We Are the Champions

Golly, it must be boring to go to Duke or Michigan or any of those athletic powerhouse schools.

All of their competitions end with the same, predictable results: Wins. Wins, championships and then some more wins.

Booooring.

Luckily, Harvard has avoided falling into that dull pattern with its athletic programs.

The Crimson has its share of winning teams--some that could easily compete with those of the NFL feeder schools--but it also boasts a solid selection of, shall we say, less frequently victorious squads.

Take, for instance, the Harvard men's basketball team and the record-breaking start to its season. The Crimson dribblers struggled through almost half of their 1991-92 season before chalking up a victory.

For eleven games, the squad lost to every team from the top-ranked Duke Blue Devils to the lowly Baboon Beavers of Division III.

Consider also the much-heralded debut of the youthful men's lacrosse team. It turned into a season-long fiasco. The Crimson stumbled to a 1-5k mark in the lvy League.

None of that boring winning thing.

But don't let a cynical sportswiter fool you. Most Harvard programs are much more than just morbid entertainment.

And, judging by the 1991-92 teams, there should be a lot of good competition to watch--if you know where to look.

Men's hockey is the closest Harvard gets to a sports obsession.

The Crimson, which won the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) title last season, always skates one of the best teams in the country and manages to fill its own Bright Arena with 3000 fans at every home game.

In autumn, like other universities, Harvard pays the most attention to its football team. Led by Head Coach Joe Restic, the Crimson this fall hopes to break a two-year losing streak in The Game against those pesky Yalies.

Despite occasional high attendance, most Harvard football games have featured lessthan quality action lately. A good, booze-y tailgate party is an important prerequisite for a fun time.

Fans hoping to see more exciting athletic battles in the fall should walk across the street from Soldier's Field to Ohiri Field, where the women's field hockey team reigns supreme.

The up-and-coming Crimson field hockey team turned in a tremendous 13-3-2 season effort in 1991, winning both the lvy and the ECAC titles. The Crimson also earned an NCAA tournament bid in the process.

Although the men's and women's squash teams are probably the least known at Harvard, they are undisputedly the best. Led by squash state Jeremy Fraiberg '92 and his sister Jordanna '94, both teams brought national championships home to Cambridge last season.

Last, but certainly not least, Harvard has consistently put winning crew teams on the water. This past season, the men's varsity heavyweights won their sixth national title in 11 years.

So don't forget to pick up that free athletic coupon booklet at registration. Winning isn't everything, anyway.