Lycoming 36, Stevenson 20... and more sports news

They just didn't have it in them -- players, coaches, the whole lot.  Especially in the second half.  The Mustangs outscored their three weakest opponents of the season 84-6 after halftime... but in their other seven games, they were outscored 107-22 in the third and fourth quarters.  With that much-sought-after .500 record at stake, the home finale against Lycoming was more of the same.  Despite giving away eight points thanks to a fumbled snap by the punter and a blocked extra point that was returned for two points by the Warriors, SU trailed only 22-20 at halftime.  With Lycoming pounding out yards on the ground and the offense basically impotent, the Mustangs' defense was dog-tired by the end.  Given the 3-0 start, the 4-6 final record has to be regarded as a disappointment of sorts.  Next year, with an immense senior class, the pressure will REALLY be on.

The conduct of the Mustangs' head coach during the game was extremely displeasing and became almost comical towards the end.  He tore the refs a new one following a disputed reception call early in the game, and that seemed to set the tone.  Nicky and I both thought that he spent far too much time bitching about this, that, and the other thing and not nearly enough getting his team to concentrate on the tasks at hand.  I can imagine that he was even more disappointed in the finish to the season than we were.  However, combined with the boorish behavior of the assistant coach at the end of the Misericordia game, I'm beginning to sense a disturbing pattern here.  We're not expecting ballroom deportment, but there is a limit, especially when the meltdowns are taking place in full view of university officials.

We were finally able to get a complete video of the marching band's halftime show:

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Even after a decade away from Virginia State University, I was appalled and even slightly embarrassed by the news that some VSU football players allegedly beat up a player from Winston-Salem State before the CIAA championship game.  Obviously, an investigation is still ongoing, but VSU's team was banned from the Division II football playoffs.  I still keep in touch with some of my former colleagues from the VSU Math Department, and I can only imagine the emotions over such a self-inflicted black eye.  It's not as if VSU hadn't been its own worst enemy many times before in terms of its treatment of certain employees, but that news was strictly local.  Sustaining national humiliation is something else again.

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College basketball season is here, and Stevenson's men's team started with an easy victory over Cairn University.  The women, meanwhile, dropped two games in a tournament in the Boston area.  This coming weekend, SU will host the second annual Hoopsville Classic tournament, featuring 10 men's teams from around the country, many with high (for D-III) national profiles.  Nicky and I hope to attend some of the tournament and I'll be sure to file a report.