Cornell-Kentucky hoops photo recap

[billhoward]

Photos and observations from Cornell's amazing - if unsuccessful - performance against Kentucky Thursday night in the NCAA round of 16.

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No question about who had the most or best fans.


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Andy Noel (middle of group, facing camera) should be strutting this week. On a relative shoestring, his coaches and players took second in NCAA wrestling and women's hockey, won the first two rounds of NCAA hoops, won the ECACs in  hockey, and were at this point a day away from a very winnable NCAA hockey game against UNH. Instead of shaking hands with well-wishers inside the Carrier Dome, he's outside Gate P (Cornell will-call) wiping rain off his glasses and helping hand out tickets. Cornell ran its own will-call window and somehow underestimated how many fans would show up (like everyone who bought a will-call ticket?); the line was about an hour long when we arrived 3 hours before gametime.


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Syracuse fans watch the SU game vs Butler in the concours of the dome. Try getting a hot dog the last 10 minutes of the game from the concessions stands. They were so distracted, they forgot to take the cap from my water bottle (possible projectile) after selling it. I felt a little sorry for Syracuse going down, thinkng how nice it might be to meet them the following weekend and avenge the lax game. Okay, I dream.


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Cameras everywhere. Maybe this is what RPI uses to create its crystal-clear (and free!) hockey webcasts.


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Game on. Cornell stood tall on defense and offense in the early going and for much of the second ...


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... and Cornell builds up the same kind of lead it did against Wisconsin. Could we be headed for yet another upset?


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Class coach: Steve Donahue keeps his cool.


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... Other coach: Is John Calipari forgetting his meds?


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For each Wildcat cheerleader (looking like Babs or Mandy from Animal House), Kentucky has a guy cheerleader underneath bigger then Cornell's offensive line post-Kevin Boothe.


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Kentucky's ferocious defense held Ryan Wittman in check (10 points total, 2x7 on threes). IMO, half of it was Wittman having an off-night and half of it was having Kentucky in his face. The killer was Wittman's three-point attempt with 5:00 to go, Cornell down by 10, and showing signs of life. It circled the rim and bounced out. THAT deflated Cornell. Game over, I thought.


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Cornell's amazing run comes to an end.


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Kentucky reserve shakes hands briefly with Cornell before reaching back to hold his pants up.  


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Friday morning: 300-500 Cornell faculty and staff and the odd student who forgot it's spring break wait outside Day Hall to greet the returning team. Seeing the crowd, I thought, How often does Mike Schafer get one of these welcomes? Cornell's Love Our Teams effort online ramped up a lot faster for post-season hoops than I ever recall for hockey.


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Waving to the fans.


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Even Cornell's hobbling bandies seem to have a better sense of how to wear blue than the Kentucky mascot.
 

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Take your childen to work day: Steve Donahue, with son Jack standing alongside, addresses the Cornell faithful.


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28 degrees outside but Cornell players feel the warmth of the fans.


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Jeff Foote signing autographs.


Want more photos? I tried to take a lot of crowd shots and individual faces. They're both on my Facebook page and at higher-res on my Phanfare photo site:

Game photos:

http://billhoward.phanfare.com/cornell/4613736#imageID=96025379 or http://www.facebook.com/billhoward2#!/album.php?aid=2057150&id=1260362811&ref=mf

Welcome home, Cornell warriors, photos:
http://billhoward.phanfare.com/cornell/4613565#imageID=96015636 or http://www.facebook.com/billhoward2#!/album.php?aid=2057131&id=1260362811&ref=mf

[jeff '84]

great stuff, thanks!

[Jim Hyla]

Thanks, as always, great.

[phillysportsfan]

Thats an interesting point about the basketball team receiving a welcome back unlike the hockey team has gotten, the lottery system and the crackdown on fans really has hurt enthusiasm for the hockey program

[billhoward]

Thats an interesting point about the basketball team receiving a welcome back unlike the hockey team has gotten, the lottery system and the crackdown on fans really has hurt enthusiasm for the hockey program

There's a latent love of basketball here that, pre-Donahue, three decades of incompetence interspersed with mediocrity plus one Ivy title, couldn't wipe out.

I think - I hope - that Cornell would do same for the  hockey team if they had gone to the final four. Even with Cornell "awash in red ink" (David Skorton's words), Cornell is working hard to build community with alumni, students, and faculty/staff. Recall the tents and barbecue at the NCAA lax finals weekend last spring.

[ugarte]

Thats an interesting point about the basketball team receiving a welcome back unlike the hockey team has gotten, the lottery system and the crackdown on fans really has hurt enthusiasm for the hockey program

There's a latent love of basketball here that, pre-Donahue, three decades of incompetence interspersed with mediocrity plus one Ivy title, couldn't wipe out.

Cornell students come from all over the country. As anyone who wants to watch the NHL on network television will tell you, most of the country doesn't care about hockey. Cornell students learn to love hockey because it is what Cornell has traditionally been good at but a lot of people came to Cornell figuring they could keep following their old State U.

You know, like YankeeLobo.

[Avash]

Nice Easter Egg in the 4th posted picture.

[CowbellGuy]

I think - I hope - that Cornell would do same for the  hockey team if they had gone to the final four.

You mean like they did the last time Cornell got to the Frozen Four?