LaSalle roundup: Make it stop

-Dan Greene of The Hatchet has the story. Joanna Shapes warns not to book anything in Atlantic City. Ross Romano tries to make sense of it all.
-Alex Goldstick of The Daily Colonial has the recap.
-Kathy Orton of The Washington Post has the story.
-The Associated Press story is here.
-School recaps: GW and LaSalle.

The men now have the worst conference and overall records in the A-10. Qualifying for Atlantic City is in serious doubt, especially since GW's eight remaining opponents have a combined record of 111-59.

On the women's side, Sarah-Jo Lawrence has been named an Academic All-District for the second-straight year. Congratulations to her.

In other GW news, a student saved Mike Wise of The Washington Post from drowning.

Finally, the suspected killer in the 1988 murders of GW students Rachael Raver and Warren Fulton was found guilty yesterday by a jury in Fairfax County, VA. Hopefully this will bring some long-overdue peace to their families and friends.

Throw away your television

Sarah-Jo Lawrence has been named one of the 30 nominees for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. According to the release, the award is "presented annually to an NCAA Division I senior women's basketball player who exemplifies being a total student-athlete." Congratulations to Ms. Lawrence.

Elsewhere, CSTV and the Atlantic 10 have announced a syndication package. Lucky day.

I remember California

The extended vacation in California following the UCLA game was pretty cool. For starters, we got to meet Adrian Grenier of Entourage fame. From left to right, that's Ben Solomon, star photographer for The Hatchet, WRGW's Paul Marmaro, Grenier, me, and Andrew Alberg, Sports Editor of The Hatchet. We're all big Entourage fans, so it was a thrill to run into him in Santa Monica.

Pauley Pavilion was interesting. It's old and certainly in need of some renovations, but the sense of tradition was unlike anything I've seen in my many college basketball travels. The fan base was creative and enthusiastic throughout the game, even after GW emptied its bench midway through the second half. Despite the loss to Texas the other night, I can't see anyone beating UCLA in the NCAA Tournament if they're healthy.

We also made a trip to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the UCLA-USC football game on Saturday afternoon. Having never been to a college football game, I had no idea what to expect as we snaked our way through Los Angeles traffic. Throughout the contest, with some 90,000 fans dressed in either red or blue and going wild, I couldn't help but wish GW had some sort of football team or a serious rival.

It was interesting to see how important athletics are at UCLA. All around the campus, there are signs proclaiming that the Bruins are the first program to 100 NCAA titles. There are also a ton of mentions on the school site. At GW, aside from a few balloons on the day of a game, one would have difficulty knowing that the school even has a sports program.

I know it's difficult to compare these situations because GW and UCLA are very different schools in many ways, and it's a lot easier to draw fans when you average more than one national title per year, but it doesn't seem right that athletics struggle so mightily in Foggy Bottom. Although the fan base is small, there are certainly a number of rabid Colonials fans. It's sad that the Bruins' track and field complex seats more people than all of GW's athletic facilities combined.

I think the following question needs to be asked: how important are athletics to GW? It shouldn't be the top priority, nor should it be in the top five, but it should matter. There are plenty of good schools (Stanford, UCLA, and Michigan, just to name a few) that are able to balance athletics and academics. While GW is different for a number of reasons, it's clear that more needs to be done. Here's to hoping changes are somewhere in the near future.

It was fun while it lasted

I thought we had some sort of scoop, but a few minutes later the official schedule was announced. Of course, that release contained the information regarding the men's basketball radio rights; such is the luck of WRGW.

Well, at least we now have a real schedule. It appears as though Saint Louis, Rhode Island, and Xavier are the home-and-home opponents the men's team will face in A-10 play. In other GW basketball news, you can find a tentative women's schedule here.

Radio cure

WRGW's Paul Marmaro is reporting that the men's basketball team will be staying on commercial radio. Citing an official in the know, Colonials games will be broadcast on WWWT (or 3WT), the station that will replace Washington Post Radio at the end of the month. WWWT also has the radio rights to the Washington Capitals.

So there you have it. Good news for the GW program.

This is how we do

WRGW's sports programming kicks off in less than an hour. Every weekday afternoon, you can hear one of our shows between four and six by going here or here. I know that they're typically not up to par with the professional productions that you hear on the real radio, but all of us involved try as hard as we can to put out the best product possible. On behalf of the entire department, we appreciate any support we can get.

In other radio news, it was reported recently that WTWP is slated to go off the air later this month. As you are probably aware, WTWP is the professional home of men's basketball broadcasts. This is in no way official, but from what I've heard in various conversations, no one seems to have any answers regarding the Colonials' radio rights.

Byron Kerr has certainly been an asset to the GW program and a great supporter of our station. He's a talented broadcaster, and he's equally as good of a person. Here's to hoping something gets figured out that allows him to remain the voice of the Colonials. Hopefully WRGW doesn't become to sole broadcaster of men's games; I don't think anyone would win in that situation. I'm not disrespecting our broadcasters by saying that: obviously, a professional broadcast is going to sound better than anything a college station can muster.

Having the Colonials on WTWP was good for the program's image. Hopefully the powers that be are able to find a viable solution.

The following is a presentation of WRGW Sports

It's time for one of the most anticipated moments of the summer. That's right, I'm here to announce the sports show schedule for the upcoming fall semester. Here's what you have to look forward to starting next month on WRGW:

-Monday (4-6 p.m.): Box Out!
Back for a third semester is the show that I host with a cast of characters, including our lovely producer Molly Nelson. In the past, we've had guests such as Scott Van Pelt of ESPN's SportsCenter and Rich Eisen of the NFL Network. We try to mix good sports talk with anything else we feel like talking about.

-Tuesday (4-6 p.m.): The Sports Drink
Also back for a third semester, Thomas Wall and Reuben Rodriguez lead the way on a show that has welcomed the likes of boxing legend Joe Frazier and ESPN legal analyst Roger Cossack to the digital airwaves. This weekly extravaganza also sheds light on lesser known sports such as bass fishing.

-Wednesday (4-6 p.m.): GW Primetime
Back for a second semester, Steven Smith holds down the fort on hump day. Attempting to balance the interests of fans from all across the country, the cast keeps it all covered. Kevin Burkhardt of WFAN has made numerous appearances in this time slot.

-Thursday (4-6 p.m.): Half-Jewish Sports
Back for a 15th semester, Paul Marmaro has one of WRGW's oldest traditions sounding better than ever. A show that can both handle serious topics and keep it loose, you can hear Tony Reali of ESPN's Around the Horn and Pardon the Interruption as a regular commentator.

-Friday (4-6 p.m.): The Real Deal
The only new addition to the sports block lineup, Greg Shapiro plans on keeping it real. He hosted The Hangover Special on Sundays this past spring, so expect more of the same quality programming.

So there you have it. The fun is just a few weeks away. Stay tuned (figuratively and literally).

Two reasons why Bob Costas is the man

1) "As anyone can plainly see, I'm 5-6 1/2 and a strapping 150, and unlike some people, I came by all of it naturally."
2) "I regard him as one of the greatest players of all time who got inauthentic boost and then became a superhuman player. I wish him no ill whatsoever."

Amazing.

The pizza has gone cold

"Wanna see what's in my pants?"