Anti-Tobacco Legislation in Congress

By Matt Crawford

The following is an essay I wrote for a political science class a few weeks ago, which expands on the anti-tobacco legislation currently in Congress that I mentioned in my opionion article in today’s edition of The Villanova Times.

Tobacco-related diseases kill more than 434,000 people annually and cost the nation approximately $96 billion in health care costs (Carroll, 2009). It is estimated by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention that 21 percent of U.S. citizens smoke totaling more than 45 million people. However, cigarettes and other tobacco products are still subject to less government regulation than food, drugs, cosmetics and even dog food.

Reynolds To Test the Waters

Yesterday, Scottie Reynolds announced that his name will be enterred into the NBA Draft, which will be taking place in about two months. Reynolds will not be hiring an agent and is keeping open the possibility of returning to Villanova next year. Even so, he appears to be very serious about the draft and will be working out more than ever in the next few months. He stated that he will be working out 3 times a day, with basketball activities, lifting weights and even a good amount of work in the pool. This experience will be good for Reynolds, who even if he does not decide to go to the NBA next year, will surely enter the draft next year and be drafted well enough after his senior season with the Wildcats is complete.

Dante Cunningham, graduating from Villanova this year, will also be in the NBA draft and likely will be drafted ahead of Reynolds. Reynolds has stated that he will eventually finish his four year degree at Villanova no matter what happens, and joked about that decision being “for his mom.” He will also continue going to class as he said, “I will continue going to my classes. But on the basketball court, I am doing this with 100 percent effort. It’s not just about going through the experience. I want to prepare myself in the best way I can and make the most of this opportunity.”

Some other Villanova basketball news, released just prior to the basketball banquet tonight:

Anderson and Clark are co-winners of the 2009 Villanova Basketball Award

Cunningham and junior Scottie Reynolds are co-winners of the Most Outstanding Player Award

Tchuisi is the winner of the Jake Nevin Award “for his selfless dedication to the program”

Reggie Redding, a junior guard from Philadelphia, is this year’s recipient of the Paul Arizin Award, given to the athlete demonstrating the greatest improvement in his game (one might ask what about Dante? I suppose the Most Outstanding Player Award was sufficient to honor his outstanding improvement.)

Corey Stokes is to receive the Alexander Severance Award, which is given to the player who shows both athletic and academic excellence.

“Everything must come to an end” Final Thoughts on the 2008-2009 Wildcats

By Chris Fujimoto

“we have some compassion for Jay and his club because they had a great, great year, and I’ve been there. I was there a year ago. It feels like somebody just reaches in, jerks your heart out and shakes it right in front of you. There’s nothing worse than the feeling of your season being over with and knowing how close you came. But I’m hopeful that Jay and his players will think about what a great, great year it was.” – UNC Coach Roy Williams.

“They did a great job of bringing this team together and teaching us how to play Villanova basketball for 40 minutes. That’s something that we concentrated on throughout the season. We didn’t know when it was going to click, but it started clicking, and it was all because of the seniors and their strong will to will this team to do that. It would have been easy for them to be satisfied and just let us do what we wanted to do, you know. We were, what, fourth in the Big East, or third. I forgot what we were. I guess we were like, I don’t know, tops in the — in the top 25. It was easy for them to just let back and throw in the towel and not push us. But they kept pushing us. That’s why we continued to get better. And they took us on a great ride. You know, we just tried to do that day in and day out. We sorry that it’s over, but they’ll never be forgotten.” -Scottie Reynolds on the Senior Class

“always tell our guys, There’s nothing wrong with failing. You can’t fear failure. And when it happens, you’ve got to learn from it. So I really want us to learn from this tonight. You know, we didn’t play our best game. The number one reason is Carolina played better tonight. You got to give them credit. But there are things we could have done and should have done that we have to learn from. And then tomorrow, I’m going to make sure that this senior class is celebrated. I’m going to work hard at it. To answer your question, I’m gonna do everything I can tomorrow that they’re feeling great about themselves.” – Jay Wright

Sure, I can just use quotes to describe last night’s game. I can even talk about how it was to be there on the court, sitting through the game. I won’t do either of those. We all saw the game, we all have our own opinions on…what went wrong, what Villanova didn’t do…how mch better UNC was…but I don’t think that, taking last night’s game in to perspective, any of those things are important. We have to do what Jay Wright said he was going to do: celebrate the team, celebrate the seniors, and learn from a tough loss against a great team.

I’ll be honest. If you asked me at the beginning of the Big East season that this team would make it to the final four, I would laugh. I thought the team was good, but they had their flaws. But they converted me, I became a believer while sitting through their dismantling of Marquette at the Pavillion. Sure, the defense wasn’t there but with the offensive firepower they had along with the defense that had shown at times. I believed this team could make a run. Even when filling out my brackets I had Villanova going to the final four in all seven brackets I made. Sure, my picks were biased but I believed that if this team could put every piece together, they could move on to Detroit.

As a writer, I began to believe even more during the tournament. Sitting through beatings against UCLA and Duke I listened to Jay Wright and the players and began to buy in that this was a team that was destined to go far. Their offense was clicking and their defense was tenacious. I was on the court when the team celebrated their amazing win over Pitt. They laughed, cried, and celebrated. The press conference was light-hearted after with Scottie and Jay joking about the final play. Dante was wiping down the trophy with a napkin and reporters joked with Jay Wright about how the championship hat matched his suit.

Coming in to Detroit no one gave the Wildcats a chance to beat UNC. People said that it would be close and that Nova would be the most relaxed team at the Final Four, but UNC simply was the better team. I believed Nova matched up well and if they put together a great game, they had a chance..They had a chance, until about 3 minutes in to the second half.

You had to feel for the players. Dwayne, Shane, and Dante all fouled out. All of them looked on in disbelief as they finished their final collegiate game, on the bench. This Senior class has been amazing. We all know about the accomplishments they’ve picked up. But, what we don’t know is the impact they’ve had off the court. They bought in to Jay Wright’s system and knew they had to step up in the absence of 3 NBA players on the ‘06 team. They stepped up, and provided an example for the rest of the team about what Villanova basketball is: a tough, physical, never giving up brand of basketball that is the identity of the team. These players will be missed. Shane Clark, Frank Tsuchi, Dwayne Anderson and Dante Cunningham gave their heart and soul for Villanova Basketball from the first time they stepped on the court until the last time they stepped off the court, last night. They will be remembered for what they accomplished and not what they couldn’t.

But, life moves on. This team still has a lot of experience and potential. It is crazy to think that this team will add Taylor King and four of the best recruits in the nation. The question will be: with all the talent on the team, will there be enough playing time to go around? And will all the talent translate into success? This year’s team was built on chemistry and learning the system. Next year’s team will be more talented but the four new freshmen and King may struggle to learn to play the Wright way. Everyone in the Nova Nation can only hope for more success on the main line.

For now, though, we have to remember this season and remember both its highs and its lows for a season like this one may never come again.

Halftime at Ford Field: UNC 49 Nova 40

By Chris Fujimoto

It could have been ugly. With 7:00 remaining the in the first half UNC led by 17 and it looked like they were about to run away with it. I kept on saying to myself that as long as we have strong defensive possessions and high percentage shots we could crawl back in it. Late in the first half the Wildcats began to do just that. They turned a 14 point deficit into a 9 point deficit at halftime.

In the first part of the game defense was lazy by the Wildcats. UNC was beating them on the third or  fourth pass with open shooters. What hurts Nova is the 2-12 shooting from three. The key in the second half will be to come out with the intensity that brought them this far. I still believe they can do that.

17:54- The ‘Cats come out firing and bring the deficit down to five. great defense. Danny Green’s man lost again and Green fires a wide open three to bring it back up to 8. Foul brings the deficit back to ten. The flow of the game is quickening. Lawson and Green have 3 fouls, which might hurt them in the long run.

Novafest Announcement A Dissapointment

By Matt Crawford

I’m going to keep this post short, since I just have a few criticisms of Villanova and the Campus Activities Team regarding their selection of a band for Novafest. Gym Class Heroes is not a bad choice by any means. Sure, their new album has not really been a hit, and they are not as popular as they were a couple years ago. They should definitely put on a good show, but nothing compared to the performances of the last three years – namely All American Rejects, Goo Goo Dolls, Motion City Soundtrack and Boys Like Girls. Sean Kingston and Brand New were extreme dissapointments.

The Villanova Campus Leading up to the Final Four

By Matt Crawford

Villanova’s entrance into the Final Four has done much much more around the Villanova campus than only inject some much needed award money into Villanova’s distressed economic situation. Of course, Villanova’s reputation has skyrocketed. The admissions office will likely receive a record number of applicants this year, and some of that is helped by the fact that we are now a Final Four school. Villanova is on every news channel in the area every night. So, for starters, the athletes of the men’s basketball team have not only helped themselves, their team and created an extremely happy and enthusiastic fan base; they have also helped their school in a timely manner as a result of the depressed economy.

Ten years from now, could we be seeing a new on-campus arena primarily for basketball? Its a great dream, but definitely made more realistic with Villanova’s entrance into the Final Four for the first time since 1985. Could the suggestions of the Master Plan be acted upon and construction begins on campus sooner than anticipated because of Villanova’s basketball success? Such a vision is very realistic. Twenty years from now when the campus looks rather different, one could definitely say, what if Villanova had not reached the Final Four…or greater? Things might be slightly different, or at least slightly delayed.

Elite 8; Nova – Pitt; Photo Feature

Villanova Wins the East Regional Champions Title and Advances to the FINAL FOUR

FINAL FOUR – more to come later

By Matt Crawford

Being at the game last night was amazing. So amazing that we decided not to blog. Perhaps a bit selfish, but we were also having wireless internet problems courtside. The celebration after Nova’s victory caused me to smile the most I have in a very very long time. Perhaps this description of my emotions may be confusing to some of you. Smiling is nothing compared to the reaction of Nova’s fans in the student section at the TD BankNorth Garden, or on Villanova’s campus itself, where Lancaster Avenue was shut down by more than one thousand celebrating students.

We will have incredible photos of the team’s on court celebration, net-cutting and award ceremony as well as action shots from the actual game. Later, we will also post more analysis of the game, commentary on the experience itself, and a previews of the Final Four in Detroit.

If you are interested, the entire Villanova team will be live on CBS at halftime of the UNC – Oklahoma game, which begins in about a half an hour.

Elite 8: Nova vs. Pitt – Live Blog

By Matt Crawford and Chris Fujimoto

3:35 to Game Time – Nothing to write really yet. Just an extremely exciting atmosphere. Pitt fans are mostly in 4 sections all together so they are concentrated and that makes them appear loud but there are definitely more Villanova fan in the arena as well as in the entire of city of Boston.

Pregame at the Garden

By Chris Fujimoto

About 45 minutes remains before tip-off and Villanova is out on the court completing shooting drills. There is a certain nervous energy surrounding the arena tonight as the Pitt and Villanova fans trickle in to the arena. The players look ready and it seems like you don’t have to tell them that tonight is the most important game of the season. Interesting to note that Scottie has a sleeve on his left arm. Scottie walked in to Thursday’s press conference heavily wrapped in ice but none was on that left arm so it certainly is a question mark about what the point of his sleeve.