On the way to Williamstown, the only thing more awe-inspiring than the beautiful forests, the clear blue water and the fresh white powder is the massive amount of graveyards. Traditional graveyards are flat and open, allowing room to maneuver, but tradition means nothing on the way to and in Williamstown. Here, graveyards are built on the sides of hills, at the bottom of valleys and in the middle of the woods.
Why do I start this week's column with a dreary description of Williamstown? Because the town of Williamstown bears no resemblance to the Chandler Athletic Center on Sunday afternoon. On Sunday afternoon, the Chandler Center was alive and healthy. It was an environment I would only expect to encounter when two of the top four basketball teams in the country meet for the NESCAC Championship. The NESCAC final had all the makings of a classic-two archrivals, two nationally ranked teams, two National Championship contenders-everything was in place for a war.
Unfortunately, the game did not live up to the hype. Williams big man Ben Coffin dominated, taking the Jeffs' big men inside and outside on his way to an impressive 26-point, 16-rebound performance, as the Ephs held on to their number-one ranking, 79-67.
However, the environment at Chandler was exactly what you think of when bitter rivals meet. Maybe Williams fans aren't exactly on the same level as the "Cameron Crazies," and the Amherst-Williams rivalry isn't exactly the same as Duke-UNC, but the individual intensity was definitely the same. Every "Amherst … Amherst … Amherst … You Suck!" chant was countered with "Let's go Amherst!" and every "De-fense, De-fense" chant was countered by "We can't hear you!"
Even though Williams probably had five times as many fans as Amherst did, the Amherst contingent didn't seem phased. Even the grandmothers sitting behind us were going crazy, launching many of the visitors' cheers. My personal favorite comment of the night was "Abba, you're a dancing queen!" constructed by none other than Andy Bruns '07.
However, the most shocking fan-based event occurred on Saturday, when a drunk Williams fan tried to sit down next to an Amherst player's sister. Her mother, being protective of her 14-year old daughter, tried to encourage the student to sit elsewhere. When a college cop, sensing a problem, approached the student, the student replied "I haven't had a drink in three days!" Remember, this was Saturday. A few minutes later, the parent of the young girl made a great observation: "I'm a mother of four, I think I know what alcohol smells like!" I couldn't make this stuff up, I swear.
Aside from windy ride, the sketchy Swedish motel and the deserted town center, the trip was a great success. We got to eat in the Williams equivalent of Schwemms (when our plan to eat in the real dining hall wearing Amherst sweatshirts was foiled by it's closure at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning) and bowled next to six middle schoolers all wearing mesh-backed trucker hats.
Overall, the experience was one I'll never forget, and not just because I shared a hotel room with three guys. The Amherst-Williams rivalry is something that every students should experience, sports fan or not. It's too bad that this year's Final Four will be in Salem, VA, because an Amherst-Williams playoff game should only happen in a small, crowded gym in western Massachusetts.
Undefeated, but for how long?
In keeping with the college basketball theme, let's discuss St. Joseph's and Stanford, the final two undefeated teams in men's college basketball. At this point, both teams have clinched number-one seeds in the tournament, but it's unclear as to whether either team really deserves such high accolades.
St. Joe's, for one, has played a mediocre schedule at best. Not only do they play in the Atlantic-10-which will most likely send only one other team to the tourney-but their non-conference schedule is full of cupcakes. Gonzaga is the only ranked team they have beaten all season, and that was in the first game of the year. I can't really see the Hawks making it past the Elite Eight and will find it very hard to resist predicting their upset in the Sweet Sixteen.
As far as Stanford is concerned, let's take a sneak peak at their schedule. The Cardinal have two quality wins over Arizona, but Arizona has been sinking in the rankings all season. They also beat Gonzaga, but Gonzaga isn't exactly a powerhouse either, despite its inflated ranking. A win over Kansas sticks out like a sore thumb on their schedule, and that's about it. The PAC-10 is having a down year, and the Cardinal have taken full advantage. Despite having more wins over ranked opponents, the Cardinal's schedule ranking is 92 as opposed to St. Joe's 32nd ranking.
When the brackets come out in a week and a half, I'll be anxious to see who the selection committee puts in each of these team's regions. In no scenario do I imagine either team not getting a number-one seed, but I can imagine a scenario where neither team is the favorite to win their respective bracket. College basketball scheduling is going in the direction of football scheduling, as teams continue to receive inflated rankings because of easy non-conference games. This will continue to happen as long as the selection committee rewards 25-win teams with terrible schedules and penalizes 17-win teams with difficult non-conference opponents.