March Madness Bracketology

March -- a time when a young man's fancy turns towards the thoughts of creating the perfect bracket for March Madness. No other sporting event has such a massive appeal to non-sports fans and no other event wastes so much time. Why fill out your bracket at home on Sunday night, when you can pretend to be working on Monday? Besides, if you have been following college basketball all season, it really shouldn't take you that long to fill it out anyway.
If you're not a hoops maven, there are several fallbacks you can rely on to win your office pool. You've got the classic coin flip, favored by many Americans for its sheer simplicity. For those people who want to do a little more research, there's the mascot and color comparisons method. Next, we've got the higher seed technique, which is almost as good as not even filling out a bracket. If none of these options sounds appealing, random guessing is always a fallback strategy for the lazy American.
Or, you could listen to the sports analysts. Over on Yahoo! Sports, there's twelve "experts" predictions. Included in this group are three NASCAR writers, three fantasy sports experts, and Cris Carter. Needless to say, it would probably be better to follow the advice of someone who doesn't have Kentucky making it to the Final Four. ESPN.com's Andy Katz has Wake Forest winning the championship, while the National Bracket (a compilation of picks from everyone who entered ESPN.com's bracket contest) has Illinois winning in the majority of the entries.
The best option, however, would be to listen to my "expert" advice. I have watched over five complete games this season, and I also finished third (or fourth or fifth, I can't remember) in last year's Daily Sun pool. Here's a breakdown of the four regionals, along with my bold predictions.
Chicago Regional
The No. 1 overall seed Illinois was not surprisingly placed in this regional, which means we only have three more weeks of CBS and ESPN showing the same stupid map of how far the Illini have to travel for each round. Out of all the repetitive nonsense that frequently plagues sports analysis, this travel point about Illinois is really stupid. Thank you, Digger Phelps, Dick Vitale, Jay Bilas, Greg Gumbel, etc. -- we got the point when you first mentioned it a month ago.
A less annoying story out of this regional is whether Penn can become the first Ivy team to win a first-round game since 1998 by knocking off Boston College, who exited the Big East tourney in the quarterfinals. You've also got three of last year's Cinderella teams -- Alabama, Nevada, and UAB -- in this regional, which could cause some shakeups. However, Illinois will be the team coming out of this region, thanks to its veritable "home court advantage." (The Illini only have to drive 120 miles to its first and second rounds games, and then only 133 miles to Chicago for the Sweet 16! Wow! Let's see that visualization on a map again!)
Albuquerque Regional
Washington snuck its way to a No. 1 seed after a Chris Paul-less Wake Forest squad lost in the ACC tourney quarterfinals. However, the Huskies have not impressed anyone other than the selection committee, as ESPN.com's National Bracket has Louisville knocking them off in the Sweet 16. How the Cardinals ended up with a No. 4 seed even though they are currently ranked No. 4 in the AP Poll is a little puzzling.
ACC runner-up Georgia Tech (which was robbed on Sunday, but more on this later) will most likely be in the unenviable position of facing Louisville in the second round. However, Mike Wilbon of ESPN's Pardon the Interruption seems to think highly of the Yellow Jackets, as he has penciled them in for a spot in the Final Four. Yeah, somehow I don't think so. As long as Chris Paul decides not to go medieval on another player's crotch again, the Demon Deacons should advance to St. Louis.
Syracuse Regional
Unlike in the NCAA hockey tournament, the host city's team does not get to play in the regional, so the Orange were sent to Austin. Arguably the toughest regional with UNC, UConn, Kansas, and Florida as the No. 1-4 seeds, it's probably a bad move to jump on the Northern Iowa bandwagon. UNC will have a pretty tough game against Oakland (we're talking about a team that only lost to Illinois by 31 points and also have a losing record), but the Tar Heels should survive to face UConn in the Elite Eight. The defending national champions would have stood a better chance had they not lost the No. 2 and 3 picks in the 2004 NBA Draft, so UNC will be headed back to the Final Four for the first time in five years. For those Cornellians who will be Ithaca over break and want to check out the games at the Carrier Dome, you can buy two seats on eBay for the low price of $560.
Austin Regional
Everyone's favorite team, Duke, stole a No. 1 seed after Wake, UNC, and Kentucky faltered in their conference tournaments. The Blue Devils also stole the ACC championship, as the refs decided to call a foul against Georgia Tech in the closing seconds, when my favorite player, J.J. Redick, actually committed the foul. Instead of the Yellow Jackets getting a chance to take the lead, the best free throw shooter in the history of college basketball got to go to the line. But, I'm not bitter.
Back to the bracket, Duke will lose in the Sweet Sixteen as will Kentucky. (Do not, under any circumstances, pencil in the Wildcats to go far into the tourney. While you may like it when the camera pans to Ashley Judd in the crowd, this is a team that has destroyed my bracket the last two seasons, and probably cost me the Daily Sun crown last year. Plus, they just got destroyed by Florida in the SEC tournament final). Look for Syracuse to knock off Oklahoma in the Elite Eight.
So there you have it: Illinois, Wake Forest, UNC, and Syracuse in the Final Four. As for who wins it all, I'm going to say Illinois over UNC, just like all the other analysts in the country (They're only 180 miles from home! Zounds!). Happy bracketing.

Bonds Makes More Problems

You've got to hand it to Barry Bonds. After refusing to comment on the results of his recent grand jury testimony, Bonds came out firing on all cylinders at his press conference last week when he arrived at San Francisco's spring training. In only a few minutes, Bonds graciously provided the media with a year's worth of sound bites, sounding off on such topics as Sanford and Son, steroids, lying reporters, and Babe Ruth.

It's not easy being Barry. This is a man who's been stuck with many labels over the years, almost none of them positive. You can start out with "greatest hitter of all time," "seven-time MVP," and "record breaker." Of course, there's also "cheater," "steroid user," bad teammate," "hothead," "liar," and "team cancer." Those are pretty harsh words, and it's easy to see why Bonds would not be too friendly with the media -- if this is the way he is being labeled.

Bonds has never been a media darling, and he really didn't endear himself further last Tuesday when he accused the media of lying.

"All you guys lie, all of y'all, in a story or whatever, have lied. Should you have an asterisk behind your name? All of you have lied. All of you have said something wrong, all of you have dirt. All of you. When your closet's clean, then come clean somebody else's. But clean yours first, okay."

Bonds' reaction here is both puzzling and irrational. What is he talking about? What are reporters lying about? Of course, people have secrets. However, members of the media aren't public figures like Bonds is. No one cares about the personal life of a reporter, but people care if one of the best professional athletes in the world is cheating by taking an illegal substance.

Not satisfied with his rant so far, Bonds continued into shakier logical territory.

"The sports world is bad as it is because this is the only business that allows you guys in our office to begin with. You can't just go to Bank of America, walk in the office, and start interviewing employees."

This analogy is, in a word, awful. There's a huge difference between a professional baseball player and a bank employee. A bank employee does not get paid millions of dollars, have his work broadcast on national television, or have millions of people rooting for him to finish a loan application. His salary is not contingent on people buying tickets to see him do his job.

Bonds fails to see the simple connection between the media and his salary. If it weren't for the media coverage, the television broadcasts, or the sports networks, people would not be able to follow sports at all. No fans equals no money for Mr. Bonds. It's not that complicated, and that's what's so irritating about his comments. He seems to think that the fans are lucky to watch him play.

He also thinks he's worth more than the other players, as evidenced by his refusal to sign the MLBPA group licensing agreement in November 2003. The agreement allows the union to negotiate licensing deals on behalf of all the players, with each player getting a share of the profits. By not signing the agreement, Bonds can negotiate separate licensing arrangements for more money. Because he rejected the group agreement, Bonds did not appear in several baseball card sets and video games last year. This is a big blow to the union, and could open the door for other players to opt out as well (Michael Jordan and LaVarr Arrington are the other two notable athletes who have not signed their union's group licensing agreements in the past).

All of these things are not conducive to a positive media image. Most of the time, a player can act like a jerk to the media and it won't make that much of a difference. Unfortunately for Bonds, he happens to be caught up in one of the biggest sports scandals in recent memory. With his grand jury testimony uncovered, maybe the recent press conference would have been a good time for Bonds to answer some questions about steroids. Jason Giambi apologized last month (although not directly for taking steroids); would Bonds have it in him to do the same?

Reporter: Jason Giambi felt the need to make an apology. Is there anything that you need to apologize for?

Bonds: What did I do?

When asked if he thought steroids were considered cheating, Bonds summoned his inner politician.

"I don't -- I don't know what cheating is. I don't know cheating, if steroid is going to help you in baseball. I just don't believe it. I don't believe steroids can help you, eye/hand coordination, technically hit a baseball, I just don't believe it and that's just my opinion."

Deny. Deny. Deny. It's a great way to argue. So all that's required to hit a home run is hand-eye coordination? Really? So muscle strength has nothing to do with hitting a ball far? I suppose steroids won't help you get your bat on the ball, but I'll bet they can make you hit the ball a lot farther.

With the baseball season starting in a month, the Barry Bonds talk is not going to die down in the slightest. Bonds had a chance to gain some sympathy in his press conference, but he instead further alienated himself from the media and the fans. Until the BALCO case is resolved, reporters will continue to ask Bonds about steroids and Bonds will continue to dodge key questions. Hopefully, one day, he'll give the fans a straight answer.

Men's Cagers Set to Host Quakers,Tigers

It's a do-or-die weekend for the men's basketball team. With only four games remaining in the regular season, the Red (11-12, 6-4 Ivy) needs to run the table to have a shot at the Ivy title, and it will get a chance to make up some ground on league-leading Penn (15-8, 8-1 Ivy) when the two teams meet tonight at 7 p.m. at Newman Arena. Tomorrow, Princeton (12-11, 3-6 Ivy) comes to town for a 7 p.m. contest that will be televised on the YES Network. This weekend's games come just two weeks after Cornell played at Princeton and Penn. Also tomorrow, seniors Eric Taylor, Cody Toppert, and Chris Vandenberg will be honored as part of senior night. 

"Princeton's only played three games since we played them, and Penn's only played two games," said head coach Steve Donahue. "It's different because we know each other. Even in those two weeks for us, we've changed dramatically, just with injuries and guys playing."

After splitting last weekend's games against Dartmouth and Harvard, the Red needs four wins plus three Penn losses to clinch at least a share of the league title. If the two teams finished tied for first, they will then play each other in a one-game playoff at a neutral sit e. However, the last time Cornell beat Penn twice in one season was in 1989.

Against Dartmouth last Friday, the Red fell behind early and could not recover, losing 67-54. With sophomore point guard Graham Dow hampered by injury, freshman Jason Canady stepped up with a career and team-high 20 points against the Green, including 16 in the final nine minutes. Starting the following night, Canady put up 15 more points in the Red's 67-63 win at Harvard, and was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week for his efforts. Junior Ryan Rourke also had a big night against the Crimson, posting a career-high 27 points.

This weekend presents a formidable challenge for the Red, as the team has not swept Princeton and Penn at home since its Ivy title season in 1988. Two weeks ago, Cornell won its first game at Princeton since 1985, beating the Tigers 66-58. The next night at the Palestra, the Red had a chance to become only the fourth team ever in league history to sweep the Tigers and Quakers on the road, but dropped a 64-50 contest. Serving as an assistant coach at Penn for 10 years, Donahue is still winless against his mentor and Penn head coach Fran Dunphy. 

"We have to do the things we do well to win games, and for me, that's doing a real good job on the defensive boards, taking care of transition defense, and taking care of the ball, " Donahue said. "When we take care of the ball and our turnovers are in the 10-12 range, we usually are a very good basketball team, and that's what we need to do this weekend."

While Penn looked like it was ready to run away with the league title last weekend, Yale stunned the previously-undefeated Quakers with a 78-60 win in New Haven, CT. The Bulldogs built on a five-point lead at halftime, and limited Penn to 28.1 percent shooting in the second half. 

"It's a revenge game for a team that I know physically is able to match up with Penn. [Yale's win] doesn't surprise me," Donahue said. "[Penn's] a team that I think really understands how to win games, gets the maximum amount out of each guy -- one of those teams. But on any given night, anybody in this league can beat anybody. When Yale's at home and Penn has to go there after really beating [the Bulldogs] easily at the Palestra, that was a good opportunity for Yale to jump them."

Penn is led by senior guard Tim Begley, who has compiled a team-leading 14.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game. Sophomore guard Ibrahim Jaaber has upped his scoring average by almost five points per game from a year ago, and is second on the team in scoring with 11.0 points per game.

"Obviously, we can really look at our film and what we did well and what we didn't do well and try to correct it," Donahue said. "We're trying to execute and maybe come up with a wrinkle here and there to make us more successful than [when] we were down there."

Since its loss to Cornell two weeks ago, the Tigers have gone 2-1, most recently beating up on Brown 69-52 last Saturday. The reigning league champion, Princeton, is currently sixth in the conference standings. Senior center Judson Wallace is the team's leading scorer and rebounder, with 12.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, while senior guard Will Venable is second in scoring with 10.5 points per game.

Men's Hockey Extends Unbeaten Streak to 12 Games

Friday night at Lynah Rink featured a rare goaltender match-up in college hockey -- two Texas goaltenders. In the end, sophomore David McKee, from Irving, Texas, bested Rensselaer's Andrew Martin, from Plano, Texas, as No. 4 Cornell (19-4-3, 15-2-2 ECACHL) beat the Engineers (13-18-2, 5-13-1 ECACHL), 3-0.

"I played with [Martin] growing up," McKee said. "He went to college and played at Fairfield before I did, so he was playing in college way before I was. I was hoping for the opportunity and he's a good friend of mine actually, so it was a fun game to play."

McKee had a relatively easier night than his fellow Texan, as the Red peppered Martin with 34 shots on the night. Cornell was balanced offensively, with three different players scoring for the Red.

"I just thought we did a good job being patient throughout the whole course of the game," said head coach Mike Schafer '86. "It was a good first period, and I thought both teams played solid, feeling each other out."

While Cornell controlled possession throughout the first period, it had some of its best scoring chances in the last five minutes before the intermission. With 5:25 remaining, sophomore Byron Bitz stole the puck from behind the RPI net, and fed it to classmate Evan Salmela. Salmela then fired a shot from the right point which was blocked by the defense. Bitz recovered the puck in the low slot and wristed another shot, which Martin grabbed with a quick glove.

The Cornell power play unit saw its first action of the night after RPI's Vic Pereira drew a boarding penalty at 15:59. Quickly setting up in the Rensselaer zone, the first unit worked the puck around for nearly the entire two minutes.

"I was a little concerned, because you get out there that long, and all you can see in your mind is the guy coming out of the penalty box fresh," Schafer said. "All he has to do is get his hands on it and the other nine guys are done."

After RPI knocked the puck out to the neutral zone, senior assistant captain Charlie Cook brought it back in with time winding down on the man advantage. Freshman Topher Scott worked the puck around to junior assistant captain Matt Moulson, who fed it to an open Cook in the high slot. Cook's ensuing shot wobbled toward the goal, beating Martin just as Pereira stepped out of the box.

"We were moving the puck around quite a bit, I think we took seven or eight shots," Cook said. "Topher passed the puck out, I got a piece of it, didn't get too much on it, and it somehow found its way to the net. I think it just went up and down and went off the tip of [Martin's] glove."

The Red put the pressure on RPI at the start of the second period, as junior Jon Gleed took the puck in on net after senior Paul Varteressian's shot was blocked at the top of the right circle. While Cornell again held possession in the Rensselaer end, the Red's second goal came in transition.

Junior Daniel Pegoraro brought the puck up through the neutral zone, and beat the RPI defense as he crossed the blue line. Skating down to the right circle, Pegoraro dropped the puck back to a tailing Shane Hynes, who wristed it over Martin's right shoulder at 14:34.

The game got physical as the second period continued. RPI's Matt McNeely hit Moulson along the right boards in the Cornell zone, and was called for interference. The resulting scrum led to a charging penalty on Hynes, and the next six minutes saw little five-on-five play.

"[Rensselaer has] a good, solid, physical team, and there were a lot of big hits out there both ways," Schafer said. "It was the kind of game that our team relishes playing in -- a strong, physical, tough hockey game, and we're built for that type of event."

The Red power play saw some more ice time after Blake Pickett was called for holding at 11:15. After the man-advantage ended without a goal for Cornell, Scott Romfo was sent to the box for hitting from behind just 13 seconds after the end of the previous power play.

Cornell went to work again on the man advantage, and this time it was able to capitalize. Scott found senior captain Mike Knoepfli at the right point, and Knoepfli fired a shot that banged off the crossbar and in at 15:01.

"The credit's got to go to [Hynes] and [freshman] Ray [Sawada]," said Knoepfli. "All night on the power play, the goalie didn't see any of the shots that Moulson or I were shooting. They did a great job getting in his way, and I saw the top corner open and just shot it there."

The third period was relatively quiet, as neither team had many scoring chances. Pereira and Bitz were each called for two penalties in a row, resulting in four minutes of four-on-four play midway through the period.

McKee finished with 20 saves for his seventh shutout of the season, taking sole possession of second place in program history with 12. He is one shutout away from tying the all-time mark set by Ken Dryden '69.

Men's Hockey Hosts RPI, Union

With two weeks left in the regular season, the No. 4 men's hockey team (18-4-3, 14-2-2 ECACHL) sits atop the league standings with a four-point lead over Colgate. This weekend, the Red will try to move one step closer to clinching the No. 1 seed in the ECACHL tournament when it battles RPI (13-17-2, 5-12-1 ECACHL) and Union (11-18-1, 7-11-0 ECACHL) tonight and tomorrow at Lynah Rink. Both contests begin at 7 p.m.

"Everybody's fighting for position in the standings," said head coach Mike Schafer '86. "The reasons we're fighting for might be a little different than the reasons RPI and Union are fighting for, but everybody's trying to jockey and get themselves the best position in the standings. It's kind of the unique thing about our playoffs, going down the stretch drive here, everybody has the same thing at stake."

Tomorrow's senior night will honor Charlie Cook, Jeremy Downs, Mike Iggulden, Mike Knoepfli, and Paul Varteressian, as it will be the last regular season home game of their careers. The class of 2005 has racked up impressive credentials in its four years at Cornell, including a Frozen Four showing, two NCAA appearances, one ECACHL title, and three Ivy League titles. 

"Senior night is coming a little too soon," Cook said. "It's going to be a bittersweet experience, I'm sure, but I guess I'm ready."

Junior assistant captain Matt Moulson echoed Cook's sentiments.

"I've played with these guys for three years, it's sad to see a great bunch of guys, a good class leave," Moulson said. "Senior night always touches home with everyone. It'll be an emotional weekend."

After taking three points off of its travel partner, Colgate, two weeks ago, the Red further distanced itself last weekend with a four-point effort on the road against Princeton and Yale, while the Raiders only came away with three. Last Friday, Cornell blanked the Tigers 5-0, with five different players netting a goal. The Red's special teams accounted for three tallies, with Iggulden netting his second shorthanded goal of the season. Sophomore goalie David McKee recorded his sixth shutout of the season, which tied him for second all-time in program history with David LeNeveu '05. 

The next night against Yale, the Red fell behind early in the first period, but answered just 22 seconds later with a tally from sophomore Byron Bitz. Cornell tacked on two more scores in the period en route to a 5-2 victory. For the second night in a row, five different scorers recorded goals for the Red, and also for the second night in a row, Iggulden netted a shorthanded goal -- the eventual game-winner. 

During its trip to the Capital District in January, the Red took four points from Union and RPI. Another Iggulden shorthanded goal, this time in overtime, sealed a 2-1 victory over the Dutchmen, while the Red beat up on an under-manned Engineer squad the next night, winning 5-0.

"RPI will be a much different team than when we played up there," Schafer said. "Kirk MacDonald was out of the game, Oren Eizenman, two of their better players didn't play. You take two of anybody's top four scorers out of the game, you're going to have a whole different type of team."

MacDonald leads the team in scoring with 31 points, and last weekend, he scored the game-winner against Brown with nine seconds remaining in regulation. 3-3-0 in its last six conference games, the Engineers sit in tenth place in the conference standings, and will need two wins to remain in the hunt for home-ice in the first round of the conference playoffs. Union, currently in ninth, is only one point behind seventh place Clarkson and St. Lawrence. After starting conference play 6-2-0, the Dutchmen have dropped 11 of their last 12 conference games. Jordan Webb and Scott Seney are tied for the team league in scoring with 24 points, while goalies Kris Mayotte and Justin Mrazek have been splitting time between the pipes. 

"Union always gives us a difficult time, especially in their rink, and we just have to play our game at home in Lynah and keep the streak going," said junior Shane Hynes. The Red are unbeaten at home this season.

The Red will head up to the North Country next weekend for its final two games of the regular season against Clarkson and St. Lawrence. With a first-round bye in hand, Cornell will return to Lynah Rink three weeks from now for the second round of the ECACHL playoffs.

With two weeks left in the regular season, the No. 4 men's hockey team (18-4-3, 14-2-2 ECACHL) sits atop the league standings with a four-point lead over Colgate. This weekend, the Red will try to move one step closer to clinching the No. 1 seed in the ECACHL tournament when it battles RPI (13-17-2, 5-12-1 ECACHL) and Union (11-18-1, 7-11-0 ECACHL) tonight and tomorrow at Lynah Rink. Both contests begin at 7 p.m.
"Everybody's fighting for position in the standings," said head coach Mike Schafer '86. "The reasons we're fighting for might be a little different than the reasons RPI and Union are fighting for, but everybody's trying to jockey and get themselves the best position in the standings. It's kind of the unique thing about our playoffs, going down the stretch drive here, everybody has the same thing at stake."
Tomorrow's senior night will honor Charlie Cook, Jeremy Downs, Mike Iggulden, Mike Knoepfli, and Paul Varteressian, as it will be the last regular season home game of their careers. The class of 2005 has racked up impressive credentials in its four years at Cornell, including a Frozen Four showing, two NCAA appearances, one ECACHL title, and three Ivy League titles.
"Senior night is coming a little too soon," Cook said. "It's going to be a bittersweet experience, I'm sure, but I guess I'm ready."
Junior assistant captain Matt Moulson echoed Cook's sentiments.
"I've played with these guys for three years, it's sad to see a great bunch of guys, a good class leave," Moulson said. "Senior night always touches home with everyone. It'll be an emotional weekend."
After taking three points off of its travel partner, Colgate, two weeks ago, the Red further distanced itself last weekend with a four-point effort on the road against Princeton and Yale, while the Raiders only came away with three. Last Friday, Cornell blanked the Tigers 5-0, with five different players netting a goal. The Red's special teams accounted for three tallies, with Iggulden netting his second shorthanded goal of the season. Sophomore goalie David McKee recorded his sixth shutout of the season, which tied him for second all-time in program history with David LeNeveu '05.
The next night against Yale, the Red fell behind early in the first period, but answered just 22 seconds later with a tally from sophomore Byron Bitz. Cornell tacked on two more scores in the period en route to a 5-2 victory. For the second night in a row, five different scorers recorded goals for the Red, and also for the second night in a row, Iggulden netted a shorthanded goal -- the eventual game-winner.
During its trip to the Capital District in January, the Red took four points from Union and RPI. Another Iggulden shorthanded goal, this time in overtime, sealed a 2-1 victory over the Dutchmen, while the Red beat up on an under-manned Engineer squad the next night, winning 5-0.
"RPI will be a much different team than when we played up there," Schafer said. "Kirk MacDonald was out of the game, Oren Eizenman, two of their better players didn't play. You take two of anybody's top four scorers out of the game, you're going to have a whole different type of team."
MacDonald leads the team in scoring with 31 points, and last weekend, he scored the game-winner against Brown with nine seconds remaining in regulation. 3-3-0 in its last six conference games, the Engineers sit in tenth place in the conference standings, and will need two wins to remain in the hunt for home-ice in the first round of the conference playoffs. Union, currently in ninth, is only one point behind seventh place Clarkson and St. Lawrence. After starting conference play 6-2-0, the Dutchmen have dropped 11 of their last 12 conference games. Jordan Webb and Scott Seney are tied for the team league in scoring with 24 points, while goalies Kris Mayotte and Justin Mrazek have been splitting time between the pipes.
"Union always gives us a difficult time, especially in their rink, and we just have to play our game at home in Lynah and keep the streak going," said junior Shane Hynes. The Red are unbeaten at home this season.
The Red will head up to the North Country next weekend for its final two games of the regular season against Clarkson and St. Lawrence. With a first-round bye in hand, Cornell will return to Lynah Rink three weeks from now for the second round of the ECACHL playoffs.
- See more at: http://www.cornellsun.com/node/13880#sthash.zLH5QcQy.dpuf

NHL Judgment Day Arrives

The 2004-05 NHL season hangs in the balance as I write this, with the players' association having until 11 a.m. EST today to agree to a new collective bargaining agreement, which would include a $44.7 million individual team cap. If it does not, Bettman '74 will cancel the season at 1 p.m.

When the lockout began exactly five months ago today, hockey fans and players alike anticipated a long labor dispute. After months of negotiation, there is finally closure on this unfortunate season. Whether the season is indeed cancelled or an extremely shortened season is played, there is already a stain on the game.

Let's say there is a shortened season. How many games are they going to squeeze in? Well, if the season started at the beginning of March, under the current schedule, there would be about 20 games left. That's certainly not enough to compile any meaningful results. If the league pushes the playoffs back, we're looking at hockey in July, and that would definitely interfere with the start of next season. So, even if the players do agree to this salary cap, a shortened season is still a terrible idea.

Instead of a 20-game "season," the NHL should instead put together a 20-game exhibition schedule for every team. That way, the fans get their hockey, the players can get reacquainted with their teammates, and the league can make some money. Put the Stanley Cup away for one year, but still bring hockey back into the American sports landscape.

However, the season will probably be cancelled and the possibility of an exhibition season is also unlikely. It looks like the NHL -- and its players, because they're just as much at fault -- will be writing an unfortunate chapter into the history book of modern sports.

If this deal does not get done today, negotiations need to continue immediately. Even though this labor dispute has been on the horizon for almost two years, postponing the new CBA is not an option. Obviously, some sort of salary cap should be implemented, but the league's marketing department needs to kick into overdrive to win back its fan base and maybe attract some new fans.

There's also the 2006 Olympics and the 2005 draft to worry about. If this season is lost, then NHL players will not be playing in Turin next year. With the potential next Wayne Gretzky entering the league next year in Sidney Crosby, a fair draft order needs to be established.

This whole thing comes at a difficult time for the American sports fan. With the Super Bowl finished and March Madness still weeks away, the next few weeks are arguably one of the most boring sports periods of the year. With no hockey, it's been all basketball, all the time, on SportsCenter. ESPN is so desperate for material that it's been recycling segments from a week ago. It also tried to hype up the Pro Bowl, but no serious sports fan was going to watch that game for more than five minutes anyway.

America is a four-sport country. We don't have the attention span or the craziness to devote ourselves to only one single sport. With Europeans enjoying NHL players over in their hockey leagues, Americans should take something back -- namely European soccer. Now, obviously the world's best soccer players aren't going to transfer to the MLS, but they are easily accessible through Fox Soccer Channel. Formerly Fox Sports World, Fox Soccer Channel features matches from the English, German, French, and Argentinean leagues, as well as the Champions League and World Cup qualifiers.

While most Americans aren't really enamored with the game, there are many parallels to our sports: $100 million-plus payrolls (see Chelsea and Manchester United), intense rivalries, multiple leagues to follow, fan violence (AS Roma was forced to play a December game in an empty stadium after one of its fans threw a coin at a referee), and more. And, since there are no commercials during soccer broadcasts (except during halftime), watching soccer will probably increase the average attention span in this country. While many consider soccer boring at first glance, there is an incredible amount of excitement, talent, and creativity in the game -- evidenced by the occasional soccer play that makes it into SportCenter's Top 10 Plays. It's usually pretty amazing.

Even though professional hockey is most likely on hiatus for the next few months, college hockey fans will still have another two months to get their hockey fix. And, while the Stanley Cup probably won't be lifted this year, a regular hockey event still occurred -- that would be Boston University winning the Beanpot.

Men's Basketball Battles Princeton, Penn

Last year, the men's basketball team had a 5-1 league record heading into the Penn-Princeton weekend at Newman Arena, with a chance to grab first place in the conference standings. This year, first place is also in reach, and the Red (9-10, 4-2 Ivy) can take a big step towards the top of the conference when it travels to face Princeton (10-8, 1-3 Ivy) and Penn (12-7, 5-0 Ivy) tonight and tomorrow.

With Penn rallying to defeat Princeton earlier this week, Cornell, which currently sits alone in second place, will need some help from its travel partner to get to first place this weekend.

"I think fans and other people look at the bigger picture more than the player and the coaches," said head coach Steve Donahue. "Our job is to go down there [tonight] right now and win, and figure out the best way to beat a good basketball team. That's our job and obviously we haven't had great success down there because they're good."

After starting the conference slate with a 2-2 record, the Red posted two big home wins last weekend. On Friday night, Brown's Jason Forte, the 2004 Ivy League Player of the Year, set a Newman Arena record with 36 points, but it was senior Cody Toppert's two free throws with 3.5 seconds in regulation that made the difference, as the Red topped the Bears, 76-75.

Saturday's game was equally exciting, as the Red needed double-overtime to dispatch Yale. Down by five with 1:15 remaining in the first overtime, the Red rallied back and junior Lenny Collins tied the game with a three with only 13 seconds remaining in the first extra session. The Red hit its free throws in the last minute of the second overtime and came away with the 87-82 win. Collins, who racked up 20 and 21 points against Brown and Yale, respectively, was named Co-Ivy League Player of the Week on Monday.

Penn and Princeton have been dominating the Ivy League for the past 16 years, with no other team earning the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament since 1988, when Cornell won the Ivy title outright. After compiling a 13-1 league record last year and the Ivy title, Princeton's coach, John Thompson III, accepted the head coaching job at Georgetown.

The Tigers replaced Thompson with one of their own, Joe Scott, who previously was the head coach at Air Force. Scott's squad was given the nod as the preseason Ivy favorite, but has a posted a disappointing 1-4 start in the conference. The Tigers' fourth loss came at the hands of the Quakers, who overcame an 18-point deficit to force overtime at the Palestra. After not allowing Princeton a field goal in the final 8:33 of regulation, Penn pulled ahead in the overtime for the 70-62 win.

"It was a wild game. As crazy a game as I've seen next to the one that I was involved with in 2000, where we had that 27-point lead evaporate," Donahue said. "So, I can feel for Princeton in this case. Those things happen. It's hard to imagine them happening, but it happens. I'm sure the kids will bounce back quicker than the coaches."

The Tigers return four starters from last year's squad, including senior center Judson Wallace, who leads the team in scoring with 14.0 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, and senior guard Will Venable, the team's second leading scorer with 10.5 points per game.

"I think there's obviously always an adjustment period with a new coach and even though they say it's the same system, coach Scott is different than John Thompson was," Donahue said. "Our league is better than it's been. We're balanced. Each team has three or four very good players. I think that has more to do with it than Princeton not playing well."

The Quakers currently hold the top spot in the conference with a 5-0 record. Along with its win against Princeton, Penn's other notable win this season came against Philadelphia Big Five opponent, St. Joseph's. Senior guard Tim Begley leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 13.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.

This weekend marks the Red's first away games in almost a month. After entertaining Ivy foes at home for three straight weeks, Cornell heads out on the road for a crucial two-week stretch starting tonight.

"I think over the last two years, we've been a good road team," Donahue said. "We had a winning record on the road last year. I think our guys now look forward to the road. I wouldn't want to play two more home games; it's almost gets monotonous. Now you need the change and the challenge. We put ourselves in a chance to compete for this, so now we have to go play our best basketball on the road."