As this is the last edition of the Courier for this school year, I’d like to play against the theme of the issue and instead look forward to next year. Yes, we’ll strive to do things like play our hardest and be show good sportsmanship but I want to set out one overall goal for the 2006-2007 sports calendar:

Beat Ithaca.

Now, now, I realize that we’ve all been born and bred here at Fisher on the notion that the boys and girls of Naz are our rivals but I propose that we change our focus. Let’s bring down the biggest threat in the area, not the closest one — if we actually count Naz as a threat, that is.

Since 2001, 89 championships have been held for 22 different sports under the Empire 8 banner. Ithaca College has captured 45 of them outright and shared the title for another five. That gives Ithaca a whopping 56.2 percent claim to all Empire 8 titles. To put that into perspective, the New York Yankees have only won 26 out of 101 World Series — a measly 25.7 percent. The Cards of Fisher have won eight championships and shared one (football in 2004 with Ithaca), giving us claim to 10.1 percent of Empire 8 titles.

The question is how do we better compete with a powerhouse like Ithaca? How do we make the Bombers bomb?

Some of it will be taken care of over time, as our athletic programs have become stronger over the past few years. Success breeds more success. The more people see Fisher in the news for winning, the more interest they will have in coming here.

We should also consider expanding the number of sports that we compete in. We’re all familiar with the Empire 8’s football and basketball but field hockey, swimming, and track are also out there. The more we offer, the more diverse student population we’ll draw, the more success we’ll have on the field … or in the pool.

I don’t know — maybe we should start raiding Ithacan teams and steal their players. Promise them parking spots on campus or something.

We have a great and growing athletic program here at Fisher. It’s time though, that we become the Yankees of the Empire 8. Yeah, we have a couple championships, but so far, we’ve played the role of the Red Sox to the Bronx/Ithaca Bombers. And for those of you naïve enough not to understand — we don’t want to be the Red Sox.

Originally published in the Cardinal Courier (Volume 5-Issue 12; April 19, 2006).