered this remarkable moment, frozen forever in silicon.]  Adam was serving up his best brain-teasers and ran off a short version of his: "Hey, are-you-talking-to-me?   Because-if-you-not-talking-to-him-then-you-must-be-talking-to-me..." riff..   Marcel was thoughtful, interested and thoroughly uncondescending. 

CPGS Fashion
Ethan Ravetch wore his "Kramer" t-shirt today.  He bought this together with a "Newman" and "George Costanza" shirt.  The latter is his favorite, but he says it attracts the most hostile attention.  Nervertheless, he is unfazed.   "I'm secure in my masculinity," he says with a shrug.

Luke Bauman's Big Adventure
Last weekend Senior Luke Bauman visited Azusa Kakuda out at Oberlin.  He stayed at Dascomb hall and toured the college museum where he shared the air with renown artist and professor, John Pearson whose printmaking class has a three year waiting list.  On the bus ride out, Luke's cassette recorder ate three of his best tapes including David Bowie.   The bus stopped at a surrealistic truck stop in Pennsylvania where he was impressed by a "weird pharmacy" connected to a restaurant.  Luke only had "Billie Holiday" left for the rest of the trip so he was glad to find a selection of tapes on sale.  Out of all the terrible choices, he finally found a "Heart" tape which, for lack of anything better, he bought.  Luke is the captain of the cross-country team and professes astonishment when the underclassmen treat him with the respect due to a philosopher-athlete.

Super Powers
If she could choose one super power Rachel Schragis would choose "mind reading" as would Hye Min Choi.  She says that if "it was a small power," she would simply wish to be able to draw.    Labe Eden insists that he would prefer to fly like Hawkman.

Sports
The Boys Varsity capped off their season with a 55-44 victory over Browning.   Although outsized, the Lions used their speed and defense to pull away late in the game, sparked by several monster rebounds by Tom Kotler and the manic hustle and passing of Michael Rosenberg.  Aaron Williams and Nick Kenner finished out their Columbia Prep (regular season) home careers with a strong effort.   In the crowd, Josh Shapiro, Brooke Muraskin, Ian Martin, Racquel Mann and Ali Bloom actually dimmed the scoreboard lights with their psychic wattage.  Coach Wilson now leads his team into the jaws of the Loyola stronghold Thursday for the first round of the playoffs.