Dec. 13, 2010
Bronx, N.Y. -
It was a great weekend to be a Fordham Ram! In the span of three days the Ram fans watched six athletes win events at a track meet, the men's basketball team defeat St. John's in the Rose Hill Gym, HBO debut a documentary on Vince Lombardi and former quarterback John Skelton make his first career NFL start.
All of the events were connected by one interlocking thread. Vince Lombardi. The track meet was held in the Vincent T. Lombardi Memorial Center Fieldhouse, the basketball team was mounting a comeback at the same time that Lombardi was debuting on HBO and what was John Skelton watching on the night before his first start? Yes, HBO's Lombardi.
The weekend started on Friday when the Rams hosted the Fordham Christmas Classic indoor track meet in the Lombardi Center. The Fordham women had three event winners, beginning with senior Kerri Gallagher winning her first race of the winter, taking first in the mile in a time of 5:12.4, with sophomore Courtnay Newman taking first in the high jump, clearing 5'5", and freshman Anisa Arsenault capturing the 3,000m in 10:27.7.
On the men's side, senior Pat Brown was victorious in the weight throw event with a season-best mark of 53' 8 ½" while junior Kyle Kesses won the high jump, clearing 6' ¾", and sophomore Sean Atkinson took the 500m competition in 1:06.2.
Gallagher and Atkinson were honored by the Atlantic 10 as the Men's and Women's Performers of the Week while Arsenault and freshman Ryan Polo, who placed second in the men's mile, were named A-10 Rookies of the Week.
On Saturday night, the action moved into the Rose Hill Gym, where the Fordham men's basketball team hosted the St. John's University Red Storm. Trailing by 21, 60-39, early in the second half, it looked grim for Fordham fans in the historic Rose Hill Gym, which was hosting a sold out crowd. But then the Rams mounted a ferocious comeback, led by Atlantic 10 Player of the Week Brenton Butler. The senior guard, playing with four fouls he picked up in the first half, provided the leadership for a Fordham squad that refused to give in and found support from their new leader, head coach Tom Pecora. During one of the timeouts in the second half when the Rams trailed by double digits Pecora, who has now won five of the last six games he has coached against St. John's, explained to the squad that it wasn't okay to lose to St. John's. And the players responded with two 16-0 runs that eventually helped Fordham take the lead.
Leading by one, 82-81, with less than 30 seconds remaining and looking to run some time off the clock, Fordham passed the ball around the perimeter until Butler took matters into his own hands, burying a jumper with 14 seconds left. St. John's called a time out with nine seconds left and set up a three-point attempt. But the shot with six seconds left bounced out but the Red Storm grabbed the rebound and had time for one last attempt to tie the game but that shot fell off the rim too, seconds before the Fordham fans rushed the court.
"That was a great college basketball atmosphere and that's what Fordham University deserves," said Pecora after the game. "I am so proud of the resiliency and toughness of this bunch of guys. I'm so happy for them and for the students at Fordham. They've been through a rough time and to have a night like this is special for the university."
Here are links to some of the men's basketball articles:
Pecors, Fordham rising after beating St. John's NY Post
NY Daily News Game Article
NY Post Game Article
Newsday Game Article
ESPN New York.com Game Article
As the Rams were mounting their comeback on Saturday night, HBO was debuting a documentary on one of Fordham's all-time greats, Vince Lombardi. Coincidence? Ram fans don't think so. The documentary, parts of which were filmed on the Rose Hill campus, features interviews with Vince Lombardi, Jr. as well as former Green Bay Packer greats Jerry Kramer and Bart Starr and New York Giants Hall of Famer Frank Gifford. It traces the life of the former football Ram from his childhood in Brooklyn, to his playing days at Fordham and through his coaching career.
For a preview of Lombardi, click here.
On Sunday, the Fordham focus moved to Arizona where former Fordham quarterback John Skelton was starting his first NFL game. A record-setting signal caller who graduated last May, Skelton led the Arizona Cardinals to a 43-13 win over the Denver Broncos as Arizona snapped a seven-game losing streak. In the game, Skelton completed 15 of 37 passes for 146 yards and he also rushed three times for nine yards.
Skelton became the first Ram to appear in an NFL game since Aki Jones appeared in four games with the Washington Redskins in 2005. He also is the first Fordham quarterback to take a snap in an NFL regular season game since Ed Danowski played with the New York football Giants in 1941.
Skelton was the Cardinals' fifth-round draft pick last June, becoming the first Fordham football player to be drafted by an NFL team since 1968. A 2009 Second Team All-Patriot League selection, he wrapped up a record-shattering career for the Rams that fall, closing out the year completing 284 of 441 passes (64.4%) for 3,708 yards and 26 touchdowns. He set new school marks for completions and passing yards, breaking Kevin Eakin's former school records of 247 completions for 3,072 yards set in 2003 as well as breaking Steve O'Hare's completion percentage record of 63.1% set in 1997. Skelton led the NCAA FCS in passing yards/game (337.09) and was ranked second in total offense (348.18 yards/game), fourth in completions per game (25.82) and total passing yards and tenth in passing efficiency (149.95).
Over his career, Skelton completed 802 passes for 9,923 yards and 69 touchdowns, all school marks. He shattered Joe Moorhead's career completions record of 518 while also surpassing Eakin's career marks for passing yards (6,112) and touchdowns (45).
According to an article in the Arizona Republic, Skelton spent part of the Saturday night prior to his first NFL career start watching television. The program? HBO's Lombardi documentary. Coincidence? Ram fans don't think so.
Below are links to articles on Skelton's performance:
Skelton's performance re-energizes Arizona Cardinals and fan base (azcentral.com)
Cardinals Beat Broncos in Skelton's first career start (KTAR.com)
Steady Skelton Shows Enough (azcardinals.com)
Skelton wins 1st NFL start (NY Daily News)
For video interviews go to the Fordham All-Access page at http://www.fordhamsports.com/allaccess/
