Josh Downey Named MIAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week.  Concordia senior guard Josh Downey (Sr., Bigfork, Mont.) was named the MIAC Player of the Week. It is the first time in his career that he has won the honor. Downey averaged 18.6 points per game, shot 60.0% from the field and 64.7% from 3-point range in helping Concordia to a 3-0 record this past week. With the three victories, the Cobbers clinched a berth in the MIAC postseason playoff for the first time since the 2000-01 season.  On Monday against Bethel, Downey scored 17 points and collected four rebounds. He was 6-for-10 from the field, 3-for-5 from beyond the arc and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. He was part of the record-setting performance by the Cobbers at the foul line. As a team, Concordia went 25-for-25 from the free throw line. That mark set an MIAC record and was three shots away from setting the NCAA DIII record. It is the most consecutive free throws in a game this season by any team in any division.  At St. Thomas on Wednesday, Downey scored a team-high 16 points, had two assists and hauled in four assists. In Concordia's third win of the week, a 21-point victory over Carleton, Downey scored a team-high 17 points and grabbed four rebounds.

Men’s Basketball Current Record: 16-6 Overall, 13--5 MIAC (3rd Place) Recent Results: Concordia 64 at St. Thomas 61 - Box Score/Recap ; Carleton 57 at Concordia 78 - Box Score/Recap; Concordia 87 at St. Mary's 66 - Box Score/Recap Upcoming Events: at home vs. Hamline on Saturday, February 14 at 3:00pm - Listen Live Latest News and Notes: - The Concordia men’s basketball team went 4-0 on a recent four-game, seven-day stretch that saw the Cobbers clinch a playoff berth for the first time since the 2000-01 season. Concordia is currently 13-5 in the MIAC and 16-6 overall. Both win totals are the most since the 1995-96 season when the Cobbers went 16-4 in league play, 21-6 overall and won the MIAC playoff championship. - In the last four games, Concordia went 83-for-95 (87.3%) from the free throw line. The Cobbers made more free throws than their opponents attempted (60). Concordia currently leads the MIAC in free throw percentage (79.1%) and is in the top ten in the nation in that category. The team is led by Joe Bueckers, who is second in the conference in free throw percentage and fifth in the nation. Bueckers is currently hitting on 93.8% of his free throw attempts. - Concordia has shot over 50% from the floor in four consecutive games. For the season, the Cobbers are shooting 51.2%, which currently leads the MIAC in field goal percentage. If the Cobbers finish on top of the conference at the end of the season, it would mark the first time since the league began tracking team field goal percentage in 1995, that Concordia would lead the league in that statistical category.

Women’s Basketball
Current Record: 16-5 Overall, 14-4 MIAC (4th Place)
Recent Results: Concordia 72 at St. Thomas 65 - Box Score/Recap; Carleton 67 at Concordia 63 - Box Score/Recap
Upcoming Events: at home vs. St. Kate's on Wednesday, February 11 at 5:30pm - Listen Live; at Hamline on Saturday, February 14 at 1:00pm - Listen Live;
at St. Mary's on Sunday, February 15 at 1:00pm - Listen Live;
Latest News and Notes:
- The Concordia women’s basketball team is currently 14-4 in conference play and 16-5 overall. Those totals represent a five-game improvement from one year ago. If the Cobbers win their four remaining games, they will have gone from 11-11 in the MIAC and 13-13 overall to 18-4 and 20-5. That seven-game swing would represent the biggest improvement over one season in the history of Concordia women’s basketball.

- Concordia has held their opponents to under 40% shooting from the floor in ten straight games. The Cobbers have also accomplished that feat in 17 of their 21 games this year. The team is currently leading the league in field goal percentage defense. The Cobbers are holding their foes to just 35.8% shooting from the field.

- Beth Drager (Wood Lake, Minn./Lakeview HS) is currently tenth in the nation in blocked shots per game. The senior center is averaging 3.2 blocks per game and is coming off her best game of the season. Against Carleton on Saturday, Drager scored 15 points and swatted a career-high six shots.
 

Men’s Hockey Current Record: 3-13-3 Overall, 2-6-2 MIAC (7th Place) Recent Results: Concordia 4 at Hamline 3 - Box Score/Recap; Concordia 2 at Hamline 1 - Box Score/Recap Upcoming Events: at home vs. St. Mary's on Friday, February 13 at 7:00pm; at home vs. St. Mary's on Saturday, February 14 at 2:00pm Latest News and Notes: - The Concordia men’s hockey team swept Hamline last weekend. The win on Friday night snapped a 16-game winless streak that dated all the way back to the Cobbers’ first game of the season on November 7. The sweep also marks the first time Concordia has swept an MIAC opponent since the opening series of the 2002-03 season when they swept Bethel. - Cobber goaltender Ryan Gill (Sr., Watrous, Sask./Winston HS) stopped 58 out of 62 shots in Concordia's weekend sweep at Hamline. Gill had a 93.5% save percentage for the weekend. In Friday night's game, Gill made 28 saves including a point-blank robbing of a Hamline player with less than 10 seconds remaining in the game. On Saturday, Gill turned aside all but one shot in helping Concordia to the 2-1 win. He made 30 saves in the game, as the Cobbers were outshot 31-28. Gill currently leads the MIAC in saves. - Jon Rudnick (Fr., Moorhead, Minn.) is currently second in the MIAC in power play goals (4). He is fourth on the team in scoring with eight goals and three assists.

Women’s Hockey
Current Record: 5-9-0 Overall, 4-8-0 MIAC (9th Place)
Recent Results: Concordia 2 at Augsburg 4 - Box Score/Recap; Concordia 1 at Augsburg 2 - Box Score/Recap
Upcoming Events: at home vs. Gustavus on Friday, February 13 at 7:00pm; at home vs. Gustavus on Saturday, February 14 at Noon

Latest News and Notes:
- Brandie Dunn (Fr., Plano, Tex./Plano Senior HS) has scored at least one goal in the last four games. Her four-game stretch has moved her all the way up to third on the team in scoring with seven goals and four assists.

- Lindsay Czarnecki (Jr., Riverside, Calif./Riverside Poly HS) currently leads the Cobbers in scoring with 13 goals and five assists. She is 12th in the league in overall scoring, third in goals scored and tied for first in shorthanded points.

- The Concordia women’s hockey roster sports eight players from warm weather hometowns. The Cobbers have four players on the roster who hail from California, two from Texas and one each from Arizona and Arkansas.
 

Women’s Swimming and Diving Recent Results: No Meets Held Upcoming Events: at the MIAC Swimming and Diving Championship Meet at the U of Minnesota on February 12-14 Latest News and Notes: - The Concordia women’s swimming and diving team will compete at their eighth MIAC Championship Meet this weekend. The Cobbers will be looking to break into the top five of the conference for the first time in school history.  - Cobber junior diver Emily Hall (Jr., Minot, N.Dak.) will be looking to become the first female diver to win back-to-back MIAC Diver of the Year Awards in the history of the women’s swimming and diving championship meet. Last year, Hall won the 3-meter competition and was runner-up in the 1-meter event.  - The 2003-04 MIAC Championship Psych Sheet can be found at: www.miac-online.org/psychsheet2004.htm

Men’s Tennis
Recent Results: No Meets
Upcoming Events: at home vs. Gustavus at Courts Plus on Saturday, February 14 at 7:00pm.
 
 

Women’s Tennis Recent Results: MSU-Moorhead 6 at Concordia 3 - Box Score/Recap Upcoming Events: at home vs. St. Olaf on Saturday, February 21 at 1:00pm  Latest News and Notes: - The Concordia women's tennis season started their 2003-04 campaign by falling 6-3 to MSU-Moorhead on Sunday. The Cobbers received wins from number one singles player Erica Tollefson (Sr., Madison, Minn., Lac Qui Parle Valley HS), number five singles player Megan Gauthier (So., Buffalo, Minn.) and the number one doubles team of Tollefson and Bethany Meier (So., Crookston, Minn.).  - Erica Tollefson is beginning her fourth season as the number one singles player for the Cobbers. Over her first three seasons in maroon and gold, she has compiled a 17-12 singles record and a 22-7 mark as part of the team's number one doubles tandem.  - The 2003-04 Concordia women's tennis team has the most players on their roster in school history. The Cobbers have a group of 15 players on the squad.

Men’s Track and Field
Recent Results: at home for the Cobber Pentathlon - Meet Results; at the NDSU Bison Open - Meet Results
Upcoming Events: at home for the Cobber Invitational on Saturday, February 14 at Noon

Latest News and Notes:
- Ben Nylander (Sr., Lisbon, N.Dak.) has started the indoor season with a pair of strong performances. Nylander finished seventh in the 3000 meters at the NDSU Bison Open in a time of 9:13.81. That mark is a season-best for Nylander, and is one of the top 20 times ever run by a Cobber athlete.

- The Concordia men’s and women’s track and field teams will host over 20 indoor and outdoor track meets this season. The meets will encompass five college events and over 15 high school track meets.
 

Women’s Track and Field Recent Results: at home for the Cobber Pentathlon - Meet Results; at the NDSU Bison Open - Meet Results Upcoming Events: at home for the Cobber Invitational on Saturday, February 14 at Noon Latest News and Notes: - Angie Pfeiffer (So., Colman, S.Dak./Colman-Egan HS) continued her early season success for the Concordia women’s track and field team. Pfeiffer Pfeiffer finished third in the 60-meter dash and fourth in the 200 meters at the NDSU Bison Open on Saturday. Her time of 7.95 in the 60 meters is a new school record, breaking the old mark of 8.00 held by Julie Carew in 1981. Pfeiffer now holds three school records in indoor competition and two in outdoor. She completed her competition at the Bison Open by running a 26.58 in the 200 meters. - Concordia had seven different athletes post school all-time top ten marks at the meet at NDSU. Most notable was the crew of four athletes who posted top ten times in the 60-meter hurdles. The quartet of Nicole Plante (Jr., Fort Benton, Mont.), Emily Tollefson (Jr., Minot, N.Dak.), Jill Fancher (Fr., Burnseville, Minn.) and Leah Hegland (So., Jamestown, N.Dak.) all recorded school top ten times in the 60-meter hurdles. Plante ran a 9.92 to record the fifth fastest time in school history. Tollefson ran a 10.03 for the eighth fastest time, Fancher posted a 10.10, which is the ninth best time and Haglund's time of 10.28 places her tenth on the all-time list.

Wrestling
Recent Results: Jamestown 32 at Concordia 10 - Meet Results; 10th place at the North Country Invite at SJU - Meet Results
Upcoming Events: at UW-Eau Claire Quadrangular on Saturday, February 14 at 1:00pm

Latest News and Notes:
- The Concordia wrestling team finished the 2003-04 dual meet season with five wins. That is the most dual meet wins since the 1991-92 season. The Cobbers lost their final dual meet of the year to NAIA power Jamestown College. The Cobbers lost the first seven matches, but came back to claim the final three. Lee Rahrlien (So., Graceville, Minn./C-G-B HS), David Ahmed (Fr., Conrad, Mont./Conrad HS) and Mitch Gabrielson (Fr., Fergus Falls, Minn./Fergus Falls HS) all picked up wins for the Cobbers.

- Lee Rahrlien has turned in a breakout season in 2003-04. The sophomore has posted 19 wins this season wrestling at 157 pounds. It is the most victories by anyone on the team. He is coming off a solid performance at the North Country Invitational. Rahrlien amassed a 3-1 record and finished in third place. His only loss was a
13-4 decision at the hands of defending NCAA Division III National Champion Marcus LeVesseur of Augsburg. LeVesseur is undefeated this season and currently ranked number one in the country.  At one point in the match Rahrlien had LeVesseur on his back. The match even had to be stopped for an injury timeout so that LeVesseur could regain his composure. It was LeVesseur's only non-pin win of the tournament. Earlier in the year, LeVesseur pinned Rahrlien in less than a minute.

- The Cobbers have two remaining meets this season. They will wrestle at the UW-Eau Claire Quadrangular where they will face off against wrestlers from the host Blugolds, St. John's and UW-Stevens Point. Doug Perry's squad will then head south for the NCAA Central Region Meet to be held in Dubuque, Iowa on February 21.
 

Please Note: The views written in this piece are the work of the writer and and do not necessarily reflect the views of Concordia College. They are not meant to harm or disrespect any of the athletes or school. It is merely an attempt to give the reader a different perspective into the world of Concordia athletics. Different Perspective Index: November 25 - December 2 - December 9 - January 28 - February 4 "Where Have All the Students Gone?" by Jim Cella February 11, 2004  Like the flowers in Peter, Paul and Mary’s classic song "Where Have All the Flowers Gone", the Concordia students who come out to cheer for the home team are "a long time forgotten". You couldn't help but notice during last Saturday's basketball games against Carleton that the student section of Memorial Auditorium was barely filled, and the students who did show up spent more time chatting among themselves than actually cheering for the Cobbers. If the composer of the school's fight song were alive today, he wouldn't be inspired to write "Stand Up and Cheer"; rather, he would pen the new Cobber fight song, "Sit Down and Talk on Your Cell Phone".  I don't want to criticize the students and their lack of concern for interest in campus events; I merely want to point out how much of their college experience they are missing. The four years you spend in college are some of the most memorable you will ever experience. Those years should not be spent just sliding by until graduation and making sure that the boat is never rocked. Your years in college should be spent by sucking the life out of every opportunity the college has to offer.  I wish I could call on Jacob Marley's ghost, and have him come and deliver Concordia’s students through Events Past, Events Present and Events in the Future.  “The Ghost of Events Past” would appear and remind all the students how much fun it was in grade school and high school to go to the different sporting events. Everyone would look forward to the game for days and then show up as part of the social gathering. When the season progressed towards the playoffs, fans would dress in hilarious costumes, jump up and down the entire game and make "their" team feel like it had a guiding hand on every play. It was electric.  Then the students would be visited by “The Ghost of Events Present”. The ghost would take them to Memorial Auditorium on a Saturday in February when MIAC titles were on the line, and nationally-ranked teams invaded the building. They would watch as a handful of students sat largely ignoring the game while they chatted. They would clap every once in awhile, only when the converstaion in the stands started to drag. The students with the ghost would want to scream at their present selves and say, "Make some noise, cheer, have fun." But , those present selves would be unable to hear anything, because they were too busy talking on their cell phones. The ghost would then take them to Cameron Indoor Stadium and the home of Duke basketball. They would have a chance to see what real "fanatics" are like. The future leaders of tomorrow, studying hard during the day but becoming the head crazies during the basketball games at night. Girls who are the student class presidents but paint their whole bodies blue and never stop jumping up and down, and guys who are the future cancer research scientists who dress up as the “Blues Brothers” and shake their tailfeather during every timeout. The ghost would take them to every other school in the MIAC and show them how Concordia is at the bottom of the league in fan participation.   Finally, Old Marley would call out “The Ghost of Events in the Future”. He would take the students to a cookie-cutter office building. Inside the building there would be hundreds of cubicles with people all marching around the building like ants. Not caring, just existing. The ghost would explain in this world there are no games to cheer at, nothing to get excited about on the weekend. There are no games with playoff implications and school pride at stake, in the world of Great Plains and Meritcare. The Microsoft team doesn't play its arch rivals Macintosh every year in a knock-down battle for bragging rights of the whole computer kingdom. The students would see minivans, dirty-diapered kids and PTA meetings to attend. Not the stuff to cheer about or have fun with, but that is the future - and it is staring you right in the face.  (A very depressing view of life—do you really want to knock being married with kids so hard?) In the end, the students would wake from the dream and rush to their dorm room windows and read about the one home playoff game left in the season and they would put face paint on, call their friends and go to the games and cheer with renewed enthusiasm for their extended family members. Alas, this is just a dream. My dream.  I was fortunate enough to attend a college where the students took pride in their sports teams, their music groups and their theatre productions. I have great memories of cheering with all my "crazy" friends at basketball, hockey and baseball games (I played soccer so I was never able to attend any football games, but they were the same). I also recall the great concerts I heard when I went to see my friends who played in the band and orchestra. I remember, as if it was yesterday, the anticipation my theater friends had about an upcoming play, and how much it meant that their friends would be in the audience to watch them.   It's too bad that we live in the land of  "Norwegian Nice" where people equate attending games with being polite, clapping when necessary and not getting all worked up. I remember going to games with friends who would dress in hunting gear and paint their faces. I even had one friend dress up in a diaper. He is now one of the top officers in a major corporation. My other crazies went on to be lawyers, teachers and to work with the less privileged. Just because they went crazy as a fan, doesn't mean that they are bad people. In fact it is just the opposite. Show me a person who puts the fanatical in fan, and has passion for their school, and I will show you someone who is going to be successful. Someone who will truly influence the affairs of the world. Show me someone who goes to games and acts "cool", and I will show you someone who will be a follower for the rest of their lives. Someone who will wake up one day and regret they never showed their passion or went crazy just once.  I have heard the Um-Ya-Ya song at St. Olaf games so many times I can sing it word-for-word. I have looked on with jealousy as students at St. Mary's throw objects on the ice after St. Mary's scores their first goal (you have to see a 10-pound carp flop onto the ice to truly appreciate the pride it gives the Cardinal team). I have laughed, and then cheered, when the Rat Pack at St. John's built a human pyramid on midcourt in the middle of a timeout. I have had my eyes opened by a fan who heckled every player on the men's soccer team - and then found out it was a priest from the school's theology department (as God is my witness this is a true story and the things he was saying to the players would not be suitable for a PG-13 movie). I have seen a guy riding a kid's toy pony around the gym at Macalester and getting the crowd so pumped up that you couldn't hear the person next to you talk. They look so happy and full of life when they do these things; I long for the same for Concordia students.  I hope that this column does not fall on deaf ears. I encourage the students to be more involved in every aspect of the college. I want the athletes to take in a play (“Stanton’s Garage” is playing at the theatre from February 12-15). I want the people who are involved in music and theatre to get crazy at athletic games (The next basketball games are Saturday, February 14 at 3:00pm and Wednesday, February 18 at 5:30pm and 7:30pm.) The students at Concordia need to stop "going with the flow" and start living up to their reputation as a community that cares. The good thing about this whole process is that it is not hard. You only have to make the committment to show people you care and have passion. Who knows, you might even like it. It even acts as a psychological therapy. If your professor just dropped a 20-page report on Joseph Campbell's "Ten Commandements for Reading Myth" on you at the last minute, don't hold all your frustration inside and get mad at him. No, go to a game and yell and scream at the other team, the officials (writer's caveat - You can scream at the officials without being abusive), and scream even louder for your own team. You'll be amazed at how much better you feel once the game is finished and how much clearer your head is to write your report.  I also want to plead with the administrators to let the students be students. It's ok if they yell at a referee for a bad call or jump out of the stands. (writer's caveat - I do not tolerate obscene language or obstructing the officials or players and coaches from doing their jobs). Let the fans be fans. Don't  look down your noses from your spot in the ivory tower when the Cobber faithful show up in wigs and chant "Tommies Suck". It's called supporting the home team and showing people that you really do care about the college. More administrators and professors should also take the time to see what goes on outside the classroom and office.  I hope the last four basketball games and hockey games show improved fan involvement. And that by the time the basketball teams, and hopefully the hockey teams, host playoff games, Cobber pride will be full blown, and students will put the term "fanatic" back in being a fan. I hope a group gets together and starts a grass roots movement to form a group called the "Memorial Maniacs" (Cobber Crazies is a lame attempt to copy a "one and only") and attend all the athletic games in costume. I hope they show everyone that Concordia is not a place of "sit on your hands and talk on your cell phone" but rather the toughest place to play in the MIAC. I have had enough of hearing, and seeing, every other college in the MIAC support their teams with great fervor and zeal while our students watch the parade go by.   It's time that we have students who get crazy and let off steam at the games, and it should start with the athletes, musicians and theatre performers themselves. If you want your own performance well attended, then get out and attend somebody else's event. Football players, if you want people to go crazy at your games, then come to a basketball game. And don't sit in the stands like you are listening to a professor discuss the origin of the atom for three hours. Volleyball players, you were pumped up when the basketball team and women's hockey team got nuts and dressed up in goofy clothes for your championship game. It's your turn to turn around and do the same for the basketball, hockey or baseball teams. Men's soccer team, you always long for more fans at your games, so show some other teams that you care about them by getting crazy at their game. Don't sit and point fingers. Get up and cheer for someone else. You really will be amazed at how good it makes you feel and how quickly a campus of non-involvement can turn into one of electricity and excitement.  From under the table and dreaming in Cobberville, that's this week's different perspective.  P.S. This article was not meant to cast stones or pick on one specific group. It was written to get people to, as an old Rat Pack cheer stated, to "get off your posterior and cheer" (except the word posterior was replaced with another word for a donkey).

 
 

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