Weekend Primer
Your guide to the weekend, SIOC style
Exhibit of the Week: "Oh Fresh: Sophomore Proclamations of Freshman Rules, 1866-WWI," University of PennsylvaniaFreshman hazing began long before the senior members of your a capella group made you sing Who Let the Dogs Out? in your underwear. This exhibit contains historic posters (some dating back to Civil War times) which proclaim arbitrary rules freshman must follow. Hurry, the exhibit ends Friday.
FCS Championship Game: Richmond vs. Montana, 8 p.m.Richmond didn't win its conference. It didn't even win its division. In fact, Richmond finished third in the CAA South, but because of the "playoff system," now has a chance to win a national title. Intriguing. I think Mike Leach just had a conniption.
Men's Basketball: No. 22 Michigan State at No. 5 Texas, 2 p.m.Tom Izzo repeatedly mentions the possibility of playing at home in the 2009 Final Four (it's in Detroit) in order to motivate his team. I'm not sure it's working. Perhaps a more realistic motivational technique would be reminding his team the top NIT seeds also get to play at home.
Men's Basketball: No. 7 Xavier at No. 6 Duke, 2 p.m.Xavier is off to a blazing start. Even the Cameron Crazies' win-guaranteeing move (reaching their outstretched arms toward opposing players who are inbounding the ball) may not do enough good to secure this one.
Battle in Seattle: No. 2 UConn vs. No. 7 Gonzaga, 4 p.m.A nice reminder to Seattle residents about what it's like to see high level amateur basketball. Kind of like when they used to watch the Sonics.
NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship, Penn State vs. Stanford, ESPN2, 8 p.m.The Penn State women's volleyball team has not lost a match this year. The girls didn't even lose a set until last night. Dating back to last season, they've won a record 62 consecutive matches (they had won 111 consecutive sets, also a record). And you thought the Patriots losing the Super Bowl was a letdown.
International Didjeridu Meditation, University of Chicago, 4 p.m.Go on. Take a break from the acoustic-guitar-playing-John-Mayer-wannabes at your campus coffeehouse and check out something different. Something like this free didjerido concert. It's a great way to celebrate the Winter Solstice. (One of 30 great ways.)
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: Southern Miss vs. Troy, 8:15 p.m.I'd like to tell you something about R+L Carriers, but its Wikipedia page was deleted for being "blatant advertising." That dishonesty just cost the company a free plug on SI On Campus. As for the game, when Troy blew a 28 point lead to LSU last month, it destroyed the team's season. In order to wipe that painful experience from their minds, I recommend the Trojans blow an even bigger lead in this game.
Questions, comments, hate mail? Eric.Horow@Gmail.com.