Long Island University at Brooklyn - Sound Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

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The portswornen THE Birdettes ran into a terrific slump this year, suffering five straight defeats which comprised the complete basketball schedule., This can be attributed to several dominant factors. First, the Women's Basketball Team this year under went a complete job of renovation. A new squad had to be formed and taught the necessary techniques and tatics used on the court. The new squad had to learn how to play together as a team and not as individuals. Secondly, the Rules Committee of the National Collegiate Athletic Association made some changes in the rules and regulations in basketball for women. lnterest, initiative and spirit were evident in the number of girls who attended each practice. How- ever another serious problem faced the femme hoopster-one group would come to practice on Mondays and others on Thursdays so that seldom did the same girls get to practice together. The crux of the Birdettes, so appropriately named after their brother Blackbirds, was composed of freshmen girls who were unaware of the playing ways of a college team. Nevertheless they were willing to learn and that was half the battle. Only three of the old squad members were left. This year's captain, Alma Schriffron had two years of playing on the Birdettes. Alma had the experi- ence which was much welcomed on the team. A tall driving forward, she gave confidence to her team- mates. I Two other well-seasoned players, Ginger Schragg and Trudie Bay have had three years of Hroughing it on the court. Both girls proved indespensible as defense players. Another guard, Eva Phoenix, al- though new this year proved her weight in gold. A level-headed player, she was able to transfer her coolness at times to the other guards by talking calmly during crucial points. Some of Coach Louise Buonaguro's newer charges are Sara Holland top-scorer for the season, Francis Pellegrini, promising backboarcl girl and loan De- Nigris, a small but fast charger who kept her op- ponents guessing as to where she'd show up next. New guards lill Stella, Muriel Kroop and Emaline Leone are all shaping up as promising defense players. Completing the picture of the team are lean Bosenblum, Arline Hyman and Marie Cota. The toughest game of the season was with Panzer College. The opponents were experienced fast-driv- ing charges who were well versed in the elements of their trade. The Birdettes played most of that game on the floor. The Panzerites left the femme sextet with memories of bruises, low morale and an unholy low score of 78-8. The game with Queens College wasn't nearly as rough, but the victors went away with nearly as high a score, 58-8. By the third game, which was with Hofstra, the forwards began hitting in the dou- ble figures. The guards played a tremendous game, but their best just wasn't good enough. The game with Adelphi which ended the basketball season for the Birdettes, was at least a moral victory for the guards. ln the last quarter they kept the Adelphi forwards down to four points. However, the Birdette hoopsters only managed to chuck in l8 points for the entire game. Yes it was a poor season for the Women's Basket- ball Team, but it won't keep them down. Wait 'til next year was the answer to kidding schoolmates. And this may very well be, for the girls only need one more year in which to shape up, to practice skills and most important of all, getting used to play- ing together. -M- Twenty-eight

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the No. SS t0 Cqii. E VQY to th 9 the firs mergeme the ble-Ck 5 then in 319 on in 719 SWim- meets in 1d rolled tirection Lccessful 18 fboth 5Wi1n of 1 was :td sent eighth g. The 1, well id not ets. ln , Stan uators e was 'shoff, if his as cr . r the nsky shoff vork tone ned 'son nes W1 N. gel of IIIT1 Y e t 52 season when the Mariners from Kings Point sped to a 46-38 victory. Undaunted, the Mermen bounced back from defeat by breaking six standards at the Adelphi College pool. As Coach Borodkin said, We'll just have to start a new winning streak. The National Pastime fbaseball, to youi returned to LIU in 1949 after an ab- sence of eight years. William Buck Lai, LIU '41, was selected to coach the team and immediately began the some- what happy task of cutting a cortege of 55 diamond aspirants to a workable 18 man squad. The results were gratifying. Amid the confusion of the ferreting out process, the sadly lacking practice facilities of Bed Hook stadium and the omnipresent apathy of the student body, the baseball- ers found time to win six while losing four and tying one. George Hough, a tall fast balling right hander was the mainstay of the team, appearing in 10 of the ll contests and ending the season with a 5-4 record. First baseman Carl Itzkowitz, second sacker Ioe Beiff and hot corner guardian Al Rip Van Winkle all broke into the charmed .300 circle. 1950 found the Laimen with a bevy of sluggers and a dearth of slabsters. The general consensus in baseball that pitch- ing is 757, of the game was borne out unerringly as the Birds compiled a 9-4 record although the team batting average was a sterling .279. The mound staff consisted of George Hough and little else. Big George 15-21 started most of the encounters and often had to come in from the bull-pen to pra- tect an uncertain lead. He got some help from Tommy Owens C3-25 a cool headed curveballer and Gill Marrero fl-ll With the 15 game schedule concentrated over a scant 30 day period, it was not sur- prising to see some young, Struggling M.D.'s hanging around the Parade Ground diamond, waiting for one of the triumverate's arms to come flying UP to the plate with one of his fast balls. To contrast penury with plenty, the-IG were six .300 hitters on the squad. Ed Cahill, a l'scat centerfielder showed the way with a .389 average. Following closely was left fielder Hal Collins with .344, outfielder-first baseman DiCk Hofleit with .324, catcher George Schmid with .314 and the irrepressible Hough with .300. Although the fix scandal seemed to blacken the LIU sports picture, it could not quite obliterate the luster of the bat and ballers 13-5 1951 record. The Park Circle Parakeets paraded off with their first six contests, dropped a tough 5-4 de- cision to City College, staggered around with some horrendous performances against Seton Hall ftwicel and Upsala and then straightened up and flew right with victories in five of their last six jousts. Included among the latter was a win over Hofstra College's Met. Confer- ence champions. Tommy Owens blossomed forth with a 5-0 record while Hough, used too often to be effective, wound up with 5-4. Key man in the Blackbird's attack was left fielder Dick Hofleit who batted .379 and hit the long ball well and often. Bight fielder Paul Zuckerman, third sacker Al Van Winkle and short fielder Sam DePaola all exceeded .300. The Diamondeers entered the present season with seven veterans, a group of promising newcomers and a new home at Brookville, L. I. Minor sports at LIU have been on a 'here she comes, there she goes basis for the past three years. Varsity tennis returned officially in 1950 after a 12 year layoff. The team, led by playing coach Murray Geller, won two matches from Brooklyn Poly and St. Peters, went into hibernation and returned for the '51 season with a 3-2 mark. The lack of a centralized court was a serious draw- back to their fight for recognition and present manager, Bernie Nearman, is searching for more suitable playing sites and hoping that the net game will not be forgotten. Track returned in 1950 but it never had a real chance to survive. First, the facili- ties were abominable. Second, the coach, Buck Freeman, was forced to neglect the squad in order to attend to the more pressing job of basketball scout and coach of the freshman hoop squad. With these insurmountable handicaps the team ran out of gas on the first lap and was never heard from again. SPORTS 1948-1952. A mixture of the bitter with the sweet. -Wf-

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