The best thing about working with a basketball team, in my
opinion, is the March Madness. Lucky for those of us that work and play in the
Ivy League, every game carries the weight of a March Madness game.
For those that don’t know, the Ivy League doesn’t have a
conference tournament and the winner of the regular season gets the league’s
automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. That being said, every game in the Ivy
League is a tournament game.
For the Big Green women’s basketball team, the rivalry with
Harvard is just that, a rivalry. Head coaches Chris Wielgus and Kathy
Delaney-Smith are the longest tenured coaches in the league and not surprise
here, Wielgus has 12 Ivy League Championships and Delaney-Smith has 11. Let’s
just say, this is always a GAME from the head coaches right on down to the players.
Round one of the GAME, took place on Jan. 26 in Cambridge
and served as the Ivy League opener for both teams. It was a grudge match as was expected and the
Crimson took the win, 88-66. Due to a new scheduling format, the teams will
meet again, just 15 days later on our home turf for round two. While I
personally enjoy beginning and ending the season with Harvard, I don’t expect
the new scheduling to take anything away from the series, this rivalry will
always be a good one!
There will be plenty of good games throughout the Ivy League
slate this season. I fully anticipate the league to be a grudge match night in
and night out for the next two months and I can’t wait. I can wait for those
LONG bus trips to Cornell and Philly but hey you can’t win them all:)
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, look out for the
youngsters from Hanover, H.H., because when it starts coming together, they are
going to take off! You have been warned!
Until next time,
Jess Poole
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