[
THE SCOOP] lifestyles
continued from page 15 “Almost identical,”
Pollard said, “the same ritual of being tied together and drinking vast quantities of alcohol. It’s more than a decade later, and [athletes] are still engaged in the same type of dangerous behavior.” Cornell, which has
At-large hopefuls like Bucknell, left out in 2013, will have a better chance in 2014.
A Bigger Bubble
NCAA D-I men’s tournament expands to 18
So you’re saying there’s a chance?
That’s what a few more at-large NCAA Division I men’s tournament hopefuls can say beginning in 2014 with an expanded 18-team bracket. There will be two play-in games
in spring 2014 and 2015 to boost the field by two teams, NCAA men’s lacrosse championships committee chair Jim Siedliski confirmed to Lacrosse Magazine in September. The play-in games will feature the
four lowest-ranked automatic qualifying teams, with the winners advancing to play the top seeds in the first round. The NCAA seeks to maintain a 50-
50 split between automatic-qualifying and at-large teams in tournament composition. The formation of the Atlantic Sun Conference and the ACC’s new AQ thanks to the additions of Notre Dame and Syracuse will give Division I men’s lacrosse 10 AQs. The expansion was helped by a
change in play-in game policy by which the NCAA now will pay expenses. The schools previously covered the cost of play-in games. The earliest the tournament could include 20 teams, Siedliski said, is spring 2016, with a new budget cycle. For now, bubble teams from last
year, such as Bucknell, Penn, Princeton and Johns Hopkins may wonder what could have been. — Corey McLaughlin
16 LACROSSE MAGAZINE November 2013 >>
been at the forefront of anti-hazing efforts since the 2011 death of a campus fraternity member, canceled the Big Red’s fall competitions Sept. 13 after an investigation “revealed the presence of a culture within this group of treating new members as less than equals,” according to a report on the university’s website. The report said freshmen were expected to perform menial tasks and participate in a social function that included a “keg race” where they were tied together with a string through their belt loops while drinking to the point where some vomited.
“I am particularly
concerned with coercive traditions that abuse the power differential between new students and upperclassmen,” Andy Noel, Cornell’s athletic director, said in a statement.
According to the Alfred study, 80 percent of NCAA athletes experienced some form
>>
of hazing, defined as “any activity expected of someone joining a group that humiliates, degrades, abuses or endangers, regardless of the person’s willingness to participate.” Fifty percent of respondents participated in drinking contests or alcohol- related hazing, while 40 percent consumed alcohol on recruitment visits before enrolling. The study, which
included 2,027 student athletes at 224 colleges, singled out lacrosse, soccer and swimming as sports with the highest rates of hazing. “It’s just part of the culture,” Pollard said. Three NCAA lacrosse teams have been penalized in the last 17 months as a result of hazing investigations. In April 2012, Franklin & Marshall canceled the remainder of its women’s lacrosse season before
Centennial Conference playoffs and fired coach Lauren Paul. Five months later, Vanderbilt imposed sanctions on its women’s tennis and women’s lacrosse teams for hazing, forcing the Commodores to forfeit a fall exhibition contest. Vanderbilt went on to finish 2-15 in 2013. Cornell, coming
off NCAA semifinals
DaDaDa, DaDaDa… Rabil Hits Big Time
Lacrosse’s “Million-Dollar Man” continues to make firsts. Paul Rabil in September hired the world-renowned sports
agency, Octagon, as his marketing representative. His agent is Erin Kane, who represents Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps, softball pitcher Jennie Finch and five-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson. Rabil also debuted in a “SportsCenter” commercial alongside
the likes of golfer Bubba Watson, Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III and tennis star Maria Sharapova.
A Publication of US Lacrosse
appearance but looking to replace a large senior class that included NCAA all-time leading scorer Rob Pannell, continued to practice but canceled its two previously scheduled fall ball appearances. The NCAA does not
have an anti-hazing policy. And even though 44 states have anti-hazing laws, it’s rare for a case to make it to court, Pollard said. Most schools handle hazing internally. Many athletes directly challenge
attempts to stop hazing, according to the Alfred study, which included anonymous comments from athletes defending and coaches denying such practices. “There’s a purpose to the hazing. It’s a group of individuals trying to gain meaning through the participation in the activity. They’re trying to create a rite of passage, a way that they can bond with this group and have it be really significant,” Pollard said. “We need to help them develop better rites of passage and initiation activities so it doesn’t become harmful and out of control.”
Subsequent studies have found hazing to be just as pervasive among high school sports teams and clubs. LM
©KEVIN TUCKER; ©JOHN STROHSACKER (PR)
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