January 20, 2012

Q&A with MLS draft pick Christian Barreiro

It’s been an exciting few weeks for Penn senior Christian Barreiro, who first got invited to the Major League Soccer Combine (for the best college prospects in the country) and then got drafted by the New York Red Bulls in Tuesday’s supplemental draft. Even more exciting was the fact that Penn teammate Thomas Brandt was taken the same day by the Philadelphia Union. It was the first time in MLS history that two Penn players were selected in the same year.

Barreiro still has his work cut out to make the Red Bulls’ final roster when the season opens in March. But the playmaking midfielder, who had 20 goals and 18 assists in his Penn career, has already withdrawn from his classes and says he’s fully invested to make it in America’s top-tier soccer league. Recently, I got the chance to talk to Barreiro about his big opportunity.

When did you first hear that the Red Bulls might be a possibility and was your reaction when you found out the news?

Well, I was actually in class. I was in finance. I was tracking the draft on my computer and actually my agent called me first before I saw my name pop up on the draft tracker. And he was like, ‘Hey, congratulations.’ I didn’t really know what happened and he said I got drafted by Red Bull. Then I went back to class and refreshed it and it was there.

When do you go out there to start training camp?

I head up to New York this Sunday and I think I’m gonna have physicals the next day and things like that. And then I’ll start training Monday or Tuesday.

You’re a pretty big Union fan, right? Do you have to stop being a Union fan now that you’re on the Red Bulls?

Naturally, I live in Philadelphia. The Union are always on because they’re the local team, so I watch a lot of them. I also watch a lot of the Red Bulls and I have the utmost respect for the organization and the players as a whole. I’m a fan of the entire MLS. I have an allegiance to the Red Bulls now because that’s who I got drafted by and I have to respect that.

Are there some guys on the Red Bulls that you really admire?

Oh, absolutely. The first guy that comes to mind is Thierry Henry. I’ve been watching him since I’m very young and he’s doing great things now. Dane Richards is impressive. [Rafael] Marquez is impressive. There are a lot of impressive players there that I’ll be able to train with.

What does it mean for both you and your Penn teammate Thomas Brandt to get drafted on the same day by MLS teams?

It’s huge for us. It’s been a dream of ours for so long. And to hear both of our names called, it’s just great. I was really happy for Tom. I was in class and he got drafted before I did so I sent him a text saying, ‘Congrats, I’m so proud of you.’ And then I got called a couple of minutes later. It was great.

When did you first think being a professional soccer player was possible?

It’s been a dream of mine for so long. I came into college wanting to be a professional soccer. Players like Danny Cepero and Matt Haefner, they were from Penn and went into MLS. It’s not like the Ivy League produces the most amount of MLS players but I wanted to be one of those players to come out of the Ivy League and represent it well. I thought my junior year I maybe had a real shot of it. I continued to train hard over the summer with Reading [United A.C.] and I was able to excel this year.

What will you try to do in training camp to make sure you stick with the Red Bulls?

I just have to rely on my fundamentals. I’m a creative playmaker that can also play winger. I can be a striker. I just have to be dynamic. I have to show I’m willing to do whatever it takes for the Red Bulls, to show how fully dedicated and committed I am. I’m just gonna run my heart out.

As an undersized guy, do you think it will be an uphill climb to really establish yourself at the next level?

I mean, there are always plenty of players that are smaller around the world who are able to adapt. You just have to be one step ahead. You need to use your strengths well. My game is not the win every head ball. My game is keep it on the ground, play to feet and move off the ball and be tricky

What was the MLS Combine like, being around all the best college players in the country?

It was a great experience. To come together over a couple of days and just meet with some of kids from some of the elite soccer programs in the nation – it was great to be at such a high level and deal with everything.

And do you feel like you performed well at the combine?

I feel like I improved over the course of the days. Everybody showed up and the first game was pretty hectic. We hadn’t played together ever and there wasn’t really a flow to the game. But as the days proceeded, we meshed with each other. Unfortunately my team didn’t get the best results but I can tell you in the third game we left it all on the line.

Did you get a chance to talk to certain coaches from certain organizations when you were out there? Did you have an idea which teams were most interested in you?

I talked to a couple of coaches. I didn’t talk to the Red Bulls up there but obviously they had me in mind. I’m just really excited given the opportunity by the Red Bulls and I’m ready to make the most of it and represent Penn soccer to the fullest.

What do you think you would have done if you didn’t get drafted?

I still would have tried to pursue other soccer opportunities, whether in the USL-Pro of maybe in another country. But it was a big what if. Now that I have the opportunity with the Red Bulls, I’m just fully invested in that opportunity and hoping I can make the most of it.

How much do you credit the Penn soccer program for getting you to this point?

I credit it so much. [Head coach] Rudy Fuller, [assistant coach] Rob Irvine, my fellow teammates – they have been so supportive of me on and off the field. I couldn’t ask for more.

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January 12, 2012

Zack Rosen – already a Penn legend

Prior to Tuesday's game, Zack Rosen receives a commemorative basketbal from head coach Jerome Allen for becoming Penn's all-time assists leader. Allen previously held the record. (Penn Athletics)

Before the 2011-12 basketball season began, many people liked to say that senior Zack Rosen could go down as one of the best Penn basketball players never to win an Ivy League championship.

That is certainly true. But the real truth is that statement doesn’t need any kind of qualifier.

Championship or no championship, Rosen will go down as one of the best Penn basketball players ever. Period.

And he has a big fan in another one of the great guards in Penn history: athletic director Steve Bilsky W’71.

“He’s such a wonderful player who’s made himself good by an incredible amount of work,” Bilsky told the Gazette shortly before Penn lost to La Salle in Tuesday’s Big 5 matchup. “You’d like to see him get rewarded from a team standpoint [with a championship]. Certainly he’s getting rewarded as an individual.”

Before Tuesday’s game at the Palestra, Rosen got one of those individual honors as he was presented with a commemorative ball for setting the program’s record for career assists, which was previously held by Penn head coach Jerome Allen, who had 505 in his career.

Barring something unforeseen, Rosen will also soon pass Allen on the all-time scoring list. Allen finished his tenure at Penn (from 1992-95) with 1,488 points and Rosen already has 1,420, with 15 games still to play.

In fact, if Rosen stays on his current scoring pace, he’ll end up third on the all-time scoring list, behind only Ernie Beck (1951-53) and Ugonna Onyekwe (2000-2003), who finished with 1,827 and 1,762 points, respectively. (Beck’s feat is even more remarkable when you consider freshmen weren’t eligible to play on the varsity team back then.)

And Rosen will also rank very high in other categories, including three-pointers made, three-point field goal percentage, free throws made, free-throw percentage and minutes played.

“Honestly, I think he’s had a career that I don’t think many people envisioned prior to him coming here,” Allen said. “He’s been great for us. Obviously with a place with such great history and great tradition, and all the great players who have played here – for him to stand at the top of the list says a lot about him and his dedication.”

Rosen has gotten plenty of accolades throughout his college career but is really starting to get a lot more attention on the national stage this year. The senior point guard currently ranks third in Division I in free-throw percentage (92.4) and is also among the nation’s leaders in three-point percentage, assists per game and scoring.

Recently, Rosen was selected as one of 20 semifinalists for the Bob Cousy Award (given to the nation’s best college point guard), and at least one former college hoops analyst is projecting the Penn guard as a future first-round pick in the NBA Draft.

“I’ll use one word to describe him – magical,” said teammate and friend Rob Belcore. “What do you want me to say about the guy that hasn’t already been said? I was looking over the Bob Cousy Award candidates with him and I was like, ‘You should just call this the Zack Rosen contest or something.’ Zack’s doing stuff that hasn’t been done here at Penn before. How else can you describe someone going around and breaking records everyday? There are no words to describe it.”

So statistically, Rosen is in a class by himself. Leadership-wise, the three-year captain is perhaps as vocal as anyone who’s played at the Palestra before him. And those that know him best say his work ethic and desire is off the charts.

So does that make him the best guard ever to play at Penn?

Well, here’s where the whole thing about championships comes back into play because just look at what some of Penn’s great guards of the past were able to accomplish.

Beck led the Quakers to their first NCAA tournament (1953) and Jeff Neuman led them to their first Ivy League title (1966). Dave Wohl and Bilsky teamed up in the backcourt during the Quakers’ incredible perfect regular season (1971) and Tony Price took them to the Final Four eight years later. Allen and Matt Maloney were the guards when Penn won 42 straight Ivy League games (and the program’s last NCAA win) over three seasons (1993-95) and then Michael Jordan and Matt Langel came around and captured back-to-back titles (1999-2000). And most recently, Tim Begley and Ibby Jaaber won three Ivy championships apiece.

“Penn has a history of guards leading their team to championships,” Bilsky said. “So I think if Zack can do that, he’ll be right up there – because that’s really how you measure any player but particularly a guard. He still has a lot of important play left.”

But where will Rosen rank if Penn slips up when Ivy play begins this Friday and he ends up departing without a ring?

It will be an unfortunate thing for a player that’s done so much for the program, sure. But it won’t be because of anything he’s done wrong and it certainly shouldn’t diminish his legacy.

Zack Rosen is one of the best basketball players ever to wear a Penn uniform – and that’s where the discussion should end.

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December 28, 2011

The top 10 games of 2011

With the clock about to strike midnight on 2011, I figured it’s time to look back at the year that was in Penn sports. And what better way to do so than by counting down the most exciting/meaningful/awesome games of the year. Unfortunately, this kind of list excludes some of the best performances in more individual-oriented sports but you can find some of those here and the rest in next June’s “Year in Penn Sports” post. For now, like last year, I’ll be counting down (my own subjective list of) the top ten games of the calendar year. If I’m forgetting any great ones, please let me know in the comments section.

10) December 22: Women’s Basketball – Penn 67, Drexel 65, OT

It may still be early in the basketball season but this recent game, perhaps more than any other, shows just how far the Penn women’s basketball team has come. In the “Battle for 33rd Street,” the Quakers outlasted their neighborhood rival in overtime, after surrendering a game-tying basket from Drexel at the end of regulation. Standouts Kara Boneberger and Alyssa Baron led the way with a combined 53 points for the Quakers, who had lost four straight to Drexel, including a 31-point defeat last year.

9) April 2: Baseball – Penn 8, Harvard 7

Few things are more exciting in sports than walk-off wins. Throw in the fact that the Quakers needed 12 innings to complete its Ivy League sweep of the visiting Crimson at Meiklejohn Stadium and you have one of the most memorable games of the year. Called upon as a pinch hitter, sophomore Spencer Branigan was the hero of the day, hitting the game-winning sacrifice fly for the Quakers, who finished the season with a 19-21 overall record and a 10-10 mark in the league.

8) September 9: Women’s Soccer – Penn 1, Villanova 0

The Penn women’s soccer team matched a program record with 14 wins this past season, including a 3-1 defeat of rival Princeton in the season finale, an 8-0 thrashing of NJIT and a staggering 12 shutouts. But only one of those victories came inside a professional stadium. In a game that truly energized coach Darren Ambrose and the entire program, the Quakers used the first career goal from freshman Megan York to beat Villanova at PPL Park, the home of the Philadelphia Union. The atmosphere was memorable for the players and so was their performance — especially considering the Quakers were 1-11-1 against the Wildcats coming into the game.

7) February 26: Men’s Lacrosse – Penn 7, Duke 3

Duke may have rolled into Franklin Field as the defending national champs but they left as just another team to feel the Quakers’ wrath at home. In its first game of the season, the Quaker surprised 10th-ranked Duke, holding the powerful Blue Devils to three goals in a game for the first time since 1986. Freshman goalie Brian Feeney was the thorn in Duke’s side, making nine big saves for Penn, which won all six of its games at Franklin Field last season, including three against nationally ranked opponents. (Scroll down further to find another one.)

6) April 16: Women’s Lacrosse – Penn 10, Dartmouth 9

In a pivotal late-season contest between two powerhouse teams that were not only nationally ranked teams but also tied atop the Ivy League standings, the Quakers reigned supreme. Goalie Emily Leitner tied her career high with nine saves and Caroline Bunting broke a 9-9 deadlock with the game-winning goal with three minutes remaining. The win turned out to be the final triumph in Penn’s 34-game Ivy League winning streak (the third longest streak in NCAA history) as the Quakers lost to Princeton four days later and then again to the Tigers in the Ivy League tournament. But this win over Dartmouth still helped Penn capture its fifth consecutive Ivy League title.

5) November 12: Men’s Soccer – Penn 3, Harvard 2, 2OT

As season finales go, they don’t get much better than this. The Quakers ended up with a 3-4 record in the brutally competitive Ivy League but saved their best for last, winning at Harvard in sudden death fashion. Thomas Brandt, Penn’s senior captain, was brilliant in his final collegiate game, scoring all three goals (a Penn player’s first hat trick since Steve Marcinkiewicz did it in 1995), including the golden goal in the second overtime period on a corner kick from classmate Christian Barreiro. The wildly entertaining game also included three yellow cards, a red card, a scrum at midfield and a Harvard equalizer in the final minute of regulation.

4) April 3: Softball – Penn 9, Dartmouth 8; Penn 10, Dartmouth 8

How often does a team come back from a four-run deficit in its final at bat? Remarkably, the Penn softball team managed to do it twice – in the same day. In a home doubleheader against Dartmouth early in the Ivy League season, the Quakers fell behind 8-4 going into the seventh inning in both contests, before staging improbable rallies in both. In the opener, Brooke Coloma tied the game with a two-run double and then Kayla Dahlerbruch drove in the winning run with a single to left. Then in the second game, a three-run homer from Kristen Johnson tied the game at 8-8 in the seventh inning, before Coloma belted a two-run blast the next inning to give the Quakers another walk-off win.

3) April 1: Men’s Lacrosse – Penn 10, Yale 9, 30T

Not since 1973 had the Penn men’s lacrosse team played a game that lasted this long. But when the finally whistle finally blew after four quarters and nearly three overtime periods, it was certainly worth it for the exhausted Quakers. After falling behind by three goals at the half to 15th-ranked Yale in an Ivy League showdown at Franklin Field, the Quakers enjoyed a six-goal third quarter to take a two-goal lead, only to give it back in the fourth quarter. After both teams failed to score in the first two OT periods, freshman Drew Belinsky ended the grueling marathon with a sudden-death goal with just over three minutes to go in the third overtime session, eliciting a huge celebration from the Penn side.

2) October 1: Football – Penn 22, Dartmouth 20

Dartmouth was billing the game its Super Bowl, excited to open the league slate against the two-time defending Ivy League champion Quakers in what was the first night game in school history. Then Penn came to town and spoiled the party – in truly agonizing fashion for Dartmouth fans. The Quakers only had one touchdown all night, but it came with 17 seconds left and it propelled the visitors to a stunning 22-20 victory in both team’s Ivy League openers. The TD, which was caught by receiver Ryan Calvert, capped an 89-yard drive orchestrated by quarterback Billy Ragone. Penn went on to win in its next two Ivy games in dramatic fashion but ended up dropping three of its last four league games to fall short of the program’s third straight conference championship.

1) February 5: Men’s Basketball – Harvard 83, Penn 82, 20T

It’s hard to end this list with a Penn loss – the only one on here – but it’s also hard to imagine any game more memorable than this one. It was, quite simply, a classic game filled with all the elements that make basketball at the Palestra special: buzzer beaters, record-breaking performances and a little bit of controversy. Despite never leading in regulation, the Quakers were able to force overtime against the talented Crimson, in part because the refs decided the buzzer went off before a Penn foul. In the first overtime session, the Quakers erased a couple of five-point deficits, capped by a made basket in traffic from point guard Zack Rosen as time expired. Penn finally took its first lead in the second overtime period but Harvard fought back and escaped Philly with a win thanks to a go-ahead bucket from Oliver McNally and good defense on Rosen (who finished with 21 points and a program-record 13 assists) in the final seconds. If that wasn’t enough, the Quakers lost a similarly agonizing OT game to Princeton just three days later, before dropping their next two games to fall out of title contention. Perhaps in 2012, Penn will come out on the winning end in these kinds of thrillers. New Year’s resolution, anybody?

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December 14, 2011

A special California homecoming

Bernardini

ANAHEIM, Ca. – The reporters from California might not have been able to see it but it was there, buried beneath disappointment and press-conference clichés: For Tyler Bernardini and Miles Cartwright, Saturday’s game against UCLA was a special one.

“We talked about it a lot in the summer, coming back,” Cartwright said outside the locker room after Penn’s 77-73 loss to the Bruins. “When we got here, our teammates thought we were annoying because everyone was so tired from the flight but me and Tyler had the most energy. We were laughing, having fun on the bus. It was great – especially for Tyler, not being home in so long.”

Along with freshman reserve Camryn Crocker, Bernardini and Cartwright hail from Southern California, not far from the Honda Center in Anaheim, where the Quakers and Bruins faced off over the weekend.

And as much as Penn coach Jerome Allen tried to insist in the postgame press conference that this was just another road game, it wasn’t. Not for the California kids.

Playing his first college game in his home state, with his grandparents watching him play for the first time since he was in high school, Bernardini looked as determined as ever. He had an extra bounce in his step. He chased the ball ferociously on the defensive end. And, most noticeably to those fans at the Honda Center who had never before seen him play, he shot the lights out.

In the end, Bernardini – who was just named Ivy League co-Player of the Week - scored a career-high 29 points, making eight of the 12 three-point shots he attempted. For a player who has been through a lot of negative things at Penn, including an injury that wiped out just about his entire 2009-10 season, it was a special moment.

“I knew he was going to have a big game,” Cartwright said. “He told me to find him and that he was going to get open. And I knew he was going to knock ’em down.”

Cartwright wasn’t as fortunate in his California homecoming. After sitting out Penn’s last game because of a concussion he suffered in practice Monday, the Penn guard looked rusty for much of Saturday’s game. In the final few minutes, during an inspired Quaker comeback, he came alive with a three-pointer and a traditional three-point play. But the sophomore, who finished with just eight points, lamented his overall performance, especially as fellow guard Zack Rosen also had a rare off night shooting the basketball.

Cartwright

“I wish I was there a lot earlier,” Cartwright said.

Even still, the trip to California presented Cartwright with the rare opportunity to play against some friends (like UCLA’s Tyler Lamb) and also see his younger brother Parker play in his own game the day before. Parker Jackson-Cartwright – a sophomore at Loyola High School in Los Angeles and a top-level recruit – scored 11 points in a 60-56 win over Fairfax, and then left the Penn-UCLA game early to score 20 points in another victory Saturday.

“I tell him about Penn all the time,” Miles said about his kid brother. “But he was a little torn because UCLA is recruiting him hard and he loves the guys over there. As much as I want him to go to Penn, I want him to make the best decision for him.”

Deciding between UCLA and Penn may seem like an interesting choice, considering UCLA is perhaps the most storied college basketball program in the country while Penn plays in the less-heralded Ivy League.

But Miles Cartwright is quick to point out that Penn is a terrific program in its own right – which is why he didn’t feel any intimidation playing on the same floor as UCLA on Saturday, even though the trip to California was a special one.

“I think Penn has the same type of tradition, which a lot of people sleep on.” he said. “UCLA is great, and being from L.A., UCLA really defines Los Angeles basketball. But I really didn’t treat the game any differently in that sense.”

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December 7, 2011

Erik Rask’s dominant football career

Erik Rask will admit it: he did not like Penn at first.

He missed the sun and the beaches of his Newport Beach home. He wasn’t getting on the field in any football games. The schoolwork was difficult.

“There were times I couldn’t wait to come home,” the California native said. “There were a lot of things that were different. I was definitely out of my comfort zone.”

But after a rough first semester in West Philly, things began to look up for Rask. He started to make great friends and do well in his classes. He adjusted to the East Coast weather. And, above all else, he emerged as one of the Quakers’ best defensive players in head coach Al Bagnoli’s tenure.

Earlier this week, three years after his inauspicious Penn beginnings, Rask culminated his college football career with a prestigious honor, traveling to New York as one of two finalists for the Asa S. Bushnell Cup Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year Award.

Rask lost out to Harvard defensive tackle Josue Ortiz in the ceremony at the Waldorf=Astoria Hotel, but that did little to diminish his accomplishments. The senior linebacker – who along with offensive lineman Greg Van Roten, became Penn’s first unanimous First Team All-Ivy selection since 2006 – finished the season with a team-leading 83 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, two interceptions, six pass breakups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

He even scored his first career touchdown, in his final college game – which, he said, is “definitely something I’ll remember.” Check out the video of the TD here.

Rask led the Quakers in tackles in each of the past two seasons

Rask also proved durable and was one of the lynchpins of Penn’s senior class that finished their careers with a 28-12 overall record, including a 23-5 mark in the Ivy League. After not seeing any varsity action in his freshman year, he played all 30 games over the course of the following three seasons, making the Ivy League honor roll in all of them.

And, of course, he helped lead the Quakers to back-to-back undefeated Ivy League seasons in 2009 and 2010.

“I had an unbelievable run here,” Rask said. “I’m so glad I ended up choosing Penn.”

The senior admitted not winning a third straight league title was difficult. And losing three of his final four games was certainly not something he expected.

But he was able to put it all into perspective when he realized that Penn’s 2011 finale against Cornell marked the only time he ever went into a game that didn’t have any meaning toward an Ivy League championship. That didn’t change how he approached his last game – but it did serve as a reminder of how lucky he had been that every other game meant so much.

“We didn’t get to win our third straight Ivy championship this year, but in the end I wouldn’t trade my four years here for anything,” he said. “All the guys, the coaches – it was a great experience.”

Well, after the first semester.

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November 21, 2011

When great athletes return to Penn

Saturday on 33rd street, the Penn football team lost and the Penn basketball team won. But for some, those results may have seemed secondary to a couple of grand returns to the University.

Let’s start with a very special homecoming at Franklin Field for one of the greatest football players of all-time: Chuck Bednarik C’49.

During halftime of Penn’s 48-38 season-ending loss to Cornell, a seven-foot bronze statue of Bednarik was unveiled in a ceremony that included former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell C’65, Hon’00, former Philadelphia Eagles coach Dick Vermeil and some of Bednarik’s old teammates from Penn and the Eagles.

The 86-year-old Bednarik, an NFL Hall of Famer who won championships with the Eagles in 1949 and 1960 after an All-American career at Penn, enjoyed the festivities, hugging his one-time teammates, singing about going to heaven and even talking to the seven-foot version of himself (see above photo).

It’s hard to fully state just how good the man known as “Concrete Charlie” was, so I’ll let another illustrious Penn graduate do the honors. Here’s a quick video of Rendell introducing Bednarik to the Franklin Field crowd followed by the official unveiling of the statue, which will soon find a permanent home inside the stadium.

A few hours later, on a smaller scale, former Penn point guard Andy Toole C’03 returned to the Palestra for the first time as a head coach. The youngest coach in Division I, Toole runs the basketball program at Robert Morris University outside of Pittsburgh.

The reunion didn’t end as well as he might have hoped as Penn handed Toole’s Colonials their first defeat of the season. But before the game, I got a chance to talk to the player who led the Quakers to back-to-back NCAA tournaments in 2002 and 2003.

Here’s a little bit of what he had to say:

On his emotions on coaching at the Palestra, rather than playing: “Obviously it’s a little different. I’ll be sitting on what seems to be the wrong bench from my past experiences here. But it’s great to be back. It’s great for our players to be able to play in a place like the Palestra and against a great program like Penn. Penn has the type of success we want our program to have.”

On some of his best Palestra memories: “Even the first time I stepped in here to watch a game on senior night in 2000 when they played Princeton, I realized this was the place I wanted to play college basketball. Beating Villanova here my junior year. The Yale game my junior year, which was basically a sellout. Clinching the Ivy championship vs. Cornell my senior year. Playing Princeton here. All the Big 5 games. We had a great game against Temple here where we won by one with a tip-in at the buzzer late. So all of those games were special. There were maybe only one or two I’d like to forget; other than that, they’re all great memories.”

Toole coaching his team Saturday

On whether his team knew much about his playing days at Penn: “They know I played here. Some of the Philly guys know a little more about the Palestra. I told them they’ll be playing against guys like me – and they consider me annoying and relentless. They know from shooting around or free throw contests or horse and coaching, I can be pretty annoying. I think that helped paint a picture of what they’d see [against Penn].

On his feelings toward the Penn basketball program today: “I hope they have as much success as possible. I think Jerome [Allen] is doing a great job. I think he’s doing it the right way, and he has a great staff in place. I want all the guys to have similar memories and successes that I had and the guys before me had. I root like crazy for them.”

On coaching against another former Penn guard in Jerome Allen: “I can’t say that’s happened much before. There are a few of us hanging around. There’s Fran McCaffery [at Iowa]. There’s Matt Langel [at Colgate]. Maybe it will become more of a tradition. The whole thing is pretty neat.”

On his thought’s of Penn’s current standout guard, Zack Rosen: “I knew Zack in high school and I’ve watched his career. I have such respect for the way he works and his dedication to the game and his commitment to Penn basketball. I’d love to see him have the opportunity to play in the NCAA tournament because he’s obviously put in the work to make that happen. And I hope it happens for him. He deserves it and the program deserves it.”

Here’s more on both Bednarik’s statue and Toole’s return.

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November 15, 2011

The brilliant/tortured career of Zack Rosen

Temple's T.J. DiLeo tries to keep up with Penn's Zack Rosen during Monday's Big 5 game at the Palestra (Penn Athletics)

Zack Rosen slumped in his char, sitting sideways, intently doing to an orange what he had just finished doing to the Temple defense: picking it to shreds.

This press conference, in the immediate aftermath of Penn’s heartbreaking 73-67 overtime loss to Temple on Monday night at the Palestra, felt like so many press conferences before. By now, the postgame routine is almost formulaic:

  • Rosen plays well
  • Penn loses
  • Rosen is summoned to address the media
  • Rosen, looking miserable, refuses to take any credit for his personal success and vows to do better the next time to help his team win

And so it went again for the senior point guard, who took out his frustration on his orange even after playing arguably one of the best games of his career, against one of the Quakers’ toughest opponents on their schedule.

“Once the game started, we expected to win,” Rosen said. “Myself, Rob [Belcore], Tyler [Bernardini] – everyone that’s been here for a while – expected to win the game. That’s what Coach [Jerome Allen] preaches to us. Why are you going to come out just to be close? You took Temple to overtime? So what? What does that mean? We lost.”

By now, through no fault of his own, Rosen has gotten used to losing. During his time at Penn, the senior has lost 56 games, with just 30 wins to show for it. Mostly, this is just bad timing as Rosen’s college career has coincided with injuries, player defections, a midseason coaching change and not a whole lot luck.

But through it all, the talented guard has persevered, as I wrote about in the recent issue of the Gazette. At times he’s even carried his team on his back – like on Monday at the Palestra when he finished with 27 points, six rebounds and six assists, while shooting a blistering 7-of-10 from three-point range.

Following the exciting Big 5 game, Rosen drew rave reviews from Temple coach Fran Dunphy, as well as T.J. DiLeo, Temple’s ace defender tasked with guarding Rosen late in the game. This is not uncommon, of course. Opposing coaches and players have praised him before and will do so again.

But for Rosen, those words seem to mean very little. After all, they’ve never gotten him any closer to winning his first Ivy League title or going to his first NCAA tournament. And they haven’t helped the Quakers get over the hump and win close games against good teams.

Rosen doesn’t want to be the best player on a losing team. He wants to win. And the 2011-12 season – which began with a win over UMBC on Friday, and was followed by Monday’s loss to Temple – represents his last chance to do it.

“It’s just really frustrating,” Rosen told reporters following the game. “Everyone in our locker room wholeheartedly believed we deserved to win the game and we were good enough to win the game. So obviously when expectations aren’t fulfilled, it’s very frustrating. For myself and the seniors, we will leave this place not having beaten Temple once.”

Rosen paused, talked a little more about his frustration, about Penn’s defensive lapses, about the big shots Temple guard Juan Fernandez made. And then he reminded reporters about one of the few shots he didn’t make – the front end of a one-and-one with the Quakers trailing by a point with 3:30 left in regulation.

Never mind the fact that Rosen drilled his fourth three-pointer of the half two minutes later to give the Quakers a lead, and then buried two more huge threes in overtime. No, Rosen, who was easily the best player on the court Monday, was thinking about one missed free throw.

That’s just the way it seems to go for the Penn point guard. For everyone watching, Rosen does more than enough. For him, it’s never enough.

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November 7, 2011

Homecoming special: From Franklin Field to the Silver Screen

In the recent issue of the Gazette, I profiled filmmaker Rick Cohen C’87, who long before he began making movies, was a football player at Penn. Standing by itself, that may not sound remarkable. But when you consider that three other former Penn football players from the mid-80s are also now filmmakers, well, then it suddenly seems more extraordinary.

So how did it happen that Cohen, Bo Zenga C’83, Tim Chambers C’85 and Gavin O’Connor C’86 all followed separate, but sometimes intertwined, paths from Franklin Field to the big screen?

“I think it’s just a coincidence more than anything else,” says Chambers, whose first film, The Mighty Macs, recently hit theaters. “It’s not like there was a program there that fostered our desire to be in film. But I always felt Ivy League athletes have a unique skill set and makeup. I’m not surprised guys are following their passion.”

Passion certainly played a big role in each of their lives, as all of them took a big leap of faith in making their risky career choice. And over the years, we at the Gazette have chronicled these Penn-football-players-turned-moviemakers.

In honor of homecoming this past Saturday, when many Penn football players were honored during halftime of Penn’s rout of Princeton, here’s a closer look at all four:

Bo Zenga C’83

Gazette article: http://www.upenn.edu/gazette/0911/pro04.html

Football credits: one varsity letter (1982); one Ivy League championship (1982)

Movie credits: Executive producer, Scary Movie (1982); writer/producer, Soul Plane (2004); writer/director/producer, Stan Helsing (2009)

How he got here: Performed in Penn players and wrote short stories while in college; left a job on Wall Street two years after graduation to be an actor in Los Angeles; enrolled at the American Film Institute in Hollywood to learn more about filmmaking in 1990; broke out with Scary Movie, which spawned an $800 million franchise

Defining quote: “When [movies] ended, I’d stay and watch the credits roll. I’d be sad without knowing why. Looking back, I realize it was because I wanted to be a part of it.”

Tim Chambers C’85

Gazette article: http://www.upenn.edu/gazette/0509/pro04.html

Football credits: three varsity letters (1982-84); second team All-Ivy (1982); first team All-Ivy (1983-1984), Ivy League Football Player of the Year (1984); three Ivy League championships (1982-84)

Movie credits: Writer/director/producer, The Mighty Macs (2011)

How he got here: Left to read screenplays in Hollywood after failing to stick with the Philadelphia Eagles and not liking his first “real job” as a stockbroker; partnered with his former teammate O’Connor to create a television pilot based on his own childhood called Murphy’s Dozen; began working on The Mighty Macs – based on the true story of the Immaculata women’s basketball team’s improbable national championship in 1972 – more than five years ago

Defining quote: “I’m glad we made the right decisions throughout and I feel like we’ve positioned [The Mighty Macs] to succeed. One thing I never wavered on was my belief in the movie and the final product. I knew we had something that was really special.”

Gavin O’Connor C’86

Gazette article: http://www.upenn.edu/gazette/0504/0504arts04.html

Football credits: Three varsity letters (1983-85); first team All-Ivy (1985); four Ivy League championships (1982-85);

Movie credits: Director, Miracle (2004); writer/director, Pride and Glory (2008); writer/director, Warrior (2011)

How he got here: After graduating, while working out in 115-degree weather with his future business partner Chambers in the hopes of playing in the NFL, he walked off the field and decided to move to New York to write short films and plays; went mainstream with Miracle, based on the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team’s stunning gold medal; recently released highly acclaimed Warrior, a film about mixed martial arts

Defining quote: “To the detriment of my grades, I spent a lot of time writing scripts in my dorm room and I spent a lot of time in movie theaters … in between football practice, working out, and film sessions. So, I guess my schoolwork was third, which at times became a problem. … But I always wanted to make movies. That was always my dream.”

Rick Cohen C’87

Gazette article: http://www.upenn.edu/gazette/1111/pro05.html

Football credits: Played all four years but never earned a varsity letter (for appearing in at least 50 percent of the team’s contests in a given year); three Ivy League championships (1984-86); was mobbed by teammates after scoring the last touchdown of the last game of the season on the freshman team; backed up Chambers at safety for most of his career on the varsity squad

Movie credits: Writer/director, Faded Glory (2009); Writer/director, Season of a Lifetime (2011)

How he got here: At Penn, performed skits for UTV and switched from pre-med to communications; worked as a TV commercial actor in New York city after graduation, before leaving for Los Angeles to read and write screenplays; began making sports documentaries with Faded Glory

Defining quote: “Up to the point of Faded Glory, I was always living my life to please other people. Finally I put an end to that.”

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October 31, 2011

An ode to the streak

It took a trip to Rhode Island, a driving rainstorm, a soggy grass field and a scrappy Brown team to end the Penn football’s team historic Ivy League winning streak at 18 games.

But the Quakers, who are still very much in contention for at least a piece of their third straight Ivy League championship despite Saturday’s 6-0 loss to Brown, should certainly be commended for producing the second longest winning streak in the conference’s storied history.

Here’s a look back at some of the games that helped create “The Streak.”

Nov. 22, 2008: In their final game of the 2008 season, Penn rebounds from a devastating loss to Harvard to beat Cornell in Ithaca. The Quakers barely miss out an Ivy League title but this game still sees head coach Al Bagnoli win his 200th game and kicker Andrew Samson set a Penn record with 16 field goals on the season. At the time, however, no one could have imagined the win would also be the first of 18 straight against Ivy opponents.

Oct. 3, 2009: After starting the following season with two nonleague losses, the undermanned Quakers hold off Dartmouth on the road, 30-24. It was Penn’s first win of the season – and win No. 2 in the streak.

Oct. 31, 2009: The fifth win of the streak comes in dramatic fashion as Penn beats Brown in overtime, 14-7. It was the Quakers’ first OT win in their last seven tries.

Nov. 14, 2009: The Quakers’ seventh straight Ivy victory is one of their biggest in recent memory as they win at Harvard, 17-7, to claim a share of their 14th league title and first since 2003. They’d capture the outright championship – and perfect Ivy season – the following week with an easy victory over Cornell.

Oct. 2, 2010: Penn picks up right where it left off from a year ago, beating Dartmouth in its Ivy League opener, 35-28, in overtime. Quarterback Billy Ragone scores four times in the shootout as Penn’s streak moves to nine games.

Oct. 23, 2010: In a battle of Ivy unbeatens, Penn extends its Ivy winning streak to 11 games with a 27-20 win over Yale at the Yale Bowl. The Quakers score 20 unanswered points in this one and then hold on for the win.

Nov. 20, 2010: A dominant season ends with a 31-7 rout of Cornell, the 15th Ivy League championship in school history, and the second consecutive perfect conference record. Heading into a new year, the streak stands at 15 games.

Oct. 1, 2011: Penn begins a season-long trend of coming from behind, beating upstart Dartmouth, 22-20, with a TD with 17 seconds left. The Ivy-opening win pushes the streak to 16.

Oct. 15, 2011: Penn once again triumphs on the strength of game-winning drive, spoiling Columbia’s upset bid in the final minute. The 27-20 victory pushes the streak to 17 and also ties a school record with the program’s 12th straight Ivy road win.

Oct. 22, 2011: The final win of the streak may just be one of the most impressive ones as Penn erupts for 27 fourth-quarter points to hand a very good Yale team a 37-25 loss. Fittingly, another milestone is met on this day as Bagnoli becomes the third coach to ever win 100 Ivy League games.

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October 19, 2011

Wharton grads buy 76ers

Joshua Harris (second from left), David Blitzer (fourth from left) and Art Wrubel (far right) are three of the new Sixers owners that went to Penn.

On the campus where he once went to college, Wall Street investor Joshua Harris W’86 was introduced to the Philadelphia media this week as a new owner of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Harris is part of a large ownership group that includes David Blitzer W’91 and, according to one report, four other Penn graduates. Art Wrubel W’87 and Marc Leder W’83 are two of them. Philadelphia native Will Smith is also an investor in the NBA franchise (although sadly, the Hollywood mega-star is not a former Quaker).

The sale had been in the works for a while but was not made official until Harris and others spoke on the floor of the Palestra, with 76ers championship banners hanging in the background.

And now that Harris, Blitzer and others have control of the team – which had been owned by Comcast-Spectacor since 1996 – they unveiled a series of moves they hope will restore confidence in the relatively dormant franchise. Among them:

Harris could not talk specifically about players or other on-court issues because of the NBA lockout but he did throw his support behind current head coach Doug Collins. The Wharton alum also boasted about the quality of fans in Philly, which he first began to see when he got to Penn in 1982 (the same season, he notes, that the Sixers last won an NBA championship).

The optimism abounding from the Sixers’ new ownership group has already been met with some cynicism from those who see the NBA as a gloomy league, especially in the midst of a lockout that has frustrated fans. But, for now, the Penn grads seem hopeful they will be able to put people back into the seats and eventually turn the Sixers back into a championship team.

Go Quakers! I mean, go Sixers!

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