Breaking up is hard to do: Kramer’s last hurrah

Ah, dear reader, parting is such sweet sorrow. We’ve been through thick and thin together this year, but we stayed strong. From LaGarrette Blount decking that dude on Boise State who kind of deserved it to the Kansas Jayhawks’ epic dismantling of my Missouri Tigers and subsequent, equally epic loss to Northern Iowa in the NCAA Tournament, it’s been quite a ride. I’ve tried to be an engaging columnist, slipping in hipper references than a “Pitchfork” review and talking about teams in states that you’re from. My only hope for this column is that it has at least provoked an engaging discussion about sports for you and your friends, probably while you’re all drunk. But that’s OK—I know you still mean it.

Some people think sports are part of a solipsistic, appearance-obsessed popular culture that interpolates the American people with the dominant discourses of capitalism, patriarchy and heteronormativity, and through distraction precludes consciousness of such issues. But to such effete quacks I say, “Huh?”

Sports distract us from the drudgery of daily life not as some terrible opiate of the masses but rather as an enjoyable diversion and exploration of the human potential. For that, they should be appreciated. To that effect, I’ve tried to share my enjoyment of sports with you through this column, and I’ve been very flattered to hear some fans’ (tepid, sporadic) responses to my work. To echo Kunal’s sentiment from last week, yes, our columns have been great. Maybe not great like Tim Arner, but at least like Tim Hederman. I did it for you, the little people. But after you brought me so close to your bosom, Grinnell, we must part. I hope the following sports analysis will help with what I’m sure must be a very difficult time. Without further ado, here are two possible off-season farewells that might be even more painful than this one. Don’t ever let go, Jack.

Good Night, Cleveland!

One caveat before I begin this section: I have to turn in my column before the Cavs-Celtics game on Thursday night, so I don’t know the outcome of game six, or, if there is one, game seven. If Cleveland improbably wins both games against a deeper, more balanced, more experienced Celtics team, I still think they’ll lose to the Orlando Magic. If they somehow miraculously overcome Dwight Howard and Vince Carter, they’ll almost definitely lose to the Lakers in the finals. But if hell freezes over and Katy Perry is the hottest woman on the planet/the Cavaliers win it all, King James might just stay in the Rust Belt to build a dynasty.

Unless the Cavaliers win the NBA Championship this year, and maybe even if they do, I think LeBron James is done in Cleveland. I’m sorry for Clevelanders like my main man Thomas Neil, but I can’t see LeBron re-signing with the Cavaliers when he becomes a free agent this summer. The Cavs don’t have the cap space to significantly add to or alter their current line-up, and Shaq and Antawn Jamison will be another year older and slower. LeBron needs an elite supporting cast around him to win a championship, just like the other great players did. Jordan had Scottie Pippen and later Dennis Rodman; Magic had Kareem Abdul-Jabar and James Worthy; Bird had Kevin McHale and Robert Parish; Kobe has Pau Gasol and now Andrew Bynum, too. LeBron is in the company of those star players, but Mo “Larry Hughes” Williams and company aren’t on the level of the best supporting guys. There is just one team that can give James the maximum salary he will demand and aggregate the right complementing players to compete for a championship almost immediately—the New York Knicks.

James would give himself a better shot at the title than he has in Cleveland by going to The Big Apple. The Knicks are in a unique position for the Summer of LeBron because they have enough salary cap room to pay two max free agents. This means they could potentially add LeBron and Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson or Dwayne Wade and re-sign David Lee. Count on G Toney Douglas and F Danilo Gallinari developing further, and you’ve got a contender for years to come. With such a talented young core and Mike D’Antoni’s high-flying offense, the Knicks would quickly ascend to the top of the Eastern Conference. I still think Kobe’s Lakers would crush that Knicks team in the 2011 NBA Finals, but probably not in 2012. At that point, the LeBron-led Knicks will have the opportunity to create a dynasty nearly as enduring as Dr. Awkward, my Spring Championship-winning Pub Quiz team.

Big XII, We Hardly Knew Ye

The one topic receiving as much baseless conjecture and speculation as LeBron’s next move (see above) recently has been possible NCAA conference expansion. Reports surfaced Monday that the Big Ten had extended offers to Missouri, Nebraska, Rutgers and Notre Dame to join the conference. All the parties involved quickly issued denials that any offers had been made, but the incident and the responses from other conferences revealed the fragility of the current conference structure. If the Big Ten expands, it appears that the Big 12 is posed to unite with the Pac-10 in some fashion as a response to the threat of a Super Big Ten, possibly including a satellite/cable network to compete with the lucrative Big Ten Network. The Big East and ACC have said they will not be proactive about conference expansion, so it’s all up to who, if anyone, the Big Ten invites.

I believe the report from Monday, even if erroneous, names the most likely candidates of Big Ten expansion. Missouri and Nebraska both get the short end of the stick in the Big 12’s revenue-sharing scheme and have a financial interest in joining the Big Ten. Rutgers has been trying to push its football program into the country’s elite, and a jump to the Big Ten would help in that regard and give its basketball program the fighting chance it is denied in the cutthroat Big East. Notre Dame really doesn’t have an incentive to join the Big Ten except to arguably provide better competition for non- revenue sports, which everybody knows Notre Dame doesn’t care about anyway. Independence and a separate TV deal with NBC give the Irish all the money they need and more, so the only way I can see the Big Ten luring them is by first getting Rutgers. This would mean the end of Big East football and thus probably the conference as a whole, which would force Notre Dame’s hand and would probably result in the Irish joining the Big Ten, too. At that point the league would have 13 teams, so I imagine they would only want to add one more to prevent the continued problem of scheduling an odd number of teams. At that juncture, I would think Missouri would get the nod over Nebraska. Missouri has a larger population than Nebraska and thus more TV viewers and is a better fit geographically. Maybe then the Big 12 could partner with the Pac-10 to somehow start including Boise State, Utah, BYU, in football and New Mexico and Gonzaga in basketball in a Western Super Conference. Naturally at that point the ACC, SEC and Big East will probably all start poaching each other to jockey for position in the new conference world order. Time will tell how this plays out, but maybe Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe will understand what I’m going through right now. H.A.G.S., everybody.

After two losses, Men’s Soccer on the offensive Goalkeeper Ben Schemper '11 anticipates and leaps towards a shot on goal during practice on Wednesday, September 30th. Cait De Mott Grady/The Scarlet and Black

With two harsh home-field losses to Macalester College and the University of Wisconsin-Platteville this past weekend, the Grinnell Men’s Soccer Team (4-5) is learning from their mistakes, trying out a new system and getting ready for another two-game weekend with matches versus Beloit College at 4:00 p.m. Friday in Beloit, Wis. and a home game against at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

Despite a 0-3 loss last Saturday, Grinnell played a hard- fought game—the Grinnell Pioneers only had one shot less on goal than the UW-Platteville Pioneers. “I thought we played well both games—there were no individual mistakes that happened,” Matti Sahel ’11 said. “We wanted it, but they capitalized on their goals so you can’t really blame it on anybody—we just didn’t get lucky as a team.” The Pioneers tried out a new system against UW-Platteville, a 3-4-3—comprising of three defenders, four midfielders and three forwards. This system allowed the Pioneers to have an aggressive offense, which they attribute to the offense’s continuous improvement. “In the beginning of the season our defense was really good and our offense was struggling a little bit, but now we’ve got both aspects of the team playing very well,” Captain Andrew Stephenson ’10 said. “This weekend should definitely show us a little about how we’ll do in conference play and we expect nothing less than two wins.” Last year, the Pioneers posted a 1-1 tie with Beloit and a 3-0 victory over Monmouth. With their offense in gear, the Pioneers can look forward to a consistenly strong defense, largely attributed to goalkeeper Ben Schemper ’11, to bring two wins to their 1-0 conference record. “Schemper has been playing phenomenally,” Stephenson said. “He came into shape this year for the season and really has been better than he was in years past—and he was great even back then.” “He lets us play more offensively because it’s not a spot we have to worry about,” added Alex Kohut ’10. Schemper, who had nine saves in the UW-Platteville game, is confident going into the weekend. “I’ve been making saves that need to be made so I think that I’ve helped the team a lot,” Schemper said. “A lot of that comes from the atmosphere that our team has right now—it’s a really empowering atmosphere, everybody is really positive.” This positivity was not evident from the start—Stephenson cited that they came into the season considering themselves a skilled team, but after a few losses, the team united in a new, hardworking mindset. “I think we’ve definitely come together as a team, it took a lot of hard, close-fought losses, it took a lot of running, but we are now working for each other and that’s something that I really wanted to see,” Stephenson said. Ultimately, the men’s soccer team hopes their rekindled hard- working attitude and adjustments from prior losses will lead them to victory not only this weekend, but through the end of the season as well. “Last weekend we were putting sentences together at times, getting close to paragraphs. And if we can do that this weekend it’ll be a step forward,” Schemper said. “Then we can move on to maybe putting everybody on the same page. Once that takes place it’s going to be really hard for people to beat us.”

Cross Country women confident despite meet glitches

Technical glitches at Grinnell Women’s Cross Country team’s meet at Augustana College this past weekend weren’t enough to keep the them from performing their best and continuing their pursuit of the Conference Championship at the end of the season. The women finished 13th out of 21 teams last weekend, behind conference foes Carroll College (9th) and Monmouth College (11th) . Truman State won the meet with the coming in second. Leading the Pioneers in scoring was Maja Gamble ’11, who finished 45th. “We were pleased with how things went, we feel that we are progressing week by week and I believe that most everyone ran their best times of the season,” Coach Evelyn Freeman said. However, figuring out how well everyone did was difficult because the golf cart used to lead the runners along the course took a wrong turn and created a 5420 meter course instead of the usual 6000 meters. Luckily, Freeman was able to use a palate pace converter in order to figure out everyone’s actual times. Not only did Augustana shorten the length of the course, but the timing chip placed around a runner’s shoe did not work for Leah Russell ’11, whose score as the third Grinnell runner to finish wasn’t registered until days after the meet. In spite of these mishaps, Freeman believes that her runners are where they need to be in order to win Conference Championships for the fifth time in the past six years. “We placed better as a team than we looked on Friday, but our main goal is to perform well at conference and up until last year we had a string of four conference titles,” Freeman said. Last season at the Championship, the Women’s Cross Country team tied for third place with St. Norbert College, placing behind Carroll and Champion Monmouth. Considering their finish at Augustana, Freeman believes them to be “sitting in a very good spot,” she said. “Last year was a little bit disappointing because we had to deal with a lot of sickness and some injuries and they just occurred at the wrong time,” Freeman said. “It was a little bit disappointing to lose our strength.” Although illness was a large contributing factor to the team’s third place finish last year, Team Captain Nora Colter ’10 focuses on positive aspects of the season so far and remains eager to see what the team can do at conference. “It was really exciting how we scored in relation to other teams in our conference,” Colter said, who placed 91st this past weekend. “Just coming off of Augustana, we’re really looking forward to conference and we’re hoping we’ll be able to win again.” Although Freeman still worries about the potential of illness on her team, she has great belief in the high number of strong runners to lead them to the Conference Championship. “We don’t have any superstar runners, we have a really large group of excellent runners, which in a way is an advantage too because they have each other and so no one is running by themselves and we have enough people for back up,” Freeman said. “Because we are so deep we can afford it more than other schools could.” The Skull Crushers, as the team calls itself, has two more opportunities to race before Conference Championships. The meets will be held at Wartburg College in Waverly, IA on Oct. 10 and in Oshkosh, Wis on Oct. 17, where a majority of the teams in the Midwest Conference will be running. “Oshkosh is the meet to get into the right mindset for, and will reinforce the idea that we do have a lot of talent on this team,” Gamble said. “Once we hopefully get into the right mindset, we could take conference.”

Wallace supports athletic community with tailgating

Grinnell College is not the University of Iowa, but there have always been a contingent of tailgaters for football games, even if they numbered in the single digits. Now after a new policy by the Athletic Department, tailgating will hopefully be present at every Grinnell sport from Basketball to Volleyball. Striking out on a road less traveled, Athletic Director Greg Wallace announced at the beginning of this year that the Athletic Department is encouraging tailgating at athletic events. Despite tailgating’s negative reputation, Wallace hopes to build the athletic and school spirit associated with tailgating and he said that a pregame activity is a step in the right direction to improving the intercollegiate athletic experience of Grinnellians as a whole. “It’s the fact that in a lot of cases, we’ve got students and parents that come from all over the country,” Wallace said. “The idea is to help the parents more than anything, giving them a chance to meet other parents outside of the game situation.” The tailgating tradition at Grinnell started three years ago, while Greg Wallace was still the head coach of the football team. “The idea of tailgating was not originally the idea of the Athletic Department, it was the idea of [football player] Jonathan Antrim’s [’09] father,” Nancy Baumgartner, administrative assistant to Wallace, said. “[Mr. Antrim] wanted to do anything he could to help the football program become more successful. He began approaching parents at games and sending e-mails to all the parents he could about this great tailgating event that was happening every home game.” As a result of Mr. Antrim’s efforts and Wallace’s support, the tailgating trend is spreading beyond its traditional sport of football. The Athletic Department wants every sport to be supported by tailgating, even Golf. Although the events will be non-alcoholic, Wallace hopes that parents and the larger Grinnell community will be the draw to get students to attend. These characteristics will also help the Grinnell version of tailgating transcend the usual image of a parking lot full of people, beer and oversized-foam-fingers before and during football games. “We will provide resources,” Baumgartner said. “And while we can’t buy the food, we can certainly help parents [and students] get started.” The Athletic Department pledges to provide tables, chairs and a tent for tailgating events. The tailgaters will need to bring their own food and non-alcoholic drinks. However, the Student Athletic Committee said they may develop an arrangement for students to provide P-card numbers so that meal plans pay for the food. There are only a handful of small liberal arts colleges that regularly host a major tailgating event. The mission of Grinnell’s Athletic Department behind tailgating is to provide a medium for parents to network and build relationships and for the students to provide those parents with a taste of Grinnell’s unique ambiance. When asked whether or not the materialization of tailgating will increase the general win percentage of Grinnell’s athletic teams, Wallace said, “I’m not necessarily sure about performance, but the athletes will certainly have a pretty good feeling beforehand.” The festivities won’t stop once the outdoor sports season comes to a close, either. “The mother of Jodi Watkins [’09] hosted a post game reception at the end of last year’s women’s basketball season,” Baumgartner said. Even if it might not necessarily translate into athletic success, players on campus are just happy to have the support. “People should do it more often,” Tennis player Lizzy Montgomery ’11 said, although she said the drinks might be too much temptation for her. “It’d make me jealous, because I get thirsty when I play tennis.” Students on campus are divided on the idea of tailgating every sporting event. David Opong-Wadee ’12 sees the tailgates as a little excessive. “I think that tailgating is traditionally meant for football,” Opong-Wadee said. “The fact that our basketball team is our most renowned team on campus allows for people to tailgate at that. But who’s going want to tailgate a volleyball game or a tennis match? It’s kind of just uncalled for and unnecessary.” However, Alana Vogel ’12, although she admits she might not stay for the entire game or meet, is just happy to join in the pre-game revelry. “I’m all for [tailgating], I’m all about supporting Grinnell athletics in any way, shape or form,” Vogel said. “Tailgating is tailgating—I don’t discriminate.” When asked whether or not the materialization of tailgating will increase the general win percentage of Grinnell’s athletic teams, Wallace said, “I’m not necessarily sure about performance, but the athletes will certainly have a pretty good feeling before hand.”

Volleyball bounces back with renewed sense of unity

Claire Reeder '11 passes to Liz Davis '11 during practice on Thursday, September 25. Cait De Mott Grady/The Scarlet and Black

The Grinnell Women’s Volleyball team’s (6-7) continued their season this past weekend with a 2-2 record at the Macalaster Tournament in St. Paul.

“The success we had at Macalester was driven by good serving and good serve reception,” Head Coach Jackie Hutchison said. “When one looks at the score sheet they may see we had a lot kills but none of it would be possible without the first part.” The team has been improving in areas besides their serve reception and serving, including their mental game said Erin Labasan ’11. “We used to get down 0-2 in sets and be dead,” Labasan said. “But now we have confidence that we can come back and this past weekend after falling behind two sets to University of Dubuque we made a comeback and actually won.” They have shown the tenacity to not only make comebacks but to ultimately put plenty of wins on the record. Last year, the women finished with a overall record of 7-21 and 2-7 in conference. “Our ultimate team goal is to play in the conference tournament and only the top four teams do and we are on target for that,” Hutchinson said. “My players are only limited by the limitations they place on themselves.” Indeed the positive attitude of the new head coach has been an excellent source of inspiration and confidence for the team as a whole. And as with any team, confidence is usually a recipe for success. “When University of Dubuque got in a difficult spot they fell apart and started snapping at each other and getting down,” Muriel Gallo-Chasanoff ’10 said. “We on the other hand said, ‘Ok, we all have each other’s backs. We are going to do this, and we are going to do it together,’ and so we won.” The camaraderie extends off the court as well. “We eat together, we hang out together on the weekends, and the best part is that the whole team has each other’s backs,” Shelby Carroll ’13 said. As one of only three first years, Carroll has shown true ease at being a part of it all and this became quite apparent in a match earlier in the season as several players pointed out. “Shelby and Michelle broke out into crazy dance-off right in the middle of the tournament,” Labasan said. The strong sense of unity coupled with the confidence in their physical and mental ability has done wonders in supporting the team thus far and should play a large part in helping them continue these straight into Conference. “Grinnell doesn’t really have a winning tradition as far as volleyball goes and we’re looking to establish that this year and we can absolutely accomplish that,” Labasan said. The Women’s Volleyball Team hopes to keep the trend of playing mentally and physically sound as well as with confidence and unity as they go into their second home tournament. This Friday they will play William Penn on Friday at 4 p.m. and Augustana at 8 p.m. Then they will oppose the same two teams the following day with the first match at 11 a.m. versus Augustana and at 3 p.m. against William Penn. The Grinnell Volleyball team hopes that this weekend will be one not to forget and that a large crowd will come out with strong support and be rewarded with excellent play.

Mcluckie Abides

Welcome back to another edition of my college football forecasts. I’ll tell you my picks for teams on the rise, teams who are on the cusp of greatness but could also fall precipitously, and teams that are flailing around in the bath tub while being attacked by an amphibious rodent, metaphorically speaking. One team that is on the verge of such a crisis is USC, which is out of the top 10 for the first time in recent memory. And even with 3000 years of beautiful tradition from Moses to Sandy Koufax, Pete Carroll and the Trojan faithful can’t subsist on past success alone. Dropping one gimme game each season has become something of a trademark for USC, and it enrages their fans every time. At least Carroll was classy in defeat, unlike Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin, who began a juvenile spat with Florida’s Urban Meyer. Hopefully no other coaches will engage in this bush-league psyche-out stuff. It’s laughable, man! The action on the field is always more exciting, and with that in mind, let’s do it. One last note: this is just, like, my opinion, man.

Buy Alabama: The Crimson Tide just keep on rolling over the competition with a dominant defense and offense that has largely replaced last year’s departed talent. ‘Bama just finished the cupcake part of its schedule, and jumps into SEC play this week against Arkansas. If they look good this week, they may be the only legitimate threat to Florida’s reign atop the conference. Miami: The U has vaulted up the rankings and after only two games has gone from unranked to number nine in the country. The Hurricanes been very impressive in victories at Florida State and at home against Georgia Tech and, while I think it’s a little early to be putting Miami in the Top 10, they are a strong contender to win the ACC. We’ll see if Jacory Harris (this week’s Little McLuckie Football Achiever) can keep playing like a Heisman candidate when the ‘Canes travel to Blacksburg and face a very talented Virginia Tech defense in my Game of the Week. If they beat the Hokies and Oklahoma next week, they have a good shot at an undefeated season and a trip to the national title game. Florida State: The Seminoles looked good while crushing BYU, but they need to become more consistent. I have a feeling that under the tutelage of Bobby Bowden, this team will find its voice and contend for the ACC championship. California: The Golden Bears face a tough slate over the next few weeks, but quarterback Kevin Riley and stud tailback Jahvid Best provide the spark for a very potent offense and for once it looks like Cal’s defense can hold up their end of the bargain, too.

Hold USC: Matt Barkley seems to be the rug that really ties USC’s room together. Too bad the Ohio State defense peed on his shoulder. A week after taking out Ohio State at the Horseshoe, the Trojans fell to Washington without the freshman phenomenon at the helm of the offense. Granted, USC was suffering from other key injuries, but Trojans coach Pete Carroll adopted a far too conservative gameplan that allowed Washington to keep it close until finally pulling off a miraculous upset and sending spoiled Trojans fans into a tizzy. Oklahoma State: The Pokes’ offense looked good against Rice, but the defense, which can be mostly blamed for the embarrassing home loss to Houston, still gave up 24 points to the Owls. Their easy schedule over the next few weeks will let them tune up, but they’ll face a real test when my Missouri Tigers come to town on Oct. 17.

Sell Notre Dame: Things were finally looking up in South Bend after a 2-1 start for the Irish, but with star quarterback Jimmy Clausen, leading rusher Armando Allen and leading receiver Michael Floyd all battling injuries, the next few weeks will be rough for Charlie Weis. If Clausen’s injury isn’t too serious, they still have hope, both for the season and Weis’ job. Bringham Young: The nascent season has already brought quite a few ins, outs and what-have-yous for BYU. The Cougars opened with a very impressive win over Oklahoma, but were subsequently pounded by Florida State. While they’re still better than most of their Mountain West competition, the Cougars will not be playing in a BCS bowl this winter. Georgia Tech: Say what you want about the tenets of the triple- option offense, but at least it’s an ethos. However, that ethos failed to the extreme against Miami, churning out only 95 yards on the ground from 35 carries. Utah: Though Oregon is bouncing back nicely after facing a lot of early adversity, last week’s loss to the Ducks proved that the Utes aren’t the force they were last year. Utah still plays in a fairly tough conference, too, so expect them to take their share of lumps this season.

Tennis remains confident after back-to-back losses

Lizzy Montgomery '11 returns a volley during practice on Thursday, September 24. Robert Logan/The Scarlet and Black

The Women’s Tennis Team is used to certain precious metal around their neck come post-season. However, in their last two matches, the Grinnell Women’s Tennis Team did not strike it gold.

On Tuesday, their previously perfect record fell after a 1-8 loss to Wartburg College. Their only victory in the match came from No. 3 doubles partners Catherine Fitch ‘13 and Elizabeth Montgomery ‘11. Last Saturday, they were handed an even greater defeat by Coe College, a Division III nationally ranked team, by a score of 0-9. Coach Andy Hamilton says there was some struggle due to some shift in the line-up. “Constanza Alarcon [’13] was injured,” Hamilton said. “Elizabeth Montgomery stepped into double line-ups and Catherine Fitch moved in singles. I’m pleased with their results—the level of play was very strong.” It was a nerve-racking experience for the first year, particularly considering the tough foes. “My knees were buckling and hands shaking,” Fitch said. But despite her nervousness, Fitch won five sets before losing the match against Coe—not bad for a first year that has only competed in singles once. Hamilton was pleased with her performance and saw her grow just in the short time that she was playing. “She has the tools to compete in singles line-up,” Coach Hamilton said. Fitch looks forward to building her skills playing singles, especially against the competition that the Pioneers face. ”It’s nice to be on a team that is used to winning and are just competitive in a good way,” Fitch said But the high level of competition is just all part of the plan, according to Hamilton. “There is no clique or motto,” Hamilton said. “This team goes out and takes care of business. My goal for the team and the individual is to have fun and play at the highest level they can play.” Despite the consecutive loses, Grinnell’s Women’s Tennis Team remains resilient and confident. “I am really proud for my team against the strong competition” Senior Jill Akiyama said. “The season is going pretty well, they were two losses, but they were pretty decent teams”. Going into this weekend, the team is now 7-2 overall, but 1-0 in the Midwest Conference South division. This weekend will be instrumental for the Pioneers—the women take on Monmouth today at 4 p.m. and Lake Forest and Illinois College tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. respectively. These games will finish out divisional play. Coach Hamilton predicts success with Monmouth and Illinois College but Lake Forest might be more of a challenge. “Comparing scores suggest we are stronger going into the match,” Hamilton said. “Our focus needs to be playing our game. [Lake Forest] seems to me will be closely contested, [they are] talented and deep, [Illinois College just] lacks depth to place.” With one win already under the belt in conference play and some tough losses behind, the Pioneers are looking for some redemption this weekend. “In order to get to the four team [conference] tournament, we need at least two wins this weekend,” Hamilton said. “I’d be surprised if our players weren’t going into the weekend confident.”

First year golfers grow into leaders

After recording an impressive team score of 360, the third best team score in the Women’s Golf team history, last week at the Monmouth College Fighting Scots Invitational, it seems a safe bet that whatever first-year jitters may have hindered the Pioneers in their first match have all but disappeared. “We’re playing well this year,” Captain Ashlen Matzdorf ‘12 said. “Definitely a lot better than last year, but we can still improve before conference.” Led by first year Mallory Messin, who shot an 82 for the day, the Pioneers placed 4th overall in the 14-team tournament. Just trailing Messin were her teammates Elizabeth Burnett ‘13 and Natalie Klee ‘13, who put up a 91 and 92, respectively. “The first years have a lot of potential,” Matzdorf ‘11 said. “With their talent I think we are going to be very successful this year and in the years to follow.” The match also marked a dramatic shift in the team’s dynamic following last season, as three first years moved into the top spots which had previously belonged to powerhouse seniors Amy Livingston and Jordan Heguy and junior Stephanie Goggin. “If you asked any one of the three [first years] if they played to their potential, they’d say not even close,” Coach David Arseneault said. Our scores will be dominated by first years. They’ll consistently occupy the top three spots.” In just a single off-season, the Pioneers transformed from a team that was able to comfortably rely on the experience and wherewithal of seasoned veterans into a seniorless squad that must depend on the abilities of first years never tested in the NCAA environment. However, despite the inexperience the first years golfers have with the Grinnell program, Arseneault believes the first year players possess an unusual collective knowledge of the sport and the resultant maturity imperative to success. “Things did not always go their way and they really conducted themselves like champions,” Aresenault said. “They’re used to the ups and downs of the sport.” If there was one major obstacle for the first years in realizing their potential immediately, it was inexperience with the Grinnell program. In the first tournament of the season at Illinois College, the first years struggled with the newness of the courses and nerves. “It’s tough to go out and play new courses every day without having seen them before,” Messin said. “But since the first match I have gotten more confident in playing with college girls.” The upward trend in finishes over the past few weeks—a 9th place finish at the Illinois College Invite, a 5th place finish at the Knox Invitational and a 4th place finish at Monmouth—is a direct result of that gained confidence and newfound comfort playing on the college level. “I am becoming much more confident in my game strategy,” Klee said. “Coach Arseneault is helpful in teaching us course management strategies too. As a whole, I think the first years are doing extremely well since we are just starting to become acclimated to college and playing collegiate golf.” As the season moves into its second half and the nerves of a new year start to fade, focus begins to shift to the Midwest Conference Championship. “We still have a few more weeks and the team is improving very rapidly,” Elaine Teo ’12 said. “Especially since we have motivation now that we might win conference.”

Season sizzling for women’s tennis team

After winning seven out of eight matches, the Grinnell Women’s Tennis Team is just about halfway through the regular season riding strong. The hot start impressed several teams and coaches, Coach Andy Hamilton ’85 included. “If you would’ve asked me if we’d be 7-1 at this point before the season started,” Hamilton said, “I [would have] said ‘no way.’” While Hamilton may be pleasantly surprised by the success, he knows exactly what it stems from—experience. “We are blending a pretty experienced group of five returners with two first years,” Hamilton said. “So far, that’s been the reason we’ve had success.” Each week it seems a new player stepped up in order to ensure a victory for the team. For instance, there was Liza Spears’ ’11 critical win in a tiebreaker to seal the 5-4 overall team victory against . Or Captain Jill Akiyama ’10, who moved to third doubles while fighting a rib cage injury that forced her to serve underhand and still won her match with partner Kelsey Picken ’10 against and the University of Wisconsin-Steven’s Point. Akiyama knows these individual successes and the success of the team has been great for the womens’ mental game. “Starting out with seven straight wins has given everyone so much confidence,” Akiyama said. “Especially the freshmen, who haven’t played at this level before, are seeing that they can compete.” Many of the Pioneer’s victories were close, yet Hamilton sees that as an advantage. “We will benefit having already been in some close matches,” Hamilton said. “Being in close matches early in the season allows us to be comfortable in the inevitably close matches of the conference championship.” The Pioneers, weakened by injuries and playing in their first weekday game of the season, lost the first match to Wartburg College by a score of 8-1 on Tuesday. Catherine Fitch ’13, who was disappointed by the loss, does not see a defeat in the team’s attitude. “We liked the idea of being undefeated,” Fitch said. “Now that we know what it’s like to lose, we will try even harder against Coe [College].” The squad will face some tough non-conference competition when they face the Division III nationally ranked Coe College, at 10 a.m. tomorrow Sept. 19 at home. Last year, the Kohawks defeated Grinnell 8-1. In Midwest Conference play, where Grinnell is a five-time defending champion, Lake Forest and Monmouth appear to be the biggest challengers. Grinnell will play Monmouth at 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25 and Lake Forest at 9:30 a.m. and Illinois College 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26. All three matches are at home. Coach Hamilton did not downplay the importance of those two days. “All of our focus is kind of a build up to that weekend,” Hamilton said. Yet, Coach Andy knows to take the season step by step. “We’re really pleased about how things have started off for us,” said Hamilton. “A key to the next couple weeks is to get everyone healthy and, in the mean time, we are glad to play a challenging team from the Iowa Conference this weekend.”

Football surprises foes, fans

Coming off of a 28-21 loss to Cornell College, not much was expected of Grinnell Football against perennial juggernaut St. Norbert. Midwest Conference (MWC) Champions in seven of the past 10 years, the Knights likely expected nothing less than another blowout of the Pioneers, which was the case in their 55-7 win in 2008, especially after their win against nationally-ranked Wartburg College last week. This year, though, one more Grinnell field goal could have sent the Knights home in tears. In a 14-11 loss, the Pioneers held the Knight’s offense to a mere 237 yards of total offense, after the Knight’s amassed over 400 yards against Wartburg the week before. “Our defense played great, and we just didn’t quite get enough offense going,” Head Coach Max Hawsey said. “They’re a good team—they’re good on defense, they’re good on offense. We came up three points short.” The defense was led by the secondary, which effectively shut down St. Norbert’s consistently strong passing game. Berger, the Knights’ quarterback, passed for nearly a fifth of the total yards he passed against Wartburg, as Grinnell held him to 66 total yards passing. “The secondary defense played great, it’s a group of really experienced guys—we have three seniors and a junior starting on secondary,” defensive back Ben Johnson ’10 said. “But it was a whole team effort, nobody had a stand-out game by himself.” In the trenches, MWC Defensive Player of the Week Ryan Fletcher ’11 delivered an outstanding game as defensive end, racking up 2.5 sacks and forcing a fumble. A sack by Fletcher in the third quarter, with St. Norbert leading 14-3, giving the Pioneers a chance with the ball, brought a turning point to the game. “The pass rush by the defensive line helped out a lot,” Johnson said. “Ryan Fletcher was making plays whenever we needed him.” On offense, the Pioneers struck first with a field goal, taking an early lead of 0-3. By the end of the first half, they were down 7-3, and St. Norbert quickly jumped to a 14-3 in their first drive of the second half. However, a hurry-up offense mixed with long, controlling drives by the Pioneers deflated the Knights. “We had a couple of good drives [in the third quarter], and then stopped them for the rest of the game with our defense. After that first drive of the third quarter, they didn’t do anything,” Hawsey said. The Pioneers scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter on a trick play with receiver Robert Seer ’12 making the pass, to bring the score to 14-9 with around five minutes left. The two- point conversion was good, and the Pioneers had the momentum in their favor, bringing the score to 14-11—a difference of a field goal. Grinnell was unable to capitalize on their final driving, turning it over on downs and allowing St. Norbert to run the clock down to zero. “We needed one more series to take it down and score just a field goal,” Hawsey said. However, even with the loss, a certain bit of pride was evident in the bleachers and the team. Rather than a grim walk off the field, players stuck around with smiles on their faces. The three-point loss, especially when compared to last years’ 48-point deficit against St. Norbert, was in many ways proof that the Grinnell football program is on its way up. The Pioneers will take their 0-2 record to Carroll College tomorrow. Both teams are currently winless, and the competition will be stiff, determining who goes home with a win and who moves to 0-3. “It’s our first chance since I’ve been here to beat one of the top teams in the conference—they finished third last year,” Johnson said. “It’d be a huge deal for our program to knock off a team like that.”

Athletic Bible Study

When faced with a heavy workload and the demands of extracurricular activities, students turn to various resources in order to cope with these burdens. While some look to recreational activities and others seek out counseling, two athletes at have found both spiritual enrichment and a supportive community in the form of the Grinnell College Christian Athlete’s Fellowship. A relatively new organization on campus, the Grinnell College Christian Athlete’s Fellowship was founded by Gregory Suryn ’11and Enoch Commey ’12 with the hopes of providing a tight- knit community in which student-athletes can participate in Bible studies and the practical application of religious texts while simultaneously connecting with their athletically-minded peers on a deeper level. “Last year, we started talking about doing an athletes’ Bible study because there weren’t really many athletes going to community worship or to the Bible studies held by the Grinnell College Christian Fellowship,” Suryn said. “We got together and decided that we wanted to bridge that gap between athletics and the Christian community.” After feeling “shy” and “singular” during his first few years, Suryn formed the group to connect Christian athletes together. “My ultimate goal is to create a community and bring all of these athletes together so that we aren’t really alone and can support each other in both our athletic events and our academic studies,” Suryn said. “We are concerned about answering questions that [athletes] might have and applying this to our athletic life here.” An extension of the Grinnell College Christian Fellowship, the Grinnell College Christian Athlete’s Fellowship provides an outlet for religious study in an environment that is inclusive, causal and open to debate and discussion. The structure of the weekly Bible study meetings, which occur on Thursdays in the PEC, give way to a collaborative learning experience, in which ideas can be voiced, shared and questioned. “Instead of Enoch and I standing there and preaching what the passage means, we go through and note observations and questions,” Suryn said. “After that we go through it again and discuss it as a group. At the end we have an application. Like ‘Ok, so we have read all of this, now how can we apply it?’” More than just a religious study group, the Grinnell College Christian Athlete’s Fellowship prides itself on their community in which student athletes can connect with one another and seek out support. “I can relate and communicate with those who attend Bible studies who I formally did not know at all,” Commey said. “If it wasn’t for Bible study I don’t think that I would have met them in the first place.” With several student-athletes and the Men’s and Women’s Tennis Coach Andy Hamilton attending the weekly Bible studies, the Grinnell College Christian Athlete’s Fellowship has already established a foundation for themselves. It’s a small group of about 7 to 8 students that attend meetings, but as the year progresses, they hope to continue gaining support from Grinnell athletes, regardless of their spiritual orientation. “It helps me get a peace of mind,” said Cody Weber ’13, a linebacker for the Pioneers’ football team. “To get away from the studies for a little bit, it just relaxes me. There some things that athletes have to do deal with that non-athletes don’t, there’s a certain pressure to compete and to do well and at the same time do well in school.” Hamilton has advised Fellowship of Christian Athletes for two decades before this group was formed. “The student leaders are doing a wonderful job of leading their classmates,” Hamilton said. “It’s been fun for me to sit and listen and to participate. But I think that it’s easier to connect in a spiritual situation when you’re connecting with peers and so the student led part is important.” Hamilton who sees himself as a resource and a mentor to the student leaders and members, emphasizes the importance of a “sound spirit” in athletics. “The Greek philosophers talked about a sound body, sound mind and sound spirit,” Hamilton said. “I think often times the sound spirit gets lost and at least for me personally, having a sound spirit is an important part of my makeup and so if they are students that want to explore that part of the triangle that’s what a Bible study group or any other spiritual group can do for them.” Commey stresses that this group is for anybody exploring what a sound spirit means. “There is no criteria, you don’t have to be a Christian to attend,” Commey said. “We don’t want someone to feel left out. It is more like a fellowship where we are all learning. There is no leader, we are all learning together.” Like a strong sports team, the Grinnell College Christian Athlete’s Fellowship values community and the support of one another. “No man is his or her own island,” Commey said. “You need people in order to survive and that is where the fellowship comes into play.”

Grappling fights its way onto campus

Martial Arts aren’t exactly prevalent on Grinnell’s campus. Fighting, even organized fighting, is seen as brutal, or a blood sport. But Grappling, a descendant of Brazilian Jiu- Jitsu, has taken a firm hold over two Grinnellians. Last weekend, Ian Warlick ’10 and David Paige ’09 competed at the Sasquatch Open, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament in Newton. Paige placed second in the 145 and under weight class, and Warlick placed third in the 185 and under weight class. “The goal is to put your opponent on the ground,” Warlick said. “The [goal of] submission wresting is that I want to pin my opponent—I want to move to a dominant position and then I want to find something to make them hurt so bad that they’ll quit or tap out.” So, no, Grappling isn’t gratuitously vicious, but it’s certainly exciting. Warlick and Paige entered the tournament without much of an idea of how they would place. “I ended up going 1-2,” Warlick said. “I was really happy with myself, I wrestled three guys and I was able to submit a guy. Both [me and Paige] are pretty happy with how things went.” Warlick lost his first match to the eventual champion, and was defeated late in his third match to a submission. It was in his second match that Warlick got an advantage against his opponent. “I was able to get myself back into the second match,” said Warlick, who attributes his success to composure and endurance. “I was really patient, so that went well.” Warlick and Paige have only been training for two and three years, respectively, and this was the first competition for both of them. “I’ve never been to a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school,” Warlick said “I’ve never trained formally. I’ve never taken any formal lessons in any martial arts.” Warlick began to learn about Grappling and Brazilian Jiu- Jitsu from Paige two years ago. They now work together two or three times a week, running four minute matches and practicing different positions. They draw a lot from online instruction and videos and try out ideas with each other. “After a while, he became more or less my equal and we started training together,” Paige said. In fact, it’s common for Warlick to beat Paige now, because of his extra height and weight. “I think that a lot of this is just us making it up as we go. There’s no real structure, no real teacher,” Warlick said. Warlick and Paige both competed at the intermediate division last weekend. The Sasquatch Open was divided into divisions by years of experience and Warlick fell right at the borderline between beginner and intermediate. Warlick said the differences between himself and those with more formal training and experience were clear. One thing that put Warlick at a disadvantage was not cutting weight—he could have competed in the under-170 weight class, but ended up in the under-185 by three pounds. “[At my level] there’s a lot of looking and seeing, ‘Well, what is my opponent doing and where are my hands at.’ I can’t work through things just by feel, I have to look,” Warlick said. “It really is amazing to watch people who are good at this—they won’t look at their opponent they won’t look at what they’re doing. They do it all based on just my body against yours and feeling their way through that. I’m still very much learning in all of this.” Both Paige and Warlick plan to continue practicing, and will be competing again next spring. After swimming season ends, Warlick might be practicing in a more structured setting. “I’ll probably start traveling down to Iowa City once a week to train [with students at the University of Iowa],” Warlick said. One of the founders of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Hélio Gracie, trained up until his death earlier this year, at the age of 95. Warlick has the same plan. “I’d like to do it for the rest of my life,” Warlick said. “I’d like to do it until I can’t anymore. It’s been fun and I think that’s the biggest thing.”