Awake, Awake, put on your strength ... -Isaiah 52:1 145 147 150 151 Yale 14 . • I Dartmouth 24 . "o: • . , Co!gate 0 . • Boston, U. 17 : ·.. : • • •... Buffalo .�5 . • • . Villanova 23 • ·>; • Syracuse. 41 . ·. · . ·� ' . Rutgers 10 . Connecticut�:�· . B .·•'ol.Colle· ge�l3 - . - * .............JO,, -◄ ...�.,., � -..-.,◄ 4°"'1111""'•• ... ,� ,( ... A pulled muscle hampered Dick Giardi, who was switched to defense, while halfback Tim Hawkes ran well despite a back injury that had sidelined him against Dart­ mouth. There were many others, too, who pushed back their pain thresholds and gave it all they had. But how long could the team hold together and keep psyched for every game? The two-platoon system and numerous casual­ ties had left the bench rather thin and inexperienced, but all thought that somehow the squad would go all the way. Then the roof caved in. Villanova came to Worcester with an unimpressive 2-4 record. Word quickly filtered down, however, that the Wildcats meant business, and when the game ended, Holy Cross was on the short end, 23-14. The team learned a good lesson and girded itself for the rocky road ahead, but it did not help much against Syra­ cuse. The Orangemen bruised Holy Cross 41-7, but now many figured that with that losing feeling out of its system, the team would find clear sailing to the end. Going into the Rutgers game, some changes had been made which were, more or less, desperation moves to find the right combination. New faces, like Soph backs Ed Murphy and Steve Jutras, saw regular action, while every­ one's favorite, Dick Giardi, got temporarily bumped from his roving line-backer position. It was subtle at first, but a lack of certitude began to creep into the mental picture as more and more followers questioned the team's ability. It was not the same team that everyone thought invincible, but a team struggling to save face and live up to its expectations. But a sudden lift of spirits came when the Crusaders beat Rutgers 21-10. With U. Conn. and B.C. left, the logicians reasoned that the Huskies would lose by tradition, and B. C., having problems of their own, couldn't possibly beat the Cross .. at home. But college football is neither logical, rational, nor understandable, as the last two games proved. U. Conn. was so high the next week that they looked and played as if they were on "speed." With first down and goal to go from the 4, the Crusaders could not cash in, even though it virtually meant defeat on a rain-soaked field ... --•·"' - -· - 156 I 157 158 -_.__,-�,.-.�---- ' .,.. ... ... � ,. : . , � ... ... ' . .,.., , -· .., ,. -· . ,. .. ' '' .. • -.•,1· . � ��..,� 11 -. · .,,pf, • ,· ', :; �­ ,:{\•"\ C ,, , ,,,tin,\ , •;t-',,1, '\ /,.� 'l ◄ ',,1 { �· • ., ,, , "' ,-·✓ • ,'J•. •' J: 1- , •••• 159 ... In fact, except for Syracuse, the failure to seize scoring opportunities was a key factor of the team's losing causes, as most apparent in the next game against B.C. The Eagles won 13-6 to close the season on a dis­ appointing note. Despite the team's surprisingly poor finish, it was a season full of tense, exciting action that hoarsened many a throat. The only exception was the one-sided Syra­ cuse game, which can be discounted as simply a gate attraction. Indeed, every other game, as the final scores suggest, was well worth the admission price and all the lung power put forth. Perhaps most satisfied was Head Coach, Tom Boisture, who exclaimed: "This season has been a great success. You've given me 100 per cent, and that's all I expect from any team." A 5-5 season it was, but, as it well known, it's how you play the game. However, more than any other sport on campus, the importance of football has been questioned lately. Should Holy Cross play teams of less stature than they have in the past? Should football be de-emphasized for the bene­ fit of minor sports? Is it possible that a Holy Cross squad will ever again attend the Orange Bowl as it did in 1945? These are the questions being asked about football. Constant in its arrival is autumn. If spring is minor sports and baseball, then autumn can only be one thing. So it is. Some say the springs at Holy Cross are not so pleasant as once they were, not so dramatic, not so important. Spring is no longer Jack Barry, Hop Riopel, Bart Sulli­ van. Spring is no longer strictly synonymous with base­ ball. Crew, lacrosse, tennis, and a number of other sports, are here to stay. Yet the special magic that is baseball is never really replaced. Consistently winning seasons and trips to the NCAA District 1 Regionals have well offset the enchantment of minor sports. With the returning talent of Tom Kelly and the explosive bats of Hawk McCarthy and Tony Kopec, Holy Cross planned another trip to the World Series. The excellent pitching of Jack Dolan, Bill Close, Joe Sack, and Jim Conlan, seemed to insure another trip to Omaha. Yet the spring last year was not pleasant... 160 161 ... Spring last year brought rain. Abortive practice ses­ sions, sloppy fields, and long periods of inactivity, brought a disappointing baseball season to Holy Cross. The NCAA Regionals presented Holy Cross with two unfor­ tunate shut-outs against the U. Mass. Nine.This was fol­ lowed by a tragic loss to Boston College, and rookie coach Robert Curran learned that his team had talent but lacked a necessary amount of consistency. There were some bright spots, however. Tom Kelly be­ came the second player in college history ever to blast a home run over the Dartmouth field house, and, although disappointing, a 10-6 season was hardly embarrassing. No sport has had so great a rise as crew. From a make­ shift team some few years back, the crew team went on to successive wins at Quinsigamond and Orchard Beach. The Grimaldi Cup went along with one of the wins, and the team finished eighth in a field of thirty-one at the Dad Vail Regatta, the small college competition. Because of a lack of regular coaching and an inadequate budget, the fencing team met a disappointing season. Now, however, with a fencing room in the new campus center and a good deal of enthusiasm on the part of underclass members, the fencing team looks forward to more successful seasons. Singular performances, rather than over-all results, marked the track team's season. Joe Jamieson, Tim Joyce, Tom Scanlin, and Brian Kingston, set a two-mile record in the B.C. Relays. In the Penn Relays, John Col­ lins and Bob Dewey combined with Joyce and Kingston to win the sprint medley title. In the New Englands, Collins repeated his championship performance in the 100 and 220, equalling track records, with times of 9.8 and 21.1, respectively. Moreover, this season, Art Dulong is proving to be the runner he was predicted to be. Dulong placed second in the New England Cross Country Meet, topped an im­ pressive field in the IC4A Cross Country Race, and an­ chored the two-mile relay team in victories at the Millrose and the K of C Games in New York. With an improvement in both offense and defense and a noted upsurge in team spirit, the hockey team managed to capture two out of three games in the important M.I.T. Tournament, losing only to powerful U. Conn .... 162 163 ...This year, fourteen straight victories in conference competition indicate that the team will capture for the second successive year, the Worcester College Hockey League title. The soccer team maintained an unsatisfying 3-9-1 season. The squad was waylaid by injuries and an inability to jell as a team, yet junior Mike Dailey turned in consistently fine performances, and enthusiasm for this sport has in­ creased amazingly since graduating captain Wes Gardner saw the creation of Holy Cross soccer in his freshman year. This year's swimming team presented a good year on paper but a mediocre year in actual results. Stopwatch performances were first-rate with the return of last year's Most Valuable Player, Denny Johnson, and some fine underclass talent. In spite of a minimum amount of practice time and the lack of proper facilities on campus, this team has been both an interesting and impressive one. One of the most recently successful sports on Mount Saint James, rugby, is not sanctioned by the Athletic Association. The prime requisite for this bone-crushing sport remains tremendous physical endurance and a pen­ chant for partying. The accomplishments of the former spring, including a triumphant journey to the Nassau Invitational Tournament, presaged the spectacular fall season. Although the tourney team was no longer intact this year, fresh talent and determination gave the ruggers an impressive 13-4 season. Decisive wins over M.I.T. and Dartmouth and a come-from-behind victory over Connecti­ cut Wesleyan highlighted the season. With the coming thaw, spring stalwarts Roger Pelletier, Dick Grise, and Bob Dunne, join regulars Tim Grossnickle, Dick Hackman, and Joe Pulito to attend the Missouri Rugby Fest in St. Louis. Unfortunately, lacrosse saw its worst season since its in­ ception. Even Worcester Tech, a perennial pushover, could not be beaten. Although there were individual per­ formances of quality, the failure to function as a team saw defeat at the hands of C. W. Post and Ivy League champion Brown. Such sports as golf, yachting, tennis, and wrestling, al­ though exciting for their players, remain fairly unnoticed by the general student body. 164 -- ------- ------ -- ----- -----..:.....,.___ -_--_-_-_-_------ -- -' - '-· .. - � (:J/', t !'L -.. 1 L -..- -- ' ' 1, • �'-■ 166 167 t I I WES .f d ,., ..,,.,.