UC Flag Football going to Cabrini

The Retirees are now two time intramural flag football champions earning the coveted champion t-shirts with a 20-28 win over the Bear’s Lax team.
A school’s culture is different from campus to campus. Some schools value intramural sports and some don’t. Ursinus is a school that clearly values its intramural sports. According to the Ursinus Website there are seven different intramural sports that students can get involved in.
For a small school to offer so many intramural sports there must be a high level of interest among the students and the interest level was shown through the attendance at the game. The attendance for the championship game was comparable to that of some varsity sports on campus.
Such strong support coming from the student body makes the games all the more fun to play. Junior Logan Duffy, the captain of Bear’s Lax, commented on the attendance saying, “The fans came out in support of both teams and it set a great atmosphere for the game. We were excited to be a part of it.”
As exciting as the championship game was, the excitement is not over. On November 21 the Retirees will be competing against other local intramural champions at Cabrini College.
This is the first time that Ursinus will be sending an intramural team to another school to compete. Senior Tim Keiper is the Staff assistant of intramural sports. As staff assistant it is his job to schedule game times as well as general organization.
When Todd Bartley, the Director of Intramural sports at Ursinus, sent an email to Tim about the competition at Cabrini, he knew it would be an interesting experience for the flag football champions. “I think it is a great idea. To have that competition against other students from our own school is great, but to compete against other schools is a unique idea and I think it will be a lot of fun for the students involved.”
Captain of the Retirees, Senior Steve Cacciavillano also thought that going to Cabrini would be a great idea. “Since freshman year a lot of us stopped playing varsity sports. Because of this we didn’t get a chance to play other people from other schools. A lot of us are seniors and this is our last chance to play on such a competitive level.”
Fellow Retiree, Senior Anthony Ambrogi also voiced his excitement to play intramural football for the last time as an Ursinus college student. “I’m excited to compete against other teams from other schools and to extend my last intramural football season. Cabrini will be my last time playing and I am excited to see how our team stacks up against the other schools. Obviously we plan on going out with a win.”
The tournament on November 21 should be a good one. The best intramural teams from several different schools will match up and see whose school is the best. It would be great for the Retirees if students would make the trip to Cabrini to support them as they try to prove Ursinus has the best intramural flag football team in the greater Philadelphia area.
Back to the Grizz

Homecoming Football Game

Collegeville, Pa- The afternoon of Saturday October 3, 2009 is a day to be remembered for the Ursinus Bears football team who defeated the Gettysburg Bullets 55-50 for the first time since 2005 on Homecoming at Patterson Field.
With Centennial Conference records set and broken, this memorable day featured 1,327 yards of total offense for both teams. The Ursinus athletic homepage highlighted that the Ursinus squad set a Conference record for points in a half with 48 in the first half. The Bears controlled the ball for an overwhelming amount of time- 40 minutes of the afternoon. But head Coach Peter Gallagher commented, “Getting the win was the most exciting,” referring to records set and broken. Gallagher, proud of his team and both their offensive and defensive efforts remarked, “Scoring 48 points in a half, I’m not sure if that’s ever going to be done again.” He continued, “One record we didn’t break but came fairly close was our 35 first downs in a game. 38 is the conference record.”
After a bye weekend last week, the Bears had more practices to prepare for Gettysburg’s offensive and defensive schemes. The preparation for games is always through watching film, practices, and confidence. “Monday is a big day that we create our plan and practice and buff it out Tuesday and Wednesday…final product on Thursday,” Gallagher pointed out. Coach also commented, “I think a lot of that build-up and a lot of the emotion and getting psyched happens on the practice field Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.”
Along with Gallagher, the Bears’ players were ecstatic with the win over the Bullets. Justin Decristofaro, Ursinus’ quarterback and winner of the Kenneth Walker Memorial Trophy, given to the outstanding Ursinus player in the Homecoming game, described some of his emotions. Coming out of the locker room “I felt confident… continually watching film to understand what our opponent was going to do. My comfort level was great. My reads were awesome.” Feeling almost as if he were “blacking out,” Decristofaro said, “I completely had to think back on what just happened” referring to the impressive halftime score of 48-23. At the end of the game, overwhelmed with excitement, Decristofaro commented, “I was punching my linemen in the head due to my excitement.” The quarterback thanked his six linemen, stating “Part of my success is because of these six gentlemen. The award I won on Saturday is just as much theirs as it is mine.” Along with the Kenneth Walker Trophy, Decristofaro was also the recipient of the Centennial Conference Co-offensive Player of the Week sharing the honor with the Gettysburg senior quarterback Matt Flynn.
Bob Wise, junior captain and one of Decristofaro’s offensive linemen, felt the excitement of him and his teammates coming out of the locker room. “I felt a great sense of anticipation and excitement to go out and battle a Gettysburg team that none of us had ever beaten before. The winning feeling after the game was awesome, and it was something I hadn’t felt in a while.”
According to Gettysburg’s athletic website, with 50 points, they set a record for most points scored by a losing team. Their record falls to 1 and 4. Ursinus is now 2 and 0 in Centennial Conference play. And the bears look forward to the next two games against Franklin and Marshall followed by Johns Hopkins. Decristofaro also added, “Every week is routine. You watch Saturday’s game on Sunday…by 9:30 I’m in coaches’ office on Monday morning. I also like to watch film after practice but I am a student athlete. I want to keep my books together.” Decristofaro exemplifies characteristics that every NCAA athlete should carry within themselves; success on the field and in the classroom.
Lastly, Coach Gallagher stated his goals for the 2009 season. “Any time you start any season, your goal is to be the champion of the league. This year is no different than that. We’ve been in some big games here in nine years. Been in big games that matter in November. Getting the program to that point is something to be proud of. We want to win a meaningful game in November.”
Back to Grizz

Gentlemen and Scholars

Luke Benko
10/2/09
Gentlemen and Scholars
The Ursinus Men’s Rugby team is truly one of a kind on this campus. They have the unique aspect of being both a sports team as well as a club. This makes for an interesting social connection between the guys on the team. They all have their own nicknames that are used in place of their real names pretty much constantly and their team chemistry is very impressive. Not only do the guys on the team have to practice their sport and work well to together on the field, they have to organize it off the field. They are members of the Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union (EPRU). The EPRU’s goal according to their website epru.org is “to promote and foster the growth of Rugby Union Football and to educate the public and players in the game of Rugby Union Football as played under the Laws of the International Rugby Board.” The EPRU sets up the team’s schedule, but it is on the Club to find a time and place for the game. This seems like quite a task, but Club President Senior Chris “The Zilla” Orser commented on if he would prefer that the Rugby team to be a varsity sport, “The guaranteed field space would be nice, but it would take away from the independence of the team. We work well with the school and the new Athletic Director Lauren Moliken has been great to work with this year, but it is traditionally a laid back sport and we would like to keep it that way.” While the guys on the team clearly take the game seriously the laid back nature of club makes it possible for students with a busy schedule to participate. Senior Chris “Snugs” Wierzbowski said, “It allows you to maintain focus on academics because you can miss practice if you really need to”. “I am an EMT for SERV and a double major” said Junior Rich “Uncle Rico” Werkmeister . The fact that the team is a club gives me a chance to play a sport when otherwise I would be unable.”
Tradition was a word that was said a lot during the interview. The Rugby team is full of kind and polite guys who are easy to get along with. The traditional aspect of the sport is part of the reason for that. Werkmeister commented on this saying, “Our coach Jim Hall has been in the sport for a long time. He preaches the traditional aspects of Rugby. As violent as the sport can be, it is a gentlemen’s game. As soon as the game is over everyone including your opponents are all friends. We all get together after the game and hang out and share stories.” This feeling of brotherhood among the players makes it a sport that is very addictive. “I got sucked in the very first game I played”, said Treasurer Sophomore Michael “Tall Mike” Ward. It has even attributed to students decisions to come to Ursinus. Freshman John “Little John” Mazzeo said, “If the school didn’t have Rugby I won’t be here”. John’s quote speaks volumes to the value of the Rugby team to Ursinus College so if you’re interested in playing Rugby contact the recruiting officer, Junior Sean Patrick at sepatrick@ursinus.edu and get involved in a true gentleman’s game.
Back to the Grizz