The lights of Geneva College spring up like hungry dandelions come spring time: One turn around a bend on Route 18 and they pop up, as if they've been doused with a sudden splash of water and warm sun.
The stadium sits 6,000+ adoring fans, a program built on success in NAIA and D-3 football in a competition rich section of Pennsylvania. On this night, despite a one-win season and a nationally ranked opponent looming, the stands were packed for homecoming. An enthusiastic and technically proficient marching band led fans in chants, songs, and was involved in first downs, touchdowns, and every moment the defense walked on the field.
Geneva lost 43-14. Until late in the game, one would have thought they were about to win the national championship.
It's a stark contrast to the atmosphere surrounding Robert Morris sports. Make no mistake, it's not the fault of the teams. The Robert Morris men's team certainly created a passionate following, and the Wagner game in February of last year was the loudest I heard the Sewall Center in my four years at RMU. For some reason, though, Robert Morris fans tend to only show up when the team is winning. They only tend to be vocal when the team is winning. Mount St. Mary's twice ran Colonials fans out of the building in the NEC tournament.
That should not happen.
The women's basketball team hosts the NEC championship game and the attendance is far from respectable.
That should not happen.
The football team, while in a midst of struggling with developing players and returning to the glory days of the late 90s, has a brand new stadium with plenty of exciting players and quality opponents for the level of football they play. Yet RMU students and the local fans are more content to watch Penn State, Pitt, WVU, or any other number of colleges instead of attending games at Joe Walton Stadium. If they do attend, it's dull applause rather than a dangerous home environment.
The most passionate I've heard Colonials football fans in the past four to five years was on the road at Duquesne last year. Rooney Field actually reverberated with the sound of Colonials fans chanting "defense" at the end of the game and RMU attempted a comeback. Only the end of the 2-OT win over Central Connecticut State rivaled the sound, but the Blue Devils game fell short because it lacked the consistent energy coming from fans.
So what's the deal? Why are RMU fans not as passionate as those in Geneva? Where's the support? And what would you like to see done by the University, the teams, and the fans themselves to increase support?
I have my own ideas. I'll let you tell me yours, and then I'll add in mine in a few days.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
Happy Trails, Will Leitch
This is partially Robert Morris related, which is why it's in the Misc. section. But it's an important topic regarding the purpose and viability of this very website.
Colonials Corner sends its best wishes and happy trails to Will Leitch, the founder and editor of the largest and most popular sports blog on the internet, Deadspin. After founding the website under Gawker Media in 2005, Deadspin has become synonymous with sports blogs and the underground writing that has given a multitude of authors and voices platforms on which to stand.
Leitch, an already well-established young writer before being hired by Gawker Media, is moving on to be a part of New York Magazine, and while he's going to continue to contribute from time-to-time to his website, it's the end of an era. AJ Daulerio will be the new editor, moving up from his senior writer position.
Why does this matter to Colonials Corner, when this website is nothing like the humorous, often crude take on sports that Deadspin possesses? Outside of a brief bit of notoriety for us through Tony Lee's performance on the website, there's really been no connection with us. No, for Colonials Corner and Deadspin, it's about the message behind the theory.
Leitch has long been the proponent of the news media taking sports too seriously, of sport taking itself too seriously. It's why the furor regarding the Costas Now incident (which, if you haven't seen the video, should not be watched at work or with small children due to adult language) with renowned author Buzz Bissinger was such a hot-button issue, one that I wish I could've gotten into more on this website. However, during the final week of Leitch's tenure, he had the chance to interact with some of the famous targets of his witticisms and confrontations. They mostly ranged on the humorous, with folks like ESPN anchor Scott Van Pelt leaving a lengthy voicemail roasting Leitch and then congratulating him for all that he had accomplished.
The most important, at least when it comes to Colonials Corner, was the resumption of the discussion between Bissinger and Leitch. This is important, because while they don't come to an agreement on the issue, it's far more civilized. It also allows Leitch to make the following point. I have highlighted certain sections and phrases that apply to Colonials Corner:
While Leitch has taken the more witty and subversive approach to expressing viewpoints that haven't been and should be heard, Colonials Corner has used this platform to either display information that hasn't been disseminated already or, at least, corral the information that is already out there. Leitch has, however, appreciated a serious note when the situation calls for it.
That has been best demonstrated here at Colonials Corner by the O'Bannon and Antoine situations. The Post-Gazette never covered O'Bannon's death and the Trib only mentioned it long after the fact. Neither had much information on Darcy Antoine, even after the NY Daily News came up with more details.
Perhaps we as a society have become too numb to young men dying, and perhaps it's my own cynicism as a proponent of the "little guy" that says if either incident had involved a Pitt Panther, there would have been more attention paid. Either way, they deserved the truth and they deserved the coverage, and it was incredibly discouraging to have to rely solely on Ohio newspapers and the O'Bannon family (through Facebook) for information that could be relayed to the Robert Morris community. It was even more disheartening and frustrating to have to wade through a week of non-information and circuitous searches to get anything regarding Darcy Antoine.
It's no secret that Colonials Corner is in a state of indecision right now. I did decide, after talking to close friends and some members of the RMU athletic department, that - employer willing - I will remain the operator of the website and that it will remain active no matter what happens. What is unclear is how active it will remain, although there have been some slow developments in the last week that could be most beneficial to my career AND Colonials Corner. We shall see.
Either way, no matter the future of Colonials Corner, and even though there are no pictures of Ben Roethlisberger enjoying adult beverages prior to the Super Bowl, stories of ESPN anchor Chris Berman wooing a woman by simply stating "You're with me, leather", or voicemails left by Scott Van Pelt after an intriguing meet-up with a woman, there is one thing that binds Deadspin and Colonials Corner: The pursuit of information for a specific audience that has been under-represented in the past.
So with that in mind, best of luck to Will Leitch, and here's hoping that Deadspin continues to spread his message of spreading viewpoints that have not been heard...even if they are a bit outside of the box.
Colonials Corner sends its best wishes and happy trails to Will Leitch, the founder and editor of the largest and most popular sports blog on the internet, Deadspin. After founding the website under Gawker Media in 2005, Deadspin has become synonymous with sports blogs and the underground writing that has given a multitude of authors and voices platforms on which to stand.
Leitch, an already well-established young writer before being hired by Gawker Media, is moving on to be a part of New York Magazine, and while he's going to continue to contribute from time-to-time to his website, it's the end of an era. AJ Daulerio will be the new editor, moving up from his senior writer position.
Why does this matter to Colonials Corner, when this website is nothing like the humorous, often crude take on sports that Deadspin possesses? Outside of a brief bit of notoriety for us through Tony Lee's performance on the website, there's really been no connection with us. No, for Colonials Corner and Deadspin, it's about the message behind the theory.
Leitch has long been the proponent of the news media taking sports too seriously, of sport taking itself too seriously. It's why the furor regarding the Costas Now incident (which, if you haven't seen the video, should not be watched at work or with small children due to adult language) with renowned author Buzz Bissinger was such a hot-button issue, one that I wish I could've gotten into more on this website. However, during the final week of Leitch's tenure, he had the chance to interact with some of the famous targets of his witticisms and confrontations. They mostly ranged on the humorous, with folks like ESPN anchor Scott Van Pelt leaving a lengthy voicemail roasting Leitch and then congratulating him for all that he had accomplished.
The most important, at least when it comes to Colonials Corner, was the resumption of the discussion between Bissinger and Leitch. This is important, because while they don't come to an agreement on the issue, it's far more civilized. It also allows Leitch to make the following point. I have highlighted certain sections and phrases that apply to Colonials Corner:
We are far from certain that the goal of sports bloggers is to be "discovered;" that is going under the assumption that everyone is trying to be a member of some sportswriters club. We don't think such a club exists, and even if it did, that's not what we grasp the point of most of this is. Most people start blogs, sports or otherwise, because they have something to say and suspect there are others out there who share their thoughts. Some are horrible, obviously, and some are lazy, cruel, speedy, et al. But it's something that (mostly) is done out of passion, not out of some desire to get paid or "get a real job." The vast, vast majority of sports bloggers and sports blog readers HAVE real jobs; this is something they do as a hobby, or a side project, or just because they're bored. They think there is a viewpoint that is not being heard. Maybe they're the one to provide it. Maybe they're not. But so what? We don't see what could possibly be wrong with more voices. It's pretty easy to ignore the insignificant ones.The entire reason why Colonials Corner exists and continues to exist is that I have long felt that there is not enough Robert Morris media coverage in the Pittsburgh region, let alone the nation as a whole. The Post-Gazette recently redesigned their website and has cut back on Duquesne and Robert Morris coverage, going away from separate pages for those schools to linking them under "more colleges". The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review rarely has updates regarding Robert Morris. Indeed, the only media entity to pay attention to the Colonials has been FSN Pittsburgh with their coverage of college hockey.
While Leitch has taken the more witty and subversive approach to expressing viewpoints that haven't been and should be heard, Colonials Corner has used this platform to either display information that hasn't been disseminated already or, at least, corral the information that is already out there. Leitch has, however, appreciated a serious note when the situation calls for it.
That has been best demonstrated here at Colonials Corner by the O'Bannon and Antoine situations. The Post-Gazette never covered O'Bannon's death and the Trib only mentioned it long after the fact. Neither had much information on Darcy Antoine, even after the NY Daily News came up with more details.
Perhaps we as a society have become too numb to young men dying, and perhaps it's my own cynicism as a proponent of the "little guy" that says if either incident had involved a Pitt Panther, there would have been more attention paid. Either way, they deserved the truth and they deserved the coverage, and it was incredibly discouraging to have to rely solely on Ohio newspapers and the O'Bannon family (through Facebook) for information that could be relayed to the Robert Morris community. It was even more disheartening and frustrating to have to wade through a week of non-information and circuitous searches to get anything regarding Darcy Antoine.
It's no secret that Colonials Corner is in a state of indecision right now. I did decide, after talking to close friends and some members of the RMU athletic department, that - employer willing - I will remain the operator of the website and that it will remain active no matter what happens. What is unclear is how active it will remain, although there have been some slow developments in the last week that could be most beneficial to my career AND Colonials Corner. We shall see.
Either way, no matter the future of Colonials Corner, and even though there are no pictures of Ben Roethlisberger enjoying adult beverages prior to the Super Bowl, stories of ESPN anchor Chris Berman wooing a woman by simply stating "You're with me, leather", or voicemails left by Scott Van Pelt after an intriguing meet-up with a woman, there is one thing that binds Deadspin and Colonials Corner: The pursuit of information for a specific audience that has been under-represented in the past.
So with that in mind, best of luck to Will Leitch, and here's hoping that Deadspin continues to spread his message of spreading viewpoints that have not been heard...even if they are a bit outside of the box.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Two Local Softball Products Make Waves, Prep For RMU
A couple of stories are floating around regarding two of Dr. Craig Coleman's softball recruits for the upcoming season. Jaci Timko could immediately bring a power presence to the Colonials. After all, she has been described as the "Sultan of Swat" in WPIAL Softball by the Post-Gazette.
Timko finished her four year career with 32 home runs in the WPIAL for Chartiers-Houston. The PG describes that number as "unheard of" in the region, but there are no official records for the WPIAL.
Anyone that knows Timko shouldn't be surprised at her athleticism, though. Her aunt is Mary Lou Retton, the 1984 Gold Medal winner in Gymnastics in the Olympics. Her mom is also a famous gymnast - Shari Timko is in the West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame - and her grandfather, Ronnie Retton, captained WVU's 1959 championship runner up team featuring a guy by the name of Jerry West.
West, of course, went on to the NBA and eventually be the icon for its logo.
Talk about a talented family.
But Timko may have competition in batting practice - at least, she'll be facing it head-on. Latrobe High School was powered this year by senior Alexa Bryson, also a Colonials recruit, and according to the Tribune-Review, she's pretty good.
The right hander struck out 282 batters this year, has 10 career no-hitters (2 so far this post-season), and she hasn't allowed a run 38 playoff innings.
Wow. Maybe we'll see a team ready to bring the NEC Title back to Moon Township, led by these freshmen...
Timko finished her four year career with 32 home runs in the WPIAL for Chartiers-Houston. The PG describes that number as "unheard of" in the region, but there are no official records for the WPIAL.
Anyone that knows Timko shouldn't be surprised at her athleticism, though. Her aunt is Mary Lou Retton, the 1984 Gold Medal winner in Gymnastics in the Olympics. Her mom is also a famous gymnast - Shari Timko is in the West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame - and her grandfather, Ronnie Retton, captained WVU's 1959 championship runner up team featuring a guy by the name of Jerry West.
West, of course, went on to the NBA and eventually be the icon for its logo.
Talk about a talented family.
But Timko may have competition in batting practice - at least, she'll be facing it head-on. Latrobe High School was powered this year by senior Alexa Bryson, also a Colonials recruit, and according to the Tribune-Review, she's pretty good.
The right hander struck out 282 batters this year, has 10 career no-hitters (2 so far this post-season), and she hasn't allowed a run 38 playoff innings.
Wow. Maybe we'll see a team ready to bring the NEC Title back to Moon Township, led by these freshmen...
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Random Colonials Coverage
And this is going to be the home for the oddities, and the major feature, I hope, will be some Q+As.
I'll put up a link on the main site to come and drop in a bunch of questions over here. You'll have a few days to ask them in the comments section, and then I'll answer them.
The first Q+A will go up in a day or so.
This will also be the home for news regarding the hockey team (mostly links to Centre Ice) and for updates on the push to have the 2013 Frozen Four here in Pittsburgh.
I'll put up a link on the main site to come and drop in a bunch of questions over here. You'll have a few days to ask them in the comments section, and then I'll answer them.
The first Q+A will go up in a day or so.
This will also be the home for news regarding the hockey team (mostly links to Centre Ice) and for updates on the push to have the 2013 Frozen Four here in Pittsburgh.
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