John Jay College vs College of Staten Island (1/21/09)

The defending CUNYAC Men’s Basketball champions, John Jay College, have struggled this year to get back to their winning ways. However, last night looked like a blast from the past. Against the College of Staten Island Dolphins, at the “Doghouse” in Manhattan, the Bloodhounds from John Jay College dominated in all aspects of the game en route to a 70 to 48 victory. With only their fifth win of the season, the Bloodhounds came out in the first half firing on all cylinders and that became the difference in the game. Lead by senior guard, Godfrey Mascall and Junior guard Gary Brady; John Jay out rebounded, out scored and out played the Dolphins entire team in the first half. Listed at 5’8”, but really standing only 5’6 1/2” tall, Mascall was the smallest player on the court. But in this case size didn’t matter. Mascall came off the bench like a spark plug and provided a much needed offensive onslaught, shooting a perfect 7-7 from the field, also grabbing 3 rebounds and matching starter Gary Brady with 14 points. Together they made up for 28 of the team’s 40 first half points and with the rest of John Jay’s solid defense, CSI was held to only 7 total rebounds and 18 totals points in the half.
In a game where the two teams would combine for 7 technical fouls, 5 called against the winner, you would think the score would be much closer, indicating a battle. It turned out to just be high emotions and questionable calls by the referees that set off the barrage of technical foul calls. Luckily, these technical fouls didn’t affect the outcome at all and John Jay’s 22-point lead at halftime would hold up until the final buzzer, without much of any threat from the Dolphins. CSI did show a little fight with 5:18 left in the game, cutting the lead to 17, but John Jay extinguished that and finished off the game with an 11-6 run.
Mascall lead all scores with 22 points and was second in rebounding with 7 total. “We would like to see some more consistency from Godfrey (Mascall). He is capable of doing this every game”, said John Jay College coach, Charles Jackson after the game.
“But, Gary (Brady) and Godfrey can’t score 20 one night and then shoot 1-4 from the field the next game. We work on this in practice and they both need to not think so much about it, they need to just play”. Coach Jackson said of his two top scorers.
John Jay unfortunately was without their top player, Vaughn Mason, for the entire game and without their top rebounder, Chris Jaeger, for the first half. Coach Jackson feels that his team has the talent to repeat last year’s success, but injuries and inconsistencies have held them back. With only eight games left before the CUNYAC tournament, John Jay hopes to build off this impressive win and make some noise the rest of the way. With a record of 5-12, getting above .500 is still in their sights, as is another trophy.

Yes We Did!

As more and more people continue to fill the streets of Washington, DC, in anticipation of catching a glimpse of the one man who has inspired hope in our country, it is hard to imagine that this is all for a Presidential inauguration. The position of the President of the United States of America, unfortunately has had too many downs, rather then ups during the last two decades. But now, on the dawn of new era, that position is about to be positively altered and made popular again, thanks to Barack Obama. There has always been some excitement surrounding the day when a new President of the United States would be sworn in, but there hasn't been this many Americans gathering and unifying for a cause bigger then just politics in a long time. The March on Washington, Woodstock, Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech and John F. Kennedy's inauguration speech, just to name a few, drew millions. All of these were amidst events in our country that were about to define us as humans and as Americans. Today, January 20Th, 2009, as Barack Obama steps into the biggest shoes in the world, there is a real feeling of unity and togetherness, leaving behind partisan politics, race, gender, class and age. The US is at a critical time in it's history, as is the world and we are all at the brink of chaos, but as things go, a glimmer of light is shining in our capitol and we have the opportunity to get behind something; someone, and move forward into a time of change. No matter what your political affiliation is or has been, it is a clear fact that the leaders in our country have taken us to a dark, sinister and lonely place. We have lost our respect in the world and because of the actions of a few powerful people, our country is in turmoil. We as a nation have a chance though, to regain the trust of our own citizens and those abroad because of the determination and heart felt leadership of Barack Obama. Whether you agree or disagree with all of his politics, it seems that his inspiration and motivation goes deeper and President-Elect Obama was meant to bring us all to the top together as one, to push forward with our future. It looks as though, that all of the people in Washington, DC and all of those at home watching today, have been waiting for this for a long time. We have been waiting for change. We have been waiting for truth. We have been waiting to see ourselves in a leader, where we can be comfortable and can relate to this fellow American like never before. Barack Obama is the only one who can do this, no other candidate could have inspired us all as much as he has. I am proud to be an American today and I am excited for whatever comes about because I trust our incoming President and I know that he stands for greatness. His beliefs and morals are what I always imagined a President to have, but haven't seen in my lifetime. At 28 years old, I am grateful to all those that have sacrificed in their lives to make what I have possible and to make today possible. Swearing in Barack Obama as our 44Th President is a true sign of change. We will overcome the tragedies and difficulties we've faced and with Obama leading us, we will see what it is really like to be President of the United States of America.