— SKYLINE CHILI CROSSTOWN SHOOTOUT—
Musketeers start stretch with Shootout
John LaFollette
Sports Editor
The allure of tickets to the annual Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout brought Xavier students to the Crosstown Campout in record time this year, but the game itself has considerably less hype than in years past.
For starters, Cincinnati head coach Mick Cronin is far more likeable than departed former coach Bob Huggins.
Where Huggins was biting, crass and rude, Cronin is drawling, clear and amicable.
Second, Cincinnati fans have something else to be happy about this season: their football team. While head coach Brian Kelly failed to make good on his promise to beat Louisville this season, the Bearcats will be playing in a bowl game before Jan. 5.
Third, this Xavier squad is good enough, and playing a tough enough schedule, that the upcoming game actually does seem like another important game against a BCS Conference team.
Even with a rejuvenated Atlantic 10 Conference that will likely feature two teams in the top 25, Xavier’s non-conference opponents are far better than those from its own conference.
Ranked 17th in both major national polls, the Musketeers are entering the heart of their non-conference schedule, with most of the games scheduled over the university’s Christmas holiday.
December features the meat of Xavier’s non-conference plate. Xavier has already beaten—convincingly—the Creighton Bluejays, and by month’s end will have faced Cincinnati, Arizona State, Tennessee and Kansas State.
January features a game against Virginia and a road trip to Auburn before
conference plays opens on Jan. 9 against St. Bonaventure.
Of the remaining seven non-conference games, the visits by Tennessee and Kansas
State to the City of Cincinnati are shaping up to the be the more important.
Tennessee is currently ranked 11th in the country, and if both teams continue their winning ways, the game could feature two one-loss, top-15 teams.
The match-up against Kansas State is only slightly diminished by the flight of Bob Huggins from Manhattan to West Virginia.
As with Tennessee, this game at U.S. Bank Arena could also feature two top-ranked teams.
Running with the Crosstown Campout
Andrew Chestnut
Editorial Columnist
I have always wanted to do a running diary. It seems nothing could be more enjoyable than hanging out with your friends, binging on fast food or TV, and recording everything that happens.
This year, I camped out with over 700 other Xavier students, waiting in line for tickets to the UC game. I was armed with eight good friends, copious amounts of junk food, a “waterproof” tent, and a notebook. Only 77 hours, 2,826 words (and 288 fluid ounces of Coke) later, I have a piece of paper granting me entrance to imminent slaughter of the UC Bearcats, as well as this journal:
Day One - Friday
7:30am – I can’t believe I’m awake right now. This fact is a miracle and a travesty at the same time.
8:11am – You’ve probably seen group of people with whom I am camping; we’re the ones who paint blue and sit in the front row of most of the games. In fact, I’m almost positive that I’m the only three people on campus who have camped out for tickets prior to this game. We are hoping that our “X-treme” dedication will be rewarded with a good lottery number, so we don’t have to sit in row W at the game; maybe something in the low tens. And we are…
9:49am – …Tent 57! This is irrefutable proof that karma is crap.
10:00am – I’ve been out here for about half an hour now, sitting in a tent that I somehow finagled my way out of helping to construct. The current temperate is (I’m estimating) -18º Farenheit. I’m wearing exactly 16 pieces of clothing, including a scarf and a Christmas sweater (that don’t match, of course). I have a feeling that the wintry climate will become the most notable element of the weekend. Because there are no electronics allowed at this year’s Campout, I’m writing this into a notebook with a Bic ballpoint pen. I haven’t handwritten anything since 1983, and my handwriting shows.
10:22am – I just counted 109 tents, which is spectacular. Maybe we will fill out the student section this time.
Erika Breese
Just one side of Tent City, which consisted of around 109 tents.
10:23am – Is this event actually called the Crosstown Campout? Because this line of tents stretches from about here to Mt. Adams. I’m even willing to call it the Skyline Chili Crosstown Campout if I get some free cheese coneys.
11:26am – I have switched to pencil, suspecting that the ink in my pen has frozen.
11:27am – The Loyola House is giving away free hot chocolate and cider. The cider is simmering with oranges in it, which is, as far as I’m concerned, groundbreaking. Also, my friend Danny just heard someone from a very low-lottery number tent say, “I don’t even know why I’m here. I don’t even like basketball.” That’s just fantastic. Did I mention that we’re 57? We’re 57.
[Reader's note: After a few groups dropped out and numbers were readjusted, we became number 47.]
12:24pm – I don’t have a meal plan, so I wouldn’t use someone else’s Allcard to get into the Caf, because that would be wrong. But if I did, today I would have had two bowls of clam chowder, a slice of pizza, some pasta, and three glasses of Coke (and complained about it).
12:25pm – Can you really “steal” something from the Caf? I mean, doesn’t something have to be desired before it can stolen?
2:52pm – Hey, my pen works again! I just want to take this opportunity to say that I have a nine-page paper due in theology Tuesday, of which I have half a page done. Instead of writing it, I’m sitting on cold concrete for a nosebleed basketball seat, and writing about the experience. I really hope my parents aren’t reading this.
3:15pm – My friend David just woke me up from a nap the best way possible: with food. He’s returned from the store with a 24 pack of Coca-Cola, two bags of Cape Cod potato chips (which are to chips what OK Go’s video for “Here It Goes Again” is to music videos), and three—I repeat, three—air mattresses. I feel like I just won the lottery.
Erika Breese
Your hungry correspondent in Tent City.
6:00pm – Quote of the day from Kate Franchini: “What can’t Brown do for you?"
9:50pm – After dinner, I’m back in the tent, ready for Night One. We’ve acquired a semi-functional portable iPod stereo, and have kicked off the night with Ben Folds’ unprintable hit “Bitches in Shit.” It disturbs me that I know every word to this song.
9:59pm – It’s raining substantially, marking the first precipitation of the weekend. Well, it could be snow, so I shouldn’t complain. This brings me to a point: people seem very impressed by the fact that Eskimos have, like, 28 words for snow. Well, we have about seven, which seems like a lot for people who don’t see snow 365 days a year. Sorry Eskimos, not impressed.
10:14pm – My tentmates just tried to read this, but couldn’t, because the handwriting is too awful. I believe that situation once played out on an episode of the Nickalodeon hit show Doug. Okay, I officially know too many things.
10:20pm – Mine is the tent whose inhabitants are screaming the lyrics to the aforementioned Ben Folds song, while another tent of girls somewhere nearby is belting out the Spice Girls’ “Spice Up Your Life.” You know those moments where you realize something utterly ridiculous is happening, and all you can think is ‘I love college?’ This is one of those momets.
10:28pm – Someone needs to lay down the law on this, and it’s going to be me: camping is one of the very few times when it is acceptable to eat Doritos. It is also acceptable if you are an actor attempting to gain weight and acne for a certain role, or if you or crashed a plane full of Doritos into a deserted island, and it is all you have to eat for four years.
10:32pm – Our tent has brilliantly discovered that “holding it in” will not make having to pee go away. In related news, my paper refuses to do itself! It’s a wonder we made it into a place that calls itself a "university."
10:36pm – One of our tent members almost bailed on us to see Good Luck Chuck at Gallagher. I’m not sure if seeing Jessica Alba for two hours would be worth hearing Dane Cook for two hours. That would be like eating a steak dinner while someone is constantly pulling out your leg hairs. Official verdict: rent it on DVD, mute it, and throw on some good music.
11:22am – Apparently, the difference between flipping on end of a scarf around your neck and not is difference between looking like a dude and looking like a dude who spends time at Starbucks composing poetry.
12:00am – David and I just won two games of euchre by a combined score of 20-1. Bill Belichick would have been proud, a fact that makes me sick to my stomach.
12:01am – Will it be acceptable for me to like Tenacious D when I’m 32?
12:20am – At my current rate, I will have said “p’wnd” 3,973 times by the end of this weekend. I really should not be allowed to use new words.
1:30am – We have a camping tradition that involves me reading aloud from a book called I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max. Either you know what I’m talking about or you don’t. If you were in a nearby tent, I apologize.
1:53am – Much like Dane Cook, this rain just won’t stop.
2:03am – Have I mentioned that excluding a ten-minute nap, I’ve been awake since 7:30 this morning? I feel like someone shot me with a horse tranquilizer. I’m going to bed.
Day Two - Saturday
11:30am – I just woke up (mostly dry!). My hair looks like an ill-fated genetics experience involving a cactus.
11:53am – Allegedly, Sean Miller is bringing everyone pizza at noon, and we’re guessing it will be from LaRosa’s. From now on, this event is the LaRosa’s-Sean Miller Crosstown Campout.
12:06pm – Mmm... no pizza.
12:18pm – Getting hungry...
12:22pm – Finally! There is LaRosa’s pizza in my mouth as I write this. There’s even a red smudge at the bottom of this page where I dripped sauce in a starved frenzy. Somehow, I am the only person in the world (who isn’t from the Queen City) who actively enjoys LaRosa’s pizza, which seems strange. How can you not like pizza? More importantly, I’ve had LaRosa’s on at least 30 occasions, and haven’t paid for it once. Very nice.
4:02pm – After sitting around for about two hours, not doing my theology paper, I took a totally unnecessary nap. The hardest part about camping is dealing with the boredom, not the coldness or wetness. When I woke up (and I have no idea how this happened), my friend Alyssa gave me two cheese coneys from Skyline that she didn’t want, which means I’m rechristening this event the Skyline-LaRosa’s-Sean Miller Crosstown Campout.
4:08pm – I just found out Dayton upset Louisville, which does little to relieve my boredom. I’m actually looking forward to having to go to the bathroom.
4:49pm – This just happened: B.J. Raymond and Derick Brown just walked over to our tent, and gave us a pizza from Dominos, which is awesome by itself. But then Trevor walked up and saw what was happening, and said, “Hey, we’re the guys who paint blue for every game and always cheer really loud,” to which Derick (who was being very judicious about who got his last pizza) replied, “Wow, these guys should get two pizzas,” subsequently giving us his last pizza.
4:50pm – And it gets even better: While this was happening, the Newswire's Erika Breese randomly appeared behind Derick and B.J. and snapped a few shots of them. Then we asked her to take a picture of them with us, and she did. And the redemption for our disappointing lottery number begins!
7:59pm – The rain has been off and on all day, which means nobody is wet, but all of their stuff is. My friend Danny and I argue about Peyton Manning and Rex Grossman until everyone tells us to shut up.
8:07pm – You wouldn’t believe this, but my paper still refuses to do itself!
8:09pm – Danny keeps spontaneously saying “eh babay” (like the song), which I’m starting to realize he has been doing all year. Finally, our friend Holland calls him out on it. Danny can’t find any explanation; I suspect that he had tourettes.
8:11pm – Now Danny is playing the song on his laptop. I don’t think I’ve actually heard it before, and it sucks just as much as I suspected.
8:20pm – Danny just tried to play Dane Cook on his laptop, causing us all to scream “Turn it off! Turn it off!”
8:22pm – A few camping tips for you newbies:
• Air mattresses are the best investment you will ever make in you life.
• Bring duct tape to fix the holes that will inevitably form in your rain
fly.
• Underarmour.
• When cuddling, remember that Little Spoon is warmer than Big Spoon.
• Cell phone Tetris passes the time faster than studying, though “experts”
claim it is less productive.
12:21pm – Someone I don’t even know just gave me two White Castle slyders, which means I have to re-rechristen this the White Castle-Dominos-Skyline-LaRosa’s-Sean Miller Crosstown Campout. White Castle, by the way, changes from “questionably tasty” to “infinitely delicious” whenever the clock strikes midnight, and I have no idea why this is.
1:15am – New quote of the day, from David: “Danny, if you say ‘eh babay’ one more time, I’m going to bathe you in milk until you turn white.”
1:15:30am – Apparently, my laugh is “ridiculous.”
Day Three - Sunday
11:30am – Welcome to day three of the White Castle-Dominos-Skyline-LaRosa’s-Sean Miller Crosstown Campout! I have woken up with a cold, because I somehow fell asleep last night in only a T-shirt. Oops. And there are no words to describe my hair, unless you count “procupine-esque” as a word. If hair were algebraic functions, mine would be asymptotic.
11:34am – In case you’re wondering, mine is the blue lopsided tent that looks like it’s about to eat the one next to it.
1:00pm – I’ve drunken enough Coca-Cola this weekend to quality for Platinum-level Coke Preferred Customer Membership status. In related news, I run about a six-second 40-yard dash.
4:48pm – Given the hyper-abundant amount of fast food I’ve eaten this weekend, I’m starting to feel like Jabba the Hut: fat, lazy, greasy, and terminally stationary. I’m going to die within these thin, fraudulently-waterproof walls.
5:15pm – For God’s sake, these tents are made out of tarp! How can they let in so much water? There’s sign, right here, that says, “100% Waterproof.” Lies! How hard would it be to manufacture a tent out of waterproof material? I mean, isn’t the main purpose of tents to keep the elements off of your face when you sleep outside? The material in this tent is to water what the Cincinnati Bengals offensive line is to defensive backs. I hate you, Coleman.
5:35pm – More camping tips:
• Playing cards are excellent for soaking up intruding rain water.
• Getting fabric unstuck from zippers will be your singular profession
for the entire amount of time you are camping.
• Take the number of days you are camping, and multiply that by three.
Bring that many pairs of socks. (Multiply by six if rain is forecasted).
9:04pm – After another boredom-induced nap, I have woken up with a strange sense of utter detachment from society. The Colts have been playing the Ravens for over 45 minutes now, and I have no idea what the score is. Nor do I know if Tom Brady broke his leg, or how well my fantasy team is doing. Hell, China could be at war with the Martians right now, and I would be oblivious. This is disconcerting.
9:31pm – Newswire editor Patrick Stevenson has just informed me that the Colts are winning 14-0 thus far (and said nothing of recent intergallactic wars). I decide that food is in order.
10:18pm – I have three Skyline Chili giftcards that I received at the Women’s Crosstown, so I just drove there only to find that it has already closed. Driving felt strange. I haven’t thought that hard for days. Anyway, I am breaking one of my own cardinal rules and eating at McDonalds. My digestive system is protesting. By the way, every time I eat McDonalds, I automatically get a pimple. There’s no stopping it.
12:00am – 20 McNuggets, a medium sized french fries, a much-needed shower, and a 24-point Colts victory later, and I am feeling awesome (except my stomach is turning over). I set out to begin Night Three.
12:10 am – Finally, it has warmed up and decided to stop raining. Everyone is walking around and being social. Paul Moeller is saying “Playoffs? You kidding me?” Someone is handing me cups of hot chocolate. We are about one roaring campfire away from the greatest night of camping ever.
2:32am – Yep, it was a great night; warm, relaxing, and fun. We’re under twelve hours away from pickup time…
Day Four - Monday
8:29am – I don’t have class until 2:30 today. So, can someone explain WHY I AM AWAKE???
8:31am – As the Mamas and the Papas once sang with impeccable accuracy, “Monday, Monday. Can’t trust that day."
8:38am – Yep, the Mickey D’s gave me a zit right on my cheek. This is one of those times when being right doesn’t help.
8:52am – Oddly, I think that I have fully adjusted to living in this tent. It’s my home. I am growing accustomed to the cold in wet; in a few thousand more years I might develop gills.
9:47am – I never want to hear that Campus Police don’t have anything to do ever again, because I just saw a kid wearing a red Ohio State hat and gray Ohio State hoodie, which should be a criminally punishable offense when camping out for XAVIER BASKETBALL TICKETS! Granted, our primary archenemy is UC. But, hello! OSU barely knocked us out of the tournament last year in a bull**** game, three years after Thad Matta left after saying he wouldn’t. OSU refuses to schedule games against us, and they graduate about 10% of the players we do. I think that qualifies them for rival status. So to the OSU fan, whoever you are: THEY ARE OUR ENEMY! IF YOU AREN’T WILLING TO RESCIND YOUR ALLEGIANCE TO OUR ENEMY, THEN GET OUT OF THIS LINE, TRAITOR!
9:48am – Well, now I’m awake.
11:03am – Stanley Burrell has just handed me another five dollar gift card to Skyline, which is dangerous, as I am about one grease molecule away from cardiac arrest at this point. Too much fast food. I feel like Morgan Spurlock.
11:30am – Everyone is taking down their tents, which is sad... sad because now we all have to stand around in the rain with nowhere to sit or lay down.
12:00pm – Yep, I’m driving to Skyline.
12:45pm – Thankfully, they’ve moved everyone inside Cintas for the last of hour of waiting for tickets.
1:43pm – Well, I finally have this ticket. Row H—not bad. I can’t believe this notebook survived the weekend. It got wet all three nights, and was lost in the mess of our tent at least twice. It certainly has character. I’m done writing. I’m going inside now.
A-10 commissioner to resign
Bruno’s 13-year tenure as conference head to end in June
Doug Tifft
Associate Sports Editor
Linda Bruno.
Linda Bruno announced last Wednesday that she will resign her post as the commissioner of the Atlantic 10 conference after 13 years, effective June 30.
Bruno’s tenure oversaw the expansion of the conference from an eight-team league to 14 teams, with the additions of LaSalle, Charlotte, St. Louis, Dayton, Fordham and Richmond.
Bruno was a representative of change in the NCAA landscape when she made the move from associate commissioner of the Big East to the commissioner in the Atlantic 10 in 1994, becoming the first female commissioner of a division one conference.
“Someone had to be the first woman commissioner, and she has certainly been a good one,” Xavier Athletic Director Mike Bobinski said.
After Bruno took over the A-10 two other women, Carolyn Schlie Femovich of the Patriot League and Brenda Weare of the Northeast Conference, have become commissioners of division one conferences.
In the wake of her resignation there was speculation that she had been pushed out the door, partly because of a decline in overall league performance, and partly because of a decline in national exposure for the conference as a result of the new television deal with CSTV.
The CSTV deal will not only make A-10 teams harder to find on cable television, but reduces the number of games on local broadcast for fans in the 14 markets of Atlantic 10 teams.
That speculation has been downplayed, however, after the recent success of the conference in inter-conference play. The A-10 currently owns the seventh best RPI ranking by conference, with four teams in the top 30.
This year’s resurgence of the A-10 had some people in the conference dreaming of the Bruno-led glory days of mid-90s.
Massachusetts came out of the A-10 to go to the Final Four in 1996. Then, in 1997 and again in 1998, five teams represented the Atlantic 10 in the NCAA Tournament.
Five teams in the NCAA Tournament every year may be unrealistic, but consistently putting multiple teams in the NCAA is not out of the question.
“It wasn’t an easy decision, it never is when things are going good, but it is a good time to try something else with the league in pretty good shape,” Bruno said from her office in Philadelphia.
The timing of the announcement was especially helpful in the search for a replacement.
The conference asked its member athletic directors and presidents to suggest a field of possible candidates, from which the conference will select the fifth commissioner in conference history.
Some, such as New York Daily News columnist Dick Weiss have speculated that the Atlantic 10 could go back to the Big East associate commissioner job for a replacement with John Paquette, but it is still early in the process.
Bruno’s future remains unclear.
“I don’t know what’s next,” Bruno said. “Since I’ve been here, I’ve never actively looked for a job, because I’ve loved it so much.”
Women fall to Louisville
Bruno’s 13-year tenure as conference head to end in June
Paul Moeller
Associate Sports Editor
The Xavier women’s basketball team headed south to Kentucky to battle the Louisville Cardinals on Sunday.
Despite an outstanding effort by freshman Ta’Shia Phillips, the Musketeers dropped the game 67-45 to the hosting Cardinals. Phillips scored 13 points and grabbed 20 boards to tie her own school record for rebounds.
Her performance, being her fifth double-double of the season, earned her Atlantic 10 recognition for the fourth consecutive week as the Rookie of the Week.
Also playing well for the Musketeers was junior guard Jerri Taylor.
Notching double figures for the sixth time this season, Taylor contributed 19 points to Xavier’s cause.
But it was costly turnovers, a lack of points in the paint and poor free throw shooting that led to Xavier’s downfall.
The Cardinals led by as many as 28 points, and it did not help that they had junior Angel McCoughtry. The All-American and the nation’s leading scorer finished with 21 points. Louisville junior Candyce Bingham, a transfer from Xavier, haunted her former squad by adding 19 points on nine of 13 shooting.
The loss brings the Musketeers record to 5-4 on the year. The squad will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 16 at home against East Tennessee State.
Behind Enemy Lines:
A report on the Shootout atmosphere in Clifton
Tyler Grote
Associate Sports Editor
The don’t hate you. But they don’t respect you either. Four miles
down the road, students at UC are also catching the Crosstown Shootout hype.
However, it’s a little different over there.
If you were following the shootout during the Bob Huggins Era, you’d be able to grasp exactly how they feel about this game.
I asked my brother, Adrian Grote, a junior at UC, what he thought about the upcoming game this Wednesday, to which he responded, “Oh is that this week? How’s Xavier’s football team doing this year?”
Of course, now that their basketball team is close to hitting rock bottom, UC students turn a nonchalant cheek and choose to focus on their upcoming bowl game for football.
Ben Laugle, a sophomore at UC, simply says “Xavier kids can worry about their basketball team; we’ll worry about partying.”
Obviously, UC students take the same approach as their former notorious coach Bob Huggins; that being since we aren’t looking too promising right now, this game doesn’t mean anything.
I assure you, the atmosphere at UC is a complete opposite from what is here.
Even if the game was at UC this year, you would not see any tents lined up outside of 5/3 Arena.
Well, students of UC, continue to focus on the football and party jokes, Xavier will be too busy making sure that the city of Cincinnati is actually involved in college basketball discussions this year.
As for Wednesday, anyone who is putting an automatic W in the win column should be advised to wait until after Wednesday to do so.
The underdog always finds a way to make some noise in this rivalry; just ask the Musketeers last year or the #1 ranked Bearcats from 1999.
While UC may not be catching the hype for this annual crosstown rivalry, the rest of Cincinnati is. Here’s to Cincinnati tradition!
