November 24
It was a busy weekend for athletics on campus as Vassar College hosted both the Liberty League Squash Championships and the Seven Sisters Women’s Basketball Classic. It was also a weekend of mixed emotions as Vassar athletes and coaches felt both the agony of defeat and the joy of victory. It is the nature of sports to make us feel for our teams as if we were the ones on the court. We feel for women’s basketball head coach Luke M. Ruppel as he jumps up and down along the baseline and gives Tiger Woods-like fist pumps, trying to will his team to its first victory of the season, and his first as a Vassar head coach. And we feel for Jane Parker who, after nine years at the helm of the women’s squash program, finally got her first Liberty League title this past weekend.
The women’s squash team ended the weekend on a joyous note, winning the program’s first ever Liberty League title after defeating William Smith and St. Lawrence. The fact that the women won the title on their home court only added to the moment. On the opposite end, the women’s basketball team suffered a heartbreaking loss to Wellesley College on Saturday to open the Seven Sisters Classic. With seconds left in the game, sophomore Carolyn Crampton swooped in the paint to grab an offensive rebound and scored a layup as the buzzer sounded, forcing overtime. Though her heroics gave the Brewers momentum heading into overtime, they were unable to overcome a hot-shooting Wellesley squad that did not miss in the extra period, a bitter ending to a game in which the Brewers erased an 11-point second half deficit.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
A Conversation With Coach Bu-terno
Friday night lights came to Vassar. The intramural touch football one-day tournament was held Friday beneath a light drizzle that glistened under the stadium lights of the turf field at Prentiss. Team Menergy, composed of about ten of my teammates on the Vassar baseball team, went undefeated and won the tourney for the second straight year. Because I had sprained my ankle a few weeks before, I was not able to compete. So, I became Coach Joe-Buterno. On the sideline, motivating his team to victory dressed in a shirt and tie and a lollipop in his mouth ala the Coach of Dallas Carter in the movie “Friday Night Lights,” was Coach Joe Bu-terno. I caught up with Coach Bu-terno after the game, his championship t-shirt drenched from the celebratory water-cooler dump.
Joe Bubar: Coach, congrats on your victory. How does it feel?
Coach Bu-terno: It feels great. We fought hard. We never gave up. We left it all out there on that field. Those were tough teams we had to face. But we had heart and we showed that out there. It was a grudge match. It was sloppy at times. But a wins a win.
Joe Bubar: Any other sports clichés you want to throw out?
Coach Bu-terno: Sometimes the ball just doesn’t bounce your way. Wait, no, that one doesn’t apply.
Joe Bubar: Coach, you have no prior coaching experience whatsoever, you’ve never played a down of organized football in your life and yet you were able to lead your team to victory. How did you do it?
Coach Bu-terno: I’ve watched enough sports movies to know that coaching is all about motivating your players. Gene Hackman in “Hoosiers,” Billy Bob-Thorton in “Friday Night Lights,” Denzel Washington in “Remember the Titans.” You think those guys have prior coaching experience? No. But you know what they all have in common? They all lead their teams to victory. It’s all about dressing the part and acting the part. Make your guys think you know what you’re talking about even if you have no clue.
Joe Bubar: And act the part you did. It’s been said that your speech before the first playoff game could be heard from the Senior Town Houses. What did you say to your team?
Coach Bu-terno: I wrote a speech before the tournament. I took a little from “Any given Sunday” and little from my idol Joe Paterno. I took a couple words here and mixed them with a few words there. I basically told them that it hurt me to know that I couldn’t be out on the field playing with them because of my ankle. And I wanted them to put me in their hearts when they were playing.
Joe Bubar: Coach, how did you become so good?
Coach Bu-terno: Success doesn't come easy. Except for me. I'm a natural.
Joe Bubar: How are you able to stay so humble?
Coach Bu-terno: I’ll be honest. When you’re this good, it’s tough.
Joe Bubar: So what’s next? Are you going to play next year when your ankle is healed or do you think you’re more valuable as a coach?
Coach Bu-terno: I’m not sure yet. I want to talk it over with my family first. I’m thinking about retiring, but then coming out of retirement and demanding a record-setting contract or a trade. That rout seems to be fashionable right now after what Brett Favre did, so that’s what I’m leaning towards doing.
Joe Bubar: Coach, congrats on your victory. How does it feel?
Coach Bu-terno: It feels great. We fought hard. We never gave up. We left it all out there on that field. Those were tough teams we had to face. But we had heart and we showed that out there. It was a grudge match. It was sloppy at times. But a wins a win.
Joe Bubar: Any other sports clichés you want to throw out?
Coach Bu-terno: Sometimes the ball just doesn’t bounce your way. Wait, no, that one doesn’t apply.
Joe Bubar: Coach, you have no prior coaching experience whatsoever, you’ve never played a down of organized football in your life and yet you were able to lead your team to victory. How did you do it?
Coach Bu-terno: I’ve watched enough sports movies to know that coaching is all about motivating your players. Gene Hackman in “Hoosiers,” Billy Bob-Thorton in “Friday Night Lights,” Denzel Washington in “Remember the Titans.” You think those guys have prior coaching experience? No. But you know what they all have in common? They all lead their teams to victory. It’s all about dressing the part and acting the part. Make your guys think you know what you’re talking about even if you have no clue.
Joe Bubar: And act the part you did. It’s been said that your speech before the first playoff game could be heard from the Senior Town Houses. What did you say to your team?
Coach Bu-terno: I wrote a speech before the tournament. I took a little from “Any given Sunday” and little from my idol Joe Paterno. I took a couple words here and mixed them with a few words there. I basically told them that it hurt me to know that I couldn’t be out on the field playing with them because of my ankle. And I wanted them to put me in their hearts when they were playing.
Joe Bubar: Coach, how did you become so good?
Coach Bu-terno: Success doesn't come easy. Except for me. I'm a natural.
Joe Bubar: How are you able to stay so humble?
Coach Bu-terno: I’ll be honest. When you’re this good, it’s tough.
Joe Bubar: So what’s next? Are you going to play next year when your ankle is healed or do you think you’re more valuable as a coach?
Coach Bu-terno: I’m not sure yet. I want to talk it over with my family first. I’m thinking about retiring, but then coming out of retirement and demanding a record-setting contract or a trade. That rout seems to be fashionable right now after what Brett Favre did, so that’s what I’m leaning towards doing.
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