A few more summer updates…

First, Chance Pipitone, who transferred to Duke last year after tearing up the links in his freshman season at Penn, has decided to return to Penn. According to an article from Golfweek, Pipitone declared that his desire to pursue a career in finance, not professional golf, prompted him to come back to Wharton.

“This was a difficult decision for me and was made with my academic interests in mind,” he said. “Coach Vincent, my teammates and everyone involved with the Duke golf program are class acts and I could not have asked for a better group of which to be a part.”

The Penn men’s golf team, which has made great strides in recent years, also welcomed GW’s Scott Allen in as the director of golf and head coach. With Pipitone on the roster in 2007, the Quakers won the Ivy crown, and Penn locked up third place last year. At the 2008 Ivy Championships, rising senior Michael Blodgett took home the top individual honors, finishing first at five over par. The return of a top talent like Pipitone should really help the Quakers to navigate the coaching change and to fill the void of the now graduated Dean Merrill, who again qualified for the U.S. Amateur Championship and will tee off Monday at Pinehurst.

Pipitone’s departure from Duke comes at a very interesting time for the Blue Devils’ golf program, which is currently caught up in a major controversy over the dismissal of Andrew Giuliani. Though the two events are unrelated — at least Pipitone said he left on fine terms with Duke coach O.D. Vincent — Giuliani has filed a lawsuit against the school, claiming that in an effort to trim the number of players on the team, Vincent exaggerated and made up incidents that portrayed Giuliani as a poor team player. Ultimately, Giuliani contends that Vincent used these incidents as grounds for cutting Giuliani from the team. Whatever the circumstances may be, Penn’s golf team must be thrilled to have its ace back.

When school starts up again, I’ll see if I can get Chance’s take on everything. I spoke to him last spring about an article on Penn golf’s practice routine, and he had sounded pretty happy at Duke, though he definitely indicated that he missed Penn. I could also use some short game tips from him, but that’s nothing newsworthy…

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Second, Ibby Jaaber has signed a two-year extension with Euroleague team Lottomatica Roma. The link to the only article in English I could find on it is here.

In the Ivy League football preseason poll, Penn is ranked fourth, though it managed to capture one first place vote. Defending champion Harvard, which shocked what had been an undefeated Yale team in the final game of the season, shares the top ranking with its rival New Haven rival. Brown took the third spot.

Obviously, there are no real surprises in the rankings (Princeton, Cornell, Dartmouth, and Columbia, respectively, follow Penn). But for what it’s worth, I would say that of the top four teams in the rankings, the fate of the Quakers might be the most difficult to predict. After all, a healthy Mike McLeod will be back to break more records as a senior at Yale, Harvard returns 22 starters, including quarterback Chris Pizzotti, and both Yale and Harvard have their key defensive players returning.

The Quakers, though, are full of question marks. For starters, who knows how Robert Irvin will bounce back from practically a full season on the shelf? And how will Penn’s 5-2 defense respond without Naheem Harris, who anchored the unit at nose tackle for the last four years? What about the backfield without Joe Sandberg?

Penn returns only 10 starters, but some of the younger players from last season showed great promise down the stretch. Mike DiMaggio, the powerful bruiser, and Bradford Blackmon, the shifty speedster, complement each other very nicely out of the backfield. They certainly made life easier for the Quakers’ offense when Sandberg was nursing his slew of injuries last season, and now that he’s gone, both DiMaggio and Blackmon will help to fill the void. Penn should also have one of the stronger, if not the strongest, secondaries in the league, with all-Ivy players Chris Wynn and Tyson Maugle both returning.

There is no question that there is a lot of talent on this team, but it is really impossible to know what to expect. Penn got off to an atrocious start last season, but its valiant effort in an epic overtime loss to Yale and its dominating 45-9 win over Cornell in the season finale cannot be overlooked. The Quakers got a lot better as the younger players grew more comfortable over the course of last season. The first few games of this season will be absolutely pivotal — Penn needs to get off to a good start and play with confidence from the outset. The Quakers first three games are the same as last year’s, just in a different order. Either way, they cannot afford to lose to Lafayette and Dartmouth again.

Which team will show up for the Quakers in week one? And will that team be the same team that shows up in week seven? The fourth-place ranking means absolutely nothing; there are simply too many unknowns to make any accurate predictions. I wouldn’t be shocked if the Quakers put themselves in position to win the league, but I wouldn’t be shocked if they got taken down by Columbia, either (ok, maybe a little shocked). We’ll just have to wait and see.

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A quick side note: Penn Athletics made great and much-needed improvements to its website, www.pennathletics.com. The site is now much easier to navigate and has a more user-friendly interface. I know nothing about web design, but this is definitely a major improvement. Apparently, in addition to enhanced audio and video and podcasts, the site will include blogs updated by coaches and student-athletes. Perhaps Penn Athletics read Andrew Scurria’s column for the Summer Pennsylvanian back in June. In the “links” section of the website, the DP – the only newspaper whose sports section is devoted entirely to Penn sports — is the last link listed in the local media section, behind the likes of Phillyburbs.com and AllAroundPhilly.com. I guarantee you can’t read about Penn Fencing on Phillyburbs.com. All kidding aside, the new site does look much better, and if the blogs are done right, they could make for a very interesting feature… certainly something to check up on as the fall season gets going.

I don’t claim to know much about women’s lacrosse, or lacrosse in general, but here are a few quick thoughts…

–Women’s lacrosse frequently gets knocked for being a dull, watered down version of the real game. I can’t speak to that, but what I will say is that at an elite level, women’s lacrosse is a highly entertaining game to watch. Sure, it’s less physical than the men’s game, but that really places a premium on each possession, creating more excitement.

–Penn’s patience on both ends of the ball and carefully thought-out, methodical attacks put the Quakers over the edge tonight. The leadership and coaching for Penn is outstanding. Down 6-4 as time began to wind down in the second half, the Red and Blue could have easily started to panic and stray from their game plan. Instead, the Quakers became even more focused on executing their strategy. They didn’t rush anything and waited for the right shots, as they have done all season long. You can’t say enough about the maturity of this group.

–Penn athletes and fans alike frequently complain that the DP is overly critical of the school’s sports teams. I would like to take this opportunity to spread the word (this is “The Buzz,” after all) to the six of you that are still keeping up with this blog over the summer to tune into CBS College Sports at 7 on Sunday. If you can make it down to Towson, even better. It is very rare for a Penn sports team to have a chance to capture a national championship, so the women’s lacrosse team deserves all the support we can give it right now. This particular program, under the careful guidance of Karin Brower, has progressed immensely in the past few years to become a true national powerhouse, proving all of the naysayers wrong along the way. A win on Sunday would go down as one of the greatest wins in the storied history of Penn Athletics, and regardless of the outcome, it will be a monumental day for Penn.

So 7 pm, Sunday, before the Lakers game, watch Penn make its bid for a national championship against the current women’s lacrosse dynasty that is Northwestern (which Penn knocked off a few weeks ago). As I’m sure Zach will explain shortly, this game has all the storylines for a Penn women’s lacrosse game you could possibly want. If you don’t get CBS College Sports, keep up with the game here or on Penn Athletics. And spread the word. You don’t have to be a lacrosse fan or know much about the game to appreciate it. Trust me, I don’t know much, but it’s easy to follow. As far as I’m concerned, this is a time for the entire Penn community, DP included, to rally behind the best sports team at the school right now on the biggest stage of all. Go Quakers!

The NCAA released its Academic Progress Report last week, and it should obviously come as no surprise that the Ivy League dominated the rankings. However, the order might be different from what you would expect.

The Ivies swept the top six spots on the national rankings, in the following order.

1. Yale (28 teams honored)

2. Dartmouth (24 teams honored)

3. Brown (21 teams honored)

4. Penn (20 teams honored)

5. Princeton (19 teams honored)

6. Harvard (18 teams honored)

Then, there’s a bit of a drop off…

t16. Cornell (11 sports honored)

20. Columbia (9 sports honored)

Of course, you have to take the report with a grain of salt, as a lot of the rankings depend on the number of sports a school has and fail to take into account understandable reasons for GPA differences (engineering major vs. history major; Engineering vs. Wharton vs. College, Hotel Management vs. School of Agriculture, etc.). The Academic Progress Report really serves no purpose for the Ivy League — the goal is to improve the LSU’s of the world — but it’s still interesting either way.

If you want to peruse Penn’s report, you can find the link here.

While running on the treadmill at Pottruck today, I caught a few minutes of the college basketball skills competition on ESPN. La Salle’s Darnell Harris took home the three-point contest title, knocking off Chris Lofton of Tennessee. Harris’ strategy was to shoot set shots, barely lifting his feet off the ground, to prevent himself from tiring out. Highlights of the contest and an interview with Harris can be found here. And would you guess which team held him to his lowest, single-game three-point total in non-conference play this season…

After watching last night’s games on the elevated court that Wheeling talked about a few posts earlier, I really hope that this idea doesn’t start catching on. I don’t like it at Vanderbilt, but the arena is small and intimate enough to make for a raucous and exciting environment. But at a huge stadium like Ford Field, the fans are way too removed from the action. The same was true in Houston, where CBS analyst Billy Packer observed that what should have been a home court advantage for the Longhorns wasn’t really an advantage at all because the Texas faithful were barely audible on the court.

The entire setup also looked pretty ridiculous. Players and coaches sat on chairs below the court, and players jumped off of the court and over their bench to track down loose balls as if they were cliff diving. It couldn’t have been too safe, either.

The beauty of the college game, and even of the NBA to a certain extent, is that the fans can get very close to the action. We take this for granted at the Palestra, where every seat has a front row feel. It’s unfortunate that the NCAA feels the need to use football stadiums as basketball venues. Sure, you can sell more tickets that way, but you’re just making more money off of some hardworking college kids. At least let them enjoy the experience to the fullest and give them a suitable arena for a basketball game.

Finally, on a somewhat unrelated note, how great of an institution is Davidson? Not only do they do your laundry for free (okay, it’s part of the tuition, but still), but in light of the school’s impressive run, Davidson’s Board of Trustees pledged to pay for any student to go to the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games in Detroit. Transportation, tickets, and lodging were all included. Of course, the student body is very small, making an operation like this one feasible. But in a tournament full of greed, it’s refreshing to see a school that has its priorities straight. And how sweet is Stephen Curry’s shot?

If you’re interested, Big Red reserve Jon Jaques is contributing to the New York Times’ NCAA Tournament blog. In his first entry, he discusses the difficulty of preparing for the NCAA Tournament when all of the other teams are still competing in conference tournaments. He also talks about Selection Sunday and the emotions surrounding it, and he does a good job of putting the fanfare in perspective, especially for an Ivy League team. You can follow it here.

We all knew that Fran Dunphy and his Temple Owls would be going to the Big Dance after beating St. Joe’s in the A-10 championship on Saturday, but the Hawks’ fate was uncertain. After yesterday’s loss, Phil Martelli said, “I’ve told everybody, if you believe in a greater power than us, pray your (butt) off. Right now, I have to believe in the power of prayer.”

Maybe it has something to do with Easter weekend approaching, but not only were Martelli’s prayers answered — so too were those of Holy War rival Villanova. Both Big 5 squads were very much on the bubble heading into today, and both found their way into the tournament bracket.

While Villanova snagged a 12 seed, St. Joe’s wound up with an 11 seed, which is a bit suspect. Why? Because Temple, the A-10 champion, got stuck with a 12 seed. The two teams split the regular season series, but the Owls beat the Hawks in the A-10 championship game, when it counted most. It seems pretty unfair that the Hawks would wind up with the better seed. But hey, it’s just one seed, and when has the tournament selection committee ever been perfectly accurate or fair?

And to top it all off, Notre Dame won more games this season than it ever has before, earning a 5 seed. The dozen or so of you non-Jews at Penn clearly need to go to church more often.

In any event, it is the first time since 1999 that three Big 5 teams have made the tournament. Now, in the one year that Penn finally fails to make the tourney, you have your pick of Cornell or three Big 5 teams to root for.

The Penn baseball team just wrapped up its Florida trip today with a 12-1 thrashing of NJIT.  The week certainly had some very low points, most notably an 18-0 loss to UConn, as the Quakers finished up with a 3-4 record. However, the two starting pitchers that combined for Penn’s three wins were excellent and might have emerged as a reliable one-two punch. Just look at today’s doubleheader pitting the Quakers against Dominican and NJIT.

Todd Roth has picked up where he left off last season. The big right-hander — who recorded a tremendous 1.98 ERA as a freshman last year and was named as a freshman All-American — has mowed down the opposition over the past few weeks. Today against NJIT, he hurled seven strong and struck out nine. Against Maine earlier in the trip, he threw seven innings and fanned nine batters as well. It seems that the sky is the limit for this kid, and Penn is very lucky to have him.

And to balance out Roth, southpaw Tom Grandieri — the only lefty on the staff — is making a name for himself. After two successful appearances out of the pen, the sophomore transfer made his first start today against Dominican. He walked one and struck out five in 5.1 innings and also knocked in a run, guiding the Quakers to a 7-1 victory. In 8.2 innings this season, he’s given up one hit and two earned runs.

This young, righty-lefty duo looks to be a very promising one for Penn going forward. Roth is obviously more experienced and tested as a starter, but Grandieri’s successful outing in his first career start for the Red and the Blue after starting out in the bullpen  is quite impressive. And the best part is that they’re both just sophomores. The Quakers will be back in action against Temple on Wednesday, and the Ivy League season begins on March 29 at home against Yale.

First off, what a game last night. Even though the Quakers didn’t come away with the “W,” they came awfully close — even closer than they did in Ithaca a few weeks ago. For the second consecutive game against the best team in the league, Penn rose up to the challenge when it could have just as easily folded after last Saturday’s devastating loss to Brown. This has to be a big confidence-builder for the team going forward, and it should also give them a little extra motivation when Cornell comes to the Palestra next season.

And say what you will about bad calls and no calls (evidently Friday night referees in the Ivy League are the worst in the business with other conference tournament games going on around the east coast), last night’s game was the third straight very exciting Penn-Cornell contest. Dating back to last year’s fierce battle at the Palestra, we have seen the beginnings of what could likely become a very fun and heated rivalry between the Quakers and the Big Red over the next few years. Cornell is young and talented; Penn is young and talented and should be a much more successful team next season. With Princeton in the cellar, I can certainly see the potential for a great Penn-Cornell rivalry in the immediate future. Not to take anything away from the greatness of the Penn-Princeton rivalry — the two teams will always compete in entertaining games no matter what. But as far as league importance and quality basketball is concerned, Penn-Cornell might be the real attraction going forward.

Speaking of the Tigers…they somehow managed to pull off a win over the Lions last night, 75-64, earning their third Ivy League win of the season (and sixth win overall). An interesting note from that game, aside from the fact that John Baumann and Niko Scott combined for 41 of Columbia’s 64 total points, is that K.J. Matsui saw only seven minutes — more than 12 below his season average.

The Tokyo-native is somewhat of a secret weapon for Columbia. He started the first two Ivy League games of the season and has since been used as a perimeter threat off the bench. Penn fans know this all too well. Earlier this season against the Quakers, he played 31 minutes off the bench and went 5-8 from behind the arc, ending up with 17 points. Matsui is an even 50-100 from downtown this season, leading the league with his 50% clip.

Given how good Matsui was against Penn last time the two teams met — and given how much trouble Penn tends to have guarding against the three — I’d have to imagine that he sees a lot more than seven minutes tonight. Tonight, the Quakers will have to do a better job of containing him and Niko Scott around the perimeter without losing sight of Baumann.