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By Chris Jarmon

I am now technically an upper-class college football player, which apparently translates somehow into “leadership skills”. This new state of being encompasses many confusing responsibilities, most of which I don’t feel incredibly qualified for. I enjoy my role on this team, but it doesn’t come without the occasional stress. A good portion of that stress comes from recruiting.

Once again last weekend, I was called upon by our (interim) fearless leader Coach Pedersen to host a football prospie for the night. Most guys don’t seem to worry too much about it, but when I am entrusted with the well-being of another person, I take the endeavor quite seriously. A high school kid (not to mention his parents) is trusting me to show him what his life could be like for the next four years, and I obviously need him to think his life will be awesome here.

Admittedly, after a week of Grinnell’s academic and athletic workload I’d rather spend a Friday night watching Zoolander and sleeping for 14 hours. My concern for the future of our team disabuses me of this notion, since adding a stud recruit helps us win more games than anything else I could be doing on the weekend (especially if what I’m doing is getting injured, as I’ve been doing lately). I try to ignore the flashing images of ambulance lights in my head when I agree to host a recruit, and think to myself: He won’t die on my watch, I learned my lesson last time.

Having a prospie is a relatively new experience for me. I’ve had three so far this year, but they were my first three ever. I was supposed to have some the spring of my freshman year at Colorado College, but football recruiting stopped somewhat abruptly when there was no longer a football team to recruit for. Recruiting visits hit home for me because of the ridiculous amount of them I’ve had to endure as both a high school senior and a college freshman. This extensive exposure to the process has made me somewhat of an expert. I would be the Tom Lemming of Division III recruiting, if anyone cared enough about Division III recruiting for that person to exist.

I’ve learned firsthand how much work it is to host a prospie, but the real burden of recruiting falls to the coaches. A significant portion of a college football coach’s waking hours are spent recruiting; the remaining moments are usually spent watching game film and becoming estranged from one’s family. The sheer number of high school kids a coach has to contact on a regular basis in order to somehow magically rake 20 of them into this prestigious institution is nothing short of amazing.

That’s why when I feel like complaining about giving up some of my relaxation on a Friday night, I stop short. Guys like Coach Pedersen make our collegiate experience possible, and if I can be a small piece of that experience for another young guy, I’m happy to do it. Besides, as long as the recruit makes it through the night alive, he usually has a good time. Usually.

Questions? Comments? E-mail me at chris [at] thed3experience.com. All original material copyright © 2008-2010 Chris Jarmon.

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By Chris Jarmon

Until about three weeks ago, I had done something truly amazing with my collegiate athletic career. Through an incredibly long streak of luck/fate/chutzpah, I managed to make it through my first two seasons of college football without what one would classify as an “injury”.

Of course there have been countless sprains, hyper-extensions and other garden variety “boo-boos”, but the closest I’ve come to a true injury was the two weeks of my freshman season at Colorado College I spent with bronchitis, pinkeye and an ear infection in each ear. Of course, that gave me the added on-field advantage of threatening to cough on, spit at or fart in the pillow of my opponents (the last of which was the primary factor in my being named all-conference). As unpleasant as that experience was for me and others, it didn’t keep me off the field, and nothing else has for my entire college career.

So of course after spending months putting my body through what amounts to repeated car wrecks, I naturally get injured doing something stupid. Admittedly it wasn’t as stupid as Denver Broncos wideout Brandon Marshall putting his arm through a TV or former New York Giants receiver Plaxico Burress accidentally firing a gun that was placed dangerously close to his man parts (it’s always the receivers that do stupid things), but it wasn’t quite the apex of my achievements.

I was playing Wes Ball, a game concocted by Grinnell athletes of eons past that involves throwing a water polo ball around a gym and yelling at your teammates for not covering the 300-pound guy in the end zone. I typically play the game because it gives me the chance to do something other than my typical athletic experience: run into people, or get yelled at for not running into people effectively enough. I’ve also been playing Wes Ball because I’m trying to improve my athleticism so that I can run into people more effectively and therefore get yelled at less.

The play in question occurred when, in an attempt to do something athletic, I jumped up and tried to swat down a touchdown pass with my left arm. I was not aware that this routine pass would result in a convergence of large bodies that ended with a sharp pain in my shoulder. I shook it around a couple times and got back to playing. I figured that, like most of the chronic physical pain in my life, I could simply rub metaphorical dirt on it and be fine.

After a couple of weeks in the weight room, the pain still persisted, so I admitted defeat by talking to the trainer. She sent me to Iowa City to see an orthopedist, a guy who followed up some small talk with a shot of Novocain and Cortisone to see if my bursa sac was inflamed. I admittedly had no idea what a bursa sac was or that my shoulder had one, since being an English major gives me little functional knowledge of the world. The painkiller made my arm feel significantly better, so the doctor told me I have bursitis and then peaced out.

Honestly, I feel blessed that I got injured in the offseason, because after transferring schools just to keep playing football I don’t plan on missing a game. Limiting my activity sucks since we just began a new head coaching era in this program and I wanted to start it off right. However, this situation gives me a chance to focus on persuading Coach Pedersen to let me be the only 265-pound running back in the conference; since my shoulder limits what lifts I can do, I’ve been spending time practicing my touchdown dances.

Questions? Comments? E-mail me at chris [at] thed3experience.com. All original material copyright © 2008-2010 Chris Jarmon.

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By Chris Jarmon

I’m not gonna lie: this week’s been pretty crazy. In addition to churning out another $20 worth of sportswriting for the S&B, I had a lot going on for football and school. And although it’s slightly colder outside than breaking up with someone via text message, I figured it would be another typical 7 days in the great white north (so called not because of snowfall, but because of pasty skin tone).

First, I heard on Sunday that the College had found a new president and was planning on introducing he/she/it on Tuesday or Wednesday. Then we received a vague email from Coach Hawsey that we would have a team meeting at 4:30 on Tuesday. I’ll admit I’m not the quickest drop of snot out there, but the rusty wheels began turning in my head. New president. Vague team meeting. I had this feeling before a meeting once, and I left it without a football team and the internal need to start filling out transfer applications.

It’s been nearly a year since CC dropped the program, and even though I had constantly been assured that nothing would ever happen here with Grinnell’s gazillion dollar endowment, I still had butterflies when I got a text from Coach Hawsey asking me to stop by his office a half hour before the meeting.

When I saw him, I immediately knew something was wrong. He explained to me that he had decided to leave Grinnell and take an offensive coordinator position at his alma mater, Austin College. Knowing my relatively fragile state concerning program changes, he wanted to tell me about it before he addressed the team as a whole. I still think that was a really classy thing to do, and I believe that he is going to Austin for the right reasons. I’m thankful to him for having brought me first to Colorado College, and then here to Grinnell, where I get to be part of a great bunch of guys. He’s built a solid foundation here at Grinnell, and I think he’ll be very successful in his new position in Austin.

Coach Pedersen, the former defensive coordinator, was the immediate choice for the interim coach position, and I think he’s going to be a great coach to play for. I haven’t been coached by him much directly since he didn’t heed my wishes to be the only 265 pound defensive back in the conference. But since he was a 2-time All-American here at Grinnell, he knows the program and he knows the school. I’m behind him totally, and the entire team is looking forward to playing for him this season.

The next day, the new president was announced. I don’t know much about him, but all I wanted to know was if he supported intercollegiate athletes (unlike a Colorado College president who is aptly named “Dick”).

Wednesday was also Ash Wednesday, or “What Is On That Person’s Forehead, Oh Right It’s Ash Wednesday” Day. This year I’ve decided to give up both sugar and soda (or as the adorable midwesterners call it, “pop”). I’ve been trying to eat healthy on a consistent basis, considering that the football mileage I’ve already put on my body makes my legs pop when I walk. I need vitamins, minerals and antioxidants to keep my knee from dislocating mid-squat.

Somehow Damon Fernandez does not require the same level of nutrition as me. Every time I see him in the dining hall, it’s pizza, burgers, fries, and soda (or as the simpleminded Texans call it, “Coke” — yes, all soda is Coke to them). He estimates that grease occupies a good portion of the fluid in his blood vessels. He can somehow compete at a high level while consuming what most people consider rocket fuel.

So I intend to go forth and eat spinach, while continuing to work hard in the weight room and the classroom. We only have 3 coaches right now, so extra responsibility falls to the players (I’m praying we don’t let McLeran make too many decisions). More than anything, I’m focusing on improving our bond as a team. The closer we are off the field, the better we will be on it.

Questions? Comments? E-mail me at chris [at] thed3experience.com. All original material copyright © 2008-2010 Chris Jarmon.

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by Chris Jarmon

When Ross Preston ’10 saw the Grinnell Men’s Basketball team play in the first Division III regular-season basketball game ever aired on ESPN in February 2005, he knew that playing for the Pioneers would be a special experience.

“They didn’t even win the game, but that it was that style of basketball that I just immediately fell in love with,” said Preston. “And when I realized that Grinnell was the kind of school I wanted to go to anyway, it was just a dream come true in that sense.”

That nationally televised game against Beloit was five years ago, and many wins later Preston and fellow senior John Bruns have arrived at the finale of their collegiate careers. This season, however, the Pioneer squad (6-15, 4-10 in the Midwest Conference) faced serious adversity after losing last year’s talented senior class to graduation.

“Last year we had three superlative offensive players in my son [David Arsenault], John Grotberg and Bobby Long who never panicked if we fell behind,” Head Coach David Arseneault wrote in an e-mail. “They knew that they had the ability to score in bunches and usually did. This year’s group tends to worry too much when we go ‘cold’ and tends to lose offensive confidence quickly.”

Bruns explained that this team’s youth made it difficult to execute the system on a consistent basis.

“When your core is a freshman class of eight guys that have never played system ball and are coming out from playing regular basketball, and you’re telling them, ‘Hey, go play system ball and score 130 points,’ that’s really hard,” Bruns said.

With so many young players on this year’s team, Coach Arsenault called on Bruns and Preston to step into leadership roles.

“I think that’s been one of my favorite things about this year is getting to know all of [the first-year players],” Preston said. “I’ve tried to be kind of a big brother to them, in the sense of college and what it takes on the court to succeed—not necessarily as someone that has been a leading scorer, but as someone who has watched several people succeed in that type of role.”

“That’s all I’ve known since being in this program is to have those guys lead the way, so this year was kind of fun because we got to show some new guys the ropes a little bit,” Bruns said.

Arseneault noted that even in what he called “a down year,” the Pioneers are still on pace to bring home the NCAA title in several statistical categories.

“We still are poised to lead the country in scoring and three-point makes for the 15th time in 17 years and, in Dylan Seelman, have a first year on pace to lead the nation in three-point makes per game,” Arsenault wrote.

After an astonishing 131-84 home victory over Knox and a 95-77 road loss to Illinois College, Grinnell hits the road to take on Knox yet again on Thursday.

“Given our road record this season, there is no reason to expect anything but a dogfight at Knox,” Arseneault wrote before the game. “We have been very erratic in our play this season. Hopefully, we will have learned our lessons from these games and not let last week’s result versus Knox at home have any bearing on the effort it will take to beat them at their place.”

The Pioneers will not finish in the top four in the Midwest Conference and therefore are not playing in the Conference Tournament. Grinnell will host Monmouth for their final game on Saturday in an attempt to finish the season on a winning note.

“That’s definitely what we’re playing for, and as a team if we end the season [with a win] it would give everyone a positive memory and something to build on,” Preston said.

Bruns also sees a foundation that will allow the Pioneers to build a bright future.

“I think there’s a great core group that just really gets along with each other and they’re going to have a lot of fun figuring out all the possibilities of the system,” Bruns said. “How they figure it out is completely up to them. It can be a good or bad experience, but I think they’re going to make it a good one.”

Questions? Comments? E-mail me at chris [at] thed3experience.com. All original material copyright © 2008-2010 Chris Jarmon.

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by Chris Jarmon

It’s been nearly two decades since the Grinnell Women’s Basketball team finished at the top of their conference.

Indeed, many of the players on Grinnell’s young team hadn’t even been born when the 1990-91 squad took the Midwest Conference title. Yet even while heading into the end of a tough 2009-10 season that has netted only four wins to date and countless heartbreaking losses, the Pioneers feel as though their luck may be about to change.

“We expect a lot of ourselves,” said Jessica Shotts ’10, the team’s only senior and one of three captains. “It’s not that we can’t be #1 in the conference because we definitely could have been this year if we played every game the way we knew how to play. A lot of times we just beat ourselves.”

Those affiliated with the program tend to point to the team’s youth when explaining their difficulty with maintaining leads or pulling out wins in close contests.

“Our team is very bottom-heavy in terms of having a lot of first years and sophomores contributing a lot of time,” Head Coach Kate Gluckman said. “I think there’s a level of patience that is very difficult but necessary right now in terms of what we’re trying to be, and what team we’re going to be in the next one or two years.”

Gluckman and her squad’s patience has begun to pay off for the Pioneers, who have become a more tight-knit team going into their final six games of the season.

“Now at the end of the season everybody’s really starting to listen to each other more, which I think is going to be beneficial for us next year,” said Jessica Vaverka ’11, co-captain and center. “We’re all going to just be able to go in knowing that we all have something to add to the team.”

The team’s progress has only produced one win since coming back from Winter Break, an 8-point victory over Lawrence. After giving up tough losses to Monmouth and Lake Forest last week, Grinnell will travel to Wisconsin to face Ripon and Beloit, making this their second week in a row without any home games.

Winning this weekend would give the Pioneer women a chance to highlight the progress they have made.

“If we start these next six games on a roll, I think we definitely have a chance to win out,” said Meg Huey ’12, forward. “We know that we progressed in skill but we want to progress in a way that’s visible to people outside of our program.”
Although Grinnell Women’s Basketball believes they are headed towards a bright future, the focus right now is on this weekend, as it provides the first steps towards next year’s success.

“I think that some of our upcoming games are games we’re going to be in, especially this weekend,” said Ashley Jeannin ’12, co-captain and guard. “I think those are definitely going to be opportunities for us to set the tone for the end of this year going into next year.”

Questions? Comments? E-mail me at chris [at] thed3experience.com. All original material copyright © 2008-2010 Chris Jarmon.

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