Andrew Scurria
Recent articles
Scurria | Learning to enjoy the journey
Penn is the best four years of your life, I was told. And boy, were they ever. But at a time like this, who can help but think about regrets? I am now staring post-graduation life in the face, and I have to wonder if the years I spent here were enough to make me the kind of man I want to be.
Penn Relays | Track events don't sweep the Field
The Penn relays are four days of track and field mayhem, and the main draws are undoubtedly the sprinting events at the high school, college and professional levels. But on Thursday and Friday especially, the casual Relays spectator can catch a host of lesser-known events, especially three field competitions.
Spring Football Notebook | Garton springs to forefront at QB
In 2006, Robert Irvin had one of the best seasons for a Penn sophomore quarterback in the past half-century. Then he lost much of the next year to injury and would never again claim the top of the depth chart. But the coaching staff had never found a consistent replacement for him until late last season, when they were forced to turn to unknown sophomore Keiffer Garton, having literally run out of options.
NCAA Tournament | Villanova shatters glass slipper
Villanova won the game but lost its luster. The Wildcats looked nothing like a No. 3 seed until the final ten minutes of its 80-67 first-round win over American at the Wachovia Center. They'll move on to face No. 6 UCLA in the NCAA Tournament's second round tomorrow, but uncertainty is now surrounding them like a cloud.
M. Hoops | Penn hurt by litany of injuries
In a season like this one, it was hardly surprising that the perfect ending was not to be. Penn closed out a forgettable rebuilding season with a 59-56 loss to Princeton at the Palestra Tuesday. There was little to do afterward but mull over the wreckage.
A-10 Tourney Notebook | Timely Owls earn NCAA berth
ATLANTIC CITY, Sat., Mar. 14 - It wasn't until the game clock signalled one minute to go Saturday night that Temple's arduous road to the postseason finally got easy. The Owls swept three games in three days last week to win a second straight Atlantic-10 tournament and the accompanying ticket to the Big Dance.
Big 5 | Owls make Hawks prey
Yes, Temple squandered its chance to become an at-large NCAA Tournament selection when it lost to La Salle and Dayton last week. Its only realistic hope to make the Big Dance is to win the Atlantic 10 tournament in Atlantic City next week. But by beating Saint Joseph's, 68-59, at home last night, the Owls (18-11, 10-5 Atlantic 10) made that task a shade easier.
Ivy Hoops Notebook | Suitors vie for League crown
It's time to talk title scenarios. March Madness creeps closer every day and as the only Division I league without a conference tournament, the Ivy League will decide its NCAA Tournament representative in the next few days - as early as Friday but perhaps later if the stars align.
Scurria | Wrong place, wrong time for seniors
About the only good reason to attend the men's basketball weekend games was to watch its seniors play for the last time. They still have a road trip through New York next weekend, and they'll still play at the Palestra once more against Princeton over spring break.
M. Hoops | Third weekend the charm?
The Quakers are all but out of the title race. Tonight's opponent is a long shot, too, meaning there is no spoiler role to play. It seems that the stakes of Penn's matchup with Yale are mostly restricted to the intangibles of pride and reputation. But that's no small potatoes for a program that's gotten used to topping the conference year after year, coach Glen Miller said.
McLaughlin promoted to coach offense
Jon McLaughlin, who has coached Penn's offensive line for the past three seasons, has been promoted to offensive coordinator, several sources with knowledge of the football program said. Head coach Al Bagnoli announced the promotion at the team's annual banquet Friday.
M. Hoops | Penn cashes in on extra possessions
PRINCETON, N.J. - So how exactly did the Quakers hit just a third of their shots and just over a quarter of their three-pointers last night and still walk out of Jadwin Gym with a win? The answer begins and ends with how many more possessions they had than their opponents.
Big 5 | Temple continues its Atlantic-10 ascent
Lately, the Temple-Saint Joseph's series has done wonders for the Owls' postseason prospects. The two teams met in the Atlantic-10 tournament finals last year, and Temple's dramatic victory earned it the league's automatic NCAA bid. Similarly, last night's matchup was less about Big 5 bragging rights than about the A-10 horse race.
M. Hoops | Penn looks to keep up with red hot Big Red
The importance of beating Cornell tomorrow night is crystal clear. Figuring out how is a much trickier proposition, or at least it has been for the Ivy League opponents Cornell has faced so far. The first-place Big Red (14-6, 4-0 Ivy) have comfortably beaten Yale, Brown and Columbia (twice), and during their current nine-game win streak have compiled an average margin of victory of 22.
Ivy Hoops | Big Red not surprising with early domination
Everyone knew Cornell was the favorite to win the Ivy League title this year. But who knew they could be this good? At least that's the question after this past weekend, when Cornell (14-6, 4-0 Ivy) followed up its sweep of Columbia by smoking Brown and then Yale at home by a combined margin of 60 points.
M. Hoops | Cofield clarifies transfer decision
On the first Friday after spring classes began, the Quakers sat in a Palestra room and watched film of NJIT, which they would travel to face the next morning. When the session broke up, sophomore guard Remy Cofield pulled coach Glen Miller aside. Cofield told Miller that he felt stressed and anxious and that playing basketball was only worsening things.
Scurria | New Ivy tournaments by no means a panacea
Change is the hot word nowadays. But what about fairness? In a mad rush to dole out carrots, it's easy to forget the importance of the stick. That's why I'm not sure conference tournaments are such a good idea - in any sport, in any league, including Ivy League lacrosse, one of the conference's shining beacons of success amid a sea of backsliding mediocrity.
Amaker's Crimson lean on Lin
Say what you want about Tommy Amaker. Just don't say he doesn't win. In just its second year under Amaker, the historically derelict Harvard appears to be reviving. The Crimson (9-7, 1-1 Ivy) put up a better-than-expected performance in Ivy League play last year, and started the 2008-09 season with a head-turning non-conference performance.
M. Hoops | Penn's woes run deeper than No. 3
It is almost too easy to say that as Tyler Bernardini goes, so go the Quakers. When a team's best scorer struggles, as Bernardini did in many of Penn's losses before last night, it is natural to think that if he just finds his stroke again the victories will magically appear.
M. Hoops loses another as Cofield leaves
Talented but inconsistent guard Remy Cofield has left the basketball team permanently and will transfer at year's end to a college closer to his home in Newton, Mass., according to a two-paragraph athletic department statement released yesterday. "Remy has been dealing with some ongoing family situations and has reached a point where he feels it is in his best interests to spend more of his time focusing on them," coach Glen Miller said in the release.
