Two Weeks In

Well, we’ve made it to the two-week mark, and I must say, we are enjoying ourselves. We teach from 9-6 Monday through Friday. The day is divided into three parts. First is the morning class. I have my very own morning class, “Michael’s Class”, completely decked out in Harry Potter regalia. There are seven kindergarteners in my class, each with an English name that was given to them when they started coming to the school: John, Julius, Viviana, Mia, Peter, Daniel, and June. I can honestly say that they are a wonderful group of kids, perhaps with the exception of Julius, who is a Space Cadet Admiral. They are so smart! Their English is better than American kindergartener’s, and it’s their second language! Heck, they can tell me all about root words, proper nouns, and common nouns – fairly impressive for kids that age. It think this is my favorite part of the day.

Next comes what is called “special class”. I teach two classes after lunch at the pre-school next door. The kids aren’t as bright as my morning class, so this part of the day seems more akin to glorified daycare than teaching. This is my least favorite part of the day, but it’s not terrible painful.

I have two afternoon classes, with kids who are roughly third graders. Some of them are little genius’s, and others clearly have their minds elsewhere. I find myself speaking to these students in complete, complex sentences, and being perfectly understood.

In regard to speaking, I can already tell that teaching young children has significantly changed the way I communicate, even to Caitlin and my colleagues. I find myself using short, monosyllabic sentences like “Milk here, yes?” I’m trying to catch myself with it now – I can’t have myself going back to the U.S. and using that kind of language in job interviews, can I?

Other aspects of life here are really growing on me. The internet is blazing fast. The food, when you find the right stuff, is awesome. I’ve had some stellar Indian food and even some awesome Italian. I’ve also had fermented stingray, however, and I will go to my grave saying that the stuff is repulsive.

I’ll leave it to Caitlin to describe her daily routine. But so far, life is good, and maybe it’s the combination of Caitlin being here, the EPL being on TV, and the modern convenience of the internet, but I don’t feel too far from home.

It’s Been Fun

With the semester drawing to a close, it is with sincere melancholy that myself and Preston Waltrip must retire our blog and say goodbye to all of our readers. In the past few weeks, reader involvement has picked up dramatically (our last poll has more than 20 votes!). Thank you for that. See you on campus!

 

Men’s Basketball defeated by rivals Austin College

In their first Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference game of the season, the UD Men’s Basketball Team faced their rivals, Austin College.

The losing result can, in part, be attributed to the Crusader’s poor shooting performance in the first half. While they had more possessions than Austin College, UD did not make the most of their opportunities, only scoring 8 of 35 shots from the field in the first half, which ended 29-22 in favor of Austin College.

In the second half the Crusaders attempted to correct their offensive problems, nearly doubling their points from the first half. But it was insufficient and Austin College won the game 65-59.

Women’s Basketball fall short in home opener

Last Saturday, December 2, at 2:00 P.M. the University of Dallas Women’s Basketball Team faced their SCAC rivals, Austin College in their first home game of the season.

The crowd attendance was small and the visiting side often seemed to have more support from the bleachers than the Crusaders. Even so, both teams were evenly matched in the first half, with Austin College playing a very clean game at the start, only fouling once in the entire first half. Nevertheless, the Crusaders ran successful plays in the field and the half ended 40-38 in favor of UD.

At the start of the second half, the Crusaders pulled away from Austin College, with junior Kylie Yoshimura scoring a staggering 24 points for UD throughout the course of the game. Their success was short-lived, however, and as the game drew to a close Austin College made several big defensive plays and took the lead. Once the Crusaders fell behind, they were unable to regain their lead and the game ended with Austin College winning 74-63.

The Virtue of Collegiate Athletics

Many UD student-athletes have probably experienced that moment in their academic careers when their professor discriminates against them for being an athlete, whether this is by denying them a paper extension when the team is going out of town, or if it is by not giving an excused absence for missing class for the big game.

UD flaunts its liberal arts education as one of the finest in the country, and I truly believe it is. More often than not, UD’s heart is in the right place. But I believe that the student-athlete deserves his due. It is no easy task to play four years of a sport, while maintaining the high academic standards required to renew your scholarships, and it is easy for this to be overlooked. Future employers should look at your resume and be impressed for your time-management skills and team-ethic.

The student athlete does not pretend to be better than his solely academic counterparts (because he is not), but relishes the personal challenge of becoming a better person through the comprehensive involvement of mind, body, and spirit. Athletics build virtue. Pope Pious XII put it best:

“Sport, properly directed, develops character, makes a man courageous, a generous loser, and a gracious victor; it refines the senses, gives intellectual penetration, and steels the will to endurance. It is not merely a physical development then. Sport, rightly understood, is an occupation of the whole man, and while perfecting the body as an instrument of the mind, it also makes the mind itself a more refined instrument for the search and communication of truth and helps man to achieve that end to which all others must be subservient, the service and praise of his Creator.”

It is truly in the spirit of a liberal arts education to be a student-athlete.

Poll: Is it disrespectful to ambiguously “curse” at referees?

Perhaps it is the enclosed spaces, but basketball games at UD certainly seem to have a loud and involved group of fans. On the one hand, this is obviously a positive thing – everyone cheers their team on and does their school proud by filling the bleachers. But an issue has come to the forefront recently, concerning foul-mouthed jeering/trash talk at these games. Having heard it myself from an upper-level athletics faculty member, I can say that some of the faculty and staff of the school are embarrassed by the students cheer  of “Push-It!,” which is directed at the referee and is meant to ambiguously sound like another word (BS). This isn’t a black and white issue – obviously a bad word literally is not being said. But for those of you who have attended basketball games, how do you feel? Is this okay for the school’s image?

The Granddaddys win intramural softball championship

On Sunday, November 20th, the big-hitting team, the Granddaddys, captained by senior Dan Streett, defeated Where My Pitches At?, a team composed largely of junior and sophomore soccer players.

Fans of the game were given free pizza to enjoy and the game kicked-off with an electric guitar performance of the National Anthem by senior Andrew Esherick.

Pitches came up to bat first, but their efforts were quickly snuffed, as they were unable to get on base in the first inning. Then, the Granddaddys took to the plate and began with a bang as senior Ashley Ferguson hit a base hit, followed by a home run by captain Dan Streett. Immediately following, Chris Kerner hit another home run, closing out the first inning with a score of 3-0.

The next few innings were remained largely low-scoring with Kerner hitting a second home run and Pitches sneaking in one run in the third. In the fourth and fifth innings, however, Pitches went on a scoring spree. But Granddaddys answered every one of their runs and the two teams went into the sixth inning with Granddaddys leading 7-6.

In the sixth, Pitches scored yet another run, tying the game, but their good fortune was soon to run out. At the top of the sixth, Granddaddys took advantage of an unforced error by Pitches and were able to load the bases. With the bases loaded, Kerner came up to bat and hit a low line drive toward center field. Granddaddys scored two runs and as the ball was thrown toward home plate, it came short and fell into the hands of pitcher, Dave Janicki, who threw a stray ball toward home that was not retrieved in time to prevent two more Granddaddys players from scoring runs.

As the seventh inning was scoreless, Granddaddys won the intramural softball championship with a score of 11-7.

*Post edited by author on 12/5/11: Dan Streett, not Chris Kerner, captained the Granddaddys. Also, although I am admittedly a huge fan of Chris Kerner (and, frankly, who isn’t?), I in no way intended to exalt him so highly as this post suggests. It was truly a team effort that brought the Granddaddys to their victory.  — A very special thanks goes to James Kerin for bringing this mistake to our attention.

Ever tried Rugby? There’s a club for that.

At UD, rugby isn’t an NCAA sport, but it is immensely popular. The Rubgy club/team thrives on almost a cult following, mixing casual athletic camaraderie with competetive matches against teams like the UD alumni, Texas Tech, and St. Edwards. 

A spring sport, and since it is not an official NCAA organization, the Rugby team is open to practically anyone. It is quite common for soccer and basketball players to play Rugby in order to both stay in shape and to be involved in another athletic club. 

The team practices Tuesday and Thursday nights from 6:15pm-8:30pm on the Rugby Pitch, across the street from the Madonna and Teresa dorms. The team encourages anyone and everyone to come play, NCAA athlete or not. 

The official link to the Rugby club page is here. Todd Jacobson is the president of the club and can be reached at tjacobs@udallas.edu. 

 

New Cross Country/Track & Field Coach

Matt Buchhorn will be the new men’s and women’s cross country and track & field coach, taking over the position from Dore Madere, who will assume a post at the office of student life, but assist Buchhorn when possible. 

Prior to his appointment, Buchhorn was the assistant cross country/track coach at University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio. 

This is the latest staff change in the athletics department since head trainer Meagan Murphy moved back to her home in New York to attend school, and was replaced by Kevin Blasczienski. 

Men’s Basketball defeat St. Mary’s in home opener

On Friday November 18th, in front of a large and excited home crowd, the UD Crusader’s Basketball team defeated St. Mary’s University.

The Crusaders outperformed St. Mary’s throughout the majority of the first half, being 15 for 29 in field goals to St. Mary’s 9 for 27, however, St. Mary’s completed 83 percent of their free throws in the first half to UD’s 25 percent, making the halftime score 36-30 in favor of the Crusaders.

In the second half, much of the action was back and forth as St. Mary’s attempted to catch up. But the Crusaders met the challenge, improving their field shooting as well as their free throws and keeping St. Mary’s from scoring any of their eight 3-point attempts. In the final few minutes of the game, St. Mary’s pressed forward heavily and UD scrambled to defend. In the end, the Crusaders kept St. Mary’s at bay and achieved their first win of the season with a score of 75-71.