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Sunday, 13 February 2011

  • score one for the underdogs.

    Longtime readers of this blog (if such folks still exist) know that I've been faculty mentor for our women's hockey team since they launched five seasons ago. The group once resembling a likable Bad News Bears, with more heart than earth-shaking talent, just knocked off the #1 team in the country, the RIT Tigers.

    RIT is a big, physical, fast, skilled and often dominating team; this year (as most years), they don't just beat teams as much as rout them. On Friday, the first match of the two-game series, Oswego kept with the Tigers most of the way before losing 3-1. Only four other teams have finished within two goals of RIT, and they are all in the top 10 nationally. But even with that effort, Saturday night's amazing outcome likely shocked and rocked the women's hockey world.

    I made it to Rochester for the game, and noticed from the get-go that we didn't seem the least bit intimidated by this imposing team that had pushed us around other times. Then, late in the first quarter, Oswego had a rush with some great puck movement, Kathryn Sbrocchi to Olivia Boersen to Mackenzie Lee, who lit the lamp to give the Lakers a 1-0 lead. Meanwhile, goalie Emi Williams (who is also my web video intern, making a very entertaining hockumentary chronicling the season) made save after save to frustrate the Tigers.

    But late in the second, seeming disaster struck. After making an initial save, Emi twisted to try to get the rebound and landed awkwardly on her shoulder. That shot slid through the crease and just missed, as the Tigers and their fans raised their hands, only to groan. Emi was down for what felt like an eternity -- as some of RIT's less classy fans even booed her! -- then the home trainer worked on her arm. She decided to stay in and finished the period without incident.

    When the third period started, the rest of the team skated out, but no Emi. The backup goalie even skated to the crease, seemingly prepared to step in. But then, at the last possible instant, Emi appeared and came skating on to a nice ovation (and more than a few goosebumps) from Laker fans who traveled for the game. Hollywood couldn't have presented a more dramatic moment.

    Even clinging to the 1-0 lead, we expected RIT to fire back. But then came one of those moments that makes you realize just maybe it's your team's day. Boersen, one of many talented freshmen on this team, fired a centering pass from behind the net that clanked off the skate of a Tiger defender and rebounded into the net before the goalie could react. Suddenly, it was 2-0, and the Oswego fans there were delirious.

    But RIT made a run, as all great teams do, and scored a power-play goal to make it 2-1 with more than 14 long minutes remaining. But instead of crumbling, Oswego just kept their cool and played hard and smart. The seconds ticked off agonizingly slow, and we continued to wonder ... can we believe we're bearing witness to one of the biggest women's hockey upsets of all time?

    Injured shoulder or not, Emi kept making big saves, and her teammates sacrificed their bodies to block other shots, and RIT grew increasingly frustrated. Finally, the Tigers pulled their goalie for an extra shooter for a final push. A wild scrum with all kinds of battling ensued, but Oswego stood its ground until finally the refs whistled a fairly blatant RIT penalty (they'd let a few go) with about 5 seconds left.

    We had watched the movie Miracle on the hockey bus to Plattsburgh a few weeks ago, and at this point, we likely could have repeated: Do you believe in miracles? Yes!

    The last seconds elapsed, Oswego players and fans exploded in jubilation, RIT players and fans stared in disbelief. The most amazing and unlikely unthinkable had happened, our underdogs had their day at last.

    After the game felt like being backstage at a rock concert, as families, friends and other supporters lined up outside the locker room and we cheered and high-fived each player as they emerged. The Lakers head into the playoffs as likely the fifth seed and, for the first time, we can't see any limits on what this team can do.

Saturday, 01 January 2011

  • a top 20 albums for 2010

    As part of our collaborative year-end countdown for the Higher Ed Critics music blog, I’ve assembled my take on top discs I’ve heard from 2010.

    20. Good Old War, Good Old War: Any release by this band brings bouquets of clever lyrics, soaring harmonies and genial hookiness. Just a shame the overall material in this effort seems a bit weak. Maybe next time.

    19. Broken Social Scene, Forgiveness Rock Record: Honestly, quite disappointed with this long-awaited record. While the Canadian collective hits a groove on songs like “Texaco Bitches” or “Meet Me in the Basement,” too much feels like unfinished ideas thrown on record.

    18. Spoon, Transference: With apologies to the many friends who love the band, this would be higher if I was into Spoon … but too much of their stuff just comes off as too smugly self-satisfied, imho. Can’t argue with their overall skills, though.

    17. Sade, Soldier of Love: Sade has remained relevant since 1984 (!) with soulful songs and sex appeal, and the latest disc works that formula well. The occasional new trick or two is OK, but it’s rich texture of Sade’s voice that always brings us back.

    16. The Scarlet Ending, Ghosts: This Syracuse-based sextet featuring twin singer/songwriters Kayleigh and Kaleena Goldsworthy continues to evolve with image-rich songs buoyed by smart lyrics, eclectic instrumentation and engaging vocals.

    15. Stars, The Five Ghosts: Like most Stars efforts, this album combines brilliant flashes like the male-female storytelling of “Dead Hearts” with some pedestrian filler, but provides enough haunting moments to make it worth remembering.

    14. Butch Walker, I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart: The singer, songwriter, producer and former Marvelous 3 frontman showcases his many talents here. While he seems to enjoy silky soulful songs, the rocking social satire of “Trash Day” is this effort’s standout track.

    13. Pete Yorn, Pete Yorn: With Pete’s warm and craggly voice and knack for melody, the main issue is that he’s never created another album as terrific as “musicforthemorningafter.” With instantly catchy fare like “Precious Stone” and “Paradise Cove I,” this album works more often than not.

    12. Brad Yoder, Excellent Trouble: This very under-the-radar singer/songwriter deserves some play. Combine intelligent commentary — “Keep It to Yourself,” on teens staying in the closet, or “How It Ends,” on big-box stores killing downtowns — with earnest singing and graceful instrumentation, and you have a hidden gem.

    11. Sarah McLachlan, Laws of Illusion: Where Sarah’s best album, “Fumbling Toward Ecstasy,” chronicled young love, “Laws of Illusion” looks at life after the love departs (mirroring the breakup of her long relationship with drummer Ash Sood). As always, her voice is the engine driving this train, and it’s in fine form.

    10. The National, High Violet: I like The National, but find it maddening that a band that can produce such effortlessly catchy fare as “Bloodbuzz, Ohio,” “Lemonworld” and “Conversation 16″ can have so many tracks on this (or any) album that fall flat. But the high points are, as always, remarkable.

    9. Gin Blossoms, No Chocolate Cake: Not a typo. Not only is the reformed band still recording, but they’re making good music. Not terribly cerebral, but just listen to “Don’t Change for Me,” “I Don’t Want to Lose You Now” and “Dead or Alive on the 405″ and let the ’90s nostalgia wash over you.

    8. Drive-By Truckers, The Big To-Do: At least two reasons I love this album: “Drag the Lake Charlie” is one of the funnier/darker songs ever made, and “Birthday Boy” has the killer lyrics “Pretty girls from the smallest towns/Get remembered like storms and droughts/That old men talk about for years to come.” Marvelous moments of mayhem and mortification suffuse their latest Southern Gothic rock effort.

    7. KT Tunstall, Tiger Suit: The latest album by the Scottish songstress is her most complex, least commercial and also her best. Whether it’s world-beat influences on “Uummannaq Song,” electronica touches on “Difficulty” or the simple wistful warbling and whistling on “(Still A) Weirdo,” KT offers a broader range but, as always, plenty to adore.

    6. Brandon Flowers, Flamingo: The rest of The Killers wanted to take time off, but their talented frontman decided to put out a solo album that offered a frank look at his hometown, including the masterfully written “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas.” While not quite as good as the full band’s output, Flowers’ vocals + sharp lyrics = jackpot.

    5. Arcade Fire, The Suburbs: I keep thinking this album seems overrated, until I listen again and realize just how great it is. While perhaps only “Rococo” and “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” sit among the band’s greatest tracks, the consistently compelling material in a story arc critiquing our modern suburban life stands up to the hype.

    4. Tracey Thorn, Love and Its Opposite: “Who’s next?” the voice of Everything But the Girl sings in opener “Oh, the Divorces”: “It’s always the ones that you least expect.” And who would expect Thorn to reappear with a masterpiece of an album about growing older? But with tracks such as “Long White Dress,” “Hormones” and “Singles Bar,” she imbues wisdom and memorable songs galore.

    3. Rocky Votolato, True Devotion: Not quite as phenomenal as his previous effort, “Makers,” but still full of beautifully painted tales of lost love, lovable losers and lovingly lost causes. The well-turned depth he pours into simple refrains like “The less likely you survive” (from “Fragments”) or “Sparklers only burn for so long” (from “Sparklers”) is simply stunning.

    2. Dust Poets, World At Large: There’s nothing flashy about this unassuming Canadian foursome: They merely created the best album this year almost no one’s heard. They often tackle issues such as greed (“Deceived by Gasoline”), homelessness (“Big World”), online privacy (“Skeletons in Your Inbox”) and xenophobia (“Border Town”) but always with folksy charm, wit and skill.

    1. Girl Talk, All Day: Sometimes you just have to ask: “Was there an album I simply couldn’t stop listening to for weeks?” That would be this record, which drops hook after hook, beat after beat in sensational succession. While I could ponder how Gregg Gillis pushes the envelope of this (controversial) genre or the brilliance of “Jump on Stage” samples running from Portishead to Radiohead, it’s much easier to just dance — anytime, anywhere — to the excessively catchy music.

Sunday, 28 November 2010

  • Currently
    In Between Evolution
    By Tragically Hip
    "Are We Family?"
    see related

    are we family?

    As we ate Thanksgiving dinner, the iPod in the other room cued up "Are We Family?" by The Tragically Hip. For our seemingly motley crew, it seemed appropriate.

    The gathering was hosted by a friend I'd known for years, but I'd only met her boyfriend once and the other guest was someone I only vaguely knew and met earlier this year. We were all people who had no other pressing gatherings on this holiday, due to family being out of state or scheduling difficulties. Lost sheep, perhaps, we feasted on a fabulous meal mostly pre-made by Wegmans and enjoyed the company as well as various pet-related entertainment.

    When I researched the origins of the myths of Generation X for my master's thesis the idea that "family is the friends we choose" came up over and over, related to a demographic born in a time half the marriages ended in divorce. Researchers opined this was one appeal of the uber-popular show "Friends," where mostly unrelated folks had created a kind of family from the titular group of chums. A stretch, perhaps, but sitting down at the dinner, listening to The Hip asking "Are We Family?" I felt the answer could be "yes," in a way.

Saturday, 31 July 2010

  • Currently
    Drift
    By Devlins
    "Someone To Talk To"
    see related

    the power of conversations: the real face-to-face ones.

    Sometimes finding a solution is as simple as sitting at the right lunch table.

    As we redevelop our website, we recognized a need from the top down for feedback and input from prospective and/or incoming students. But I wasn’t really sure how to do it. Until one day I decided to sit with the good folks who run our New Student Orientation program during lunch in our Campus Center.

    They were discussing an informational scavenger hunt where incoming students had to perform a certain number of tasks while competing for prizes. And it dawned on me: Hey, maybe one of those tasks could have something to do with our new website! A couple conversations later, a task involving our web redevelopment was part of the scavenger hunt, and my summer of interacting with hundreds of incoming students began.

    For the first two scavenger hunts, I asked students stopping at my station their opinion on three different design protypes for the new site. An overwhelming winner emerged, with 62 percent preferring an option with a narrow pictoral (often scenic) banner on top. Which happened, fortunately, to also garner positive feedback from faculty, staff and current students. But to be able to back that opinion up with results from surveying more than 200 incoming students provides great confirmation.

    a simple card sort

    The following orientation sessions involved a card sort. I asked each member of the teams of scavenging students to take a card with a topic on it and tell us which section of our website (About, Academics, Admissions, etc.) they would expect to find it. Some results held to form, while others were eye-opening … but having a couple dozen students choose each card during each hunt gave me a pretty good sample size. And the conversations made them aware that 1) we are redeveloping our website, and 2) we value their input.

    Overall, the information, connections and visibility proved quite valuable … but it all comes back to that initial conversation. I think sometimes those of us working in social media get caught up in the value of conversations on Facebook or Twitter (and imaging ROI) that we forget about the importance of face-to-face conversations. Of getting out there and speaking to people from different backgrounds. Of the serendipity that can follow something as simple as just sitting at someone’s lunch table.

Sunday, 04 July 2010

  • Currently
    Muddy Waters - The Father of Chicago Blues
    By Muddy Waters
    "Rollin' Stone"
    see related

    a 4th parade with wheels.

    Once again, this holiday included volunteering to help line up the Oswego Independence Parade. It involved more time with roller derby participants than usual, but that's OK. The Oswego County Roller Derby group, a collection of ladies with occupations including prison guard, nurse, journalist, fundraiser or social worker, were the lead group on my street and a lot of fun.

    What else? Well, just check out the photos.


    As is customary, people put up their chairs as early as 6 a.m. and they remain undisturbed until the parade. That's how we roll in the 13126.


    I'm at a bit of a loss on what "Who is Ron Paul?" has to do with a pawnshop.


    Oswego's roller derby team is prepping for competition this fall.


    Firefighters in their heavy suits interacting with kids, always a highlight.


    As are the Shriners.


    Shriners, meet rollergirls. What could be more American?


    OK, maybe Ronald McDonald meeting rollergirls is more American.


    I like the Police and Fire Band, but I'd like to talk to them about their outfits.


    Now the Island Band, those outfits are a lot more comfy in 90-degree weather.


    It's a family event, this parade, which even includes quality time on heavy equipment together.