September 19 - The Georgetown Voice

georgetownvoice.comMen’s soccer edges JMU in extra timeby Chris CastanoNot many soccer teams can saythey had so many chances on netin a game that they actually brokethe goal. But now the Hoyas men’steam can. With 14 minutes left inthe second half of Georgetown’sgame against James Madison, ashot from a gray shirt dislodged thegoal from its rigging.This excuse for a water break ona hot Sunday afternoon summedup the Hoyas’ afternoon perfectly.Despite breaking down the JamesMadison defense, breaking anychances of control the Dukes triedto exert on the game, and breakingquickly with the ball any chancethey got, the Hoyas did not find iteasy to break onto the scoreboard.“We got into a really goodrhythm. We had the ball a lot. …The reality is that we had the ballfor so long, and they defended forso long. That really runs out a lot oflegs. We told the guys to be patientand keep the tempo high. The spaceswould come,” said Head CoachBrian Wiese.A new piece of Georgetownhistory was written yesterday asUniversity President John J. De-Gioia formally announced thata $100 million gift from class of1975 alumnus Frank H. McCourtJr. will be used to found the Mc-Court School of Public Policy.Being the largest sum evergiven to our University, this giftis an opportunity for progress ina field that Georgetown has yetto successfully traverse. But as asports enthusiast myself, I cannothelp but wonder what thename “McCourt” means in theworld of sports.Although this name willbe posted all over our re-envisionedpublic policy school, itwill also be a constant, unfortunatereminder of baseball’slargest financial scandal in recentmemory. $100 million is anextraordinary amount of moneyto donate and we are lucky toexpand our academic horizons,but let’s take a look back a yearor so and see where exactly thisWiese was correct in sayingthe space would come. However,it didn’t appear until extra timewhen a surprise sub-in juniordefender Jared Rist found sophomoreforward Brandon Allen inthe box, and he finally buried theball in the back of the net to givethe Hoyas the 1-0 lead.When asked about his goal, Allensaid, “Coach made a sub, Riston for Josh Turnley. His first play hethrew it on for me, I spin the guy,cut another player and then send itback post with my right foot.”The Hoyas started the gamebrightly, dictating the flow andpace of the contest. Senior forwardSteve Neumann and Allen combinedwell with junior midfielderAustin Martz.Neumann and Allen workedhard to find space, but it was freshmanmidfielder Bakie Goodmanwho excited most in what was otherwisea quiet first half.“The coaches put me out wideto start, but they let me roamaround out wide and in the gapsin the middle because what theyJOSHUA RADTISThe men’s soccer team squeezed by in overtime despite controlling the game.McCourt helps Hoyas, hurts L.A.sports the georgetown voice 7want me to do is pick the ballup in the middle and go at thedefense and attack.” Goodmansaid,“That’s why you see me allover the place in there.”The Hoyas stepped their intensityup right from the outset ofthe second half. Freshman forwardAlex Muyl had an excellent chanceto put the Hoyas in front in the 50,but, after a flurry of desparate kicksand saves, the ball ended up sailingover the net. The Dukes registeredtheir first chance of the game inthe 76th minute when Georgetownkeeper Tomas Gomez was calledinto action for a close range save.Neither the Hoyas nor theDukes could find a winner, so thematch headed into extra time. In the95th minute, Coach Wiese subbedJared Rist into the game, a playerwho hasn’t seen much game timeover his Georgetown career. Ristturned out to be the missing link theHoyas were seeking, as he set Allenup for the goal that would end thecontest. The game finished 1-0, theHoyas walking away triumphant.Wiese will have a few issues toaddress with his team in terms ofcapitalizing on chances but was ultimatelyhappy with how Sunday’sgame turned out.“JMU didn’t make it easy.They ended up sitting deeperand deeper and the spaces gottighter and tighter,” he said. “Itgot harder as the game went on.We needed to be taking morechances. … I thought the guyshad a really good level of concentration,were disciplined,and got the result.”money is coming from. Ourstory begins in 2009 when thecurtain dropped on the absolutemess that was the Los AngelesDodgers’ ownership as Mc-Court’s now ex-wife Jamie filedfor divorce.This embarrassing debaclebetween husband and wifecaused serious distractions inthe management of the baseballfranchise that would severelyaffect the efficiency and legitimacyof the organization. It alsoprovided a new transparency tothe McCourt ownership module,which is where the most offensivedecisions the McCourtsmade had been hidden. Fromthe time that McCourt boughtthe Dodgers in 2004 to thispoint in 2009, the couple hadachieved a debt of $460 millionby providing the team’s worthas collateral for the massiveloans they hungered for.Unless multi-million dollarreal estate purchases and whatmost would say was a ridiculouslylavish lifestyle might havehad some positive effect on theteam, then I wouldn’t say thatMcCourt had the team’s bestinterest in mind when he borrowedalmost half a billion dollars.I wouldn’t have so much ofa problem with McCourt’s wayof living had he not been puttingone of the most storied franchisesof our nation’s pastime inAll The Wayby Steven CrissA bi-weekly columnabout sportsjeopardy. He threw the Dodgersinto bankruptcy, and for nobetter reason than because heselfishly wanted to spend moremoney than he could afford.What is most enraging aboutall of the hassle and conflict thatMcCourt forced upon the Dodgers,their fans, Los Angeles, andMajor League Baseball was that,in the end, he won. He left thebroken-down franchise withall its newfound inefficienciesVolleyball bounces backby Emmy BuckThis past weekend, theGeorgetown Volleyball team finishedoff the Active Ankle Tournamentin Gainesville, Fla. witha satisfying 2-1 record. Althoughthey lost their first match to Floridain three sets, the team quicklyrebounded with two wins againstWestern Michigan and Iona.Florida, ranked fifth in thenation, proved to be more thanjust a team competition. Familyrivalry between Georgetown’sown Caitlin Brauneis and theGator’s Taylor Brauneis spicedup the match. “Before and after,of course, we exchanged glances,”said freshman setter CaitlinBrauneis. “But during the game,we were pretty serious.”The team remained focusedthroughout the match, breakingdown the game into smaller pieces.Junior MacKenzie Simpsonhad a strong performance withten digs throughout the game.“MacKenzie took charge in theback row,” said Head Coach ArlisaWilliams. “She made somepretty impressive digs.” Unfortunately,the Hoyas couldn’t beatthe Gators, losing in three (25-14,25-14, 25-10).In their next matchup, theHoyas faced Western Michiganand quickly fell behind two sets. Athalftime, the team rallied to devisea comeback. Coach Williams said,“We talked about the need to serveaggressively, and our team wentout and got them out of system.”With the help of service runsfrom sophomore defensive specialistEmily Gisolfi and juniormiddle blocker Dani White, theHoyas were able to seal the thirdset. “I tried to pick out the girl inthe five zone,” White said. “Shewas looking nervous, I was lookingnervous. But it was who wasgoing to crack first.” Georgetowncame back strong, winning thehotly-contested third set 27-25.Bent on continuing their winningstreak, the Hoyas won thefourth set 25-20 with an ace byGisolfi. In the final set, both senioroutside hitter Brooke Bachestaand freshman right side hitterShannon Ellis proved to be crucialassets with their respectiveback-to-back kills. Georgetowncelebrated a great victory, with afinal score of 15-10.In their third matchup, theHoyas faced Iona, who showedsome spark in the second set afterthe Hoyas took the first, exploitingGeorgetown’s fatigue from theMichigan game. The Gaels won thesecond set 25-18. “That match wasa mental game,” White said. “Weknew that we could beat them, itwas just how efficiently we coulddo it.” The Hoyas refocused theirefforts and pulled out with twoconsecutive wins in the third andfourth sets, 25-21 and 25-18.The team will travel to theGold & Blue Tournament inMorgantown, W.V. this weekendto face West Virginia andthe University of Maryland BaltimoreCounty.and management debacles aftera $2 billion bankruptcy saleto Magic Johnson’s group. Afterpaying off a debt of almost$600 million, legal fees from hisdivorce, taxes, and the $131 millionhe was required to give hisex-wife, McCourt walked awayfrom the ruins of a baseballteam with over $800 million inhis pocket, ready to continue hisdays in luxury.So what lessons did we learnfrom this tale of irresponsibility,greed, and poor foresight?I guess sometimes the antagonistjust gets his way no matterhow unfair his actions, but, onthe bright side, at least McCourtwon’t be investing his money inany more baseball teams close toour hearts any time soon.Also, even when taking advantageof people and situationsfor personal profit, you can stillsee the positive amid a cloud ofdeceit and demise. Enter the Mc-Court School of Public Policy.Although I shudder to thinkthat McCourt’s lack of respectand care towards the Dodgersand Major League Baseballcould be good in any way, I haveto realize that there is some truthto that statement. He trampledall over Major League Baseballby humiliating one of its teamsand dragging it to the brink ofrelegation, but at least we get anew school out of it.Ignorance is a truly unfortunatecondition and so, as longas we know where all this wonderfullygenerous gift money iscoming from, we can optimisticallylook forward to the new directionGeorgetown will be takingin the field of public policy.I can’t help but still feel alittle greedy myself though.I wish McCourt could give alittle back to the world of baseball,or at least to Georgetown’sbaseball program. Maybe hecould spare a couple more millionon helping our own Hoyaathletes in their pursuit of success(on-campus baseball field,hint hint).Make some policy with Stevenat scriss@georgetownvoice.com