Harvard Sports 101: Jocks for Rocks

In you couldn't decide between Michigan Notre Dame, UCLA and College? Were your SAT scores too high? Or was it the allure of Cambridge and the nation's oldest university too much for you?

Unless you're a student-athlete competing on one of Harvard's athletic teams, sports probably wasn't the selling point that made Harvard your educational choice. We understand.

Still, Harvard boasts 41 varsity sports, the most of any U.S. college. Throw in about 25 club sports and the athletic options at Harvard are very large. Sorry, there is no cow-tipping team yet, but they're working on it.

And if you aren't a returning student, it may surprise you that several Harvard sports are dynasties.

Take the men's and women's squash teams, for example--no returning player has been on a team that has lost an Ivy League match or a nine-player national tournament. Big news is made when either squad loses a match, which has only happened once in 82 times over the past three years.

Harvard's men's ice hockey and women's lacrosse team have both won a national championship since 1989 and are perennial national powerhouses. The Harvard and Radcliffe lightweight crews won national championships this past June, while the men's soccer and both tennis teams clinched Ivy League titles.

In addition to the men's soccer and tennis teams, the women's soccer and women's water polo squads were invited to NCAA Tournaments last year, while the women's basketball team fell one game short of making it to the Big Dance. Junior runners Karen Goetze and Ian Carswell qualified for the national championships.

OK, so the football team is Division I-AA and would be a quick snack for most Division I squads and the men's basketball team has won the Ivies as often over the last 75 series as the Boston Red Sox have won the World Series--never.

That aside, the calendar year turns up numerous interesting games, and most of them are free. (You want to get something out of your tuition, don't you?)

So think of yourself as taking Harvard Sports 101 in addition to your other course load. Here, then, is a partial syllabus of must-sees (any other events are optional but recommended nonetheless).

September 15: Harvard football vs. Columbia. Classes haven't started yet. Probably nobody will catch Pennsylvania, but who cares? It's football.

September 27: Harvard men's soccer vs. Boston University. Last year's Ivy League champions try to avenge their NCAA Tournament loss against the then-number-one and current-number-four team.

October 22: Head of the Charles. Relax. Have fun. And watch some crew races, too. Harvard's crews are among the best.

November 4: Women's soccer and men's ice hockey at Brown. The women will try to avenge last year's devastating tie that gave the title to Brown and win this year's crown, while the men open up their skating campaign against last year's number-two team in the ECAC.

November 11: Harvard football against Nebraska. Just wanted to make sure you were still paying attention.

November 18: The Game. All right, this probably won't be for the Ivy title. And half the students remember more about the booze than the game itself. Heck, many people even forget they were at the game. But it's a Harvard-Yale thing, and it's something not to miss, even if it means travelling down to scenic New Haven this year.

December 9-10: Women's basketball at UConn Tournament. If Harvard defeats mediocre Duquesne and Connecticut tops Loyola in the first round, the Crimson has the honor of facing the nation's defending NCAA champion.

January 6: Women's basketball vs. Dartmouth. Dartmouth grabbed the Ivy title last year in the regular-season finale between these two teams, and Ivy League Rookie of the Year Allison Feaster and the Crimson would love nothing more than rake in Big Green this time.

February 4: Harvard men's and women's squash vs. Princeton. By far the toughest home meet for these Harvard juggernauts, this might be your only chance to see the Crimson even remotely challenged.

February 5 and 12: The Beanpot. The whole area shuts down for this men's hockey event featuring Harvard, Boston University, Boston College and Northeastern. You have to pay to get in, but it's worth it; and you get to see the new FleetCenter while you're at it. B.U. is the defending champion.

February 10: Men's basketball vs. Pennsylvania. If you're interested in watching an Ivy League basketball team that can actually defeat a top-25 squad, this is your best chance. Even though the Quakers lost Jerome Allen, Matt Maloney and others to graduation, they still like to give a good show.

March 8-10, 15-16, 22-23, 28-30: ECAC and NCAA Tournaments men's hockey tournaments. Harvard usually hosts an ECAC series before the ECAC Final Four at Lake Placid. The Crimson reached the NCAA Final Four in 1994.

That should be enough to take you through spring break. After all, not everyone says Harvard is easy.

Unless you're a student-athlete competing on one of Harvard's athletic teams, sports probably wasn't the selling point that made Harvard your educational choice. We understand.

Still, Harvard boasts 41 varsity sports, the most of any U.S. college. Throw in about 25 club sports and the athletic options at Harvard are very large. Sorry, there is no cow-tipping team yet, but they're working on it.

And if you aren't a returning student, it may surprise you that several Harvard sports are dynasties.

Take the men's and women's squash teams, for example--no returning player has been on a team that has lost an Ivy League match or a nine-player national tournament. Big news is made when either squad loses a match, which has only happened once in 82 times over the past three years.

Harvard's men's ice hockey and women's lacrosse team have both won a national championship since 1989 and are perennial national powerhouses. The Harvard and Radcliffe lightweight crews won national championships this past June, while the men's soccer and both tennis teams clinched Ivy League titles.

In addition to the men's soccer and tennis teams, the women's soccer and women's water polo squads were invited to NCAA Tournaments last year, while the women's basketball team fell one game short of making it to the Big Dance. Junior runners Karen Goetze and Ian Carswell qualified for the national championships.

OK, so the football team is Division I-AA and would be a quick snack for most Division I squads and the men's basketball team has won the Ivies as often over the last 75 series as the Boston Red Sox have won the World Series--never.

That aside, the calendar year turns up numerous interesting games, and most of them are free. (You want to get something out of your tuition, don't you?)

So think of yourself as taking Harvard Sports 101 in addition to your other course load. Here, then, is a partial syllabus of must-sees (any other events are optional but recommended nonetheless).

September 15: Harvard football vs. Columbia. Classes haven't started yet. Probably nobody will catch Pennsylvania, but who cares? It's football.

September 27: Harvard men's soccer vs. Boston University. Last year's Ivy League champions try to avenge their NCAA Tournament loss against the then-number-one and current-number-four team.

October 22: Head of the Charles. Relax. Have fun. And watch some crew races, too. Harvard's crews are among the best.

November 4: Women's soccer and men's ice hockey at Brown. The women will try to avenge last year's devastating tie that gave the title to Brown and win this year's crown, while the men open up their skating campaign against last year's number-two team in the ECAC.

November 11: Harvard football against Nebraska. Just wanted to make sure you were still paying attention.

November 18: The Game. All right, this probably won't be for the Ivy title. And half the students remember more about the booze than the game itself. Heck, many people even forget they were at the game. But it's a Harvard-Yale thing, and it's something not to miss, even if it means travelling down to scenic New Haven this year.

December 9-10: Women's basketball at UConn Tournament. If Harvard defeats mediocre Duquesne and Connecticut tops Loyola in the first round, the Crimson has the honor of facing the nation's defending NCAA champion.

January 6: Women's basketball vs. Dartmouth. Dartmouth grabbed the Ivy title last year in the regular-season finale between these two teams, and Ivy League Rookie of the Year Allison Feaster and the Crimson would love nothing more than rake in Big Green this time.

February 4: Harvard men's and women's squash vs. Princeton. By far the toughest home meet for these Harvard juggernauts, this might be your only chance to see the Crimson even remotely challenged.

February 5 and 12: The Beanpot. The whole area shuts down for this men's hockey event featuring Harvard, Boston University, Boston College and Northeastern. You have to pay to get in, but it's worth it; and you get to see the new FleetCenter while you're at it. B.U. is the defending champion.

February 10: Men's basketball vs. Pennsylvania. If you're interested in watching an Ivy League basketball team that can actually defeat a top-25 squad, this is your best chance. Even though the Quakers lost Jerome Allen, Matt Maloney and others to graduation, they still like to give a good show.

March 8-10, 15-16, 22-23, 28-30: ECAC and NCAA Tournaments men's hockey tournaments. Harvard usually hosts an ECAC series before the ECAC Final Four at Lake Placid. The Crimson reached the NCAA Final Four in 1994.

That should be enough to take you through spring break. After all, not everyone says Harvard is easy.