Sports Sunday
Today features an unusually interesting Sunday slate of Eph sports. First on the agenda is the men’s lacrosse Nescac Championship vs. Bowdoin, who the Ephs had to defeat in dramatic fashion just to earn a spot in the seven team tournament. Sixth-seeded Williams attempts to continue its cinderella run after yesterday’s shocking victory over top seed Middlebury, which had never before lost in eight years of Nescac tourney play. You can watch the game live over the web today at noon.
Next up is the (postponed) Williams-Amherst baseball game at Waconah Park in Pittsfield. The stakes are high as the winner earns the Nescac West championship and a top seed in the conference playoffs.
Finally, men’s and women’s tennis each hope to advance to the national quarterfinals with wins in today’s NCAA action.
Decent Year for Two Ephs
Eph alums (and hedge fund superstars) Andreas Halvorsen ‘86 and Chase Coleman ‘97 had pretty decent years in 2007, making $520 million and $400 million respectively. Of course, next to the $3.7 billion John Paulson made, that is mere pocket change.
Williams and the Bushes, continued …
There’s a new connection between Williams and the Bush family, and I don’t know how David missed this one. Jenna’s fiancee, Henry Hager, will be working for Constellation Energy, which is helmed by none other than oft-discussed-on-this-site Mayo Shattuck. I will leave it to David to figure out a way to tie this news to a photo of Mayo’s wife in a bikini.
Pub Update
Yesterday’s North Adams Transcript ran an article with an update on the Pub reopening and the former home of Subway et. al. Last I read, the Pub was all set to reopen in January, now it has been pushed back to the start of next school year, anyone know the cause of the delay (the Transcript really should have provided insight into this …)? With Goodrich, the Pub, and the Log (I believe) all out of commission, that really limits the social options for upperclassmen … three amazing venues, in particular the Log, which really deserves better.
I’d love to see photos of the interior of the new Pub if someone can gain access … Diana, planning a return trip to campus anytime soon?
Regarding the former Subway building, I can’t imagine why that building wouldn’t be demolished and replaced with something (a) with a second story providing additional housing / office space and (b) far more attractive (even before the fire, it was an eyesore). The building offers neither historic, aesthetic, nor pragmatic value as currently designed.
If that does happen, I hope the architects follow the lead of the very attractive and interesting (yet still site-appropriate) building that houses Tunnel City rather than the ugly, boring, strip-mall-esque design of the Spice Root / Thai Garden building …
Women’s Hoops Recruits
Three recent articles have focused on future women’s basketball players Jill Greenberg (a Boston Globe all-scholastic selection as a Junior), Lisa Jaris, and Laura Renfro (who is caoched by Jim Tildsley, father of former Eph Kaylan ‘07). Congrats to all three.
Stetson-Sawyer Blog
Check out the new blog on the Stetson-Sawyer project, as well as the homepage for the forthcoming (and very cool looking) Center for Media Initiatives.
Dave Clawson ‘89 in the Spotlight
Great feature on new Tennessee Vols offensive coordinator Dave Clawson. There is no more rabid group of college football fans than those at Tennessee, so Dave will be under immense scrutiny. If he succeeds, he will have his choice of plum Division-I coaching jobs. Dick Farley comments on Dave’s time as an undergraduate:
“He’s youthful and very bright,” Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer said of Clawson, who replaces David Cutcliffe. “I’m smart enough to hire people smarter than me.”
Dick Farley, who coached Clawson at Williams College from 1985-89, knows all about his former player’s intelligence.
It was Farley who shifted Clawson, a Youngstown, N.Y., native, from quarterback to defensive back. Farley, who retired four years ago as football coach, has proudly followed Clawson’s career since he left Williams, a 2,000-student institution in Williamstown, Mass., that has been ranked the No. 1 national liberal arts college in America.
“I always kid Dave that we’re going to put, ‘He was a quarterback,’ on his tombstone,” Farley said. “He was a very smart guy at a school where you have to be pretty darned bright. He just decided to take an Ivy League-like education and coach football instead of going to Wall Street like some of his buddies.”
Farley, whose son played under Clawson when he was Villanova’s offensive coordinator, feels the Vols are getting a mind with a flawless track record.
“Dave is looking all the time at mismatches and where he can take advantage of either a linebacker or safety,” Farley said. “He’s never failed at anything he’s done. He looks like a choir boy off the field, but I know since he played for me, he’s very thorough and very demanding.”
Eliot Spitzer’s Consigliere
Interesting article on LLoyd Constantine ‘69, Spitzer’s senior advisor and “consigliere.” Wonder what sort of “direct” advice he is giving to Spitzer today?
(By the way, what is up with the “middle guard” description? I have never heard of any such position — an offensive line features a left guard, right guard, and a center. Perhaps Frank U. can add some insight. I am all for Constantine’s plan to amp up the SUNY system. Although Binghamton is solid, I never understood why the northeast states have no public schools in the league of a UVA, Cal, Michigan, etc. Too bad any plans associated with Spitzer are now likely to meet an early demise.)
UPDATE: I (dk) hate to edit a fellow EphBlog author’s post, but how can you not quote this from the article or add the picture above?
“Puhssscht!”
This is the sound of a middle guard smashing the guy in front of the quarterback.
Lloyd Constantine played middle guard at Williams College. He litigated like a middle guard as an antitrust lawyer.
Now, nursing a mocha latte at Starbucks, he’s making the sound to illustrate what that means: No artifice. No finesse. Just straight hits. Just — puhssscht!
He’s also inspired other labels: Iconoclastic. Arrogant. Gruff.
“I’m very direct,” says the hard-to-pigeonhole 60-year-old in the Brooks Brothers suit. “I speak my mind.”
You should care about all this because when his cellphone rings, the person he’s often speaking his mind to is his protege, friend and tennis rival: Eliot Spitzer.
It’s ringing now.
I’ll bet it is.
The Spitzer-Constantine friendship feeds on the whatever-you-do-I-can-do-better rivalry of two competitors “finding their other,” as Constantine put it.
“He’s taller,” said Constantine. “I’ve got more hair.”
Constantine was the attorney general’s antitrust chief when a Harvard Law student named Eliot Spitzer walked into his office as a summer intern in 1982.
It was, Constantine recalled, “sort of love at first sight.”
Is that the same reaction that “Kirsten” had when she first met Client #9? Just asking!
And how about this nice little bit of New York legal sleaze?
Constantine delivered in the legal world. Under Attorney General Robert Abrams, he galvanized state antitrust enforcement. In private practice, he stitched together a coalition of retailers to sue Visa and MasterCard for trying to monopolize the debit card market.
…
When Constantine wrested a $3.4 billion settlement in the Visa and MasterCard case, which made him a fortune, he told the attorney general, “I had a better week than you.”
“No you didn’t,” said Spitzer.
Did you catch that? While working in the government, he did anti-trust enforcement. Then (how long after?) he goes into private practice and sues (with the help of his former/future colleagues?) Visa/MasterCard on the basis of their illegal (in the eyes of the department he ran?) collusion and forces them to settle. He makes millions. Can you just imagine the discussion in the general counsel’s office at Visa/MasterCard? “We can either pay off Constantine with the big bucks or all his buddies still in government will crucify us. An easy call!”
Perhaps that is unfair, but you can be sure that there is a story behind the story.
He’s reached the stage of life where he might spend all his time worrying about his three grown kids. Avoiding that, he said, was one of the reasons he took the $155,000-a-year job with Spitzer.
He professes a distaste for political work. But the consequences of politics have become his business. The senior lawyer has represented the executive chamber through probes into the administration’s alleged efforts to tar Bruno over his use of state helicopters.
“Consequences of politics” is a pleasing way to describe “covering up for dirty deeds.” Readers with advice on what Constantine should tell Spitzer today are welcome to contribute in the comments. Also, what is the best caption for that photo?
UPDATE II: Too partisan for you, our sensitive readers? Well, let’s make some fun of Ephs on the other side of the aisle. Mickey Kaus notes:
Did CNN really have Bill Bennett ['65] on today to pronounce judgment on Eliot Spitzer (”Look, it’s not good for him … I think it’s too much “) and Bill Clinton (”It was an intern”)? I would have thought Bennett’s days as arbiter of sin and virtue were over after his own humiliating public bout with vice–the 2003 Las Vegas gambling embarrassment, when it was revealed that he had a multi-million dollar slot machine jones. (At the time, Michael Kinsley argued Bennett should have “the decency to slink quietly away, as he is constantly calling on others to do.”). … I guess if Meet the Press can call on Doris Kearns Goodwin to judge Obama’s alleged plagiarism ….
Indeed. We are all about forgiveness here at EphBlog. In fact, I am still hoping that Professor Aida Laleian will be appointed to the new Committee on Community Interactions. (Will this be abbreviated COCI? How will it be pronounced?) Background on this snark for our new readers here.
UPDATE II: Latest from the New York Times.
The governor informed his top aides on Sunday night and Monday morning of his involvement.
Mr. Spitzer’s family and his top assistants debated Monday morning at Mr. Spitzer’s apartment about whether he should step down, a person who spoke to the governor said. Silda Wall Spitzer, who was among them, told her husband that he should not resign in haste; as did Lloyd Constantine, a senior adviser and a longtime friend of the governor. But most of his others saw no way for him to survive.
Knowing what I know about Eliot Spitzer, I wager that he tries to brazen this out. Good luck to Constantine! This is a challenge worthy of an accomplished Eph. Don’t think that he has a chance? That’s what they said about President Clinton after Monica . . .
Fay Vincent Donation
Check today’s tremendous media coverage of Fay Vincent’s $7 million donation to Williams. Williams is still waiting for that $50 million donation to top off the Climb Far campaign …
In related news, Pete Rose today announced that he was donating all of his gambling proceeds to Amherst. (If only Vincent had been commissioner during the steroid scandal instead of Bud “Milquetoast” Selig, but that is a rant for another day …).
Sinnenberg in Sports Illustrated
Soccer goalie Lauren Sinnenberg ’10 appeared in this week’s Sports Illustrated Faces in the Crowd. Congrats! I’d love to see a list of all the Ephs who have been so featured … I wouldn’t be surprised if we had more than any other college or university in the country, I seem to recall quite a few over the years.
(And while I would have posted the link to Lauren’s accomplishment in any event, yes, the additional link to the cover shot of David Tyree’s already-legendary catch was perhaps a bit gratuitous).
James Carville Disses Williams
What’s up with this random diss (I think?) of Williams students from James Carville? Good thing I’m already an Obama supporter:
James Carville, Mr. Clinton’s political strategist in 1992, said that the jousting between the two camps had hardly turned toxic, and that the stakes of this election were too high to have a milquetoast campaign.
“This is not Williams College students electing a commencement speaker. This is a huge deal,” Mr. Carville said. “Does the president risk going overboard? Sure. But Obama runs a risk of being wussified.”
Athletics Round Up
Lots of interesting Eph sports-related news of late. First, today is the Amherst vs. Williams hoops double-header, take two. See previous discussion of this rivalry here. Last time, both Jeffs squads emerged victorious, but Williams has the home court advantage today. The Ephs are slight underdogs in both contests (Amherst women are undefeated, and the men are ranked third in the country), but will be looking for payback. Speaking of basketball, two recent news stories featured future Eph ballers Jordan Mickens and Brian Emerson. Emerson was on last year’s Boston Globe all-scholastic super team.
Second, Will Bruce won the Wooden Cup. This is an absolutely incredible accomplishment recognizing the most outstanding role model in all levels of college athletics.
Third, a few weeks back Dave Clawson ‘89 was appointed offensive coordinator of the University of Tennessee football squad. In light of his prior success as a head coach, if he performs well in this high-profile (and very high-pressure) role, he is sure to ascend to a big-time Division I head coaching position.
Finally, today’s NYTimes has a feature on bridge-playing Eph undergrads, led by the legendary Frank Morgan. No word on whether they successfully employed Morgan’s famous “soap bubble gambit” strategy … Chris Willenken of the great class of 1997 is often featured in the NYTimes for his bridge acumen.
Williams vs. Amherst: Hoops Edition
As much hype as College GameDay provided for Williams-Amherst football, the schools have an even better men’s basketball rivalry: unlike in football, each is often a national championship contender featuring one or more Division-I caliber players, and the rivalry is dead-even. Consider:
Williams vs. Amherst all-time favors Williams 111-83. But since 1996, Williams’ overall record vs. Amherst: 14-18. Amherst has the edge overall during that time period, but Williams has the edge in big games: 3-0 in NCAA tourney play, and 3-2 in NESCAC tourney games (including 3-0 in NESCAC title games).
The two teams have combined since 1996 for seven final four appearances (Williams with four, Amherst three), two national titles, three national coach of the year awards, two national player of the year awards (former Eph Mike Nogelo ‘98 and current Jeff point guard Andrew Olson ‘08), one win at Division I Holy Cross, the Division III record for consecutive home court wins, and all seven NESCAC tournament wins (Amherst with four, Williams three) (the tourney started in 2001).
Williams has not won a regular season game at Amherst since 1996. Williams has won two NESCAC tournament games against the ‘herst on its home court during that period, including last year’s dramatic upset over a Jeffs squad that went on to win the National Championship. You can see that game here and read about it in Tim Layden’s great SI.com article.
For a taste of the drama that is Williams-Amherst, listen to this clip from D3hoops.com announcers of a game that Williams eventually won in overtime. That same Williams team went on to beat Amherst in the Final Four.
This year, defending NESCAC champion Williams is 12-0 and ranked fourth in the country. Defending national champion Amherst’s 9-2 record is deceptive: the two losses came against number two Brandeis and a non-Division III team; hence Amherst is ranked just above Williams, at third. The men’s game is at 4:00 on Saturday, following the women’s game which is at 2:00.
The women’s game also features an interesting story line: Amherst women have not beaten Williams since 2001 (giving Williams a 14 game winning streak vs. the Jeffs), but Amherst enters this game undefeated, and they are favored to break their streak against a very young Williams squad that starts two first-years. The Eph women lead the all-time rivalry 41-20.
You can listen to the games here. Go Ephs.
Updated 1/11/08. Thanks to an interested Eph fan who emailed me some additional information as well as a correction!
The Eph Who Changed the World of Oil
Ben Mezrich’s latest best-seller, Rigged: The True Story of an Ivy League Kid Who Changed the World of Oil, from Wall Street to Dubai, tells the story of John D’Agostino ’97’s “grapples with heroes, villains and intrigue in oil markets from Wall Street to Dubai.” You can purchase the book at Amazon or at most book stores. You can also listen to John’s discusison of the book on NPR. According to this month’s class notes, the book will soon be made into a movie as well.
